Frog coffins

Frog coffins were items of good fortune, intended to bring luck to its depositor. A numerous find in their own right, well over 200+ of them have been found and recorded from late Middle Ages up until the early 1900’s. They are most often associated with luck in fishing, but the frog coffins were versatile enough to bring luck in most other endeavours as well. As far as I’ve been able to find, this kind of magic has only been found in Finland.

“Whoever fortune favours, ought to hide it”

The amount of fortune in the world was considered fixed: there was only so much to go around, less rather than more, and one’s good fortune always came at a cost to someone else. This was a serious matter, for ill luck during hunting, harvesting or childrearing would result in strife, even death. Only through magical means could one attempt to attract luck, and by modest airs keep it safe – most of all from other people, who through spells of their own or even just gazing at your with envy in their eyes could undo one’s favour.

It is for this reason that luck magic was often performed in secrecy, for if your deposit of a lucky object were to be discovered, the magic could be spoiled, or worse yet, turned against you.

Constructing a magical object

Constructing a frog coffin took time and effort, but consistency of only a few components: the frog, the coffin, and an ‘offering’.

There are four species of frogs in Finland, and by far the most numerous of them is the common frog, whose name was synonymous with frogs altogether – therefore, it is unlikely that the species of the frog was thought to make any difference. More important was the frog’s liminal nature of being both of the earth and of the water, which allowed it to exist both in the realm of the living on land, and the realm of the spirits in the dark depths.

Choosing the right material for the coffin was considered important as well, though in a pitch, any type of wood was passable. Alder was thought to be the most magically potent of them all, due to its strikingly red sap giving the illusion of the tree bleeding – this seemingly unnatural, out-of-place feature made it otherworldly in nature.

Finally, the frog was to be buried with something tied to whatever one needed luck with. Most commonly, the frog’s been found wrapped in fishing net, but other findings, such as coins (for wealth), locks of hair (for love) and plain white cloth (for healing?), have been recorded. One cannot gain without losing some, and as a part represents the whole, just a single coin could herald many more to come.

Beyond these necessary materials, occasionally there would be other additions to the process, such as carved initials at the bottom of the coffin. And sometimes, it was believed that instead of bringing luck, constructing a frog coffin could be used to inflict misfortune, if the item buried with it was not your own.

Places of power

Interestingly, most of the frog coffins recorded have been found in archaeological excavations that have taken place in churches, especially Finland had an extensive tradition of burying bodies under church floorboards, as close to the altar as possible, as a way for the deceased to get closer to heaven, but no doubt such spaces were associated with both the powers of the Holy and that of the dead, making them potent for magic. Some churches, especially cathedrals, were known as “sacrificial churches” due to people’s tendency to offer and hide sacrifices in and around them, though what made some churches “sacrificial” and others not, is not known.

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Sources

• Raila Kataja: Sammakkoarkku Kuopion tuomiokirkosta

• Turku Cathedral’s ‘Tarinoita Tuomiokirkosta’ –podcast