#mymmeli

The Translation Challenges

After peacefully broke up with her unstable relationship with both Atos Wirtanen (who was actually unaware about Tove's female orientation) and Vivica Bandler 1952 and accepting she never really had actual attraction to men to begin with and just wants a stable monogamous relationship with a woman, Tove Jansson briefly dated the gold-smith Britt-Sofie Foch for a while. Not much is known about Britt-Sofie other than their families knew each others since 40s. This is a invitation for their 1st anniversary celebration 1953 to Vivica Bandler who Tove Jansson kept as a lifelong friend, the only ex she had this consistent lifelong connection. "Mymla" in this context seems to mean lovers and "spöksla" is Tove Jansson's slang a woman attracted to other women, derived from "spöke" [ghost] which was their codename with the suffix "-sla", the speech pattern she used for her female exes. I suck at cursive such as the text that looks like "Donffsla" is unless it's a drink I don't know. This letter reads:

"The Mymla-fied Spökslorna [Tove] and [Britt-Sofie] have therefore the honor to invite STORSPÖKSLAN [Vivica] with her presence honoring their One Year Mymmel-day Sunday 25th January 1953 and in the mymmel-tower drink-sla Donffsla!!! If the repeating telephone-Answer [TAM/TAD] stops This invitation-card applies every year

The word "Mymla(n)" (with its plural form "mymlor") is an obscured colloquial slang that might have started out meaning something messy, eccentric and tangling, with certain bohemian circles had developed into vulgar sexual slangs. Tove Jansson herself had to be the one documenting the use of this slang where most of the time means sexual activity and sexual partner (of either status and gender). Few times it seems to mean something else however. Tove Jansson might have use the term "Mymla" as slang for women with same-gender attractions or members of these hidden underground networks however it's unclear for me if that's the case or she just emphasis that people just dated each other without emphasis on gender in particular. She seems to call exes for "gamla mymlor" ("gamla" means "old") throughout the 40s and 50s however that might be also unclear. She seems to stop using "mymla" as a term in the 60s and forward as it start to mean only the Mumin character.

I did test out reintroducing Mymla in its original meaning without context of Mumin in modern daily Swedish speech and most Swedes today approximately knew what I meant through context and vibes without even explaining to them. Such as "sluta mymla runt" [stop mess around], "de mymlade i busken" [they had sex in the bush], and "hon/han var hennes/hans mymla" [she/he was her/his lover] (although don't try that last one since it was commonly interpreted as a female sexual slur).

However I don't appreciate appropriate it in English since it would be similar to how Westerners appropriate the broad Japanese word "hentai" that originally meant any kind of obsession which get narrowed into Western slang for 2D erotic materials when the Japanese themselves never use "hentai" like that since they would calls it "ecchi" and "ero" (which derived from the Western term "erotica" which both sounds difficult but also not as "exotic" for Westerners). "Mymla", just like "hentai", likely had many other meanings depending on context beyond just sexual as mentioned.

I refuses to use the English names most of the time in favor of original Swedish names out of habit (and many of them really sucks) but it become a challenge with grammar and inflections. Here's a list of word inflections of "Mymla".

Mymla — singular indefinite form (standard basal form)

Mymlan — singular definite form

Mymlor — plural indefinite form

Mymlorna — plural definite form

Mymmel- — adjective prefix (Mymla-relating adjective)

"Definite" is like the English particle "the". I'm trying to avoid putting double definite like when the official English translation always kept the suffix "-en" in Hemul regardless of context for some reason such as keeping the "the" particle in "the Hemulen" rather than "the Hemul" or just "Hemulen" (if used as a name). "The Hemulen" is like "The the Hemul" to me and trying to use it as a plural like "the Hemulens" is even weirder as it breaks the rhythm/pace for me. Ĩťş ľïķë špěłļïñğ Ẽņġļǐśħ łįķē ťħïş which English speakers often mostly read just fine like decorative stylized text but difficult to read for speakers that uses these specific letters that has different přöñũňčĩåťīøń. The English definite particle "the" onto Swedish definite inflections is fine if it's a title of a work with English noun like "the Muminserien comic strips" ("Muminserien" is the common name for the comic strips in Swedish that even Tove Jansson herself uses) or when adjectives are involved like "The recurring Mymlan". While using English plural forms for certain folk groups like Snorks (Snorkar) and Hemuls (Hemuler) sounds fine, using that for Mymlor and (Snus)mumrikar like "Mymlas" and "(Snus)mumriks" also just sounds strange to a native speaker.

Normally, Swedish are more sparely using capital letters than English and very rarely doing it for dates, every nouns for a title, kind/ethnicity/nationality/language, etc. This can be seen in Tove Jansson's work where there's difference between "homsan" vs. "Homsan" where "Homsan" is the main name for the being but "homsan" indicates the being has a different unique name like Toft where the reference of the kind is secondary. Both might be used depending on context like Joxaren is his name but when being judged by his kind he's called "en joxare". Through this language rule, Lilla My in the dragon short story (only) is also rather commonly interchangeably called "Mymlan" with capital letter which indicates being her alternative name or Lilla My being actually just her nickname there. She does sometimes called "mymlan" with lower case emphasis on her kind elsewhere however not as consistent and interchangeable with her name as that particular short story. However it becomes ambiguous if it referring to one specific individual or something generalized about a kind if it's the start of a sentence like seen at the anatomy graph and poetry below where there's limited information. This is why sometimes I might write things like "(The) Mymla(n)". That's because either "The Mymla" or "Mymlan" are fine but not "The Mymlan". I also might use these two interchangable throughout my posts. It seems like every Mymla's name is Mymlan, especially when they move out and become independent.

However in this artwork this capital letter rule is inconsistent for likely stylistic choice, many are likely inherent from English title trends. Although both me and Tove Jansson is very inconsistent with such in messaging. For Tove Jansson she almost only does this in private materials like this but not formal published works.

Mymla i genomskärning (naturlig storlek) [Mymla in Cross-Section (Natural Size)]

[From bun to shoes:]

Hårknut / Hairbun

Hjärna / Brain

Känselspröt / Sensory-sprout

Mymlans övre förnuftets - jag. / Mymlan’s upper sense’s - self.

Mymlans estetiska hedonistjag / Mymla’s aesthetic hedonistself

Mymlans intuitiva jag. / Mymlan’s inituitive self

Mymlans aktiva jubeljag. / Mymlan’s active jubilationself

Hjärta / heart

Mymlans emotionella jag. / Mymlan’s emotionally self

Mymlans vagabondjag / Mymlan’s vagabondself

Notes:

Mymlan's design was almost identical to the Mymla puzzle from 1950 seen here which you can read more below.

The design here resembles the average Mymla design (the one the final version of Lilla My's older sister had) except the antenna-like "sensory-sprouts". Lilla My's older sister Mymlan (once known as "Mymlans dotter" in Farlig midsommar 1954, implied she was living with her mother at that point before moving out) was mentioned being physically fully grown. It's implied she's in her average adult-size for a Mymla meanwhile her mother and grandmother being unusually above average size (Lilla My humorously called her grandmother "övervuxen" [overgrown] which might refer to her overly strict proper nature) as another example of individual size variations within the same folk groups. One of very first public appearance of a Mymla in the defuncted Finland-Swedish newspaper Nya Pressen does have this exact first design however (although the mother one was described as large). The Mymla family at Muminpappans Bravader/Memoarer 1950 looks very diverse where all had tails (mostly rat-like but some tufted troll-tails) with some does have hearing-sprouts. Since almost every recurring character gets a redesign for almost every image in the revisited versions to closely resemble their modern designs, Mymlorna are NEVER getting redesigns in the 4th book Muminpappans memoarer which is one of many evidences they are meant as a separated family than the recurring Mymla family. The mother Mymlan in that book had a very bizarre design of having all these weird features with additional monstruous large sharp hands and feet and large overall size.

The Mymla mother from Muminpappans bravader/memoarer in the past (left) and the epilogue ending (right). This one has 34 kids.

While Mymlorna's first appearance in mainstream books lost their "sensory-sprouts" except their really bizarre-looking mother Mymlan who also have large hands and feet (or paws, she's the only one shoeless for some reason and as seen below, all her children also have these weird paws when taken off their shoes). Just like rest of her family, has a tail. Tove Jansson did not bother change Mymlorna to match their recent designs unlike other characters, meaning she likely view them as separated characters from the recurring Mymla family. (You can also see Lilla My here on the right also has a tail and very visible, very likely not the same individual as the recurring Lilla My where the name could be a common nickname just like in real life. This epilogue scene contradicts the very next book where Snusmumriken first time met Lilla My and didn't recognize her as last time he saw her she was an invisible baby). Joxaren as a young adult youth used to date this much older Mymla (yes, it was this one, NOT her daughter that fans speculates who still looks bizarre) which resulted into her giving birth to Snusmumriken in the first edition Bravader (and English's outdated localization Exploits of Moominpappa) which was heavily altered into strict companionship by Tove Jansson herself in the polished revisited Memoarer for ethical (implications of affairs) and logistical reasons (Snusmumriken is always called "en snusmumrik" throughout the series, NEVER "en joxare" like his father nor "en mymla" so how the hell would a Swede and a Finn result into an Ethiopian child? Likely Bravader was actually rushed throwing undeveloped tropes everywhere) with only Snusmumriken being suspicious and hesitated about this woman possibly being his mother for simply being close to Joxaren without any clear confirmation by Muminpappan (who's likely brushing him off answers that he don't actually know like he usually does now in Memoarer where there's greater emphasis on exploring realistic psychological limitation/flaws. That makes sense when Snusmumriken was born after losing contact with Joxaren instead of Muminpappan being a perfect all knowing omniscience historian). However this Mymla's main role is being a bumbling overwhelming mother with her Mymla kids, not whoever man she sleeps with.

Nyfödda Mymlor (känselspröten växer ut först om nio dygn) [Newbord Mymlor (sensory sprout will first grows out in 9 days)]

Comment:

I don't know why it feels like Mymlorna reproduce like aphids or lizards here.

Soldyrkande Mymla [Sunworshipping Mymla]

Note:

I'm not sure if this Mymla on the tree is "worshipping" the halo-looking sun although she could have meditating lying down like Buddha sometimes does.

She had an unusual design but she very much resembles Mymlans mamma [Mymble's mother] from the 7th comic strip arc Mumin bygger ett hus / Moomin Builds a House. She has 17 kids plus Mymlan.

The mother Mymla is actually nameless in the comic strips but "Mymlans mamma" [Mymble's mother] is the closest she get as a name. That's because the name "Mymlan" is by default referring to her daughter even since 1952 with the picture book Hur gick det sen? Boken om Mymlan, Mumintrollet och Lilla My. Only the 5th book it's reversed with Mymlan being known as "Mymlans dotter", implying her mother's name is Mymlan like rest of their kind. This mother Mymla was named Mymlan in Mumindalen 2019-2025, likely for the limited casting reason (where Lilla My's older sister didn't make appearance yet). Her old friendship with Joxaren is reference to the revisited Muminpappans memoarer with the weird-looking Mymla mother above.

Mymla i sovställning [Mymla in sleeping position]

Note:

This sleeping position is similar to Joxaren's sleeping/resting position (he's loafing!) in Muminpappans bravader/memoarer 1950 and Mymlan's sleeping position in Sent i november 1970. Seemingly this is the common sleeping positions amongst Tove Jansson's trolls. They just sleeps like cats with their folded legs tucked underneath oneself.

Makaroni [Macaroni]

Note:

Very self-explanatory... Although don't macaroni refer to those small C-shaped pastas? This looks more like spagett to me. Ah the common classic cartoon trope of ONLY eating pasta and absolutely nothing else just like I'm doing sometimes when being too tired and lazy with cooking... Unless everything else is underneath the pasta which I'm also sometimes do too! However I don't place random large spagetti plate randomly on the grass and calls it macaroni. (Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy!)

Plats på kommande mymmeldåd [Place for upcoming/impending deed/act]

Note:

I'm very unsure about translating "dåd", it sounds something very dramatically ominous while deed/act/action sounds too general. Like if they are planning on lighting saucepan full of gunpowder to explode tiny adorable ancestors at the kitchen just like Snusmumriken did in 1973 HERE. This text also sounds like placeholders, implying this artwork is unfinished and was planed to have more things. Another one can be found on the right side with the picture below.

Törstig Mymla / Thirsty Mymla

Notes:

That's one giant bottle of spirit! It's larger than this Mymla on the ladder! No one wouldn't drink that much in proportion without peeing oneself out more of half of it.

My, Mymlans minstate dotter.

(50 ggrs förstoring) / My, Mymlan’s smallest daughter. (50 times magnification)

Notes:

This is the very first appearance of Lilla My (or the same archetypical motif of the pun rather the same characters). Tove Jansson told in interviews Lilla My was created to especially be Mumintrollet's supportive voice-of-reason foil. While she later became this role however her conception seems to be mainly for the pun and the role of Mymlans dotter's macabre little sister in Muminpappans bravader 1950. "My" (the pronunciation is NOT the same as the English pronoun, it's pronounced like "Mii" or "Muu") is a real life common female name in Swedish with debatable origin (likely started out as a nickname for names like "Maria"), Swedish pronunciation of the Greek letter µ which means micro (confirmed by Tove Jansson many times), starts with the same two letters as Mymla. Here, it's referring that Mymlor give birth to tiny babies like the ones above and smallest daughters are microscopic and often named "Lilla My". I'm not sure why this part is transparent/light like those "impending deed/act" texts.

Symbolisk framställning av Mymlan / Symbolic representation of Mymlan.

Notes:

Feels like there’s a symbolic innuendo with the flower…

Also this is the particular individual that "Mymlan" (capital letter) refers to in this artwork who's the mother of Lilla My. Although again, the Mymla from Nya Pressen looks identical to this one. All other Mymlor shown at this artwork are just called the generalized "Mymla".

Mymla rökande haschisch / Mymla smoking hashish

Comment:

I don’t know if Tove Jansson herself actually smoked haschisch or just did like many people do today just likes to joke about hard drugs. There’s a brief mention about Mymlor (very sure referring to the slang consider the very vulgar lyrics and not these beings) smoking hashish in Den Stora Mymmelvisan. No, I have no comments (or rather don't want further comments) on the design of the hashish pipe other than it’s absolutely gigantic as in as large as the Mymla herself although Mymlan is tiny, roughly about 1/6 of the painting, so it might be actually normal sized.

Mymmeldikt / Mymmel-poetry

Note:

Screenshot of my lyrics comparison.

"Alla smådjur slår rosett på sin svans" already existed in the 3rd book Trollkarlens hatt 1948 [The Sorcerer's Hat] as Snusmumriken's signature song although without the lyrics shown yet. This is the very first time the lyrics for the song was written down called "Mymmeldikt" [Mymla poetry] (however this is not an evidence Snusmumriken is a Mymla which he's NEVER called as he's always called "en snusmumrik" with few time the shorten diminutive form "en mumrik", notice the lowercase letter). The lyrics will be first shown for the first time in the 5th book Farlig midsommar 1954. Lilla My sang it when Snusmumriken played it on his harmonica. Snusmumriken and Lilla My don't recognize each other here since the last time they met Lilla My was an invisible baby, Snusmumriken gets surprised that Lilla My know the song which implies the song was only known by Snusmumriken's friend circle and Lilla My was recently added to Mumintrollet's circle after last time Snusmumriken left (however does know Lilla My's older sister as he got surprised when revealed Lilla My was Mymlan's younger sister). The 5th book was clear the series is no longer dependent on consistent realistic worldbuilding even between the books.

I already made a comparison table but Tumblr don't allow tables. Also Intended texts on Tumblr are noticeable to have issues with colored texts.

Mymmeldikt. Alla smådjur slår rosett på sin svans alla hemuler bär krona och krans Joxare spelar när månen går ner spelar och dansar - men drick inte mer! Röda tulpaner i morgonens ljus viftar och lyser kring mumrikens hus –. sakta försvinner en strålande natt… Mymlan går ensam och söker sin hatt. My English Translation: Mymmel-poetry. All small-animals ties bows on their tails all Hemuls wears crowns and wreaths Joxare plays when the moon goes down play and dances - but drink no more! Red tulips in the morning light swaying and glows around (the) Mumrik(en)’s house slowly disappears a brilliant night… (The) Mymla(n) goes alone and searches her hat. Alla smådjur slår rosett på sin svans: Alla smådjur slår rosett på sin svans alla hemuler bär krona och krans Homsan ska dansa när månen går ner sjung lilla Misa och sörj inte mer! Röda tulpaner kring mumrikens hus viftar i morgonens härliga ljus sakta försvinner en strålande natt, Mymlan går ensam och söker sin hatt! My English Translation: All small-animals ties bows on their tails all Hemuls wears crowns and wreaths (The) Homsa(n) shall dance when the moon goes down sing little Misa and cry no more! Red tulips around (the) Mumrik(en)’s house swaying in the morning’s wonderful light slowly disappears a brilliant night, (The) Mymla(n) goes alone and searches her hat!

Note:

That contextual "sin" pronoun [her/his/its/theirs] has no English equivalents and is technically gender neutral. I think it's unlikely this text refers to specific individual with those names or shared folk groups that we have seen throughout Mumin but generalized groups or unknown individuals. Especially where "mumriken" is spelled with lower case letter (Tove had difficulties with spelling Snusmumriken's whole name for being so long in poetries/lyrics but found it "silly" to just spell the actual diminutive form "mumriken") who lived in a house (unless metaphorical for a tent although Snusmumriken's mother's paternal aunt did live in a house akin to Filifjonkan before starting her wandering posesseless lifestyle). However all known Mymlor are females with seemingly exception of Lilla My's brothers mentioned alongside her sisters which are also shown in illustrations who lacks hair buns (although later illustrations start to get reduced and only mentions sisters). Mymlor very rarely shown wearing hats however unlikely have connection with Snusmumriken and his own distinct kind of (Snus)mumrikar. I choose the female English pronoun since most Mymlor are female.

This is also the first time Joxaren was mentioned (or at least one Joxare). Despite a Joxare being a father of a Snusmumrik (which Snusmumriken grew up with his father rather than never met him in the revisited Muminpappans memoarer which the English have ignored), is considered another folk group as the text calls him "en joxare" (which mentioned have culturally close relation to fruit trees in Memoarer according to Joxaren, mentioned his kind are being absent-minded by Muminpappan although that could just be Muminpappan's very subjective bigoted remarks with being frustrated of not understand Joxaren as Muminpappan often unfairly judges others' folk groups like Viktor Jansson did which is all censored in English localization) but never "en (snus)mumrik" like his son does. Very likely Snusmumriken's unknown mother in the revisited Memoarer (where the Mymla mother is no longer explicitly confirmed being Snusmumriken's mother but only a suspicion that characters are still unsure about) is another Snusmumrik since "hybrids"/mixes don't exists just like when Sniff is identical to his mother Sås-djuret rather mix with Rådd-djuret (although adoption could have been possible since that's a common theme, although with Sniff and Snusmumriken; it's never mentioned).

Also, I'm not sure if the red tulips are intentionally symbolic which traditionally symbolize passion, romance and loyalty. Well, (Snus)mumrikarna are one of those folk groups with only one known confirmed member (Snusmumriken) where it's unknown what are culturally-specific aspects, what are personal quirks, what are people's subjective views (all we know is "en snusmumrik" hates anything resembling land ownership and has specific letter preferences according to Sent i november 1970, don't have much social needs and can be easily forgiven according to Tove Jansson in interviews). However Snusmumriken himself, while can feel very strong passionate feelings for things and very loyal, is very much as unromantic by nature and design as his Swedish original name (unless "romantic" means inspiring idealism rather than relationship-related then yeah he's pretty much a "romantic" figure, still very relatably flawed like everyone else). Very likely Tove Jansson didn't have any intended symbolism here. Tulips do sometimes grow in the wild in Southern Finland and red is one of the most common color alongside yellow.

This song has lost melody used in the theater Mumintroll i kulisserna which I will document on in future post.

Måndyrkande Mymlor [Moonworshipping Mymlor]

Typiskt Mymmelhus (östra Nyland.)

[Typical Mymmelhouse (eastern Nyland.)]

Notes:

This house very much resembles the Mymla family's house in Muminpappans bravader/memoarer before they moved into Muminpappan's colony when it blew away. Especially with the large leaf roof and the door. Well, this house doesn't seem to room the oversized Mymla mother and her 34 kids. Especially when it's elevated so it isn't possible for any basements.

Nyland is Swedish for Uusimaa. Before 2010, Uusimaa was divided into East and West. Well now we kinda know where Muminpappans bravader/memoarer took place...

The cave Mymlan and her little sister Lilla My hibernated in cardboards in the 6th book Trollvinter.

The recurring Mymla Mymlan is never really mentioned where she lives. Her first book appearance of the picture book Hur gick det sen? Boken om Mymlan, Mumintrollet och Lilla My 1952 never mentions where she lives nor does her first mainline appearance of Farlig midsommar 1954 2 years later (although Farlig midsommar, her name is suddenly "Mymlans dotter" akin to the Mymla daughter character in Muminpappans bravader/memoarer which implies at that point she still lives with her mother before moving out to know as just Mymlan). In the 6th book Trollvinter she hibernate in a cave with her little sister Lilla My on cardboards like homeless people which is weird for such a person of beauty. Although I have seen Bergatroll (mountain trolls, referring to their habitat) in actual old Swedish folkloric databases being described as incredibly human-looking and beautiful/fashionable (or even seductive) yet many still living in caves, rock formations or underground. In the last book Sent i november, we still never know where Mymlan lives after My got suddenly adopted into the Mumin family.

Mumintrollet waking up Mymlan out of her hibernation in the start of the 5th comic strip arc Den farliga vintern / Moomin's Winter Follies. It's unknown if this house is that tiny that you have to crawl out or was snowed in.

Mymlornas vardagsliv PLANSCH 1.

Speciellt utarbetat för lärdomsskolorna av Tove Jansson

Mymlorna's Daily Life POSTER 1.

Specially Elaborated for Schools by Tove Jansson

Note:

Title drop!

I'm really unsure how to translate "lärdomsskola". It literally translates as "knowledge school". According to (Swedish) Wikipedia, it's cathedral school during middle-ages, later becoming like something similar to either gymnasium where you prepare yourself for higher education of chosen program (unlike American high school which is like meaninglessly repeating previous grades) or British grammar school (or depending on whatever time period you refer "lärdomsskolorna"). All these education systems and their differences just give me a headache so just let's move on.

I start to realize this artwork is parodying those old vintage educational biological posters like those showcasing anatomy or different animal species, often appears in old classrooms (or any old-fashioned rooms/buildings).

Also, since it says "plansch 1" ["poster 1"], it's implied there are more or at least plans for more extremely early 40s Mymla artwork like a series of works. Or it could just be another parody aspect of old school educational posters are often a part of a series in numbers.

Bonus Sections!

"Mymlan's children lost in the Yule/Christmas cleaning!"

"There are barely anyone who have so many children like Mymlan. For a week ago there was 74 and the youngest was called My which means “the smallest in the world”. Mymlan herself is large and happy and friendly and strictly busy with taking care of her family. Yesterday she did the Christmas/Yule cleaning in Mymmelhuset (The Mymla house) which was particularly inconsiderate/indiscreet. 11 children disappeared namely tracelessly in the mess/chaos, and if it’s not corrected right away Mymlorna’s Yule/Christmas eve becomes completely unsuccessful. Try help Mymlan to find them! Right now she don’t care even a single bit about the 63 kids that are left, only cries over the lost 11. When you found all of them you should paint over them with crayon and send the image to Nya Pressen’s editorship. The first prize winner get…”

"Mymlan's 19th daughter won the first price in the Lucia competition!"

Are they freaking implying you get one very own private painting of Mymlan’s 19th daughter’s Lucia photo by Tove Jansson herself? Lost media?

Nya Pressen (NP) [The New Press] was a defuncted Finland-Swedish newspaper that was active between 1882-1974. Tove Jansson made Yule/Christmas-theme pages at 19th December 1950 with a really obscured short story called "Mumintrollet — rulltrappan" (which Skatter från Mumindalen wrote incorrectly wrote "hissen" [the elevator] instead when the image says "rulltrappan" [the escalator]).

While I have seen various rare findings, materials and stories in archived newspapers by Tove Jansson herself that I'm working on presentations for (amongst other things).

Sure that’s true that no mother has as much kids as Mymlan so far! The person who gave the most kids is Valentina Vassilyev (1707-1782) with 69 children! Nice! She just boosted the Russian population with that number! But this Mymla here just beat that record number with 5 more kids!

Also I can't solve the puzzle since I can only find 10... unless the biggest twist is that's not the mother Mymlan but another lost daughter! Just larger and/or older! Maybe she cries because she's lost or have to take care of her siblings. That Lucia image of Mymlan's 19th daughter might have been a hint that large lost Mymla is the same daughter or at least looks similar to her. Or maybe I'm just stupid haven't seen the last 11th tinier Mymla kid and I'm just speculates too much so that's just the Mymla mother crying for losing her kids.

How should we interpret these?

The name "Mymlan" started to almost only referring to Lilla My's older sister in "Hur gick det sen? Boken om Mymlan, Mumintrollet och Lilla My" 1952 and everywhere else with only Farlig midsommar 1954 being an exception. This book is what I consider the first proper appearance of the recurring Mymla sisters. "Mymlans dotter" is an obsolete name for her and her mother is much more rarely mentioned and even more rarely called "Mymlan" herself.

Prototypes. Historical artifacts. Just early bizarre installment and discontinued outdated prototypes just like those obsolete scrapped family tree diagrams for early stages of Muminpappans bravader 1950 that fans goes too crazy for dead-serious speculations despite obvious incompleteness and discontinued informations. Just move on just like Tove Jansson herself did for decades.

Or else... Maybe Mymlan is BOTH the mother and sibling simultaneously to Lilla My or Lilla My has at least 3 different mothers... Also the numbers of Mymla kids kept declining from 74 (Nya Pressen 1949) to 34 (Muminpappans Bravader/Memoarer) to 17 (comic strips). Either they grew up, got lost or died.

Also I just realize that Lilla My in Bravader/Memoarer was born in midsummer which is NEVER mentioned again in Farlig midsommar where the whole book takes place in midsummer which further proves either disconnections or different individuals with coincidental names (just like in the real life Swedish name My).

Also, Mymlorna keeps losing body parts and mutating, maybe because the comets are nuclear and radioactive.

Parallels and difference of Mymlorna

While it's very likely Tove Jansson intended these Mymla families being separated considered she never change their designs when everyone else does as well as being fundamentally different in personalities (other than My's macabre dark humor), here's some shared motifs comparing the designs. Different individuals sharing identical motifs within the same folk group can happen such as multiple Hemuls with their maternal aunts.

Above, Mymlans dotter washing her siblings with a water crane, ordered by her mother Mymlan in Muminpappans bravader/memoarer 1950/1968. Below, Mymlan washing her siblings with a water crane, ordered by her mother Mymlans mamma in the comic strips.

In proportion they are similar to Lilla My in the comic strips meanwhile have more realistic proportions in Bravader/Memoarer. You also notice the Mymla children above has those strange troll paws as feet that so many of Tove Jansson's trolls has. However Mymlan in comic strips is shown having humanlike paws. Mymlans dotter above has her rat-like tail akin to her mother Mymlan and many of her siblings, which the recurring Mymlan below don't.

The Mymla children buttons each others' buttons in a circle. Yes I have counted that the right picture has correctly 17 kids.