Swedish Folktales:Värmland

Jonas Point

There was once a man who lived in Helgeby in Sunne socken named Jonas Point. He was a veteran of many wars; he had fought both the Croatians and the Russians, and in every campaign he had always played the part of a courageous soldier.

Thus, when his country once again found itself at war the king sent word to Point calling him back to the battlefield.

One Sunday evening, while Point was out sharpening his sword, the king walked right up to him and said, "That is well, for tomorrow there will be battle, and I want that saber to be put to good use!”

“It will, sire!” answered Point, and continued sharpening.

The next day there was indeed a bloody fight, and in the evening, when all was over, the king called loudly for Jonas.

“Here, sire!” shouted Point, saluting the king.

“May I see your saber?” said the king. “What use have you made of it today?”

“Yes, sire, of course,” answered Point and handed the king his weapon, which was caked with blood.

“Excellent!” said the king. “I shall gild the point for you.” And he raised Jonas into the nobility, and declared that he would henceforth be known as Jonas Goldenpoint.

Lady Rangela of Edsholm

A few miles west of Karlstad there is a little island in the sound of Slottsbro which connects Grumsfjorden with Lake Vänern. In the middle ages there was an old fortress on the island called Edsholms Castle, where the region’s cruel governors were stationed.

Once, the castle and all the land round about was owned by a hard and greedy woman, Lady Rangela. She was bitterly hated by the farmers for the heavy yoke she laid upon them, but perhaps even more for the high tolls she demanded every time they traveled over her bridge.

One day two farmers devised a plan. One of them climbed up a hill on the south side of the water and the other onto a hill on the north side next to the castle. One of the farmers yelled across the sound, “Dear neighbor, let me borrow your biggest kettle!”

“What do you want it for?”

“I’m going to boil Lady Rangela of Edsholm Castle, because her bridge tolls are highway robbery!”

“Then of course you can borrow my kettle!”

Lady Rangela heard all this and believed she was listening to trolls who were planning to cook her, so she packed up her valuables and fled from Edsholm Castle.

Still, she didn’t make it any further than till Rangel sound, which is named after her, because a great storm blew in and sank her ship. It went down with her, the crew, her valuables, everything. When the farmers found out they stormed the castle and levelled it to the ground. And ever since the only thing left of the castle is rubble.

Saxe of Saxholm

There was once a castle that stood on a little island in the inlet to Ölme bay, which was connected to the mainland by a bridge on its west side. Many years ago there was a powerful chieftain who lived there named Saxe. But most often he was somewhere else; off raiding and pillaging, because it was in violence alone that Saxe found his happiness. At home he was gloomy, withdrawn, and very hard on his wife.

At long last she wearied of her husband’s brutality and resolved to run off with another man, someone who knew how to treat a lady.

One Christmas while Saxe was in Varnum’s church for the morning service, his wife set fire to the castle, closed the gates and threw the key over the wall into the courtyard. Earlier, she had her horses shod with the shoes on backwards to confuse any pursuit, and now she rode with her lover and a few loyal servants over the iced-over Ölme bay. When Saxe came home he found his castle engulfed in flames and the following message carved into the locked gates: “Saxe’s home now lies in ashes, so Saxe the jerk can just as well sleep outside.”

No story tells what Saxe did after that, but it’s said that the lady, before she set fire to the building, filled a chest with treasure and had it placed in one of the vaults under the castle. She declared that the chest should remain there, unmoved by any power of man. There have been many attempts to retrieve that treasure, and some say they’ve been close enough to get a glimpse of it, but all have been scared off by a dreadful voice that shouted from deep within the vault “Come no closer!”