Smyrna times., 1927-08-24
WHERE PAGAN KINGS
ONCE RULED SWEDEN
Old Upsala Again Comes
Into Spotlight.

came into the spotlight, after centuries
of slumber, when Christian church
which is more than 500 years old, was
rededicated," says a bulletin from
the Washington headquarters Of the
National Geographic society.
"The church stands on the same
site formerly occupied by the famous
golden pagan temple of Upsala,
where worship of the Morse gods,
Odin. Thor and Frey, drenched the
Sacred building with the blood Of
human sacrifice.
Pagan Rites PractIced.
Tradition has it that King Donald
vas slain at Upsala as a sacrifice to
the pagan gods to end a famine, after
the people had offered other human
beings and an OK without success"
continues the bulletin.
"King Aun, another early Swedish
king, was promised additional years
Of life by the gods if he would offer
up his sons. He lived to sacrifice
nine. but was stopped by his subjects
before he attempted to slay the tenth
and last. The old king is said to have
died shortly after he failed to comply
with the gods commands.
"Visitors to Old Upsala today who
are not familiar with its history,
would not be apprised of its ancient
glory. Except for three huge mounds,
the traditional tombs of the three
gods, and a natural amphitheater
where the ancient assemblies Of
Sweden were held. few suggestions Of
the old capital remain.
"Ostra Aros, two miles south of the
capital on the Fyrisa river, was the
royal landing place. Otherwise it was
insignificant compared with the royal
town. But when the first Christian
cathedral was destroyed by fire in the
Thirteenth century, the archbishopric
was moved to the port city. and short
~ afterward the royal household mi
grated to Stockholm. Old Upsala was
soon deserted when stripped of its
royal and religious leadership and
Ostra Aros even usurped its name.
The old capital later became known
as Gamla Upsala.
"MOdern Upsala, now city of near
~ 10000 inhabitants, is about forty
miles north of Stockholm with which
it is connected by both water and rail
transportation. It's principal industry
is education, for Upsala university
IS the largest state educational insti-
tuition in Sweden. The university was
founded in 1477.
Growing the highest point in the
city is the Upsala castle, founded by
King Gustavus vasa 400 years ago.
It was the scene Of Queen Christmas
abdication.
"The castle windows afford a splen-
did view of the college town. The
Fyrisa, crossed by eight bridges,
quietly flows southwark toward Lake
Malaren. The city is spread out on
both banks. The east bank, save for
a few houses, and streets that are
laid out in checkerboard fashion, is
the site of numerous university build
ings. campuses and gardens. One of
the gardens was laid out by Lin
naeus. the founder of modern botany,
1741. Emanuel Swedenborg, mystic
philosopher and founder of the re-
ligious sect called the tSwedenbor-
gians,' was graduated from the uni
versity in ITO.
"Fraternities" Called "Nations."
"Wherever seen, Upsala students
are distinguished by their white vel
vet caps. Each Of the some 1000 stu
dents are obliged TO become members
Of the student unions known as ma
tions.' There are no Greek letter fra
ternities. Members are chosen by &C,
cident of birth, for each nation repre-
sents one or more Swedish 1ans,' or
provinces. The nations have their
own houses and conduct their. own af-
fairs.
''The university library is, perhaps,
the most important in the country,
containing more than $4,000 printed
volumes and 14,000 valuable manu-
scripts. The chief treasure is the IA
nous Codex Argenteus, a Fourth CEN
tury translation Of the four gospels
into Moeso-Gothic. The work includes
1s7 leaves of parchment in gold and
silver letters on a red ground. There
is also a collection of letters of Luz
ther. Linnaeus, Mozart and Goethe.
"Upsala cathedral might be prop
erly called Little Notre Dame al
though it is the largest in Sweden.
The cathedral is situated In the CEN
ter Of the city, its close adjoining the
university campus. Here the gradua-
tion exercises Of the university are
held. In its burial vaults lie the re-
mains of some of Sweden's foremost
educators, among whom are King
Gustavus Vasa. Linnaeus and Swe-
denb0rg. One of Notre Danes archi-
tects, Etienne de Bonneuil, drew the
plans of the cathedral, which accounts
for its resemblance to the Paris
church. Construction began in 1887
and It was 150 years before the build