User:WoxTheGolden/Mörksugga

A Mörksugga (lit. dark sow) is a mythological creature from Dalarna that was used, among other things, to scare children. The Mörksugga often appears in the paintings of the artist Verner Molin and in recent years has become a local symbol for parts of southern Dalarna. The figure can also have protective powers.

Background
The Mörksugga has long existed in the local vernacular. Records under the word "Mörksugga" in the national language archive in Uppsala are from the 1920s. They come from several parishes around the southern part of Siljan: Rättvik, Leksand, Djura, Gagnef and Ål. There, the Mörksugga is described as a being to scare children with, when they want to run outside for too long in the evenings.

Later on, the figure appeared repeatedly in the paintings of local artist Verner Molin.

In 1956, Birger Eriksson, longtime head-of-advertising at Dala-Demokraten, presented his version of Mörksuggan. His design has subsequently characterized other later variants.

Later history
The mörksugga has later also come to be used as a more positive element, to protect from darkness and the powers of darkness. The development has come in parallel with an increased use of the figure as a local or regional symbol and as a souvenir. In 1997, the Mörksuggejakten was founded by IK Jarl Rättvik, who thus started one of the oldest Swedish long-distance races by bicycle. Since 1999, it is part of the long-distance cup.

A locally produced short film about the mörksugga was presented in 2012. After its premiere at the Wasa cinema in Rättvik, it was later posted on YouTube.

In 2018, a roundabout decoration depicting a mörksugga in Avesta was inaugurated, in the roundabout at the intersection between Bergslagsgatan and Kyrkogatan. The mörksugga stands raised on a column and spins slowly. It is manufactured at Janersgården in Gisselbo outside Avesta, where Birger Eriksson's younger brother has been responsible for the production of mörksuggas in various formats for over fifty years.

In Polish fantasy-writer Andrzej Sapkowski's books, the mörksugga appears as one of the many types of monsters that Geralt the Witcher hunts. In the texts, the mörksugga is portrayed as a man-eating monster that lives in swamps and by lakes.