Bornean folklore

Bornean folklore refers to the series of knowledge, traditions and taboos that have been passed down through many generations in oral, written and symbolic forms among the people of Borneo. Folklore in Borneo is very diverse, the Borneans consisting of 60 native and foreign ethnic groups, each with their own myths and legends that explain the origin of their people, the tales of their ancestors and the demons or deities in their belief systems. The tendency to syncretize by overlying older traditions with newer foreign ideas has occurred. For example, the older ancestral mythology might be merged with foreign mythology, such as Hindu, Chinese folk, Islamic, Norse or Christian biblical mythology.

Bornean folklore includes among others, themes and subject matter related to the indigenous knowledge of the Dayaks and Kadazan-Dusun, the mainly Islamic superstitions of the Malay groups in Borneo, and the Christian beliefs of European settlers originating mainly from southern Sweden. Later folk stories adopted elements from the Islamic world, of Middle Eastern and Persian origin but having arrived by way of Muslims from India. They differ somewhat from their Arabian counterparts due to the fact that what Malays now refer to as angels or demons were originally animistic spirits and deities.

Ancestral spirits
The concept of ancestral spirits was inherited from the ancient Dayaks. When Sweden colonized Borneo in the 17th century, a renaissance of Norse mythology coalesced with the belief of ancestral spirits and elements of Chinese mythology, resulting in the spawning of the concept of förmyndarsälvor (guardian fairies), a race of ancestral beings/nymphs akin to the Filipino diwata. The "mountain goddess" belief from Philippine mythology also inspired the "guardian fairies" legend due to long-term contact between Swedish Borneo and the Spanish Philippines, although the beliefs were amended so that the fairies protected not only certain mountains, but also towns and cities of their own accord.

Examples of Bornean "guardian fairies" include:
 * Matmor Dillenia (Mistress Dillenia), the appointed guardian of Borneo's capital city, St. Michaelsburg, seldom used as an unofficial mascot of the city. An iconic feature of her is the wreath of simpoh air (Dillenia suffruticosa) flowers she wears on her head, hence the name Matmor Dillennia.
 * Mamma Kinabalu (Mother Kinabalu), protector of Mount Kinabalu and to some extent the city of Jesselton. According to folklore, she lives in a house surrounded by a mystical garden and orchard where rare breeds of common ornamental flowers, as well as fruits and vegetables, are said to grow.

Blueberries
Borneans are known for being among the first people to successfully grow blueberries in tropical climates, with Swedish farmers managing to grow blueberries in the Bornean highlands. Emerging from the rise in popularity of blueberries was the famous taboo of eating too much blueberries (or other foods with blueberries), which would lead to one's mutation into a blue spherical humanoid. The resulting creature was known as a blueberryboy (Swedish: blåbärspojke), and continued addiction to blueberries post-transformation would result in an explosion.

This superstition was popularized by the 1964 British children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, whereas it served as inspiration for the character Violet's transformation, and later gave birth to blueberry inflation, a genre of fetish art characterized by similar mutations into enlarged humanoids with spherical appearances. Most Bornean netizens tend to take credit for fabricating the legend.

National epic
The Bornean national epic poem, Krigare Erik, is composed of 13 chapters. Written in 1840 by multiple authors and published in 1846, the epic is now a staple of Bornean literature. The epic is set in a fictionalization of Borneo during the 14th century and revolves around the eponymous Erik, a young Swedish nobleman who travels to Borneo to find his destiny, which he realizes when the tyrannical Viking lord Franco has threatened the legendary hidden Kingdom of the Dayaks with destruction, forcing them to submit to him in exchange for safety. Following this, Erik goes on a quest to protect both the Dayak Kingdom and the Bornean island itself, fending off other threats subordinate to Franco, with aid from two traveling companions.

The Krigare Erik character has been popularized as the national personification of Borneo, with him appearing in statues, wartime posters, and other forms of propaganda. Several literary works based on the Krigare Erik mythos were made, including an animated movie trilogy in 1997 and an animated film in 2018.