When you see the flat, slightly hilly landscape by Storsjöen east of Trøndelag, it is easy to imagine that the word ‘flat’ is the origin of the name Jämtland (Swedish “Jamt” means something like “continuous, repeating”).
But no. The area was populated from the west (Trøndelag) 6-7,000 years ago, primarily for hunting. Towards the end of the 8th century, a wave of Norwegian settlers arrived: runaways from the Norwegian King Harald Hair Fair’s harsh rule. Snorri Sturlasson mentions in ‘Håkon the Good’s saga’ a man called Ketil Jemte, who founded a settlement in Jämtland. The nickname ‘Jemte’ comes from the Old Germanic ’emat’, which means diligent/hardworking/persevering.
Kjetil Jemte, son of earl Ånund from Sparabu (in Trøndelag), went east across the mountains, with a large herd and had his cattle with him. They cleared forests and built settlements there; it was then called Jemtland. (ISBN Volume I: 82-445-0068-9)
From the 8th century until ‘the Jämts’ lost their freedom to the Norwegian King Sverre (in the Battle of Storsjöns ice, year 1178), the Jämts had their own parliament, Jamtamot. They were in an intermediate position between the Norwegian king and the Swedish king. The assembly was held every year on Frösö (the Norse god Frøy’s island, in Storsjön (the Big Lake)). A number of archeological founds have been made on the island, especially a lot of bones at Frösö church. These suggest that the church site is actually an old pagan court, where they offered animals to the Norse gods.
Frösö was the center of Jämtland for 1000 years. It wasn’t until 1879, when the railway (Mellanriksbanan) reached Frösön’s eastern strait, that Östersund (literally: the Eastern Strait) took over the role.
With a recent corona infection (Cov-Idun) and a bad back (Prolapse-Knut), it was a downscaled New Year’s celebration 2022/23. We chose Jämtland’s old center – Frösö! With SPA. This was a good solution for both her (with a weak voice) and him (with back pain). There were cold and warm baths, saunas with or without steam and in general a nice place to be.
Some extensive dansing after midnight may have ruined some of the back relaxation effect, but it was very fun!
Happy New Year from Tobatheornottobathe!