Chapter

Myling

I asked my friend why it was that the dance hall in Nykarleby stood empty. She said that a mother had buried her unbaptized child beneath the floorboards to hide the identify of the father. During the dance, its spirit rose from under the floor and danced with its mother until blood was running down her legs and she died in the arms of her dead child. That is why people won't go near the dance hall without sharp steel or crosses. No one dances in Nykarleby.

— Carl Linnaeus, September 22nd, 1732

A myling is the spirit of a child murdered by its mother, often because it were born out of wedlock or because there was no social safety net for those too poor to care for their child. In the 19th century, infanticide is punishable by death, and the myling often wants to see its mother punished. The spirit haunts the place where the body was hidden – screaming, wailing, and sobbing. It appears as a ghost of the same age as the child when it died. The creature can also take physical form in the shape of a giant black bird with a human head. A myling can be teasing and mischievous.

Ritual