Into the woods

Hello fellow reader, my name is Emilia and this is one of my stories that I have chosen to publish. Even though it is set as an 18+ it won’t be THAT bad, I just wanted to stay on the safe side. Okay now that I think about it, it WILL be that bad, but only much later in the book. ENJOY!

This book is based on Nordic mythology/folklore, or Swedish mythology/folklore to be more precise. So there will be a lot of different creatures that I will explain below, and for your sake/convenience, I have chosen to rename some of the creatures but I will explain everything. And this book also contains some of my ideas as well, as a contribution to the folklore.

Ps. feel free to leave a comment if you find spelling errors or just to say hello. (I write in British English.)

Pps. Check in once in a while on this page because I add creatures once in a while.

The lady of the woods (Huldra/skogsrå): She has different appearances depending on where she lives. She is an extremely beautiful woman who sometimes has the back of a dead tree. Other times she has the tail of a fox. She is an erotic creature that likes to engage in relationships with mortal human men. And sometimes they have kids. She rules over the forest and everything in it, she lives in the forest and lets her cattle roam free in the big woods. She likes to lead unexpecting mortals deeper into the woods with her song or looks, she leads them so deep that they get lost.

Trolls: The trolls are not always big and unappealing. They often look like humans except that they have a tail or something else. They are also shapeshifters capable of transforming into a ball of yarn etc. They like to steal things like food, jewellery and even human babies (exchanging them for their own and that is called a changeling (bortbyting)). They often live under the ground or in the mountains. Often trolls can’t walk out in the sun because they turn into stone if they do.

The lady of the sea (havsrå): The lady of the sea is the seas equivalent of the lady in the woods. The lady of the sea is also a beautiful woman who controls the sea. Sometimes she is seen as a woman with a fishtail, just like a mermaid. Other times she looks more like her 'cousin' from the woods. Her front is so beautiful that any man would fall in love with her, but the back of a rotten tree. Sailors recall her having hair various shades; green, black, golden or silver white. She also engages in relationships with mortals, or at least favours for safe passage over the sea. The lady of the woods is a lonely creature while the lady of the sea rules over her people at the bottom of the ocean.

The lord of the lake (näcken): The lord of the lake is sometimes an evil water spirit luring unknowing mortals near the water and then pulling them under the surface, drowning them. He is often portrayed as a handsome man sitting near the water, naked, playing the violin. He is said to be a good musician overall.

The elves (älvorna): The elves are tricky spirits, in Swedish folklore, they are portrayed as creators of diseases. As they can inflict pain and suffering to mortals. They are females, often seen clad in white. They are also seen as small children. They live in both meadows and another realm where time moves differently. Mortals can access this realm by walking through doors that suddenly appear out of nowhere. Elves are often seen in the mortal world/realm dancing in elvespots/elvedance (älvdans/älvring).

The invisible ones (vittrorna): These creatures are a mix between the lady of the woods and trolls as they do similar things. The women lure mortals into the woods and they also kidnap mortal babies just like the trolls. They are called the invisible ones just because they are invisible, they can choose if they would like to be seen by mortal eyes or not. But those who have seen them tell stories about the beauty possessed by the women, their tall stature (their size vary from story to story) and long hair, either braided or loose. They live in big groups either underground or above ground. Their cattle are similar to the lady of the sea's as they give more milk. They travel by so-called invisible roads (vittervägar) and the mortals who camp or live above one won't be left alone. His or her belongings will be tossed around until they move. During the autumn they move in under mortal houses and stay untill spring when they move out in the wild again.

The undergrounders (vättarna): These tiny grey creatures also live underground and are more or less related to the invisible ones. Often at farms where they help take care of the animals and do other chores. They can inflict pain and sickness to people who do them harm, often to the children even if they didn't do anything.