- Earnaness
Earnanæs (Old English), Aranæs (
Old Swedish ) and Årnäs (Modern Swedish) is the name of at least two locations, in what is today southern Sweden, which are known from history and legend. The names are variations of the same name, and this has aroused the interest of scholars since the 19th century.Beowulf
In "
Beowulf ", Earnanæs is the location in Geatland (today southern Sweden), where the hero of the epic kills the dragon but dies.The ancient stronghold
The ancient stronghold of Aranæs (coord|58|40|N|13|35|E|) was located near
Skara on the shore of lakeVänern , inVästergötland .In the early 14th century, it was the property of the
marshal and Swedish regentTorkel Knutsson . In this castle, KingBirger Magnusson signed a reconciliation treaty with his brothers, the dukes Eric andValdemar Magnusson . After the two dukes had poisoned the king's mind against his faithful marshal, Torkel was captured and taken toStockholm , where he was beheaded. The once magnificent stronghold was demolished and the land was given to the convent ofGudhem , on the condition that the nuns should move to Aranæs within a year. The move appears to have been delayed, and instead they moved toRackeby , in 1349, when they received the estate from kingMagnus II of Sweden . The king renewed his father's endowment of Aranæs to the nuns, and two years later a convent was founded there. The nuns lived at Aranæs for a decade, until the estate passed to the king.King
Albert of Mecklenburg gave the estate toGerhard Snakenborg in exchange for the castleAxevall , in 1366. In 1371, it was given by king Magnus to bishop Nils ofSkara . It was the property of theDiocese of Skara until theReformation . In 1683, Årnäs passed from the King to private owners.It has been the object of several recent archaeological excavations, which have shown that the castle was much larger than was previously expected. Its size is still not known [http://hem.passagen.se/lalu0144/aranas/start.htm] .
The lost town
The other one was the medieval borough "Aranæs", a town mentioned in the saga of
Håkon Håkonsson , who pillaged and burnt the town in 1256. According to a theory it was located 30 km south of modernKungsbacka , nearGothenburg . Others, however, consider it more likely that it was located at the present Årnäs farm nearVarberg inHalland .
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