Wikimedia CommonsCulture
Norse / Scandinavian
Location
Uppsala County, Sweden
Key Figures
Odin, Thor, Freyr, Yngling kings
Images via Wikimedia Commons
The Myth
The story as told by the culture
Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala) was the religious and political center of the Svear (Swedes) and the most important cult site in pre-Christian Scandinavia. Adam of Bremen, writing around 1070 CE based on Danish informants, described a great temple at Uppsala covered entirely in gold, containing three idols: Thor in the center seat (as lord of the sky and harvests), Odin (Wotan) on one side armed for war, and Freyr (Fricco) on the other with an enormous phallus, representing fertility.
Every nine years, a great festival was held at Uppsala lasting nine days. Nine males of every living species — including humans — were sacrificed and hung from the trees in a sacred grove beside the temple. Adam of Bremen reported that 72 bodies could be seen hanging at once. The festival also involved feasting, drinking, and the assembly of all the Swedish tribes.
A great tree stood near the temple — an evergreen of unknown species — beside a sacred spring where sacrificial offerings were made. This tree has been connected by scholars to the World Tree Yggdrasil, which in Norse mythology connects the nine realms and stands at the center of the cosmos, with a spring (Urðarbrunnr) at its roots where the Norns tend the tree and determine fate.
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Myth types
The Place
The physical location today
Gamla Uppsala lies about 3 miles north of modern Uppsala, itself about 40 miles north of Stockholm. The site is dominated by three enormous burial mounds (the Royal Mounds) dating to the 5th-6th centuries CE, each about 60 feet high. These are among the largest surviving burial mounds in Scandinavia and are traditionally associated with the legendary kings of the Yngling dynasty — Aun, Egil, and Adils.
The medieval Gamla Uppsala Church, built in the 12th century directly atop or adjacent to the pagan temple site, is a small stone church still in active use. The surrounding landscape is flat agricultural land marked by additional smaller mounds and burial sites. A modern museum, Gamla Uppsala Museum, provides context.
Visit information
Access
Free — the mounds and church are publicly accessible; museum is ticketed
Nearest city
Uppsala, Sweden (3 mi); Stockholm (40 mi)
Notes
Easily reached by bus from Uppsala city centre (15 minutes). The museum provides essential context. The mounds are walkable. The adjacent Disagården open-air museum reconstructs local traditional buildings. Combine with a visit to Uppsala Cathedral, where several Swedish kings are buried.
The History
What archaeology and scholarship tell us
Archaeological excavations have confirmed Gamla Uppsala as a major cult and political center from at least the 3rd century CE through the Christianization of Sweden in the late 11th century. Excavations in 2013 revealed post-holes of a large wooden building beneath the church — potentially the remains of Adam of Bremen's temple, though the identification is debated.
The Royal Mounds have been partially excavated. The 'West Mound,' excavated in 1874, contained cremated remains, gold, garnets, and the bones of various animals. Radiocarbon dating places it in the late 5th century CE. The site's importance is confirmed by multiple literary sources, including Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (c. 1230), which describes Uppsala as the seat of the Yngling kings and the center of pagan worship in Sweden.
Mythological Connections
Sources
Adam of Bremen (trans. Tschan, Francis J.). History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen (1959). Columbia University Press. Primary source for the description of the pagan temple at Uppsala (Book IV, Chapter 26-27)
Tier 1Sundqvist, Olof. An Arena for Higher Powers: Ceremonial Buildings and Religious Strategies for Rulership in Late Iron Age Scandinavia (2016). Brill. Analysis of the Uppsala temple and its role in Scandinavian cult practice
Tier 2Nearby Sites
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