The Old Mossbeard

Wanha Sammalparta, in English The Old Mossbeard, is an entity appearing in a Finnish, mainly Ostrobothnian legend. Some say that the legend was originally told by mothers to their children, to prevent them from going alone into deep forests. The other names used of The Old Mossbeard are Häjy Äijä ( Bad Man ), Ukko ( Old Man, "Ukko" is also the name of an old Finnish god of thunder ) and Wanahan Aijan Kummitus ( Ghost of Old Time ).

Appearance
It is told that The Old Mossbeard appears during the night time, in the darkest forests of Western Finland. Stories of same sort of ghastly entity are known to be told by the shamans of Lapland.

Most people who claim to have seen Mossbeard describe him as a large, heavily built man, with long dark beard and heavy robe-like clothing, holding a staff or a spear. Others describe him as a tall, skinny man, with hollow eyes, and robe-like clothing, similar to the other description.

It is uncertain if these descriptions are of the same being, however both kind of sightings have been made under very similar circumstances, during the darkness of night, deep in a forest.

Some people tell of Mossbeard appearing outside of the forests, in courtyards of houses and fields close to forests.

History
Certain knowledge of the Old Mossbeard's history doesn't exist. The theory most well known thorough the Ostrobothnia is that the Mossbeard is an evil spirit, or a demon that was purged from the body of Saint Nicholas.

Sightings
There is only a few documented sightings of the Old Mossbeard. However some claim to have managed to even capture a video of their sighting. To this day no video footage could have been found authentic. However, some of the published photos told to be of the Old Mossbeard have not been claimed forgeries.

A published documentary exists of a man's journey through a forest where sightings of the Old Mossbeard have been made.