Great insights on aging, and attitudes toward aging - and great job of pulling together so many sources! One in particular led me down the Rabbit Hole. Of course I commented on the wrong post, so I'm copy/pasting the comment here:
Ooh what a great legend! God tells the sleeping warrior "It was only a dream; go back to sleep," But if danger ever does come, then old Holger Danske will arise, and this is why I read books. :)
Not gonna do the block-quote thing, not with so many paragraphs, but this!
Holger Danske's legend became famous thanks to Hans Christian Andersen, who said that Holger never died. Instead, he is a sleeping hero residing in the dark cellar, where no one ever goes, of Kronborg Castle at Elsinore, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Dressed in full armor made of iron and steel, Holger sits before a table, resting his head on his arm. His beard has grown long into the table as he slumbers and dreams of Denmark.
Every Christmas Eve, an angel of God assures him that what he has dreamed is accurate and that he can safely go back to sleep because Denmark is in no real danger. But if danger ever does come, then old Holger Danske will arise, breaking the table in pieces as he pulls out his beard! And then he will come forward and strike out and be heard in all the lands of the Earth.
Written by – A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer
Updated on March 1, 2023