Tradition / Region: Danish Folklore
Alternate Names: Slattenlangpat
Category: Nymph
The Myth
Slattenpatten is a strange and unsettling female figure in Danish folklore, often described as a wild woman of the woods or waters. She is sometimes classified among the “ellefolk” (hidden folk), though unlike the beautiful elf-maidens, she appears in a far more grotesque and uncanny form.
Her most defining feature is her extremely long, sagging breasts, which hang down to her knees. These are not merely physical traits but serve a symbolic and functional role. In stories, she can throw them over her shoulders to move freely or even nurse a child carried on her back. This unnatural anatomy emphasizes both her maternal nature and her otherworldly character.
Slattenpatten is not purely benign. Like other female nature spirits, she can be dangerous to humans, haunting certain areas and appearing unpredictably. In some legends, she is pursued nightly by a king—often identified as Kong Volmer—who hunts and shoots her, yet she always returns the next day, suggesting an immortal or cyclical existence.
She is also linked to water and fertility. Some traditions claim she bore many children, her long breasts symbolizing nourishment and abundance. In more unusual accounts, she is said to nurse offspring beneath the water, connecting her to lakes, rivers, and the hidden life within them.
This dual nature—nurturing yet eerie, fertile yet unsettling—places Slattenpatten between roles:
a maternal figure, a spirit of nature, and a haunting presence that reflects both life-giving power and the strangeness of the natural world.
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Slattenpatte. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slattenpatte