Näcken and the Golden Violin

Meet Näcken, a lonely water spirit with a golden violin, in a Swedish-inspired tale for children about courage, music and understanding.

Region: Sweden
Category: Legends & Folk Beliefs
Ages: From 4, with three reading levels (ages 4–6, 7–9 and 10+)
Languages: English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish

About the legend

Being: Näcken (water spirit / strömkarl)
Cultural meaning: Näcken is a water spirit from Swedish and Norwegian folk belief who lives in streams, rivers, lakes and waterfalls. He stands for both sides of water: it gives life, but it can also be dangerous, so the old tales warn people never to follow his music. He is also the great fiddler of folk belief. People said he played so well that trees danced and waterfalls stopped to listen, and that a fiddler who dared to learn from him could play like no one else.
Fun fact: Look closely at Näcken's hair: it is full of water lilies! In Sweden, water lilies are called näckrosor, which means 'Näcken's roses'. In Norway they are called nøkkeroser, after the very same water spirit.

Cultural notes

Näcken (Nøkken in Norwegian and Danish, the nix or nixie in English) is a water spirit from Scandinavian folk belief. In Skåne he was also called bäckamannen, 'the brook man', and further north, up to Uppland and Värmland, strömkarlen, 'the stream man'. The old legends are two-sided. Näcken embodies the dangers of water, and in many tales his music lures people into the water to drown. But in Skåne he was also the unrivalled master fiddler who would teach his art to humans. The strömkarl's tune was said to have eleven parts, and the eleventh was kept for the spirits of the night, because when it is played, tables and benches, grandmothers and even babies in their cradles start to dance. Several Swedish fiddle tunes are called Näckens polska, named after the polska, a Swedish folk dance. In 1812 the poet Arvid August Afzelius wrote words to one of them, which was already well known in Västergötland and Småland. In a footnote he recorded a belief that gives Näcken a sorrowful side: you could learn music from him if you promised him resurrection, and if that hope was denied, he would break his fiddle and weep bitterly. Erik Johan Stagnelius turned this into his sad poem 'Näcken' in the early 1820s. The red cottages are painted falu red, with pigment from the old copper mine at Falun. On Midsummer Eve, Swedes dance around the maypole and eat pickled herring, and some put seven kinds of flowers under their pillow to dream of their future sweetheart. The fiddle tradition lives on at spelmansstämmor, gatherings where folk fiddlers meet to play together.

About this retelling

Original story inspired by folklore An original story inspired by Swedish traditions about Näcken, the water spirit who plays the violin.

Näcken and his fiddle music are old Swedish and Norwegian folk belief, and in the old legends his music is a danger to anyone who follows it. This retelling was written for children: the danger lives only in the tale Grandma tells, no one is ever drawn toward the water, and Näcken's old sorrow becomes a loneliness that music can answer. Elsa, her home-made fiddle, the friendship and the village that learns to listen were created for Nordic Tales.

Sources

Themes

empathy
courage
friendship
understanding
Näcken
water spirit
violin
Swedish folklore
music
stream
empathy
loneliness
folk music
fiddle
midsummer
Sweden