CLASSIC CINDERELLA MYSTERIES - SEA SERPENT

The stamps of this firm are listed in the Brofos Catalog of Railway, Steamship and Carrier Stamps of Norway which is available online at the Scandinavian Collectors' Club site.

This item is an neat Seljord Bus company freight stamp for 1 Kr on waybill accompanied by an unusual Norwegian State Railway Meter Stamp from the town of BØ.  

Bø is a town in Telemark.  Every July, Bø hosts the Telemark Folk Music Festival.  Bø is known throughout Scandinavia for its rich tradition of folk music, silversmith art and violin construction.  Bø is home to the manufacture of the Hardanger fiddle.  The Helland family has had 14 violin makers in Bø over the last 200 years.  Bø is known as the Nordic "Cremona", in reference to the Amati, and Stradivari families who made famous violins in that city.  Bø's coat of arms consists of 3 violins on a red field.

The coat of Arms of Bø

Seljord is a municipality in the county of Telemark in southern Norway.  The town is most famous for its sea serpent, Selma, who allegedly lives in Lake Seljord (Seljordsvatnet).   Selma appears on the arms of the town.  According to rumor, Selma also likes railway and parcel stamps.  The picture below shows 3 humps of 'Selma' that were photographed recently on the lake.

In August, 'Selma', the elusive sea serpent of Seljord in Telemark, was again spotted. The dog days of summer, which stretch from July 23 to August 23 have traditionally been days where the legendary beast has been spotted in Lake Seljord, newspaper Telemarksavisa reports.

This summer had not featured a single spotting from either tourist or residents, and the previous year was also extremely quiet on the sea serpent front.  But on Wednesday Solvoll got a call from a Telemark man who has a cabin near the lake.

"He described himself as a 'calm and down-to-earth guy'. He was afraid of being labeled an idiot and would not give his name," Solvoll told Telemarksavisa.

The cabin owner made the observation along with a friend and claimed that they saw what appeared to be one serpent chasing another. The men filmed the sighting and promised to contact Solvoll in a few days to show him their footage.

"That they saw two serpents chasing each other fits with their mating season beginning now. The serpent usually appears in the middle of July and through August, when it is good and warm," Solvoll told the newspaper.

The sightings in Lake Seljord date back to the 1700s, and the serpent has attracted the attention of Swedish explorer Jan Ove Sundberg who intends to have a new examination of the lake's depths next summer.

Sundberg has promised to return with more advanced equipment than in his previous hunt for the serpent, and he says they have "somewhat unclear" footage of an 8-10 meter long creature from his last trip.

"It could be an enormous cold water serpent we had contact with, but next year we will reveal the mystery," Sundberg said.