The Greater Wrath (“Isoviha” in Finnish) is a term used to refer to the Russian invasion and occupation of Finland from 1714-1721; a part of the Great Northern War (1700-21).

During the period of occupation Finland was governed by military authority. Resistance movements cropped up in the form of partisan warfare, but in response Russian authorities forced Finnish peasants to pay heavy reparations to the occupying forces. The period is marked by plundering, looting, and forced deportation. Potentially tens of thousands of Finns were taken for slave labor in Russia, few of which returned. Most of Finland’s clergy and nobility fled to Sweden, leaving peasants to fend for themselves.

An estimated 60,000 Finns were killed or forced into slavery.

The occupation was finally ended with the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, which handed over Swedish Estonia, Livonia, and a portion of Southeastern Finland to Russia.

[Picture: Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt’s “Isoviha”.]

Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenberg (1511-71) was the wife of Christian III of Denmark. She was a woman of very strong opinion and considerable influence.

In 1540, Dorothea assisted in freeing Birgitte Gøye from her forced engagement, which lead to a law banning arranged marriages for minors. She is said to have helped negotiate the Treaty of Speyer between Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire in 1544.

After Christian III’s death, she repeatedly criticized his successor, her son, Frederik II, and plotted an arranged marriage between her younger son and a princess of Sweden. For this Frederik labeled her a traitor and had her exiled to Sønderborg Castle, where she remained until her death.

It is well known that Viking explorers used the sun and stars to navigate across open seas, but what did they do when the sun and stars weren’t visible? For centuries legends have told of various tools that Vikings used to help navigate, among them the fabled Sunstone. Now, researchers believe they have finally found one of these stones. 

Until recently, nothing was found among Viking artifacts that matched descriptions from the sagas. However, researchers now believe the mythical sunstone was a calcite-like crystal known as Iceland spar. After extensive tests, researchers now believe that this crystal can be used as an incredibly accurate navigational aid.

Fragments of Iceland spar were first found, or first recognized, in Icelandic Viking settlements only last year.

(Source: independent.co.uk)

Measuring 7 meters high and 45 in diameter, the Håga burial mound in Uppsala, Sweden is the largest built by Nordic Bronze Age cultures.

Built in 1000 BCE, the mound was constructed above a wooden chamber containing an oaken coffin with the cremated remains of a man. Also within the coffin were found several well-preserved Bronze Age artifacts, including a sword, razor, and buttons. The site was excavated in 1902-03 and the findings stored at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities. 

On 3 September 1967 Sweden officially switched from driving on the left- to the right-hand side of the road. 

This day is usually referred to as Högertrafikomläggningen (“The right-hand traffic diversion”), or H Day. Prior to this day Swedes drove on the left-hand side of the road, just like modern day England, but all of their immediate neighbors drove on the right-hand side. This caused numerous traffic accidents each year, particularly along the Norwegian-Swedish border.

On this day all non-essential traffic was banned from 1-6:00 AM, with all vehicles brought to a stop at 4:50 and carefully switched  from the left to right sides of the road. In major cities such as Stockholm and Malmo the ban lasted longer to allow work crews to adjust major intersections. 

Lalli is a figure out of Finnish history and legend. He appeared around the time of the Swedish crusades that eventually lead to Finland coming under Swedish rule.

According to the legend, Lalli is responsible for the murder and martyrdom of Bishop Henrik of Uppsala. When Lalli returned home one day and learned from his wife that the bishop had been there and left without paying for his food or drink he became enraged. Furious, he followed the bishop and attacked him. Lalli decapitated Henrik with an axe and stole his hat and ring. However, when he put them on, the hat and ring became fused to Lalli’s skin, and when he tried to remove them tore off his scalp and finger. He then drowned in lake Köyliönjärvi.

According to the bishop’s wishes, Lalli’s remains were gathered and loaded onto oxen, where the oxen stopped is said to be the site of the first church in Finland. 

Bishop Henrik has never been officially canonized, but he is widely recognized as a saint regardless; the first Finnish saint.

Stave churches were built throughout Scandinavia in the middle ages. Stave churches are unique for being constructed entirely of wood. So far, 1300 stave churches have been indexed, but only about thirty remain today, all but one in Norway.

Of the few remaining, Urnes Stave Church is considered one of the finest examples. Built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this church was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Vikings made some of the most impressive sea voyages of their era, and all without the aid of compasses, charts, maps or any other navigational tool. Instead, Viking explorers used landmarks, stars, sea animals and their own memories to navigate.

Vikings were incredibly familiar with weather patterns and the migration paths of various animals, such as sea birds and whales. Explorers sometimes waited weeks for the perfect weather to set out on an expedition. For all their skills, however, Viking navigation was far from accurate, and several discoveries were made entirely on accident. The discovery of North America, for example. 

The Norns of Norse Mythology are female spirits that dictate the fate of men and gods alike.

Three chief norns are listed in the sagas, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who dwell in Asgard close to Yggdrasil. However, the sagas also describe that additional norns come to each child when it is born and shape their future. The norns are described at least once as weaving “the web of fate”, and it is believed by some that the name “norn” comes from the verb “to twine”.

The idea of three women who weave fate is paralleled in Greek, Roman, and Slavic mythologies.

[Picture: Three norns seated beneath Yggdrasil. Ludwig Burger, 1882]

An engraved map of Stockholm from 1836.

Drawn by W.B. Clarke and engraved by B.R. Davies for publication by the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, London.

Archaeologists excavating a shipwreck off the coast of Öland uncovered the remains of two individuals believed to be over 300 years old. More shocking, they claim that one skull contains the remains of brain matter. 

The royal ship Kronan sank on 1 June 1676, taking with it 800 crew members. Excavations of the wreckage have been ongoing since 1980, but this is possibly the most surprising find. Experts say that the skull is so well preserved because it was located near the bottom of the ship in a “air free pocket” which helped preserve the remains. 

Further testing will reveal whether the material within the skull is actually brain matter.

It has been said that during the time of the Kalmar Union the true power around the Baltic Sea was not held by the King of the Union or local nobles, but by the Hanseatic League, or Hansa.

The Hansa was a confederation of powerful merchants founded in Lubeck, Germany that controlled all trade to and from the Baltic. Previous to the league’s rise to power Scandinavia controlled trade around the Baltic, and this lead to much competition between the league and the Kalmar Union. 

The league held such power that it functioned almost as an independent country. Between 1361-1370 league cities waged war against Denmark, sacking Copenhagen and Helsingborg and ultimately forcing the kings of Denmark and Norway to grant the league 15% of their trade profits. 

As the league began to lose power in the 16th century it opened up the Baltic and gave Denmark and Sweden greater significance in Northern European politics as control of Baltic trade fell back into the hands of Denmark-Norway and the quickly growing Swedish Empire.

The 1912 Summer Olympic Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden; the Games of the V Olympiad. This was the first and only time that Sweden has hosted the games, although Stockholm also hosted the equestrian events of the 1956 games in Melbourne, Australia due to Australia’s strict quarantine regulations. 

Sweden brought home a total of 65 medals from these games, the most won by Sweden in any Olympics. 

Hymir is a giant from Norse mythology who features in the eddic poems Hymiskvida and Gylfaginning. 

According to Hymiskvida, it is from Hymir that Thor obtains the great cauldron used by the Aesir to brew beer. Hymir and Thor also go on a fishing expedition during which Thor fishes up the Midgard Serpent using an ox head as bait. 

Hymir is also said to be the father of Tyr.

[Picture: Thor and Hymir fishing from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript.]