My grandfather used to tell me stories of having on multiple occasions been approached by a man in a coat when walking home. He would get home by walking in the side of the road when he'd see the stranger walking clumsily and almost stumbling towards him from the other side of the road. It would be then he'd spot the "feet" under the coat and turn around and sprint in the opposite direction.

Just found your channel like an hour ago and I’m already binging all your Norse playlists!!! (I come from Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the Smokey Mountains in the 1600’s). I love learning about my heritage!!

Gamle-Erik makes the Devil even more creepy. A person completely red with horns and wings is not hard to spot and easily identified with evil. But to call him Gamle-Erik makes it seem like he could just be a harmless old man, playing tricks on you and you're unaware that you're conversing with the Prince of Darkness, luring you ever closer to Hell.

other cultures around the world have similar trickster tales, it's awesome to think what was or is going on in this world tht is hidden from common eye

in sweden we use fan okså as a swer word

@troldrian

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, in danish we say `fandens også` or `for fanden`!

Dimmu Borgir! \m/

Do you think creatures like the Huldra, Nokken, trolls, elves, underground folk, and other Nordic fairies would be any different, had christianity never come to the North?

@AnnaBridgland

3 жыл бұрын

I definitely think it would have changed things! Many such creatures were demonised or thought to be evil after the Christianization of Scandinavia, whereas before that they were mostly neutral. Pagan practices typically worshipped multiple Gods and many of them were believed to be Jotnar - which is a word used interchangeably for "giant" or "troll" to indicate a magical creature or non-human, so I imagine it would be quite different!

@cathleenmoyle1476

3 жыл бұрын

@@AnnaBridgland Are there any records or stories detailing what the Huldra, Nokken, trolls, elves, underground folk, or other Nordic supernatural people were like before Christianity came?

@staticcharm3808

3 жыл бұрын

@@AnnaBridgland That isn't quite correct. I am Norweigan and trolls and those fey beings were always thought to be malicious

@cathleenmoyle1476

3 жыл бұрын

@@staticcharm3808 No they weren't. Not during Pagan times.

@issyd2366

2 жыл бұрын

@@AnnaBridgland It's not really true. Trolls could be helpful even after the christianization. There are plenty of stories showing that. Thor, the old god of thunder, fought and killed trolls as well. They were an another word for "giants" which were the enemies of the gods and humans, even if they could be more helpful as well.

That's strange, I thought the current christian manifestation of the devil was based on the StagHorned God of Pagan mythologies?

@AnnaBridgland

7 жыл бұрын

the current Scandinavian Christian idea of the Devil is a bit different, instead of the Anglo pagan myths that were demonized it was the local pagan cultures that influenced people's perception of him (though the Anglo version of the Devil can be found today too) :)

I absolutely love your stories, but I have to confess that I feel weirdly left out when you mention Swedish and Norwegian pronunciations and versions of these creatures, but not Danish. Sometimes it feels like most people in the world don't know that we've subscribed to most, if not all of these creatures too for just as long. Again, that's not to say that I don't enjoy your narration and stories, I really do!

short: faan / faen