According to Swedish

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

, the Knights of Ålleberg are ghosts of twelve knights who died at the Battle of Åsle in a 1389. The legend is an example of the

king asleep in mountain The king asleep in the mountain (D 1960.2 in Stith Thompson's Motif (folkloristics), motif-index) is a prominent folklore Trope (literature), trope found in many folktales and legends. Thompson termed it as the Kyffhäuser type. Some other design ...

motif in

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Legend

The legend concerns knights who died at the Battle of Åsle, sometimes known as the Battle of Falköping, that took place in or around

Falköping Falköping () is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), ...

on 24 February (or August) 1389 between the forces of

Albert, King of Sweden Albert (, – 1 April 1412), also known as Albert of Mecklenburg (), was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412. Background He was the second son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and Euphemia ...

and

Margaret I of Denmark Margaret I (; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for ...

. The story says that the ghosts are trapped inside the

Ålleberg Ålleberg () is a 330 m high mountain, or table, southeast of Falköping, Sweden located in Falköping Municipality Falköping Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat i ...

mountain, waiting for a new war to wake them up so they can fight to save the country. The mountain is also thought to play host to

trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...

. In his ''One Year in Sweden'',

Horace Marryat Horace Marryat (1818–1887) was an English traveller, and author. Horace Marryat was a son of the businessman Joseph Marryat (1757–1824). His father maintained extended holdings in the West Indies, and made a fortune from colonial goods. Afte ...

recounts one of several versions of the legend current in Falköping, the municipality nearest to Ålleberg, as of his visit in the mid-19th century:

The peasants still have tales of the golden coats of armour worn by the German knights; and pretend, when wandering after nightfall, to have met the spirits of the warriors, especially before time of warfare.

Marryat continues, describing the story of a young man who enters the mountain at the bidding of a mysterious gentleman:

Around the walls of a vast chamber lay sleeping cavaliers, with golden armour hanging above their heads; from behind he heard a sound as of horses in their stables at night time. Though he did walk very softly with his iron-nailed shoes, some of the warriors awoke, and asked, "Is the hour yet come?"

In literature

A short story by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

titled (in English) "The Golden Helmets in the Alleberg", a humorous tale with abundant references to the

history of Sweden The history of Sweden can be traced back to the melting of the Northern polar ice cap. From as early as 12000 BC, humans have inhabited this area. Throughout the Stone Age, between 8000 BC and 6000 BC, early inhabitants used sto ...

, alludes to the legend.

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Legend

In literature

Notes

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See also