Emil K. Gammelplassen is a naturalist, explorer, and author of several wilderness safety guides. He appears in the Hilda Tie-In Series. The character is unique to the novelization and does not appear in either the graphic novels or the animated series.
Both Hilda and Johanna are great fans of his work.
Appearance[]
Emil's appearance is not described in the text, and he is only featured in one image, where he can be seen reacting to Jellybean entering Scout Hall. On this image, he appears to be a fairly young man, dressed in a Sparrow Scouts uniform.
History[]
Throughout the novels, Hilda frequently mentions Emil and his various books.
In "Hilda and the Nowhere Space", Hilda is forced to hide in a hollow tree to escape Jellybean after encountering him in the woods one night, and remarks that Emil would not approve of her doing this.
Near the end of the story, Emil appears in person as a guest speaker during the Sparrow Scouts badge ceremony. He ends the ceremony with a speech in which he recites a poem about adventuring. When Jellybean unexpectedly enters Scout Hall and causes panic, he, along with Raven Leader, urges people to stay calm, to no avail. He is not seen again after Jellybean leaves Scout Hall to chase Hilda and Tontu.
He is mentioned again in Hilda and the White Woff when Hilda, David and Frida go on a search to find the Screaming Stones. Hilda has read his experience with these stones. At the end, Hilda is a little bit disappointed to find out that Emil was wrong as it turned out there are no screaming stones, and that the screams were in fact from vikings fighting each other.
Personality[]
Despite the fact that he wrote multiple books to warn people about the dangers of the wilderness, Emil is a true explorer who loves the wilderness. Hilda agrees with his views of how being in the wilderness makes him feel alive, or how getting lost is just another adventure. He also reminds everybody at the ceremony that they have nothing to fear, but fear itself. In the Sparrow Scouts guidebook, Hilda mentions that Emil can get a little scared sometimes.
Known books[]
- "Thirteen Reasons Why You Should Never Go Near a Hollow Tree"
- "Forests and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Caves and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Tunnels and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Cities and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Fjords and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Swamps and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
- "Fairy Mounds and Their Unfriendly Occupants"
Other media[]
Emil Gammelplassen is mentioned in "Hilda's World: A Guide to Trolberg, the Wilderness, and Beyond": on page 19 there's a photo of Hilda's room with a remark that most of her books are written by Emil, and on page 61 there's a photo of Emil as a child, attending Sparrow Scout camp and scaring Erik Ahlberg with a campfire tale.
