Kongehusets digitale julekalender 2021.
Dansk
Kalenderlysene er nu brændt halvvejs ned, og det er tredje søndag i advent. På denne tid af december plejer Nissefar og hele nissefamilien at liste rundt på Amalienborg og følge med i de mange juleforberedelser, der gøres. Men i år er Nissefar på en lang julerejse, og i stedet befinder den lille papnisse sig nu pludselig foran Gåsetårnet i Vordingborg. Det 26 meter høje tårn er det eneste tilbageværende af byens engang så mægtige middelalderkongeborg, der havde hele ni tårne i samme størrelse.
”Dette var Kong Valdemar 4. Atterdags foretrukne hjem” forklarer Juleenglen og taler videre mens de sammen lister op mod tårnets top, der har fået sit navn efter den gyldne gås øverst oppe. Lettere forpustet afbryder Nissefar for første gang i flere dage Juleenglens endeløse talestrøm. For han mener at kunne huske fortællingen bag, nemlig at Valdemar Atterdag satte gåsen op i tårnet efter at kongen havde modtaget krigserklæringer fra 77 tyske hansestæder. Kong Valdemar var dog ikke så let at skræmme, og ifølge historien sagde kongen, at han var mere bange for en flok skræppende gæs end for de samlede tyske hansestæder!
Juleenglen er målløs over Nissefars viden, men det er ikke den eneste overraskelse, som englen får. ”Jeg mener at kunne huske, at Valdemar Atterdag blev valgt til tronen efter den kongeløse tid. Det var de otte værste år af mit nisseliv,” siger Nissefar og henviser til den periode i Danmarkshistorien, hvor landet var på fremmede hænder og uden konge. ”Jeg fik slet ikke lukket et øje eller spredt julestemning i den tid. For det var i sagens natur en umulig opgave at være Kongehusnisse i den tid.”
Nissefar er begejstret over, at han er ved at få godt styr på Kongerækken. Det tegner godt, og han håber, at Juleenglen snart vil lade ham tage tilbage til Amalienborg og julehygge med familien. Men helt så let skal det ikke gå, for der er meget, som Nissefar stadig skal nå at opleve.
English
The calendar candles have now burned halfway down, and it’s the third Sunday in Advent. At this time of December, Elf Father and the whole Elf Family are used to tiptoeing around Amalienborg and keeping up with the Christmas preparations that are made. But, this year, Elf Father is on a long Christmas journey and, instead, the little cardboard elf all of a sudden finds himself in front of the Goose Tower at Vordingborg. The 26-meter-high tower is the only remnant of the city’s once-mighty Middle Ages royal castle, which had a total of nine towers of the same size.
“This was King Valdemar IV Atterdag’s preferred home,” explains the Christmas Angel, who continues speaking while, together, they sneak up towards the top of the tower, which has gotten its name from the golden goose at the very top. Slightly out of breath, Elf Father, for the first time in several days, interrupts the Christmas Angel’s endless stream of talk. That’s because he thinks he can remember the story behind it all, namely that Valdemar Atterdag put the goose up on the tower after he had received declarations of war from 77 German Hanseatic towns. But King Valdemar was not so easy to frighten, and, according to the story, the king said that he was more afraid of a flock of honking geese than of the combined German Hanseatic towns!
The Christmas Angel is dumbfounded over Elf Father’s knowledge, but that’s not the only surprise for the angel. “I seem to remember that Valdemar Atterdag was chosen for the throne after the kingless times. Those were the eight worst years of my elfin life,” says Elf Father, referring to the period in Denmark’s history when the country was in foreign hands and without a king. “I never got to sleep a wink or spread Christmas cheer during those years. Because of the nature of things, it was an impossible task to be a Royal House elf at the time.”
Elf Father is excited that he is about to get a good handle on the Royal Lineage. It looks promising, and he hopes that the Christmas Angel will soon let him go back to Amalienborg and Christmas coziness with the family. But it will not be so easy, because there’s much that Elf Father still has to experience.