The Huldra is a female supernatural being in the Nordic Folklore (although as with the Nix it is a species, not a single entity). The Norwegian name Huldra comes from Huld, a völva in Norse mythology who is a mistress to Oden. In Swedish this kind of being is called ”Rå”. ”Rå” meaning to care for something, and the Huldra was connected to a specific area which she cared for or guarded, such as a forrest, a mine or a water source.
The Huldra was often described as a beautiful woman, at least seen from the front. If she turned around however, you could see that her back resembled a hollow log or that she had a tail. And the stories of meetings with the Huldra often has erotic motives.
Since she is a being connected to rather isolated places where men typically worked, she might be a manifestation of their fantasies – a beautiful woman trying to seduce them. Sometimes she would even take on the appareance of a man’s wife to trick him.
But she could also help workers in these places, such as guiding a lost wanderer to the right path, help with hunting, or warn if there was about to be an accident in a mine. If you met her, you had better be curtious and helpful to her, and she would return the favour.
But if you insulted her or harmed the creatures or places she cared for, she could turn nasty. She could lure people to go astray in the wild, scare off prey or cause a mine to collapse.
In some cases, meetings with the Huldra could be dangerous, even deadly. Not always because of the Huldra herself, but because of the legal repercussions of dealing with a supernatural being.
There are some cases where men were sentenced to death for having sexual relations with a Huldra, for example a 22-year-old farmhand in Västergötland, Sweden, in 1691. In 1737 in Halland another trial was held against a farmhand named Anders Månsson, who claimed to have been sleeping with a Huldra.
This time, the court was more sceptical, but there was still a trial. First the court declared that though he was a little slow, Anders was not insane. According to the interrogation protocol, Anders had met the Huldra twice, the first time he refused her but the second time he could not resist. He describes her as tall and thin, dressed in a fine black dress.
He stayed with her for two days and a night, and they slept together. According to Anders she wanted repeated intercourse, more than he could manage.
The local priest intervened and claimed Anders had been at odds with his master and had to keep away, and that’s why he invented the story of the Huldra. What sentence he was ultimately dealt is unfortunately unknown.
Sources:
Egerkrans, Johan. Nordiska väsen. (2023)
Schön, Ebbe. Älvor, vättar och andra väsen. (1996)
Wall, Tora. Folktrons väsen. (2021)