Author: Idun

Östersund is the only city in Jämtland County, and the fourth largest city in Norrland after Umeå, Gävle and Sundsvall. Originally, the area was populated by Norwegians, but it has been Swedish since 1645. The town was founded by King Gustav III in 1786. One reason was military strategy. As Sweden now was no longer an imperium, it could be useful to have a fortified city up north, in Jämtland. The most important reason, however, was the desire for stronger control over the trade. The creation of a city in Jämtland was supposed to increase the supply of goods to Sweden’s east coast, which had been short of supplies for a long time. In addition, it was said that the Jämts spent so much time on long trade journeys (to Norway) that they neglected their farms. Not good!

The Jämts ran an extensive and profitable trade, and they did not think it was a good idea that the state should channel all trade to the new city. The expression ‘bällt du luur’n‘ (did you manage to trick him) is supposed to come from the Jämt’s inveterate struggle to avoid paying customs duties on goods imported from Norway. The result was that Östersund remained a small town for a long time, while the village from the Viking Age at Frösön, retained its place as the county’s largest settlement.

There was no significant population growth until the arrival of the railway in 1879, but from then on, Östersund has had the role of not only beeing Jämtland’s Centrum, but also Sweden’s (geographical) centre. The name comes from the location by Frösön’s eastern strait.

In 1993 (after our wedding in the Student Society’s Big Hall in Trondheim), we went to Östersund for our honeymoon. We thought it was great! From a tip at the hotel, we went to the fondue restaurant ‘En Liten Röd’ to celebrate the following day. Of course, we had to repeat the operation 30 years later, in 2023. No doubt.

It is a little risky, though, stepping down old tracks. In the meantime, we have introduced our own fondue dinner at home – just as we remembered it in 1993. But is it really the same? We have tried several times to copy dishes from restaurants we have visited – and when we return, we have often been disappointed! After all, we adapt the dishes to the way we like the food best.

But Yes! It was good to be back again! Different from our home fondue, but very, very good. NB! If you even consider making red wine fondue yourself, you MUST mix oil and red wine BEFORE you start heating. We know someone who threw a glass of red wine into the oil while it was heating up, and that was certainly not a good idea. The newly washed kitchen – ready for Christmas Eve – suddenly covered with oil and red wine. NOT recommended.

On the wedding day, a warm SPA bath is just right after the red wine fondue. Hot bath (over 42 degrees celcius!) outdoors in minus 10 degrees Celsius, that’s splendid! And the unique Östersund Palm Tree seems to be doing quite well, despite being completely covered by ice.

Frösön (Frøy’s island) in Storsjön (The big sea) was the center of Jämtland for about 1,000 years, from the 8th century to 1879. It was here people met in ancient times for trading and to join the Norse cult. The Jämtland’s parliament, Jamtamót, was held at Byneset, on the east side of Frösö. It is unique in the Nordic countries to call the parliament ‘Mót’ instead of ‘Thing’. The word mót comes from Gothic, and is also used in Great Britain (eg Witenagemot). In Christian times, Jamtamót was held the week after the Gregorian Mass (March 12^th). It had both judicial, legislative and administrative functions. The old tradition of a winter market has been taken up again since 1986, under the name Gregoriemarknaden.

From Frösön, Åsbjørn Gudfastsson built a bridge over to the mainland (current Östersund city) around the year 1050. This happened in connection with the Christianization of Jämtland. The events were marked with the carving of a rune stone, the so-called Frösöstenen.

A large cross and a snake-like ribbon (Midgardsormen? Storsjödjuret?) are engraved on the stone. This was a turning point, at the transition between paganism and Christianity. The text in English is this:

Östman, Gudfast’s son, had this stone raised and this bridge built, and he had Jämtland Christianized. Åsbjörn made the bridge. Tryn and Sten carved these runes.

The Frösö stone is Sweden’s northernmost rune stone, and the only one that mentions the Christianization of an entire region –  Jämtland. This is the first time Jämtland is mentioned in writing as a specific area. The Frösö stone has never been a tombstone. The stone has been moved 100 meters from its original location to make space for today’s road with the Frösö bridge over to Östersund.

South-west of Frösö bridge you can find Surfbukta (the Surf Bay). Here you can take a winter bath! Today’s tip: Join the FB group ‘Vinterbad Östersund’, to arrange swimming together with others. NB: Do not bathe alone! We in Tobatheornottobathe are already 2 people, so all we needed was the tip where to find the hole in the ice. And we got what we needed.

The first day of the year 2023 was quite cold (-10 degrees Celcius), but we had woolen clothes and swimwear ready, so this would be very easy, we thought. Only to discover that Knut’s wool trousers were in the hotel room, and Idun’s wool socks in the car. And none of us did bring wet gloves or extra mittens for the bath. It got cold! But great! And a little scary to go up again, since we could feel that more than a few seconds grip with wet hands on the metal rails and the hands would have been stuck there until spring!

Anyway – a New Years’ bath at Frösö was just right!

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!