A huldra and Näcken. Artist not identified. In Scandinavian folklore, the huldra (Norwegian, derived from a root meaning "covered" or "secret") is a seductive forest creature. Other names include the Swedish skogsrå or skogsfru (meaning "lady (ruler) of the forest") and Tallemaja (pine tree Mary). A male hulder is called a huldu, or in Norway a huldrekall. Her name suggests that she is originally the same being as the völva Huld and the German Holda.[1] Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...
Strömkarlen from 1884 by Ernst Josephson has formed many modern Swedes view of Näcken. ...
Scandinavian folklore is the folklore of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. ...
The völva, vala, wala (Old High German), seiðkona, or wicce was a female shaman in Norse mythology, and among the Germanic tribes. ...
Huld was a völva in Scandinavian mythology. ...
In Germanic folklore Holda is the supernatural patron of the mystery of spinning with its links to the other world (See weaving (mythology)). She is well known throughout northern Europe (see Huld in Scandinavian mythology). ...
The word huldra is the definite form in Norwegian ("the hulder") - the indefinite form is ei hulder ("a hulder"). The plural indefinite form is huldrer ("hulders"), and the plural definite form is huldrene ("the hulders"). In the plural it is also common to use the collective form huldrefolk (indefinite) and huldrefolket (definite).
Features
The huldra is a stunningly beautiful, sometimes naked woman with long hair; though from behind she is hollow like an old tree trunk, and has an animal's tail. In Norway, she has a cow's tail, and in Sweden she may have that of a cow or a fox. “Clothes free†redirects here. ...
COW is an acronym for a number of things: Can of worms The COW programming language, an esoteric programming language. ...
This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...
In Norway, the huldra has often been described as a typical dairymaid, wearing the clothes of a regular farm girl, although somewhat more dazzling than most girls.
Folklore The huldra is one of several rå (keeper, warden), including the aquatic sjörå (or havsfru), later identified with a mermaid, and the bergsrå in caves and mines who made life tough for the poor miners. It has been suggested that Mermaids in popular culture be merged into this article or section. ...
More information can be found in the collected Norwegian folktales of Peder Christian Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe.
Human relations There is a story of a huldra being kind to a collier, watching his charcoal kiln while he took a much needed rest. Knowing that she would wake him if there were any problems, he was able to sleep, and in exchange left provisions for her in a special place. A tale from Närke illustrates further how kind a huldra could be, especially if treated with respect (Hellström 1985:15). Närke is the name of a geographical region in Sweden which can refer to: Nericia, or Närke - a historical Province of Sweden Part of Örebro County, or Örebro län - a current County of Sweden Part of Närke and Värmland County, or Närkes och V...
A boy in Tiveden went fishing, but he had no luck. Then he met a beautiful lady, and she was so stunning that he felt he had to catch his breath. But, then he realized who she was, because he could see a fox's tail sticking out below the skirt. As he knew that it was forbidden to comment on the tail to the lady of the forest, if it were not done in the most polite manner, he bowed deeply and said with his softest voice, "Milady, I see that your petticoat shows below your skirt". The lady thanked him gracefully and hid her tail under her skirt, telling the boy to fish on the other side of the lake. That day, the boy had great luck with his fishing and he caught a fish every time he threw out the line. This was the huldra's recognition of his politeness. Tiveden is a Swedish forest famous for its scenery and notorious throughout history for its wilderness and dangers. ...
In some traditions, the huldra lures men into the forest to have sex with her, rewarding those who satisfy her and often killing those who do not. The Norwegian huldra is a lot less bloodthirsty and may simply kidnap a man or lure him into the underworld. She sometimes steals human infants and replaces them with her own ugly huldrebarn (changeling huldre children). Trolls with the changeling they have raised, John Bauer, 1913. ...
Sometimes she marries a local farm boy, but when this happens, the glamour leaves her when the priest lays his hand on her, or when she enters the church. Some legends tell of husbands who subsequently treat her badly. Some fairy tales leave out this feature, and only relate how a marriage to a Christian man will cause her to lose her tail, but not her looks, and let the couple live happily ever after. However if she is treated badly, she will remind him that she is far from weak, often by straightening out a horseshoe with her bare hands, sometimes while it is still glowing hot from the forge. The original meaning of the word glamour was the act of casting a spell over someone. ...
It has been suggested that Ecclesia (Church) be merged into this article or section. ...
Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: A Christian () is a person who...
Modern horseshoes are most commonly made of iron and nailed onto the hoof. ...
A blacksmiths forge For finery forges (making iron) see finery forge. ...
If betrayed, the huldra can punish the man severely, as in one case from Sigdal, when she avenged her pride on a young braggart she had sworn to marry, on the promise that he would not tell anybody of her. The boy instead bragged about his bride for a year, and when they met again, she beat him around the ears with her cow's tail. He lost his hearing and his wits for the rest of his life. County Buskerud Landscape Municipality NO-0621 Administrative centre Prestfoss Mayor (2003) Knut Tore Eidal (Sp) Official language form Bokmål Area - Total - Land - Percentage Ranked 130 842 km² 811 km² 0. ...
Hunting The huldra has long been associated with hunting; she might blow down the barrel of a huntsman's rifle, causing it never thereafter to miss a shot. Some men are not so lucky, or perhaps skilled, and escape her only after surrendering their sanity.
After the Christianization of Scandinavia, the main occupation of the indigenous deity Odin came to be to chase down and kill as many huldra as possible in the Wild Hunt. The rationale behind this antipathy is never clearly explained in the accounts. The Wild Hunt was alien to Norse tradition and was imported from southern Germanic traditions. Inferably, Odin's Wild Hunt connoted a violent storm where much lightning struck the wild forests where the huldras lived. This storm suggested Odin's berserker rage against his rivals, the trolls, including huldras. (Before the process of Christianization, the deity Thor was credited with lightning strikes against the giant trolls, in the form of his hammer.) For the purposes of this article the Christianization of Scandinavia refers to the process of conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian and Nordic peoples, starting in the 8th century with the arrival of missionaries in Denmark and ending in the 18th century with the conversion of the Inuits and the...
For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ...
The wild hunt: Åsgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo The Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern Scandinavia, Germany and Britain. ...
Troll statue in the forest near Geilo, Norway A troll is a member of a fearsome humanoid race from Scandinavian folklore, and its predecessor Norse mythology, as in The Three Billy Goats Gruff [1], the well-known Scandinavian folk tale in which a troll living under a bridge torments some...
Thors battle against the giants, by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor (Old Norse: Þórr) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and war in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology (Old English: Þunor, Old Dutch and Old High German: Donar, from Proto-Germanic *Þunraz). ...
The giants Fafner and Fasolt seize Freyja in Arthur Rackhams illustration to Richard Wagners version of the Norse myths. ...
Origins Associated with Christianity, a tale recounts how a mother had washed only half of her children when God came to her cottage; ashamed of the dirty ones, she hid them. God decreed that those she had hidden from him would be hidden from mankind; they became the huldrer.[2]
Parallels The huldra may be connected with the German holda. The huldra is also known in Finnish folklore. In Germanic folklore Holda is the supernatural patron of the mystery of spinning with its links to the other world (See weaving (mythology)). She is well known throughout northern Europe (see Huld in Scandinavian mythology). ...
Modern culture
A dancing "huldra" in front of Kjosfossen, a waterfall seen from a tram/train going from Flåm in Norway. The dancing huldra is a common enactment at the Kjosfossen railway station during summers. The Norwegian municipality Lardal has a hulder in its coat of arms. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Flåmsbana is a branch line of Bergensbanen which runs between Myrdal and Flåm in the Aurland municipality in Norway. ...
Flåm is a small town situated at the end of Sognefjorden. ...
The municipality Lardal in the county of Vestfold, Norway, had 2,386 inhabitants as of January 1, 2002. ...
The coat of arms of Lardal was approved on 17 July 1992 and is a gold hulder on a red field. ...
In modern day Iceland, stories still abound of the huldufólk. It is said that work crews building new roads will sometimes divert the road around particular boulders which are known to be the homes of the huldufólk.
See also Strömkarlen from 1884 by Ernst Josephson has formed many modern Swedes view of Näcken. ...
by Sophie Anderson For other uses, see Fairy (disambiguation). ...
Wight is an obsolete word for a human or other intelligent being (cognate to modern German Wicht, meaning small person, dwarf, and also unpleasant person). It is used only comparatively recently to give an impression of archaism and mystery, for example in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, where...
References - ^ The article Huldra in Nordisk familjebok (1909).
- ^ K. M. Briggs, The Fairies in English Tradition and Literature, p 147 University of Chicago Press, London, 1967
- Hellström, AnneMarie (1985). Jag vill så gärna berätta. ISBN 91-7908-002-2
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