Rådande
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rådande or löfjerskor are tree spirits in Swedish faerie mythology, similar to the dryads and hamadryads of Greek and Roman mythology.
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In Swedish folklore, a rå is a spirit connected to a place, object or animal; examples are the skogsrå (a forest being) and sjörå (a water being). Thus, the word rådande or råande may derive from rå and ande, "spirit".[1] It may also be a corruption of trädande (plural trädandar), meaning tree spirit). Rå and råd-ande (with a hyphen) are attested in Jacob Mörk's political satire novel "Adalriks och Göthildas Äfventyr" published in Stockholm in 1742.
Benjamin Thorpe translates rådande as "elf" and identifies them with löfjerskor, or grove-folk. He explains that sacred groves were supposed to be protected by deities. A tree that grew unusually fast was a "habitation-tree" or boträd, and an invisible Radande was believed to live in its shade, rewarding those who cared for the tree and punishing any who harmed it.
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