The Water SpriteTil "Troldskab", Kristiania 1892 Series title

Theodor Kittelsen’s drawings have a special place in the history of Norwegian art and culture. He is perhaps best known for his illustrations of Asbjørnsen and Moe’s folktales, but he also illustrated his own texts.

This illustration features a creature with luminous eyes peering up amidst the water lilies of the tarn, or small forest lake. The incipient ripples on the otherwise calm surface reinforce the impression that the creature, which resembles the roots of a tree, is alive. This monster, known in Norwegian folklore as the nøkken, recurs in several of Kittelsen’s pictures, but this drawing is his first known depiction of the mythical creature. Kittelsen has delicately reproduced the reflection of the trees on the tarn’s tranquil surface, hinting at the contrast between the idyllic and menacing aspects of nature. The supernatural and the natural merge into one and personify the forces Kittelsen perceived in his relationship with nature. This is characteristic of many of his pictures, whether lyrical depictions of nature or more dramatic and fanciful scenes.

In ancient folklore, the nøkken was a baleful creature that small children in particular had to be protected from. He could also assume other shapes, such as a beautiful white horse or an old skiff; no matter his form, he would always try to lure his prey down to the depths of the tarn. Kittelsen described the monster as follows in his book Troldskab: “He lurks in the tarn among the large, radiant lilies that you reach for. Even before you’ve touched the lily, the quagmire gives way beneath you – and that’s when he grabs you with his wet, slimy hands.”

This drawing was purchased by the National Gallery in 1893, along with seven other drawings from Troldskab.