Skelflytter

A ghastly monster from the Scandinavian folklore to haunt

your game of Vaesen by Morten Greis
 SKELFLYTTER – Fence Ghast
"Strange things are abound. Once, when I was a young man and served as a farmhand at one the larger farms near Esrum, I
heard one evening as I was one my way home from a party a frightening sound. It sounded like someone in a dire need. His
moaning was so terrifying I felt a cold sweat all our and I ran as fast as I could. For I dared not meet the skelflytter."
The skelflytter – whose name means ’fence post mover’
and who might be called Fence Ghast in English is a
tragic figure. They are cursed to haunt fields and lands,
where he or she while alive stole lands by moving fence
posts between their and their neighbor’s land. In the
middle of the night their terrifying moaning can heart,
and it fills most people with a great fright, so only the
very few as seen one. Some skelfyttere (or fence ghasts)
can be heart calling out: “Where should I put it? Where
should I place the fence post?”.
The Skelflytter is a ghost, that attempts to undo
their misdeed and it does so by forcing the living to do
its work. The fence ghasts are commonly invisible to
regular people, unless they wish to be seen, where they
will then appear as horrendous versions of their
former selves.
Some fence ghasts plough the land, they have
stolen. At night they take the farms plow and they
plough the land by their own force, and if they meet the
living, they will force them to do pull the plough for
them – often by possessing them. In some cases, the
fence ghast is a deceased surveyor, who swindled with
the measurements during ‘udskiftningen’ – a period in
Danish history where farms where ‘shiftet’ from their
place in villages with communal lands to the
countryside reorganizing the farmland; it took place
from ca. mid 1700s to late 1800s with the main changes
happening from 1770-1810 – so that the farners would
not get their due land from the village or the local lord.
Skelflyttere or fence ghasts can be tied to their
grave by hammering a pole, perferably hawthorn and
preferably blessed, into the grave, and as long as it
lasts, the ghost is trapped inside the grave. Once the
wood rots away, the revenant is free to return.
In Denmark and Sweden, they are known as
skelflyttere. In Norway they are called deildegaster.
Ritual
The only way to finally defeat a skelflytter is to undo
their misdeed and return the fence posts, the border
stones or markers back to their right positions.
Skelflyttere can temporarily be stopped by hammering
a pole into their grave. Hawthorn works best, and it is
better, if it is blessed.
Exemples of Conflicts
• At Kammelåse in Norway haunts not just one
but two skelflyttere or deildegaster, as two
greedy farmers tried to steal land from each
other. They caught each other red-handed
and with axes they cleaved each other’s head.
The two fence ghasts haunts simultaneously
and yells at each other, so no-one can
understand, what they say.
• In Denmark near Tjele is a night plower
(natpløjer – as those fence ghasts are known,
who mainly focuses on ploughing) haunting
near a well-traveled road, and it often
happens that he with his chains and plow
captures travelers by night and force them to
work until dawn. The locals have on several
occasions appealed to the local lord on
Hougaard asking for the ghost to be banished,
but the landowner hates the deceased with all
of his heart and wants to force him to remain
a ghost thus refusing to restore the old
boundary.
• On Gotland haunts a skelflytter, who every
new year’s eve ploughs up the main street
near Romakloster, as his land theft only is
applicable from new year’s night until dawn
due to the curious landownership – none the
less, the locals would like to not have their
main street ploughed up every new year’s
eve.
Secret
A fence ghast can be made harmless by planting a
hawthorn on their grave. As long as the hawthorns
grows, the fence ghast is bound to its grave.
Characteristics
• Might – Body Control –
• Magic 8 Manipulation 4 Fear 2
Magical Powers
• Enchant
• Curse
• Cannot be harmed in combat
• Terrifying Moaning (Fear 1)
• Possession (victim is possessed until dawn and
forced to work themselves to death)
• Weakness: Bound to grave by hawthorn
This product was created under license.
Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying and
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This work contains material that is

copyright Fria Ligan AB and/or other
authors. Such material is used with
permission under the Community Content
Agreement for Free League Workshop.

All other original material in this work is

copyright 2020 by Morten Greis and
published under the Community Content
Agreement for Free League Workshop.