A Little Giant-Devil

In a village called Gubbträsk, located either in Stensele or Storsele, there was a farmer long ago who was very uncouth. They used to get poor boys from Bjurholm to work as herders during the summers. One spring, when he hadn't managed to find anyone, he kept saying: “If only I could get myself a little giant-devil who wanted a summer job.” Then a boy appeared and said, “I'm a little giant-devil from Bjurholm.” He was hired for the summer. Among other benefits he stipulated was that he should get to sleep in a small room in an old cottage on the farm, and they should bring food to him there, for he didn't much care to be with people. The boy performed excellently. They had never had such a good herder. He always brought all the cattle home at the exact time, and in the evenings, he voluntarily chopped wood. But the neighbors began to suspect that something was not right with that boy, and therefore they sent word to the pastor in Bjurholm, named Brandéll, asking him to come there and interrogate him. Brandéll set off, but it was a troublesome journey. Repeatedly, evil spirits removed the wheels from his carriage. Brandéll, however, didn't bother to get out but just told the spirits to put the wheels back, and they had to do it. It was a cart track only for a while. After that, it was walking. The spirits tore away the boardwalks on the bogs, so the priest wouldn't get through, but he just ordered them to put them back, and they had to obey him. When he arrived at that farm in Gubbträsk, he said he wanted to speak with their herder boy. The boy was outside at the woodpile, chopping wood. They called to him to come in, but he said that there was a person he did not want to speak with. Then Brandéll himself went out and ordered him to come in. He had to obey then. Brandéll then forced him to reveal who he was and why he had taken service there. He was one of the evil one's servant spirits, and he had been sent there because of the ungodly life they had led and were leading in that house. They had murdered three people and buried them under the chamber floor in the old cottage. That's why he had taken that room for himself. If he had been allowed to stay there for the agreed time, he would have gained the power to take with him the old man of the farm and one of the sons, for they had been involved in murdering one of the persons who lay under the chamber floor. Those who had murdered the other two persons were already dead, but they were of the same family. The last one murdered was a peddler. When all this was revealed, the priest told him to make himself as large as he could without harming the house. Immediately, the boy transformed into a giant that reached from floor to ceiling. Then Brandéll drilled a small hole in the leaded windowpane and ordered him to depart that way. He had to do so, and after that, he was never seen on the farm again. They then investigated under the chamber floor and found the bones of the murdered persons. The authorities took care of the murderers, but what happened to them I do not know.

I heard this legend told at home here as a child. When I, as an adult, came up to those regions, I recognized the name of the village and asked if they knew the story of the little giant-devil. They did, and they claimed that it had actually happened.