Trollkyrka

Trollkyrka ("Troll's church") is a tall and secluded mountain in the heart of the National Park of Tiveden, Sweden, which served until the 19th century as a pagan sacrificial ground (horgr, see also blt). Popular tradition 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 trolls. 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. In a time when there was a penalty of death on practising such rituals, this kind of precaution was perhaps considered necessary. The rites are described in a folk poem documented by the folklorist Carlshult (1941):
|Krken smyger p slingrande stig |The procession creeps on a meandering path
|helst osedd till Trollebergen. | preferably unseen to the Troll mountains/hills.
|Mssa skall hllas i dagarna tre, | A mass shall be held for three days,
|det varde brjan p helgen. | this will be the beginning of the holiday.
|Kolten r sid, s den nder vid marken, | The frock is long, so it reaches down to the ground,
|hsorna ro i topparna vassa, | the socks are sharply pointed,
|httan dras ned, s hlen fr gonen passa. | the hood is pulled down so that the holes for the eyes fit.
|Alla r lika frutom p lngda, | Everybody looks alike except for the height,
|prelatus han rknar p mngda. | the prelate counts their number.
| |
|Lsen den gives i lgmlder ton, | The password is given in a low voice,
|prelatus han bjuder tre sttar i horn. | the prelate blows three times in a horn.
|Elden den "kllas" av nio slags ved, | The fire is kindled with nine kinds of wood,
|det r gammal sed. | that is old custom.
|Offer till andarna sknkes, | A sacrifice is offered to the spirits,
|med blodet sig allom bestnkes. | everyone is sprinkled with the blood.
|Det bsta till andar frras, | The best part is gifted to spirits,
|det som blir ver skall av mnnerna tras. | what remains is to be consumed by the men.
| |
|Uti midnattens timma | In the midnight hour
|d sjrnor beglimma, | when stars glitter,
|prelatus han tystnaden bjuder | the prelate asks for silence
|och mnnerna alla det lyder. | and this is obeyed by all the men.
|De falla till markone ner, | They fall down onto the ground,
|prelatus han bistert mot rymderna ser. | the prelate looks grimly at the heavens.
|Och svrjan och formlar i dlderna skallar | And incantations and summons echo in the dells
|prelatus han kallar p andar. | the prelate is summoning spirits.
| |
|Allom de fick p sitt sprje ett svar, | Everyone received an answer to their question,
|ingen av androm fick d hra varom det var. | no one heard from another man what the answer was.

References

Carlshult, B.G. (1941) Undensbygden genom tiderna. Lidman, H. (1972) Gudanatt, dagar och ntter i Tiveden, Askild & Krnekull, Stockholm.

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