Mythical Creatures [EDITING]

Hulder

  Huldra is a beautiful female creature from Norse folklore, she is said to have long blond hair and always wears a crown made of flowers. The only thing that separate her from humans is that she has the tail of a cow, which is why most men flee when they see her.
She was known to seduce young unmarried men and take them into the mountains, where she would not let them go unless they would marry her.

However, if a man did marry her (in a church in the name of god), tales tell that she would turn into an ugly woman. But in return she would gain the strength of ten men if not more, and she would lose her tail.

Classification: Forest spirit

Main Gender: Female.

Mythology and Folklore associated with Huldra: Scandinavian, Norwegian, Swedish, Sami(Lapplanders), and German

Variety: Neutral(depending on how you treat her) In some legends she is friendly if approached properly and might offer advice such as where the best fishing is. In others she is dangerous, often leading young men attracted to her to horrible deaths.

Items associated with the Huldra: Harp

Notable Features:
From the front, the hulder is a beautiful fair- haired young woman but also has a cow's tail and whose back appears to be like a hollowed out tree or covered in tree bark. In Sweden, the huldra is said to have the tail of a fox.

A Hulder is a forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore; in Norwegian folklore, she is known as the Huldra. She is known as the skogsrå or Tallemaja in Swedish folklore, and Ulda in Sámi folklore. These fair-haired blonde beauties are often said to lure men into the woods by their lovely singing, appearance or hypnotic harp playing to do their bidding. The Hulder if betrayed are known to punish their victims severely. They help and punish, set limits, make trouble for people or generously endow valuable gifts; the way a Hulder reacts to you is based on how you treat her. Treat her with respect and she may reward you, treat her cruelly and receive the same. The moral of this story is treat others how you want to be treated.

The Hulder are often said to be connected with the German goddess of agriculture and crafts Hulda.

..Legends-

A boy in Tiveden went fishing, but he had no luck. Then he met a beautiful lady, and she was so dazzling that he felt he had to catch his breath. But, then he realized who she was, because he could see a fox's tail sticking out below the skirt. As he knew that it was forbidden to comment on the tail to the lady of the forest, if it were not done in the most polite manner, he bowed deeply and said in a soft voice, "Milady, I see that your petticoat shows below your skirt". The lady thanked him gracefully and hid her tail under her skirt; telling the boy to fish on the other side of the lake. That day, the boy had great luck with his fishing and he caught a fish every time he threw out the line; this was the huldra's recognition of his politeness.

In another story from Sigdal,when she avenged her pride on a young braggart she had sworn to marry, on the promise that he would not tell anybody of their secret relationship. The boy instead bragged about his bride for an entire year, and when they met again, she beat him around the ears with her cow's tail. He lost his hearing and his wits for the rest of his life.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Information from mythicalcreaturesguide.com

Image from pinterest.com