midnight
they all agreed , in hushed voices as faint and far-off as the breaking of the tide against the rocks on the opposite coast . As they spoke , the fairy-like bridge in the sky parted asunder and vanished ! The brilliant aurora borealis faded by swift degrees -- a few moments , and the land was again enveloped in gloom . It might have been midnight -- yet by the clock it was but four in the afternoon . Dreary indeed was the Altenfjord , -- yet the neighboring village of Talvag was even drearier . There , desolation reigned supreme -- it was a frozen region of bitter , shelterless cold , where the poverty-stricken inhabitants , smitten by the physical torpor and mental stupefaction engendered by the long , dark season , scarcely stirred out of their miserable homes , save to gather extra fuel . This is a time in Norway , when beyond the Arctic Circle , the old gods yet have sway -- when in spite of their persistent , sometimes fanatical , adherence to the strictest forms of Christianity , the people almost unconsciously revert to the superstitions of their ancestors .