trickstersmakethisworld:Scandinavian FolkloreIrrbloss/ Lyktgubbe Will o’wisp or ghost lightsThese a
trickstersmakethisworld:Scandinavian FolkloreIrrbloss/ Lyktgubbe Will o’wisp or ghost lightsThese arebright, flickering lights seen by travelers at night that are said to recede ifapproached, trying to draw the travelers from their safe path.They appearwithout an apparent source and tend to move around erratically, much too quickfor a human holding a torch. There are numerous explanations for these ghostlights in folklore, and I will describe the most common ones to you here. Some callthese ghost lights ‘’the latern man’’ , they believed the light came from arestless soul, doomed to wander the land.In somestories he is a farmer who laid down crops on land that wasn’t his(this wasserious shit in rural Scandinavia considering most people lived of their farms)and was thus doomed to walk on that particular piece of land for eternity. Like mostother creatures in Scandinavian folklore, the lantern man could be a tricksteror a great help depending on how you treated him. If your lost and gave him acoin he might show you the way home, but don’t try to trick him. A farmer inScania tried to get out of his promise and claimed that he wouldn’t pay, butwhen he tried to go inside the door had disappeared, and he had to spend therest of the night searching for a way to get inside his own house. Somelantern men were trickier than others and would just try to make people losetheir way. Never follow the lights, not unless it made you a promise, becausemost supernatural creatures will try to trick you any way they can, but theyare unable to go back on their word. In southernSweden it was said that the will o’wisps guarded treasure. A man once fooled awill o’wisp by collecting a big pile of iron scrap metal in his yard. Whendarkness came he wandered around it with a lantern, pretending to guard it. Awill o’wisp appears and looks disdainfully at the scrap metal, it tells the manthat it will show him a real treasure. They wander into the forest, and whenthe treasure hoard appears the man is quick to throw a knife blade made of ironamongst the gold and gems. Iron is kryptonite to all things supernatural, andthe will o’wisp goes up in smoke immediately. Otherstories tell you that the lights are the souls of people who were too good forhell and to evil for heaven, and thus got stuck in our world. They wander along the ancient roads thatexisted when they were alive, roads and trails that are long gone, but thesouls remember. ߉t��) -- source link