Candles of Wights
I have several Belemnites in my collection. They are quite common here in the south of Sweden and most of them date from the Cretaceous deposits (few Jurassic deposits here).
Nordic folklore and mythology refered to the Belemnites as “Vätteljus” – Candles of Wights. Wights are some sort of small mythological people or spirits that people on the countryside used to fear back in the 19th century and before basically. People thought that these “candles” where left behind after the wights have danced in a certain place. People also thought that these candles could protect them from curses and spells from the wights themselves. The vätte is related to the pagan "tomte" and the "nisse" (two creatures thats the model for the modern illustration of Santa Claus "army" of helpers)
I have two questions. Are belemnites common elsewhere in the world, and is the small one on the photo below really a belemnite despite its different color and shape? An adolescent specimen perhaps?
Picture below: A real life Vätte (also known as "Tomte" or "Nisse".)
May 17, 2008 + Posted in Paleontology, Mythology +
Hello,
Let me first compliment the quality of your blog and articles!
I’m also a master student in geology, at the Liege University, in Belgium.
Your two fossils are indeed belemnites, you can see the grow patterns on the inside the phragmocone. Belemnite are very common in Mesozoic sediments, especially from Dogger to Cenomanian I would say. Here in western Europa, they are found in Middle to Upper Jurassic marls and Late Cretaceous chalk deposits.
There are many species of belemnites, the most common one in Belgium is late Cretaceous Belemnitella mucronata, which is usualy of the same size as the biggest in the picture.
Valentin
Comment by Valentin — May 17, 2008 @ 11:02 am
Valentin: Thank you for your comment!
Comment by Antimonite — May 17, 2008 @ 11:27 am
Yes, they are common in various areas. I used to collect lots of them from the Cretaceous Mt. Laurel-Navesink Formations in New Jersey, USA. I have specimens of all sizes. I also picked up a few Jurassic belemnites from somewhere in South Dakota.
Comment by mark — May 22, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
Belemnites of the family Belemnitellidae, Upper Cretaceous - this specimens are of the Santonian, Campanian in age (ca 75 Ma). Probably genus Gonioteuthis (rather than Belemnitella) - the smaller one should be a juvenile specimen, however I would like to see anterior (not acute) part. The belemnites from Kristianstad area were described in great details by Walter Kegel Christensen 1975.
cheers
Martin
Comment by Martin — July 8, 2008 @ 12:46 pm