Glein is on the island of Dønna. You have to take the ferry from Sandnessjøen, Glein is 2 miles (20 km) from the ferry-landing at Bjørn.
The mound is called Val'haugen or Vardehaugen, built of stone with a coat of earth. It was partly demolished and the stone and gravel used for road-building at the end of the 18th century. The eastern side contained a burial-chamber covered by two large stone-slabs. In the chamber were the skeletons of a man and a horse, along with equipment such as a battle-axe and a sword. It is possible that the mound contained one or more stone-kists as well. The mound was restored in 1978 and is about 30 meter in diameter and 4,5 meter high.
The white stone that stands on the top (pikk-steinen as it's sometimes called in norwegian, translates into prick-stone in english I guess), is one of several phallic stones found in Norway. A list as of 2005 is found on the Arkeologi i nord-blog and totals 77. The one at Glein is the biggest at 90 cm. It has been suggested that they were used in fertility-cults connected to the seagod Njord (Solberg, 2001).
This particular stone was found by W.F.H. Christie on the beach close by and brought to Bergen Museum in 1831. A copy stood on the mound until the original was brought back in 200?.
Reference: Bergljot Solberg: Hellige hvite steiner - spor av fruktbarhetskult i Norge In Kjønn - erotikk - religion, 2001 (Bergen Museums skrifter; 9).
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Posted by Vragebugten
15th September 2008ce
Edited 16th September 2008ce
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