"Good day, fellow!" "Axe handle!"

Scandinavian folktale and non-sequitur December 2021 "Good Day, Fellow!" "Axe Handle!" God dag mann - Økseskaft.jpg Illustration by Theodor Kittelsen 1698J no "God dag, mann!" "Økseskaft!" Norway 1770s Norwegian Folktales Good Day, Fellow!' 'Axe Handle! (no "God dag, mann!" "Økseskaft!") is a Scandinavian folktale, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe. Plot A deaf or hard-of-hearing ferryman has a wife, two sons and a daughter. They fritter away all their money, and leave him to pay the bill when their credit runs out. He sees the bailiff coming in the distance and decides to be clever and prepare his answers ahead of time. He reasons that the first thing the man will ask will be about what he is carving. He will say that it is an axe handle. He thinks that the other questions will be about the length of the axe handle, his ferry, his mare and the way to the cowshed. However, the first thing the bailiff says is "Good day, fellow!" He replies "Axe handle!", thinking himself clever. Next the bailiff asks how far it is to the inn. "Up to this knot!" he replies, pointing to the axe handle. The bailiff shakes his head and stares at him. "Where is your wife, man?" he says. "I'm going to tar her," says the ferryman. "She's lying on the beach, cracked at both ends." "Where is your daughter?" "Oh, she's in the stable, big with foal," he says, still thinking himself clever. The bailiff finally gets angry with him and shouts, "Go to the devil, fool that you are!" "Oh, it's not far away, when you're over the hill, you're almost there," says the man. Influence The phrase "Goddag mann, økseskaft!" (Good day, fellow axe handle) has become a common idiom for a non sequitur, not just in Norway but also the rest of Scandinavia ("Goddag, yxskaft!" in Swedish, "Goddag mand, økseskaft!" in Danish and "Hyvää päivää, kirvesvartta!" in Finnish).November 2021 The folktale was later published in the widely used Swedish elementary school book Sörgården sv by Anna Maria Roos in 1912.November 2021 A similar tale appears in a 1985 collection of folktales given an erotic twist, by Erik Høvring.Høvring Erik Den bortfløjne mødom, samt andre skæmtsomme og erotiske folkeeventyr 1985 Nyt nordisk forlag København 8717053625 Evald Tang Kristensen illustrated by Erik Hjorth Nielsen DanishNovember 2021 References External links goddag yxskaft Økse-skaft The Danish Dictionary da https://runeberg.org/folkeven/094.html God dag, mann! -- Økseskaft Project Runeberg Kjell Nedrelid 12 November 1994 Norwegian Category:Scandinavian folklore Category:Idioms from non-English cultures Category:Asbjørnsen and Moe Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title