š§ššScandinavian Fairiesšš§š
š The legends of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark describe a plethora of fairies and otherworldly beings- some also turn up in the folklore of other religions and some are unique to Scandinavia. Trolls, especially, get a lot more attention in these Northern European countries than in other parts of the world, whereas tiny winged beings barely warrant a mention.
1.š š§Ā Trollsš š§-Ā Large,ugly,dull-witted, lumbering, and hairy, trolls donāt get the good parts in fairy tales, which might contribute to their dislike of humans. Even in the contemporary role-playing fantasy games, they appear as horrible and heartless monsters. However, trolls can change shape and appear quite handsome when they want to charm humans- especially women, whom they capture as wives. If you leave them alone theyāre usually not dangerous, but they can become ferocious if you taunt them. Rich trolls make their homes in the mountains, where they stash great stores of gold and silver, the poor ones live in the forest or under bridges, as youāll recall from the Norwegian taleĀ āThe Three Billy Goats Gruff.ā Extremely sensitive to sunlight,trolls turn to stone when exposed to the light of day.
2.š š§ Bergresarš š§-Ā Ancestors of trolls, these ancient, huge, and powerful beings represent chaos. They dislike just about everybody, including humans, elves, and deities. Churches and bells annoy them too, and they hurl boulders to destroy church buildings.
3.š š§ Alverš š§-These Swedish elves come in two varieties; ljĆ³sĆ”lfar (light elves) and dokkĆ”lfar (dark elves). The beautiful,fair skinned light elves live in the sky- theyāre the good alver. The coal-black dark elves- the bad guys- live in the earth.
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4. š š§Havman And HavfrueĀ š š§- These beautiful blue-skinned water spirits resemble merfolk and are generally benevolent creatures. They guide seafarers safely through Scandinaviaās waterways and sometimes come ashore to find mortal mates.
5. š š§The TradandarĀ š š§- The spirits of trees, these deities live among the branches and communicate by rustling the leaves. They can shapeshift into owls, women, or tiny fairies who dance in the treetops. Legends say that when people die their souls become tree spirits.
6. š š§DvargarĀ š š§- Known as master craftsmen who fashioned Odinās spear, Thorās hammer, and Freyās ship, these small, ugly male spirits live in cliffs and abhor people. When they don magic cloaks or hats they become invisible.
7. š š§GardstomteĀ š š§- This hard-working spirits helps farmers by caring for livestock and doing chores around the homestead. Usuallly depicted as an old man with a long,white beard and peasantās clothing, he likes porridge and gets angry if people donāt take good care of their property and animals.
8. š š§ The Valkyriesš š§- One of the better-known Scandinavian spirits, these female entities decide which warriors surviveĀ and which die on the battlefield. They ride into the fray on flying horses, then ferry half the dead to Odinās Valhalla and half to Folkvangr, home of the goddess Freya. As they cross into the world of deities, they cause the Northern Lights to illuminate the sky.
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