Hello, Goodbye Dolly
In Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, audiences were briefly introduced to Sir JorgenBjorgen, a stuffed knitted puffin doll that was a toy Elsa owned in her childhood and kept as her companion during the years she and Anna were kept apart. Then when Elsa grew up, Sir JorgenBjorgen was stored away in her trunk, which was later placed in the attic.
When the prequel novel Dangerous Secrets was released in November 2020, it was revealed that Sir JorgenBjorgen had been around a lot longer than fans had thought. Over 40 years earlier, the doll was created by Queen Rita as a toy for her baby son, Prince Agnarr. Sir JorgenBjorgen was Agnarr’s favorite toy and always brought a smile to his face. When Rita fled the kingdom after having her memories wiped by Pabbie, Runeard locked up all of her belongings and anything that reminded him of her. However, he did not know about Sir JorgenBjorgen, and Gerda secretly saved it and hid it from him, waiting for the chance to return it to Agnarr one day.
Ever since I read Dangerous Secrets and learned that this doll originally came from Rita and belonged to Agnarr, I got to thinking about what Runeard would have done with it had he known about it. Firstly, if he discovered Sir JorgenBjorgen when Agnarr played with it as a child, and with this, I mean before Rita left, I have a strong hunch would have disapproved of the doll, and enough so that he would have taken it away from Agnarr.
Why? Because I get the impression that Runeard would have thought that dolls, regardless of dolls being depicted as male or female, were only for girls, not boys. Therefore, I think he would have been outraged by the idea of his own son playing with a doll. Heck, Runeard probably also would have thought that boys who do or once did play with dolls are weak and inept, and thus are not or never would be real men. If he had truly hoped to mold Agnarr into the same cold, ruthless man/king he was, then I have no doubt Runeard would have seen Agnarr as weak for owning and playing with a doll, and taken Sir JorgenBjorgen away from him.
But there’s more to it than just that; as mentioned by a line in the prologue of the Frozen II novelization and an almost verbatim line quote by Agnarr in Dangerous Secrets, during the gathering in the Enchanted Forest, Agnarr knows that his father wanted him to act like a royal figure instead of a boy. In other words, even though Agnarr was 14 and still legally a child, Runeard only saw his son as a prince rather than as a person, and always wanted him to act royally only. He did not want him to act or behave like a normal person, meaning he never wanted Agnarr to act like a non-monarch, and thus, like a child, ever.
Therefore, Runeard additionally wouldn’t have wanted Agnarr to have Sir JorgenBjorgen because he would think that owning a doll is childish and Agnarr was not supposed to behave like a child even when he was one.
However, if Runeard discovered Sir JorgenBjorgen after Rita left, I don't think he would have simply hid it away with everything else; I think he would have burned it or permanently disposed of it through some other means.
Now why do I think Runeard would go such an extreme measure, you may ask? Because it would have been a guaranteed way for him to completely deny Agnarr any memories of Rita and sever anything that tied him to her. Agnarr had said that after his mother disappeared, his father constantly scolded and shouted at him for crying and being sad about her absence. This shows that Runeard had a total lack of sympathy for his son’s sadness (just as he did for Rita when she became so depressed over missing her home) and a ruthless determination, if not obsession, to get Agnarr to completely forget about Rita.
I feel it's one thing for Runeard to have locked away all the things that belonged to or reminded him of Rita so he could forget about her himself, and another for him to immediately banish anyone who spoke her name so that his people would attempt to forget her, too. But if he discovered anything that linked her to their son? Again, based on how he coldly chastised Agnarr for wallowing in sadness over Rita when she was gone, it is crystal clear to me that Runeard wanted Agnarr to forget her, too. Therefore, he would have had Sir JorgenBjorgen destroyed just so that Agnarr would have absolutely nothing left of her.
But luckily, Runeard never knew about Sir JorgenBjorgen, and Gerda successfully hid it from him before returning it to Agnarr when he was an adult.
And then years later, Agnarr gave the doll to Elsa to keep her company during her separation from Anna.
While we have yet to know what Rita was like, what she looked like, or what became of her when she fled the kingdom, at least we know there is still a keepsake and reminder of her in Arendelle Castle. And even though Elsa is no longer the queen of Arendelle, I am hoping that Sir JorgenBjorgen will become a childhood toy for one or more Anna’s children and any other future descendants of the former queen of Arendelle.
While Runeard won’t be fondly remembered by his family due to the revelation of his betrayal to the Northuldra, what little they know about Rita will be forever cherished through Sir JorgenBjorgen. 😄😉
