@@chriswingerTV People don't remember much about the old tales. I would love it if people made a proper cartoon about norse myths and monsters. And not those modernized stories but the old gritty and rough tales about monsters, curses, and the realm of yggdrasil. I do not remember all of it but I know a little bit about "Vättar", "Tråll", "Jättar", and "Näcken". It is hard to put it into words but the easiest way to explain them is that Vättar is the Scandinavian version of goblins, but far more like fey or undead. Tråll is swedish for trolls. And, they can be stupid, tall, small, powerful, weak, artisans, rulers, magicians, immortals, and such, but they all share a vital weakness of being turned to stone in sunlight. Jättar is swedish for giants and they are not all depicted as large creatures, they can be small too. Even animals or hybrids. The word Jätte comes from the old norse word Jötunn, it is not meant to depict a large creature, it just became that way. They are more like a separate group of higher entities who act as rivals to the other factions. Näcken is like a fey spirit, or nymph, who plays the violin to try and drown people inside its river to feed on them. I personally do not know where the violin part came from since the tale is older than the instrument and I do not remember what the old tale was like before the violin was added. But I think that Näcken acted more like a siren or similar to one at least, to attract people into deep waters where it drowns them.
I feel like in the Christmas segment that story was included in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" book. I'm glad I stumbled across your channel, I like what I've seen so far
Walked trough a small forest in the dark night and all of a sudden I saw a short black creature just standing there. Staring at me. It was disfigured, like some kind of a troll. "This can't be real" I tried to convince myself while I hesitated but then slowly started to walk towards it. It was a stump.
the darkness have a tendensy to trick your mind. Wait untill nightfall. turn of all light in your home. grab a candle and walk over to a mirror. Keep looking at your own face while holding the candle infront of you. Soon you shall start to see beings and enteties start taking form behind you. It's your mind halucinating, and teh same thing happens when out in a dark forest. your mind is playing tricks on you... or is it? Trolls are known to change in to tree stumps or mossy stones when being observed by humans.
the scariest one for me has to be näcken. A naked man with a leaf crown who sits at the edge of a river, playing the violin to lure people (mostly children) into the water and then drowns them.
"The Nordic näcken, näkki, nøkk were male water spirits who played enchanted songs on the violin, luring women and children to drown in lakes or streams." @@RannonSi
Had a relative who where a farmer, middle of nowhere north of Östergötland. Every time a one of the cows had problem giving birth, he could be woken up to a knock on the wall from the outside. Tomten perhaps ? who knows.
My brother has cows in Värmland, he too has been woken up in the middle of the night whenever a cow is having a particular hard birth. He also says that he often sees someone come and go in the corner of his eyes whenever he's inside the barn with the cows.
@@chriswingerTV "Little people" stories can be found all across the world, same thing with giants, shapeshifters and so on. I'm personally leaning towards there being truth to the old folklore that's mostly passed of as superstitions.
This randomly popped up on my page and I decided to watch it because Swedish Folklore was a big part of my childhood (My dad has books by Johan Egerkrans that I loved looking in as a small kid, still do) Nice video, the intro is odd, but luckily I love odd 👍
I don’t know why, but when you stood up with your arms out and slowly faded away while strange bells and ghost shrieking sounds effects played, I cracked up so hard 😂 that really took me out lol
The Ronja Rövardotter theme just killed me, I nearly snorted out my coffee. Nice video, though I would have loved some more than just one story that is not also found in Danish and/or Norwegian folklore - best, your local Danish historian and spare-time folklorist.
My favorite Swedish artist is Johan Egerkrans, we have all of his books and my favorite is "Nordiska Väsen". Great video! I'm looking forward to seeing more from you! ❤
The coolest creature in Swedish folklore is Vittra but it’s more common in northern Sweden. It’s a form of spirit that lives underground and is usually invisible. They typically don’t interact with you but if you cross their rules, they will cause a mess. The things they don’t like is when you disturb nature to much, cut down an old tree, move a big rock or when you build a house on the wrong spot. Then they can become your enemy and disturb you or even harm you. The simplest form of breaking Vittra rules can be if you’re for example drunk and urinate in the wrong place. Sometimes you can hear Vittra calling in the woods.
I also once read that since Myrlingar often was put out in the woods, the rivers, the swamps or in the dikes to die, they tend to cling on to wanderers. Since any wanderers pass by these areas the myrling wants to come back to their home, and clings on to the wanderer in doing so. The result is that the wanderer gets extra tired and exhausted while walking, as if suddenly carrying extra heavy load, and if you're not careful and find someplace safe to rest you'll pass out and never wake up again. I wish i remember where i got this from tho, but it was a nordic folk lore book
Skogsrået is pretty cool too. When we were kids me and my friends occasionally scared the shit out of eachother saying we saw her/it behind some tree or whatever.
Whenever I’m hiking and I see a boulder, I always think of the legend of the jättekast, or giant’s throw. Stories told of giants picking up boulders and throwing them and landing in odd places. Tales like that fueled my childhood curiosity.
There's lots of info on Wikipedia about the Tomte or Tomtevätt. The Swedish version gives off a little different but shortened description, whereas the English gives off more, but again different. The word Tomtevätt is composed of Tomte + Vätt. Vätt(single)/ Vättar (plural) is cognate with the English word Wight (which itself is often depicted as a type of ghost). The Swedish word Vätt however is used to describe many different supernatural beings. It could be compared to the word Wesen from the tv series Grim (recommended you look it up). Wesen appears to also be cognate with the Swedish word Väsen, which also describes supernatural beings. The word Vätt is sometimes used as the translation for Goblins and Orcs when fantasy litterature is translated into Swedish. Although nowadays i've heard people say Gobliner and Orker. The Lindorm can be translated into English as Lindworm. Wyvern can also be used. The Lind part could be referring to when you wind or wrap something, which is something some species of snake do when they subdue their prey. The Mare is the second part of a Hamnskiftare. The male version is the Werewolf or Varulv. It's the same idea there, you can either be cursed to be a werewolf or you willingly turn yourself into one. The willing ones are usually evil witches or warlocks using dark magic to perform these shapeshifting abilities. Basically comparable to the Navajo Skinwalker. Gengångare is just the Swedish word for Revenant. Gast is cognate with the English word Ghost, but a Gast is a specific type of ghost that has vampiric qualities. That's where the Gastkramning/Ghostly embrace comes in. I just wanted to add a little extra info on this. Sorry 😅. I am also very interested in these subjects.
That's awesome! I love to nerd out about this stuff. A lot of swedes are confused about tomte and vätte and stuff. We call gnomes tomte but it's actually closer to a vätte. Gonna talk more about that in an upcoming video 😁
I love your art! I was suggested your 'horror is comforting ' episode today and it really resonated with me. This is my third video of yours in a row and I think the eerie and obtuse editing style is incredible. Attention grabbed on the first, subscribed on the second, got me hooked on the third. Your weird is beautiful. Keep being you
@@chriswingerTV I'm looking forward to your video about Tomtarna. I always heard about them and my grandmother insisted that they were real. I was never sure if she was pulling my leg or not, but she seemed serious.
I love them! My niece still insists on putting out a bowl of porridge for him every Christmas eve. I think it's one of those things that a lot of people still believed in the country side not too long ago.
@@chriswingerTV I wrote an article about this a long time ago. I don't know what your policy about sharing links in the comments section is, but I'm happy to pass it along.
Absolutely loved the video- your storytelling and choice of creatures was great, and I really appreciated the bits of humor poking out through the facts. I just subscribed, and am looking forward to watching your other content. Thank you!
Silly, strange, maybe a little long on the intro, but your accent is awesome and the content is very informative and honestly your jokes make me chuckle. Good job sir!
I wish I was told more of our Folklore as I grew up here in sweden, but my parents didn't really mention a lot of it nor any of my grandparents did it. Which Suck, Cause I really enjoy the Creepy Folklore of Sweden, and absolute love when horror games focus on Swedish Folklore.
@@chriswingerTV No I haven't played that game, But I will check it out. the Swedish horror games I played that focus on Swedish Folklore or Nordic mythologies are.. Bramble: The Mountain king, Unforgiving: A Northeim Hymn and Apsulov: End of Gods
@@chriswingerTV Do that. I recommend Bramble: The Mountain King and Apsulov: End of Gods mostly. Cause both those are really well made and Apsulov is really terrifying at some points, even almost gave me an heart attack at one point XD Bramble is more focused on Swedish Folklore, while Apsulov is more focused on Nordic Mythologies
As a Swede, i do agree on the part about us being boring. There literally doesn't happen much here, unless someone makes us angry, or is trying to steal our Ikea furniture, or cheat their way past the line/que when they want to get something
@@chriswingerTVThat's fair. I'm curious if the night mare folklore made it's way from Sweden to the southern US since my father is from there. He'd talk about the night hag who will ride you/sleep paralysis. Especially during the witching hour.
I hadn't heard of a couple of those. But I found Näcken, Skogsrået, and Vittran missing; Troll and Jättar may also deserve a mention; and of course Hustomten
When I was very young, I often visited my great-grandmother in the mountains. For some reason, there was a stack of large, black tires within the trees on the side of her house & my childhood imagination always saw it as a giant coiled serpent.
@@chriswingerTVI haven't played it since it came out either. I thinking I'm getting my daughter to play it, she likes older games and then I can watch. But I'm a bit afraid the magic of the game might be gone today?
Very good and intresting video, I'm glad the video randomly showed up in my feed xD I loved Johan Egerkrans podcast about different folklore and I will definetly look at your other videos, your voice is good and fits the theme!
"Lind" in lindorm comes from the word "linda", which means encircle, ie. big, huge. Relate this to an ouroboros of Jörmungandr from norse mythology. You should also add the scariest Swedish mythological creature to this list: Bäraren, or "the Carrier". Overall good video though!
When I was in my early 20s, I was going through a particularly difficult time. During that time, I experienced frequent sleep paralysis. It was always terrifying, but one incident that I'll never forget is during one of these episodes when I couldn't move a muscle, I saw a sickly, emaciated little girl standing next to my bed staring at me. Her hair was long and thinning, she had a medical eye patch over one eye, and was wearing a blue night gown that looked like it was from the 60s or 70s, and she was holding this large tome against her chest. Her presence scared the hell out of me. Sure, it was probably something conjured up by my half conscious mind, but she seemed very real as it was happening. Or maybe she was really there...
@@chriswingerTV Trust me, there's nothing quite like the appearance of a creepy stranger at your bedside staring at you when you can't move or scream. But oddly, I sometimes miss those experiences just because I'm a weirdo who likes being scared from time to time. Not while it's happening of course, but afterwards, so I can get my imagination going, thinking "was I...was I just visited by a ghost? What if I was..." It keeps things interesting, you know?
Johan Egerkrans has a book called Vaesen that's pretty good and it's got some cool illustrations. Folktrons väsen : encyklopedi by Tora Wall is really good but I think you can only get it in Swedish ☹️ There so many cool creatures and I didn't even talk about my favorite ones, just the ones I find the scariest.
@@chriswingerTV Peak Swedishness is being able to complain about both in the same conversation, seamlessly and without coming off as trying to be "märkvärdig".
Gargoyl suppose to protect church from evil entity and evil spirits. guarding the place. Maybe if we had those maybe we dont have to sacrifice our animal friends.
If that woman you talk about reg Julottan took place in Västmanland, my mom worked in that same church.. During all her work shifts before mass in that church she only experienced a strange thing once.. a loud scared scream of a woman, she locked up and left, waited for the priest and other visitors before entering again that night.
Life hack to avoid Maran! If you put a bunch of line seeds around your bed at night she has the need to count them all, so she (probably) won’t have time to get to you before the night is over. Or if you put horse hairs in a hymn book and leave it in your window she has to count all the hairs
The length of the intro, along with some minor parts later made me wonder if this was a school project and you needed it to be a certain length but couldn't find enough material (or didn't feel like looking for more).😂 The actual content was decent though short.
Yeah, this is one of my least favorite videos actually. I didn't have fun making it and I wasn't happy with how it turned out but then it got way more views than my other stuff 🤣
I like that you actually pronounced the Swedish names correctly and didn't americanize them like "car laaaarrrrr sooooon" like a lot of swedes do online. I get they do that so people from other countries will have an easier time grasping what was said but it just sounds stupid when you intentionally mispronounce things.
You could make another one, there are so many more! Like Näcken or the southern version Dala Hästen and please do one on tomtar! Skogstomtar, Hustomtar, Troll There are so many stories and lore. My grandmother who lives on a farm and has so for her entire life is a traditional oldshool swedish woman, I respekt her highly. She told me tales of Hustomten ( The Housegnome) and how he took care of the farm animals and crops behind the scenes. If you were nice to and respekted them they would make your cows produce more milk and the hens would lay more eggs and so on BUT if you offended the Gnome he would get angry and take his revenge on you by doing mischevious deeds and pranks and even kill your cow. To please this Hustomte we would, each breakfast when eating porrage make one extra bowl to place outside the doorstep for the gnome and what would you know! It was gone the next time we checked on it.
Yeah, you don't want to upset those guys! I'm gonna make a video explaining everything about the tomte and how he got mixed up with Santa and all that. And also a part 2 for this video when I've got some time on my hands 😊
i do wonder. If having sleep paralysis was described as something supernatural or as a creature. What are these other creatures refering to. Like maybe the Lindorm was just a really big huggorm that back in those days could grow freely in the depths of the untouched woods. (obviously not like 20 meters long) but if i saw a let's say 5 meter long huggorm i would call it something else to my peasant buddies back in the village for sure. Fascinating thought that i will unfortunetly never know the truth of...
Skyrim is real life Sweden, fact. lol. I lived in a townhouse I think it's called in English and I saw small 10-15cm tall grey santa looking things that came out in masses from under my bed when I was a kid, and they went invisible in moonlight. The Mara I've seen ugly old hag, so yeah sleep paralysis I have had a few times, but I wasn't scared cuz I figured out what it was very quickly as I had read about the subject a few years before it happened to me. I found it more interesting than scary. PS I just now noticed you are Swe like me on the way you pronounce things. :D Hej.
Oh crap I'm sorry I didn't see the whole comment, just the Skyrim part 🤣 I think I would freak out even if I knew that it was sleep paralysis! That stuff you saw as a kid makes me wonder. I mean sure kids have vivid imaginations but we didn't just hallucinate stuff!
You forgot to say the most creepy thing about Myrlings. If they were buried out in the woods they would sit during the night and wait for people to pass. Then jump on their backs, demanding to be taken to holy ground. As you came closer to the graveyard it would grow both in size and weight making it's victim slowly sink into the ground and if you didn't make it past the gates of the graveyard, it would take you and force you to be it's parent for all time.....
People keep telling me that so I made a joke about it in this video. It's funny because I tried my hardest to do his voice in the bit about the coffee but I can't get right 😆
Im from Danmark and my gandpa would tell Stories like that and i rember the Naked man that sits on the River side and plays the Violin to lrue kids in and drown them🫣
I hope the start was sarcastic because those winter and fall jackets rule 😂 Ikea is kinda what it is, easy affordable, whatever. Still for example I have had like 9 years a North Peak fall jacket and skated with it etc. and it even got thru south-east Asias wet-season without me getting wet 😅 it's still almost like a brand new jacket after all this time and usage. Breaths when a bit warmer and keeps warm air in when a bit colder. Hiking jackets are 🤌 You take some wool-jacket and rain or snow get's to it, I would think it's so much more of a witch to get it dry and fine + they often don't have anything to protect neck or have a hood so 😅 Yeeah you can use a scarf but I do with a winter jacket too and hardly ever get sick. They are practical and looks good 😂 Btw the strip is usually just a reflector so car's can see you in dark
@@chriswingerTV They do looook goooood 😂😂 I'm finnish. Well to be real, I have way too many all differend kinda jackets for spring/fall. Still for winter I almost exclusively will use a well padded hiking jacket, it's just makes life 10 times easier.
Kom igen, det här var riktigt dåligt av dig. Ha lite entusiasm när du pratar och ordet "mardröm" kommer från Maran, ett väsen som sitter på en då orsakar "mardrömmar". 5 miunuter av google sökningar hade gett dig den informationen.
Nokken, the stream horse, Draugen, The Forest Spirit The Lake Spirit Trolls Irrbloss Mörksuggan Ghosts Storsjö Beast Bjära, Brunnsgubbe Kvarns gubbe lyktgubbe Church grim,
I am a swede who loves folklore, but I had somehow managed to miss quite a few of these! Thank you for making this! I will now go and infodump this all over my friends 🫡
@@chriswingerTV I definitely will!! I am so excited! Are you considering bringing in Näcken or Strömkarlen? Naked, usually sad, people with instruments in rivers is such an iconic recurring theme in the nordic folklore and I adore them so much!
Sweden used to not be boring, we are just getting More boring throughout the years. But our folklore and how things was back in the day, thats Something diffrent, seemed so cozy and More lively than these days… Great video btw!🤍
The worst creature we have are the fucking gnomes. You leave porridge out or they beat the shit out of you. My friend once forgot to leave them those sweet oats and he has never been the same since.
As a swede you sure miss the time where you had to worry about those devious trolls & gnomes instead of incompetent politicians & bureaucrats
All the tax they needed was a bowl of porridge on Christmas Eve!
@@chriswingerTV People don't remember much about the old tales. I would love it if people made a proper cartoon about norse myths and monsters. And not those modernized stories but the old gritty and rough tales about monsters, curses, and the realm of yggdrasil.
I do not remember all of it but I know a little bit about "Vättar", "Tråll", "Jättar", and "Näcken".
It is hard to put it into words but the easiest way to explain them is that Vättar is the Scandinavian version of goblins, but far more like fey or undead.
Tråll is swedish for trolls. And, they can be stupid, tall, small, powerful, weak, artisans, rulers, magicians, immortals, and such, but they all share a vital weakness of being turned to stone in sunlight.
Jättar is swedish for giants and they are not all depicted as large creatures, they can be small too. Even animals or hybrids. The word Jätte comes from the old norse word Jötunn, it is not meant to depict a large creature, it just became that way. They are more like a separate group of higher entities who act as rivals to the other factions.
Näcken is like a fey spirit, or nymph, who plays the violin to try and drown people inside its river to feed on them. I personally do not know where the violin part came from since the tale is older than the instrument and I do not remember what the old tale was like before the violin was added. But I think that Näcken acted more like a siren or similar to one at least, to attract people into deep waters where it drowns them.
I feel like in the Christmas segment that story was included in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" book. I'm glad I stumbled across your channel, I like what I've seen so far
Walked trough a small forest in the dark night and all of a sudden I saw a short black creature just standing there. Staring at me. It was disfigured, like some kind of a troll. "This can't be real" I tried to convince myself while I hesitated but then slowly started to walk towards it.
It was a stump.
No wonder people saw all kinds of weird creatures back before we had street lights!🤣
the darkness have a tendensy to trick your mind. Wait untill nightfall. turn of all light in your home. grab a candle and walk over to a mirror. Keep looking at your own face while holding the candle infront of you. Soon you shall start to see beings and enteties start taking form behind you. It's your mind halucinating, and teh same thing happens when out in a dark forest. your mind is playing tricks on you... or is it? Trolls are known to change in to tree stumps or mossy stones when being observed by humans.
I wanna try this now!
You sure it was not skogsrået with her back turned towards you?
the scariest one for me has to be näcken. A naked man with a leaf crown who sits at the edge of a river, playing the violin to lure people (mostly children) into the water and then drowns them.
He could also teach you to play so good that you'd lose your mind!
Wasn't it mostly women?
"The Nordic näcken, näkki, nøkk were male water spirits who played enchanted songs on the violin, luring women and children to drown in lakes or streams." @@RannonSi
@@yurionice1131 Oh, I know, what I meant was, that my impression was that he mostly lured and drown women, when in the form of a man.
@@yurionice1131 Oh, I know, what I meant was, that my impression was that he mostly lured and drown women, when in the form of a man.
Had a relative who where a farmer, middle of nowhere north of Östergötland.
Every time a one of the cows had problem giving birth, he could be woken up to a knock on the wall from the outside. Tomten perhaps ? who knows.
I want to believe!
My brother has cows in Värmland, he too has been woken up in the middle of the night whenever a cow is having a particular hard birth. He also says that he often sees someone come and go in the corner of his eyes whenever he's inside the barn with the cows.
Makes you wonder if there might be some truth to those old tales!
@@chriswingerTV "Little people" stories can be found all across the world, same thing with giants, shapeshifters and so on. I'm personally leaning towards there being truth to the old folklore that's mostly passed of as superstitions.
Yeah, it is strange how similar some folklore can be throughout the world.
This randomly popped up on my page and I decided to watch it because Swedish Folklore was a big part of my childhood (My dad has books by Johan Egerkrans that I loved looking in as a small kid, still do) Nice video, the intro is odd, but luckily I love odd 👍
Thank you! His books are awesome and the illustrations are really cool.
I think Skyrim takes place in Sweden 🤔
@@chriswingerTV Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Johan is the man! He has a great podcast on Spotify called Myter och Mysterier, focused around folklore from different parts of the world.
Oh yeah! Forgot about that podcast!
Det finns en till som skrev om swedish folk lore ebbe schön
I don’t know why, but when you stood up with your arms out and slowly faded away while strange bells and ghost shrieking sounds effects played, I cracked up so hard 😂 that really took me out lol
Sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing! 😆
The Ronja Rövardotter theme just killed me, I nearly snorted out my coffee.
Nice video, though I would have loved some more than just one story that is not also found in Danish and/or Norwegian folklore - best, your local Danish historian and spare-time folklorist.
Thank you! I'll keep that in mind when I make part 2😉
I love Denmark btw! Way more fun than Sweden.
@@chriswingerTVNo.
Dude, yes!
@@chriswingerTV Haram you can't say that
@@chriswingerTV Imposter!
My favorite Swedish artist is Johan Egerkrans, we have all of his books and my favorite is "Nordiska Väsen". Great video! I'm looking forward to seeing more from you! ❤
The coolest creature in Swedish folklore is Vittra but it’s more common in northern Sweden. It’s a form of spirit that lives underground and is usually invisible. They typically don’t interact with you but if you cross their rules, they will cause a mess. The things they don’t like is when you disturb nature to much, cut down an old tree, move a big rock or when you build a house on the wrong spot. Then they can become your enemy and disturb you or even harm you. The simplest form of breaking Vittra rules can be if you’re for example drunk and urinate in the wrong place. Sometimes you can hear Vittra calling in the woods.
I have heard of those! From what I read they are kind of like a vätte but they don't live near people.
That's why we say "Tabi, tabi po, Nuno" in Filipino when we pee on Rocks, Bushes, Shrubs, Trees or any plantation in the Woods😁
Oh really? That's cool how similar it is in different parts of the world!
Awww man i was hoping you were gonna talk about the Trolls from the thumbnail...i loved those books as a kid.
I'll have to make another video I think 😁
Part 2 part 2 !! *chants*@@chriswingerTV
@@chriswingerTVas a Swede who wanna learn more about my own culture and folklore, I demand a part 2 :)
I promise it's coming! 😄 Not sure when but it's coming!
I also once read that since Myrlingar often was put out in the woods, the rivers, the swamps or in the dikes to die, they tend to cling on to wanderers. Since any wanderers pass by these areas the myrling wants to come back to their home, and clings on to the wanderer in doing so. The result is that the wanderer gets extra tired and exhausted while walking, as if suddenly carrying extra heavy load, and if you're not careful and find someplace safe to rest you'll pass out and never wake up again.
I wish i remember where i got this from tho, but it was a nordic folk lore book
Yeah, I recognize this too. I think you have to get to a church yard before it gets too heavy! Scary stuff!
You perfectly set the atmosphere for this video. Great video Chris!
Thank you!😁🙏
Skogsrået is pretty cool too. When we were kids me and my friends occasionally scared the shit out of eachother saying we saw her/it behind some tree or whatever.
That's awesome! Miss being a kid sometimes.
I am surprisedyou didnt mention the Skogsrå, the beautiful woman with a back with barkskin luring men into the woods ....
I'll talk about all the "rås" in part 2 probably 😁
The way i understood skogsrå, it's more than just barkskin, it's the back of a rotten hollow tree.
Or a tail!
@@oliveromarsson4189 yes that is true it is way more sinister.
Whenever I’m hiking and I see a boulder, I always think of the legend of the jättekast, or giant’s throw. Stories told of giants picking up boulders and throwing them and landing in odd places. Tales like that fueled my childhood curiosity.
The world is more fun when you look at stuff that way!
Goodness, I just discovered your channel but I really enjoy the ramblings of the heart you put into your videos. Very comforting and informative 😊
Thank you!😁 I'm still finding my style kind of but I'm trying to put more of my own personality into the newer videos.
There's lots of info on Wikipedia about the Tomte or Tomtevätt. The Swedish version gives off a little different but shortened description, whereas the English gives off more, but again different.
The word Tomtevätt is composed of Tomte + Vätt. Vätt(single)/ Vättar (plural) is cognate with the English word Wight (which itself is often depicted as a type of ghost).
The Swedish word Vätt however is used to describe many different supernatural beings. It could be compared to the word Wesen from the tv series Grim (recommended you look it up). Wesen appears to also be cognate with the Swedish word Väsen, which also describes supernatural beings. The word Vätt is sometimes used as the translation for Goblins and Orcs when fantasy litterature is translated into Swedish. Although nowadays i've heard people say Gobliner and Orker.
The Lindorm can be translated into English as Lindworm. Wyvern can also be used. The Lind part could be referring to when you wind or wrap something, which is something some species of snake do when they subdue their prey.
The Mare is the second part of a Hamnskiftare. The male version is the Werewolf or Varulv. It's the same idea there, you can either be cursed to be a werewolf or you willingly turn yourself into one. The willing ones are usually evil witches or warlocks using dark magic to perform these shapeshifting abilities. Basically comparable to the Navajo Skinwalker.
Gengångare is just the Swedish word for Revenant. Gast is cognate with the English word Ghost, but a Gast is a specific type of ghost that has vampiric qualities. That's where the Gastkramning/Ghostly embrace comes in.
I just wanted to add a little extra info on this. Sorry 😅. I am also very interested in these subjects.
That's awesome! I love to nerd out about this stuff. A lot of swedes are confused about tomte and vätte and stuff. We call gnomes tomte but it's actually closer to a vätte. Gonna talk more about that in an upcoming video 😁
Varulv and Werewolf both consist of the same two words.
I’m 4th gen Swedish 🥰 I just adore your video and funny wit! Beautiful! Thank you for your pure genius! I very much enjoyed your video!
Wow, thank you! Not sure if I would say genius but thank you!😁🙏❤️
I love your art! I was suggested your 'horror is comforting ' episode today and it really resonated with me. This is my third video of yours in a row and I think the eerie and obtuse editing style is incredible. Attention grabbed on the first, subscribed on the second, got me hooked on the third. Your weird is beautiful. Keep being you
Thank you! I'm glad that there are people out there who actually like that I'm weird 🤣
@@chriswingerTV The weird is the best part! 😊
That and the deep thoughtfulness
My paternal grandparents were from Sweden and I've heard some of these stories from my grandmother. They always fascinated me.
That's awesome!😊
@@chriswingerTV I'm looking forward to your video about Tomtarna. I always heard about them and my grandmother insisted that they were real. I was never sure if she was pulling my leg or not, but she seemed serious.
I love them! My niece still insists on putting out a bowl of porridge for him every Christmas eve. I think it's one of those things that a lot of people still believed in the country side not too long ago.
@@chriswingerTV I was going to say the same thing. My grandmother also made us do that every Christmas Eve.
@@chriswingerTV I wrote an article about this a long time ago. I don't know what your policy about sharing links in the comments section is, but I'm happy to pass it along.
Absolutely loved the video- your storytelling and choice of creatures was great, and I really appreciated the bits of humor poking out through the facts. I just subscribed, and am looking forward to watching your other content. Thank you!
Big thanks! I'll keep 'em coming 😁
Silly, strange, maybe a little long on the intro, but your accent is awesome and the content is very informative and honestly your jokes make me chuckle. Good job sir!
Thank you! This is one of my least favorite videos but it's getting the most views 🤣
I wish I was told more of our Folklore as I grew up here in sweden, but my parents didn't really mention a lot of it nor any of my grandparents did it.
Which Suck, Cause I really enjoy the Creepy Folklore of Sweden, and absolute love when horror games focus on Swedish Folklore.
Yeah, I don't know if you played year walk but that one was really cool. Should be super cheap by now.
@@chriswingerTV No I haven't played that game, But I will check it out. the Swedish horror games I played that focus on Swedish Folklore or Nordic mythologies are..
Bramble: The Mountain king, Unforgiving: A Northeim Hymn and Apsulov: End of Gods
Perhaps I should give those a go!
@@chriswingerTV Do that. I recommend Bramble: The Mountain King and Apsulov: End of Gods mostly. Cause both those are really well made and Apsulov is really terrifying at some points, even almost gave me an heart attack at one point XD
Bramble is more focused on Swedish Folklore, while Apsulov is more focused on Nordic Mythologies
As a Swede, i do agree on the part about us being boring. There literally doesn't happen much here, unless someone makes us angry, or is trying to steal our Ikea furniture, or cheat their way past the line/que when they want to get something
Lines are sacred! 😲 I feel a little bad though. I don't hate dads with beards.
projection~
Joe Pera joke killed me 😂
I can't quite nail his voice 😆
@@chriswingerTVidk bro I thought it was actually him for a sec😂
Guess it wasn't half bad then 😅
i just found your videos and they are comfy, relaxing and profound.
T: Finn who also loves pinetrees and nordic folklore
Thank you very much 😊
Lol, the Skyrim. I'm ready to learn me some (possibly spoopy) stuff. The scenes with the coffee beans looks like it smells lovely in there.
I think Skyrim is about Sweden.
@@chriswingerTVThat's fair. I'm curious if the night mare folklore made it's way from Sweden to the southern US since my father is from there. He'd talk about the night hag who will ride you/sleep paralysis. Especially during the witching hour.
It's hard to say where it originates from since you can find it in many different countries but it's probably the same creature!
Gloso'n is my fave scary swedish folklore creature. (Female black wildboar with a sawblade on it's back with red shiny eyes)
I thought about including that one! It's from Skåne I think.
I hadn't heard of a couple of those. But I found Näcken, Skogsrået, and Vittran missing; Troll and Jättar may also deserve a mention; and of course Hustomten
Yeah, there will be a part 2 one day! And I'm gonna talk about tomten in a video sometime near Christmas 🎅
When I was very young, I often visited my great-grandmother in the mountains. For some reason, there was a stack of large, black tires within the trees on the side of her house & my childhood imagination always saw it as a giant coiled serpent.
The world was a scary place back then!
Ok Silent Hill background sounds are instant like.
Greetings from Knutby, Sweden.
Haven't played it since I was a kid! Should revisit it someday.
@@chriswingerTVI haven't played it since it came out either. I thinking I'm getting my daughter to play it, she likes older games and then I can watch. But I'm a bit afraid the magic of the game might be gone today?
Some of those survival horror games hold up! The atmosphere is still good probably.
I knew you were a warlock with that disappearing trick! So you can command all these creatures and they will do your diabolical bidding!
I'm not sure, I'm pretty sure that guy who waves saved me in the end!
Very interesting. Loved the story telling!
Thank you! Maybe I should put more stories in my videos 😊
Very good and intresting video, I'm glad the video randomly showed up in my feed xD I loved Johan Egerkrans podcast about different folklore and I will definetly look at your other videos, your voice is good and fits the theme!
Thank you, glad you liked it! 😁 Hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
"Lind" in lindorm comes from the word "linda", which means encircle, ie. big, huge. Relate this to an ouroboros of Jörmungandr from norse mythology.
You should also add the scariest Swedish mythological creature to this list: Bäraren, or "the Carrier".
Overall good video though!
Thank you! Hmm yeah, I wonder which theory is correct! 🤔
Sometimes when I get drunk and wander the woods I upset mysterious forces that seem to appear from nowhere called mud wasps.
You don't want to mess with those!
This feels like when I watched Stalker by Andrea Tarkovsky. Good thing.
Need to watch that one now!
When I was in my early 20s, I was going through a particularly difficult time. During that time, I experienced frequent sleep paralysis. It was always terrifying, but one incident that I'll never forget is during one of these episodes when I couldn't move a muscle, I saw a sickly, emaciated little girl standing next to my bed staring at me. Her hair was long and thinning, she had a medical eye patch over one eye, and was wearing a blue night gown that looked like it was from the 60s or 70s, and she was holding this large tome against her chest. Her presence scared the hell out of me. Sure, it was probably something conjured up by my half conscious mind, but she seemed very real as it was happening. Or maybe she was really there...
That sounds like something straight out of a really cool horror movie! Must have been terrifying there and then though!
@@chriswingerTV Trust me, there's nothing quite like the appearance of a creepy stranger at your bedside staring at you when you can't move or scream. But oddly, I sometimes miss those experiences just because I'm a weirdo who likes being scared from time to time. Not while it's happening of course, but afterwards, so I can get my imagination going, thinking "was I...was I just visited by a ghost? What if I was..." It keeps things interesting, you know?
I get what you mean! Sometimes when I'm in bed I try to come up with the creepiest stuff I can think of just to scare myself for some reason.
The scariest are the local folklore cus they are often based in some reality
Yeah, it's fascinating!
Theres a book you could recomend about the creatures? I already fall in love with them
Johan Egerkrans has a book called Vaesen that's pretty good and it's got some cool illustrations. Folktrons väsen : encyklopedi by Tora Wall is really good but I think you can only get it in Swedish ☹️
There so many cool creatures and I didn't even talk about my favorite ones, just the ones I find the scariest.
@@chriswingerTV thanks!!!
Watch 4 min so far, and Love this guy!
I love you too! 😁
Wouldn't be a Swede if he didn't complain about Sweden, at least a little bit. Jante is still strong. 😂
And it's too warm! Or too cold, it depends.
@@chriswingerTV Peak Swedishness is being able to complain about both in the same conversation, seamlessly and without coming off as trying to be "märkvärdig".
Gargoyl suppose to protect church from evil entity and evil spirits. guarding the place. Maybe if we had those maybe we dont have to sacrifice our animal friends.
Yeah, maybe that's the better alternative 😅
I still do the candle on the window thing!
Better safe than sorry!
do Norwegian folklore! Also pretty nice video
Maybe I should! Thank you 😊
Glad att se någon som pratar lite svensk fakta. 😂 En grej ! Jag köper alltid flanell jacka ;) Vi är inte alla detsamma
Gött! Jag älskar allt som är skotskrutigt 😁
as a fellow swede i find it crazy how you dont like the look of IKEA furniture
It's not all bad 😊
My grandfather always told me about the grey one/gnome, but I never believed him.
Maybe he was right 😲
If that woman you talk about reg Julottan took place in Västmanland, my mom worked in that same church.. During all her work shifts before mass in that church she only experienced a strange thing once.. a loud scared scream of a woman, she locked up and left, waited for the priest and other visitors before entering again that night.
That's scary! And awesome! I love hearing about stuff like this.
Life hack to avoid Maran! If you put a bunch of line seeds around your bed at night she has the need to count them all, so she (probably) won’t have time to get to you before the night is over. Or if you put horse hairs in a hymn book and leave it in your window she has to count all the hairs
That's right! I think she has some kind of diagnosis.
My Swedish ass loves this. Would love to see more of these
One day I'll make another!
The length of the intro, along with some minor parts later made me wonder if this was a school project and you needed it to be a certain length but couldn't find enough material (or didn't feel like looking for more).😂
The actual content was decent though short.
Yeah, this is one of my least favorite videos actually. I didn't have fun making it and I wasn't happy with how it turned out but then it got way more views than my other stuff 🤣
@@chriswingerTV lol, UA-cam algorithm be weird like that.😂
I like that you actually pronounced the Swedish names correctly and didn't americanize them like "car laaaarrrrr sooooon" like a lot of swedes do online. I get they do that so people from other countries will have an easier time grasping what was said but it just sounds stupid when you intentionally mispronounce things.
Yeah, whatever language it is I always try to use the proper pronunciation! At least I try 😆
But what happens if you become Gastkramad and tell someone about it? 😰
Sick Photoshop skills, btw 😉😆
I think you'll get even sicker or something 😲
Photoshop?😁
You could make another one, there are so many more! Like Näcken or the southern version Dala Hästen and please do one on tomtar! Skogstomtar, Hustomtar, Troll There are so many stories and lore. My grandmother who lives on a farm and has so for her entire life is a traditional oldshool swedish woman, I respekt her highly. She told me tales of Hustomten ( The Housegnome) and how he took care of the farm animals and crops behind the scenes. If you were nice to and respekted them they would make your cows produce more milk and the hens would lay more eggs and so on BUT if you offended the Gnome he would get angry and take his revenge on you by doing mischevious deeds and pranks and even kill your cow. To please this Hustomte we would, each breakfast when eating porrage make one extra bowl to place outside the doorstep for the gnome and what would you know! It was gone the next time we checked on it.
Yeah, you don't want to upset those guys! I'm gonna make a video explaining everything about the tomte and how he got mixed up with Santa and all that. And also a part 2 for this video when I've got some time on my hands 😊
I can't agree enough to the rambling in the intro
It's true I guess but I regret putting it in the video :( Sounds a bit mean.
@@chriswingerTV The truth hurt, but lies won't change people.
i do wonder. If having sleep paralysis was described as something supernatural or as a creature. What are these other creatures refering to.
Like maybe the Lindorm was just a really big huggorm that back in those days could grow freely in the depths of the untouched woods. (obviously not like 20 meters long) but if i saw a let's say 5 meter long huggorm i would call it something else to my peasant buddies back in the village for sure.
Fascinating thought that i will unfortunetly never know the truth of...
Let's just hope we never meet one of those!
Nice one 👻
Thank you 😁
ooh a mara?? a creature that “rides” men in their dreams?? how does one get the mussy?
There's actually a story about a man who married a mara and had kids with her😁
'mussy' smh
Skyrim is real life Sweden, fact. lol. I lived in a townhouse I think it's called in English and I saw small 10-15cm tall grey santa looking things that came out in masses from under my bed when I was a kid, and they went invisible in moonlight.
The Mara I've seen ugly old hag, so yeah sleep paralysis I have had a few times, but I wasn't scared cuz I figured out what it was very quickly as I had read about the subject a few years before it happened to me. I found it more interesting than scary.
PS I just now noticed you are Swe like me on the way you pronounce things. :D Hej.
It is true!
@@chriswingerTV Veri najs
Oh crap I'm sorry I didn't see the whole comment, just the Skyrim part 🤣 I think I would freak out even if I knew that it was sleep paralysis!
That stuff you saw as a kid makes me wonder. I mean sure kids have vivid imaginations but we didn't just hallucinate stuff!
@@chriswingerTV About the kid part, I agree, but I am not sure myself, it just stopped at a certain age but I still believe in them so hm.
Maybe grown ups can't perceive certain things 🤔
Would you consider making a video on some Norwegian creatures? Like Trolls, Nøkken, Huldra, Pesta and Draugen to name a few.
Yeah, we have some of those here too so I'll probably mention them in the next one😁 I want to go to Norway some day. It looks beautiful!
@@chriswingerTV Awesome! And btw Sweden aint too shabby looking either 😉 Spent around 8 days there this June, amazing country 🇸🇪
It can be beautiful, but you guys got all the cool mountains and stuff! 😁
You forgot to say the most creepy thing about Myrlings.
If they were buried out in the woods they would sit during the night and wait for people to pass.
Then jump on their backs, demanding to be taken to holy ground.
As you came closer to the graveyard it would grow both in size and weight making it's victim slowly sink into the ground and if you didn't make it past the gates of the graveyard, it would take you and force you to be it's parent for all time.....
Oh, I think I may have read about that! That's scary 😲
Pettson bilden va nostalgi deluxe
Älskar Pettson!
@@chriswingerTV Gör fler av dessa är du snäll! Super intressant :) Subbed
Tack! Kommer en del 2 så fort jag har lite mer tid att jobba på den😁
Äntligen någon som är villig att kritisera våran skit minimalism. Jag hatar det.
Jag undrar om någon egentligen tycker att det är fint.
@@chriswingerTVnä det är skitfult och själsdödande.
Har aldrig i mitt liv sett minimalismen ni snackar om så vettefan om det är nåt så stort problem
Jag snubblade och bröt huvudet på en ful vit adventsljusstake en gång. Det är jättefarligt!
MER. Tack :)
Det ska bli!
Nice video I noticed sometimes you talk a bit like Joe pera don’t know if you are trying to sound like him but it’s uncanny
People keep telling me that so I made a joke about it in this video. It's funny because I tried my hardest to do his voice in the bit about the coffee but I can't get right 😆
The scariest creature from Sweden is probably the Stritsvagn 103.
Good thing it's just an old legend!
great video
Thank you! 😊
part 2, part 2!!!
Ok, now I have to make it😁
Nice video, though most of this is a thing in all of Scandinavia, not just Sweden, the names just change slightly.
That's true!
You forgot about the Skogsrå!!!
I should make one where I talk about some less scary ones. There are so many "rås" 😆
There is a Swedish fog-elves, like Legolas but made of fog
You mean the fairies that dance on meadows?
@@chriswingerTV fairies like Tinkerbell are smaller then those
Where did you read this?😊
@@chriswingerTV "älva" have a human size and is more made of fog and "fee" have the size of Tinkerbell
Im from Danmark and my gandpa would tell Stories like that and i rember the Naked man that sits on the River side and plays the Violin to lrue kids in and drown them🫣
Yeah, we call him Näcken in Sweden. Hell of a violin player I hear!
We call him å man@@chriswingerTV
I'm 2 minutes in and is it disguised food pr0n ? Was I baited with yummy Swedish folklore only to be fooled with yummy food ?
(I all in)
You never know what you get with me. I'm a real wild card!
Your coffee grounds are WAY too coarse for pour over 😮
Luckily it was just stock footage 😉
Where the fck is Hårga? Where the devil plays a violin that forces people to dance until they can't dance anymore and dies!?
Yeah, I should talk about that!
i am också a part of svensk mythology (borlängebo)
Dät's gräjt!😁
I hope the start was sarcastic because those winter and fall jackets rule 😂 Ikea is kinda what it is, easy affordable, whatever. Still for example I have had like 9 years a North Peak fall jacket and skated with it etc. and it even got thru south-east Asias wet-season without me getting wet 😅 it's still almost like a brand new jacket after all this time and usage. Breaths when a bit warmer and keeps warm air in when a bit colder. Hiking jackets are 🤌 You take some wool-jacket and rain or snow get's to it, I would think it's so much more of a witch to get it dry and fine + they often don't have anything to protect neck or have a hood so 😅 Yeeah you can use a scarf but I do with a winter jacket too and hardly ever get sick. They are practical and looks good 😂 Btw the strip is usually just a reflector so car's can see you in dark
Yeah, I know I know 😅 But what happened to all the beauty in the world?🤣 A matter of taste I guess.
@@chriswingerTV They do looook goooood 😂😂 I'm finnish. Well to be real, I have way too many all differend kinda jackets for spring/fall. Still for winter I almost exclusively will use a well padded hiking jacket, it's just makes life 10 times easier.
I have a thing for wool 😊 oh and plaid stuff.
In all my years on the internet i have come to find Sweden is Japan of Europe
We can be pretty cold and distant!
Hej hej 🇸🇪 Bra kanal
Man tackar!
Kom igen, det här var riktigt dåligt av dig. Ha lite entusiasm när du pratar och ordet "mardröm" kommer från Maran, ett väsen som sitter på en då orsakar "mardrömmar". 5 miunuter av google sökningar hade gett dig den informationen.
Haha tack ska du ha! 😁 Synd att jag glömde prata om Maran i videon.
Hipster! Är Nytorget din dröm?
Ja, jag hänger där och snackar surdeg med andra skäggiga pappor.
Joe Pera!!!!
He's the man!
@@chriswingerTV oh snap. A famous person noticed me! I think I feel your success rubbing off lol
The only thing i know about sweden is meatballs.
Don't get the store bought ones! They smell bad.
Yes, store bought meatballs do indeed smell like fermented fart@@chriswingerTV
I love ugly cheap clothes and ikea stuff Förlåååt😢
It's ok! I love you anyway 😊
@@chriswingerTV 😍🤭
SWEEEDEN!!!!!!! LETS GOOO!!!!!
Hell yes!
U Sound Like Stitch🙂 but in a cute way💟🙂
Hahaha Thank you! If Stitch and Joe Pera baby!
Köttbullar Land🗿
Precis!🦆
lol the most american piece of clothe..
Murca😎
Nokken,
the stream horse,
Draugen,
The Forest Spirit
The Lake Spirit
Trolls
Irrbloss
Mörksuggan
Ghosts
Storsjö Beast
Bjära,
Brunnsgubbe
Kvarns gubbe
lyktgubbe
Church grim,
Lots of material here😁
You brought up the most boring and universal creatures in the world. Ghosts and nightmares? Come on, bro. Nothing Swedish folklore about it.
But the other ones are not as scary 😅
this is a strange comment
We have a lot of talking dragons and screaming sword wealding maniacs running around.
It's getting out of hand!
I am a swede who loves folklore, but I had somehow managed to miss quite a few of these! Thank you for making this! I will now go and infodump this all over my friends 🫡
Awesome! Hope you come back for part 2! 😊
@@chriswingerTV I definitely will!! I am so excited! Are you considering bringing in Näcken or Strömkarlen? Naked, usually sad, people with instruments in rivers is such an iconic recurring theme in the nordic folklore and I adore them so much!
I'll probably talk about him, yes 😁
@@chriswingerTV Wonderful:D
I'll stick around even if you don't bring either of them up obviously! I loved the format
Sweden used to not be boring, we are just getting More boring throughout the years.
But our folklore and how things was back in the day, thats Something diffrent, seemed so cozy and More lively than these days…
Great video btw!🤍
Yeah, just look at our architecture these days🤢
Than you😁
The worst creature we have are the fucking gnomes. You leave porridge out or they beat the shit out of you. My friend once forgot to leave them those sweet oats and he has never been the same since.
They've got a mean right hook!