Forum:Nordic Lore

Post all the Nordic legends you guys can think of. We need them.

I'll begin with copy-pasting what has been mentioned over at the White Wolf forum:

"There's probably a lot of stuff from Norse mytholoy that could be useful. Though even after the Christianization, people in Sweden still believed in stuff like trolls, the Skogsrå or Näcken. It is said that every easter, all the witches fly to a place called Blåkulla in order to have orgies with Satan.

Also, in Sweden we've got our own changeling myths. Unlike the English changeling myths where the faeries are responsible for the kidnapping and switching, in Sweden trolls are the culprits and they leave their own children in the place of the children they take. I have myself played with the idea that the trolls are actually just another name for the True Fae."

"Skogsrå means "ruler of the forest" or "keeper of the forest". She is usually depicted as a beautiful woman. In different parts of Sweden, she is variously depicted with either a back made out of bark or a cow's tail. She can be dangerous, but despite the way she is described in Winter Masques, she is not necessarily malevolent. If you're respectful and treat her well, she may aid you. Making hunters successful or leading those that are lost in the woods home safely. But as I said, she can be dangerous and there are many legends of her leading men astray so that they get lost in the woods. In the World of Darkness, she strikes me as a powerful spirit with influence over forests and animals.

Näcken looks like a handsome naked young man who sits by the river playing his violin (I'm not sure if this is the actual etymology of his name, but "näck" means "nude", so "Näcken" could be translated as "The Nude One"). If you hear his music, you're likely to be so enchanted by it that you walk right into the river and drown. However, if you're brave enough to try it and wise/lucky enough to avoid drowning, you can get him to teach you to play the violin as beautifully as he does. Some legends say he can take the shape of a horse, then called Bäckahästen (The River Horse). In this form he lets children climb up on his back to ride him and then he runs into the water drowning the kids. A spirit of water and music? Of drowning? Or maybe he is a True Fae and those that are thought to drown are actually taken to Arcadia?"

"Scandinavian elves were tackled by Shakespeare. Beautiful and undying fairie-creatures that will dance with you until you die from exhaustion. Among other things.

Then there's the goblins/gnomes. Known as "nisser", they are traditionally the size of a garden gnome, and used to live at farms, stirring up the shit with fairy magic if the farmers didn't appease it with food and drink put out in the attic or stables overnight. Much later they became synonymous with Santas elves and are today considered spirits of christmas."

The Kalevala has also been mentioned.