WHY DALA HORSES SMILE

AT THE SCANDINAVIAN CENTER

A giant Dala horse carved by Torsten Olson greets guests at the Scandinavian
Center. Others are found on tables and in display cases throughout the Center. Forget
rabbits! In my own house they more than surpasses the fecundity of the furry creatures.
They cue up on shelf edges, stand before the fireplace, hide in bookcases and atop a
grandfather clock, and adorn pillows, table cloths, and even the refrigerator door. Their
colors are tan, blue, white, black and even gray, but, their most common hue is red-
orange. The largest is eighteen inches high, and the smallest is barely an inch, but most
are between four and one-half and five and one-half inches. More prolific than those
charming rodents, a herd of Swedish Dala horses now occupies my home.

How these colorful wood carvings came to multiply so enormously I don’t know.
I used to collect one during each visit to Sweden, but then inherited a small group from
my parents, and received more as gifts from friends and family. They have increased so
rapidly that when I open a closet door or pull out a drawer, I half expect one of these
creatures to leap up, plant its legs solidly on a sturdy perch and stare at me.

Their eyes are indicated by three light hyphens on either side of their head, but
they seem to stare unblinkingly. For a while I thought that I had solved the
uncomfortable prospect of being watched by these animals by turning them around on the
shelf, but I found their back ends just as disconcerting. Placing them in boxes did not
help either. While it is doubtful that they have x-ray vision, I knew they were there,
plotting their escape. Finally, the horses were brought out and reinstated on the shelves
where they still smirk in all of their royal redness.

They do have something to smile about. Their heritage is noble. Adam of

Bremen wrote in the eleventh century that the horses of the Swedes were as great as their
ships, although they usually dismounted to fight.i The Oseberg Tapestry depicts them
proudly carrying knights, and the Gotland picture-stones show dead warriors riding to
Valhalla, greeted by the Valkyries with their drinking horns.

But, the horse also had more ominous associations, accompanying the performing
of the seidr, a special form of harmful magic and deadly witchcraft.ii It was a seidkona
who took the form of a horse that crushed the life from one of the early kings of
Sweden.iii The teller of epic tales, Snorri Sturluson, says that the often malevolent Odin
rode through the air to his magical mischief on his gray, eight-legged horse named
Sleipnir.iv Later folk beliefs merged Odin and his horse with the “wild hunt,” in which
lost souls rode through violent storms led by their demonic leader and his enormous
horse. Still later, Christians were convinced that the rider was the Evil One himself.v

Scandinavian horses were not always evil, however. There is a story from
Västergötland, the province neighboring Dalarna where the horses are made, in which a
peasant going to Jönköping with rye for the market stopped in front of a large mansion at
Ållaberg. The idea came to him that if he could sell his load there, he could return home
more quickly. Knocking on the door of the house, it opened of itself, admitting him to a
great hall in which there were twelve sleeping knights. Thinking that he could not make
his sale here, he went out to the stable, and there he found twelve of the most magnificent
horses he had ever seen. They were already saddled with gold trappings and silver shoes.
He seized the bridle of one to admire it when he heard a voice: “Is it time now?”
Another ghostly voice answered: “No, not yet!” The farmer had heard quite enough, and
left at once. When he came out he found that he had been not in a mansion but a
mountain, and that the twelve knights who rest there are to sleep until awakened by
danger when they will arise to ride to the defense of Sweden against her enemies.vi

But, why Dala horses, and why their popularity? They are cute, of course,
reasonably priced, and easily fit into one’s suitcase as gifts for nieces or nephews back
home. But, there’s something else. More than mere toys, the jaunty little wood horses
bring encouragement to gloomy days and inspiration from their Scandinavian
associations. The red-orange color recalls the country’s rich mineral resources,
especially iron, the solidly braced legs the determination and courage of the people, the
swirls of colors the rich aesthetic of a folk where no item, however humble, is devoid of
style and grace, and the flower-like saddle the blossoms of the long, Nordic summers.
Finally, the robust neck exemplifies the strength of the Swedes, and the upright ears their
acute senses, finely attuned to their place in the world.

The ancient gods no longer manipulate lives, and the superstitions about the
steeds of old now are quaint rather than menacing. But, we still need the Dala horse. We
need its jaunty attitude, its sensible poise, and its cheering presence. That’s why there’s
hardly a Swedish house without at least one. That’s why the Scandinavian Center has a
whole herd of them. Besides, Dala horses don’t need stables, hay or brushing. Just give
them an occasional pat of affection—and watch ‘em smile!

Ernst F. Tonsing, Ph.D.

Thousand Oaks, California

i
Jacqueline Simpson, Everyday Life in the Viking Age (New York: Dorset Press, 1967), p. 120.
ii
H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin, 1964), p. 117.
iii
Ibid., pp. 121-2.
iv
Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda. Tales From Norse Mythology (Berkeley, California: University of
California Press, 1954), p. 43.
v
Davidson, p. 148.
vi
Claire Booss, ed., Scandinavian Folk & Fairy Tales (New York: Graymercy Books, 1984), p. 279.