Etikett: medieval
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The Painted Runestones in Köpingsvik
During my last visit to the island of Öland along Swedish east coast in the Baltic Sea I decided to visit the collection of runestones and fragments housed in Köping Church. Köpingsvik during the Viking Age was one of the most important marketplaces in this part of the Baltic Sea. This is obvious from the…
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Taatsin Seita
Far to the north in the Finnish Lapland lies the village of Pokka. A very small place in the middle of one of Europes wildest places between Kittilä and Inari. On the steep side of lake Taatsijärvi with its calm, almost black water stands a mighty peculiar looking cliff measuring 10 meters tall. This cliff…
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The Skramle Runestone
Today I got the opportunity to visit Skramlestenen, a runestone that I have been wanting to visit for a long time. It’s the fourth of a total of four runestones in the province of Värmland that I have visited and written about. The other stones are the two Viking Age runestones of Hovlanda and Rör.…
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Aranäs Castle Ruins
This was not my first visit to the ruins of Aranäs or Årnäs as it is also called. But this time the weather was particularly bad with cold temperatures, rain and strong gusts of wind. It made the whole experience revisiting this ruin particularly difficult as the location is exposed on a peninsula on the…
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Mussla Church Ruin
I am by nature a person that dislikes to intrude on people. It’s probably not just me but a national trait among Swedes to keep our distance to each other. That’s probably why I sometimes feel rather uncomfortable when I want to approach an ancient monument that is located very close to someone’s house. A…
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Levene Church and The Levene Rune Stone
The charming church of Levene is located just outside of the village Stora Levene in the province of Västergötland, Sweden. One tradition says that the church was founded by the Swedish king Håkan Röde (Håkan the Red) who was king of Sweden between 1070 and 1079. This is noted in Västgötalagens Regentlängd (The West Gothland…
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Gudhem Abbey
Gudhem is probably best known for its appearance in the Swedish historical novels The Crusades Trilogy and movie trilogy Arn The Knight’s Templar based on these books. The love interest of the main character Arn, Cecilia Algotsdotter also known as Cicilia Rosa spends 20 years in this abbey as punishment for having relations outside of…
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Rådene Deserted Church Site and Ranes Rune stone
It was a windy and cold day when I traveled through the village of Rådene in Västergötland, Sweden. I decided to stop at the deserted church site there that I had observed on previous trips trough the area. People on the countryside tends to observe you if you drive by or stop when you drive…
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Zlatý kůň Cave
I came across this cave when I travelled through the Czech Republic and I got a tip from a friend to visit this place. Little did I know its importance in human history. Zlatý kůň means Golden Horse in czech. It is located about 40 minutes drive southwest of Prague. The cave is located in…
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Lofotr Viking Museum
At Lofoten in northern Norway lies the farm of Borg. In 1981 the farmer there was ploughing his fields discovered the remains of a settlement. Archeologists were called in from the University of Tromsø. They soon realized that this was no site of only local interest. Between 1986-89 a Nordic research group was formed that…
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