More Swedish myths and legends
Mar. 1st, 2018 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsiThe Hårga dance. Hårga is a village in the province of Hälsingland, and there is a legend that on a dance there came a new fiddler. When he started to play, the dancers couldn’t stop dancing. Only one girl saw the burning eyes and the cloves and understood it was the Devil himself, so she never danced. She tried to pull out people from the dance, but it was impossible. After dancing all evening the Devil led them out and up on top of the Hårga mountain, and there they danced all night. At dawn it was only their skulls left, and they were still moving round and round until they too was gone, and the top of the mountain was completely flat- which it still is. And if you venture there on a night with a full moon, you can hear the tune the devil played. You can also listen to it on Youtube:
Greycoat, or King Greycoat In 1660 karl XI became king of Sweden, only five years old. During his reign Sweden was at its biggest and most powerful. He made several reforms,among them reducing the power of the nobility, and for most of his reign Sweden had a period of peace, in stark contrast to his warmongering father and son. He seems to have been a rather unassuming man, regardless being one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe. Against all odds his arranged marriage to the Danish princess Ulrika Eleonora ended up with the couple falling in love and being very happy with each other. He also travelled all over Sweden, which probably gave him an unusual insight of how his subject really lived. Due to this there is several legends on how he travelled in disguised, clad in a grey coat (gråkappa), putting wrongs to right, and ending corruption. For example one parish had a rich church, but the priest lived in poverty. In the next village the priest had used the money to live in luxury, when the church was very poor. King Greycoat solved this by switching homes with the priest, so the poor priest got a better living.
The Gloson is a mythical creature from the south of Sweden. It is a pig, or wild boar, usually a sow. It may be another asatru remnant, the “ghost” of the god Freyr’s pig Gullinburste. You could sacrifice the last three spikes of barley or wheat of the season, or the last three apples, to find out what would happen in the next year. But the gloson could also be very dangerous. It looked like it was burning had had glowing eyes and a razor sharp back, it sharpened on gravestones- it is said to live at churchyards, but could also live in cairns. If it could it would run between the legs of a person, trying to cut him or her in half.
The Church Grim, an animal sacrificed by burying it alive under the first stones of a church. After death guarded the churchgrouds. Treasures could also have a similar grim, and for some reasons hens seems to have been the most popular treasure guards.
Bjäran is similar to a witches familiar, and could be in the shape of a hare, a cat or a ball of yarn. It’s purpose was to steal milk to give to its witch, and she could make one herself by various rituals, or get it as a gift from the Devil. If you managed to hurt a bjära, you would also hurt its owner.
A bjära spewing up stolen milk. A 15th century wall painting by Albert Pictor in Härkeberga church:
Skråpuk, an old work for mask. There are several traditions here, the most well known påskkärringen (the Easter crone). On Maundy Thursday it was believed witches flew to Blockula to consort with the Devil. In a tradition reaching back to the 18th century, children dress up as witches on this day and, similar to to trick or treating, knocks on doors to wish people Happy Easter and to get candy, or a few coins, for it. Another one is the Yule Goat, a precursor to Santa Claus where a man with a goat mask gave children Christmas gifts. Still happens- my father was always the Yule Goat when I was a kid.
There are elfs in Swedish mythology too. Their talk sounds like birdsong, and you can see where they have danced by fairy rings in the grass. Elfs are not nice. Walk into a fairy ring, or offend them in any other way, and they will make you ill. They could be seductive, and in the 17th century a woman confessed in court she had had seven children with the elven king. It was actually illegal to consort with mythological beings in Sweden at the time. In this case is was concluded she was mad, but there is another instance when a man was hanged because he confessed to sleeping with a rå.
Hope you have enjoyed this little insight in Swedish myths and legends!
Greycoat, or King Greycoat In 1660 karl XI became king of Sweden, only five years old. During his reign Sweden was at its biggest and most powerful. He made several reforms,among them reducing the power of the nobility, and for most of his reign Sweden had a period of peace, in stark contrast to his warmongering father and son. He seems to have been a rather unassuming man, regardless being one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe. Against all odds his arranged marriage to the Danish princess Ulrika Eleonora ended up with the couple falling in love and being very happy with each other. He also travelled all over Sweden, which probably gave him an unusual insight of how his subject really lived. Due to this there is several legends on how he travelled in disguised, clad in a grey coat (gråkappa), putting wrongs to right, and ending corruption. For example one parish had a rich church, but the priest lived in poverty. In the next village the priest had used the money to live in luxury, when the church was very poor. King Greycoat solved this by switching homes with the priest, so the poor priest got a better living.
The Gloson is a mythical creature from the south of Sweden. It is a pig, or wild boar, usually a sow. It may be another asatru remnant, the “ghost” of the god Freyr’s pig Gullinburste. You could sacrifice the last three spikes of barley or wheat of the season, or the last three apples, to find out what would happen in the next year. But the gloson could also be very dangerous. It looked like it was burning had had glowing eyes and a razor sharp back, it sharpened on gravestones- it is said to live at churchyards, but could also live in cairns. If it could it would run between the legs of a person, trying to cut him or her in half.
The Church Grim, an animal sacrificed by burying it alive under the first stones of a church. After death guarded the churchgrouds. Treasures could also have a similar grim, and for some reasons hens seems to have been the most popular treasure guards.
Bjäran is similar to a witches familiar, and could be in the shape of a hare, a cat or a ball of yarn. It’s purpose was to steal milk to give to its witch, and she could make one herself by various rituals, or get it as a gift from the Devil. If you managed to hurt a bjära, you would also hurt its owner.
A bjära spewing up stolen milk. A 15th century wall painting by Albert Pictor in Härkeberga church:
Skråpuk, an old work for mask. There are several traditions here, the most well known påskkärringen (the Easter crone). On Maundy Thursday it was believed witches flew to Blockula to consort with the Devil. In a tradition reaching back to the 18th century, children dress up as witches on this day and, similar to to trick or treating, knocks on doors to wish people Happy Easter and to get candy, or a few coins, for it. Another one is the Yule Goat, a precursor to Santa Claus where a man with a goat mask gave children Christmas gifts. Still happens- my father was always the Yule Goat when I was a kid.
There are elfs in Swedish mythology too. Their talk sounds like birdsong, and you can see where they have danced by fairy rings in the grass. Elfs are not nice. Walk into a fairy ring, or offend them in any other way, and they will make you ill. They could be seductive, and in the 17th century a woman confessed in court she had had seven children with the elven king. It was actually illegal to consort with mythological beings in Sweden at the time. In this case is was concluded she was mad, but there is another instance when a man was hanged because he confessed to sleeping with a rå.
Hope you have enjoyed this little insight in Swedish myths and legends!
no subject
Date: 2018-03-02 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-03 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-29 10:36 pm (UTC)