According to European folklore, a changeling is a kind of fairy. Supernatural beings kidnap human children and leave their sickly offspring (changelings) in the care of the human parents. Depending on the legend, the supernatural beings were fairies, demons, trolls, and many others. Stories of changelings appear in the myths of Germany, Ireland, England, Scandinavia, and other regions. In medieval times, children with disabilities, illnesses or conditions that were unexplained at the time were thought to have been replaced by changelings, which is why many were abandoned or even killed.
Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1909), retells the Swedish folk tradition of trolls and changelings in her 1915 book Troll och människor. In the story, a troll swaps a farmer’s wife’s baby with her own. Though the custom was to beat changelings to force the troll to return the human child, the woman cares for the troll baby instead. Shunned by her community and abandoned by her husband, her kindness is ultimately repaid when the troll spares her child and returns him safe and sound.
Changeling folklore is often dark, but I wanted to highlight Lagerlöf's version for its message of kindness and doing what's right, even when it’s difficult. For more on the darker side of changelings, check out Episode 11 of Aaron Mahnke's podcast Lore - a podcast I frequently listen to while walking on this path with my dogs. This can be a quick park and grab, or you can spend some time walking the nice boardwalk!
This cache is a trading cache! Bring some swag and have fun finding The Fairy Cottage (the nice kind of fairy, of course). Please record your name in the logbook once you find it.
Like always, BYOP (bring your own pen/pencil)!
Use stealth when finding this one so that muggles (non-geocachers) do not trash it! If there are any problems, feel free to message me :)
Happy caching!