Bamble sacrificial grove
The sacrificial grove of Bamble ( Norwegian Bamble Offerlund ) is located near the ruins of the old Bamble church from the 13th century in Bamble east of the street Europastraße 18 near Porsgrunn in the Fylke Vestfold og Telemark in Norway .
The sacrificial grove in Bamble is a " sacred grove " from the Iron Age . In many places, churches and cemeteries have been built near ancient pagan sites in order to free the place from ancient traditions. According to historical sources, the use of sacred groves was very common in the Iron Age.
The site essentially consists of two old oaks that are said to have stood here since pagan times. The locals have carried on some old traditions here. In midwinter it is still the custom today to pour beer at the base of the trees. This is probably a relic of the pagan sacrificial culture.
context
The chronicler Adam von Bremen described the use of the sacred grove at the temple of Uppsala in Sweden . Every ninth year there is a nine-day festival of sacrifice, the Blót . Christians had to pay a levy to free themselves from participating in the blót. The Christian King Magnus the Good is said to have been forced by the population in Trøndelag to take part in the festival of sacrifices in Lade (now a district of Trondheim ), which is expressly referred to as Blót.
Building stone from Bamble
The Bamble building stone is about 300 m southwest of the grove. It is about 3.0 meters high and 40 cm wide and has a square cross-section. The menhir was discovered within the foundation wall of the old church ruin. When the wall collapsed in 1954, the stone was moved to its current location. Nobody could remember its original location.
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 59 ° 0 ′ 35.1 ″ N , 9 ° 40 ′ 4.3 ″ E