Deerfoot

Hunting for my childhood forrest, recently I made a groundbreaking discovery.

The penny dreadfull (or something like that) series about the Shawanoe Deerfoot (Hjortefot, in Norwegian) was published in a 100 pages book format in Norway. Rereading those 40 years later, made me shudder not a little. Short and simple sentences, abrupt change of settings, sketchy character descriptions, to say the least.

Still there was something about this series. An undefined romantic mood, an adventurous angle, a fondness for the pioneer and indian way of life. Haunted by my memories, and puzzled by something this bad being even considered for publishing in the US in the late 1800's, I decided to check the original.

And a pleasant surprise it was. After some quick eBaying, an American edition arrived. And made me se how much I was cheated as a boy. The Norwegian edition was about 30 000 words. The original had more than 80 000.

If nothing else, this made for even some more and quicker eBaying.

Still rather simple? Yes. A bit moralistic? You bet. A few sermons along the way? Amen. Coloured by the 19th century view on coloured people? A tad or two. Enjoyable for present day grown ups, when in the mood? It helps with two glasses of wine.