Rold Skov (Rold Forest) is a forest in

Himmerland Himmerland is a peninsula in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. It is delimited to the north and the west by the Limfjord, to the east by the Kattegat, and to the south by the Mariager Fjord. The largest city is Aalborg; smaller towns include Hobro, ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. At 8,000 ha, it is the second largest forest in the country, after the

Silkeborg Forests Silkeborg Forests is Denmark’s largest forest. It comprises a collection of several independent private and public woodlands, that have been allowed to merge into a single connected forest south of the city of Silkeborg. At 22,400 ha, it is Denm ...

.Denmark's 10 largest forests
The Danish Wood Initiative (2004) The forest is named after the village of Rold which lies in the southern outskirt of the forest. Other towns in Rold Skov include

Arden Arden may refer to: Places ;Australia *Arden, an area in North Melbourne, Victoria near the Arden Street Oval ;Canada * Arden, Ontario ;Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town **Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ; ...

, Rebild, and

Skørping Skørping is a railway town in Rebild Municipality in Region Nordjylland in the geographic region of the Jutland peninsula known as '' Himmerland'' in northern Denmark. The modern town has a population of 2,971 as of 1 January 2022;Rebild National Park Rebild National Park (Danish: ''Rebild Bakker'') is a protected area located in Rebild municipality in Region Nordjylland in Denmark. The park comprises a hilly heathland south of the small town of Rebild, situated in the geographic region of ...

, a natural site consisting of

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

er-covered hills, is located in the northern parts of the forest. To the east of the town of Rebild, lies the abandoned

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 ...

mines of Thingbæk ('Thingbæk Kalkminer'), now used for underground art exhibitions and an important site for five species of hibernating

bats Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

in the winter months. The mines are administered through Rebildcentret, who also hosts various museums, activities and some conservation efforts in the area. South of Skørping is the Jyske Skovhave ('Jylland Forest Garden'), an open

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

begun in 1886 and displaying a variety of trees and shrubs from the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. The forest is part of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

network (#18 ''Rold Skov, Lindenborg Ådal og Madum Sø'') and is both an EU habitat and a

Ramsar wetland of international importance This is the list of Wetlands of International Importance as defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation movement, conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their econom ...

. 75% of the forest is privately owned, primarily under the manors of Lindenborg, Nørlund and Willestrup. The state of Denmark owns and administers the rest.

History

Although Denmark is normally considered a safe country nowadays, Rold Skov was formerly associated with robberies and violent assaults for centuries. In the 1830s the authorities succeeded in unraveling maybe the largest gang of all, with more than a hundred robbers and courtcases spanning a total of seven years from 1837 to 1844. The events and the gangs activities were later described in a novel by Danish writer

Steen Steensen Blicher Steen Steensen Blicher (11 October 1782, Vium – 26 March 1848 in Spentrup) was an author and poet born in Vium near Viborg, Denmark. Biography Blicher was the son of a literarily inclined Jutlandic parson whose family was distantly rela ...

. The closed civil government atomic

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

of Denmark, named Regan Vest ( :da:Regan Vest), is located in the forest.

Flora and fauna

Rold Skov has a rich and varied fauna. It is home to a large variety of birds and the larger animals here are

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...

and

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, among many different smaller animals like

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s and different kinds of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s including

squirrels Squirrels are members of the family (biology), family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flyi ...

. Large parts of the woods are dominated by various

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s and the flora of the forest floor is rather poor of species in most areas. Where chalk comes to the surface layers, it can present some rare and more interesting plant species though, like the rare lady's-slipper orchid growing side by side with plants like pennywort, smell fox and

red helleborine ''Cephalanthera rubra'', known as red helleborine, is an orchid found in Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia. Although reasonably common in parts of its range, this Cephalanthera has always been one of the rarest orchids in Britain. Descrip ...

for example. Note: In Denmark all orchids are to be protected and it is not allowed to pick them. Rold Skov supports a very broad array of

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

, with 5,000 different species and still counting. There are well known eating mushrooms to be found, but also fungi like the peculiar ''Troldsmør'' ("Troll-butter" or ''

fuligo septica ''Fuligo septica'' is a species of slime mold, and a member of the class Myxomycetes. It is commonly known as scrambled egg slime, or flowers of tan because of its peculiar yellowish appearance. It is also known as dog vomit slime mold, and is ...

'') that can move around, the beautiful

fly agaric ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...

, the

tinder fungus ''Fomes fomentarius'' (commonly known as the tinder fungus, false tinder fungus, hoof fungus, tinder conk, tinder polypore or ice man fungus) is a species of fungal plant pathogen found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The species prod ...

used for lighting fire in the old days or the tricky bitter bolete.

In Literature

: ''Bettefanden''.

Gallery

File:Flest træer pr. kvadrat meter i Danmark - USIKKERT!.jpg, Nature scene File:Skovhave3.jpg, At the Jylland Forest Garden. File:Rebild Bakker 2007 - 01 ubt.jpg, Rebild Bakker ('Rebild hills'). File:Cimbrertyren.jpg, Art in Thingbæk Kalkminer.

Sources and references

Rold Skov
Naturstyrelsen.
Rold Skov
Rold Skov Natur- og Kulturcenter.

Naturturist Nordjylland
Forest Rold Skov
Danish
Rebild Rakker
Hills of Rebild Danish
Rold Skov Museerne
Knudepunkt for museerne i Rold Skov.

External links

Rebildcentret
English available.
Routes, pamphlets, maps
pdf-collection on Rold Skov and surroundings. Rold Skov Nature and Culturecenter
Rold Skov
Pictures from Rold Skov. {{Authority control Geography of Denmark Forests of Denmark Forestry in Denmark Arboreta in Denmark Special Areas of Conservation in Denmark Ramsar sites in Denmark