Vættir

The Old Norse term véttr/vættr and its English cognate wight are descended from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (thing, creature), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- ("object, thing").[3] Vættr and wight normally refer to supernatural 'being', especially landvættr (land spirit), but can refer to any creature. The Norwegian vette is used much in the same way as the Old Norse vættr, as are the corresponding Swedish cognate vätte (dialect form vätter - Old Swedish vætter)[4] and the Danish vætte. A related form in the Slavic languages can be seen in Old Church Slavonic вєшть, (veštĭ), meaning thing, matter, or subject.

Landvættir (nature spirits) are chthonic guardians of specific grounds, such as wild places or farms. When Vikings approached land, they reportedly removed their carved dragon heads from the bows of their longships, so as not to frighten and thus provoke the landvættir to attack, thereby incur bad luck from them. Icelandic culture continues to celebrate the supernatural protection over the island, and four landvættr can still be seen in the Icelandic coat-of-arms: a troll-bull, troll-eagle, dragon, and handsome giant. The troll-animals are actually Jötunn who shape shifted into the form (and mentality) of an animal, and such animals are supernaturally strong.

Húsvættir is a collective term for keepers of the household, like the English brownie and the Swedish tomte. The tomte or nisse is a solitary vätte, living on the farmstead. He is usually benevolent and helpful, which can not be said about an innately mischievous illvätte. However, a nisse can cause a lot of damage if he is displeased or angry, including killing of livestock or causing serious accidents. [5]

Scandinavian folklore features a class of beings similar to the Old Norse landvættir. They are known by many names, although the most common are vättar in southern Sweden (singular: vätte), vittra in northern Sweden and huldrefolk in Norway (although the singular vittra and huldra, respectively, refer to a solitary and quite different being).

During the 19th century, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe compiled Norwegian folk tales. These stories often reflected the animistic 'folk belief' that preserved earlier elements deriving from the Viking Age but strongly influenced by the medieval Biblical cosmology. Prominent are stories that reflect later views of the Vættir, usually called the Huldrefolk (from Old Norse Huldufólk), meaning 'concealed people' and referring to their other worldliness or their power of invisibility.[6][7]

The English surname 'Wightman' retains the meaning of the word 'wight' and could be transliterated as 'Elf-friend'.[8]

• Rå, spirits that protect natural features in later Scandinavian folklore
• Wight, for the usage of the term "wight" for living sentient beings in Old English, and later for ghost-like beings in modern fantasy works

• Reidar Th. Christiansen (1964) Folktales of Norway (University of Chicago Press) ISBN 978-0226105109
• Reimund Kvideland & Henning K. Sehmsdorf (1988) Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend (University of Minnesota Press) ISBN 978-0816619672

• Norske Folke-Eventyr (Norwegian Folktales), by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Engebretsen Moe, 1843, 1844, 1871, 1876.

• Scandinavian Folklore, compiled by Scott Trimble - a scholarly outline of prominent themes in Scandinavian folklore.