Spirited Away by the Female Forest Spirit in Swedish Folk Belief

Bibliographic Data

ID8930607
AuthorsTommy Kuusela (corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume131
Issue2
Pages159-179
Publication date2020-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0015587x.2019.1701280
OpenAlexW3028764693
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

This article explores the Swedish belief in the skogsrå, an anthropomorphic female forest spirit, as the cause for people being spirited away or getting lost in forests. In the folk narratives, she is a dangerous seductress who possesses untamed sexuality and is threatening to men who work in or close to forests. The forest was a dangerous otherworld, fundamentally different from the world of humans. The forest spirit represents wild nature, as a counter-image to cultural order. Furthermore, the article compares the belief in a female forest spirit as the active agent in Swedish folklore to the concept of metsänpeitto ‘forest cover’ in Finnish folklore, where the forest itself is the active agent. Legends reinforce the danger of getting lost in a forest, especially in dense forests like those found in Sweden and Finland

Art · Folklore · Geography · Human sexuality · Literature · Narrative · Sociology · Anthropology · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Gender Studies · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Psychology · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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