Gather up your art supplies, a cozy blanket, a cup of cocoa and create some Hygge in this 4-session class. Bring your imagination, creativity, and sense of history as we travel deep into the forests of the Nordic lands and explore folklore and traditions that go all the way back to the Nordic Bronze Age!

Each day, we will look at a different fantastical creature from Scandinavia. While each part of Scandinavia carries its own folklore and traditions, there are many common elements spread throughout the land encompassed by Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Through oral and written traditions, depictions in all genres of art, songs, movies, stories, and more, we can see how each culture has taken these mythological creatures and made them their own. We will carry on this tradition through both oral storytelling and books (including creating our own stories together!), songs, crafts, and creative dramatics.

During the first class, we'll look at trolls- especially those that might be hiding under a bridge! There are many fairy tales about outwitting trolls and we'll also take a listen to parts of Edvard Grieg's Pyre Gynt Suite. We'll compare and contrast how trolls have traditionally been portrayed with how trolls are shown in media today. These supernatural creatures are rock dwellers, so bring some rocks to fit together and create your own troll!

The second class will bring the elves, magical and dancing in the mist. We'll look at their origins in German folklore and how they traveled to the Nordic lands and became associated with the mythology of the Norse gods, and how they then traveled from Scandinavia to Europe. Were elves helpers or harmful? Different stories tell different things, but we'll come to our own conclusions based on what we learn in class. Sometimes elves were even thought to be small fairies!

During the third class, we will visit the nisse or tomte. There are many holiday traditions centered around these helpful gnome-like creatures and we will look at them and explore their stories. We'll dance to the Nisse polka and make our own tomte from a toilet paper tube. We might even come up with a new porridge recipe they'll enjoy!

Finally, we will round out with some of the water creatures of Scandinavian mythology-- the Fossegrimmen, who sit under waterfalls and play the fiddle, the Nökken, which was made popular in Frozen 2, and the Kraken, whom you wouldn't want to meet!  And of course it wouldn't be summer without a mermaid! We'll listen to and create some water music of our own, and, after looking at some popular portrayals of these creatures in art, will create some of our own.

Classes will be interactive, collaborative, cooperative, creative, and (most of all), fun! No prior knowledge is required but learners are encouraged to bring their own sense of wonder and curiosity.