# Need a book on Scandinavian Folklore & Fairy Tales **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588 "2008-01-22T23:09:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588/21 "2008-01-23T21:06:08Z")
[QUOTE=Tapiotar] if I were you, I’d prefer to have the otherworldly influence in the family tree – and think of how you could use it as an excuse whenever anyone calls you task on anything. [/QUOTE] He can accuse the Mods of racism or cultural insensitivity if they accuse him of trolling, just for starters… 😉 **Bosda** , are you a big guy? Hairy? Do you have a big nose? A strange attraction to bridges? An antipathy toward dwarves? How do you feel about [steel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling#Scandinavia)? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588/22 "2008-01-24T00:17:46Z")
[QUOTE=Gukumatz] Yep, Huldra was female. It had some of the properties of a succubus - temptation and damnation - but I haven’t been able to track it’s origin. Is the OP looking for books to answer questions, or just for the pleasure of the read? 'Cause I’ve got a few books at home regarding Norwegian folklore and fairy tales, but they’re in Norwegian. [/QUOTE] For the read, I’m afraid. Thank you, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588/23 "2008-01-24T00:22:50Z")
[QUOTE=Septima] **Asbjørnsen and Moe** are the definitive authority on Norwegian Folktales, and yes, there are stories of the huldra in there. While any individual huldra one encounters is most often female, the word _hulder-folk_ is used to describe an entire seperate people, who live in the ground or in the mountain. Sometimes reffered to as the _grey folk_, or simply _the others_. One very rarely hears of encounters between hulder-women and human men that end well, or of descendants on “our side”. I’d be very interested in hearing that story. Lets see if any of this rings a bell. A huldra woman can be beatiful to look at, and charming, but Beware! Her back is hollow and she has a tail. Don’t go with her, or you’ll be locked in the mountain for ever. But she can be bound to do your will if you touch her with iron, in wich case she is burned as if the iron was red hot. Then she must obey until the one who bound her frees her. Mostly, they are freed by some trickery not to long after, but sometimes they do leave children behind. These are human, but will have a conection to the hulder, and the mother can sometimes be heard outside the windows at night, pitifully crying and calling for her child. However, such children can never be touched by the others. Did something like this happen? Common variations include the hulda bound through christian prayer, or by being tricked into accepting a bible, or speaking a verse from it. A hulder can never enter a church, or stand the sound of church-bells. [/QUOTE] I remember being told of the tail & hollow back. And my Great-Grandfather kidded me about “you were born with a troll tail, too! But your Grandmother cut it off!” (Keep all remarks to yourselves, you goddam flying monkeys, you!) But I was too small, & do not recall the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588/24 "2008-01-24T00:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] He can accuse the Mods of racism or cultural insensitivity if they accuse him of trolling, just for starters… 😉 **Bosda** , are you a big guy? Hairy? Do you have a big nose? A strange attraction to bridges? An antipathy toward dwarves? How do you feel about [steel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling#Scandinavia)? [/QUOTE] My brother has a huge nose, but not me. Bridges are so-so. I don’t like goats, & given that one bit me once, I’d say it’s mutual. I approve of the sport of Dwarf Tossing as good clean fun. Steel, if sharp & held by a man who wants my wallet, bothers me. Does this count? ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588/25 "2008-01-24T00:31:22Z")
I’m going to throw in [Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales](http://www.amazon.com/Icelandic-Folk-Fairy-Tales-Hallmundsson/dp/997951048X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201134385&sr=1-4) as a suggestion; there’s lost of post-Christian stories in there, and I do believe that _huldfolk_ may center around a few stories. I _know_ that there are some stories about the _alfar_, but Icelanders in the modern days tend to categorize things in “elf” and “troll” categories more than the specifics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-book-on-scandinavian-folklore-fairy-tales/434588.md?page=1)