ABSTRACT
In medieval times, when superstition and supernatural beliefs were rife, many mines were commonly believed to provide a habitat for the little people, or wee folk. They were referred to by various names, such as dwarfs, gnomes, sprites, pixies, demons, ghosts, goblins, elves, knockers and stope owls. In Sweden, evidences of supernatural, ghostlike appearances in the stopes are recorded in a story entitled “The Mines of Falun”, one of the Tales of Hoffman. In many mining communities, even today, there is a general belief that women should not be allowed to enter an underground mine. In the face of such prohibitions, it is known that women were often employed at strenuous tasks in European coal mines up to the middle of the nineteenth century. From this time on, based on the findings of various boards of enquiry, the employment of women underground has been banned by law in Europe.
