If you try to translate it blank to English i'd say "Ashwife" but it's not what is sounds.
Askefroa is a maliciously female being,mostly spoken of in Skåne (It's in the far bottom of Sweden.) She held as the name appears from the name of old Ash tree and could be lethal to those who weren't careful. From some people the respect of Askefroa was so big that they didn't dare to go near high Ash trees after the dark. She is what the old Greeks would call a Hamadryad, she is the soul of the tree and her life is completely bound to the existence of the tree. If the tree dies so will she wise versa.
Trees that harbored nature spirits was called "Free tree" and wasn't allowed to be cut down, when "she who lives in the tree didn't want to be stabbed". If someone would decide to take a piss on the roots of an Ash tree of an Askefroa has her nest you can count on get very sick. Same will happen if someone harms the tree, maybe by breaking branches or twigs.
To avoid of getting haunted by Askefroa you had to conciliate her with a offering every Ash Wednesday, the first Wednesday after Shrove Tuesday. Before the sun rise the elder would pour water on her tree roots while they read the words " Now i sacrifice, then you shall not hurt us.".
Ash trees counts with oaks like the most magical trees and was supposed to have special powers, to Ash bark you could stop losses of blood and there leaf was good against snakebites. The mythological world tree Yggdrasil was like a familiar also Ash Tree.
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Scandinavian folklore
FantasyThis is about Nordic folklore maybe even more like Scandinavian.When my grandparents or even my parents were little their parents told them to behave before one of these creatures would come and get them. Here i'll write as much fact as i can about...