Mara

A Scandinavian Folk Song of the Nightmare Spirit

Mara is best enjoyed in song. Audio experience created using Suno.

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Do not leave your window open

Don’t invite the voice within

Do not sleep beneath the moonlight

Else you’ll let the Mara in

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Place the iron ‘neath your pillow

Hang the rowan o’er your bed

Say a prayer and close the shutters

Else she’ll fill your night with dread

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Lulla, lulla, lilla vän

Now the day is at an end

Lulli, lulli, lulla-lay

Close your eyes and float away

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Mara, Mara, on your chest

Bringing terror to your rest

Mara, Mara, now she rides

Pressing hard against your sides

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Mara, Mara, young and fair

Moonlight in her golden hair

Mara, Mara, old as death

Frozen stare and stolen breath

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As you lie upon your mattress

Frosted window, room goes cold

See a shadow at your bedside

Bound and helpless in her hold

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Trapped beneath her crushing beauty

Cannot move or speak or scream

Heartbeat pounding, cold sweat streaming

As she haunts your waking dream

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Lulla, lulla, lilla vän

Now the day is at an end

Lulli, lulli, lulla-lay

Close your eyes and float away

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Mara, Mara, on your chest

Bringing terror to your rest

Mara, Mara, now she rides

Pressing hard against your sides

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Mara, Mara, young and fair

Moonlight in her golden hair

Mara, Mara, old as death

Frozen stare and stolen breath

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Come the morning you awaken

Bruised and aching in your chest

Eyes are bleary with exhaustion

Mara has denied you rest

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Perhaps this evening you’ll remember

All the steps that you must take

To keep the Mara from your bedside

So you’ll sleep and safely wake

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Lulla, lulla, lilla vän

Now the day is at an end

Lulli, lulli, lulla-lay

Close your eyes and float away

---

Mara, Mara, on your chest

Bringing terror to your rest

Mara, Mara, now she rides

Pressing hard against your sides

---

Mara, Mara, young and fair

Moonlight in her golden hair

Mara, Mara, old as death

Frozen stare and stolen breath

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About the Mara

In Scandinavian folklore, the Mara was a female night spirit believed to visit sleepers, sit or ride upon their chests, steal their breath, and fill their sleep with terrifying dreams. Her victims might awaken unable to move or speak, conscious of a presence in the room and an unbearable weight pressing upon them. These experiences are now associated with sleep paralysis.

She did not solely torment humans. The Mara was also said to ride animals, particularly horses, through the dark hours. A horse found in its stall at dawn exhausted, sweating, and with its mane twisted into knotted “mare-locks” was believed to have been ridden by the spirit all night.

The Mara could be imagined as young and beautiful, old and monstrous, or something shifting between the two. In some regional tales, the Mara was not a demon but the wandering spirit of an ordinary living woman, leaving her body at night to haunt others, sometimes without her waking knowledge.

Her name survives in the word nightmare. The “mare” was originally not a horse or merely a frightening dream, but the supernatural visitor believed to cause it. This ancient origin is still visible in modern Scandinavian languages, including Swedish mardröm, meaning “mare-dream,” and Norwegian mareritt, meaning “mare-ride.”

This song reimagines that old belief as a dark Scandinavian lullaby, a warning to close the shutters, protect the bed, and never invite the voice in.

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If you enjoyed Mara, you may also enjoy these other folk songs inspired by mythology and folklore. 🥀