Hulderkall/Huldra/Hulder? I have questions.

[translunaryAnimus (TA)]

So for Eyes of The Forest I'm starting to consider bringing some actual mythological creatures into the world, at least by name or in spirit.  One of those being the Huldra/Hulder/Hulderkall (there are so many names i cant list them all QvQ).

Unfortunately Google is really unhelpful when it comes to trying to find any amount of information on this lovely group of forest beings as it mostly shows me art and when it does give me information it's the vaugest possible mix of information from every culture in which they show up. All I know is that they tend to have animal tails (Fox or cow) and have a (sometimes Bark covered) hole in their backs and are generally flirtatious (?)

So if any friends would be willing to give me a little more information on the Huldra (and their male counterparts) than what Google gives me I'd really appreciate that!

This goes for any other creatures in and around Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Finland, and Norway (and surrounding countries) Any and all information would be helpful!

[Jitter]

The Huldra is a Scandinavian creature, the Finns have a very similar entity metsänneito (maid of thr forest). But I noticed the Wikipedia article on Huldra is very short in English but has a lot more information in Finnish. Probably even more in Swedish and Norwegian. Maybe try Google translate on them?

Here’s the Finnish one: https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldra

[JoB]

So if any friends would be willing to give me a little more information on the Huldra (and their male counterparts) than what Google gives me I'd really appreciate that!

I think you'll find the lore to be not quite consistent, but some basics about huldra and their male counterparts are available ...

This goes for any other creatures in and around Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Finland, and Norway (and surrounding countries) Any and all information would be helpful!

Well, the much-fabled German has power over rains and ...

... nah, just kidding. Germany has a bit of a selection, from widely-known concepts down to single-city critters, from the North to the South, etc., and even I cannot claim to have a complete overview - so, any particular interests ... ?

[Jitter]

Yeah, the Finnish WP article mentions different versions just within Sweden. For example in the north the Huldra was not considered to have a tail at all.

And it makes sense of course, because these things are local folklore passed mostly by the way of oral tradition, so every version is a bit different but the ones from nearby areas are more likely to be mostly similar.

The happy side of this is that your Forest can have any adaptation you like or whatever best suits the story, and it’s probably folklore faithful somewhere

[translunaryAnimus (TA)]

Thank you all for the input! Looks like I'll have to do a bit more digging around for creatures in my spare time!