The Snow Race / El Rey del Esquí / Kunundjin so rennd ą̊ skaiðum

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After the King kills all Gustav's family, he tries to starts a rebellion. Unfortunately, nobody supports him. He has to make a quick getaway but he knows the King's men are after him. Having survived the snow, he learns the King has died. Could this be his chance?

This fast paced children's book is based upon the true story of King Gustav Vasa, whose skiing adventures in Dalarna are memorialised every year in Sweden's Vasaloppet (Vasa Race).

#533 in the Bilingual Legends series: This book is in both English & Elfdalian (Övdalian).

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Talking With Jessy Carlisle

What was the inspiration for writing The Snow Race?

Elfdalian was one of the languages which inspired the great J. R. R. Tolkien. Up until the early 20th century, the people of the region still wrote in Dalecarlian runes and their language preserves some unique similarities with Old Norse. Unfortunately, the Swedish government both refuses to recognize Elfdalian as a language distinct from Swedish and has banned its use in parliament (despite a law stating any Swedish dialect may be spoken there) because it's so different Swedish speakers can't understand it. The story of Gustav Vasa's attempt to flee to Norway on skis before he was triumphantly brought back and crowned connects with the struggles of an oppressed people still seeking official recognition of who they are and the customs of their ancestors.

What was the writing process like for The Snow Race?

It was hard to find a topic for this book. I had hoped to locate a folktale from the area but there wasn't sufficient information available in English for me to work with. Instead, I decided to tell the story behind the modern ski race the area is known for. Their fight for independence is a piece of history all Swedes can be thankful for regardless of whether or not they have any personal connection with Dalecarlia.

What music did you listen to while writing The Snow Race?

I don't remember but I can't help but think Sabaton must have been on the playlist.

What was your favorite scene in The Snow Race to write?

This isn't a scene but there's a couple of pages at the back on how, with some minor adaptations, Dalecarlian runes could still be used to write Elfdalian. I don't know enough about the language to say whether the information provided is fully sufficient for general use. But I think it would be fun for young readers to have a go at writing out a part of the story in runes. It's almost like a real code drawn straight out of yesteryear. I've also since discovered that a couple of the runes which I couldn't find the names for actually do have historic names. I'm also hoping Unicode may add the 3 missing Dalecarlian runes to make it possible to type in them consistently across devices.

What was the hardest scene in The Snow Race to write?

Probably the first scene. Reading about how Gustav's family had been betrayed and murdered in such an underhanded way is not exactly an ideal opening for a children's book. I had to keep it short and skip most of the details. I imagine many a mother won't be too keen on showing this to her children but if boys can somehow get a hold of it despite that they're sure to thoroughly enjoy it.