Huldrefjord
Hidden-folk
NorskHuldrefolk
- Names
- hidden-folk, huldufólk, mound folk, underground folk; in other cultures also known as goblins, gnomes, brownies, elves, fairies, pixies, sprites, or leprechauns
- Habitat
- on the border of the civilized and the natural world, between the visible and the invisible, near humans but not with them; both on land and at sea
- Danger level
- Low to moderate
Listen · 5:50
AI voice
Our audio guide is being renewed. While we update the exhibition, the new recordings are read by an AI voice in English and Norwegian. They will later be recorded by real voices in more languages. Thank you for your patience!
Under dark hills, in quiet forests, around old farms, and on the shores of deep lakes, you may feel like there’s something moving, breathing, living just out of sight. And you wouldn’t be wrong, for hidden-folk are all around us, close enough to feel but never fully see.
Appearance
Hidden-folk is a collective name for a race of magical beings and nature spirits that can make themselves invisible to the human eye. Nixies, gnomes, mares, grims, and hulders are all part of the hidden-folk. Because they’re such a diverse group, no common description of their physical appearance can be given. Generally, the hidden-folk are human-like in appearance, often small in stature and dressed in grey or dark clothes, but this isn’t true for all types of hidden-folk.
Behavior
Hidden-folk are sometimes said to live parallel lives to humans: they have their own homes or farms, start families, and often work with crafting, mining, cleaning, or cooking. Unlike trolls, they maintain a level of contact with humans, albeit only on their own terms. As such, they can be quite helpful, typically in exchange for gifts of food or riches of some kind. They’re generally more mischievous, capricious, and unpredictable than they are malevolent.
Changelings
The hidden-folk have been known to literally rob cradles, taking human children off to their world for purposes unknown. In the place of the child they take, they leave one of their own. These children from the underground who replace their human parts are known as changelings.
Changelings are most often disguised to look like babies or sometimes toddlers. At a glance, they may appear entirely human. But when you look a bit closer, you may spot some deformities: misshapen extremities, skin discolorations, scars. They also behave a little differently from a typical child: they may have larger appetites or be picky eaters, sometimes they’re really rambunctious or really quiet, and they often have difficulties with speech.
To prevent the hidden-folk from stealing a child, babies should be baptized as soon as possible. This marks them as a part of the Christian world, protecting them from malicious forces. Until the child is baptized, putting an item made of silver or steel in their cradle and reading psalms to them before putting them to sleep is said to keep the hidden-folk away. If a child is suspected to be a changeling, there is only one way to entice the hidden-folk to switch it back for the human it replaced: treating them poorly. When a changeling is treated badly enough, the hidden-folk take pity on it and return for it, switching the children back in the process.
Historically, children who were born with deformities or mental disorders were often thought to actually be changelings. The neglect and mistreatment of such children was justified by the belief that they’d become “normal” human children if only they were shown enough cruelty.
Fairy tale
A Christmas Feast for Thron
In olden times, Kvammen in Stordalen was always said to be a haunt of the hidden folk. Around Christmas, especially, the place was so full of them that the household would usually have to leave and spend Christmas at the neighboring farm. One Christmas Eve, a traveling man arrived asking for lodging for the night. He was told that the family themselves had to seek shelter elsewhere, because every Christmas Eve, the hidden folk came in such numbers that it was impossible to remain in the house. The man did not believe in witchcraft and such things, but thought it might be amusing to find out whether it was really true. So he asked to stay anyway, and that, they said, he was welcome to do, but they had warned him what would happen.
That evening, after the family had left the house, he loaded his rifle, climbed onto the beam above the hearth, and waited patiently to see what would happen. After quite some time, he heard a terrible commotion; the door burst open, and in came one troop after another, until at last some of them entered carrying a very ancient old man, who was immediately seated at the head of the table. They prowled about, sniffing into every corner. An old, hideous witch remarked that there was a smell of Christian man in the house, but fortunately, they did not discover the man up on the beam. Then they began cooking and preparing, laying out great quantities of gold and silver vessels upon the table, until everything glittered and gleamed.
When they had eaten and finished their preparations, they were to present Christmas gifts to old Thron, the one they had carried in. The elders went first, and then, in order of age, down to the smallest children, and each time someone presented a gift to the old man, they said: “Yes, this I offer to him, to Thron.”
When the last had finished, the man up on the beam raised his rifle to his shoulder.
“Yes, this I offer to him, to Thron,” he said, pulled the trigger, and shot the old man, who pitched forward and crashed onto the floor.
A terrible uproar followed as they all took to their heels as fast as they could, dragging the dead old man with them, but leaving behind all the gold and silver for the hulder-slayer. From then on, he was able to live in splendor all his days on his newfound treasure. And from that day onward, no one in Kvammen ever again saw or heard the hidden folk.