Maria Ojantakanen 2018

At the NHM 2018 in Lund, Maria Ojantakanen gave a workshop about folk songs of the supernatural: Fairies, trolls, mermaids… The lone human, encountering a paranormal being, is one of the most common themes in ancient tales and lore, their roots stretching back thousands of years. Also the Scandinavian Ballads offer a remarkably rich representation of these stories. In the workshop, we looked at a selection of songs where this motive is handled in different ways. For good measure, we also casted a brief glance at the Scandinavian Ballads in general, where they came from and where to find them.