Scandinarnia

Scandinarnia: Unlocking the Dark & Mystical North

What if the stories we were told as children were never meant for children at all?

Scandinarnia opens the door to the older, darker layers of Scandinavian mythology, folklore, and cultural history—before they were softened, simplified, and made safe. This is a podcast for those who want to understand not only the stories themselves, but the world that created them.

Each episode explores a creature, a place, or a tradition from the North: the Nøkken who inhabits rivers as both musician and predator; the Huldra, whose beauty conceals something deeply inhuman; the Myling, a voice of guilt and unresolved justice; and countless other figures drawn from oral tradition, archival sources, and historical accounts.

But these are not simply stories retold.

Through a blend of narrative, anthropology, and cultural analysis, Scandinarnia examines:

how folklore functioned as social control and moral instruction
how fear, landscape, and survival shaped belief
how Christianity reshaped older mythologies
and how these figures continue to live on in modern imagination

You will hear not only the tales themselves, but the meanings beneath them—the anxieties they reveal, the behaviours they enforced, and the realities they reflect. Rivers become thresholds. Forests become spaces of transformation. The supernatural becomes a language for very human fears.

Drawing on historical texts, folklore collections, and lived tradition, Scandinarnia invites you to step into a world where myth and reality were never clearly separated.

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Episoder(17)

The Fenrir Wolf-A Misunderstood Adopted Child

The Fenrir Wolf was in fact just a poor and misunderstood creature… tormented by the Æsir and feared by all… and it did get its revenge

2 Mai 15min

When Freyja the goddess allowed 4 dwarves to have their way with her in bed in trade for a necklace

The story of Freyja and the four dwarves is one of the more striking—and slightly unsettling—myths from Norse tradition.Freyja, the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and magic, comes across an extra...

1 Mai 17min

The disturbing story of the changeling myths

In Scandinavian folklore, a changeling—known in Norwegian as bytting, in Swedish as bortbyting, and in Danish as skifting—was believed to be a supernatural substitute left in place of a human child th...

30 Apr 21min

The Evil and Vengeful Myling -Utburdr-The Once Killed And Abandoned Babies That Come Back For Human Flesh

The forest does not forget.Not the footprints pressed into wet earth by a woman who walked alone at dusk. Not the shallow grave beneath the roots, where the soil was too hastily turned. Not the small,...

29 Apr 19min

The Dark Witches of Nordic Folklore- The Demon Volva

Did you know that the wise old ladies, the Volve of pre-Christian times and the herbalists that saved lives in the Nordic communities had some dark and evil counterparts that are not so widely known a...

29 Apr 24min

Heiemo and Nøkken- Translated to English

This is a freely translated and adapted English version of the folk ballad Heiemo and nøkken. Translated, sang, performed and adapted by Lena Heide-Brennand. Guitar/drum/production: Johnny Williamsen....

24 Apr 3min

Folk song: Heiemo og Nykkjen ( Norwegian version)

The ballad from Denmark/Norway about the young and beautiful girl Heiemo who sings so beautifully that Nøkken shapeshifts to go snd kidnap her from a party. Nb! Norwegian original text.

24 Apr 5min

The Nøkken – The Water Spirit That Lures You to Drown

Who is Nøkken? The Nix? The evil but spellbinding creature of the northern forest waters that lures people into his lair.The Nøkken – You Hear It Before You See ItThey never described the body first. ...

24 Apr 21min