Trollkyrka ("
Troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
's church") is a secluded
butte
In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...
-like rock in the heart of the National Park of
Tiveden
Tiveden is a long and wide densely forested rocky ridge in Sweden, throughout history notorious for its wilderness and dangers; historically a hiding place for outlaws. In historic times it, along with Tylöskog and Kolmården, formed the border b ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, which served as a pagan sacrificial ground (
horgr, see also
blót
(Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
) for centuries after Christianity became the dominant religion in Scandinavia. It may have been used as late as the 19th century, when popular tradition still held the mountain to be off-limits for Christians.
According to Lidman (1972:52) old people used to say: "No Christian can go there. The mountains of the troll church belong to the heathen
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s. If a Christian ventures there, he will come to grief."
In fact, local tradition relates that the mountain was used not long ago for heathen rites and that anyone who was not initiated and saw it risked either to be buried in a bog in the forest or sworn into the brotherhood. These precautions clearly indicate that the rites took place as late as the period 1604–1735, which was a time when there was a penalty of death on practising such rituals. The rites are described in a folk poem documented by the folklorist Carshult (1941) when he documented the traditions on
Skaga stave church. It has later been published in Karlsson (1970:62) and Lidman (1972:52).
See also
*
Blót
(Old Norse and Old English) or (Old English) are religious ceremonies in Germanic paganism that centred on the killing and offering of an animal to a particular being, typically followed by the communal cooking and eating of its meat. Old Nors ...
References
*Carshult, B.G. (1941) ''Undenäsbygden genom tiderna''.
*Karlsson, S. (1970) ''I Tiveden'', Reflex, Mariestad.
*Lidman, H. (1972) ''Gudanatt, dagar och nätter i Tiveden'', Askild & Kärnekull, Stockholm.
External links
The Trollkyrka Folk-Poem
{{coord, 58, 43, N, 14, 37, E, display=title
Scandinavian folklore
Norse paganism
Religious places