Also called Hulder, Skogsrå, Tallemaja.
The tale
Herders and charcoal burners in Norway and Sweden told of a lovely woman who appeared at the edge of the forest, singing or tending her own fine cattle. From the front she was beautiful, but she had a cow's tail hidden under her skirt, and in Sweden her back was hollow like a rotted tree. A young man who fell for her might be lured into the mountain and never seen again. If she married a Christian man in church her tail was said to fall off, and in some tellings a young man who quietly warned her that her tail was showing, rather than mocking her, was rewarded with good luck.
When they are met
- summer on the high pastures
- Midsummer
- when walking alone in the woods
- when charcoal burners and herders kept night watch
Staying on their good side
- food left at the edge of the woods
- good manners if she appears
- discretion about her tail
- never boasting in the forest
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Leave a little porridge or bread at the edge of a wood on Midsummer as a friendly gift.
- Be polite and quiet in the forest; the hidden folk dislike rudeness.
- Remember the old courtesy tale: if you see something embarrassing, point it out kindly rather than mock.
- Traditionally, carrying a little steel was thought to keep her enchantment off you.
What their tales teach
- courtesy and discretion
- caring for animals
- respect for the forest
- resisting glamour and flattery
Symbols
- a cow's tail
- a back hollow like a rotten tree
- a herding horn
- fine cattle
From Norwegian and Swedish folk belief; her appearance and temper vary from region to region.
More Norse folklore
- Nisse The little old man of the farm
- Draugr The restless dead of the sagas
- Trolls The old dwellers in mountain and stone
- Valkyries The choosers of the slain
- Fossegrim The fiddler beneath the waterfall
- Nøkken The fiddler in the still water
- Mara The spirit who rides sleepers
- Myling The spirit of the unburied child