Tollund Man and Nightwatchmen

Several years ago Graham read a book about the Iron Age man, around 40 years old, who was found in a peat bog near Silkeborg in Denmark. The man is so well preserved you can see the stubble on his chin. With Silkeborg only a few miles away we had to go and see him in person. 

The face of Tollund Man

'The old man is in the room to the left'. With an obvious affection for Tollund Man and a smile letting us know that the only reason most people come to this small museum is to see him, an elderly guide pointed us in the right direction. He has a room of his own and seats around the edge so visitors can sit and be with him for a while. He looks strangely comfortable, as though he's sleeping peacefully with a perfectly intact plaited rope around his neck and a leather belt around his waist. 

Lying in his case

It feels strange that this person is an exhibit and we wondered what he would think if he knew that 3000 years into the future his body would bring people from all over the world to see it. But visit him we did and the visitors there seemed to give him a sort of reverence, quietly walking around, some taking photos, some sitting with him presumably musing on his life and death. The thinking is that he was sacrificed to the gods and the ligature around his neck is possibly the one that he was hanged or strangled with.

A young girl, around 20 years old, was found a few metres away from Tollund man and is also thought to have been sacrificed. Elling Girl is not as well preserved, we could mainly see her hair and she was wrapped in the original fabrics she was buried in. 

After a night by a lake we have returned to Ringkobing on the east coast. It is such a lovely town and we're parked by the water here. Last night we did the nightwatchman's tour of the city. It was ok and the guides were very friendly, swapping expertly between Danish, English and German. It got a little drab when they got to a corner of the town and locals emerged from their houses with bottles of liquorice vodka and proceeded to give themselves and the guides a drink while all us tourists stood around watching them. Not very thrilling but we enjoyed their singing and the walk through the old streets.

Our lovely multilingual nightwatchman