Return to Ragnarok Mountain

Scene 1, The Old Library

The curtain opens on a deserted library. The children enter silently and make immediately for the shelf where the book ‘Myths and Legends from Around the World’ is located.

TOM: Come on Jack, do hurry, there’s no time to lose.

JACK: Alright, Tom, stop nagging me.

TOM: It should be here somewhere. I’m sure this is the shelf.

MELISSA: No, Tom, I think it was this one – but it’s not here.

JACK: Well, this is a fine start. We can’t even find the book.

TOM: We must find it. Without the magic chant we can never get back to Middlegarth. (They continue to search)

AMY: We simply must find the book. We have to return Wodek’s dragon-tooth talisman. He may be suffering awful bad luck without it.

(Tom pulls the talisman out from under his shirt and studies it.)

MELISSA: And we must give him this… (all gasp in awe as she holds up the necklet)

TOM; I can just feel the power of the necklet. No wonder Lokki was so powerful a sorcerer. Who wouldn’t be if they possessed such a tool.

JACK: Wodek does not need that. He has supreme power already.

AMY: I want to see Kirrig again! She’s my best friend and I haven’t seen her for a whole year.

JACK: Amy, Kirrig is an elf! How can you have an elf for a best friend?

AMY: I don’t care if she is an elf. I’m her best friend as well. I can speak her language.

MELISSA: Can you still remember that stuff, Amy? Let me see! Ebwar means elf or elfir as they call themselves…and tiwar means …crying or tears!

TOM: Yes, and then there’s asur, which means alright or o.k….

AMY: And gebu means goodbye …

JACK: … and we might as well say goodbye to our adventure if we don’t find that book. What’s the title, Tom?

TOM: ‘Myths and Legends From Around the World’.

(They continue to look for the book. Amy sits centre stage and does not attempt to join in the search.)

AMY: Don’t you think it’s just wonderful the way the elves can talk through signs, even when they can’t see each other! If you make the ebwar sign they know you are calling them even if they can’t see you. (She does the sign and we hear sounds of elves singing off-stage.)

MELISSA: Goodness, do you hear that, Tom? That is powerful magic. Amy, you really are privileged to be able to use their language.

AMY I’d like to know why Alex wasn’t allowed out. I’d like her to be here.

JACK: Why? She’d just say everything is boring!

TOM: Don’t be silly, Jack. You know she’s unwell and must rest in bed.

JACK: Rest in bed…ha! ha! ha! You know very well Alex doesn’t like staying in bed. As soon as her Mum goes to work, she gets dressed, climbs out of the window and down the tree into the garden.

TOM: Don’t you dare tell anyone, Jack. You will get her into trouble.

MELISSA: It’s no good. The book’s not here anywhere. It’s been a whole year and it may even have been taken off the shelves by now.

JACK: We might as well go home. (Amy spots a big book lying on the floor.)

AMY: Just a moment! What’s this book on the floor. ‘Myths and Legends’…this is it, this is the one!

MELISSA: Good girl, Amy, you found it. (Takes the book) Now let me see, myths of creation, unexplained disappearances.. page 743! Here we are…in nineteenth century Norway a peasant girl by the name of Freya… This is it but where’s the chant?

TOM: It must be there, Melissa! Without the chant we can never get back to Middlegarth and return the talisman to Wodek! (Here, let me see) Impossible! It’s not here. Someone must have torn the page out…but why would they do a thing like that?

MELISSA: Perhaps someone else has discovered the secret.

JAC:K Or perhaps they want to prevent our going back to Middlegarth.

AMY: But why? I want to go back…I want to see Kirrig again! (sobbing) I have to see Kirrig again. She’ll be missing me.

JACK: Don’t be a cry-baby, Amy! That won’t solve anything, will it!

AMY: Well, why don’t you do something about it? (She sniffs)

TOM: That’s quite enough bickering, you two. I have a suggestion. Why don’t we get a pen and a piece of paper and see if we can remember the chant. It’s called the Middlegarth Oath of Heritage – I can remember that much. Jack, go and ask the librarian for paper and pencil at once.

JACK: Why is it always me? TOM Please, Jack.

JACK: Oh, very well then. (Exit Jack)

MELISSA: Tom, don’t you think this might be dangerous? I mean, if someone else knows the chant and has already gone to Middlegarth….We don’t know who it is, do we?

TOM: Well, perhaps we should not all go this time…maybe just we two eldest…

AMY: No! That’s not fair. I want to come as well.

MELISSA: We have to remember the chant first.

(Enter Jack)

JACK: There you are, Sir! Paper and pencil, as you ordered.

[See Old English pronounciation guide below.] 

TOM: I can remember a bit of it: iç ġefare and something about eorǷriçe. but what was the other bit?

MELISSA: Something to do with the weather?

TOM: I don’t know. I just cannot remember.

JACK: This is hopeless. It’s a whole year since last summer hols when we did the chant. How can we possibly remember it?

MELISSA: Tom remembered a bit, didn’t he?

JAC:K He says he did. But how do we know if it’s right?

TOM: If we can remember the rest we’ll soon know if it’s right, Jack.

JACK: I suppose so.

MELISSA: I think it went: þurh …. regn ond blâst …or something like that. Write it down, Tom.

TOM: But it doesn’t sound quite right to me, Melissa.

AMY: þurh blâst ond regn – through wind and rain.

TOM: Good show, Amy! I do believe you’ve got it. (He writes it down) þurh blâst ond regn …

AMY: iç ġefare… in drÿliçan eorǷriçe. Yes, that’s how it went.

MELISSA: Good Girl, Amy.

JACK: Now what?

MELISSA: We must form a circle and hold hands, Jack. Then, we all say the chant together, three times.

TOM: Come on then, form a circle!

AMY: Tom, I’m frightened.

JACK: Then go home to mummy, cry-baby. (Amy sniffs.)

MELISSA: You’ll be alright, Amy. Be brave!

TOM: On the count of three we do the chant three times. Everyone ready. 1,2,3… 

TOGETHER: þurh blâst ond regn iç ġefare in drÿliçan eorǷriçe. (Three times.)

[Through wind and rain into the magical earthly kingdom I go. Old English pronounciation guide: Thurch blast and rayn itch yefaruh in drewleechun airthreacher.]

SFX of thunder and LFX of flash as they disappear.

End of Scene

Scene 2 – The Grinkengaap

The lighting is dim with colour washes. If possible there should be upward-moving gobo projections to give the impression that the children are falling. We do not see Tyr – he is merely a booming voice. The children spin into the scene.

AMY: (Screams) What’s happening? Where are we? I’m falling.

MELISSA: Keep calm, Amy. This is the Grinkengaap. Don’t you remember – the void beyond existence?

AMY: I’m scared. Melissa!

MELISSA: Here hold my hand. Let’s stay close together, everyone.

TYR: Do not be afraid, children. I am Tyr, the custodian of the void, the watchman of the Grinkengaap. I am here to guide you safely through the unknown to Middlegarth.

TOM: Tyr, thank goodness. The sooner we get to Middlegarth, the better.

TYR: Patience, my friend. One cannot hurry the process of passing from one world to another. Time is suspended in the Grinkengaap. It is merely another dimension – and one which I control.

MELISSA: Tyr, has another person passed through the Grinkengaap lately?

TYR: Many people have passed through these last thousand years. Too many to count.

MELISSA: No, I mean really recently.

TYR: There was another such as yourselves, safely passed through to Middlegarth.

TOM: Who was it Tyr? Who was it?

TYR: That I cannot say – I am custodian of the void. I also have to keep its secrets.

JACK: Tyr, we have to reach Wodek. We need to return his talisman.

TYR: Patience, boy, and it shall be done. But all is not well with Wodek. His powers have waned.

TOM: What on earth has happened to him? We helped him defeat Lokki and the Magworts. What else could possibly go wrong?

TYR: I fear the great Wodek is facing an even greater danger, although he does not realise it himself. Lokki was defeated but he left behind an even greater danger – a greater evil than himself.

MELISSA: No, Tyr! Please tell us it’s not true.

TYR: But it is true, Melissa. Lokki’s evil lives on in his daughter, Hethrogg.

(Gasps of dismay from the children.)

TOM: But this is not possible. Lokki – a daughter. We knew nothing of this.

TYR: She has been banished in exile in the frozen north these last thousand years, biding her time and waiting for her chance. Lokki’s death gave her that chance.

MELISSA: But surely she is no match for Wodek. What has become of him?

TYR: Wodek languishes in a cave on Ragnarok Mountain. He is a mere shell, without knowledge or memory, cared for by Oswald, his assistant Wizard.

JACK: But what about the ravens, Marog, his memory and Hurog, his knowledge?

TYR: The ravens have been kidnapped and are held in captivity by the evil Hethrogg. She would rule the whole land.

AMY: What about the poor elves?

TYR: All is not well with them. Be patient. You will see…you will see.

TOM: We must go to Wodek and help him. Help him to defeat this evil Hethrogg. Will you help us, Tyr?

TYR: Certainly! Tyr will be your guide….be your guide….your guide…

(His voice trails off into the distance. The children suddenly land on the floor with a big bump and the lights come up full at once.)

MELISSA: Ow, that hurt!

AMY: Where are we?

JACK: I dunno, do I! TOM Don’t you recognise this place – it’s Ragnarok Mountain.

MELISSA: It looks familiar but last time we were here it was dark and the place was swarming with Magworts.

AMY: Yuk! Don’t remind me, Melissa. They were horrible!

JACK: This is such an adventure. I can’t wait until we get home and tell Alex about it. She will be so jealous that she missed it just because of flu.

TOM: Well, now we’re here we had better go and find Wodek. Tyr said he was living in a cave with Oswald. I bet it’s one of the caves that the Magworts used to live in. Come on it’s this way. (Exits)

AMY: But what if there are still some Magworts living there.

MELISSA: Don’t be silly, Amy. They were all turned to stone when the sun came up, remember?

AMY: All the same, I’d rather not go first, thank you.

As they exit, Amy does the ebwar sign and we hear the distant sound of Elves singing. Just as the children exit and the lights are slowly dimming a couple of shadowy creatures cross the stage, look towards the direction the children have gone, and follow discretely. They make the ebwar sign to the audience as they exit. (These are, in fact, elves) 

Performance History