Ethereal Chronicles

Category: Northern European Legends

  • Loki’s Punishment

    Loki is a figure in Norse mythology. Now Loki had played many tricks on the Gods, but his greatest – and perhaps most cruel – was the one involving Odin’s son, Baldur. Baldur had been plagued by restless nights, waking in sweat soaked sheets with the bitter taste of death…

  • Trolls; The Mountain Dwellers

    They call me a trollMoon of the Earth HrungnirWealth sucker of the giantDestroyer of the storm sunBeloved follower of the seeressGuardian of the nafjordSwallower of the wheel of heaven [the sun]What’s a troll if not that?(Lindow 2007:22)Translation from the Prose Edda APPEARANCE AND ATTRIBUTES In isolated spaces, silent caves, and…

  • Jormungandr; The Midgard Serpent

    As Hymir turned to stand at the helm, Thor gave out a cry, hurling his hammer at Hymir’s ox, which had been resting against the side of the ship. The creature screamed as the hammer struck against bone, and there was a hideous crunch before the head was knocked clean…

  • Draugr; Warriors of the Undead

    From his deathbed he rose, perhaps two, three days after he had passed. It had come too late, his body too long neglected, left to rest in a place unsuited for the dead as preparations continued to remain stagnant. I noticed it first. On the first night, merely hours after…

  • The Mare; Demon of Dreams

    What if I told you that scary movies aren’t the real culprits behind your nightmares? The Mare, a shapeshifter of dreams, embodies terror by assuming the guise of the thing you fear most…aka your worst nightmare. Her appearance varies widely across various narratives and folklores; in some, she emerges as…

  • The Legend of Thorgunna; The Hauntings of Froda Farm

    “A serious of hideous thuds, and a sickening crack, rumbled through the house. The herdsman had descended upon Thorer with a savage fury, hurling him to the ground with such force that it had broken every bone in Thorer’s body. Thorer, his form crumpled and his mouth filled with blood,…

  • Utburd; Ghastly Ghost Children

    On a lonely winter’s night, under the unforgiving embrace of the cold, a starving mother leaves her child out to die in the snow, unable to provide for him. From his death arises the Utburd, the Norse name literally translating to “child carried outside”. WHAT IS THE UTBURD An Utburd…