Author talk: Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen on ‘Christmas in the Iron Forest’ & ‘The Seeress's Path’

Meet author Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen: Wednesday 16 December 2026, 18:30–20:00, Birkerød Bibliotek, Birkerød. Admission is free.

Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen talks with literary communicator Julie Garde about Christmas in the Iron Forest, the world of The Seeress's Path, Old Norse Christmas traditions, myths, magic and drama, and why adults need fantastical stories too.

In the book, the giantess Hyrrokin invites guests to the first Christmas celebration at the winter solstice. In five days, she will celebrate the return of light with her wolf and viper, raise her iron tree, eat meat and drink mead. She otherwise lives alone in her boulder house in an impenetrable iron forest and fears she lost her family in the recent conflict among the gods. Christmas brings surprises and unexpected guests.

The story is fiction but draws on historical sources. Its foreword contains facts about Old Norse Christmas, including the winter feast, mead, roast pork and gifts. The word jól is Old Norse and originally referred to several celebrations, including the return of light. The author sees similarities between then and now: Christmas brings joy and light to a dark time.

Christmas in the Iron Forest is an independent story from the The Seeress's Path universe and is not part of the completed series Snehild, Misteltenen, Ulvegabet, Ormehavet and Flammesværdet.