Flogdrake

In the vernacular classification recorded in Swedish sources, the flogdrake (Old Swedish floghdraki / flughdraki; modeled on Old Norse flugdreki) is a type of flying, fiery 'worm‑dragon' that occupies a liminal place between sky‑phenomena and subterranean riches. Folk usage contrasts the name's literal sense 'fly‑dragon' with dialectal terms such as godsdrake ('goods/treasure dragon' or Dalecarlian gussdratji), which frame the luminous aerial display as indexical of hidden goods, ore, or a dragon's hoard. Comparative material situates the flogdrake in a broader European pattern of 'fiery serpents' and connects it by analogy to small household or earth spirits (kratt/puuk, Schrat/Puk) that in local narratives can transform into or accompany the fiery dragon imagery.

Descriptions in the sources depict the flogdrake as a long, limbless worm‑dragon that in the evening sky appears as a streak or stripe of golden fire surrounded by sparks. Accounts liken the phenomenon to a 'firebroom' or to 'someone setting fire to a sheaf of straw,' and some observers compare the dragon's overall outline to a long tadpole or to the shape of a steelyard balance. The visible streak is variably treated as the dragon itself or as the light the dragon sheds over its treasures; sources emphasize that it is seen flying high without obvious wings and that its aerial form is closely associated with sparks and glowing light.

Source material records three interlinked capacities: luminous flight, subterranean tunnelling, and a demonstrable association with hidden wealth. The creature is said to fly across the evening sky emitting sparks and a blaze-like stripe (described as 'fly‑fire' or flogeld), a phenomenon some rural observers read as indicating where ore or treasure lies. At the same time, flogdrakes are credited with drilling large tunnels (drakarör, 'dragon tubes') into mountain rock where they dwell and hide goods; local stories relate sightings in which the streak dives and 'strikes into' a mountain. Ethnographic parallels in the Baltic and Northern German traditions further report that small household or gnome‑like spirits may appear at night as fiery dragons or transform into such forms, linking the dragon's fiery display to nocturnal spirit activity and to concerns over stolen or fostered riches.