To war, with teeth and fairies!

While common traditions and stories we share with our children today often have their roots set in scarier mythology, this is not the case for the Tooth Fairy who didn’t go about snatching teeth from the mouths of sleeping children.

That being said, the history certainly isn’t pretty either.

Born some time around 10th century in Northern Europe, the modern-day tradition of leaving a tooth beneath a child’s pillow has its roots set in the ‘Eddas’ – the earliest recorded writings of Norse and European traditions.

In the writings the tooth fairy is referred to as ‘tand-fe’, which is translated to ‘tooth fee’.

In Norse mythology – believed to be the root origin – teeth had a far more important purpose and were often given to warriors to wear around their necks.

It was believed that teeth were valuable and brought good luck in battle. The Viking warriors would pay children for teeth.

The idea of exchanging a tooth for coins quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe, with the fierce image of a Viking warrior brandishing teeth around his or her neck being a far cry from today’s popular image of a tooth fairy!

In rarer instances, more special necklaces were fashioned out of the teeth of animals.

An amulet made from the tooth of a brown bear was found in Orkney, Scotland in 1930 and is believed to have been worn by a Viking some 1 000 years ago.

Inscriptions on the tooth suggest it was used in the practice of magic.

Around the world however, the practice differs quite a bit with some cultures throwing teeth ‘into the sun’, fire, or even backwards between one’s legs. But the strangest of all is having it swallowed by the mother of the child.

Not really a tooth fairy at all, is it? Children’s hearts would be broken to learn of the fact, while some might be delighted to know it was always their parents who had left a little coin behind in place of their child’s tooth.