Карин Тидбек - Jagannath

I have tried to convey all of these things, and more. Hopefully some of them made it across to you.

Born in 1977 in Stockholm, Sweden, Karin Tidbeck lives and works in Malmö. An alumna of the 2010 Clarion San Diego writers’ workshop, she has studied comparative religion and social anthropology at the University of Stockholm, and creative writing at Skurups folkhögskola where she also trained as a creative writing instructor. She has worked as a freelance writer for role-playing productions in schools and theatres, written articles and essays on gaming and interactive arts theory.

She has published short stories and poetry in Swedish since 2002, and in English since 2010. Her 2010 book debut, the short story collection Vem är Arvid Pekon?, awarded her the coveted one-year working grant from the Swedish Authors’ Fund. Her English publication history includes Weird Tales, Shimmer Magazine, Unstuck Annual and the anthology Odd?. She recently sold her first novel to Sweden’s largest publisher.

No writer works in a vacuum. These stories were written over the course of ten years, with the help and support from my family, friends, editors, fellow writers, critique groups and teachers. Putting together Jagannath, I owe thanks to my husband, Robin, for his unwavering support and willingness to read anything I put in front of him at a moment’s notice; to my fellow insane and wonderful alumni of Clarion UCSD 2010; and to Jeff & Ann, Jeremy & Teri for all their hard work producing this book. I am profoundly grateful to you all.

Beatrice

—Swedish title “Beatrice,” originally published in the collection Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—English translation published in Steampunk Revolution (2012)

Some Letters for Ove Lindström

—Swedish title “Några brev till Ove Lindström,” originally published in the collection Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag 2010

—English translation published in Shimmer Magazine #14 (2010)

Miss Nyberg and I

—Swedish title “Fröken Nyberg och jag,” originally published in the collection Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—Previously unpublished in English

Rebecka

—Swedish title “Rebecka,” collected in Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—First published on S ourze.se (2002) under the title “Samtal med Rebecka”

—Previously unpublished in English

Herr Cederberg

—Swedish title “Herr Cederberg,” collected in Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—First published in Ordkonst #1 (2007), under the title “Att vara en humla”

—Previously unpublished in English

Who is Arvid Pekon?

—Swedish title “Arvid Pekon,” collected in Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—First published in Jules Verne-Magasinet #513 (2002) under the title “Vem är Arvid Pekon?”

—Previously unpublished in English

Brita’s Holiday Village

—Original title “Tant Britas stugby,” published in the collection Vem är Arvid Pekon?, Man av Skugga förlag (2010)

—Previously unpublished in English

Reindeer Mountain

—Previously unpublished in Swedish or English

Cloudberry Jam

—Originally published in English in Unstuck Journal #1 (2011)

—Swedish translation published by published by Mix Förlag (2011) under the title ”Blodsband”

Pyret

—Previously unpublished in Swedish or English

Augusta Prima

—Swedish title: “Augusta Prima,” originally published in Mitrania #3 (2009)

—English translation published in Weird Tales #357 (2011)

Aunts

—Swedish title: ”Tanterna” Insulae, ed. Skurups folkhögskola(2007)

—English translation published in ODD?. (2011)

Jagannath

—Originally published in English in Weird Tales #358 (2011)

—Swedish translation published by Mix Förlag (2011) under the same title

This edition copyright © 2012, Karin Tidbeck. All rights reserved.

For a publication history of the stories collected herein, refer to the extended copyright page.

ISBN: 978-0-9857904-1-7 (epub)

ISBN: 978-0-9857904-2-4 (mobi)

Cover and Cheeky Frawg logo copyright 2011 by Jeremy Zerfoss.

Ebook design by Neil Clarke.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder.

Cheeky Frawg is run by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. Our managing editor is Therese Goulding.

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Like gods and spirits, predators were often called by euphemisms to avoid bad luck or visits from said creatures. In some cases the euphemisms have replaced the taboo name in common usage. The Swedish word for wolf, varg (killer, strangler) , was originally a euphemism for the taboo ulv; similarly, the euphemism for magpie, skata (the elongated one), has replaced the original skjora. The word for bear shared by all Germanic languages, (in Swedish björn), simply means “brown,” a euphemism so old that it has acquired euphemisms of its own and the original name has been lost (although linguists through comparative studies have constructed a hypothetical root word in Proto-Indo-European).

Old Norse form of the word “pyre,” still in use in Norwegian.

Finnish: “tyke”

The most common witchcraft-related crime was “illegal mingling”: young men consorting with female trolls and vittra.

The main Christmas church service in Sweden at the time, held at 4:00 AM on Christmas day.

Lagerlöf, Selma: Troll och människor, Albert Bonniers Boktryckeri, Stockholm, 1915, p. 95.