A STRANGER CAME ASHORE

Hunker down by the fire now and hear Mollie Hunter tell of the stormy Shetland night that brought a stranger ashore and into the Henderson cottage. Though he gives his name as Finn Learson and is presumed to be a shipwreck survivor, twelve-year-old Robbie and his grandfather, Old Da, suspect that this is no other than the king of the Selkies, or seal folk, come to lure bonny sister Elspeth to his crystal palace under the sea. When Old Da dies, not even Nicol, Elspeth's island suitor, will take Robbie's fears seriously, but at last the beaky, stooped schoolmaster Yarl Corbie, a wizard for sure and likely a raven as well, conspires with Robbie for reasons of his own to steal the stranger's hidden sealskin and win Elspeth back for Nicol. The final struggle comes on the magical Up Helly Aa, the last night of the Christmas season, with Robbie dodging the shadows of spirit trows whose night it is to roam, Nicol assuming a superhuman strength derived from his role and guise in the ancient celebration, and Finn Learson turning withered, twisted and very old before their eyes in a scene that will make yours stare.