Cool Loot
Wood Wife

Chapter

Wood Wife

The woodds are composed of gray alders and birches with witches' brooms. (Nescio cur?) My horse collapsed several times during today's trip through Ångermanand. On one occasion I sustained a fracture. In the glow of the fire, I now write of a sight that took my mind off the pain. Encamped for the night, I emptied my bladder near a brook, when suddenly I saw three moose – one white, one brown, and one black – crowned with magnificent antlers. On the back of the white one rode a woman with antlers on her forehead. She was beautiful, with fair skin and green eyes. I could see from her look that we had her permission to visit the forest.

— Carl Linnaeus, May 19th, 1732

The wood wife is part of the forest, and she is its guardian. She appears as a human woman, but can also take the form of a tree, a rock, or an animal. There is always something strange about her. She might have cloven hooves, a tail, skin with a greenish glow, or a back covered with bark like a hollow tree trunk. She is often accompanied and protected by animals – wolves, bears, or dogs. The wood wife is capricious. Humans who harm the animals of the forest, particularly capercaillies and deer, might be subject to punishment. Her victims are spellbound or led astray, wandering aimlessly until they go mad, fall ill, or grow old. But the wood wife can also be kind and help lost children find their way home, or warn of forest fires. It is said that the wood wife seduces people. Once they fall in love with her, they will never be the same again. All that remains is a yearning for the forest and solitude. Some say that people have had children with the wood wife, and that these have grown strong and powerful. Other guardians of nature include mine guardians, nymphs of the springs, ship gnomes, and lake wives.

Ritual