3 MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN SWEDEN PART 2
Ghostly greetings to all my paranormal addicts!
Did you really think that I would disappoint you and not release a sequel to my first MUST-READ blog post in which I explored 3 of the MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN STOCKHOLM? Well, you assumed wrong as I WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!
So now that Halloween has officially begun, I will try once again to put my sixth sense to good use and embark on a metaphysical journey to some of the spookiest places that Stockholm has to offer.
1. KUNGLIGA BIBLIOTEKET
By far one of my favorite study places, Kungliga Biblioteket is the proud possessor of an invaluable collection of material that has been continuously enriched for more than a millennium! But did you know that among other treasures, The National Library of Sweden also houses the largest medieval manuscript in the world which has been preserved for circa 800 years?
According to the legend, the manuscript originated in a Bohemian monastery where a Benedictine monk committed such a serious sin that he was utterly terrified of the inhuman punishment to which he was going to be subjected. In his desperation to be saved from an unspeakable fate, he begged the monks to spare him, thus making a strange bargain. Therefore, he promised to bring honor to the monastery by creating the greatest work the world has ever seen which will include all the knowledge possessed and achievements accomplished by mankind up to that date. Nevertheless, the only condition imposed by the monks was for him to complete his work by the next day. In the middle of the night, realizing that he would never be able to finish the manuscript, the monk asked the Devil for help in exchange for his soul. It is said that the Devil’s portrait was added to the Codex as a sign of gratitude.
Besides, the past holds memories of some truly terrifying events related to this manuscript. A night watchman of the library once caught the books floating and whirling in the air as their random motion was being orchestrated by the Devil’s Bible and the Devil himself! The guard ended up institutionalized after being found in an advanced state of confusion, mumbling and muttering away to himself while experiencing some persistent hallucinations. To this day, people could swear they heard voices coming from the Codex.
2. VÄSTERLÅNGGATAN 24
Once upon a time, a captain whose boat went missing at sea was cruelly abandoned by his crew in the arms of the furious waves. While struggling to remain on the water’s surface and not sink down, he started to think that everything was lost until he suddenly saw a beautiful nymph goddess of the sea who was ruling over the oceans. The supernatural being sheltered the captain in one of her castles under the sea and used her magical healing powers to get him back on his feet. However, in exchange for her kindness and the solemn promise that he would return home safely, the captain was supposed to deliver a mysterious letter to a certain address in Stockholm, namely Västerlånggatan 24, as soon as he reached the shore. As expected, the captain’s selfish nature was hardly conducive to faithfully respecting the terms of the agreement and so he broke the pact as he was being more preoccupied with unloading his cargo from the ship.
Suddenly remembering his bargain with the sorceress, the captain immediately left to deliver the letter to its original destination. The recipient of the letter was supposed to be Mr. Måns, but there was only one Mr. Måns who lived at Västerlånggatan 24 and he was a cat!
According to the legend, the very moment the captain put the letter on the floor in front of Mr. Måns, the cat started to cry and devour the captain and then proceeded to climb down the window while slowly turning to stone. No one has ever been able to decipher the message in the letter.
The story’s moral: when an ancient sea entity helps you survive deadly waves, one could put his selfishness aside and keep his word!
3. van der Nootska Palace
Just imagine that it’s Sunday evening, and you still have a lot to study for your lipid metabolism intermediate exam, but you would like to take a very long bath first so that you can rally your exhausted energies a little bit. Sounds great, right? Well, if you had lived at van der Nootska Palace, you should have skipped the bath, or else you would have encountered the ghost of a mermaid who spends every single Sunday evening bathing in there!
The legend says that, a very long time ago, a king found out that he was going to have a daughter. As great as his joy was upon learning the news, the greater was his sadness to discover that his child had been cursed by an evil witch to turn into a mermaid every Sunday. The only way the curse could be broken was for the king’s daughter to give birth to 11 children.
But one day a noble duke asked for her hand in marriage. Since then, the princess has decided to keep this unpleasant secret locked away from her husband, thereby being forced to take refuge in the bathtub once a week. Sadly, just before giving birth to their 11th child, her husband found out the truth. Being desperately ashamed of her monstrous form and deeply hurt by her husband’s repulsion towards her, Melusina decided to escape through the bathtub drain. She ditched her human appearance and became a full-time mermaid, eternally sailing through the pipes under her bathtub!
Happy Halloween everyone!
References:
Vlad – Biomedicine (BSc)
I'm Vlad, your Romanian blogger who comes from the very homeland of Dracula, Transylvania. While completing my first degree in International Business, I based my undergraduate thesis on the inconsistency of biological analogies in Economics. I began to study the genomes of ants and thus gravitate towards Biomedicine and KI. I chose Karolinska because of its academic and research excellence and because one day I wish to be able to make a difference in the field of Cancer Genetics. Visiting the remarkable collection of preserved medieval manuscripts from the Kungliga Biblioteket is on my bucket list.
0 comments