Myling

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In Scandinavian folklore, Mylings are (supposedly) the phantasmal incarnations of the souls of unbaptized or murdered children. The myling (also known as "utburd") would chase lone wanderers at night and jump on their backs, demanding to be carried to the graveyard so they could rest in hallowed ground. The only problem with this was that mylings would often be enormous, and grow heavier as they neared the graveyard, to the point where the person carrying them would sink into the soil. If one should prove unable to carry an utburd to the cemetery, the ghost would kill its victim in rage. In fact, the word "utburd" means "that which is taken outside," and this refers to the tradition of abandoning unwanted children (e.g. children born out of wedlock or to parents who lacked the means to care for them) in the woods or in other remote places, where death was almost certain to befall them. It was believed that these child ghosts would then haunt the place where they had died, or, as told of in countless stories, the dwellings of their killers. These children were generally taken outside to die shortly after birth, and were not baptised or accepted into the church in any way (quite naturally, since these child-killings would have been carried out secretly), and since they were not given a christian burial they could not go to Heaven. The Mylings were therefore forced to roam the earth until they could persuade someone to bury them properly, or otherwise cause enough of a ruckus to make their wishes known. The belief that Mylings were enraged and seeking revenge was what gave them the reputation as one of the most menacing types of ghosts in Scandinavian folklore.