Lady in White, Mystery Maidens, Banshees, Sirens, Forlorn lovers. There are plenty of strange stories involving female beings and entities. Some far more famous than others. Every town has a story of a female ghost or spirit somewhere along the line.
There are some stories of the fairer sex that will live in infamy, and others in obscurity. Our two stories here will be more on the latter category as most people probably have never heard of them. Those types of stories or myths are always more intriguing. There is a sense of mystique, and wonder as well when finding these stories on the quest for material.
Margorie Mccall
Poor Margorie Mccall holds a very rare distinction over most people. She was declared dead and was buried....Twice. In the year 1705 Margorie had sadly succumbed to a fever. In an effort to bury her quickly, to stop whatever infection had killed her from spreading.
Her husband had attempted to remove the priceless ring she still wore, but due to swelling of the finger,he could not retrieve it.
Thus the legend of the Lady with the ring should have ended. However, A prominent business in 1705 was grave robbing. Obviously hearing about the ring situation someone decided to breach the grave and take the ring, any means necessary.
The two young men popped the casket, and attempted to remove it. When they could not, thy decided chop off said finger. They did just that, but as the blood drained from the fresh wound, Margorie sat straight up and screamed at the two hopeless thieves. Now completely awake from her fever induced coma, she was obviously startled.
The Thieves story seems to end there. Most say they ran, some rumors say they fell dead from shock on the spot. Margorie was able to stumble home to look for help. The father, with children inside of the home is reported to have said. "If i didn't know better, I would swear that was your mothers knock." Upon opening the door sadly, her husband did collapse from shock.
He was reported to have been buried in the same plot meant for his wife. Margorie eventually recovered from the fever, and the loss of a finger. She remarried, had more children, and when she did pass away she returned home. To the place of her first burial, and last. Her tombstone now famously says. "Lived Once, Buried Twice"
Karolina Olsson, sleeping beauty
Karolina Olsson was a 14-year-old girl who lived a simple life with her family on the tiny island of Oknö, just off Sweden’s eastern coast in the Baltic Sea. Karolina, her mother, father, and five siblings enjoyed life in their hamlet on the tiny island.
However, to this day it is still unclear why she fell asleep one day, and did not wake up for 32 years. To add to the mystery, during this time it is said she aged at a much slower rate. one day in February of 1876, when Karolina was returning home and decided to cross a frozen river. She apparently slipped and hit her head, with some reports even saying she fell through the ice to the water below. Luckily for her she was able to continue back to her family’s modest one room cottage.
Her mother and father cleaned her few scratches and nicks. She was fine at first. A few days later she had been complaining of horrible headaches and a toothache she could barely stand. The religious parents thought this to be witchcraft, instead of the fall from days before. Seeing as they were an isolated family with little help near by, the parents simply sent her to bed early one night to rest. They were shocked the following morning when Karolina did not wake up, and would not for a few decades.
The frantic parents tried everything in order to wake the child. Shaking, needles, even trying needles under her fingernails. Oh...and fire, what a time to be alive. However, none of this worked. Her family eventually had to force feed her two glasses of mils as well as some sugar.
A doctor was finally summoned to see the young girl. He noted that she was in some sort of coma, although he did not know the cause. Eventually his news reached other doctors who all drew the same conclusion.
However, to add to the event. Multiple doctors noted that as the days, turned to months, and to years, her hair and nails did not grow at a normal rate. It seemed she was in suspended animation of some kind. Her muscles remained healthy as well, which even by today's medical standards would be strange in a coma patient.
After 5-6 years her burdened family had her hospitalized in the city of Oskarrsham. Doctors tried once again to wake her, to no avail. Frustrated doctors would finally throw up their hands and diagnose her with a severe neuro-psychiatric disorder called “dementia paralytica,” also known as general paralysis of the insane or paralytic dementia. In layman's terms, they had no clue.
So time continued around her as she slept. The world changed, and family members passed away. She tossed, turned, mumbled, and even slept walked rarely, but never fully woke up. It is said she was even seen to cry when her brother passed away in 1907, yet she did this even as she remained in her strange comatose state. Her seemingly slow aging and strange actions went on for 32 years.
Then one day, Karolina just woke up. Most of her family had passed away during the ordeal, and the entire world had changed around her. On April 3, 1908, Karolina suddenly and without warning sat up in bed and began crying.
Her remaining family, her older brothers were called, she did not recognize them, and understandably was in a state of panic.
She had difficulty adjusting to sunlight. She had no memory of the time spent sleeping. She also had no mental or physically negative effects from the 32 year nap. At this time in her 40's it was also remarked that she looked to be in her early 20's. She eventually adjusted to modern life and Karolina would end up leading a content and normal life right up to her death in 1950 at the age of 88, always insisting that it was all true and taking any secrets she had to the grave with her.
There have been very few cases of this in history, so hers is not the only. However, to this day science can not explain what happened to Karolina or any of those affected by this "disease" for lack of a better word. This tale reminds me of legends of monks and the like who could meditate for days and weeks. Some suspect higher levels of mental ability could allow individuals to do this.
So, it could be possible that her fall and bump to her head did something we will never know to her brain. Causing a reaction between her mind and body that allowed this suspended animation. Her brain slowing her metabolism to a crawl, basically preserving itself through will. Thus Karolina took a 32 year nap, aged at half speed, and woke up just fine.