Published 1918 (1918) Writer(s) Felix Körling Language Swedish | Genre children Composer(s) Felix Körling | |
"Ett gammalt fult och elakt troll det var en gång" known also for the shorter title "Det var en gång" (meaning Once upon a time") is a traditional Swedish children's song, with music and lyrics by Felix Körling. Using references to several geographical locations, the song lyrics describe troll, his wife and cat arriving to Sweden.
The song was first published in the collection Misse-Måns och andra visor in 1918.
An early recording of the song was made by Märta Ekström, with Otto Nordlund accompanying on the piano was performed on December 16th 1929, and released on a single in December 1930, entitled Det var en gång alongside the song "Precis som i sagan" again composed by Felix Körling.
More recently, the song was recorded by Peter Himmelstrand released in 1978.
Ingeborg (Immi) Hellén wrote lyrics in Finnish.