The Troll’s Garden at Stallsbacke.
In the forest north of Stora Djulö, in the parish of Stora Malm, lies a hill called Stallsbacke—Stall Hill—because King Charles XI. is said to have had his stable there on one of his journeys.
Within the forest near the hill there is an enchanted garden where many a man has gone astray, and has been compelled to wander the whole night [[188]]through, because he did not know that turning his coat inside out, or throwing fire at the sun, would give him the key to his deliverance.
Many have, during these wanderings, been imprisoned in the enchanted garden, but not all have liberated themselves from the enchantment as old Löfberg, the steward from Stora Djulö, succeeded in doing.
Late one Thursday evening, while traveling the path from the pasture home to the mansion, he found himself suddenly in the presence of a high wall with grated gates, beyond which was visible the most beautiful garden ever seen by man. The moon was high in the heavens, and Löfberg could distinguish objects as clearly as in daylight. He saw that the trees hung full of fruit, and that the bushes were bowed with berries, which glistened like precious stones. When he had viewed the magnificent sight a few minutes, and was about to go on, an old man, who proclaimed himself the gardener, presented himself, and invited Löfberg to go in and gather of the fruit what he pleased. But Löfberg was too wise for this. He understood that what he saw was the work of the Trolls, and answered that at home there was a much more beautiful garden, and that he had no occasion to go into strange gardens to get a few rotten, sour apples.
This he should not have said. Suddenly there came up a strong wind, which blew his hat over the wall, and, as Löfberg left it behind him and hastened home, there came a crash in the forest, whereupon the vision suddenly melted away. [[189]]
Herr Melker of Veckholm.[1]
In the parish of Veckholm, east of Svingarn Fjord, lived, in the [[190]]fifteenth century, a priest widely known for his wisdom and goodness. No day went by that he did not read his Bible, and in the evening, when others had gone to rest, he went to the church to offer up his prayers at the altar.
His wife, who attended only to her worldly affairs, and did not look upon these nightly ramblings kindly, determined to put an end to them, and to this end, one evening, called into service one of the servants. “Lasse,” said she, “if you will put a white sheet over you and stand in the dark near the path and frighten father when he comes from the church, you shall have a pot of ale.”
The man had nothing against this, and with the assistance of his mistress, clad himself as directed and took a position near the path connecting the church and parsonage.
After a while the priest came from the church. Upon observing the spook, he read a prayer and bade the apparition sink into the ground.
The man sank into the ground to his knees without betraying himself, but continued to play the ghost. The priest prayed again, when Lasse sank into the ground to his waist.
“It is I! dear father! it is I!” cried Lasse, now in consternation.
“It is too late! too late, Lasse!” replied the priest, [[191]]with a sorrowful voice. At the same time the servant sank alive into the earth out of sight.
To commemorate the incident, a wooden cross was raised on the spot, which is always replaced by a new one when the old one has become old and decayed. [[192]]
[1] Supplementing this story, it is related that the punishment meted out to the priest’s worldly-minded wife for seducing the servant into the [[190]]attempt to frighten her husband from his devotions was that her body after death should remain in the grave undecayed.
The same story is told of a woman member of the old family of Ickorna, and the attempt has been made to establish that she is identical with the woman of Veckholm. [↑]