S03 Episode 6: Summer Wilds

From Norway’s verdant mountain pastures where lonely dairymaids tend the seter, or summer farm, to the shadowed forests of Sweden and Denmark, we will encounter the strange beings of the summer wilds. This episode will focus on folktales whose backdrop is the summer season, when the lush reproductive potency of the world is obvious and abundant. Across the Nordic world, Midsummer is celebrated with huge bonfires, and traditionally, was believed to be rich with magical properties. Agrarian Finns, for example, celebrated Midsummer by adorning rooms with flowers, green branches and twigs. According to Finnish folk belief, Midsummer was abundant with väki, a term referring to the inherent power of all things. Midsummer was believed to be charged with curative väki, arising from the fecundity of nature at the height of summer.