The strange antics of outstanding musician, photographer, filmmaker, and UFO hunter Rune Røstad, or “General Gribbsphiiser,” have certainly qualified him as a candidate for Norway’s biggest troll. I would even venture to suggest that he just might be the most interesting man in the frostbite-inducing yet majestic land of Grieg, Arnfinn Nesset, and Pizza Grandiosa. In any case, the beloved and feared mastermind behind Slagmaur, who have fiercely defended their right to regard themselves as “the scariest” black metal outfit on the gasping face of this wretched earth, places among the most outrageous bipedal specimens that I, personally, have encountered during my eventful lifetime for reasons that will unfold throughout this article. (Yes, I’m aware that, as if by black magical charm, Rune makes those familiar with him resort to the unhinged use of superlatives…)The pride of Fosen, a peninsula belonging to Trøndelag, Slagmaur unveiled their fourth full-length masterpiece, the folklore-infused Hulders Ritual, this past February, prompting Norway’s esteemed Scream Magazine to pen, “One could argue that Hulders Ritual is possibly the most evil, coldest, and darkest record in Norway. If not, it is at least the most creative.” In all fairness, let’s make a bit of room for Manes’ albums, which showcase Mr. Røstad’s friend Torstein Parelius — this bassist and lyrical wizard doubles as an award-winning producer at UpNorth Film. Together with Torstein, Rune is beginning his podcasting adventure SKRIK: Løs prat om løgner og legender fra Fosen (or “SCREAM: Loose Chatter about Lies and Legends from Fosen”) on P5 Fosen. The episodes will be posted online, so watch out for them. (Non-Norwegian speakers can use AI to translate the content.) Rune informs us of how this exciting development came about, “The local radio has a new boss, who worked for UpNorth Film and is an ex-colleague of Torstein’s. His name is Snorre Hovdal. He’s also a rock and roller, and he’s played in bands like Lumsk.” Of the subject matter tackled, Rune comments, “Regardless of whether the things are real or not, they have affected us in one way or another, because they’re part of our culture.”“Ritual dog,” the Hound of HelThe last time Rune and I spoke, we came together with Mr. Parelius’ fellow producer, the noble Christian Auné Falch, to honor the legacy of their shared boxer Troy Nagel Kirkebrenner (whose “Church-Burner” surname was cleverly adopted to scare off inquisitive and handsy pensioners). Troy tragically passed away on August 15, 2025, the birthday of his namesake, Rune’s late father, Tore Røstad, in a medical mystery that came to possess even the vet involved. (Tore’s first boxer, Gipsy the Younger, had been the daughter of a symbolic offering of diplomatic goodwill from the British Ambassador following the departure of German WWII fighters from Ørland: Gipsy the Elder would conquer hearts as an Air Force squadron mascot.) Since Troy’s passing, the hauntings in the guest room, which Troy frequented, at the Auné Falch family’s picturesque farm from the 1830s have escalated to the point at which the door had to be nailed shut. Our three’s sad but important celebration of Troy was only joined by stars like Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir since the gatefold model of a dog touched so many lives. But I digress…troy, Courtesy of Storeulv FotoThe Master Plan of a master manipulatorNot long after Troy’s departure for Valhalla, in November 2026, Rune gave me the biggest scare I’ve ever encountered as a journalist when he and co-inventor of the black metal style of riffing Snorre Ruch of Thorns, who was portrayed in the 2018 Hollywood abomination Lords of Chaos, went bergtatt (or “mountain-taken”). In other words, they gloriously pulled off an elaborate vanishing act in Fosen’s “cursed, scarred and forever possessed” forest of Varghiet. The hellraising duo did so as a media stunt (dubbed “Hulders Ritual” like the album) that required six years of planning and became a top-trending news item at major music outlets like Metal Injection and (according to careful statistical analysis, as presented at Oslo’s utterly bizarre Inferno Fest) achieved an estimated reach of between 2.5 and 5 million. Well, actually, the brilliant piece of performance art was Rune’s idea and almost gave Mr. Ruch, who survived witnessing Norway’s most fabled black metal crime, a heart attack… (Apparently, Ruch needed a bit of time to learn to appreciate the hilarious “Brokeback Fjell” memes and shrug off humorless netizens angrily invoking the memory of the late Valfar of Windir, who died a victim of Sogndal’s nature.)fosen’s finest, Courtesy of morten espelandThe meaning in all this madness is that with the assistance of the Norwegian Red Cross, Fosen Fire & Rescue, and the Norwegian Civil Defence, Rune was able to convey his intellectually snobbish points about myth-making, fake news, and more. While the said alliance initially appears a curious one for an emissary of a genre known for arson and violence to have forged, Rune was correct to indirectly confirm that sacrificing oneself for others, as the rescue workers involved do daily, is what we should actually consider “black metal” in essence. Not only did “Operation Master of Deceptions” itself raise awareness of local heroes as the globally monitored “search” efforts raged, but Rune compensated them for their cooperation by providing magnificent press photos to be used for recruitment purposes and the like. (A fun fact is that the gorgeous huldra, or creature that makes men go bergtatt, whom Rune photographed for Hulders Ritual’s booklet years in advance of its release, first stole the heart of Rune’s assistant, firefighter Rasmus S. Lein, during that very shoot. By the time Lein acted as the “Operations Leader” of the search, he already had two precious little ones whose existence owes to Uncle Rune.) In addition, the grand scheme gifted international metalheads the luxury of engaging in dialogue about an artsy band that the experts on the inside pretty much unanimously recognize as ingenious but metal outlets had hitherto often unfairly neglected in favor of rehashing the age-old question that has annoyed me to the point of suicidal ideation, “What does [Slipknot’s] Corey Taylor think?”miss huldra, Courtesy of Storeulv FotoAt the end of the day, it was fans and bloggers, not the paid pens, who cracked the riddle; apparently, it took a while for my fellow journalists, whose reason was surely clouded by sorrow and panic like mine, to be alerted to a few little “Easter eggs” hidden within the stunningly professional (faux) news site Fosen Folket, which was beautifully designed by a former Google employee, Andreas Melsom, and whose content seemingly serious-minded allies of Slagmaur reposted for all to see… For one, Fosen Folket listed a certain Mr. Harry Håndane (a Norwegianization of Harry Houdini) on their Om oss (or “About”) page… As we approach Halloween, we remember that this year’s festivities coincide with the 100th anniversary of Houdini’s death. Thus, we ask our modern-day Houdini for his own words on what he and the late magician have in common. Rune responds, “Houdini performed real, state of the art magic. In his later life, he spent much effort trying to catch hoaxers, like psychics and spiritists that emerged after the First World War. Because so many lives were lost, it became a movement. Houdini wrote A Magician Among Spirits [1924] about these hoaxers. He even offered a reward if someone could prove to him that the paranormal thing was real.”The Mysteries of FosenIf our incorrigible prankster with a cause used Fosen Folket to educate the world about local geography as well as stories involving witches, werewolves, Serbians who met horrific ends during WWII, “Englemakerske” (or “Angel Makers”) and commotion made by the resulting baby poltergeists heard by visiting US Special Forces that had survived Vietnam, etc., he received a lot of these golden nuggets from the honorable journalist Terje Dybvik — for my benefit, Rune proudly holds up a book, Varghiet, composed of Mr. Dybvik’s articles on legends and lore from the series “Mysterier i Fosen,” which was printed in the very real paper Fosna-Folket. Otherwise stated, the volume contains the findings from Mr. Dybvik’s hardcore and often door-to-door detective work, a good portion of which was conducted during the ’80s and ’90s. Demonstrating his admiration for Dybvik, Rune compares him to the historical greats Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe. “It’s real journalism,” Rune beams. The obscure yet coveted Varghiet was made specially for the Hulders Ritual phenomenon; its striking yet frightening 3D pentagram and demonic face cause me to recoil, though I would be eager to get my grubby hands on it anyway.Slagmaur, Courtesy of morten espeland“We can be easily manipulated by time and stories and add things that we don’t realize that we add.”Rune and his fiancée, the diamond of a woman Ingrid Natalie Sørgård, generously sent a copy of Varghiet to the former’s pen pal, UFO researcher, internet pioneer, and more Jacques Vallée. “He was the guy that inspired Steven Spielberg to write Close Encounters of the Third Kind [1977],” Rune boasts of his famous friend. Speaking of UFOs, Rune and company have a documentary focusing on these horrors on the way after years of work, and some Western bigwigs are involved, but I’ll save the details for later… Rune confesses to having had a strange UFO experience himself, though the unlikely skeptic sighs level-headedly, “I have studied so much now that I know that we can be easily manipulated by time and stories and add things that we don’t realize that we add.”With superb dramatic, narrative flair, Rune recounts one of the legends explored by Dybvik, which I’ll now do the grave injustice of abbreviating: In the late 1800s, beastly predators seemed to be ransacking Fosen’s farms, and fears caused the diligent to take precautions, as building higher and higher fences. It was observed that visits from nomadic Sámis, who were respected by the fosninger for their perceived supernatural powers, inevitably coincided with the loss of livestock. Still, the Norwegians felt compelled to offer the Sámis shelter and alms. While it was believed that the Sámis themselves could transform into werewolves and bears, the locals eventually reached a more plausible conclusion. Suspicions were raised when a woman, Anna Martha Heggbakken, noticed that the choicest part had been harvested from one of her sheep while the rest had been left to rot. After a request and false promise, two petrified Norwegian boys beheld a Sámi child’s freaky transition into both furry costume and character, killing and devouring a chicken. There was one instance of a brave man shooting a wolf-like creature in the leg, only to have a limping Sámi turn up among others the following year. Similarly, a Sámi with a smashed nose materialized in a group the year after a farmer struck a bear in the center of his mug. “I think the cool part about the whole story is the deception,” our own Master of Trickery smiles while emphasizing what a perfect movie the tale would translate into, prompting me to ask what he and Torstein are waiting for. Rune really is a phenomenal writer, and his cinematography is likewise out of this world. rune, Courtesy of Storeulv Foto / Ingrid Natalie Sørgård“You have to help each other. If you don’t, you will get punished.”Mr. Røstad now shares a mystery from Fosen that has yet to be solved and perhaps lies beyond the grasp of science, “There is this woman from the 1800s with an axe, and she will appear in your mirror if you don’t stop for her. If you stop, she disappears. I think maybe there’s a deeper moral meaning behind it: Even if someone looks scary, you should stop to help. Before her death, this woman was sick, or her husband (There’s so many versions…), but she had to use an axe to get down the road, and nobody stopped to help her because she was holding it. She appears on a special date. I recreated her image as a photographer for Fosna-Folket, and after that, the case started to blow up again. Some kids went hunting for this woman with an axe, and one is a friend of mine — he actually saw her. She didn’t have an axe or look like I described her, wearing red and green clothes, but this woman without eyes hovered towards him. I know he doesn’t lie, because he was so afraid that he shit himself, and you don’t tell people that. I have talked to other people that have seen her as well.” Rune returns to the message, “When you get out to the coast, we have a collaboration-culture, and you have to help each other. If you don’t, you will get punished. I think it’s also kind of the moral of ‘Askeladden and the Good Helpers’ that are flying around in this boat. He picks up some strange people, but he gets to use everyone he picks up to win the princess.”hauksdalskjerringa, Courtesy of Storeulv FotoBecause dangerous waters are such a big part of his people’s history, Rune notes, “We have so many monsters, like Draugen, as depicted by Theodor Kittelesen. The strange thing about the ocean is it’s probably Norway’s biggest serial killer — maybe that’s the reason the ocean needs a face. Kittelsen illustrated his sea monsters when he was on Skomvær, for example, because, during storms, it’s so insane out there, and you can see some strange things. I interviewed people that lived on the island, and the nature is so brutal and so strong that it makes you afraid. Somehow, we see these dark forces or creatures.”Criminally brilliant, brilliant executionsOn the topic of killers, the infamous American Thomas Bartlett Whitaker penned the text to Slagmaur’s “Nattens Sorte Ord,” which graces Von Rov Shelter (2009). Rune found Whitaker’s prison address on his blog Minutes Before Six. Although Rune believes that their letters were censored to a degree, the two were, nevertheless, able to communicate sufficiently. Rune’s memory has naturally become a bit foggy on the matter after all these years, but he can still clarify that he sent Whitaker Von Rov Shelter’s cover or booklet, at the very least, as the CD itself wasn’t permitted. Since then, Whitaker’s death sentence for plotting the murders of his mother, brother, and father (Only the third survived the shooting…) has been commuted to life behind bars — a fact that makes me frown, as I still have yet to fully internalize the virtue of mercy. (While Rune is regarded in his community as the upstanding, kind, and respected individual he was raised to be, he seems very proud of his own mug shot, though I have no other choice but to assume his jail stay was just the result of more of his adorable, trademark shenanigans.)Not to cast stones, but, unlike Mr. Whitaker, fosninger respect their kin, and, as already illustrated, are very upright people; Rune says his area can’t brag of very many historic witches like other parts of Norway, and that isn’t at all surprising, considering that the women of Fosen (like his mother, the venerable and charitable Rita Røstad; Ingrid Natalie; and his former neighbor, Manes’ associate Marita Hellem, who has run off to pursue her dreams in Trondheim) seem to be saints, from what I gather. However, Rune does mention the sea-witch Guri Kunna and the scorched Lisbet Nypan as well as a man who was burned about a mile from Rune’s residence for the unpardonable sin of bestiality. (Slagmaur have lit many men ablaze on inverted crosses and hanged others during their onstage “mass executions.”) What Rune’s territory and beyond do have in abundance are huldrefolk (or “hidden people”). Rune explains, “If you talk to people like this guy I spoke to yesterday, they can laugh about UFOs… But if you joke about the hidden people, they will tell you to watch out!”The haunting Spirit of Steingrim TorsonOur “Norwegian Giant” remembers his friend Steingrim Torson, known for Celestial Bloodshed and a variety of other bands, who died at just 25 of an allegedly accidental gunshot wound while at his comrade’s apartment on the evening of April 30 / May 1, 2009 — Walpurgisnacht. Rune had received a text from Steingrim just the day before reading, “Awesome,” in response to Von Rov Shelter’s delayed autumn release date. The legendary Steingrim served as a key figure in the construction of the Nidrosian Black Metal scene — a movement that has earned international acclaim but began humbly during a deep blood-letting, baptismal ritual held at Ravnåsvannet in which Rune, Steingrim, and just a few chosen others participated. Steingrim certainly possessed all the potential in the world.Von rov Shelter‘s cover, Courtesy of Storeulv FotoWeeks prior to the event that would forever traumatize Trøndelag’s finest, Rune, Steingrim, and then-Slagmaur member Aatselgribb rode as passengers in a Toyota HiAce to a recording session in Trondheim, drinking in the back with crosses weighing 60 kilos each. At a certain point, if not for Rune’s quick and strong hands, Steingrim and Aatselgribb would have flown through the rear, which opened due to the vehicle’s decrepit state combined with rapid acceleration — just as Rune came to the rescue, the rising hatch presented a perfect view of the architectural miracle Nidarosdomen, which, thanks to Ruch’s artistic contributions, graces the cover of the definitive black metal album, Mayhem’s De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas (1994). (That very cathedral’s organ music influenced the likes of Manes’ Tor-Helge Skei, and thus the Nidrosian Black Metal sound that came after; and, as far as Mayhem is concerned, I find myself obliged to say that in terms of his inspired approach and untimely end, Steingrim is often viewed as his generation’s Dead, as in the visionary behind De Mysteriis’ concept.) The three semi-mythical beings would quickly be thrust in another direction with a bang on what wouldn’t cease to disappoint naively cinematic expectations of what a perilous ride might resemble. Crosses, beer, and moonshine would fly out against the backdrop of Nidarosdomen in a smashing action sequence. (Apparently, fosninger behind the wheel in big cities are menaces worse than werewolves…) Rune states, “I’m coming home from a party on the 1st of May, and we turned on the news — it was about killing again. I saw on the TV that a corpse was being carried out with this green carpet over it, and I felt that I knew that person.” When Rune woke up, he received a call from spiritual brother and Nidrosian pioneer Nosophoros that Steingrim had passed. Wraath, another titan from their circle (and the helmsman, who, more than any other, carries on Steingrim’s legacy), has told me that he was the one destined for the misfortune of discovering the body first. (As it might be of relevance for those attempting to wrap their heads around this story, this revered Swede is an extremely cool and solid guy, and, though I only had the pleasure of meeting him for a moment, Nosophoros seems just as admirable.)“I still don’t remember anything, but I had goosebumps hearing it.”Herr Røstad continues, “I was mourning over Steingrim some days later, and I had a blackout, though I never had blackouts.” Returning to the virtue at the heart of the axe-hag story, a female friend of the Røstad family, off-duty from her job as a midwife, took the risk of stopping to drive a wasted Rune to his mother’s house by the sea. “She is a very polite and trustworthy human being,” Rune stresses in a tone that lets his regard for her be heard. The next day, she returned, highly frightened, in order to relay to a sober Rune what had happened: The lovely lady had found a safe place for Rune to puke, and when he finished and reclaimed his seat in her vehicle, he neglected to close the door… Rune recounts, “She asked, ‘Who are you talking to?,’ because I was having a conversation, and she heard another voice. And I said, ‘I’m talking to Steingrim.’ ‘But Steingrim is dead,’ she said. ‘Steingrim is standing over there, can’t you see him?’ And she said, ‘No.’ Then, I sighed and said, ‘Okay, Steingrim, shut the damn door.’ The door slammed. Boom. And Steingrim vanished just like that. I still don’t remember anything, but I had goosebumps hearing it. So, that’s a Keyser Söze ending.” (Rune incorporated that reference to 1995’s Unusual Suspects into his stunt as well, having recorded a pre-disappearance version of himself, beside Ruch, good-naturedly uttering the words, “And just like that, he was gone,” for the lucky victims of his all-Norwegian trolling to groan upon hearing after the “Big Reveal.”) Despite the noted goosebumps, Rune twice insists that he wasn’t really scared, “because it was Steingrim,” enunciating the name with a certain cuteness that would make you think the blond teddy bear, of whom no one has ever uttered an unflattering word, was still among the living. There were other strange occurrences surrounding Steingrim’s death, as a vinyl spinning on repeat on the tragically fateful day in that apartment turned temporary charnel house. Rune phoned Nosophoros for me — Nosophoros kindly confirmed the fact, and that the title in question was Black Majesty’s Seventh King of Edom (2009) 7”. (Black Majesty is one of the many projects of the Norwegian Grammy-winning HBM Azazil, or Kvitrim — a human enigma with whom both Nosophoros and Wraath continue to conquer audiences in the celebrated Mare.) Rune recalls that, over at his place, the lights dimmed while he and Monsieur Wraath were listening to a funeral march that was unleashed digitally as a tribute to Steingrim together with Von Rov Shelter’s “Klokker tramp” — the latter audial relic proved the final song Steingrim would record, which he did in the capacity of a guest vocalist, though his voice, which even appeared on Slagmaur’s debut, Skrekk lich kunstler (2007), would be woven into Slagmaur’s later Thill Smitts Terror (2017). Shockingly yet quite understandably, “Klokker tramp” resulted in a “quite serious” situation wherein Rune and additional associates of Steingrim were thoroughly investigated. One cannot blame the police when bearing previous black metal murders in mind… In short, members of law enforcement were apparently spooked by Rune’s lyrics, which they discovered on Steingrim’s desk and coincidentally seemed to contain a death threat. “Klokker tramp” ends thus, “Husk du skal dø / Min kjære venn / Kanskje nå / Nå i morgen” (“Remember, you must die, my dear friend, perhaps now or tomorrow”). “Wild Talents” Never die?Rune and his fellow genius, Ævestaden’s Kenneth Lien, who has been nominated for two Norwegian Grammys and holds his master’s in folk music, are currently crafting a sonic wonder aptly titled Wild Talents. (Santa arrived ahead of schedule in order to bless me with a sample, so I can attest that it will be phenomenal.) After treating me to a private performance earlier this year, Kenneth enlightened me about how Scandinavian folk music’s history ties in with devilish lore, so he is also a wealth of wisdom compatible with our purposes today; make sure to dive into his catalog, like Slagmaur’s. During that perhaps ominous meeting in support of the record to come, an irradiant Rune chuckled with a disturbing aura of cherubic innocence that still haunts me every now and then, “We don’t know how this will end, probably with murder. Let’s find out!”rune, Courtesy of Storeulv Foto / Ingrid Natalie SørgårdThe post Norway’s Most Interesting Troll? Slagmaur’s Rune Røstad Has Some Seriously Strange Stories to Tell. appeared first on VICE.