Bolmsö

Bolmsö is an island located in lake Bolmen near Växjö in Småland. It had 382 inhabitants in 1998.

History

It presents 530 ancient remains, including dolmens and cobble-clad graves in various forms, especially large triangular ones. The dominating graves are large barrows from the Iron Age with the addition of stelae, stone circles and a large stone ship. A farm with the name Hof reveals that it was once a pagan blót temple (see Temple at Uppsala).

In the Hervarar saga, it is related that Arngrim and his twelve wild sons, who fought against Hjalmar, lived on Bólmr and it is believed to refer to Bolmsö. The identification is supported by Saxo Grammaticus who described Arngrim as a Swedish berserker. Although, according to the later versions, H and U, of Hervarar saga, it was the island Bolm in Hålogaland. This might be due to a confusion between a name of a island in Hålogaland and the lake Bolmen.

Sources

Nationalencyklopedin

This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.