For centuries and perhaps millennia, Swedish farmers have shared tales of supernatural creatures inhabiting their farms. Since the nineteenth century, folklorists have begun to study these stories, gathering information on the mysterious entities, traditions and rituals connected to them.
di Gabriel Vigilante
When in the nineteenth century, driven by romantic enthusiasm, Swedish folklorists devoted themselves to collecting folk stories from villages and farms, they had to deal with a reality that could appear paradoxical. Although the Sweden was a strongly Christianized country, the belief in supernatural creatures that inhabited woods, lakes, mountains and farms, which was accompanied by a wide variety of traditions regarding how to interact with these spirits of nature.
The church did not look favorably on the attitude of the rural population towards such creatures, and the clash between folkloric customs and the Christian faith was so severe that it influenced the tradition, producing a series of stories in which the naturväsen (nature spirits) they have characteristics similar to demons or the devil. Also Saint Birgitta, the most important Swedish saint, spoke about the habit of leaving some of these creatures something to eat, in order to ingratiate themselves with their favors:
"Don't give the tomte the first fruits of your cattle and pigs, or bread, wine or anything else »
[1]
Despite the effort, the battle of the church never completely eliminated the habit of caring for naturväsen, to which the peasants continued to devote themselves out of fear of their anger or in the hope of help in the hard work of the countryside, even at the cost. not to appear as good Christians.
THE TOMTE
A function common to all folklore creatures was that of scapegoat for negative events affecting rural society. Creatures like troll, skogsrå [2] and näck [3], they could be guilty of serious misfortunes, such as kidnapping of adults or infants. However, these were beings who lived outside human communities, in woods, lakes and forests; but, as you approached the dwellings, the creatures they encountered became friendlier and less dangerous and could be responsible for minor problems, such as the theft of work items or food.
According to tradition, the most sympathetic to man among these beings was the tomte (plural: "tomtar"), also known in Scania and parts of southern Sweden by names nisse, goanisse e tomtenisse, hypocoristic of the name "Nils”(Diminutive of Nikolas), which was perhaps used to curry favor with his benevolence. The term tomte instead derives from compound words, the first member of which was “tomt”, which means “piece of land”.
The beliefs regarding the tomte are homogeneous throughout Sweden and give us the image of a creature very similar to one gnome or elf. It is described as a small man, often dressed in gray clothes, with a small hat or red hood. The face is usually described as that of an adult or an elderly person, in some cases with a thick white beard. These beings usually lived on the farm, in animal stables or in barns. Some tomtars could also live inside mills, forges, boats, or simply inside a house, in hidden places such as fireplaces or attics. The main function of the tomte was to look after the welfare of the farm and livestock, punish negligence in housework and wake up hosts when something was wrong.
The tomte therefore played the role of a sort of social conscience in folklore, which ensured that the housework was done diligently and that there were no violations of private property. This notion of tomte is clear from numerous stories:
“Tomtars are considered benign creatures to us. When I worked as a young girl for a young lady in Öland, and one day had to clean the kitchen shelf, I saw with my own eyes a tomte coming down from the shelf, carrying her little bed in her arms. If you want them to feel comfortable in a house, you have to keep every corner clean and tidy [...] »
[4]
Among the tasks of the tomte was therefore that of help in certain jobs, such as cutting hay, sifting flour, carrying straw and looking after the animals. He was an aid in the daily work and looked after the welfare of the farm. He was particularly tied to animals, especially horses, whose mane he loved to weave, and treating the cattle cruelly could cause them anger.
All these jobs were carried out during the night, after making sure that no one was working or disturbing the quiet of the house, and if any intruder approached, it was his job to wake up the owners of the farm. To obtain these favors, however, the master had to treat the tomtar with respect and a large number of stories had the task of teaching what was the right behavior towards domestic beings, telling of the punishments received by the hosts for wrong behavior. :
«A farmer, who had gnomes in his house, met them one day while, panting with great effort, each one dragged an ear of corn. "What is there to pant so much for three miserable ears that you carry?" said the farmer. “So you think we don't do enough! We will do even less! ”, Answered a nisse. From that day on the man went all wrong. »
If the tomte, not treated properly, left the house or the farm, he could have it dire consequences for the fate of the occupants, as happens in the aforementioned story. In some variations of the legend, tomtars move to a neighbor who respects them. The tomtar were therefore considered benevolent beings if treated well and not disturbed, they helped a farm without necessarily being hostile to the surrounding farms, except in the case of trespassing and theft.
One way to secure the thanks of the tomte and to thank him for the work done was to leave him some food every evening. One dish that was typically offered to him was a so-called porridge tomtegrot (literally "tomte porridge"). Also to Christmas it was good practice to leave something for the tomtars:
“The tomte was given a little food every day. It was not customary to eat porridge in the evening, but every night the tomte had to have porridge on a specific plate, and put it in the space above the oven. In return, the tomte obtained what the people or livestock of the house needed, taking it from other parts. At Christmas he had to be prepared a piece of special sausage which was called "sausage of the tomte" [5]. It was to be given to the tomte on Christmas Eve. »
[6]
THE VÄTTAR
In southern Sweden, tomtars were not the only beings who lived in close contact with humans on farms: there were also vättar. They were minute beings with anthropomorphic features, halfway between trolls and elves, that they lived underground near peasant houses or barns. They lived a life mirroring the human one, dressed like men, usually in gray (but they were able to make themselves invisible or bewitch those who saw them), married and had children. Like tomtars, they were not considered dangerous as long as they were treated with respect. The biggest risk was doing something that could have hurt them, such as throwing water out the window without warning, wetting their underground dwellings. If not respected, the vättar could bring diseases to the farm.
In Scania and in parts of southern Sweden, the tradition concerning vättar is widespread above all in the south-western area, and in some cases it also deals with female spirits living in solitude. Similarly to how it was done for nisse, some stories speak of how it was customary to leave different dishes or drinks to the vättar, especially during the Christmas period, when they were given some beer. However, it is necessary to underline that the act of leaving something at Christmas was a tradition common to many naturväsen, not only belonging to domestic beings.
The connection with the tomte is however very strong, so much so that at times the two beings were practically interchangeable. Tradition, however, shows some constant differences: the tomte can also live alone, while the vättar appear in groups in almost all of the testimonies; furthermore, the tomtar often had a direct influence on the farm work, which cannot always be said of the vättar. As previously mentioned, one of the main traditions relating to these domestic beings was that linked to the correct behavior to adopt in order to avoid disturbing them: for example, you had to be very careful in throwing the water out the window and avoid urinating on the lawn, because you they could hurt or offend the vättar who lived underground. The punishment for the transgressor consisted of bad luck or disease on the farm:
“Our mother had strictly forbidden us to throw hot water on the lawn, because we could burn the vättar. No, we never could. She also said that she had left him something on Christmas Eve. The thing disappeared, and everything was fine. »
[7]
Another typical reason is that of the vettebröllop, wedding of the vättar: a woman could in fact attend the ceremony as a reward for having consented to a loan request made by creatures. Perhaps the most interesting element of the tradition concerns the relationship of vättar with children and babies. They could protect the little ones from general dangers, but also cause illnesses, against which a named object was used vätteljus ("Candle of the vättar"). It was a kind of calcified fossil of a squid-like cephalopod, which resembled an old homemade candle in shape. This object was placed in the cradle of babies as a magical remedy for diseases:
"Vättar, which in Scania are mostly considered benign beings, are considered, in the Karlshamn area as well as in Östra Göinge, to be unwelcome guests in a house, because they are used to disturb sleeping children [...] If you have a candle of the vättar in the house, they are kept away, but it is thought that they can still enter, and so they are offered fresh milk from a black cow. »
[8]
In the two texts shown above, as well as in the entire vättar tradition, it is women and children who interact most with creatures. Women attended weddings between vättar and lent them utensils while children were healed by creatures or, conversely, suffered from diseases due to their influence. The tradition around these beings shows how life on the farm should unfold, addressing above all the female sphere, and the connection with newborns was so strong that some texts tell of women who help vättar during labor. It is possible to hypothesize that it was precisely this relationship with typical elements of the female sphere that determined the development of a tradition linked to the representation of the vättar as female beings in southern Scania. The vättar could be guilty of jordtagning [9] e bortbytning [10], analogous to changing of the Gaelic countries:
“A mother had nine children. The minor was kidnapped by the vättar. He was found under the bed, towards the wall. The vättar had taken him but they had not harmed him »
[11]
Beliefs in this regard were similar to those concerning i troll, and some methods of protection were essentially the same, such as baptism or leaving a prayer book in the baby's crib. Even adults could be kidnapped, an event for which the terms were used jordtageno e vättetagen [12]. These behaviors on the part of the vättar were explained by the desire of the creatures to be part of the Christian society, being the paradise closed to supernatural beings.
Finally, it should be noted that I glass of the folklore of northern Sweden derive from the vättar, starting from the etymology, which is present in Norrland in the intermediate form "vetter" [13]. Like the vättar they lived underground and were connected to the mysterious practices of jordtagning and bortbyting, by which they kidnapped human adults and children and led them to their underworld.
Note:
[1] Bengt Af Klintberg, Swedish folksägner, Norstedts, Stockholm, 1986, p.25. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[2] Female creature that inhabited woods and forests.
[3] Male creature that inhabited seas, lakes, rivers or streams.
[4] Eva Wigström, Svenska sagor och sägner, Folktro och Sägner från skilda landskap, Aina Stenklo, Falun, 1952, p. 170. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[5] In Swedish "tomtekorv".
[6] Transcribed by Arvid F. Sandberg, Institutet för språk och folkminnen. https://www.isof.se/om-oss/kartor/sagenkartan.html#/records/1497/search/gr%C3%B6t/search_field/record. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[7] Bengt Af Klintberg, op. cit., p. 145. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[8] Eva Wigström, op. cit., p.152. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[9] Translated as "rapture of the earth".
[10] Phenomenon analogous to that of the "changeling" known in the Anglo-Saxon context.
[11] Testimony of Kerstin Karlsten, born in 1856 in Kvärlöv, Scania. https://www.isof.se/om-oss/for-dig-i-skolan/arkivvaskan/de-underjordiska-i-folktron.html. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
[12] Literally "taken from the earth" and "taken from the vättar".
[13] Bengt Af Klintberg, op. cit., p. 27. Translation by Gabriele Vigilante.
Bibliography:
Bengt Af Klintberg, Svenska folksägner, Norstedts, Stockholm, 1986.
Eva Wigström, Svenska sagor och sägner, Folktro och Sägner från skilda landskap, Aina Stenklo, Falun, 1952.
John Lindow, Swedish Legends and Folktales, University of California press, Berkley and Los Angeles, 1978.
