Hut Circle at NG80971 77346 – the north wall.
Image credit: drew/A/B
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November 5, 2025
Hut Circle at NG80971 77346 – superb site looking east.
Image credit: drew/A/B
Hut Circle at NG80971 77346 – taken from the top of Meal na h-Iolaire
Image credit: drew/A/B
Hut Circle at NG81050 77405 – the east wall.
Image credit: drew/A/B
Hut Circle at NG81050 77405 – from the middle of the hut circle.
Image credit: drew/A/B
Hut Circle at NG81050 77405 – massive walls on south.
Image credit: drew/A/B
Hut Circle at NG8105077405 – large but overgrown hut circle looking south.
Image credit: drew/A/B
November 4, 2025
Gravhøj i Bregninge præstegårdshave på Tåsinge
Mound in Bregninge Præstegaard
Bregninge Præstegård (Bregninge Rectory) in Svendborg Municipality features archaeological evidence primarily related to a settlement dating to the Bronze Age (1100 – 500 BC). A museum excavation conducted in 1983 uncovered a small portion of this hilltop settlement, revealing several pits and post holes. Finds included pottery from the Late Bronze Age, Period V, although the total extent of structures belonging to this specific period remains undetermined. The Bronze Age settlement layer was found to be overlaid by later activities, including a slag pit. It is presumed that the main area of the ancient habitation is located within the current rectory garden, west of the excavated area.
The location is also distinguished by a large Round Barrow (Gravhøj) situated within the private garden of the Bregninge Church Rectory. This monumental mound measures about 4 meters high and 28 meters in diameter. While confirmed as a burial mound in 1877, its most notable feature is a path known as a Sneglegang (spiral path) that leads from the foot to the flat summit. This spiral ramp is generally interpreted not as an ancient feature, but as a landscaped path, likely constructed during the 17th or 18th century to access a summer house (lysthus) that maps suggest once stood atop the barrow. Historical records indicate the mound’s fill includes kitchen midden layers, thick charcoal, and seashell remnants. The barrow remains a protected ancient monument.
National danish database for ancient sites and finds
Æbleskivestenen (apple slice Stone) is a large erratic boulder approximately three meters long and two meters wide. The stone features no less than 105 distinct cup marks (skåltegn) carved into its surface, though older records sometimes mention 83 depressions. These cup marks are the most common form of rock carvings found in the Danish region, typically dated to the Bronze Age.
While their precise meaning remains enigmatic, they are widely interpreted as sacred fertility symbols and are strongly linked to the period’s concentration on sun worship and religious ceremonies vital for the inhabitants’ prosperity. The stone itself served as a powerful gathering spot for these cultic activities.
Æbleskivestenen was one of the earliest sites to receive official protection, being voluntarily preserved in 1875, decades before the general cultural heritage law of 1937.
In 1875, Theobald Weber created a small, circular enclosure around the stone, utilizing 13 to 14 smaller quernstones found in the area to complete the monument. The site, which holds great national importance, remains openly accessible.
National danish database for ancient sites
Hagbard and Signe
The story of »Hagbard and Signe« is a well-known Nordic legend about a pair of lovers who are unable to be together because their families are feuding, ultimately choosing to die together. The basic narrative is similar to Shakespeare’s »Romeo and Juliet«. The legend is primarily known from two main sources: Saxo Grammaticus’s »Gesta Danorum« (around the year 1200) and a medieval folk ballad, “Hagbard og Signe,” which was sung throughout the Nordic region. This ballad is number 20 (DgF 20) in Svend Grundtvig’s comprehensive collection, »Danmarks gamle Folkeviser«.
The story revolves around Hagbard, son of King Håmund, and Signe (also called Signelille), daughter of King Siger (or Sigvard). Their families are enemies, and after a battle between their brothers ends in a draw, Hagbard meets and falls in love with Signe, who secretly promises to marry him.
The folk ballad version begins with Hagbard having a prophetic dream in which he is in heaven with Signe, but they fall through the sky. An “Elven Datter” (daughter of the elves) interprets the dream, predicting that he will win the maiden but must die for her. Undeterred, Hagbard disguises himself in women’s clothing to enter King Sigvard’s court and be near Signe. Signe’s father, King Sigvard, allows the disguised Hagbard to stay with his daughter to learn needlework but warns them both to beware of Hagbard, who is a cunning suitor.
During the evening, an evil serving maid (“den arge Terne”) grows suspicious of the “maiden” who carves wood expertly, drinks heavily, and has strong hands and piercing eyes. Later that night, Hagbard and Signe are together and confess their love for each other. Hagbard reveals his identity, explaining he came in disguise because Signe’s father had threatened to hang him. The evil maid overhears their conversation, steals Hagbard’s sword and armor while he sleeps, and informs King Sigvard.
The king’s men attack, and though Hagbard fights bravely with bedposts, he is eventually captured. He breaks every bond used to restrain him until the evil maid suggests binding him with a lock of Signe’s hair. His love for her is so strong that he will not break the hair, and he is finally subdued.
Sentenced to be hanged, Hagbard makes a final request to Signe: when she sees him on the gallows, she should set fire to her bower. As he is led to the gallows, he asks that his red cloak be hung up first to test Signe’s promise. Seeing the cloak, Signe believes Hagbard is dead, sets her chamber on fire, and dies in the flames with her maids. When Hagbard sees the fire, he knows Signe has kept her word and goes gladly to his death. King Sigvard, realizing too late how powerful their love was, deeply regrets his actions and orders the treacherous serving maid to be buried alive.
The tale of Hagbard and Signe’s faithful love has been known in the Nordic countries for over a thousand years and was considered an ancient memory even to the pagan forefathers. References to the story, such as a kenning for “gallows” being “Signe’s man’s cold horse,” appear in a Norwegian poem from around 900 CE. While the legend’s precise origin is unknown, name forms like “Hagbard” suggest a continental German origin.
The setting of the legend has been claimed by many locations across Scandinavia, including Sigersted in Zealand, Denmark; several sites in Sweden; and Engeløya in Norway. Various landmarks, such as burial mounds and stones, are associated with the characters.
The legend has inspired later works, including Adam Oehlenschläger’s tragedy »Hagbarth og Signe« (1815) and Gabriel Axel’s film »The Red Mantle« (1967). In modern times, an amateur play about the couple is performed every other year on the Norwegian island of Engeløya.
da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagbard_og_Signe
kalliope.org/en/text/folkeviser2018041012
