To the palace of King Eldinil

The trip to meet with Eldinil, the High King of the Elves, began with much fanfare.

All the North Pole elves gathered in the town square to see us off. They were joined by all of the gnomes and dwarves.

Seeger even had the choir ready to sing a song in honor of former great Elf kings!

I was dressed in my best suit – and thanks to my diet, it even fit (well, mostly!).

Eomar, as the head of the North Pole Elves and so going with me, was dressed in his best. He looked wonderful in his forest green suit with red trim.

The choir burst into song as the stable elves led the team and the sleigh into the square.

The reindeer had all been cleaned and brushed. Their antlers had been rubbed with oil so they glistened,

They were wearing the finest harnesses we had, with gold links and buckles, and hundreds of gold and silver bells that tinkled as the reindeer walked.

Walked? No, pranced as they carried themselves proudly and could barely conceal their delight at the trip.

I gave my lovely wife a kiss, then Eomar and I climbed aboard.

“We hope to be back soon with news of our meeting,” I said. “Until then, keep up the good work and heed my good wife. There are only three months until Christmas!”

I shook the reins – and away we flew!

We circled the village once, both of us waving, and then headed south to Norway.

It seemed as if we were only in the air a minute when we passed over the Norwegian coast. We wove our way through the mountain passes in the Jotunheimen Mountains (the realm of the giants, as the Norwegians like to say). We circled, Glittertinden, Norway’s highest mountain, until I saw the sparkling light that indicated an Elvish passage into the mountain.

Anyone seeing us would have thought we crashed right into the mountain.

But of course, the opening simply let us into a passage that led us deep into the mountain.

Finally, the passage widened into a great chamber. In the center of the chamber lay Farnhorth, the glittering palace of the King Eldinil.

Eomar could barely conceal his excitement. To see the reat King is an immense honor – for a human, and certainly for a elf.

We landed. A number of elves dressed in green suits approached us.

One elf stepped forward.

“We are honored to welcome the great Santa Claus to Farnhorth,” he said, bowing. “The High King awaits.”

Before I could ask his name (I later learned it was Elros Calcacil), he gestured us forward.

We entered through a great door into the king’s audience hall.

I was surprised to see three thrones. The central throne held Eldinil, with his crown that rose several feet above his head in triple spires of white gold.

But seated to his left was a dwarf who was wearing the ornate and jewel encrusted crown of the king of the dwarves. And to his right sat a gnome wearing the simple gold band on his head that showed he was a representative of the high council of the gnomes.

I gasped.

This is not at all what I expected!