Ship-Shaped Burial Of Tjelvar – Legendary First Man Who Brought Fire To Gotland

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - Tjelvar's tomb is a ship set from the Bronze Age located near the east coast of Gotland and almost directly east of Visby, in the parish of Boge on the island.

Tjelvar's burial site is 18 meters long and 5 meters wide. In the Late Bronze Age, around 1100 – 500 BC, graves were built in the form of ships with relays of erected stones. There are about 350 such graves on Gotland; traditionally, only one grave is found in each ship set.

The length of the ships usually varied. However, often, several ship sets were adjacent to each other. Sometimes they were even built together with common stones in the fore or aft.

Tjelvar's grave is not as famous as the enigmatic Ales Stenar (in English, Ale's Stones), often referred to as Sweden's Stonehenge of The North'.

The Ale's Stones constitutes Sweden's largest remaining stone ship, and this kind of stone circle date back to the Bronze or Iron Age. Building ship-shaped burial was widespread during the Bronze Age.

Tjelvar's tomb is 18 meters long and 5 meters wide, with gunwale stones that subside towards the boat's center. Inside, the ship is filled with stone like a built-up boat deck. It is believed that the grave dates back to the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC).

When it was restored in 1938, a small coffin made of stone slabs was found, but it was plundered long ago, and it only contained a few potsherds and some burnt bones.

Legendary Tjelvar Is Mentioned In ‘Gutasaga’

Many believe he was a legendary figure. According to the 13th-century 'Gutasaga,' Tjelvar was the first to set foot on Gotland. Tradition has it that Gotland at that time was so 'bewitched' that in the daytime, it sank, and at night it stood up.

Tjelvar's tomb. Image credit: Char55lotte - CC BY-SA

Tjelvar brought the fire to the island, and miraculously the island stopped sinking into the sea during the day, according to the old 'Gutasaga.'

No one knows when the first people came to Gotland, but the oldest skeleton found is after a man who lived on the island about 8,000 years ago.

Ancient people have performed ceremonies at landings at all times, and through the Icelandic sagas, we learned that during the Viking Age, fire was used to limit a land area. No one was allowed to take a more significant place than he and his men could burn off in one day. It was a deeply respected tradition.

It is said that Tjelvar lived on the farm in Boge, and then he was buried there in a boat-shaped grave.

In the vicinity of Tjelvar's grave, two hillforts are possibly dated to the Iron Age. For protection, they were most probably reinforced with walls. Wooden palisades may have crowned walls and ramparts.

  Illustration of hillfort. Image credit:  Ulla Sjöswärd

The 'Gutasaga,' which mentions Tjelvar, is a Gotland chronicle about the island's early history before Christianity arrived. This literary work survived in only a single manuscript, which, together with the Gotland legal code- the medieval Gotland law book - is known as 'Gutalag.'

It forms part of the Codex Holm (now held in the royal library in Stockholm).

Ancient Viking funeral traditions and rituals were very complex. Vikings lived in a hierarchical society, and ancient tombs reveal that the type of burial a Viking received depended on his importance in the community.

When a Viking died, he could either be buried or burned. Ship burials were rare, and they were only reserved for great Viking warriors whose dead body was placed on a ship that sailed out to the sea and was set on fire.

The Vikings were the lords of the oceans. Credit: Vlastimil Sesták - Adobe Stock

Vikings who were not as influential could be burned. Cremation was relatively common during the early Viking Age.

Vikings' burial customs depended on the region where they lived, but their ships were always admired and respected.

One of the main reasons behind the Vikings' success in reaching distant lands lies in their remarkable longships. The Vikings' ships were the European Dark Ages' most outstanding technical and artistic achievement. Without these great ships, the Viking Age would never have happened. It's, therefore, understandable that burials were deliberately constructed in the image of the ship.

As old historical sources explain, Tjelvar's arrival changed the history of Gotland, and he deserved to be put to rest in a shaped grave.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

Updated on May 30, 2023

Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com

Expand for references