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Anna and Elsa’s earliest memories were both of their mother singing to them.
Davvebiegga mearas lea
doppe johka mas leat muittožat.
Boađe njálgát, biggážan
dasgo dán jogas gávnnat buot.
They figured this out later of course. Elsa remembered being carried by Iduna and rocked to sleep, before there was anyone else to share her with, while Anna remembered snuggling up to Elsa. Anna loved that memory, because it was a connection that they all had, all tied to that secret language, that their mother only spoke to them.
Ja dat johka čieŋal nu
doppe vurdet vástádusat du
Buečal jikŋii čiekŋalit
muht várut heavvaneames fal
Eadni! they used to call her, and it made their mother smile in a different way than the stiff and formal mother. Pappa, was always pappa, but mother was eadni, although later they figured out that just like the song, and the other words, it was only for private use.
Son lávlu daidda geat gullet
Ja lávlagis lea čábbodat
Muht johka diehtá mas balat
Duostat go danin gávnnadit
Father understood some of it. Anna knew that Queen Iduna wasn’t from Arendelle, and it made sense that their father would learn some of her language, but he never spoke it to them, or their mother, as far as she knew. It was never something she thought about much when they were little.
Davvebiegga mearas lea
Doppi eadni geas leat muitto žat
Boađe ruoktut biiggá žan
Go láhppon leat de gávnnat buot
Later came some harsh lessons.
Anna didn’t understand why Elsa didn’t want to play anymore, but she still saw her sister sometimes, especially in lessons. Elsa was further along in both arithmetic and governance, but she apparently lagged behind in reading and writing. Anna had taken to reding novels when she was alone, and was almost done with the texts she was supposed to write for her tutor, while Elsa struggled to find the words sometimes.
“This is a nonsense word, Frøken Elsa. You should know better than this.” Hr. Andersen, who had a Southern Isle accent, was showing her older sister a diary entrance that had been her assignment for that week.
“Yes it is, it’s for when everything is thawing!”
“That’s spring, Frøken Elsa! Gid… Gidha… Whatever this word is, it’s not spring. The rules of proper grammar are no different for royals than for common people.”
Anna could see the upset rising in her sister, and she wondered if maybe she would finally witness an actual reaction from her. Anna would absolutely get in a fight with Hr. Andersen if Elsa was upset with him, maybe that way they could be friends again!
But before that could happen, Elsa ran from the room, holding her arms tightly to her chest.
Later she heard that Elsa would be taking her lessons with their father.
“But why?” She asked Eadni.
“It’s better that way. She’s preparing for a really big role, and she needs to see what that means for herself.” Her mother stroked her hair calmly.
“Is this because of the writing thing? I don’t think Hr. Andersen likes it when we speak different.”
The motions in her hair stopped.
“Anna… biggážan, it’s better if we don’t speak like that in front of other people.”
“But why?” She was losing her sister, and now she was supposed to give up one of the few things that connected them?
“People don’t like it when you speak in a way that they don’t understand. It’s okay in private, when your talking to me. Or Elsa, if she wants to. But it’s… different with other people in Arendelle.”
Anna nodded, although she didn’t really understand.
When she lost her parents, she also lost the only person who would speak the secret language with her.
So things… happened. She suddenly had a fiancé, Arendelle was frozen, Elsa had run away, and there was an ice-seller out in the barn who might be her only chance of getting to the North Mountain. He had seemed intimidating, but there was nothing for it. Anna had to try. She paused before knocking one the door when she heard the strumming of strings. Familiar words drifted through the door, although she didn’t recognize all of them.
“Boazu are better than people…”
She listened for a little while, not sure what the feeling inside her was. But this guy… she could trust him.
Olaf spoke the secret language. It made sense when she thought about it. He was a creation of her and Elsa from they were children, of course he spoke their language.
Kristoff was surprised, both at the talking snowman, and the fact that she could understand what he was saying.
“So,” she started when they were walking in the pink light of dawn. “What does Buazu mean?”
“What? Oh. That’s reindeer. You understand…? Or, well, you obviously didn’t understand that word, but you…?”
“My mother spoke it! But, well, reindeer didn’t come up in conversation a lot when I was young.”
“That’s a shame. I also got it from my parents, well, my birth parents, I think, before I was on my own, and got adopted. But I have to talk to Sven like that. It’s just weird if I don’t.”
“I get that. I can’t really speak to other people with it, except…” She paused, and looked at the directions they were going, towards the North Mountain. Kristoff followed her gaze.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find your sister.”
Without noticing, they had switched languages.
Things got better. There were no more frozen fjords (except in wintertime), and no more closed and locked doors. They obviously didn’t speak the language in public much, but when they all gathered for charades it was a different story.
The thing was, Kristoff knew quite a few words related to reindeer and some other stuff that Anna or Elsa had never heard of, but if you wanted to describe the palace, or city or politics, then they knew way more than Kristoff. Anna always got excited when she learned a new word, even when it meant she lost the round.
Of course, that couldn’t last.
Elsa never thought much about the secret language. It was just another thing she was supposed to repress behind a wall to ensure that… well. Sometimes she didn’t know where protecting others ended, and where protecting herself began. If she revealed something about herself that she wasn’t supposed to, it might end up hurting them, but she ached from longing and fear inside when she denied herself, and it hurt.
It got better. Eventually she had not only Anna, but Olaf, who reminded her of how happy she used to be, and Kristoff, who brought new and wonderful things into their lives.
But there was still something missing.
The voice called her. It called her in a way that nothing else had ever done, and now…
“Amas mu vuorda,” she said to herself. The unknown awaits me.
The Northuldra sang. When Elsa realized what the scarf meant, she immediately switched language.
“Our mother was Northuldra!”
And the song was different than the lullaby, it didn’t have any words, but it struck something in her. It was earthy and connected, and for a moment she thought the song was the earth, and that the earth was the song. That was the way it felt.
This forest… These people felt like home to Elsa in a way that nothing except Anna did.
When Elsa had reached adolescence, she’d been taught a bit more about the Northuldra by her father.
“But why do people pay taxes in the first place?” she had asked after a lecture about minimum tax depending on the size of the vessel a fisher owned.
“That’s actually a good question. They pay because it benefits them. Some of it goes to us, people in the government, but most goes back to the people. If we want to continue to pay the guards, or the school teachers, or have those festivals everyone enjoys so much, everyone has to contribute a bit.”
“Oh.” She had never thought of it that way. “So everyone pays, and get something back.”
“Yes. And it is part of my duty as king to ensure that people don’t pay too much, and get little in return. Your grandfather was actually very conscientious of that, which is why he put so much effort into the schools.”
Elsa had seen the big building just outside of Arendelle city proper, which was used as a school for the children whose parents couldn’t hire tutors.
“Originally they were supposed to be boarding schools for the Northuldra people’s children, remember I told you about them? My father found it very important to ensure they had proper lessons, so we could communicate better. But after a few years they stopped sending children there.”
“But what does that have to do with taxes? The Northuldra weren’t Arendellians.”
“That’s true to an extent, but they often resided on Arendellian land, and traded meat and hides with the city, without going through the channels someone from the Southern Isles or Corona would. So father thought it fair to ask them for taxes, and in return he would ensure their children were properly educated. When that didn’t quite work out, he had the damn built to help them. You see? No taxes without giving something in return.”
Elsa nodded. “That makes sense.”
It was only later she thought about all those people around Arendelle who made due with traveling teachers, or had their parents teach them reading and writing. Why had grandfather been so eager to put the Northuldran children in school, away from their parents?
Yelena led Elsa into a lávvu, and took out a leather drum with symbol drawn on.
“You will have a long and difficult journey. Give me your hand.”
Elsa hesitantly gave it, and Yelena held onto it.
“I am noaidi, do you know what that means? I help my people in all ways, including making sure they don’t get lost.”
“Thank you. I hope we will find our way through the forest.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not quite what I mean. Sometimes the… soul can get lost, but it’s necessary to find what you look for. The important part is to have a way back. Go láhppon leat de gávnnat buot.” She started drumming. “Sing what you have been hearing for me.”
And Elsa did her best.
When they found the parchment in the ship, it was obvious that Eadni had written on the paper. Reading Northuldran was different from reading Arendellian, but they managed to sound it out.
Elsa wondered at what her mother must have thought, living the life she did, hiding some of the most fundamental parts of herself.
Like you did.
Of course, the only thing she really found on that ship was how they died.
She was freezing. If only she could get a message out, speak to the Northuldran, to the guards, anyone! But there was only one person who would understand her when she had no words to give, no way to express herself other than cold har ice.
Anna!