Fern Flower
Published on January 23, 2020

Utburd

  • Muling

Regions of expansion

Sweden 1 Netherlands 1 Denmark 1 Finland 1
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
Netherlands

Description

In Finland and the Scandinavian countries, there is a belief about the evil spirit of an infant killed or abandoned to die by its mother. They are also called Muling.

Such creatures differ from an ordinary child in that they crawl on one elbow and one knee, and in their hand they hold a rag in which they were wrapped, shout loudly and ask belated travelers to give them a name (this is the easiest way to free the spirit). Despite the eerie appearance, they do not pose any particular danger. A more reliable, but difficult option for freeing the spirit is to find and burn its bones. Usually they don't stray far from the place where they were left, so it's quite possible to find the remains.

Utburd in popular culture