Megalithic Stories 2: The Greatest Troll Castle

Something Dreadful

The Lamb Mound (Lammehøj) is the only more or less existing barrow in Varpelev. Its fame is due to the rather unpleasant fact that it was being used as an execution place. Last time this happened was in 1853, when a murderer was executed, giving rise to a ghost story:

There was a tramped path from the Lamb Mound to the place where the victim was found, but this path was tramped by non-living beings.

Inger M. Boberg: Stevns gravhøje i sagnoverlevering, 1931

A local author, late Martin A. Hansen, describes the horrors of the Lamb Mound:

When I was a child passing through Varpelev in a wagon, I would tremble every time I saw the fogs of the meadow. My father would point with his whip the route to the Lamb Mound in the darkness, of which my grandfather had something dreadful to tell about. As a young man he was forced to stand and watch by as his old play mate was executed. It was the last public execution around here. After that the villagers could hear his ghost by night. He would drive throught Varpelev and everybody could hear the sounds of the horses and a wagon, although nothing could be seen. One night my grandfather experienced this himself in the middle of the village road.

Martin A. Hansen: Sidste Noveller og Skildringer, 1959. Translation: Author

It is possible that it was due to these unpleasant memories that nobody would resist when the final disaster came. It is described in the archeological investigation from 1900 how the Lamb Mound was raped, robbed and disgraced:

According to a informant, gravel had been taken for building the railway in 1879. The railway workers found many ancient items [and gold], which however disappeared. It is suggested that the Lamb Mound is a natural ridge with Iron Age graves.

Det Kulturhistoriske Centralregister: Fund og fortidsminder. Translation: Author

Impudent methods were used when the local railway was built near the Lamb Mound in 1879.

It Is Much More

However, the history of the Lamb Mound is much longer than this, having nothing to do with its appearance, executions or lost discoveries. Its importance is concealed in the mythological values, for there are many folkloristic themes around it. These folklores were so deep-rooted that they still effect local people's collective consciousness. For this reason, I believe the Lamb Mound must have been an ancient sacred place.

Therefore the Lamb Mound was respected and not completely forgotten, although it was almost removed.

There are still trolls in the Lamb Mound, even if it was dug away. One auntie saw one of them jumping around some 16-18 years ago [1885].

One day a man plowed near the Lamb Mound. This time he was plowing closer the barrow as usual and could hear a noise coming out of the barrow. A voice told him that if he wouldn't fill in the plowing track, his best animal would die. The man ignored the voice. On the next day his best horse died, and then he fixed the track near the barrows. Everybody knows this story in the village and consider it true.

Inger M. Boberg: Stevns gravhøje i sagnoverlevering, 1931. Translation: Author

Martin A. Hansen writes:

At the meadow outside the village, there are remains of the Lamb Mound. Perhaps a Bronze Age grave. In fact, it is much more: A cult place and the home of the dead.

Martin A. Hansen: Sidste Noveller og Skildringer, 1959. Translation: Author

The Lamb Mound is also mentioned in a recent book of famous barrows:

The mound is the greastest troll castle in Stevns.

Mads Lidegaard: Danske høje fra sagn og tro, 1998. Translation: Author

Some Strange Celebrations

All these stories paint a picture of the Lamb Mound as more than an old graveyard. First, the archeological investigations indicate it was a natural ridge. There were only few hills and ridges in the vicinity, and the Lamb Mound was the biggest of them. Therefore it is likely that people have been using the place in their holy rituals since the Ice Age. It was important that the sacred places were elevated from the ground and closer to the heaven. For example, it was easier see and to welcome the returning Sun on a hilltop than in the bottom of a valley.

One cannot underestimate the function and value that ancestors had for people in earlier times. Even if the religion changed, the worship of ancestors was an important practice for thousands of years. Therefore the ancestors, or at least the best among them, had to be buried in a most safe and holy place, namely the cult place. The late forefathers became a part of the holy place's sacred power and could better help the descendants and other deceased buried nearby. This idea was so strong that the same burial places were used again and again, and they still are.

There is also other evidence for the Lamb Mound being an old cult place:

It is told that some strange midsummer celebrations took place there.

Martin A. Hansen: Sidste Noveller og Skildringer, 1959. Translation: Author


Youngters living in the area are celebrating the Whitsun there.

Thorkild Gravlund: Herredsbogen 1-3, 1926-30. Translation: Author

If this is true, it is certain that a heathen bonfire has been burned there for chasing away evil spirits and bad luck. This happened especially at May Day and midsummer, but also when alerting of danger. The heathen bonfires at annual festivities were the most difficult thing for the Christianity to get rid of, and they are still being obstinately lit in the Nordic countries.

Jørgen Sonne (1801-1890): Sct.Hansaften, 1860, Ribe kunstmuseum

Thus Lamb Mound was not only a Christian execution place, but rather an ancient place of gathering for as long as people have been living in the area. It had an important religious, juridical, geological and social function in the village.

More Barrows?

There used to be a rumour about another barrow next to the Lamb Mound. This would have been a burial mound from the Stone Age, which the National Museum tried to explore in 1900, but could not come near due to the growing corn on the field.

A shallow ridge can still be seen where the burial mound once was. The Lamb Mound on the right.

A map from year 1835 confirms the existence of the barrow in question along with another barrow next to it. Today they are destroyed and forgotten, but one can still see two light bumps on the field south of the Lamb Mound. This fits together with the theory of smaller mounds being always placed south of the main holy place or a grave, because this was the most beneficial point of the compass.

To be continued in a subsequent blog.