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Nøkken
The Nixie, Nixy, Nix, Näcken, Nicor, Nøkk, or Nøkken (; , ; ; Norwegian ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; or ) are humanoid, and often shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore. Under a variety of names, they are common to the stories of all Germanic peoples,The article ''Näcken''tome 20, p. 317 in (1914) although they are perhaps best known from Scandinavian folklore. The related English ''knucker'' was generally depicted as a worm or dragon, although more recent versions depict the spirits in other forms. Their sex, bynames, and various transformations vary geographically. The German and his Scandinavian counterparts were male. The German was a female river mermaid. Similar creatures are known from other parts of Europe, such as the Melusine in France, the Xana in Asturias (Spain), and the Slavic water spirits (e.g., the Rusalka) in Slavic countries. Names and etymology The names are held to derive from Common Germanic or , derived from PIE ("to wash"). They ...
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Kittelsen - Nøkken (Nasjonalmuseet)2
Kittelsen is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Agnes Kittelsen (born 1980), Norwegian actress *Erling Kittelsen (born 1946), Norwegian poet, novelist, children's writer, playwright and translator *Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917-2010), Norwegian goldsmith, enamel artist, and designer *Theodor Kittelsen Theodor Severin Kittelsen (27 April 1857 – 21 January 1914) was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legend ...
(1857–1914), Norwegian artist {{surname ...
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Germanic Mythology
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic languages developed from Proto-Indo-European language, Germanic mythology is ultimately a development of Proto-Indo-European mythology. Archaeological remains, such as petroglyphs in Scandinavia, suggest continuity in Germanic mythology since at least the Nordic Bronze Age. Sources The earliest written sources on Germanic mythology include literature by Ancient Rome, Roman writers. This includes ''Commentaries on the Gallic War'' by Julius Caesar, ''Geographica'' by Strabo, and ''Germania (book), Germania'' by Tacitus. Later Latin-language sources on Germanic mythology include ''Getica'' by Jordanes, ''History of the Lombards'' by Paul the Deacon, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' by Bede, ''Vita Ansga ...
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Slavic Water Spirits
In Slavic paganism there are a variety of female tutelary spirits associated with water. They have been compared to the Greek ''Nymphs'', and they may be either white (beneficent) or black (maleficent). They may be called Navki, Rusalki, and Vily. The Proto-Slavic root *''navь-'', which forms one of the names for these beings, means "dead", as these minor goddesses are conceived as the spirits of dead children or young women. They are represented as half-naked beautiful girls with long hair, but in the South Slavic tradition also as birds who soar in the depths of the skies. They live in waters, woods and steppes, and they giggle, sing, play music and clap their hands. They are so beautiful that they bewitch young men and might bring them to death by drawing them into deep water. Etymology ''Navia'', spelled in various ways in the Slavic languages, refers to the souls of the dead. ''Navka'' and ''Mavka'' (pl. ''Navki'' and ''Mavki'') are variations with the diminutive suffix -''k ...
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Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory that was part of the larger Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages. Divided into eight Comarcas of Asturias, ''comarcas'' (counties), the autonomous community of Asturias is bordered by Cantabria to the east, by Province of León, León (Castile and León) to the south, by Province of Lugo, Lugo (Galicia (Spain), Galicia) to the west, and by the Cantabrian Sea to the north. Asturias is situated in a mountainous setting with vast greenery and lush vegetation, making it part of Green Spain. The region has a oceanic climate, maritime climate. It receives plenty of annual rainfall and little sunshine by Spanish standards and has very moderate seasons, most often averaging in the lower 20s Celsius. Heat waves are rare due to mountains blocking s ...
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Xana
The xana (Asturian: /ˈʃana/or �ɕa.na is a character found in Asturian mythology. Always female, she is a creature of extraordinary beauty believed to live in fountains, rivers, waterfalls, or forested regions with pure water. The origin of the Asturian word ''xana'' is unclear, though some scholars see it as a derivation from the Latin name for the goddess Diana. References to where the mythological xanas lived are still common in Asturian toponyms. They also appear in Eastern Galician and Cantabrian mythology (Anjanas). Characteristics The xanas promise treasures and can be disenchanted. Some xanas also attack people and steal their food. They live in fountains and caves. A xana can be a beneficial spirit, offering "love water" to travellers and rewards of gold or silver to those found worthy through some undefined judgment. Their hypnotic voices can be heard during spring and summer nights. Those who have a pure soul and hear the song will be filled with a sense of ...
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France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and List of islands of France, many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it Exclusive economic zone of France, one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its Regions of France, eighteen integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of and hav ...
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Melusine
Mélusine () or Melusine or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a nixie (folklore), female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a Serpent symbolism, serpent or Fish in culture, fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both. Her legends are especially connected with the northern and western areas of France, Luxembourg, and the Low Countries. The House of Luxembourg, Limburg-Luxemburg dynasty (which ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1308 to 1437 as well as Bohemia and Hungary), the Angevin kings of England, House of Anjou and their descendants the House of Plantagenet (kings of England), and the French House of Lusignan (kings of Cyprus from 1205–1472, and for shorter periods over Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Cilician Armenia and Jerusalem) are said in folk tales and medieval literature to be descended from Melusine. The story combines several ...
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Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as storms, shipwrecks, and drownings (cf. ). In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and reported sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are in folklore generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople. The Western concept of mermaids as beautiful, seductive singers may have been influenced by the sirens of Greek mythology, which w ...
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Germanic Dragon
Worm, wurm or wyrm (, , ''ormr'', ), meaning serpent, are archaic terms for dragons (, , ) in the wider Germanic mythology and folklore, in which they are often portrayed as large venomous snakes and hoarders of gold. Especially in later tales, however, they share many common features with other dragons in European mythology, such as having wings. Prominent worms attested in medieval Germanic works include the dragon that killed Beowulf, the central dragon in the Völsung Cycle – Fáfnir, Níðhöggr, and the great sea serpent, Jǫrmungandr, including subcategories such as lindworms and sea serpents. Origin, appearance and terminology Etymology In early depictions, as with dragons in other cultures, the distinction between Germanic dragons and regular snakes is blurred, with both being referred to as: "worm" (, , , ), "snake" (, , , ), "adder" (, , ), and more, in writing; all being old Germanic synonyms for serpent and thereof (compare the English names for the co ...
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Knucker
Knucker is a dialect word for a sort of Sea serpent, water dragon, living in ''knuckerholes'' in Sussex, England. The word comes from the Old English language, Old English which means "water monster" and is used in the poem ''Beowulf''. It may also be related to the word "Nixie (folklore), nixie", which is a form of water spirit, to "Devil in Christianity, Old Nick", a euphemism for the devil, or to the words "Nykur" (Icelandic water horse), "Nickel" (German goblin), "Knocker" (Cornish goblin), "Näcken" and "Neck" (Scandinavian water men and water spirits), "Näkineiu" and "Näkk" (Estonian mermaid and singing water animal), and "Näkki" (Finnish water spirit)." Appearance The knucker is said to have wings, and is sometimes described as a sea serpent. The knucker has "a giant, slithering sea serpent's body, and cold, bold sea serpent's eyes and a deadly, hissing sea serpent's mouth". In folklore The most famous knucker lived, according to legend, at Lyminster. The knucker a ...
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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 Sápmi. Folklore is a concept encompassing expressive traditions of a particular culture or group. The peoples of Scandinavia are heterogenous, as are the oral genres and material culture that has been common in their lands. However, there are some commonalities across Scandinavian folkloric traditions, among them a common ground in elements from Norse mythology as well as Christian conceptions of the world. Among the many tales common in Scandinavian oral traditions, some have become known beyond Scandinavian borders – examples include The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body. Legends * Tróndur was a powerful Viking chieftain who lived in the Faroe Islands during the 9th century. According to legend, T ...
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Nordisk Familjebok
(, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain editions of the encyclopedia remain important reference works in Finland, especially on Finnish Wikipedia. History First edition began when Halmstad publisher hired an editor, linguist , in 1874 to publish a six-volume encyclopedia. Linder drew up a plan for the work, designed the editorial team and created a large circle of experts and literary figures, who submitted article proposals and wrote and reviewed them. Under Linder's direction, the articles were then edited to make them as formal, consistent and accurate as possible. Much attention was paid to Nordic subjects, mainly Swedish and Finnish, where sources and models were often lacking, so extensive and time-consuming pioneering work had to be done. As a result, the earlier plan f ...
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