Other Than Tooth Fairies

Seeking Scandinavian mythology about fairy myths and stories, I have come to sense that beautiful little beings and angry little beings, (name the emotion) little beings, to conquer fear and explain things that could not be understood according to the times and places.  Anything they had that was new to them, weather, changes in the waters, changes on the land, changes in their homes, had to be explained somehow and thus they came to have stories and beliefs that reflected this.  They were usually stories where good conquers evil.  Do you ever wonder where the beliefs in little people, sprites, come from?

Dwarfism was an anomaly in those times and yet they had knowledge of them and turned them into mythical beings.  (Think Snow White and The Seven Dwarves - a blog later, of course).  Old stories have them living underground and the myth has survived because Disney had them working in a mine.  Most of the old stories come from Indo-European ancients who spoke of dwarfs being underground and looked ghostly pale but time warped them into little people with long white beards.

It was a Swedish myth that developed into the stories of elves.  Elves, for them, were delicate, tiny and graceful in their ethereal beauty.  They believed they were forest and meadow dwellers.  Some could be real tricksters (not necessary seen as evil).  Cupid may have evolved from the thought that elves had everything to do with forbidden love.  Once seen, elves were said to never be unseen.  

Trolls started with stories in Scandinavia of little gross, malformed, little people who were slow and dumb, grouchy, simple, and most times quite savage if threatened or crossed.  Only faith in oneself could outwit a troll.  They always lived under bridges (or beds) and hoarded bright shiny things, including gold.  They were said to hide things precious to them, high up in mountains, in lakes.  They were really ugly and hairy.  Disney also promoted awareness of trolls.

All of these were used to get children to go to bed, to be quiet, to be ‘good’.  They helped explain things to those who had no way to know why an event happened, what obscure light might be, what made a breeze blow in one area, and to keep children closer to home and not off wandering in woods. 

What myth(s) did your parents teach you, other than tooth fairies, the sandman, etc.?   And, why?

©Carol Desjarlais 7.15.20