''Den vita stenen'' ("The White Stone") is a 1964 Swedish

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

written by Gunnel Linde. In 1965, Linde received the

Nils Holgersson Plaque The Nils Holgersson Plaque is an award given by Swedish Library Association. It was established in 1950, and named for the book ''The Wonderful Adventures of Nils'' by Selma Lagerlöf. It is an annual award given to the author of the best children' ...

for this book. In 1973, a TV version of the story was produced.

Plot

The book takes place in a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the Swedish countryside during the 1930s. Fia and her mother Mrs Pettersson, a piano teacher, live in the big house of the village's "häradshövding" (a countryside local judge/

lawspeaker A lawspeaker or lawman ( Swedish: ''lagman'', Old Swedish: ''laghmaþer'' or ''laghman'', Danish: ''lovsigemand'', Norwegian: ''lagmann'', Icelandic: , Faroese: '' løgmaður'', Finnish: ''laamanni'', ) is a unique Scandinavian legal offic ...

), where the bad-tempered housekeeper Malin lives. People say bad things about Mrs Pettersson because she is useless and lazy as she just plays piano. Fia always gets teased by her school mates because she has a useless mother who is a piano teacher in their school. One summer day, a boy called Hampus comes to the village together with his stepparents, his uncle who is a poor

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

and his wife, and their 6 children. The shoemaker's wife and her children think Hampus is stupid as he "always makes trouble and makes them move house" as they have changed home often. When Hampus and Fia meet, they don't want to say their real names. The two children, who are alienated, start their own

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

and call themselves ''"Fideli"'' (Fia) and ''"Farornas konung"'' ("King of the Dangers", Hampus). They "fight" for a white stone and order each other on "missions": "when you have completed the "mission" you'll get the stone".

TV series

In 1973 a TV series with 13 parts, directed by

Göran Graffman Eric Göran Graffman (12 February 1931 – November 2014) was a Sweden, Swedish actor and film director from Gothenburg). He was the father of the actor Per Graffman, the director Emil Graffman and Mats Graffman. Graffman worked as actor at Goth ...

, based on the book, was produced.

Cast

* Julia Hede as ''Ina Vendela Sofia "Fia" Pettersson'' * Ulf Hasseltorp as ''Hampus'' * Monica Nordquist as ''Mrs Pettersson'' *

Ulf Johanson Ulf Olav Johanson (also credited as Johnason and Johansson) (3 February 1922 in Stockholm – 15 February 1990 in Stockholm) was a Swedish actor. He won the Eugene O'Neill Award in 1983. Selected filmography * ''Hans majestäts rival'' (1943 ...

as ''the "häradshövding" (judge)'' *

Betty Tuvén Betty Tuvén (born 30 May 1928 in Gothenburg - died 17 June 1999 in Stockholm) was a Swedish actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in th ...

as ''Malin'' *

Håkan Serner John Gunnar Håkan Serner (1 September 1933 in Malmö – 25 October 1984 in Stockholm) was a Sweden, Swedish actor. Family He was nephew to Frank Heller, and stepfather to Malin Gjörup. Awards In 1977 Serner received the award for Guldbagge ...

as ''Sivert Kolmodin, shoemaker, Hampus' uncle and stepfather'' * Maj-Britt Lindholm as ''Mrs Kolmodin'' *Ingemar Hasselquist as ''Henning Kolmodin, the shoemaker's eldest child'' * Cecilia Nilsson as ''Eivor Kolmodin, the shoemaker's daughter'' *Gunilla Söderholm as ''Siri Kolmodin, the shoemaker's daughter'' *Ann-Charlotte Lithman as ''Nanna Kolmodin, the shoemaker's daughter'' *Joakim Rundberg as ''Ture Kolmodin, the shoemaker's son'' *Robert Rundberg as ''Lulle Kolmodin, the shoemaker's son'' *

Fanny Gjörup Fanny Louise Gjörup (16 October 1961 in Örnäset, Luleå Municipality Luleå Municipality () is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Luleå, which is also the county seat of Norrbotten County. Lo ...

as ''Brita'' *Eva Dahlqvist as ''Essy'' *Pia Skagermark as ''Solbritt'' * Börje Mellvig as ''merchant'' *

Björn Gustafson Björn Herman Leonard Gustafson (born 30 November 1934) is a Swedish actor. He was born in Stockholm and has appeared in 93 films and television shows since 1956. He starred in the 1965 film '' Love 65'', which was entered into the 15th Berlin ...

as ''baker Emilsson'' *

Lars-Erik Liedholm Lars-Erik Liedholm (5 April 1928 – 19 December 1996) was a Swedish actor, director and screenwriter. Biography Liedholm was born in Motala, Sweden. He graduated from Lund University in 1948 and studied 1951–1954 at Högskolan för scen och m ...

as ''postmaster, Brita's father'' *

Ove Tjernberg Sten Ove Filip Tjernberg (27 December 1928 – 7 March 2001) was a Swedish actor. He was engaged at Gothenburg City Theatre. Selected filmography *1996 - ''The Hunters (1996 film), Jägarna'' *1994 - ''Läckan'' (TV) *1982 - ''Polisen som vä ...

as ''"Farornas Konung", lion tamer at circus'' *

Willy Peters Willy Peters (31 January 1915 – 13 August 1976) was a Swedish actor and director. He appeared in about 50 films. He was married to actress Agneta Lagerfeldt from 1943 until his death. The journalist Christian Peters is their son. Selected f ...

as ''doctor'' * Karin Miller as ''schoolteacher''

References and sources

External links

About the bookAbout the TV series (Swedish Film Database)
{{Portal , Children's literature Swedish children's novels 1964 Swedish novels 1964 children's books Swedish children's television series 1970s Swedish television series 1973 Swedish television series debuts Novels set in Sweden Novels set in the 1930s Children's books set in Sweden Children's books set in the 1930s