Gnomes at home in the forests of Sweden
Jun 12th, 2010 by Sarah Koschak
In 1977, I was given the book Gnomes (written by Wil Huygen and beautifully illustrated by Rien Poortvliet) by my aunt Sally when I was 8 years old – It instantly became my favourite book. I used to pour over the stories and pictures, explaining the habits, family life and mythology of Gnomes, Trolls and the Snotgurglers (my personal favorite for the name alone), never imagining I would one day visit Scandinavia – homeland of the Gnome!
We are staying in a cottage that backs onto a long distance wilderness walking track that meanders its way through Sweden’s national parks and forests. We were rained in the first three mornings, but today I was up at 2am, and made my way along the track.
Forest in Drevdagen
You can imagine my childlike delight and joy to discover the landscape was inhabited by these creatures. I have no idea how they got there – but some imaginative and creative people have definitely had some fun. I don’t mind not knowing – I love the playful mystery of it all! Needless to say, I got totally distracted and spent the morning in search of tiny doorways, houses, ladders, watchful rocks and kept my eyes open for the occasional Gnome sighting – I hope you enjoy my playful and slightly silly photo blog.
Woodland Gnome
Off for his daily constitutional
Ever watchful for Snotgurglers
Fairy Tree
Ladybug
Beaver Rock
Forest Sprites
Scary monsters, supercreeps!
Oh no… captured by the Snotgurglers!
The moss man
Shy Sprite
Lovely Sprite
A Gnome at Home!
Established in 1993 by nature sound recordist Andrew Skeoch and photographer Sarah Koschak, Listening Earth offers a range of beautiful nature sound recordings from around the world.
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