Ancient places and tales from your area...

[AnsuzAstral]

yeah, would be great to know what ancient/pagan places there are in your surroundings, you know... like "thing" places, ancient temples or whatever, or if there are any old tales of foklore about the land that surround you. Should be interesting to read, as those things are normally unknown to people that don't live in the area and are hard to get known to

Here, in the close area, there are just a few hill-graves from the stone age, but in a larger proximity - about 100 km and a bit farther, we have the Brocken and the "Hexentanzplatz"... a quite well known place, it's told that witches do gather there in ine night of the year and celebrate. It would seem like this tale has been taken over as a holiday by the christians. Furhter to the south of my home-city there is Thüringen, to it's legends and sagas I was introduced by some band of the area - Menhir They have some quite interesting sagas, for example, the tale of Iring, from the time when the old Thuringian kingdom fell to the Franks and Saxons. Iring was of the family of the king of Thuringia that started the war with the Franks and Saxons, the hero that was sent to negotiate with Theoderich of the Franks to end the war, which Thuringia was about to loose. Theoderich wanted one thing - that Thuringia's king should kneel before him and plead for mercy. The king returned to Theoderich with Iring, and when he knelt, Iring stabbed him in the back and went on to kill Theoderich and most of the other Franks at the meeting... and escaped. The kingdom was lost though, but Iring became a folk hero cause of that...

Sorry for shortening this, but if someone's interested, I'm sure it can be elaborated, and there're many other tales around there, too

But what about your area? What legends are hidden there, what old places?

 

[Fleischwolf]

ok, we have quite a lot of ancient places here!
first, my avatar, the "urtelstein"! it is said to have been a ritualplace for witches in the middleages! there are various legends about this place!
then right next to the urtelstein. there are two castles, rauheneck and rauhenstein, i can see them, when i leave the house, they are on two hills surrounding the valley where i live! one of the castle lords had a daughter who was in love with a knight! but the father didn't want her to merry him! so when the knight was wounded in the crusades, he ordered his servant to cut his heart out and to bring it to the maiden for showing her how much he loves her! but when the servant came to the castle, the castlelord ordered to kill him! then he ordered to cook and prepare the heart and gave it his daughter for dinner! when she had eaten it he told her what it was! the maiden died from a broken heart! on one of the following nights unearthly cries where heard out of the castlelords chambers! the next day his servants found him dead with his head turned around so his face looked backwards! it is said, that since then he is haunting the castle at night! i allready slept there once, UUUAAAAHHH!
there is a third castle in the woods called scharfeneck, but there are only two walls left of it! it's said, that the master of this castle made a deal with the devil to be able to build it!
then at a little lane in town, scientists recently dug up the remains of a forth castle, called "Veste Rohr"! right beside that, there is the "Karls-Tisch" (Karls-Table)! this is a very mystic place, there have allways been stories about unnatural appearences! it is said, that Karl the Great, Emperor of the Frankonian Empire, rested here to pray before going to battle against the hungarians!

 

[Fjelltussa]

My neighbour farm is very old, more than two thousand years. It was one of the first farms that was built in this area; before that there were only hunters living in the mountains. (The field I was so promptly walking over last saturday belongs to this farm, so I guess I really should be honoured! LOL )
This farm is very big, and very beautiful. It has always been one of the richest farm around hehe, and it was so when the Black Death came here in the middle of the 14th century. The whole area was wiped clean of ppl back then, but there were one girl who survived. She had been locked up in one of the houses at the farm, together with some food, and she had a big tub with water.
After things calmed down, ppl went around to see who had survived and who had not, and they thought everyone were dead at Stave, which is the name of the farm. But then they found the girl. She had sit in that house, alone, for months!

 

[Blackspirit]

Ey! Great thread AnsuzAstral!!

At first I thought I don't know any tales and ancient places! lol.
How stupid am I? >P Well, Oslo, is Oslo. I don't know much
history of this city, but I'd like to tell you about the place
where I used to live!

I used to live in a part of Norway called "Borre", in a town
next to "Borrehaugene" where they burried all the great
vikings. They have found huge viking-ships there etc etc.

I can't remember any special tales about this place, I can't
put my trust in people saying who was burried there and
why, cause it's been so long since the Viking-age that you
can never know for sure. Some people _really_ want to find
out who was burried there, and instead of searching for
things that says that this and this person was NOT burried
there, they try to find positive arguments that "this person"
is burried there.

It is of course easier to find out why they did it, but you can
never be sure. All we know is that they burried their "leaders"
WITH their viking-ships, which I think is pretty awesome )

But these facts and details are not what I have as memories
from "Borrehaugene". I remember the warm summerdays,
with the beautiful nature surrounding the graves... We used
to go there on classtrips etc. Just seeing the pic's from that
place makes me almost smell how it used to smell, feel the
wind in my hair, and listen to the birds singing.... )

I'll share some of the pics I found -->

http://home.no.net/ahrune/Borrehaugene - Nasjonalpark1.JPG
Behind this "haug", some minutes walking, you come to the
water, which you also always hear in the background when
sitting there enjoying life )

http://home.no.net/ahrune/Borrehaugene - Nasjonalpark5.JPG
I don't like sunbathing, but this is the perfect place...

http://home.no.net/ahrune/Borrehaugene - Nasjonalpark6.JPG
What can I say? "Yum"? )

http://home.enter.vg/arildhaugesruner/tor-mjolner-se-laby.jpg

I just had to include this one, I don't think it's found on
Borrehaugene or anything, I just found the pic while
searching for ones posted above! hehe...
I'd like a Hammer like this >)

 

[Fjelltussa]

@Blackspirit: Gosh, you lived in Borre?? You're so lucky!! Those burial mounds are sooo beautiful.

It gives you a special feeling to be near such old graves. It's like you can feel the precence of our ancestors, and the gods and the goddesses......

 

[Fleischwolf]

@blackspirit:great pictures! this is allmost like it looks in some places in autumn, where i live!
as for the hammer: i have a thor's hammer, but it looks a little different from that one! i guess you can get one anywhere in norway!

when talking about the plague, another tale about my town came to my mind! in the middle ages, when the plague came to my town, there was a bard called "Der liebe Augustin"(the jolly Augustin)! he often got drunk and the guards of the city wall would let him in through the "Lumpentürl" (a little door, where drunks could get in after the other doors of the city wall where closed)! one day he was so drunk that he fell into a pit, where the plague deads where thrown into and fell asleep! when the people came the next day to close the pit, they saw Augustin lying there and thought he was dead! but suddenly he woke up, gnawed and then stepped out of the pit! people thought it was a mirracle and that he has awoken from the dead!
since then there is this fairytale about Augustin, even though the story is thought to be true! there is also a song about him! it's well known in austria!

 

[Gaunerin]

This is a great thread indeed.
But I have to take some time to think of places or tales that are worth telling here..... Everything that comes to my mind is not directly from my area though there are a couple of castles/ruins around.

But something really to close to my place (a few kilometers) is the famous Neandertal, that valley where they found remains of ancient human beings. Everybody probably heard of that (?).

 

[AnsuzAstral]

It's just interesting to know what one's area's been like ages ago And to see how the people in other places used to live like.

@Blackspirit: I've seen such grave mounds around here as well, but surely no burial ships! That is awesome! Where in Norway is Borre situated? Those pics are amazing!

@Fleischwolf: Ritual place for witches? The same in the hexentanzplatz in the Harz I mentioned Strange how many old places are simply declared to be used by witches Where in Austria is this place exactly?!

@Fjelltussa: An 2000-yr old farm? THAT is old... must have been hardly bronze age in Norway back then?!? And it's still in use nowadays? Or some kind of museum? It seems like there're mostly agricultural things left from the old times in your area, or?

 

[Fjelltussa]

Originally posted by AnsuzAstral

@Fjelltussa: An 2000-yr old farm? THAT is old... must have been hardly bronze age in Norway back then?!? And it's still in use nowadays? Or some kind of museum? It seems like there're mostly agricultural things left from the old times in your area, or?

Old, yup! Indeed. And yes, agricultural things like that are the only things left from such a long time ago. But oh, the houses that has been there up through the years aren't there anymore. The house that the girl was locked up in, though, is at a museum about an hour from where I live, now. And yes, the farm is still very much in use. (or the field wouldn't have been plowed last autumn, hehe) A friend of mine lived there, before she moved out from her parents.

 

[Fleischwolf]

the place is in the "Helenental" just outside of Baden, which lies about 40km south of vienna! they build a tunnel through the rock and there is a street leading through!
but it isn't as bad as it sounds, because there is forest all around!

i've found some links, but they are all in german! maybe you wanna read them ansuz!

http://service.baden-bei-wien.at/service/badner_gschichten_teil1.htm (Urtelstein)

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/pages/tourismus/s5.shtml(Urtelstein)

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/pages/tourismus/s3.shtml (information on the castle Rauheneck!)

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/pages/tourismus/ruinerauheneck.shtml(Rauheneck)

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/pages/tourismus/ruinerauhenstein.shtml(Rauhenstein)

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/pages/tourismus/ruinescharfeneck.shtml(Scharfeneck)

 

[Fleischwolf]

here is the homepage of my town! on the left you can see a "Pestsäule"(plaguestatue)! it is in the middle of the center of my town! there were such statues build all over the land to thank god that the plague has gone!

http://www.baden-bei-wien.at/start/1024.shtml

 

[AnsuzAstral]

Interesting things on the second link about the Urtelstein From legends it was also some place were people were executed... hmmm... and also Templar Knights Didn't know there were much Templars at all in Austria!

I wouldn't call this place scary, though It sounds like some great place of historical importance

 

[Fleischwolf]

as you might have seen, ansuz, i've edited my post and put some more links there
Yeah, the place is scary for those who cannot appreciate it's atmosphere! most of my female friends freak out, when i tell them that i often go into the woods at night! "oh god, i would never do that, it's soooo scary there!"
well, i'm not scared of the woods, I'm in awe of it's atmosphere!
when i go home at night, i often hear a screech-owl cry! that's so great!
i see the dark siluette of the castles on the hills and it is such an overwhelming sight!

but to be honest, I'd avoid going to castle Merkenstein at night!
it is about 10 km from my town! i've heard so many stories about appearences there, that i wouldn't like to go there at night alone! some friend of me has been there some years ago, and she's not the kind of person who tells stories which aren't true! she's been there with 2 other girls and they definitley saw a white figure dancing through the woods! and the dog freaked out too!
well, i don't know what it was, but there are many stories about a ghost haunting this place! when my friend went there however, she hadn't heard of those stories back then! just when i heard her story i looked it up in a book and read those various tales!


here are some links about the castle Merkenstein:

http://www.bad-voeslau.at/geschichte.htm

http://www.8cplus.at/Merkenstein.asp

i also found this link about farytales:

http://www.sagen.at

 

[Fjelltussa]

@Fleischwolf: Iiiih!! Ghost? That's so cool! Never seen one myself, but Ithink it would be quite interesting to.

Some hundred metres from where I live, there are a place that is said to be haunted. There was a woman who was executed here some time in the 18th century. She had got pregnant without being married - and well, that wasn't that bad, cause it wasn't too unusual up here back then (either) - but she gave birth to the child alone, and the child was dead born. The other ppl living here was sure she had killed it, so she was executed, and her head was put in a stake on the bridge over the river here. Her body was buried at a little place in the wood.

We used to go to that place with school, and it was always very exciting!

 

[Karldin]

There are a few historic places around where I live. Quite close, at Egge, there are a few barrows (hill graves) and in a wider proximity you have Stiklestad where king Olav Haraldson died in the 1030 battle. Read Heimskringla if you want to know the story. Can't remember much else tho.

 

[Blackspirit]

Originally posted by Fleischwolf
@blackspirit:great pictures! this is allmost like it looks in some places in autumn, where i live!
as for the hammer: i have a thor's hammer, but it looks a little different from that one! i guess you can get one anywhere in norway!

Nay, that's the reason why I don't have a Thor's Hammer,
I want the perfect one, and it is not easy to find! (
I don't want an ordinary one, I'd like one that is as "plain"
as the link I posted ) I guess I'll just buy one like this -->
http://home.enter.vg/arildhaugesruner/tor-mjolner-se-skaene.jpg
Out of desperation >P hehe....

oh, and that story sounds so interesting! I'd LOVE to
go to that castle during night, just to see how much I
could take before I got all creeped out >P
These things are cool, cause it's your own thoughts
that scare you!

And I'll have a look at your town's website, seemed so
nice and quiet )

Originally posted by AnsuzAstral
@Blackspirit: I've seen such grave mounds around here as well, but surely no burial ships! That is awesome! Where in Norway is Borre situated? Those pics are amazing!

In the south of Norway... To the east + south >P
hehe... Right next to Norways oldest city, Tønsberg.
All this great history has taken place just where I lived
Isn't it weird? But, what really sucks is that all the
people living there are narrowminded and just *yuck*.
I didn't like it there....

 

[YMIR]

in my country there are also a lot of stories about ghosts. I have a book with stories about ghosts in castles and ruins and found these: There is a ghost in the castle Cannenburgh in Vaassen. That's a small village in the neighboarhood. If it's true you can see there a man, who is macconer alive, who is looking for the sortie. (sorry for the bad englisch hehe)
are there here pll who believe in ghosts btw??????

@Fleischwolf: cool you go to the forest by night. I like to do that too. When the night is not cold anymore I'd like to sleep in the forest for a day. that would be really cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe you did that before???

Anzuz@: thank you for making this tread. I love this kind of stories!!!

 

[Fjelltussa]

@Blackspirit: Hehe, I have that kind of hammer But I don't wear it much. -Not at all, really; it's way too big for me. I use one that is smaller, though. A copy of a swedish one, so I've been told, and I really love it.

But I want another one as well. Both that I have are in broze; I want one in silver, so that it will fit with my silver rings. I don't have that many broze rings, and I ALWAYS wear rings.

THere are quite many stories about how different places in the nature around where I live, came to look the way they do, and about trolls and riser, huldra, tusser and so on. Manybof those are quite interesting - and funny - but I don't remember enough of any just now, to tell one. They need to be told whoile, yaknow...

 

[Blackspirit]

Originally posted by Fjelltussa
@Blackspirit: Hehe, I have that kind of hammer But I don't wear it much. -Not at all, really; it's way too big for me. I use one that is smaller, though. A copy of a swedish one, so I've been told, and I really love it.

But I want another one as well. Both that I have are in broze; I want one in silver, so that it will fit with my silver rings. I don't have that many broze rings, and I ALWAYS wear rings.

Yay! Exactly! It's too big!! I want one that is simple,
yet interesting ) And silver --> must have! )

I used to wear rings all the time earlier, but not
anymore... I lost my favourite one, I was crushed!
hehe... So, no more rings for me, until I find the
perfect one again )

 

[lumen]

All these stories sound cool. I wish I knew some to share...

I live close to the Six Nations reserve, and before the Europeans came the area was populated by Aboriginal Canadians. I'm sure they have lots of stories from the past, but now Southern Ontario is so populated and industrialized... there are few indications left of the people who had this land before.

There are no really famous ancient sites near me that I know of, but I may do some research and try to find something interesting to share.