Who is 'Roddjur' a friend of? The mystery recorded in an old Finnish newspaper
Introduction (feel free to skip)
Previously, I tweeted something like this on X (formerly Twitter).
A post regarding a certain overseas newspaper archive site.
最近この、「昔の新聞でこんなムーミン記事を見つけた！」という話を得意げにしているが、有料コンテンツとかではなく誰でも見られるはずなので、需要があればそのうちnoteか何かで紹介したい。ここで読めますよ、という感じで
— 豎林檎※要プロフ一読 (@juringo_applest) May 7, 2025
でも頑張って発見したものを易々と教えたくないという気持ちもある https://t.co/iSQotzHajx
As you can see from this tweet, I have a selfish mindset of“it doesn't pay to easily share with others a treasure trove I worked hard to discover myself.”
At that time, there was someone who discovered this same newspaper archive site as I did. That person generously introduced the site in their own post.
......
I will cast aside my petty pride and share it with you all as well.
The National Library of Finland's Digital Archive
There is awebsite where you can read for freea portion of the digitized materials from the numerous newspapers and books published within Finland, held by the National Library of Finland, "Kansalliskirjasto" (Nationalbiblioteket).
It is here ↓
On this site, you can read many rare, old newspaper articles about Moomin.
You can read the original Swedish version of "Moomintroll and the End of the World," which was serialized in the newspaper "Ny Tid" from 1947 to 1948, read articles about the 1949 play "Moomintroll and the Comet," and see advertisements for "The Moomins and the Great Flood," making ita treasure trove of a site for hardcore Moomin fans.
Within such a treasure trove, there was an article I personally found interesting, so I would like to share it here.
Was the voyage with Fredrikson not "The Memoirs of Moominpappa"?
In the "Nya Pressen" newspaper dated April 22, 1949,there is a section with the heading "Hört i radio".
"Hört i radio" translates to "Heard on the radio." While details are unknown, perhaps it is an article summarizing stories heard on the radio.
Under the "Hört i radio" heading, the following text begins with the sub-heading below.
Den stora Dronten (The Great Dodo)
Below, I have included a Japanese translation (using Google Translate) of the article starting with "Den stora Dronten" regarding thenew Moomin bookat the time.
If you would like to read the original text, please clickhere.
The Great Dodo
is a new creature by Tove Jansson, and yesterday's audience learned about it through the mediation of Sven Relander.
The protagonist of this delightful story is, of course, Moomintroll, who is well known to readers through two books.
Our old friend Snufkin is also there, and there was also something that sounded like "Roddjur" to our ears.
And they all set out on Fredrikson's large houseboat, and after many twists and turns, the boat was finally launched by the great Dodo.
Tove Jansson's fairy tales are always colorful, imaginative, and have an unintentionally original and intellectual touch.
Let us hope that this great Dodo will soon be on bookstore shelves and bring joy to both small and big children alike!
Although the unfamiliar word "Dronten" is written, "Dronten" also appears in the original Moomin fairy tales. In the fairy tales, it is called"Dronten Edward"—"Edward the Dragon". In other words, this "dront(en)" is the creature corresponding to the "dragon" in the original fairy tales.
(In the fairy tales it is called a "dragon," in the comics a "dodo," and in the picture books a "dronten," but in the original language, they are all "Dronten.")
......and after many twists and turns, the boat was finally launched by the great Dodo.
This is a passage that truly evokes the scene of the launching of the ship The Oshun Oxtra in the fourth Moomin book, "The Memoirs of Moominpappa."
In other words, we can infer that this article isan announcement for the fourth Moomin book. In fact,the third book, "Finn Family Moomintroll," was released in 1948, and the fourth book, "The Memoirs of Moominpappa," was released in 1950. Since this article was published on April 22, 1949, it can be seen as an advertisement for the fourth book, which had not yet been released chronologically (the "two books" mentioned in the article likely refer to "Comet in Moominland" and "Finn Family Moomintroll").
Since it is confusing, I have included a diagram showing the timeline.
However, as those who have read this far will already understand, there are points in this article that differ from the actual published 'The Exploits of Moominpappa'.
The protagonist of this fun story is, of course, Moomintroll, who is well known to readers through two books.
Our old friend Snufkin is also there, and there was also something that sounded to our ears like "Muddler".
And they all set off on Fredrikson's large houseboat, and after many twists and turns, the boat was finally launched by a giant Dodo.
According to this article, the ones on the boat are Moomintroll, Snufkin, the Muddler, and Fredrikson (incidentally, the spelling of Fredrikson in this article is "Fredriksson". In 'The Exploits of Moominpappa', it is "Fredrikson").
Needless to say, in the actual 'The Exploits of Moominpappa', the ones on the ship The Oshun Oxtra are Moominpappa, Joxter, the Muddler, and Fredrikson. 'The Exploits of Moominpappa' is a story about the youth of the parent generation, and their children, Moomintroll and Snufkin, are strictly listeners.
What is the meaning of this difference? In the original draft, was the fourth work intended to be an adventure story with Moomintroll as the protagonist, rather than Moominpappa's memoirs?
Also, the "Muddler" written in this article is also a mysterious existence. Is this the Muddler we know well—"Sniff's father"—or is it calling the Muddler "Sniff", or is it "not Sniff, but a Muddler who is not Sniff's father"?
Who is the "Muddler"?
In the aforementioned 1947–1948 'Moomintroll and the End of the World', Sniff appears for some reason under the name "Rådd-djuret" (=Muddler) (*In the Japanese version sold by Chikuma Shobo, it is simply written as "Sniff").
If you look closely at the text on the left, you can see the letters "Rådd-djuret".
Also, a few months after the publication of "Den stora Dronten", in the 1949 Christmas season, the Muddler appears as a main character instead of Sniff in "Moomintroll and the Comet".
The story has become complicated, so I have added it to the timeline diagram from earlier.
In other words, the character "Muddler" has different roles and appearances depending on the time and medium.
Therefore, we do not even know who this "something that sounded like '“Muddler”'"" that appears in this "Den stora Dronten" is. In the concept at this point, it is possible that the Muddler was not Moominpappa, but a friend of Moomintroll (in the Sniff position).
...As an aside, in the 1969 TV program "Moomintroll", the Muddler, like Little My, is taken in by the Moomin family.
Perhaps the "Muddler as Sniff's father" that is widely recognized by the public is actually an irregular existence.
Summary (?)
In any case, "Den stora dronten" is a mysterious and interesting article.
Since the Dodo (=Dragon/Dronten) also appears in the play "Moomintroll and the Comet", there may be settings that were carried over to that.
I don't know how much more information I will be able to obtain in the future, but I would like to continue investigating this matter.
What do you all think? I would love to see your opinions.