“An old woman was going to wash her clothes on a Sunday morning. She placed her washing pot next to a large rock and set to work. After a while, she needed to change the water; she took the pot and poured the [still quite] hot water out on the ground [close by]. She finished her laundry and started doing [her] other chores, and she didn’t notice anything. It became evening, and she went to bed and slept well all night.
But in the morning, as she was getting up, she felt a terrible pain in her face - half of her face was dark blue and covered in blisters. The old woman got very scared, because she realized that she had accidentally scalded a vätte¹ with her hot laundry water. Vättarna² are, as is [commonly] known, little earth spirits that usually appear in the shape of little toads.
They called for a wise old woman³. This woman went from house to house, begging for money - one and a half styver⁴ was called "halvannan peng⁵” - and she should get nine of those.
It wouldn’t be acceptable for her to receive the money by any other means than begging. When she had collected the money, she sent the sick old woman out to acquire milk from a cow that was completely red.
Now when the milk had been collected, an offering was made to the king⁶ of vättarna. A hole was dug next to the rock where the woman had done her laundry, and the money and milk was thrown into [the hole]. Then the sick [old woman] had to remain indoors for nine days, and she wasn’t allowed to show her face to anyone [that was human].
After nine days, the sick [old woman] was feeling a lot better, and after she had bought lampante olive oil for twelve shillings⁷ and used it to moisturize her face, she soon made a full recovery.“
- sägen from Tving, Blekinge, as told by Ebbe Schön in Svenska sägner
¹ land wight
² land wights
³ one of the kloka; a practitioner of traditional folk medicine
⁴ a coin of low value
⁵ lit. "one and a half coin”
⁶Ebbe Schön notes that the king might have been added to the sägen by the person recording it, but that the description of the offering is consistent with how traditional folk medicine was practiced. He writes “The curing [ritual] is, like so often within folk medicine, complicated - [because] this will make it more potent. The number nine, that is three times the magical number three, seems to be of vital importance in this ritual. ”
⁷ Swedish shillings, skilling
Bonus: pictures of (some of) the traditional cow breeds that originate from Blekinge/southern Sweden:
This one is a #tbt but it us #daffodils time again #narcisos. In Wales to see the first one blooming means wealth for the year. They are the heralds of Spring. Also a symbol of friendship in victorian times. #flowerstagram #flowers #folklore #fairiesofinstagram #fairycore #blooming #wildflowers #inthewoods #wintertospring #greendress https://www.instagram.com/p/CLz1lEyHmzN/?igshid=1xv1ibip9o7y6
Today’s the day! Thirteen tales of mutated folklore by some of my favourite authors, plus some fae weirdness from me. Pay what you can, all in aid of FareShare UK.
Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands & Forests: Wild Gods, World Trees and Werewolves by Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham - Book Review
Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands & Forests: Wild Gods, World Trees and Werewolves by Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham – Book Review
Following in the footsteps of the Treasury of Folklore: Seas & Rivers: Sirens Selkies and Ghost Ships (Reviewed Here ) folklorists extraordinaire Dee Dee Chainey and Willow Winsham (the masterminds behind the #FolkloreThursday social media phenomenon) take us by the hand now like babes in the wood and lead us … er … into the woods! But fear not, you could find no better guides to alert us to the…
Plant your vines (beans, cucumbers, etc.) when the horns of the moon are turned up, so that they may grow vigorously. If planted when the horns of the moon are turned down, they will remain low and stunted.
*Bonus:
The same is said for fences- if you want them to remain, build while the horns are up. Fences built while the horns of the moon are directed down are said to sink until the bottom rail touches the ground.
Never take an old broom into a new house, as bad luck is sure to follow. It must be a new broom, and first carried across the meadow, to avert any ill from entering the home.
