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Tomten

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Tomten

Written by: Spencer Harden
Narrated by: Kevin Sorbo
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About this listen
 When midwinter night is cold and hard, Tomten makes his annual visit to an old farmhouse as he has for generations before. As he goes about his regular duties, caring for the animals and looking after the children, a persistent question troubles his mind that he cannot dismiss. Generations come and generations go. "But where do they come from and to where do they go?" Tomten's question is not inconsequential. The question of where we come from and where we go has been called one of the great and terrible questions--"great" in its scale and importance, yet "terrible" in that it confronts our most existential concerns.The concept appears across all philosophy, literature, and religious thought. You will find the question in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Taoism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity. You will even find it in the writings of the great scientists, such as Hawking, Einstein and Newton. The original Swedish poem written by Viktor Rydberg was first published in the magazine Ny Illustrerad Tidning in 1881. Also known as Midvinternattens Köld är Hård (Midwinter Night's Cold Is Hard), the poem is often read at Christmastime throughout Scandinavia. In 1960, the Swedish Pippi Longstocking author, Astrid Lindgren, wrote a story based on the original poem entitled The Tomten. In Lindgren's gentle adapation, the Tomten wanders thoughout the old farm and homestead. He speaks to the animals in a language only they can understand and reassures them that the winter will soon be over. While Lindgren's version preserves the Norske hunger for the warmth and light conveyed in the original poem, Tomten's question is missing from the narrative. This new English translation was written by Spencer Harden in an attempt to capture the mystery of Rydberg's original poem, including Tomten's undying question. It was first published in November of 2015 under the title Only Tomten Is Awake. Married to Anne Larsson, a Swede, Harden first heard a direct translation of the poem in English in a church service in December of 1993. The poem was whispered into his ear by a close friend of the family in Stockholm. Struck by the wonder of Rydberg's words, Harden set out to find or create a version that captured the essence of the original poem. An outwardly idyllic Christmas poem, Tomten reminds us of warmth and light when "midwinter night's cold is hard" and causes us to ponder the continuity, wonder and possibility of eternal life.©2017 Spencer Harden (P)2026 WideFocus Media Christmas Fairy Tales Fantasy Holidays & Celebrations Literature & Fiction
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