The little island Munkholmen exterior of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a very long time. From an previous Viking execution place to a state jail, who continues to be lingering there of their afterlife?
Rising quietly from the waters of the Trondheim Fjord, Munkholmen seems peaceable by day. Tour boats glide previous its rounded shores, seabirds cry overhead, and the island appears little greater than a picturesque landmark. However beneath this calm floor lies one in every of Norway’s darkest historic websites, a spot formed by execution, imprisonment, and non secular isolation.
Learn Extra: Take a look at all ghost tales from Norway
For hundreds of years, Munkholmen has carried a fame as a haunted island the place the previous has by no means totally loosened its grip.
From Holy Floor to Place of Execution
Munkholmen’s troubled historical past started lengthy earlier than its stone partitions had been raised. Within the early Center Ages, the island served as a website of executions. Criminals and enemies of the crown had been introduced throughout the water and put to dying, their our bodies usually left uncovered as a warning to others on spikes. It’s stated that Olav Tryggvason had the heads of Earl Håkon and the slave Kark impaled right here within the 12 months 995.
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Later, a Benedictine monastery Nidarholm Mariakloster was established on the island, giving Munkholmen its title because the nation’s oldest monastery. The monks got here searching for solitude and devotion, however even prayer couldn’t erase the island’s grim legacy. Fires repeatedly destroyed the monastery, and lots of believed the land itself was cursed, soaked in blood lengthy earlier than the primary chapel stone was laid.
The Jail Island
Munkholmen’s darkest chapter started within the seventeenth century, when it was remodeled right into a state jail and fortress. Political prisoners and criminals. Some had been stored in damp underground cells the place daylight by no means reached. Others had been chained in small stone chambers, listening to the waves crash endlessly in opposition to the partitions.
One of the crucial notorious prisoners was Rely Peder Schumacher Griffenfeld, as soon as probably the most highly effective man in Denmark-Norway. Beneath Christian V he turned the king’s foremost advisor and by far the de facto ruler of Denmark-Norway.
Griffenfeld failed in his efforts to forestall conflict, and in 1675 Denmark-Norway entered into armed battle with Sweden, the Scanian Conflict . Varied negotiations surrounding the start of the conflict and his friendliness to the French contributed to his being accused of treason and lèse-majesté .
After falling from royal favor, he was imprisoned on Munkholmen for practically 20 years. He spent his time studying, educating youngsters and writing small non secular writings. After this, he was moved to Trondheim metropolis, the place he lived beneath guard for the final time, and died the next 12 months.
Victor Hugo printed the novel The Prisoner on Munkholmen in 1831 about Griffenfeld’s time in jail. Guests and guards later claimed that his spirit by no means left, pacing unseen corridors lengthy after his dying.
Many prisoners died on the island from illness, publicity, or despair. Their our bodies had been buried close by or solid into the ocean. Over time, tales unfold of anguished voices heard at evening, echoing from empty cells and sealed passageways.
Ghostly Sightings and Unexplained Phenomena
Reviews of hauntings on Munkholmen date again lots of of years. Guards as soon as spoke of shadowy figures transferring alongside the fortress partitions after sundown, disappearing when approached. Others described the sound of chains dragging throughout stone, despite the fact that no prisoners remained.
Some report sudden drops in temperature contained in the fortress, accompanied by an awesome feeling of dread. Doorways have been heard slamming shut on calm days, and footsteps echo the place nobody stands.
The story was popularized as soon as once more when the papers began to publish an image, claiming to point out the ghost roaming the island in 2008.
Tommy Skog and his son had been visiting the island and was taking footage of the jail towers the place an oval gap within the wall on the primary ground caught his consideration. When wanting on the image, he was sure he had taken an image of the ghost of a person, sitting within the opening.
An Island That By no means Really Sleeps
Right now, Munkholmen is a well-liked vacation spot in summer season, however its darker fame persists. Locals usually say the island feels completely different as soon as the final boat departs and silence returns. As nightfall settles, the fortress appears to look at the fjord, its thick partitions holding centuries of struggling inside.
Whether or not haunted by monks, prisoners, or these executed lengthy earlier than historical past was written down, Munkholmen stays a spot the place the previous feels uncomfortably shut. The ocean could encompass it, nevertheless it has by no means really washed the island clear.
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