Myling

A myling (Swedish) or utburd (Norwegian, meaning 'carried-out one') is the spirit of an infant who was killed or abandoned before baptism. The spirit would follow travelers at night, jumping on their backs and growing heavier with every step until the carrier collapsed and died. The only release was burial in consecrated ground.

Appears as a small child, sometimes visible, sometimes only felt as an increasing weight. May manifest as a crying sound in the forest. Some accounts describe it as glowing faintly or visible only as a small light in the distance.

Could leap onto a traveler's back and increase in weight to crush them. Its crying could lead searchers astray into bogs and drowning. In some accounts it could call out the name of a potential carrier and compel them to carry it to a churchyard.