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submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by stenAanden@feddit.dk to c/traditional_art@lemmy.world

tværpostet fra: https://feddit.dk/post/20845262

Theodor Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist known for his illustrations of Norwegian nature and folklore.

These three pictures all depict the nixie, a water dwelling spirit that would attempt to drown people by luring them into the water, often by taking the shape of a horse

These are elves or huldra, humanoid creatures that are often conflated. Elves are said to dance and create the morning fog while huldra could be said to have tails but have many similar attributes.

Pesta was a personification of the black plague

Polar bear and king Valemon, a Norwegian folk tale

Various trolls

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[-] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 16 points 2 months ago

Excellent choice of works to share with the world. Just a note: the top one among the various trolls is actually Draugen (also referred to as a sea troll), an undead spectre or revenant of a sailor who died and drifted away at sea, never to be buried in Christian soil. Seeing one would be a very ill omen of certain doom for seafarers.

[-] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

(Neat info, thx for sharing!)

What if I offer some grog?
Not that I'm against doom actually.

[-] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 months ago

These are haunting and the folklore behind it was fascinating to learn about, thank you for sharing!

[-] FellowEnt@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 months ago

Thanks for sharing, very cool work and new to me. Reminds me of the work of John Bauer, similarly unsettling and awesome. I'm no expert on Scandinavian folklore but assuming there's some crossover in terms of subject matter here.

For the uninitiated the site below has a good overview of his work.

https://www.artpassions.net/bauer/bauer.html

[-] stenAanden@feddit.dk 2 points 2 months ago

OH thanks. I was thinking of making a post about him soon too.

[-] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Why is this Theodor fella using my likeness repeatedly like that??

(Thx for sharing!)

[-] misericordiae@literature.cafe 2 points 2 months ago

These are lovely! The Pesta ones look like Fromsoft used them as inspiration for Bloodborne.

[-] CannedYeet@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Great name for a cat

[-] Steve@startrek.website 1 points 2 months ago

Fuckin metal

[-] belit_deg@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

These drawings have a special place in my heart, they enchanted me as a kid and I love coming back to them as an adult

this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
186 points (100.0% liked)

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