(It was yesterday!) and today I’m not feeling horrible, (like I did yesterday) I’m feeling better than i thought I would.

Vasaloppet

is the oldest, longest, and biggest cross country ski race in the world, with the highest number of participants. The course starts off in the village of Sälen, continues through the wood covered landscape of the province of Dalarna (meaning, the valleys); one of the most naturally rich provinces in Sweden, and ends in Mora.

This event takes place in March of each year, this year it is to take place on the 6th of March 2022.

The 90 km long race, has an average winning time of 5 hours and it has a yearly average of 15.000 participants from all over the world, for the main race only. Excluding the main race there are; korta Vasan(the short Vasa), tjej Vasan (ladies Vasa), halv Vasan(half Vasa), ungdoms Vasan (youth’s Vasa), öppet spår (non competitive), stafett Vasan (relay Vasa) and natt Vasan (two persons team at night). There are also sister races to Vasaloppet in various other countries including; USA, Japan, China and Finland.

The rope, also referred to as “the dreaded rope”, is a series of ropes drawn across the track at certain points to prevent participants who have no chance of reaching the finish line in time to continue. 

The beginnings of Vasaloppet

Vasaloppet was inaugurated in 1922 and its founder was Anders Pers. Traditionally warm Swedish “blåbärssoppa” (blueberry, or bilberry, soup) is served at the stations throughout the course. During the one week duration of Vasaloppet a total of 50.000 liters of this hot blueberry soup is served, which is very rich in vitamin C. It is commonly know among indigenous swedes that when this soup is served hot, it helps maintaining heat for a long period of time.

The motto of Vasaloppet is; “I fäders spår för framtids segrar” (in our forefathers traces for future victories).

The reason for this is Vasaloppets close connection to Swedish history. Vasaloppet or Vasa race owes its name to the legendary Swedish king and father of the country (Lat. Pater Patriae) Gustav Vasa. Gustav Vasa built a new Sweden and brought it from the Middle Ages to modern times. He built what was later to become a powerful and great country.

In schools, Swedish students are taught that this great man and founder of today’s Sweden was heroic, kind, and a man of the people. These romanticized stories are nice but they are far from the truth and give us a wrongful image of the man he really was.

Gustav Vasa

Gustav Ericsson Vasa is said to have been born on the 12th of May 1496. His mother was Cecilia Månsdotter av Eka and his father, Erik Johansson, belonged to the legendary ancestral family Vasa. Thus, he was a descendant of a very prominent ancestry from the highest aristocrats in the country on both sides of the family. He was even related to the head of state Sten Sture.

Contrary to common beliefs, since youth Gustav Vasa was used to having things his way. Ruthless, inconsiderate, and clever, he knew how to use his power to his advantage. Greed was another of his characteristics and he learned to, through tort and abuse of power, benefit economically from his position. No king in Sweden, neither before nor after, would ever have such a large private fortune as Gustav Vasa.

Gustav Vasa was not a knowledgeable man, as education in Sweden at the time was lacking and adding to that he quickly got tired of studying and left school prematurely. He hardly understood German and his Latin was lacking, to say the least (Knowing Latin was a necessity at the time).

Nevertheless, he saved Sweden from disaster and organized and built a strong country, he was ambitious and also took care of the commoners interests. Sweden benefited greatly from him as he did from it!

The cold Swedish winter

Christian II of Denmark began a war operation never before experienced in Swedish history. He entered Sweden and started a war in the heart of winter!

Winter was a season in which military confrontations were widely avoided in the area at the time, as low temperatures and weather conditions were unfavourable. With the help of French artillery, Scottish elite forces, and German soldiers they stormed into Sweden in a so-called “blitzkrieg”, an attack as quick as lightning.

They instantly got a hold of most of the country. The Swedish ruler at the time, Sten Sture, and his sons lost their lives in the fierce attacks. Soon, the whole country had fallen, and as expected, the nobility were in opposition to the aggressors, Christian II (Christian the Tyrant) and Denmark.

In a move to silence the Swedish aristocracy, Christian II invited them to a reconciliation party in Stockholm, only to have them massacred. On November the 3rd 1520 all the guests and Swedish aristocracy, royal advisers, and nobility were brutally executed by Christian II and his men.

Everyone who was a potential threat to the rule of Christian II, including Gustav Vasas parents and family, were decapitated in the main square, which is modern day’s “Gamla Stan”, the old parts of Stockholm. This massacre is what later came to be known as Stockholm’s bloodbath.

The blood streamed through the narrow streets of the inner city as a river of blood, and it took three days to get rid of all the bodies.

The once blood filled street, Gamla Stan, Stokholm

Just before the invasion took place, Gustav Vasa was coincidentally abducted to Denmark. He was treated well but soon realised that he had to escape if he wanted to stay alive. He ran away to Lübeck, Germany, which was at the time, one of the most powerful cities in Northern Europe. With their help he could return to Sweden, now in tumult.

When Gustav Vasa finally reached the outskirts of Stockholm, he was tired and needed to rest. He saw a group of street vendors approaching from afar, and he learned from them about Christian II advances and the bloodbath. All his family and relatives were eradicated and he was ruined, he couldn’t sit and watch any longer, he had to come up with a plan. 

He had no time to rest, immediately he realised the danger he was in, and without delay, he began his long journey north. His plan was to travel north, to Dalarna, first of all because it was the province of Sten Sture, the killed Swedish ruler and his family, as Sture’s close relatives were there, it wouldn’t be too difficult to gain their support. 

Moreover, it was one of the few provinces that was still not completely in the hands of the Danish. Lastly, they had armed soldiers and people willing to fight for Sweden.

The journey was long and dangerous, he was almost discovered twice by king Christian’s elite troops. Once, he escaped by hiding in a haystack close to a farm, while another time, he had to hide in an outhouse (an old-fashioned outdoor toilet). Exhausted and anxious he arrived in Mora, where he spoke to the leaders, desperately trying to convince them, but sadly, without success. 

Realizing his fragile situation and failure to convince them he sat out again, this time his travel path was supposed to take him to Norway via Sälen. Just after Gustav Vasa had left, the elders in Mora got bad news from Stockholm, news that made them realise that Gustav Vasa could be their last hope.

They suddenly changed their minds and sent two of the fastest skiers in pursuit of Gustav Vasa; they caught up with him in Sälen. Thus, they traveled from Mora to Sälen in his pursuit. Vasaloppet is supposed to recreate this pursuit but is today skied in the opposite direction.

Swedish winter landscape

The two speed skiers convinced him to return with them to Mora, where he was later elected “leader of the resistance army” against the Danish. Afterwards, with the help of other resistance factions in the country, and of course with the help of Lübeck, he was able to liberate Sweden from the Danish occupation. This was the first and last time in history Sweden was occupied by a foreign power. Gustav Vasa was elected king of Sweden on Saturday 6th of June 1523, this day was to become Sweden’s national day.

In this day and age?

SERIOUSLY?

Look at this lack of critical thinking towards 16th century texts, which were commissioned by Gustav Vasa himself to well. Glorify himself:

From Vasaloppets website:

"The story of Vasaloppet

Vasaloppet started in 1922, but really it is much older than that. The first Vasalopp was carried out as early as 1521 by Gustav Eriksson. During his flight from the Danish king he stopped in Sälen and returned to Mora to lead the uprising against the occupation forces. Gustav Eriksson eventually united the realm and became Sweden’s first king, better known under the name Gustav Vasa. In other words, Sälen is not only the starting point for the world’s largest exercise race; it is also the starting point for the history of our whole country.

How it all began

Vasaloppet’s history begins as early as 1520. Then Sweden was in a union with Denmark. Discontent with the Danish king was great, not least from Gustav Eriksson Vasa, whose opposition had resulted in his being imprisoned in Denmark. But the 24 year old Gustav managed to escape. After landing south of Kalmar in the spring of 1520 he began a long and dangerous march north. On his way, Gustav urged farmers and villagers to revolt against the Danish authorities, but to no avail. He then set his hopes on Dalarna, where the people were known to be tough and resolute, seldom giving way to decisions of authorities and kings. Gustav was hunted throughout Dalarna by the pursuing Danes, but the people sheltered and protected him from King Christian’s soldiers.

After a month fleeing through Dalarna, Gustav stood outside the church in Mora and spoke to the crowd. Only weeks before, his father and his brother together with some 80 other magnates had been beheaded in “Stockholm’s bloodbath”. Gustav asked how long they could accept such atrocities and urged them to take up arms. But the people wanted to confer with the neighbouring villages before deciding on war. The Danes were in close pursuit and, before he could get the answer he wanted, Gustav was forced to take to his skis and continue his flight west towards Norway.

A few days later news of King Christian’s brutal ravages throughout Sweden reached Mora, the people regretting then that they had not immediately supported Gustav. Mora’s two best skiers, Lars and Engelbrekt, sent in hot pursuit of the fugitive Gustav Vasa, caught up with him in Sälen. Gustav was persuaded to return with them to Mora to lead the fight against King Christian.

In 1521, with the men from Dalarna at the head, Gustav began his battle. It took two and half years before the war was over and Sweden was a free land. On 6 June 1523 at a national assembly in Strängnäs, Gustav Eriksson Vasa was elected king of a free Sweden. Now he is a symbol for the world’s biggest ski competition – Vasaloppet!"

http://www.vasaloppet.se/en/about-us/history/

????

Did they just

Do that

What

They just retold the story as it was told in the by the 16th century king Gustav Vasa commissies chronicle, which was explicity written to glorify Gustav Vasa, and is filled with blatant lies.....

Can a historian be employed to write the history section at vasaloppets websites WEBSITE

(to understand how weird this is to read without any references to it not being true. It's like. Someone reparted a text ordered by a Roman emperor as The 100% true retelling of events. Although peolpe do that too so.. Basically it's THAT