Edvard is a Norwegian farmer who lives in America. He has a son named Ollie, and a daughter named Asgard.
Tales of the Peculiar[]
Early Life[]
Edvard was born and raised in Norway. He stopped going to school at age eight to work instead.
The Locust[]
Edvard immigrated to Dakota Territory in America to seek his fortune. After a few years, when he was prospering some, he was often told that he should find a wife and start a family. Despite his initial resistance to this, he fell in love and married his wife, and she even became pregnant with their son, Ollie. Unfortunately, she passes due to the childbirth and Edvard becomes bitter, unable to give Ollie true parental love. When locusts began destroying the livelihoods of the settlers, Edvard is angry that his son doesn't believe in causing the locusts harm back, embarrassing Edvard to the rest of the town, and treats Ollie harshly. He kills Ollie's pet locust and kicks him out of the house, which is the final straw for Ollie to feel completely unloved and thus turn into a locust. Edvard is unable to accept his son in this form, who leaves.
Realizing that his farm doesn't matter as much to him as his son does, Edvard even offers the townspeople his farm for them to find Ollie and love the boy enough to turn him back. When this fails, Edvard sinks into a depression. After getting out of it, though, he manages to fall in love again and has a daughter, Asgard, with his new wife.
During one hard growing season, during which the family had nothing to eat but turnips, Edvard catches a very large goose. It is originally meant for dinner, but Asgard begs him not to kill it. Edvard relents and also allows the goose to stay. One day, they find that the goose is actually Ollie, making Edvard almost faint. Edvard introduces Ollie to Asgard, and brings his children back to the house to have breakfast, now loving Ollie as much as he does his wife and daughter.
Description[]
Appearance[]
At the start of the story, Edvard is described as a "strapping young lad."
Personality[]
Edvard is a hard-working man, having only through his hard work managed to prosper a little after a few years starting a new life from scratch in America. For a majority of the story he doesn't understand actual love, bearing a belief that love is impractical and that it gets in the way of more important things. This is because back home in Norway, he witnessed his old friend fall in love, but sacrificed a life of adventure and fortune as the girl couldn't bear to leave home- leading the friend to have a family he could barely feed due to the lack of money that could be made in Norway then. Edvard, at first, thought that he loved his farm too much to have place in his heart to love a wife and children as well, but he was proved wrong after he met his first wife, and even realized that he felt joy while she was pregnant with Ollie. Unfortunately, this newfound happiness was short-lived after his wife passed due to Ollie's birth, regretting that he had ever allowed himself to love someone, and he doesn't know how to get rid of the bitterness that his love has become.
Despite the lack of love that he initially showed to his son, Ollie does deeply matter to him, and he despairs when Ollie is lost. Edvard is able to find true love again with a new wife and child, and due to his lesson learned with Ollie he keeps an open heart, sparing a goose for his daughter. He also does not make the goose stay in a cage. By the end of the story he loves his whole family unconditionally.
Relationships[]
Ollie[]
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Since Ollie's babyhood, Edvard did not truly love Ollie, blaming him for the death of Edvard's first wife although he knows that it isn't Ollie's fault. Edvard is cruel to his son, thinking he is too sensitive and loves too much. He is not against hitting his son when he was angry with him, and did not show much true parental love due to his difference to Ollie, though he did have the capacity to feel bad for being harsh. His definition of love to his son doesn't go beyond providing Ollie's basic needs, even calling him an "entitled American brat." When Ollie refuses to kill locusts, Edvard becomes ashamed of his son, and becomes even more so after Ollie turns into one. He believes that he needs to be tough on Ollie so as not to encourage Ollie's being "soft," but this only drives Ollie away. After Edvard finds that his son is gone, he realizes that Ollie meant more to him than he realized, more than his farm did, and desperately wants to find him again and have him feel loved enough to become a boy again.
In the end, Edvard finds Ollie in the form of a goose, and treats him with the compassion he failed to treat him with in past years, truly loving him like a parent should. He tells Ollie that he missed him and hopes that Ollie can forgive him. Ollie, though, has long forgiven has father, and when they reunite he gives Edvard a big smile.
Asgard[]
Edvard learns how to love his child through Asgard. After Ollie is lost, Edvard realizes that he didn't love Ollie as much as he ought to, so he decides to love Asgard the way he should have with Ollie. Edvard lets his daughter love stray animals and cry, and doesn't scold her for being "soft." For her, he spares a goose that was originally meant for dinner (and luckily, as the goose is actually Ollie), and lets Asgard keep it.