When he recovered, Leif wrote a letter to the community of Rachel. He explained the Norwegian Air Force patches he mailed to them as a thank-you for their generosity, "On both [of these patches] you can see the relationship to the Vikings. Norway is famous for the Vikings who ravaged for some centuries ago. And again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

Leif was born in Saltnes, a town a few miles from the larger port town of Stavanger. In old Norwegian, a Saltnes refers to a rock jutting out into the fjord which the Norwegians used to dry salt.

Saltnes is a lush, green, steep-valleyed village hundreds of miles outside of Oslo. Back when people dried salt on the fjord-bank, Scandinavians believed in little people who lived in the woods. The Norwegians called these people trolls. And like all other mythological little people, trolls were not all good - they were deceitful and ate children.

Norwegians aren't the only ones who made up stories about little people in the woods. The Irish had their own dwarves from beyond the pale. We call them Leprechauns. In Scotland, there were the pixies and tommyknockers, mischevious short people whom you wanted to keep on your good side.

In Russia and Poland, Slavic people believed in a people so small, they could hide under the cover of grass. These 'krasnoludki' secretly helped with house chores, but if they were offended by your mockery of them, they would play pranks and piss in your milk. Worse, they would commit themselves to evil-doings around your homestead.