#tiveden

Forest

The forest’s moss-covered hills bear witness of many historical events. Inside the dense, deep and old virgin woods, that were left to grow wild for centuries and centuries, we encounter both its old history as well as its enchanting beauty.

These old forests also bear testimony of many ferocious battles between Viking tribes, they have observed and homed outlaws and fugitives. The woods have been eyewitness to several tragic love affairs. Besides, they have lived through post-glacial times and seen the traces the ice-sheets left behind.

The tall dense innumerable army of trees almost completely impedes the sunlight from shining through, in this faint light, the boulders covered in green moss, scattered in the surroundings and the minute, mystical lakes with their dark, clear waters look bewildering as if entering into a fairytale.

The Vikings

After the last Ice-Age, when rising temperatures brought with them the first Swedish settlers, it was the beginning of the Vikings. From the dawn of the Viking civilization there were as many as a dozen tribes in Scandinavia but as time went by the number of tribes decreased and left were two main, rival tribes, the Swedes and the Geats.

This time period in Swedish history is referred to as “battles between Swedes and Geats” The stories of the Viking gods about Odín and his asar are just as old as the one of Swedes and Geats.

The Swedes Viking settlements were situated in and around Birka, Sweden's oldest town, located on the island of “björkö” in the lake Mälaren”(Sweden's third biggest lake).

Viking ship

This has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993. The first mentioning of the Swedes in historical documentation comes from the Roman historian Tacticus (98 A.C) in his book “Germanía”(here they were called Suiones, Latin for Swedes).

The Geats, on the other hand, lived in more southern parts of the country and were one of the largest tribes in Scandinavia, they were definitely superior to the Swedes in numbers.

The first recorded mention of the Geats is in the manuscripts of Beowulf. The territories of the Swedes were in the surroundings of modern-day Stockholm and the Geats were located in the southern parts of the country, closer to Gothenburg. In between the two rival territories, in the heart of Sweden, there is an enormous area of impenetrable wood that formed a natural border between these adversaries.

In this vast,rugged, impassable region of old growth wood lies the notorious and feared forest kingdoms of Tylöskog, Kolmården and the most dreaded of them all Tiveden.

In this area, Sweden's southernmost wilderness of virgin forests, especially in Tiveden, the power of isolation and helplessness can clearly be felt. It is like no other place on earth, nobody knows it’s exact boundaries and if you dare enter you will probably never be able to get out, the wood will simply swallow you.

The geological history of the forest region

Stenkällan Tiveden

Tiveden forest rests on granite bedrock. When the earth’s crust ruptured, due to the heavy weight of the glacier ice (during the Ice-Age), it formed lake “Vättern’s” massive depression.

This enormous force also caused the rocks and mountains inside the forest area to break apart into the diamond shaped pattern that make up today’s main feature of the terrain. When the glacier’s ice- sheet melted, huge stone blocks and boulders broke loose and were thrown over hills and across the wooden landscape.

However, almost all the smaller materials were flushed away by the ice- stream. Enormous amounts of rocks remain in the valleys until today. The biggest loose rock in Tiveden ,forest is the “Junker Jägare” boulder, it is 15 metres high and with it comes a folk story.

The legend of “Junker Jägare” (The legend of the Nobleman hunter).

A Norwegian Junker fell in love with a beautiful maiden and asked for her hand in marriage. Her father, who belonged to the respected ancestry of Sverker, the Swedes, rejected the offer as the Junker was a Geat, besides he had already promised his daughter to a more suitable candidate.

But as the love was mutual the couple eloped the day prior to the maidens arranged marriage and they spent the night beside the huge boulder. Her father was infuriated and ordered his people to pursue the couple and to return his daughter, dead or alive.

When the couple woke up the next morning, Junker took off to hunt for something to eat, during his absence the father’s men found the maiden by the boulder.

After a long argument and fight, they killed her. The tragedy ends with Junker returning and getting heart broken. Many locals assure they sometimes see a young nobleman walking around the stone block searching for his betrothed. That is true love!

The ancestry of Sverker ruled the Swedes during the middle to end of 1100A.C

Junker Jägare's stone

The Trollkyrka rites

The intimidating forest of Tiveden has secret remnants of an eerie past, dating back to the times of the Vikings. The Vikings worshipped many gods and goddesses, each with their own personality and stories.

These gods were not immortal but they lived for a very long time and had superhuman powers. Yggdrasil or the world tree had branches that reached into the heavens and its roots made their way to the land of the dead.

Further, the Vikings believed that the world was flat, surrounded by a large ocean. If a ship sailed too close to the edge, it would fall off and disappear, never to return.

According to the Vikings , dying in battle was the most honourable way to depart life. The pegan Viking religion contained sagas*see end article, a kind of epic myths of war, magic, love, betrayal, triumph and ruin.

Eerie woods

In the outskirts of Tiveden forest on a rocky formation, now called Troll church mountain, we find a Viking sacrificial ground. This gruesome, remote place has a radical story with a blood history that dates back to the dark ages, a place for ritual senicide.

The rites are described in a folk poem documented by the folklorist Carlshult (1941).** see end article.

It was natural for the Vikings to get rid of the weak and old, as soon as they were unable to support themselves or to help provide for the family, thus senicide was common practice. For this purpose they had something called “Ätterstupa” (a precipice) ***see end article. where ritual senicides took place, the elderly or sick were simply thrown off a cliff to meet their deaths.

The Vikings travelled to far away places with their ships, they were in France, England, Ireland, Spain and the Mediterranean they even came as far as the Middle East and North America.

Most of the encounters were unfriendly involving battles,plundering and killings but they also traded and spread their traditions and habits, as an example most of the north European countries ,North America included, owe the names of the weekdays to the Vikings and their gods, at least most of them.* see end article

The legend of the red water lily

Red water Lilly

Tiveden forest got its name from:

Ti; Swedish for God

Ved; Old Swedish for wood

Thus, God’s wood. The reason is that the forest is so dense no human can walk through it.

Other people suggest that it comes from:

Twi; Old Swedish for two

Ved; Old Swedish for wood

Bisect or separate in two.

This meaning came along as the wood is impenetrable it automatically and naturally bisects the country into two.

Tiveden is a long, wide, densely forested rocky ridge. Throughout history notorious for its wilderness and dangers but there is also another side to this magic forest.

The pale, delicate light inside Tiveden forest inspires fairytales, myths and legends. The wood has many small lakes but one of them stands out “Fagertärn”, with its red water lilies.

Red water lilies are extremely rare, most water lilies in Sweden and the rest of Europe are white. The red water lilies are one of Europe’s largest and most beautiful wildflowers. The fascination with these unique, red water lilies has become the origin of a legend.

At the lake of Fagertärn there was once a poor man who had a very beautiful daughter. They lived in a small cottage. The man provided for his family by fishing and hunting.

His beautiful daughter had many admirers but one particular young man had won her heart. One day when they went to row in their little dugout of oak on the lake another admirer spotted the couple and got jealous.

He decided to end their romantic rendez-vous and swam up to the row boat with a knife that he later stabbed in the heart of the beautiful girl. She died instantly and her blood coloured the white water lilies red.

Since this day the water lilies in the lake turned red and the lake was named “Fagertärn”.

Fager; Old Swedish for beautiful

Tärna; Old Swedish for maiden

A slightly different version tells that the father of the beautiful maiden had difficulties providing for his family, thus he was offered by the Nix (a water spirit) great catches of fish in return for his daughter. The man desperately agreed.

When the maiden went down to the shore to meet the Nix, he requested from her to come with him to his abode, but the girl refused. Instead she took out a knife and said that he would never have her alive, then stuck the knife into her heart and fell down dead into the lake. The end is identical to the previous version.

The arrival of spring

Wood anemones

When day becomes longer, lighter and warmer the dark wilderness starts to wake up from its winter slumber. The sombre atmosphere disappears and the forest starts to thrive.

Tiveden forest has a generous amount of wildlife, amongst the most famous species are: the moose, the wolf, the brown bear, the lynx and the wolverine. As the forest rejoices on its own, the animals too have a reason to celebrate, most of them have got cubs or babies by now.

The birds on the other hand, openly show their satisfaction by singing in chorus, their twittering and chirping fill the entire wilderness with optimism. An old-growth or virgin forest like Tiveden is ecologically significant as it is much more efficient at sequestering carbon than newly planted forests.

Wild forests contain rare species of flora and fauna and being so biologically diverse make them essential to us. As the trees in Tiveden are numerous and big they require lots of water and nutrients. Furthermore, due to their size they block the sunlight from reaching down through their branches and leaves. This makes it difficult for other smaller plants and flowers to survive, thus the diversity of plants is limited in this dense forest.

However, in spring when everything in the forest is reborn, the welcoming arrival of two very special spring flowers rejoices the forest and everyone in it.

It is the charming wood anemone and the hepatica that fill the brownish colourless wood with a colourful and vivid carpet of white and blue, bringing new hope and promise of brighter days and a jubilant future.

Hipatica

...

* Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday have their roots in Viking mythology;

Tuesday- Tyr or Tir = god of justice and war.

Wednesday- Odín ( meaning: wood) =the most powerful god married to Frigg.

Thursday-Thor = the god of thunder and weather.

Friday- Frigg = wife of Odín and goddess of love and marriage.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday originate from the Hellenistic astrology.

** Further Readings:

*** Several places in the Nordic countries are alleged to be former suicide precipices:

Keillers Park in Göteborg has a precipice called Ättestupan.

A part of the village Åby outside of Norrköping was called Ättetorp, and in the nearby forest there is a precipice called Ättestupan.

Precipices at Vargön and close to the lake Vristulven in Västergötland.

Ättestupeberget at Långared (Alingsås kommun, Västergötland)

Ättestupan in Västra Tunhem (Vänersborgs kommun, Västergötland)

Kullberget in Hällefors (Örebro län) is locally called "ättestupan".

Olofströms kommun between Olofström - Gaslunda, by the lake Orlunden.

The western cliff faces of Omberg in Östergötland are said to be an ättestupa.

Virsehatt nature reserve in Halland is said to be an ättestupa.

Idag har jag varit i församlingshemmet i Sannerud, Tived och förberett en utställning som jag, min farbror Nutte (Arne Andersson) och Lisa Hellman har tillsammans på söndag. Det ska bli riktigt roligt att ställa ut bilderna där tillsammans med dem.

Cykla mountainbike På fredag den 18 juni är det invigning av Bergslagencycling Tiveden Cykla i Tiveden & Cykla till Tiveden. Men givetvis kan vi inte vänta så länge därför kör vi idag en tur i Tiveden och vi cyklar Tjäderturen och Uggleslingan. Det är riktigt härliga turer även om det är blött i skogen på vissa ställen. Vissa sträckor är gemensamma med ridlederna i Tiveden och man uppmanas visa…