The skvader () is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

fictional creature that was constructed in 1918 by the

taxidermist Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

Rudolf Granberg and is permanently displayed at the museum at Norra Berget in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

. It has the forequarters and hindlegs of a

European hare The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...

(''Lepus europaeus''), and the back, wings and tail of a female

wood grouse The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. ...

(''Tetrao urogallus''). It was later jokingly given the Latin name ''Tetrao lepus pseudo-hybridus rarissimus'' L.

Name

The name is a combination of two words, explained by the ''

Svenska Akademiens ordbok A complete set of ''Svenska Akademiens ordbok'', as of late 2014. The majority of the volumes remain unbound in this set. ''Svenska Akademiens ordbok'' (), abbreviated SAOB, is a dictionary published by the Swedish Academy, with the official titl ...

'' (Dictionary of the Swedish Academy) as being from the "prefix from (quack or chirp), and the suffix ''-der'' from (

)".

Origins

The skvader originates from a

tall tale A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...

hunting story told by a man named Håkan Dahlmark during a dinner at a restaurant in Sundsvall in the beginning of the 20th century. To the amusement of the other guests, Dahlmark claimed that he in 1874 had shot such an animal during a hunt north of Sundsvall. On his birthday in 1907, his housekeeper jokingly presented him with a painting of the animal, made by her nephew and shortly before his death in 1912, Dahlmark donated the painting to a local museum. During an exhibition in

Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (, ) is a locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in the Gulf of Bothnia and the northern boundaries of the Hig ...

in 1916 the manager of the museum became acquainted with the

Rudolf Granberg. He then mentioned the hunting story and the painting and asked Granberg if he could re-construct the animal. In 1918 Granberg had completed the skvader and it has since then been a very popular exhibition item at the museum, which also has the painting on display.

Similar creatures

A strikingly similar creature called the "rabbit-bird" was described by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

in '' Natural History''. This creature had the body of a bird with a rabbit's head and was said to have inhabited the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

(77–79 CE). '' Natural History''. Other similar creatures include the Bavarian ''

wolpertinger In German folklore, a wolpertinger (also called wolperdinger or woiperdinger) is an animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Description It has a body comprising various animal parts – ...

'', the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

''raurakl'', the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...

's ''

rasselbock The rasselbock or rarely raspelbock (in America called a Jackalope) is a mythological animal, often depicted in such locations as hunting lodges. It has the head and body of a rabbit, and the antlers of a roe deer. The female counterpart of the ...

'', the Palatinate's ''

Elwedritsche The Elwetritsch (a.k.a. Elwedritsch, Ilwedritsch and so on), plural Elwetritsche or Elwetritschen, is a birdlike legendary creature which is reported to be found in southwest Germany, especially in the Palatinate. The Elwetritsch can be seen ...

'', and the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

jackalope The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns. The word ''jackalope'' is a portmanteau of ''jackrabbit'' and ''antelope''. Many jackalope taxidermy mounts, including the original, ...

''.

Symbolism

The skvader has since then often been seen as an unofficial symbol of Sundsvall and when the province

Medelpad Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northern Sw ...

was to be given a provincial animal (in addition to the provincial flower) in 1987, many locals voted for the skvader. The final choice was a kind of compromise, the

mountain hare The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution The mountai ...

, which is the front-end of the skvader.

Other uses

The term ''skvader'' can be used colloquially in

to mean 'a combination of contradicting elements'. ''Skvader'' also became the nickname in the 1950s and 1960s for a combination

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and lorry (

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

), or bruck, which was commonly used on small bus routes in

Norrland Norrland (, "Northland", originally ''Norrlanden'' or "the Northlands") is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administr ...

; the front-end was a bus taking passengers and the back-end was an open loading bay, often used for delivering milk from small farmers to the nearest

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

. "Skvaderns" is also a herbal liqueur made with herbs from the forest Lunde Skog, the place Skvaderns first were shot at.

References

External links

*Th
Skvader
museum site {{in lang, sv

museum of hoaxes

Fictional rabbits and hares Fictional hybrid life forms Mythological rabbits and hares Mythological hybrids Medelpad Hoaxes in science Hoaxes in Sweden 1910s hoaxes Individual taxidermy exhibits 1918 works Scandinavian legendary creatures Taxidermy hoaxes