The Bridenugger
ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A TAILOR who was such close friends with a girl that they wanted to marry. But her parents wouldn’t hear of it. Their farm was small, to be sure, but she was a farmer’s daughter and far too good for a man like him, who just wandered from house to house tailoring.
“Don’t you worry,” the girl told him. “No matter who I get or how it goes, you shall be my bridenugger.”
Some time passed, and a suitor appeared whom she was to marry. The wedding was a heavy-drinking affair, and the tailor was there, of course. One way or another, the tailor’s friends got the groom so drunk that he lost both his senses and his bearings. Meanwhile, the bridenugger lay in the small bedroom, playing with the bride and keeping her warm.
Suddenly, the groom missed his wife and came staggering into the room. “Are you here?” he stammered.
“Yes, I am,” she said. “I just lay down for a moment’s rest, I was so tired.” With that, she rolled out of the bed and hid behind it. The groom plunged headfirst into the bed and grabbed hold of the crotch on the girl (or so he thought), but he got his whole fist full of the tailor’s equipment.
“For Heaven’s sake! How on earth are you built?” cried the groom. “You’ve got no different tools than I have!”
“Well,” the girl replied from behind the bed, “I’m built no different than you.” But she added that she believed it could be mended, though it would take both time and money.
“May it cost whatever it must,” the groom insisted, “as long as I get you properly fixed!”
The girl then said she knew a tailor who would surely take on the job, but he would have to keep her with him for three months. For materials, he would need 16 bear hides, 16 yards of red cloth, 16 barrels of salt, and 100 Daler in wages, for he had to install a whole new mechanism inside her.
They agreed to this with the tailor, and when the three months were up, he brought her back and laid her out on a table.
“Now I’ve mended her; she’s as good as new,” he said. “Come, let’s inspect her.” He lifted her clothes and presented her.
“Is there no more left of 16 bear hides than that little patch?” the husband asked.
“No, that’s all there is,” said the tailor. Then he spread her thighs and showed him the “crack.”
“Is there no more left of 16 yards of red cloth than this?” the man asked.
“No, it was all used up,” the tailor replied.
Then the husband stuck his finger in and had a taste. “Well, the salt is there, that’s for sure!” he said.
“Brudenuggen”
This was the person who, in the old days, was permitted to lie in the bridal bed with the bride before the groom entered, or who lay beside the bridal couple during their first night. The name derives from the Norwegian verb å nugge, which can mean to nudge, rub, or move rhythmically. Norwegian beds were cold, so it was not just a ceremonial task—though, one would assume the nugger would try to find a way to extend his service…
The tale is an old Norwegian folk tale.