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I'm Svend-Erik Engh -


a Danish Storyteller and storytelling coach based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I have been a professional storyteller for more than 30 years.

I have been a teacher and coach since 1994.


Photo, Alice Fernbank

A collection of tales that grew out of the sprawling flatlands, the oozing fjords, the dark forests and the waves that crash on the shores of Denmark.

How a Viking ship carried a future king into Roskilde Fjord, how a mermaid’s laughter brought fortunes to her fisherman host, how the people of Lolland survived a flood with waves 3m high and how a princess found her freedom in becoming a prince.

Once Upon a Time There Was a War

Once Upon a Time There Was a War
Commissioned by Scottish International Storytelling Festival 2023

Right To Be Human



The harsh reality of war meets the magic of love songs and art, as Danish storyteller Svend-Erik Engh shares stories from real-life soldiers gathered in a decade of research, whilst musician Mairi Campbell sings songs of peace and love, from the canon of Scottish traditional song and her own writings. Danish artist Tea Bendix illustrates words and music, bringing another dimension to the stories.




5 star review in QR


One of the last events of this year’s Scottish International Storytelling Festival, Once Upon a Time There was a War, brought a touch of magical realism to the topic of conflict. Indeed trying to approach ‘war’ directly is usually a losing proposition, the all-encompasing awfulness of the subject defying definition. So in taking a slightly oblique approach, combining the potent talents of Danish storytellerSvend-Erik Engh, award-winning trad musician Mairi Campbell, and Danish live-illustrator Tea Bendix, the show chooses wisely.


A well judged, well balanced show, Once Upon a Time There Was a War, made a lively, poignant and nuanced meditation.

Walk the Oars 

Together with Scottish Musician Neil Sutcliffe we tell a story inspired by the Viking’s arrival in Scotland, with traditional Nordic tales and Gaelic and Scots songs woven into the narrative.


You are invited onboard a Viking Longship sailing from Jutland in Denmark to Shetland in Scotland. A young man sets off to finish his fathers work: to build a causeway out to Law Ting Holm and share his culture with the Shetlanders.



I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t know it was going to be this good

– Lorna Shields

Walk the Oars is a treasure, an ancient oasis of delight in the sea of the modern world. The whole thing is engaging and exciting, and rekindles a semi-lost fire of storytelling

Imogen Rowe, edinburghguide.com


READ REVIEW HERE

Brand new Viking Saga about a young Norwegian woman sailing to Iceland

Gullrun's saga -

She Built a Boat


VIKING STORYTELLING / MUSIC SHOW TO BE PERFORMED IN 2025

Gullrun's Saga - She Built a Boat will tell the story of a wild teenager Gullrun, born 969AD in a farm somewhere close to Steinkjer, not far from Trondheim, Norway. She just loves the fjord and later the ocean. When her father Torleif the Ugly wants to marry her to Svein Bergman because the Norwegian king needs iron, she and her mother with the help of the old men in Steinkjer build a boat for her to escape the marriage and go to Iceland. The illustration shows the moment when she is out in the open sea and the sun is setting, Gullrun as happy as she is ever going to be. On the horizon a Viking ship appears and so we have a story that will bring Gullrun to Shetland and later to Iceland.

In Shetland she finds that the Vikings of Shetland are ready to give her back to King Haakon. She is getting help from one of the last of the picts of Shetland. She then with the help of the local shetlanders is able to build another ship from the driftwood and the woman makes her a sail. She and her pictishpartner is going to Iceland. She wakes up alone on the boat very close to Iceland. Her partner had slipped into the water. He didn't want to go to Iceland.

In Iceland Gullrun meets Egil Skallagrimsson.


We are coming to Steinkjer in Norway the 8th November '24 with the show as part of the Hilmarfestival. Johan Einar Bjerkem has been and will be my guide for the details about the story around Steinkjer, Jan Bee Brownis my local Shetland expert and the storyteller that pointed out the great story of Jan knows how it is out there on the water going to or from Shetland. We have Matthew Roby's Old Norse Blog to help us with the Icelandic Sagas.

And Tea Bendix is going to be our illustrator as the story unfolds.

Neil Sutcliffe will take care of the music in the show.

On stage you will findHafdis Huld,Neil and Svendand it is going to be rather cool I think.

We are right now planning our way around Scotland, some shows with Svend-Erik Engh alone, some with Neil and Svend and we think we can find time in Hafdis Huld's calendar, so she can be part of at least a couple of presentations of the work here in Scotland. I can't wait to show it to you! So if you know a good place for a story like that to be performed in early 2025, please let me know.

TV 2 Danmark

Filmen Åge takker af om min fars sidste arbejdsdag, vist TV2 Danmark 1991.

VVV - Venligt Vibrerende Vekselvirkning

Venligt Vibrerende Vekselvirkning (V.V.V) handler udelukkende om historiefortælling og var et begreb, som jeg stillede op engang i 1990'erne, da jeg underviste på Borup's Højskole. Jeg skrev det på tavlen som en modsætning til w.w.w., som voksede voldsomt på det tidspunkt. Jeg har siden skrevet flere artikler om begrebet og det er for mig det nærmeste jeg kan komme en beskrivelse af det magiske, der opstår mellem en fortæller og en lytter (eller flere lyttere!).