The old storytellers

In The Land of Legends Sweden lived some of the foremost storytellers and collectors of oral storytelling in the history of our country.

In the very beginning, the Devil was an angel. He was cast out of heaven and fell down to earth. As he fell, he brought with him his pack of evil spirits. For three days and nights, they rained down from the sky. The ones that landed on the grounds of houses turned into gnomes. The ones that fell into lakes and rivers turned into sirens and water spirits. The ones that fell into forests turned into forest nymphs, and the ones that landed among the mountains turned into giants and trolls.

It must have rained a lot over this part of Småland, considering all the pesky little creatures that lurk around here…

Where there are supernatural creatures, there are also numerous exciting legends and tales. And storytellers, too! One of them was the pauper Mickel of Långhult (1778-1860), who was called “the biggest, most triumphant ace of Swedish folklore” by Nobel prize winner Harry Martinsson. In the depth of his poverty, Mickel sat in his little cottage* and penned down his distinctive stories and tales. His storytelling rested on the grounds of tradition, but he filled the stories with life experiences of his own.

The district painter Sven Sederström (1810-1846) lived a short and tragic life. However, he penned down some of the most beautiful folktales of our country: Prince Hat under the Ground and Little Rose and Big Briar. What was unique about Mickel and Sven Sederström was that they wrote down their stories themselves. That is why they gave such vivid expression to the lives and thoughts, the hopes and dreams of the wide masses.

It was the story collector Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius (1818-1889) who collected folk tales in The Land of Legends. He was born in Vislanda, and through the years of 1844-49, he published the Swedish storybook Svenska folksagor och äventyr (“Swedish folk tales and adventures”), the Swedish equivalent of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. His father the dean, Carl Fredrik Cavallius (1781-1857), was a storyteller with a skill for captivating tales.

Halta-Kajsa the lame from Ryd (1792-1857) was another significant personality, who informed Hyltén-Cavallius of many legends and tales. In his memoirs, Hyltén-Cavallius expressed that “never before in his life had he met a woman with a richer poetic understanding than this humble woman of many”.

The first storytelling professor of Sweden, Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (1878-1952) was born and raised in The Land of Legends, and a tireless collector of tales from his home region.

Do you want to learn more about folklore, legends and oral storytelling in The Land of Legends Sweden?

• The Museum of Legends has issued three booklets called Discovering The Land of Legends: Excursions among Folktales and Legends. These contain a rich number of legends and information about storytellers. There is a booklet for each of the three municipalities that form The Land of Legends Sweden!
• The Magic Pisspot contains all stories that are portrayed at The Museum of Legends, as well as information about the storytellers.

*The cottage that Mickel lived in was a so called “backstuga”. In older days, these simple little cottages were often inhabited by the poor or the elderly, but located either on common land or on someone else’s property.