{"id":90,"date":"2016-08-01T13:53:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T11:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/janersgardenhantverk.cmsp.se\/en\/?page_id=90"},"modified":"2016-08-01T16:23:37","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T14:23:37","slug":"about-the-dark-sow","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/about-the-dark-sow\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Dark sow"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row el_id=”slider-row”][vc_column][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”vc_widget_1″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” el_id=”content-row”][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

About the Dark sow<\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”3″ gap=”30″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1470061347992-c3215732-5f19-8″ include=”99,100,101,102″][vc_column_text]\u201dCould you imagine anything more mysterious than the Dark sow? Always and everywhere present, listening, perceiving, without being heard itself. The wisdom, acting in silence, that is her secret. The great forests, the old log houses comprise the natural habitat of the Dark sow and no one in our time has seen her more often, no one has captured her essence better or more justly than the whimsical Verner Molin.\u201d
\nResponsible for the lyrical presentation is Aron Borelius, known amongst other things from the book of R\u00e4ttvik\u2019s culture chapter. The lyrical presentation was first published in 1960 at the museum of Dalarna for the Dark sow foundation\u2019s first artwork exhibition.<\/p>\n

The notion of the Dark sow in the general public more widely expanded in 1956 when I launched it as a souvenir from Dalarna. Verner Molin and myself then agreed to lay out the grounds for the Dark sow foundation that over the years has expanded to the substantial collection of artworks that it is today, that today is also disposed by the cultural center(Kulturhuset).
\nBut the Dark sow itself is a considerably older notion. Even though it was not until the past half century the Dark sow appeared in common terms she has long manifested in folklore. Chronicles connected to the Dark sow dates back to the 20\u2019s , where she can be found in the dialectal archive in Uppsala. These chronicles emerged from several parishes around the southern part of Siljan, such as; R\u00e4ttvik, Leksand, Djura, Gagnef, and \u00c5l. In there the Dark sow is portrayed as a being applied in the concept of scaring children from roaming the streets at night.<\/p>\n

Beware of the Dark sow, or she will devour the streets you walk on!
\nBut the Dark sow is also described as an unusually large black hog or as a log not wanting to catch fire in stove. As well as a synonym for female genitalia in the expression; \u201dsitt \u00e5 grena \u00e5 vis marksugga\u201d (roughly translated; \u201dsitting there spreading your legs and displaying your private parts\u201d)
\nIn an essay from 1979 at the Institute of ethnography at the University of Stockholm, Catharina Sack treats the subject of the Dark sow in an article called \u201dFr\u00e5n folktrov\u00e4sen till turistsouvenir\u201d.
\n(\u201dFrom a mystical being of folk belief to a tourist souvenir\u201d) Ethnologically she refers the Dark sow to the category of pedagogical fictions.<\/p>\n

From the collections of the Nordic Museum she quotes a statement from R\u00e4ttvik: \u201dThe Dark sow and no one else stood before him. Knees shivering, teeth chattering he came faltering through the front door, terrifyingly screaming: Dark sow!\u201d
\nAn 88-year old man from R\u00e4ttvik tells a story from his childhood when he was playing on the kitchen floor with his sister.<\/p>\n

\u201dI remember it like it was yesterday, even though 80 years have past. Mother walked resolutely towards the door and called; please enter Dark sow! The energetic ambiance in the room all of a sudden came to a halt and the blood froze in my veins, chills went down my spine, eyes starring and my legs shivering. I grabbed my baby sister\u2019s forearm and tried to reach the turn-up bedstead infront of the bed. I do not recall seeing anything in the doorway but everything became dead silent in an instant\u201d.
\nAccording to Catharina Sack the Dark sow in people\u2019s minds symbolizes the darkness in darker times.
\nTo Verner Molin the Dark sow did not represent anything frightening but instead he sees it like somewhat of a conductor of life, a mental force, a human charm, he was trying to capture and interpret figuratively into an illustration. In an art encyclopedia there are som thoughts about this written by himself were he suggests this version of the Dark sow.
\n\u201dIn a situation involving two people and a third person comes into the picture a shift takes place\u201d
\n\u201dA strong mind can affect the mind of another\u201d \u201dA sense of delight or discomfort that in a split second spreads throughout your body -should not this be captured, transformed, and conveyed in an illustration?\u201d His Dark sow eventually leaves the obscurities of the forest and manifest and performs at the \u201dTheater of life\u201d or at the round-about at Karlaplan.<\/p>\n

The Dark sow distinctively separates itself from the rest of the souvenirs at the shelfs of the souvenir shops, however it is technically distantly related to the old folksy play-toy \u201dKnik\u00e5kall\u201d
\nIt has appeared in the most separated and distinctive contexts, e.g. serving as the prize in races of night-orienteering, at the swedish students\u2019 midsummer celebrations in Paris (where it was said to symbolize the female soul), as a cabaret character etc. And due to handicraft it has travelled the world both east and west.
\nIn the 50\u2019s the press discussed the possible relation between the Dark sow and the Mumintrolo.
\nEven though some congeniality in a whimsical nature is apparent it is today established that it is a case of two parallel phenomena set apart by the Bothnian Sea and the years of war.<\/p>\n

The author and Academician Werner Aspenstr\u00f6m has denominated the Dark sow yet another dimension in \u201dF\u00f6rfattarens djurbok\u201d (the author\u2019s book of animals). Here he writes about animals living and acting without having a legitimate zoological claim. Amongst these, the Dark sow is to be found, among beings like the unicorn and the yeti.
\n\u201dIn cities and ablaze urban centers it is less commonly found, but far from extinct. Even the brightest lit up places or things cast great shadows. Most commonly the Dark sow is found on the countryside, in outhouses, barns, sheds, attics, hay-lofts, and in root cellars or simply behind the cottage corner or in the fringe of a forest, however always in the vicinity of people and there abodes, similar to the nettle. Generally it sits, motionless, almost broodingly, face turned towards us, like it was searching for eye-contact\u201d.
\nMaybe it feeds on desire, gloom or mould, according to the author. However a mouth is still to discover; \u201dso maybe it feeds with the eyes\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Catharina Sack we can sum up that the Dark sow \u201dhas unlike many other beings lived on through out the years, still occupying people\u2019s minds today\u201d
\nAnd to conclude the tale of the Dark sow quoting \u201dDet s\u00e4llsamma Dalarna\u201d ( The funny-peculiar Dalarna) by Jan Gabrielsson; \u201dEven the most joyous of souls has its dark nooks, not the least the soul of Dalarna\u201d
\nBirger Eriksson<\/p>\n

Sources and literature:
\n\u201dM\u00f6rksuggan, fr\u00e5n folktrov\u00e4sen till turistsouvenir\u201d Inst. f\u00f6r folklivsforskning, Stockholm, 1979
\nLandsm\u00e5l- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala
\nNytt svenska konstn\u00e4rsgalleriet, Malm\u00f6 1966
\nM\u00f6rksuggefonden, katalog, Dalarnas museum 1960
\nDet s\u00e4llsamma Dalarna, Jan Gabrielsson, Stockholm 1975
\nF\u00f6rfattarnas djurbok, Stockholm 1982
\nV\u00e4rt att se i Sverige, Stockholm 1978
\nDiv. tidningsartiklar och intervjuer.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”vc_widget_2″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row el_id=”slider-row”][vc_column][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”vc_widget_1″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” el_id=”content-row”][vc_column width=”3\/4″][vc_column_text] About the Dark sow [\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”3″ gap=”30″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1470061347992-c3215732-5f19-8″ include=”99,100,101,102″][vc_column_text]\u201dCould you imagine anything more mysterious than the Dark sow? Always and everywhere present, listening, perceiving, without being heard itself. The wisdom, acting in silence, that is her secret. The great forests, the old log houses comprise the natural habitat of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-90","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124,"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/90\/revisions\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janersgarden.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}