The Brook Horse

Description

According to Swedish folklore the evil spirit of the water, called Näcken, is very dangerous and tries to trick people into the water so they drown. Like many other beings he can transform himself, sometimes to a white horse called The Brook Horse. At Huseby The Brook Horse could be found close the lakes Salen and Åsnen. He tries to trick the children to get up on his back and then charge into the water to drown them.

Story

The first day when the children at Huseby school were on summer holidays they decided to go swimming. On their way to the lake they saw a big white horse in the meadow. Although there were many horses at Huseby they had never seen such a beautiful horse before. They approached the horse and started to pat him and he really liked it.

Suddenly the horse bent down his front legs and one of the boys climbed up on its back. It waited and the other children could also climb up. The more children, the longer its back got. Finally all twelve children were seated on its back. The horse turned its head towards the lake and charged away. Anders, one of the boys shouted: ”Oh my God where is he going?”

When the horse heard the name of God, he came to a dead stop. Shook its back and the children fell off into the grass. Then the horse disappeared into the lake with a splash.

Now the children understood what kind of a horse they had been riding on. Since that day the meadow is called The Brook Horse meadow.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

If you throw a piece of steel between the horse and the lake then his power disappears. He dislikes everything about Christianity, so when shouting Oh my God or likewise his power also disappears.