Pagan holy sites in Sweden 🇸🇪 History documentary 

I have put all the holy sites at which I filmed in this Google map which you can make use of if you are planning a road trip of your own! www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1cok49fwZ6sMlnMyt4gIzL0vBOG0btvDk&usp=sharing

It makes sense that dogs were believed to be mediators between the living and the dead. My dog often gets up and barks at things I cannot see

My mother is a hospice nurse. She says the dying often talk about a train, plane, or other sort of transport coming for them (depending on their background; for example the man who spoke of a plane was a pilot), or about needing their shoes or to pack their bags. Makes me think the dying Norse would be asking to have their horse or ship made ready, or for their shoes (helskór)--hence the burial custom.

I believe the symbols on the rocks, based on my analysis of it, might mean "Subscribe to Survive The Jive"

Really enjoyed this one. I can’t wait to visit Sweden.

Proud to be a Swede from Öland. 🇸🇪❤🙂

No mounds in Australia, but I intend on having one when I pass.

I have a barrow about a hundred yards from my house in Scotland.

Your videos are the best Thomas. Why don't you make a documentary about Russia? More specifically Novgorod. It had a lot of Scandinavian influence

Very well made and interesting documentary film. VERY

I think this is the best work you've done so far: Instead of chronicling, and bemoaning the loss of our culture, get busy preserving and promoting it. More like this. PLEASE!

By destroying an important monument, Boniface was able to sever the ties between the local people and their traditional culture. Makes one reflect on today's iconoclasts as they tear down the statues of the mighty men of yore.

I grew up on Frösön. It has a runestone as well and I learned about the ancient sacrificial tree as an adult. The connection to my ancestors is, to me, strong there. Thank you for making this, it is very informative and really quite beautiful. The Gods are alive!

Viking heritage was so important that barrows continued to be made for the local nobles and priests, including rune stones in the building of cathedrals......something about Paganism which probably was a tie to the Earth and the Cosmos? Something similar in Mesoamerica, the spanish friars would make statues of christian saints, but the makers being pagan would include a likeness of Tláloc, the God of Water and of many others inside the statue, so that it would appear the people were worshipping the saint but in truth they were worshipping the ol' gods of Meso America.Thank for a most interesting upload Survive the Jive and greetings from Mexico! :)

As a Swede who has explored more and more about paganism/Asatro the last couple of years, this brings me such joy. Great video!

Excellent Documentary

Seriously thank you so much for making these videos!!! It’s very well put together and your narrating adds a badass element to this epic documentary. Thanks mate :)

This was fascinating. Thank you for making this piece.

This was beautiful. It makes me sad to think of the state of our culture and nation today. I hope that the winds will turn soon and I hope that our people wake up in time. I feel proud of my nordic neighbours!

You should do more on Västergötland. To me, a completely underexposed region considering how much history it has. That a guy literally ran into a Bronze Age treasure last year while running in the woods says everything really... I have a feeling the next Birka/Uppåkra will be discovered somewhere here.

My wife was born in Denmark in a small fishing village. I miss her R.I.P

If you ever want to explore more of Sweden, i would suggest to look in to the megalith/viking areas around Falköping/Hornborga and look in to Varnhem and Kata gård where Sweden was "born". Thank you for a nice video! I enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you so much for making this! It brought a tear to my eye the way you showed our ancient history and traditions..im truly greatful!

Great work as always, Tom. Cheers!

This was worth the wait, excellent work! Thank you.

a map with all the location would be a great addition to this guide :)

How about that, I was expecting a travel guide, but accidently learnt alot more of my ancestors history and rites than most other viking documentaries has done. Well done.

Thank you a Thousand Times for Posting this Amazing Production! I was impressed to see the sites and the impressions in the ground. I was always curious about Viking burial and religion. Thank you once again for going all the way to Sweden. There are few producers like you, dynamic, interesting and getting great details. Health & Happiness to You from Austin Texas.

Thank you for another great video Thomas

Fantastic work, Thomas! Very well produced with very interesting content.

Love to see two of the great creators of our people once again collaborating if only briefly! Brilliant work, Tom!

Super dope video, well done! Can't wait for the next video :)

Really informative and well produced. You've excelled yourself Tom Rowsell. Need to visit the Bronze Age sites you've discussed. Also good to see Marcus Follin here.

I imagine each of the carvings at Slabro being designed by a different individual during a ritual or maybe even a initiation rite and then carved into the rock by one individual who could of been a priest.

When I visited relatives in Sweden, they took me to a site along the road with dolmens and other standing stones. Someone had sheep grazing in the field, but we were able to walk among the stones - a first for this American. Then, when I was out for a little walk near their house, I came upon small stones set along a path in the woods. My cousin told me, that yes, they were ancient stones, and didn't think anything of it. To them, it was so commonplace that they hardly noticed it.

Thank you Thomas for your splendid work. Always interesting to see a video about my ancestors and my peoples history as a Gotlander. Its an honor.

Thank you Tom for making my poor and tarnished country a bit more sacred.

Superb music selection, it works so well

Good information as always.

Top notch work as always Tom.

That was really interesting. Good work man, thanks for getting the information out there in this style.

good video mate

Fascinating video about a rich culture. Thanks Tom.

Great video with rich storytelling! Thank you for contributing with this material!

Saturated with information. Thank you StJ 😊 Your documtaries are top notch 👌

Excellent video, as usual

Great stuff. Your videos just keep getting better and better in terms of production and the pacing/flow. 32 minutes flew right by. Also love when there's a surprise Golden One appearance.

The curious thing here in Sweden is that although my grandparents were very much Christians, they still held on to several pagan traditions that just seem to be Swedish tradition to me at the time. They told me of old stories not to be tampered with and at the same time tell me about Näcken that scared me but was a character in sagas, wich make me wish that I at this age could ask them were all this older stuff came from. To be that religious and still talk about not upsetting the "beings" in the forest or the mountains for example, I took their talking for granted as a child but if I could ever meet them again, I would ask them about so much more. I think for my family they were the last to hold on to the old beliefs and they died in the mid 1990s. I mostly felt they were unnecessary stories that have been heard for generations, I now feel ashamed for not keeping it for the future generations. It was also done orally there were no real text to my knowledge.

Great video!! Awesome job well done!!

wonderful video as ever

Thanks for suggesting this; it was well worth another watch.

Fascinating video, a few years back I lived in Sweden for a while in the Stockholms Skärgård region. I used to visit the "Säby Gravfält" sight fairly often as it was a great place to just wonder around and unwind in, I think it held 150 graves and the largest being 20m in diameter. One time I visited Gotland and was amazed to see so many different sites, virtually every village on the island had some form of ancient Viking monument. Sweden's definitely enriched with these sites to say the least and it's great to see people visiting them.

I love your channel, it's really helping me find my self and discover my ancestoral faith

this is what I've been wishing for! this is just magnificant! thank you so much for this, truely fills my heart with joy!!!

Amazing, thanks, I am sharing this video with my family :)

As usual very interesting and well researched! Rösaring is an extremely special place which oddly enough has been a bit forgotten (in our contemporary times) in the shadow of places like Gamla Uppsala and Anundshög.

Love these videos. Been following for quite some time. Nice to here how important dogs are as these animals are greatly overlooked in other films. Keep up the great work👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇧🇻🇧🇻🇧🇻🇧🇻

Exactly what I looked for, planning for the journey I had to give up on in 2020. Thanks a lot!

A fantastic video, really well made

i like how you bring light to the swedish vikings who are not as popular as norwegian, danish or icelandic ones

Well done Sir. We are all so blessed by your passion.

Thank you for these informations❤️

Very well made my friend... i look forward to seeing these ancient sites from the lands my ancestors come from... thank you for you're dedication and persistence to educate... with love from America as we survive the jive 👍...

Fantastic video. Thank you!

Great documentary - and it's coming from a Swedish archaeologist

Guy at the very beginning... that "come at me bro" then the "I am right here" head tilt. I felt that.

Wonderful video Tom! The rune stones and the rock carvings in Släbro are very special to me and I have a close connection to them as I grew up within a 10 minute walk from them! Besides Släbro, the specific area in Nyköping where they're located is called "Harg" ( = place of sacrifice, altar of sacrifice or just barrow/mound in old norse for anyone who doesn't know) and in my younger years we spent countless hours of fishing in the river, riding bikes, going on adventures and looking for beavers, walking across the bridge to school and even having outdoors track running at PE all accompanied by these rune stones and the carvings. The local football team is also called Hargs BK and our home pitch and HQ is right on the other end of the forest by the barrows. We were taught from an early age (both from our parents and at school) to respect these places and to not climb and play on the barrows and the carvings and to always be respectful of them so these places have always been surrounded by mystery and admiration to me and especially the carvings at Släbro. I have a personal theory as to why some of the carvings look the way the do and I reckon that the person/persons did the carvings in a sort of meditative state listening to the water and waves running by that area in the bronze age, because the area was almost surrounded by water back then, and many of the carvings look like wave patterns and something you would imagine in a flowing state of mind just listening to the sound of a river or waves rolling in. I'm really not well read on this subject to this is an amateur guessing at best, but I have a strong suspicion that in the absence of ships the river still played a big part in the lives of the people in Släbro and Harg. Thanks for the video and for letting me reminiss of my youth growing up in Släbro and Harg, next time you visit, let me know and I'll invite you in for a pint at my old folks house as they still live there, haha!

Suggested video on youtube, 10/10 will sub. Really well done

31:01 TGO: "Come on Tom, lemme show you my hidden outdoor gym behind the mound." STJ: "They better serve tea, i swear to god."

Splendid work!

Really, really nice job on the video I enjoyed it a lot, and very cool that you visited and filmed so many different places in Sweden. You even filmed close to where I live! Some of your pronounciations were a bit off (like you said trä-udd and ay-nundshög) but most of them you nailed perfectly!

This is your best video so far (from what I’ve seen so far). Great map. I live nust north of Stockhokm and have barrows in the fields behind my house and there are lots of rune stones around.

Absolutely excellent. I will rewatch many times

Many of the old churches in Sweden are situated at old holy sites, commonly offerlundar. Trees and posts like you mention had a very important role in old norse tradition, the first humans Ask and Embla was as the names suggest fashioned from timber by the gods, perhaps not unlike how the people later depicted the gods on the posts? Furthermore it is quite interesting how the trees of the offerlundar often were left at the chruches and remained holy. The cult of this kind of whorship of trees did not dissapear in Sweden but took new forms like for example in the form of vårdträd, which was a symbol of you and your bloodline or entire villages fortune. If the tree remained strong and thriving so would you and your family or village, but if it died or fell ill so would your family, and there are stories of how vårdträd died and the person attached to it soon followed. This to some extent still lives on to this day.

Bra video!

This is a very good documentary on Vikings, good pronounce on the viking words aswell :)

Great stuff

Thank you for this video. It must have been hard work visiting all those places. I live very close to Birka!

Beautifully produced. Having recently established my Y haplogroup to be from Sweden (although just 6% Swedish ancestry) it is interesting to see the history unfold from the steppe pastoralists bringing their culture and beliefs to the establishment of the viking era and gradual change to Christianity and modern Scandinavian society.

Marcus looking huge also

good show. thank yew.

Nice cameo at the end with muscle man.

Thank you

I live outside Nyköping, interesting to almost see my home here. Great video.

I have such a beautiful quite large runehill only 200 yards from my house. I feel very blessed. It is called the Holmfast runestone, check it out it is beautiful. With a wolf or dog pictured on it possibly fenrir?

I’m from Uppsala and as a kid was running up end down one this hills in gamla Uppsala!

13:50 ah, my home town! Anundshög, Västerås.

Pretty cool seeing the city Uppsala where I was born in the video

You should visit Uppåkra in Scania

Heyy Rösaring, like 3km from here.. cool

Cool. Bulgaria has loooads of Thracian burial mounds. I slept beside one, then saw your video about sleeping on burial mounds, high five!

Thanks!! 🍻

Nobody in Sweden seems to be aware that petroglyphs, identical to those at Nyköping or several other sites in Sweden, can be found in the gold-bearing region of the North Georgia Mountains in the United States. Georgia's petroglyphs include portrayals of Bronze Age boats, including the Hjartspringer from Scandinavia. Virtually all of the Track Rock (Georgia) petroglyphic symbols may be also found at Nyköping. Those at Nyköping have dated to around 2000 BC. Apparently, Nordic Bronze Age ships explored much farther from home than usually seen. The State of Georgia has the purest gold in the world, plus many types of precious stone, so there was a reason for Bronze Age seamen to go there.

Good video. Have you done any videos specifically explaining what Kennings are? Or why and how they are used?

I really appreciate your channel, so full of knowledge. I live in the US and we have none of this great history. I love what you do and love learning about the great Norse people

I'm curious: Could the carvings of Släbro be a form of communication via pictographs? The dots and dashes almost suggest a kind of shorthand to me. BTW. Thanks, Tom, for the amazing content once again! I became a Patreon supporter this week, and this quality of content is why.

Very interesting, another great video! Not far from where I live is a Bronze Age barrow which has a number of Saxon burials near by. Probably no more than 100m away from there is the local church, presumably built there as it was already a site of religious significance.

I’ve been searching for my Norwegian ancestors, that show up in my DNA test, I never dreamed it may be from my Swedish grandparents! Wow

Greetings from Sweden 🇸🇪

As someone who lives in Strängnäs. This makes me proud. Thank you.