Vaesen : spirits and monsters of scandinavian folklore

Johan Egerkrans’ collection of creatures from the Scandinavian folklore has become a crossover phenomenon. The dark forests, deep lakes and vast mountain ranges of Scandinavia are home to a multitude of supernatural beings. They are known as the little people, the invisibles, or simply the fair folk. When someone vanishes in the woods, when the milk curdles over night, when strange noises are heard in the loft or when an unexplained ailment strikes, it is said to be the work of such entities.

Some of these creatures appear all over Europe: ghosts, giants, dragons, trolls, werewolves and faeries. Others are endemic to Scandinavia, such as the Neck who rules the rivers, the nightly Mara, the Huldra who guards the forest, tomtar, mylings and many others.

Author and illustrator Johan Egerkrans presents what he regards as the most important – and most fascinating – Scandinavian folkloric beings. This richly illustrated, well-informed collection, a bestseller in Swedish, is now available in English for an international audience.

“Egerkrans does what is most important: he writes because he himself loves his topic, with great respect for the reader. This is a book to return to, read parts of many times, and keep on the bookshelf for a long time.” Dagens Nyheter