Gripsholm, farther up the lake, is a mediæval castle with picturesque towers and battlements rising from the water, amid dark green trees. Many historical souvenirs cluster around this old castle, which are mostly connected with the sons of Gustavus Vasa. It has been fitted up as a museum, and contains a very extensive collection of portraits of royal and historical personages, and many interesting pieces of ancient furniture, tapestry, and plate.
Forty miles by railway, north of Stockholm, is Upsala, the famous university town of Sweden, the historical and intellectual centre of the kingdom, and the stronghold of ancient paganism. On the brow of a hill, approached by a fine granite terrace and wide flights of steps, is the handsome modern University building of brick, with granite trimmings. The foundation of the University dates from 1477; it has been richly endowed by successive kings, and numbers about fifteen hundred students, who are distinguished about the quiet streets by their small white caps.
Opposite the University is the ancient Gothic cathedral, whose chief object of interest is the tomb of Gustavus Vasa, who lies buried between his first two wives, while number three is interred in a different part of the chapel; the sides of the burial chapel are frescoed with scenes from his life.
The sleepy little town was rather disappointing: its streets are paved with small cobble stones, there are a few promenades, small parks, and concert gardens, with here and there a large building connected with the University, containing a library or a laboratory. On a barren hill is the large and ugly castle built by Gustavus Vasa, commanding an extended view of the surrounding country, in which Gamla Upsala (Old Upsala), three miles away, is visible.
At Old Upsala are the three Kungshögar (king’s heights), mounds over fifty feet high, said to mark the graves of Odin, Thor, and Freya, the three great gods of Scandinavian mythology. Two of these mounds have been opened and a few bones and an urn found.
Another mound is called the Tingshög (assize-hill), from which the ancient kings used to harangue their subjects.
The splendid temple adorned with gold, within which sat the statues of Odin, Thor, and Freya, and the sacred grove adjoining, have disappeared leaving no vestige behind; but a quaint little stone church is said to mark the site of this most sacred shrine of Scandinavian worship, around which clustered the principal traditions of Northern mythology.