#vittror

[mattievictoria]

In Najran province of Saudi Arabia, carved in sandstone at the peak of a 200-meter hill facing east, is a petroglyph of a female figure. A petroglyph of a Mother Goddess that when lit by the rising sun, can be seen for miles on end. Over 4,000 miles north from Najran province, on Salisbury Plains in Wiltshire, England, one can find the world-famous Stonehenge— a circle of megaliths thought to be everything from an astronomical clock to a place of healing. Rocks and minerals are all around us, a part of common, everyday life and for time immemorial, our ancestors have prescribed them significant meaning. Since picking up rockhounding during the Pandemic as a way to get outside and still practice social distancing, I’ve become more and more interested in rock folklore which each excursion I take into some defunct mine or rock outcropping. As an artist and life-long folklore and mythology enthusiast, I’ve noticed that when it comes to nature lore, people are, in general, more interested in the lore surrounding things like trees and flowers. While I do love plant lore, the past year or so has seen me diving into the myths associated with rocks, mines and caves. I knew I needed a space to prattle on about my deep-dives, and thus the idea to write this little article was born!

First and foremost, I have to talk about the vittror (plural form of the singular vittra) a type of vættr, or nature spirit, found throughout Scandinavian folklore. I love the stories of the vættr, one of my favorite aspects of the stories being that the vittror can be found living in rocks and trees, and have the ability to harm humans who trespass into their domain. A vittersten is the name given to a boulder or rock formation that a vittra has claimed as their home. All vittror live along leylines called vittervägar, and it’s said that at the points where these leylines intersect, the veil is thinner. Supernatural happenings are more likely to occur in these spots, as well as accidents, illnesses and even death. A vittersten may lie at the intersection of one of these supernatural crossroads, and if you find yourself at such a dubious place, well… you’d best be careful. If you disturb a rock or a tree that a vittra calls home, you may find yourself with a newly-fabricated curse placed upon your person. If you find that you feel a sudden wave of nausea, a chill, or any kind of discomfort, it means you have disturbed a vittra. The best way to remedy this is to apologize to the vittra that you have offended, or leave offerings. There are stories of entire construction projects being re-routed or stopped altogether because the development of that area upset the particular vittra living there. So be careful, because you may find yourself on a hike with the need to relieve yourself behind a rock formation for some privacy… perhaps you are accidentally befouling the site a vittersten!

Another one of the more fascinating stones that have a particular folklore attached to them is the adder stone. The adder stone is a small rock with a naturally occurring hole bored completely through the center. Adder stones have a glassy quality and are usually flint, though in ancient times they were thought to be created from snake saliva, hence their name. Pliny the Elder wrote that adder stones were important to druids, and even until recent times, the adder stone has held a great importance in the British Isles. In England, they’re called Hag Stones, and in Scotland, Mare-Stanes, because it was said that whoever possessed one of these supernatural stones was immune to visits from the Mare or Hag, a vicious being that was said to sit on its victims’ chests while they sleep, causing them to have nightmares. In Scotland, Mare-Stanes were often kept near beds to prevent such night terrors, but they would also be kept on an individual’s person. They had other uses, too, such as being tied up in barns to ensure that a pregnant cow births her calf safely. One interesting story is that of a particular Mare-Stane with two human teeth affixed in the center hole of the stone, bequeathed to a villager of Marykirk, Scotland by an old woman who used the stone as a nightmare deterrent for some 70 years.

If we take a step back from the folklore surrounding individual rocks, and into the place where rocks are taken from the earth, you’ll find that mines of all varieties have a plethora of legend and lore associated with them. Being from California, I have heard many a tale of haunted mines and ghostly prospectors. I have visited the outskirts of the now decommissioned Emma Mine in Acton, California (about 50 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles) and have become intrigued by stories of old and forlorn mines. My interest especially piqued a few months ago when I read a passage from a 1959 article titled Tales of the Supernatural by J. H. Adamson for the Western Folklore journal. There was a passage about a mining site in Utah in particular that caught my eye:

“In another instance, a place was discovered to be demonic, not because of ghostly inhabitants, but rather because of a vein of ore possessed the strange property of drawing all the strength out of the bodies of those who approached it, leaving them weak, helpless and unable to stand.”

Something I discovered during my research I had no idea was a thing (for lack of a better word), was the amount of religious shrines built at mines, mostly to mother goddess and earth goddess figures. This concept of miners descending into the earth’s womb to retrieve precious materials as a highly spiritual and sacred practice makes a lot of sense in hindsight when I thought more about it. In fact, The Egyptian word bi not only translates to mineshaft, but to uterus as well. This was a practice wide-spread throughout the ancient world. At an archeological site known as Wadi el-Hudi in Southern Egypt, there is an amethyst mine that dates back all the way to the Middle Kingdom, over 5,000 years ago from today. Stelaes have been found at Wadi el-Hudi that describe a temple to Hathor that was erected at the ancient mine, where the goddess was evoked to watch over those mining, working, and traveling in the desert. The stela calls her The Lady Of Amethyst, with one inscription stating:

“Give Offerings! Give offerings to the mistress of heaven! Pacify Hathor! If you do this, it will be useful for you, if you give more it will be profitable among you.”

Even in the modern era, shrines have been erected at mining sites. One can find shrines to the Virgin Mary at mines across North America, South America, Europe and South Africa. As recently as the 1980s, a 90-foot statue of the Virgin Mary known as “Our Lady of the Rockies” was built on the Continental Divide 3,000 miles above the mining city of Butte, Montana.

I mentioned earlier in this article that as a Califonian, I’ve heard many ghostly mining stories throughout my life. While we have a plethora of stories, like that of old Joe Simpson and the ghost town of Skidoo, one of my favorite haunted mine stories actually comes from North Carolina. Gold Hill Mines, just outside of Charlotte, is associated with a slew of stories about haunted mines and ghostly prospectors. One of the more ghastly stories is that of an unfortunate miner who possessed some poor judgment— and dynamite— that blew himself up— whether on accident or on purpose, no one knows for certain. Local legend states that you can still hear the phantom explosion, and see otherworldly body parts violently disperse in the air, and then mysteriously disappear. I’m not sure if such a miner actually existed or if this is all local folklore, but it makes for a horrifying —and morbidly fantastic— ghost story.

I do, however, very much want to include a local story. This local story is about a cursed cave. I’m no geologist, but I think it’s safe to say that caves are rock-adjacent. The Cave of Munits is a popular hiking and rock climbing spot in the western San Fernando Valley here in Los Angeles county, but not many people know the legend associated with it. Located 86 miles from the stunning Chumash cave paintings near Santa Barbara, the legend surrounding the Cave of Munits is a tale that has both Chumash and Tongva origins. Munits was a sorcerer that kidnapped and killed the beloved son of a powerful chief. Munits stole the boy away to his cave, while the boy’s tribe stood below the cliff and demanded that the sorcerer return their chief’s son to him. Munits, however, cried “You want your boy back? Well, here he is!” And tossed the chief’s son out of the cave, limb by limb. The powerful chief ordered the death of the sorcerer Munits, sending a hawk to viscerally tear open Munits’ distended stomach as he lay sleeping after gorging himself full on clovers. It is said that the bile that flowed from Munits’ stomach is the origin of bitter clover.

While there are many storied tales and established legends about rocks, mines, and caves, there also exist many amazing stories that regular, everyday people have to tell— myself included. When I shared the bit of lore about the “demonic” ore vein in Utah online, many people shared their own strange rock stories, which prompted me to reconsider some of my own. I’ve had some strange experiences rockhounding, including a strange, deeply emotional experience while rockhounding out in the desert at a site called Gem Hill that is very difficult to put into words. I’ve also found a Mylar balloon at my aforementioned trip to Emma Mine. The Mylar balloon thing is… another story all of its own, but the tl;dr version is that Mylar balloons are frequently associated with the paranormal, especially cryptids, and the area surrounding Emma Mine has reports of everything from Bigfoot to Dogmen.

This article may be coming to an end, but my personal research is far from over. I feel like the folklore and mythology of rocks is often overlooked and forgotten— which is a shame, in so many ways. From prehistoric megaliths, to ancient mining shrines, to the modern day resurgence of adder stones, rock lore has been with us from the very beginning. I hope that in the very least, I’ve piqued your interest… and hopefully cause you to have more than just a passing thought about the next rock you pick up off the ground!

Sources

Adamson, J. H. “Tales of the supernatural.” Western Folklore, vol. 18, no. 2, Apr. 1959, pp. 81–82, https://doi.org/10.2307/1496463.

The Ancient Southwest | Angeline Duran. “The Cave of Munits.” THE ANCIENT SOUTHWEST, 5 Aug. 2020, theancientsouthwest.com/2020/08/03/the-cave-of-munits/.

Earl of Ducie. “Exhibition of three ‘Mare-stanes,’ or ‘hag-stones.’” The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 17, 1888, p. 134, https://doi.org/10.2307/2841595.

Espinel, Andrés D. “A newly identified stela from Wadi el-Hudi (Cairo JE 86119).” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, vol. 91, no. 1, Dec. 2005, pp. 55–70, https://doi.org/10.1177/030751330509100104.

Goad, Mattie, and Eli Smith. “Conversations With Eli .” 6 Mar. 2019.

Jarvis, Robin. “The Old Mining Town in Gold Hill, North Carolina, Is Allegedly Haunted with Greedy Ghosts.” OnlyInYourState®, 13 Jan. 2018, www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-carolina/historic-gold-hill-nc/.

Johnson, John R. “The Indians of Mission San Fernando.” Southern California Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 3, Oct. 1997, pp. 249–290, https://doi.org/10.2307/41172612.

Judah, Hettie. Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones. Penguin Books, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023.

Khan, Majeed. “The Rock Art of Saudi Arabia.” Bradshaw Foundation, Bradshaw Foundation, bradshawfoundation.com/middle_east/saudi_arabia_rock_art/index.php. Accessed 19 Aug. 2022.

Roud, Steve. The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. Penguin Books, 2006.

[williiambyers]

The new Ronja tv show is a bit slow. And I think they focus to much in the town. I want more of Ronja and Birk instead. The nature is so beautiful and the vittror is so perfectly designed. I'm looking forward to see the rest of the episodes.

[petrvyhlidka]

Vittror

Bájný národ ze severu Skandinávie. Tihle zkušení pastevci a zemědělci prý žijí pod zemí a užívají pastviny v zimě, kdy z nich lidé svůj skot odehnali, což je nejspíš varianta pro uspěchané myslitele a p-o-m-a-l-é čtenáře, jiná verze totiž bez obalu tvrdí, že Vittror (mn.č) existují v odlišném čase a posunuté rovině světa...

[moody-manticore]

Day 28: Vitter ko

Height: 1,4 meters

Habitat: bogs, forests and tundras

Identification: these creatures are sexless and reproduce asexually.

Behavior: Vitter Kor are active during the day when the sun is out running around to what looks like playing. During the nights they become immobile to conserve energy and gather nutrients from the soil. They carry fruits that are high in protein and fat, the seed will sprout in a few weeks and after 6 months the little sprout with eventually run around on its own.

Domestication: vittror and dwarves originally domesticated these and some speculate that these animals were artificially created but there has yet been any proof to support that claim. Since they are both animal and plant their bark is edible as well as their fruits.

[thoughts-of-a-heathen]

Trollflätor

In Swedish folklore, trollflätor (literally 'troll braids') are thought to be caused either by the gårdstomte (farm gnome), the trolls or the vittra. They are also known as tomteflätor ('gnome braids') or vitterflätor/vittreflätor ('vittra braids'). Marflätor ('mare braids') look similar, but they're not the same thing as trollflätor.

Some say that trollflätor is a sign of the gårdstomte being pleased with the way the farmer cares for his horses. Others say that the gårdstomte marks and protects his favourite horses by braiding their manes.

"The gnome braided the mane of some of the horses in the stable. Where the gnome was, the horses would thrive. [...] The horses that get their manes braided by the gnome enjoy [living in] the stable."

- Ingrid-M. Norin, Borgsjö socken, Medelpad. 1946.

"[The mane] was braided on such a sophisticated fashion that there was no part where you could begin the unravelling. It stayed (braided) like that for three days, and then it was unraveled, all by itself, and the mane was all curly and beautiful. As long as it stayed curly, it was left alone, but then [after the curls had disappeared] it would get braided again. It was a gnome that did this, but the owner [of the horse] said that the gnome only did good things [and helped the farmer]."

- Värmlandssägner

Sometimes though, it was the trolls or the vittra who braided the manes:

"A farm hand from Glimåkra socken (socken = parish) was traveling to Kristianstad [by horse and carriage]. On the way there, he saw how the mane of the horse was being braided and fluffed. He jumped off the wagon and a look through the bridle. Therewith he saw a nasty little [spawn of a] troll sitting on the crupper."

- Nils Ek, Glimåkra socken, Skåne. 1922.

However, if you find your horses sweaty and exhausted, and with matted manes and/or tails in the morning, they've probably been ridden by the mare.

"Maran rides (on) both people and cattle, and to the point of them being totally exhausted. She used to braid the manes of the horses when she rode them in the night, and that's how you could tell that the mare had been there. If you shot a magpie and placed it over the stable door, the mare would shun [the place]."

- Nanne Johansson, Askome socken, Halland. 1928.

If you don't want to shoot a magpie, you could protect your horse by drawing a markors ('mare cross') on their stall door, or by placing a mirror behind the horse, or even by hanging the blade of a scythe over the horse.

Pictured: a type of five-pointed markors (they can also be six-pointed sometimes).

A horse with marflätor will be anxious, sweaty and exhausted in the morning. A horse with trollflätor will be calm, relaxed and well rested.

Either way, removing the braids will bring you (and/or your horses) misfortune and illness.

In my experience, horses that get trollflätor tend to be extremely gentle, calm and reliable. You can just leave them standing in a field, and they will stay there until you tell them to move. They're friendly with other animals, and wouldn't hurt a fly.

[dendro80]

Brovallsskogen. Feelt a bit like a fairytale. Could allmost see the trolls move between the trees, skogsrået (a lady of the forest, dual in her alignment towards humans) and vittror (like fairyfolk). Remember the stories that my mother told me about as a child. Love these forests. 🍄🍃🍁

September 2022

Brovallsskogen, Avesta, Dalarna, Sweden

[ao3feed--reylo]

VITTRA

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/UNBEkKH

by Vittra

Ben is visiting Stockholm, sealing the deal of a lifetime, when he suddenly realizes he’s an addict.

In a desperate attempt to sober up, he accepts a job as a lumberjack and travels deep into the forests of Northern Sweden. Ben’s certain the hard manual labor and the absence of temptation will straighten him out faster than any rehab facility ever could, but he doesn’t know a storm beaten him to it, and that the first tree has already fallen.

The tree’s deep roots ripped the ground open and tore the weave apart, rupturing the invisible veil that separates us from the underjordiska. A vittra passes through this gaping wound, on her hunt for something she hasn’t seen in decades;

a human male.

🌙🌙🌙

Please mind the tags. This fic includes themes of addiction, alcohol, and suicide.

Words: 5108, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Kylo Ren/Rey

Additional Tags: Swedish Folklore au, Addiction, Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism, The writer swims in descriptions of the forests she roamed as a child, Eventual Smut, Is it love or instinct? You tell me, Is it a happy endning? You tell me, Obsession, Vittror need human males to reproduce, Yep a bit of breeding might be on the horizon, Dub-con elements, Highly consensual smut however, Two Shot, cursing, Mentions of Suicide, Brief suicidal thoughts, Ben is not a virgin, Rey probably isn’t either to be honest

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/UNBEkKH

[kidontheinternet]

Vargen vandrar ensam

Vinden viskar sin visa

Om den vilsna själen

Som ej kan vila

Utan att se vilda vittror

som väcker henne ur sin vila

Ingen vilja kvar i varghonan

[watertribewarrior]

Marvinter från 2017 var en banger den med. Enda jag lyssnat på men jobbade på en grundskola då och barnen i klassen fick lyssna på ett avsnitt varje morgon. Jag satt, lik som dem, och lyssnade med stor entusiasm. Den handlade om en pojke och hans farmor som stötte på massa väsen från nordisk folktro som maran, vittror, varulvar och liknande. Rekommenderar den starkt om den finns tillgänglig någonstans!

Okej vi har snackat I'm svts julkalendrar men vad är folks tankar på Sveriges Radios julkalendrar? Jag hade en klockradio som väckarklocka under några år när jag var typ 8 och det var det ända året jag lyssnade på den, men minns fortfarande Allt Du Önskar för när man ser tillbaka var den helt klart en rätt så sjuk berättelse xD bara kidnappar någon random unge för att de ville ha barn och skämde bort henne så att hon skulle trivas.

Kommer vagt ihåg den

[svartabergetart]

Den förtrollande skogen i natten för @oknyttsverige och podden. När man talar om trollen! Ett ämne som står mig väldigt nära. Den förtrollande skogen och särskilt då skogs natten. Bland troll, vittror och skogsrået vandrar och jagar. Lagom mycket black metal och folk toner son ekar genom skogen och dimman, som en sång av vildmarken. Som få drömmer om och knappt finns i detta avlånga land. Det finns kvar i träsk och berg, där mer troll härskar, mer än människor vill dit. Titta och lyssnar på deras pod men följ mig på Facebook och Youtube Svartberget Art! Där är sagor från min rollspels värld och hur livet är där. I skuggan av våran undeligga nutid. https://www.facebook.com/Svartabergetart/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaV7-9fIKAP4FaMHlqSucpA #oknytt #podcast #närmantalaromtrollen #illustration #digitalart #darkfantasy #fantasyart #svartabergetart #jonfjell #instaart #artistoninstagram #förtolladeskogen #enchanted #forest #folklore #sweden #swedish #nigth #skogsrå #troll #vittra (på/i Trollgrottan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLJk39XFvZC/?igshid=1suld7jarecat

[therese-c-larsson-bokblogg]

Välj ditt gift – en sjukt passande titel!

Örtkunskap med kraft att läka eller dräpa. Eller varför inte knivens vassa egg? Oavsett, dödens käftar väntar på dig om du väljer att öppna boken Välj ditt gift av Alice Ekström.

Omge dig av illsluga planer, krossade hjärtan och en handlingskraftig adel med örtkunskaper som sätts i praktiken. Jag säger bara, välkommen till Sývell. Ett kungadöme där kronan styrs blint av rädsla för magins blod och magiska krafter. För vittror. Där hela familjer jagas likt djur och straffas till döden för enbart sin svarta hårfärgs skull. Utpekade att vara av ondo. Bärare av magi stark nog att kunna utföra stordåd. Både storslagna och förfärliga. Men visst, tvingas man till att strida för sitt liv blir det sistnämnda lätt det utmärkande draget.

Att vara född med kraften att använda magi, i en värld där sådana utrotas. Det kan få vem som helst att ta till alla möjliga medel, oavsett konsekvenser. Om man föds i en familj med kassaskrinet fullt, har rätt fader och ett utseende som talar för en. Kan man då vinna, sin hårfärg till trots? När huvudkaraktären i boken fångas både i konspiratörens nät och kärlekens snara leder det till den ena härvan efter den andra. Men, med vapen, pengar och en gränslös beslutsamhet kommer man långt. Fast till vilket pris? För alla har ett pris att betala. Hämnd föder hämnd. Makt föder girighet. Vilket pris är karaktärerna i boken egentligen beredda att betala?

Handlingen flyter snabbt på och det är hela tiden något på gång. Ränker som smids, brustna hjärtan och känslor som svallar gör vägen ovanligt slingrig. Jag tycker boken tar flera oväntade vändningar och kunde inte alls gissa utgången. Läsningen flyter på bra och snart befinner man sig på sista sidan och undrar, vad kommer hända nu? Jag skulle inte haft något emot om boken varit något fylligare, men kanske kommer det en uppföljare där svaren uppenbarar sig? Välj ditt gift passar antagligen för äldre ungdom eller ung vuxen.

[dendro80]

A walk in the forest of folklore. 🍃🍄Trolls and other väsen was excepted behinde every tree or rock. I enjoyed my day in the forest. 🍄 Finding new forest paths, many old and some probarly made by animal migration. 🍂

Often think about the stories my mother read to me about the väsen in the forest. Trolls, vittror, tomtar, skogsrået. She is a great inspiration to my love of the forest.

September 2021

Avesta, Dalarna, Sweden

[dendro80]

Took a walk after work trough the forest home to the house. No knyt, troll, vittror, skogsrå or other creatures of the swedish folklore. 😅😉 But I enjoyed the silence and the sound of an owl. ❤️

Avesta, Dalarna, Sweden

[dendro80]

Enjoyed a day in the forest. A longer walk and a coffebreak, a "swedish fika" in the snow. Saw no trolls, vittror, skogsrå or other creatures of folklore but enjoyed the silence and the snow.

Lugnet, Falun, Dalarna, Sweden