Gnisvärd (also referred to as Gnisvärd and Smågårde), is a fishing village in Tofta on the central west coast of the island of

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

, Sweden. Gnisvärd is mostly known for its stone ships and harbor.

Geography

Gnisvärd is a small fishing village in the Tofta socken on the west coast of Gotland. It also includes the neighboring settlement Smågårde, about inland from Gnisvärd. The natural harbor, south of the modern manmade, was originally sheltered by a reef. A manmade harbor with a

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

was constructed in 1931. An extension of the harbor for pleasure craft was added later. North of the harbor is the long, sandy Gnisvärd beach. , Gnisvärd Chapel belongs to Eskelhem-Tofta

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in Eskelhems pastorat, along with the churches in Eskelhem and Tofta. One of the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s in the main belt, 10814 Gnisvärd, is named after this place.

History

Gnisvärd was first used as a harbor during the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

. Along the north road to Gnisvärd are some of the best preserved

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

stone ships on Gotland. Formerly one of Gotland's biggest fishing villages, Gnisvärd is made up of about 40 cottages of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

or wood, which line both sides of the narrow road running parallel to the beach. Most of the cottages were built during the 20th century. At the rear of the cottages are enclosed areas for drying fishing nets. The importance of the village reached its height when

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

fishing peaked: in 1600–1680, 1747–1809 and 1877–1906. The most renowned fishing was at the ''Laggrundet'' ("Lag shallow") at the end of the 19th century, where large quantities of fish spawned during April and May. Opportunities for

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...

and

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

fishing were also historically good in Gnisvärd. The Gnisvärd Chapel, also known as the ''Strandkyrkan'' ("Beach Church"), was built in 1839 on the site of an earlier wooden chapel, probably dating from the 1600s.

Fälting-Lotte

One of the more noted persons from Gnisvärd was Anna Chartlotta Ganström (30March 183714September 1912), also known as Fälting-Lotte. The daughter of a

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

, Fälting started out as a maid and later became one of Gotland's first female professional fishermen.

Etymology

Gnisvärd is sometimes referred to as "Gnidsvärd", a combination of the Swedish ''gnid'' ("rub" or "wipe") and ''svärd'' ("sword"). The origin of this name is explained in old documents collected by the priest Hans Nielsön Strelow (158727February 1656) and recorded in the 1633 chronicle ''Chronica Guthilandorum''. According to the text, Gotland suffered badly from sea-borne attacks by German pirates during the 17th century. The pirates also occupied the two islands of

Stora Karlsö Stora Karlsö is an island off the west coast of Gotland, Sweden; part of Eksta socken. It is mostly known for its rich birdlife with large colonies of Common murre, common guillemot, and flora. Stora Karlsö is a nature reserve, the second oldest ...

and

Lilla Karlsö Lilla Karlsö is a small Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, situated about off the west coast of Gotland and from Stora Karlsö; it is part of Eksta socken. It has an area of about and is high. Most of the island consists of a limestone plateau ...

, southwest of Gnisvärd. The Gotlandic chieftains finally had enough and united in a counterattack on the pirates. Gierre from Sjonhem and Bogke, supplied his brother Hangvar with 18 manned ships, and made him commander of the campaign. They sailed from Bogeviken and attacked the pirates at the two islands where they killed them all and burned their 80 ships. When they returned to land after a successful campaign, they wiped their swords clean of the blood of their enemies in the white sand at "''Gnidesuerdshaffn''"—''Gnidsvärd''.

Stone ships

The stone ships in Gnisvärd (the ''Gnisvärds skeppssättningar'') date to the later Bronze Age and are some of the best preserved stone ships on the island. Located just south of the north road to the fishing village, one of them is the largest on Gotland, measuring in length and in breadth. Consisting of about 100 closely packed, erected stones, the bow and

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

stones are the largest at approximately . The stone ship is located between two smaller, round

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...

s. About south of the largest stone ship lies another, and wide, surrounded by two small stone circles, a stone

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

in diameter and a smaller, slightly damaged stone ship. Approximately east of the first stone ship is a burial site consisting of one tumulus and eight round stone circles. There is also a large stone tumulus, in diameter and high, halfway between the stone ships and the fishing village. North of the stone ships is the only megalithic tomb on Gotland dating to 3600–2900 BC. Excavations at the site have revealed the remains of several people from different time periods up until 85 AD, making it a collective grave that has been reused several times. The largest of the stone ships is positioned with its "prow" facing the tomb. Since the stone ship was constructed after the tomb, it has been suggested that this could have been done to "moor" the ship to an older and revered place.

False stone ship

Between the original stone ships and the beach is an enormous construction () that looks like a stone ship. However, this construction is not listed by the

Swedish National Heritage Board The Swedish National Heritage Board ( sv, Riksantikvarieämbetet; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Cult ...

Gallery

File:Megalith tomb Gnisvärd winter.jpg, The megalith tomb in winter File:Havet utanför Gnisvärd Gotland.jpg, Part of the reef protecting the Viking Age harbor File:Stuga Gnisvärd.jpg, Cottage north of the fishing village File:Gnisvärds kapell (3) Gotland.jpg, Gnisvärd Chapel File:GotlandFiskelagen-Gnisvard-3.jpg, Area for drying nets behind one of the rows of cottages

References

External links

Academic paper on the Gnisvärd stone ships, with maps and pictures
(In Swedish with English summary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gnisvard Populated places in Gotland County