Jul i Valhal

Plot

The story begins with Sofie (Laura Buhl) being told by her single mother, Tove (Ann Eleonora Jørgensen), that they have to move to Singapore by the end of December for her job, and for her new boss, Mr. Tong. They have to stay with Ragnhild (Vigga Bro), Tove's mother and Sofie's grandmother, until that time because Tove has already sold their apartment. Sofie is gloomy because she does not want to move to Singapore, as she has had to constantly move around the world for Tove's job as an efficiency expert.

When they reach Ragnhild's house on a hill called "Loki's Hill", they find that the loft is being rented out to a woodsman named Asbjørn (Troels Lyby), who is also a single parent, and has two children named Jonas (Lukas Thorsteinsson) and Emma (Clara Bahamondes). Sofie and Jonas become close friends very quickly, but Tove and Asbjørn have a lot of tension and animosity between each other because their personalities are opposites. Tove has a great love of technology and business, while Asbjørn values nature and days of honest labour outdoors. While they often quarrel over the differences in their ideologies, they also quarrel over petty things; for example which side of the room they think the basket of chopped wood should be kept on (this, in particular, becomes a running gag throughout the series). Over the course of the series, the attraction between them increases and they gradually fall in love.

Sofie goes out exploring Loki's Hill, and finds an old dolmen surrounded by a ring of megaliths on the crown of the hill. She accidentally kicks a small rock into the dolmen, and afterwards she hears strange bell-like metallic noises coming from within. Startled, she runs back to Ragnhild's house. Over dinner that night, Sofie asks her grandmother why her home address is called "Loki's Hill". Ragnhild tells the children that it is because the legends say the old hill near the house is the place where the Norse god Loki is still chained. That night, before she goes to bed, Sofie looks out a window and sees a yellow glow emanating from the top of Loki's Hill.

Jonas and Emma go to school the next day, but Sofie feigns illness so she can stay home and explore some more. She succeeds in tricking Tove, who allows her to stay home. Then, Sofie goes back to the dolmen she found and crawls in. Inside, she sees a large stone snake decorating the wall, and in the middle of the cavern, she sees a man with long hair and beard chained (by both of his arms and by his neck), on his knees, and apparently sleeping (his eyes are closed and he is snoring). When Sofie tries to move the man's hair so she can see his face, he wakes up, and is surprised to see a person. He introduces himself as the Norse god Loki, and implores Sofie to unchain him. Sofie is frightened and runs back home, while Loki calls after her to not be afraid and to come back.

Characters

Humans

Sofie is an independent 12-year-old girl who lives with her mother, Tove, in Copenhagen.

Jonas is a quiet 13-year-old boy who lives with his father (Asbjørn), his sister (Emma), and Ragnhild (who owns the house Asbjørn is renting). He is more impulsive than Sofie, as he is more willing to unchain Loki in exchange for various spells.

Tove is Sofie's mother, and is a very career-oriented person who likes to take control of situations. Throughout the series, she is constantly seen working on her computer at her work station and talking on her mobile phone to her boss, Mr. Tong.

Asbjørn is Jonas' and Emma's father who is from Jutland, and who rents the loft of Ragnhild's house to live in. He enjoys nature and is very down to earth.

Emma is Jonas' little sister. Throughout the series, she is very excited for Christmas, and is often seen preparing for Christmas with Ragnhild. She loves Ragnhild's dog Snifer, and gives him one cookie each day.

Ragnhild is Tove's mother. She knows much about Norse mythology, and is constantly telling different myths to Jonas and Sofie.

Gods

Loki is the Norse trickster god. He acts very kind towards Jonas and Sofie to befriend them, so he can convince them to unchain him. After they do so, however, he immediately leaves so he can begin Ragnarok with Thrym, and the children realize that he had used them, but after Loki is betrayed by Thrym, he is good for the rest of the series: helping the children and trying to stop Ragnarok.

Heimdall is naive, cowardly, and easily fooled. In addition, he is portrayed as extremely effeminate, and is (along with Loki) the source of a lot of the series' comic relief. He is usually seen polishing Gjallarhorn.

Odin is the king of the Norse gods, and is very wise. He gives the runes to Jonas and Sofie so they can translate the various clues they find. Although initially he refuses to forgive Loki, after his son Balder forgives him, he does likewise

Thor, Odin's son, is very loud, intimidating, and aggressive throughout the series. Always shouting, he is quick to lose his temper, and is also very quick to use force or brandish his hammer, Mjolnir (which he tends to lose), in order to get his way.

Balder is Odin's son, and is very beautiful and innocent. Sofie seems to have an infatuation with Balder.

Hel is the goddess of the dead and the underworld. She is unpopular amongst the other gods, who find her strange and unappealing, but she is actually very lonely and craves company.

Idun keeps the apples which maintain the gods' youth and strength. She is usually hesitant to leave her apples ungaurded, but is also somewhat vain: when Jonas explains that he wants to take a picture of her outside (a ploy so he and Sofie can secretly hide the apples from Loki), she is quick to leave Sofie alone to watch the apples.

Freya is Njord's daughter, and is very beautiful. She, along with Odin, is one of the wiser gods in Asgard. While the rest of the gods tend to be portrayed as oblivious, she at least seems to more aware.

Other

Thrym is a gruff and duplicitous giant that lives in Utgard, a fortress within Jotunheim (Land of the Giants). Although he initially works with Loki, he has no affection for him, and craves only power.

Snifer appears to be Ragnhild's dog, but is actually the Fenris wolf. He is destined to eat Odin at Ragnarok.

Episodes

There are 24 episodes to corresponding to days from 1 to 24 December:

1. Rejsen til mormor ("The Journey to Grandmother")

2. Manden i hulen ("The Man in the Cave")

3. Sofies hemmelighed ("Sofie's Secret")

4. Runemagi til Jonas ("Rune Magic for Jonas")

5. Pagten med Loke ("The Pact with loki")

6. Den hemmelige tunnel ("The Secret Tunnel")

7. Valhal ("Valhalla")

8. Lokes forbrydelse ("Loki's Crime")

9. TV-reparatøren ("The TV-Repairman")

10. Loke på æblerov ("Loki Preys on Apples")

11. Odins runer ("Odin's Runes")

12. Turen til Hel ("The Trip to Hel")

13. Balders lys ("Balder's Light")

14. Thors brudefærd ("Thor's Wedding")

15. Rejsen til Udgård ("The Journey to Utgard")

16. Fest hos Thrym ("Party with Thrym")

17. Flugten fra Thrym ("The Escape from Thrym")

18. Fenrisulven ("The Fenris Wolf")

19. Pas på Ulven ("Be Careful with the Wolf")

Running gags

The series has many running gags that it employs, including:

Loki's disguises:

Loki often disguises himself (very poorly) as a human of a distinct career in order to enter Ragnhild's house. His disguises include: a television repairman, a delivery boy (who also does plumbing), and a cabby. Another source of humour is that Tove is always the one who encounters Loki in his disguises, and she is never suspicious of his strange behaviour or bad costumes. For example: when Loki disguised himself as a delivery boy so he could get the Fenris wolf, Fenris was not there at the time, so he simply stood in the kitchen staring at Tove until she mentioned that the faucet was broken. Loki then claimed that he was also there for that, saying he has two jobs. Instead of thinking that Loki was acting suspicious, Tove thought it was wonderfully convenient. Additionally, Tove never seems to recognize him, even though his disguises are rarely ever more than a hat or a suit.

Loki in the modern world:

Loki encounters several modern developments, and his favourites seem to be processed foods. The humour of many scenes comes from such circumstances as: Loki finds Jonas' cola in the dolmen, is initially shocked by the release of carbonation when he opens the lid, then tentatively tastes it and, deciding that he likes it, quaffs the entire bottle; Loki tries to give off the appearance of fixing a television set by merely holding up the power cord and looking at it; Loki tries to give off the appearance of fixing a sink by looking at the pipes and randomly banging around; and Loki eats out of a jar of nutella (or perhaps peanut butter) using only his fingers while Jonas and Sofie are trying to explain their plan for stopping Ragnarok to him.

The wood basket:

When Tove first meets Asbjørn, he puts a basket of chopped wood down by her work station. Tove, unhappy with this location, moves it to the hearth in front of the fireplace as soon as Asbjørn is out of the room. It then becomes a running gag to have one or the other notice that the wood basket is not where they want it to be, and move it (either to Tove's workstation or to the hearth). One time, Tove was wandering around while brushing her teeth, and caught Asbjørn in the act of moving the basket to her work station, because he thought she was in bed. After they fall in love, however, Asbjørn concedes that Tove's place for it by the hearth makes more sense, and he puts it there.

Cast

Sofie - Laura Buhl

Jonas - Lukas Thorsteinsson

Tove - Ann Eleonora Jørgensen

Asbjørn - Troels Lyby

Emma - Clara Bahamondes

Ragnhild - Vigga Bro

Snifer - Louis (a dog)

Loke - Martin Brygmann

Odin - Søren Spanning

Heimdal - Peter Frödin

Thor - Henrik Noél Olesen

Balder - Cyron Melville

Hel - Lotte Andersen

Ydun - Lene Maria Christensen

Freja - Helle Fagralid

Tyr - Bjørn Fjæstad

Njord - Morten Eisner

Sif - Bodil Jørgensen

Thrym - Morten Suurballe

Sequel

Following the success of the miniseries, a feature film was made as a sequel, called Guldhornene ("The Golden Horns"). A teaser trailer for the film was made available on the Jul i Valhal DVD collection. This film was released 12 October 2007. The film is about Loki, Thor, Heimdall, and Idun in Midgard, trying to prevent two golden horns from falling into the wrong hands and causing the extinction of humans. Since the gods do not know how to operate in the modern world full of technology, they employ the help of Sofie, Jonas, and Emma.

Sources and external links

Jul i Valhal on IMDB

TV 2's Jul i Valhal site

Guldhornene on IMDB

Guldhornene on Cosmo Film, with teaser trailer