I talk about the idea of luck, and magical creatures, and my third-great-grandmother who emigrated from Sweden in 1853...
We can look back on our ancestry and label different people "lucky" or "unlucky" based on their longevity, the survival rate of their children, other "good" or "bad" things that they experienced and that were captured in records. There is also the general luck of the genes you inherit, and the place and period in which you were born. So there is always the question of luck or chance; what is important is how you play the odds, and how you respond once you've placed your bets. Feeling "lucky" might boost your confidence, but luck is not really something you should count on.
Christina Larsdotter, my third-great grandmother, was born in late spring 1814, the second of six children born to the tenant farmer Lars Nilsson and his wife Anna Nilsdotter, on Hälltorp farm near Grythyttan in Värmland, Sweden. She emigrated to America at the age of 39 in 1853, along with a husband and 6 children. She lived to the age of 86, dying in 1901, leaving behind 40 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren.
We only have a couple photos of her, in her later years; this one captured Christina perhaps the best. It was probably taken in the 1890's, the decade before her death:
Christina Larsdotter Johnson, 1814-1901
Christina was lucky to live so long. Her first husband, several children, and grandchildren died of tuberculosis at early ages. The life expectancy in Sweden when Christina was born was only about 36, about 20 years shorter than the life expectancy today in the world's poorest countries. So given that Christina was born in a time and place with so little opportunity compared to now, she certainly beat the odds.
My mother gathered various family stories into a book, and one chapter was about our Swedish heritage (her mother was a second generation Swede), and included some stories passed down about Christina.
According to family lore, Christina was a bit superstitious, and felt that she could prevent certain events by being proactive:
"One of her descendants who knew her has written that Christina always slept with an old razor under the bed spring to keep nightmares away."
She also believed in magical creatures. She told her children and grandchildren a story about riding in a cart pulled by oxen back in Sweden:
"As Christina was riding along, one wheel came off. She said an imp or bad man had come out of the cliff and stolen the pin. She was resourceful and took her knife out of her pocket, whittled a new pin, put the wheel on and went merrily on her way."
This is a different world view: unexplained things happen not because of luck, but because of other agents, and it's up to you to respond appropriately. Perhaps it was easier to be able to turn luck into a being with whom you might struggle a bit in life than having to deal with random chance.
Two weeks ago upon leaving the grocery store I found a rear tire on my car almost flat. I know I must have run over some nail or other object by chance, and that it wasn't a puncture made by some hidden elf. I was able to change the tire for the spare, and found a tire store a few blocks away that patched the tire for free. I guess I was a bit lucky, and I did have the satisfaction of responding to that chance situation successfully, but maybe it would have been more satisfying if it had been an imp?
Sources:
“Spirits, Trolls, Elves and ‘Näcken’ – Discover Sweden’s Mythological Creatures.” 2023. Visit Sweden. 2023. https://visitsweden.com/what-to-do/culture-history-and-art/culture/mythological-creatures/.
Kenyon, Shirley. n.d. “Our Swedish History.” In Knaus Family Stories: A Compilation of Stories Told by the Offspring of Dan and Lillian Knaus, 1st ed., 166.
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