Bysen () is a legendary

gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

-like creature that haunts the woods of the island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Bysen carries an axe. He is said to have committed a crime, and condemned to walk the Earth forever. He attracts people, making them get lost. Often he meddles with woodsmen, delays their transports, and tips loads of timber over. He often interferes with men in other ways and is accused of all sorts of mischief. Bysen often appears as a stump or an insignificant, little, grey man. Sometimes he wears a red, woven cap and an axe, because one of his tasks is to cut down Gotland's forest. This goes slowly however and sometimes only one tree per century is felled. It's said Bysen is a humanoid who has done some crime within his lifetime, and is therefore sentenced to wander the earth forever. Bysen is also the ward of the forest and nature. Similar to the

Deildegast In Norwegian folklore, a deildegast is a type of ghost connected with the sanctity of boundary stones, and what happened to those who dared to move them. The deildegast-tradition was most prevalent in the southern parts of Norway and is also conn ...

from Norwegian folklore, some sources say that Bysen are deceased people who have cheated other men out of their land by moving the markers that separated two holdings. As punishment they get no peace in the grave, and are doomed to go along the faulty border, moving the sticks which stand on the wrong land. It's said that as they walk you can hear them mumble, "This is right, this is wrong" while moving the markers. If a human follows Bysen and moves the wrongly placed sticks to the right places then Bysen will gain peace. On the Swedish mainland the counterpart to Bysen is called ''skälvrängare'' or ''osaliga lantmätare'' (approximately: ''unholy landsurveyor''). If Bysen catches sight of you where you are in the forest he will enchant your vision so that you can not find him again. What returns one's vision to normal is to turn a garment crooked.

Etymology and spelling

The word ''bys'' most likely comes from the Swedish word ''bus'', which means mischief or prank. Its declinations in Swedish with English translations:

References

Gotland Scandinavian legendary creatures Scandinavian folklore Swedish folklore {{Europe-myth-stub