Fossegrim, also known simply as the grim ( Norwegian) or Strömkarlen ( Swedish), is a

water spirit A water spirit is a kind of supernatural being found in the folklore of many cultures: African Some water spirits in traditional African religion include: * Mami Wata is a transcultural pantheon of water spirits and deities of the African ...

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

Scandinavian folklore Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been under mutual influence with, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland and S� ...

. Fossegrim plays the fiddle, especially the

Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...

. Fossegrim has been associated with a mill spirit (''kvernknurr'') and is related to the water spirit ('' nokken'') and is sometimes also called ''näcken'' in Sweden. It is associated with river streams (Swedish name "Strömkarlen" means "The water stream Man") and particularly with cascading streams (''foss'' in Norwegian) and

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...

Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...

, ''Northern Mythology: comprising the principal popular traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, north Germany, and the Netherlands'', 3 vols. London: Lumley, 1851–52, , Volume 2 ''Scandinavian Popular Traditions and Superstitions''
p. 23

Eugen Mogk Eugen Mogk (19 July 1854 – 4 May 1939) was a German academic specialising in Old Norse literature and Germanic mythology. He held a professorship at the University of Leipzig. Life and career Mogk was born in Döbeln. He studied Germanic st ...

, ''Mythologie'', Grundriß der germanischen Philologie 1, Strasbourg: Trübner, 1891,
p. 1028
equated them, but Reimund Kvideland and Henning Sehmsdorf, ''Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend'', Nordic Series 15, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1988,
p. 248
distinguish the "mill sprite" as a mischievous creature who punishes grinding on Christian holy days.

Description

Fossegrim is described as an exceptionally talented fiddler: the sounds of forest, wind and water play over his fiddle strings. Fossegrims can be induced to teach the skill. The Swedish strömkarl's lay is said to have eleven variations, the final one being reserved for the night spirits because when it is played, "tables and benches, cup and can, gray-beards and grandmothers, blind and lame, even babes in the cradle" will begin to dance. Fossegrim is said to be willing to teach away his skills in exchange for a food offering made on a Thursday evening and in secrecy: a white he-goat thrown with head turned away into a waterfall that flows northwards,Jacob Grimm, ''Teutonic Mythology''
p. 493
or smoked mutton (''fenalår''). If there is not enough meat on the bone, he will only teach the supplicant how to tune the fiddle. If the offering is satisfactory, he will take the pupil's right hand and draw the fingers along the strings until they all bleed, after which he will be able to play so well that "the trees shall dance and torrents in their fall stand still".

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He formulated Grimm's law of linguistics, and was the co-author of the ''Deutsch ...

cites a variant in 18th-century ''Chorographia Bahusiensis'' by Johan Ödman (1682-1749) according to which the Strömkarlen must be offered redemption or he will merely break his instrument and weep bitterly. Famous fiddlers who were rumored to have learnt from the Fossegrim include Torgeir Augundsson (1801–1872) known as

Myllarguten Torgeir Augundsson (1801 – 21 November 1872), better known as Myllarguten (meaning ''the Millerboy''), is arguably the most acknowledged Norwegian folk musician to this day, and by far the most legendary. In his own local dialect, his given nam ...

and

Ole Bull Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing. Biography Background Bull was ...

(1810–1880) whose statue in the centre of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

depicts a fossegrim playing his harp under the falling water.

In Popular Culture

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

introduced the fossegrim, under the name "fossergrim", as a monster in

Deities & Demigods ''Deities & Demigods'' (abbreviated ''DDG''), alternatively known as ''Legends & Lore'' (abbreviated ''L&L'' or ''LL''), is a reference book for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game (D&D). The book provides descriptions and game ...

(1980). *Fossegrim is featured in the video game Dark Age of Camelot (2001). *The Norwegian Metal Band

Kvelertak is a Norwegian Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Stavanger, formed in 2007. The group comprises vocalist Ivar Nikolaisen, guitarists Vidar Landa and Maciek Ofstad, bassist Marvin Nygaard and drummer Håvard Takle Ohr. Founding member and ...

has a song called Fossegrim (2010). *Fossegrim (Näcken) is featured in the video game '' Unforgiving: A Northern Hymn'' (2017). *Fossegrim is featured in the digital card game ''Mythgard'' (2019) as a rare minion in the Norden faction. *Fossegrim is featured in the video game ''

Röki ''Röki'' is an adventure video game developed by British studio Polygon Treehouse and published by United Label Games. It follows Tove, a young girl, traveling into the ancient wilderness to rescue her younger brother Lars from Röki, a pitch-bl ...

'' (2020) in Fossegrim's Cavern. *Grims are a class of frog-like enemies featured in the video game '' God of War: Ragnarok'' (2022). *Fossegrim is encountered by the protagonist in the video game '' Bramble: The Mountain King'' (2023). * The ban
Bobtown
has a song, ''Fosse Grim'' on their album ''A History of Ghosts'' (2014} based on the legend. YouTube of Fosse Grim
/ref>

References

{{Reflist European legendary creatures Norwegian folklore Swedish folklore Nixies (folklore) Germanic mythology Supernatural legends Scandinavian folklore Scandinavian legendary creatures Trolls