Also called Dalecarlian horse, dalahäst, Swedish wooden horse
A hand-carved, brightly painted wooden horse from the Dalarna region of Sweden, now a national symbol of home, hospitality and good fortune. Placing one by the hearth or door is a simple luck charm for the household.
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Take care: Paint in a ventilated room and keep varnish away from children. If you buy rather than paint one, look for a maker's stamp; cheap imports are common.
Wooden horses for sale are first mentioned in 1623. Carving as a sideline grew in villages of Mora parish such as Bergkarlås, Risa, Vattnäs and Nusnäs, and early horses were often unpainted toys. A charming story says soldiers of Charles XII carved them in 1716, but the article calls it apocryphal.
Grannas A. Olssons Hemslöjd, founded in 1922, is the oldest firm still making the horses, and Nils Olssons Hemslöjd is nearly as old. Each horse passes through many hands for carving and painting. The flowered harness grew out of Dalarna's kurbits furniture painting, and the two-colors-on-one-brush stroke is credited to the 19th-century painter Stikå Erik Hansson of Risa.
A giant Dala horse stood at the Swedish pavilion of the 1939 New York World's Fair, introducing the figure to North America. Swedish-American families and towns took it up as a heritage and welcome sign, displayed on porches, mantels and Christmas trees.
The Dala horse comes from the parish of Mora around Lake Siljan in Dalarna, central Sweden. Wooden horses for sale are mentioned as early as 1623, and through the long winters woodworkers in villages such as Risa, Vattnäs and Nusnäs carved them from slow-growing local pine. At first they were plain toys. By the early 1800s single-color white or red finishes were common, and the flowered harness developed from kurbits, the swirling painted decoration on Dalarna furniture.
The horse went from local craft to national emblem in the 1930s. Nusnäs became the center of production, with Grannas A. Olssons Hemslöjd founded in 1922 and the Nils Olsson workshop soon after. Horses were shown at the 1937 Paris exposition, and at the 1939 New York World's Fair a giant one marked the Swedish pavilion. Mass production followed. Its meaning as a luck and home charm is folk custom rather than old magic, which makes it a gentle, honest choice for a household blessing.
A dried acorn, or an acorn-shaped pull on a window blind, kept to guard a house from lightning and to bring steady luck and long life. It draws on the old tie between the oak and the thunder god.
A loaf and a little salt carried into a new home or offered at its door, so the household will never go hungry and life there will keep its savour.
A pair of rituals for leaving one home and entering the next: a thank-you sweep for the house you are selling, and a first-entry blessing with bread, salt, rice and a new broom for the new one. It draws on moving customs from Eastern Europe, China, Japan and Appalachia.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
