Skogsfru

(Scocks-FRU)

Variations: Huldra, Skogsra, Swor, Tallemaja, Wood Wife, Wood Woman

In Scandinavia there is a type of vampiric faythat looks like a beautiful woman with long auburn HAIR and a cow tail. It is called skogsfru. It lives in the woods and usually approaches a young man at night while he is at rest in his campsite. It tries to use its beauty to seduce him. While engaged in sexual intercourse, it will drain him of his life-energy (see ENERGY VAMPIRE). On occasion, the skogsfru will decide not to harm the man and marry him instead. Sadly, their union will not last as it is a fay, an inherently wild creature, and will eventually return to the woods. The abandoned husband will slowly begin to die, longing for its touch. It is considered an unlucky omen to see a skogsfru, as it causes madness in its lovers.

Source: Keightley, Fairy Mythology, 153; Klein, Legends and Folk Beliefs, 35­36, 188; Mac Culloch, Celtic and Scandinavian Religions, 133; Turner, Dictionary of Ancient Deities, 435