“How can it be that things can be so awful,” Skorpan asks his big brother Jonathan, “how can it be that things can be so awful that some have to die when they aren’t even ten years old?” “You know Skorpan, I don’t think it’s that awful,” says Jonathan. “I think you’ll have a wonderful time.” And then Jonathan tells him about Nangijala, a land on the other side of the stars which is still the time of stories and campfires where you can experience adventures from morning to evening and at night too.
Cherry Tree Valley
It is here in Ryttargården in Cherry Tree Valley in Nangijala that the brothers Jonathan and Karl Lionheart live. But Jonathan calls Karl Skorpan (rusk), “just because I love rusks so much,” Karl says. In Nangijala it is the time of stories and campfires, just as Jonathan had said to Skorpan at home in the kitchen when they both still lived on earth, when Skorpan was so ill and knew that he would soon die. Here, Skorpan becomes healthy and strong and can ride up the mountain on his horse, go along to the inn Guldtuppen or just sit and fish in the river with his brother.
Wild Rose Valley
The time of stories and campfires is what Jonathan called the time in Nangijala. Then he didn’t know that all stories aren’t good here. In Wild Rose Valley, the evil tyrant Tengil reigns and has built a wall around the valley and enslaved the people there. No one can enter or leave through the gates without the secret password. But the people are secretly preparing for the Day of the Battle – the day when they are going to liberate the valley from Tengil and his prehistoric monster Katla that terrifies the people. Here in Wild Rose Valley, Jonathan hides from Tengil’s soldiers at Mattias’s home, and this is where Skorpan goes to help his brother.
“Why is that?” I asked. “Because if you don’t you are not a human being, you’re nothing but a little louse,” Jonathan replied.’
From The Brothers Lionheart
