Dark Pigs and House Dragons
Have you met the mythical House Dragon? How about the Pig of Darkness? Read on to discover the roots behind these whimsical creatures Jake Fee is carving.
Ever since I could hold a crayon, I drew dragons.
Now, after finding wooden dragons hanging all around Sweden, I’m back to my old habits of dragon-making. I carved this particular turquoise beast from a few funny-shaped branches and a handful of odd wooden leftovers.
Boddrakkar, these House Dragons, or Shop Dragons, are protectors of private spaces. They are the descendants of the Iron Age kronstång, carved dragons which hung just inside your front doors. No polite guest would pass under the kronstång until they were invited into the house.
I recently visited Minnesota New Country School, a project-based school in southern Minnesota, and taught a one-day class on carving these dragons. We had enormous fun, and now there are homes in Henderson, Minnesota which are protected by boddrakkar.
We met another mythical faerie-beast in Sweden, too. She is the mörksuggan, the “pig of darkness,” or “dark sow.” She was originally a boogeyman of the woods, a scary story to enforce a curfew. Don’t go out at night, or the Dark Pig will get you!
Nowadays, people in Sweden and especially Dalarna carve mörksuggans to protect their home. The fierceness of the pig has been domesticated, just like the dragon, and she is now a faithful house-spirit.
Any evil spirits or unfaithful peoples that try and enter into your home will be devoured whole by your trusty mörksuggan!
Since the mörksuggan is not so well known on this side of the Arctic Sea, I wrote a small poem to go along with the pigs. If you buy a mörksuggan from the North House Folk School store, you will find this booklet tied to her tail:
My childhood notebooks are filled with dragons, goblins, and mythical beasts of all sorts. I read all the myths and fairy tales I could get my hands on. These stories became the foundation of my inner world. Now that I am a full-time maker and artist and craft teacher, these stories are blooming for me again. I figure this sonnet to the dark pig is giving back to the canon of kid-tales that nourished me so many years ago.