The Deer and the Dragon

Marlow’s great-grandmother Aloisa had a daughter, Dagny, with the Norse fae male called Geir. When she died, she left Dagny a trunk with a traditional Norwegian dress, called a bunad, and some other keepsakes, including her broach, which Fauna calls a sølje. It has a very particular tree in the center and is made of silver; as soon as Fauna asks Marlow about it, Marlow can recall it with “unique clarity.” The sølje symbolizes Marlow’s maternal family line and the past she tried to escape.

For a long time, Marlow is unable to separate her ideas about Christianity and the world from her rejection of her mother’s church and zealotry. She believes that Lisbeth’s “discernment,” as her mother’s church calls it, is a form of mental illness. Marlow abandons her mother and familial heritage, and Aloisa’s sølje signifies the entirety of that heritage, which is why Marlow must return to her mother’s home to retrieve it. The broach’s depiction of a tree, a common symbol for family genealogy, reinforces this association.

Retrieving the sølje aids Marlow in her deepening connection with the supernatural world, allowing her to fully embrace her true identity. As Betty tells Marlow, “[Y]our heirloom is the gift of a thousand lifetimes.