Huldreslåt is a Nordic Folk band that was born in the year 2006. We are musicians that devote ourselves to the study of the vast musical legacy of Northern Europe. Our work consists in taking melodies that hail from Scandinavia to perform them at our discretion, based on the musical formation of each member of the project.
Furthermore, we should not fail to mention that we do not leave the musical heritage of the Slav and Baltic countries aside, but include several tunes from these regions ever so rich in culture and history. We hope that the fans of traditional Norse and neo-Folk enjoy the icy tunes coming from our voices and instruments.
About the Name
Huldreslåt is a compound word belonging to the Norwegian language. It is made up of the constituents “huldre” (No. Huldre-Hulder-Hulla, Sv. Huldra), the genitive s, and “låt”. Therefore, this name could be translated as “Huldra´s song”.
Thus, Jacob Grimm (1835) makes reference to the Huldra and her lay in the following manner:
“She loves music and song, her lay has a doleful melody and is called huldreslaat”.
(Grimm, Jacob. Teutonic Mythology, Peter Smith, Gloucester, Mass. 1976)
About the Huldra
In Scandinavian popular tradition, the Huldra is a kind of bewitching and seductive wood sprite. The root of her name makes reference to that which is veiled or hidden, and we could surely state that her place in Scandinavian folklore somehow honours such etymology. Furthermore, she is also known by the Swedish words “skogsrå” (warden of the forest) and “skogsfru” (lady of the forest).
According to folklore, the Huldra seems to be a lady of incomparable beauty, with luxuriant auburn hair that reaches her knees and barely covers her usual nakedness. However, on further examination and when seen from the back, this lady of the forest appears hollow as the trunk of a rotten, old tree trunk. Likewise, as evidenced in Norwegian and Swedish popular tradition, the Huldra has a cow’s tail (or, more rarely, of a fox).
Just like a will-o’-the-wisp, the Huldra makes her apparition in the deep forest and, taking advantage of her stunning beauty, seduces and invites men to try and catch her. According to the numberless legends, lust and carelessness became the doom of many a Norseman…
The Huldra in Popular Tradition
Over the whole of Norway the tradition is current of a supernatural being that dwells in the forests and mountains, called Huldra or Hulla. She appears like a beautiful woman, and is usually clad in a blue petticoat and a white snood; but unfortunately has a long tail, like a cow’s, which she anxiously strives to conceal, when she is among people. She is fond of cattle, particularly brindled (1), of which she possess a beautiful and thriving stock. They are without horns.
She was once at a merrymaking where everyone was desirous of dancing with the handsome, strange damsel; but in the midst of the mirth, a young man, who has just begun a dance with her, happened to cast his eye on her tail. Immediately guessing whom he had got for a partner, he was not a little terrified; but collecting himself, and unwilling to betray her, he merely said to her, when the dance was over, “Fair maid, you will lose your garter.” She instantly vanished, but afterwards rewarded the silent and considerate youth with beautiful presents and a good breed of cattle (2).
The idea entertained of this being is not everywhere the same, but varies considerable in different parts of Norway. In some places she is described as a handsome female, when seen in front, but is hollow behind, or else blue(3); while in others she is known by the name of Skogsnerte, and is said to be blue, but clad in green petticoat, and probably corresponds to the Swedish Skogsnufva (3). Her song -a sound often heard among the mountains - is said to be hollow and mournful (5), differing therein from the music of the subterranean beings, which is described by ear-witnesses as cheerful and fascinating. But she is not everywhere regarded as a solitary wood-nymph: Huldremen and Huldre-folk are also spoken of, who live together in the mountains, and are almost identical with the subterranean people. In Hardanger the Huldre-people are always clad in green, but their cattle are blue, and may be taken when a grown-up person casts his belt over them. They give abundance of milk. The Huldres take possession of the forsaken pasture-spots in the mountains, and invite people into their mounds, where delightful music is to be heard (6).
The belief in Huldra is very ancient. We read that as far back as the year 1205, the queen of Magnus Lagabaeter, when detained by an adverse wind at Bergen, having heard that the Icelander Sturli Thordsen was an excellent storyteller, desired him to relate to her the Saga of the giantess Huldra. Her name appears to be derived from the Old Norse hollr [findus, propitius] (7)
Notes
1. In the original “brandede”, the meaning of which is doubtful
2. Faye, Norske Folke-Sagn, Christiania, 1844, p. 39
3. Hallager, Norsk Ordsamling, p. 48, voce Huldre
4. Linnaei Gotländske Resa, p. 312
5. “Huldre dwells in the mountains and in the valley; hers are all the riches, splendour and beauty of the North; but hers is also its deep melancholy; to this her music and her song bear witness, which cannot be heard without a feeling of sadness and tears”. Norske Huldreeventyr, I, p. IV
6. Faye, op. cit., p.39
7. Sagabihl., i, 367; Grimm J., Deutsche Mythologie, p. 249
(Thorpe, Benjamin. Northern Mythology: From Pagan Faith to Local Legends. Wordsworth Editions, Ltd., 2001)
