Bestiarum

In the dark forests or misty mountains, trolls can be found in many variations. Some are as huge as mountains with up to twelve heads and two tails, others are smaller and can be found living under bridges. Mostly ugly and monstrous with an immense hunger that none can match, trolls will kidnap, kill and destroy without hesitation. Most of them fear sunlight, as direct exposure will kill certain trolls by turning them into stone. Generally stupid and greedy, trolls are dangerous but easily fooled.

Found in all the Nordic countries, trolls have served as the the antagonists in many classic fairy tales. Trolls have made a huge impact on art, theater, music and movies as well. Worth mentioning are the play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen with the famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" piece composed by Edvard Grieg, the drawings by Theodor Kittelsen, and more recently the Norwegian-language monster movie Troll Hunter from 2010.

Easily the most well known creature from Scandinavian folklore with roots back to Norse mythology, trolls have scared and thrilled people for centuries, giving the lush forest and tall mountains of the north a frightening appeal in dark nights and cloudy mornings.

Have you ever wandered alone in the woods at night and heard faint sobs or wails? Then you might have had a close encounter with a myling (also known as ihtiriekko in Finland or utburd in Norway). Mylings are the ghosts of children who have not been baptized, thus denied access to the afterlife and unable to find rest. Often the children were either murdered, or had been left to die in the woods by their parents—perhaps because the child was born out of wedlock or the parents did not have the resources to care for the child.

Mylings may appear as phantasmal, bleak, malnourished and mournful creatures. While they might have died as young infants, they will usually appear as slightly older children. Though not necessarily evil, mylings are considered highly dangerous, and they may in fact be the most menacing ghosts found in Scandinavian folklore. Like children they do not know their own powers, and they will selfishly follow their goal of finding rest, paying no heed to the health and safety of others.

Mylings are known to attack lone wanderers, latching onto their backs and not letting go until they have been brought to a cemetery, hoping to find peace on hallowed ground. As the wanderer gets closer to a cemetery, the myling will grow heavier and heavier. The myling might grow so heavy that the wanderer is unable to keep on going, collapsing in place. If this happens, the myling will become enraged and kill the traveler.

ver, some say that in order for a myling to truly find peace, the body of the child (or what's left of it) must be buried. Other records indicate that a mylings can sometimes be heard mournfully crying out "Give me a name!" If you then respond by offering them your own name, they will thank you and leave you be, presumably able to pass on.

The best advice is to not wander the woods alone at night, because if you see a myling, chances are it is already too late to run.

Artwork by Foxery.

Have you ever walked near a linden tree during winter and thought you heard the faint sound of breathing? Have you ever walked past a wintery oak tree which for some reason has kept its leaves? Then you have unwittingly come close to a hibernating lindorm. They hibernate in the trees, and their touch transfers power and health to their host. A few lindorms grow so large that they are forced to hibernate curled around mountain tops instead.

Closely related to the dragons, the mysterious lindorms are great, wingless serpents with a pair of front legs. No one knows for how long they have been around, but they were a common sight on Viking runestones as far back as 1000 AD. It is said that everything beneath a lindorm grows bigger as the lindorm does, such as wealth or honour, making the lindorm an appealing motif.

There are two types of lindorm and the first is kind and benevolent. If you are lucky enough to meet one of these, you will notice that their skins have magical properties that can be transferred by touch. Some say that these benevolent lindorms are charming princes, cursed to live in the shape of a terrifying beast until freed by the love and sacrifice of a fair maiden able to see past their frightening facade and see that ugliness – just like beauty – is only skin deep.

Perhaps it is worth taking the chance?

Not so quick! The second type is dangerous and evil. Several meters long, they are said to move by biting their own tail and rolling through the woods like a huge wheel. If spotted, one would be very lucky to survive the encounter. Some of these evil lindorms also have a long mane. Just as some people say that good lindorms are cursed princes, some say that these evil lindorms are giants in disguise.

On second thought, perhaps it is best not to take any chances.

Artwork by FreesTyler.

In the deep forests where wild brooks sing over stones, one can sometimes hear another song join in. A song so perfectly sad and wild that one can swear it was born from the water itself. Out there between waterfall and shore lives fossegrimen, a being who spends his time perfecting his skills with his musical instrument of choice: the violin. He will sit there in the water, surrounded by its songs, and join in with his own, hauntingly beautiful music.

Despite being highly reserved beings who enjoy their solitude, they are not malevolent when they do come in contact with others. Their music attracts people of all ages, and they do not seem to mind having an audience. While they do not like to be interrupted or disturbed while they are playing, one might be able to approach a fossegrim respectfully. If one has a gift of his liking to offer him, he might even agree to teach one some of his skills.

A few stories tell of fossegrims who have fallen in love with a person from their audience, or who have agreed to move in with a woman who has fallen in love with them. While they have probably meant well, fossegrimen gets very depressed and apathetic if he is not in frequent contact with the free waters of his home. His longing to return will grow more and more every day, until it's too much to bear. Eventually he will wander back off into the woods, back into his singing brook, his lost love just another sad tune for him to play on his violin.

Artwork by Meora.

The butter churn suddenly working again; the horses' manes mysteriously well-groomed; shoes strangely cleaner than they were when you took them off. These things probably mean you have a helpful nisse (plural: nisser) on your farm. Nisser are gnomes who are known for being stubborn, solitary, and people-shy, preferring the company of animals rather than people or their own kind. They take up residence in barns and farm houses, and help out around the farm - though they're rarely seen.

Their helpfulness should not be credited as generosity, however. Nisser may live for several hundred years and as such they may be more attached to the farm itself rather than whatever people happen to inhabit it. Humans come and go, after all, but the farm will remain for generations to come if tended to.

In fact, the nisse might feel he has just as strong a claim on the farm as any of the farmers – perhaps even a stronger claim if he has lived there longer than they have. It only makes sense that he should make sure everything runs well since it is, after all, his farm.

Consequently the nisse might get mad if the farmer doesn’t run the farm properly, mistreats the animals, makes changes the nisse doesn’t approve of, or otherwise fails to treat the nisse with respect. As revenge the nisse may start hurting the farm rather than helping it prosper by scaring the animals, destroying appliances, and playing mean pranks. Of course, the nisse may play pranks regardless as many nisser are quite the prankster. It's a good way to pass the time on the farm if there are no other urgent chores to attend to.

The nisse will expect to be repaid for his services to the farm. This is usually done by leaving food out in the farm house. Nisser love porridge, and it's tradition that a big bowl of porridge be put out for the nisse every Christmas Eve with a big dash of butter in the middle. If the farm’s people have done good and pleased the nisse through the year he will deliver presents to the children of the farm during the night.

Having a nisse on your farm (and a farm can only ever have one nisse) can be both a blessing and a curse. But as long as you're diligent, good to the animals, and leave out food on a regular basis (especially a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve) you'll find that he can be a valuable companion - and perhaps even a friend.

Artwork by Henrieke.