''Kråkguldet'' ("Crows Gold", literally "The Crow-Gold") is a Swedish

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

drama serial A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

from 1969, directed by Leif Krantz and Olle Mattsson.

Plot synopsis

The story takes place during the weeks before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

, in the small

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

town of fictitious Granhyttan in

Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since t ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. One day, a suspicious couple, Signe and Orvar, arrives in the small town and retires in an abandoned hut. Nobody knows what they are up to; but strange things starts to happen as Staffan finds a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

- nugget while playing in a disused mine at Kråkberget ("Crow Mountain", literally "The Crow-Mountain") during a

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

trip with his schoolmates. Staffan believes that the nugget is a part of Skarp-Erik's gold, as his

grandpa Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...

had told exciting stories about. The news about the gold discovery spread quickly and Staffan and his friends are soon pursued by curious schoolmates, school-staff and also the mysterious strangers. All this happens as the students are rehearsing for the

nativity play A Nativity play or Christmas pageant is a play which recounts the story of the Nativity of Jesus. It is usually performed at Christmas, the feast of the Nativity. For the Christian celebration of Christmas, the viewing of the Nativity play is o ...

before Christmas break.

About the serial

Each part of the series begins with a brief synopsis by Tore Lindwall, who also played Staffan's grandfather. The main recording site was Grythyttan in

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ) is a historical Swedish province, or , in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "West Man Land" or, less literally, "The Land of the Western Men", where the "we ...

. The series premiered in 1969, and has been shown in the replay several times, including February–March in 1976, June–July in 1986 and December 1993-January in 1994.

Sound track

*Open theme: "Balladen om kråkguldet" ("Ballad of the Crows Gold") by Leif Krantz (lyrics), and Thorstein Bergman (music). *Music and songs for the

, by Bo-Erik Gyberg: **"Vi har kommit ifrån öster, följt en stjärna natten lång ..." ("We have come from the east, followed a star all night ..."); **"Herodes han hade sin skattkammar' full ..." (" Herod he had his treasure chambers full..."); and **"Herdarna ute på ängen ..." ("Shepherds out on the meadow ...").

British showing

The series was imported by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and translated into English as ''Gold on Crow Mountain''. It was shown twice, from 3 November to 8 December 1971 and again from 31 March to 5 May 1973.

Episodes

*Episode 1: ''Farligt område'' (Original Air Date: 29 November 1969) *Episode 2: ''Huvet på ett fat'' (Original Air Date: 6 December 1969) *Episode 3: ''Ingen dager synes än'' (Original Air Date: 13 December 1969) *Episode 4: ''Jägare och villebråd'' (Original Air Date: 20 December 1969) *Episode 5: ''Dags för Herodes'' (Original Air Date: 25 December 1969) *Episode 6: ''Skarp-Eriks skatt'' (Original Air Date: 27 December 1969)

Sources

Kråkguldet

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krakguldet 1960s Swedish television series 1969 Swedish television series debuts 1969 Swedish television series endings Swedish children's television series