When I was at the open-air museum Skansen, I heard a story about trolls. This got me thinking about other mythological creatures and monsters that inhabit Sweden. And a new series was born!
Today – The Stalo.
The far north of Sweden, in the area known as Lapland, is home territory for the Stalo. According to Sami legend, this demon is a one-eyed giant troll that wears impenetrable black iron clothing. Stalo is rich, evil, and very strong. He hunts and devours people and reindeer. Locals who live nearby are expected to leave offerings on an altar to the giant. If they don’t, Stalo sends packs of wolves into the village to wound and kill its inhabitants.
However frightening he is, he is also not very intelligent and is easy to trick.
Legends exist that involve luring him onto a frozen lake, where he falls into a hole in the ice and can’t get up again. Yet another, depicted below, shows a boy called Kauras who tricks Stalo into a competition where he butts his head into a tree trunk, rendering himself unconscious. Other, more complex tales, describe children, who have been trapped by the Stalo, escaping by crushing his hands with boulders and pouring molten lead onto his face.
Image: John Bauer, Stalo and Kauras
Watching the Swedes 