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Buried in the same place as the Danish kings and queens, a legend about one of the smaller graves haunts the Roskilde Cathedral. It is said that a horse was buried here before any people, and it haunts the graveyard as the three legged helhest, an omen of death.
Buried in the same place as the Danish kings and queens, a legend about one of the smaller graves haunts the Roskilde Cathedral. It is said that a horse was buried here before any people, and it haunts the graveyard as the three legged helhest, an omen of death.
The cathedral in Roskilde, Denmark, is a popular UNESCO World Heritage Site twenty minutes from Copenhagen. It has been the burial ground for Danish monarchs for centuries, with more than 40 kings and queens having their final resting place. According to the legend, another creature is also buried underneath the stone floor.
Read more: Check out all ghostly tales from Denmark
Inside the cathedral is a black, unmarked flat gravestone of Scanian or Bornholm limestone that has been known as the helhest grave. It is believed to belong to the mythical helhest, meaning horse of Hel. This was the horse of the Norse death goddess Hel. For protection, people used to spit on the grave when passing by. Because if you ever saw the spirit of the helhest walking, you knew that death was coming.
Helhest: Gunnar Utsond’s sculpture “Helfærd”, originally from 1890, in front of the former Sjømannsskolen in Oslo . The work depicts Nanna and Balder descending to the realm of the dead Hel on the back of the Hel horse. In Danish folklore, the Hel horse is also a kind of “horse ghost” that can act as a omen of death.
The Roskile Cathedral
The cathedral is one of the most important churches in Denmark, and the official royal burial church of the Danish monarchs. Before the church of today was built, Harald Bluetooth raised a small stave church when he moved there when Roskilde was named the new capital of Denmark.
The church we see today was built around 1200 as an impressive Gothic cathedral in red brick. Three Viking Age kings are buried here: Harald Bluetooth (died 986), Sweyn Forkbeard (died 1014) and Sweyn Estridsen (died 1074). Since the 16th century, all Danish monarchs have been buried in Roskilde Cathedral.
Horse Burial: Equestrian burial was one of the earliest forms of Viking-Age burial to be found in Denmark in the 19th century, although the excavations were often unprofessional and documentation of it is now lacking. But in most viking societies people buried with horses as well as horse sacrifices seems to have been common, as they were connected with the norse Gods as well as fertility. It is said this practice continued in a changed fashion post-christianity, when horses were said to have been buried for good luck when opening a new cemetery. // Illustration from the Birka grave Bj 581 in Sweden.
With the new cathedral completed they also needed a relic for it. Two canons were sent to Rome to find it and legend says that while they were resting after their arrival, St Lucius, who had been pope from 253 to 255, appeared before them, saying he had been chosen to be the patron saint of Roskilde until the end of time.
The next day, the two canons were taken to Santa Cecilia in Trastevere to choose amongst the many relics there. They saw a skull shining brightly, the skull of St Lucius. On their return, their ship came under attack by a powerful demon that had long lurked in Danish waters and wanted a victim. The crew drew straws and the lot fell on the canon carrying the skull of St Lucius. He offered a prayer to the saint, washed the skull three times, threw the water in the ocean, and jumped overboard. To everyone’s surprise, the canon was able to walk on the water. The demon disappeared screaming into the depths, never to be seen again.
The Helhest
The Helhest is said to haunt the narrow streets around the cathedral and by the cemetery at night. When you hear it, you can hear its staggering gait. But the look of it is even more disturbing. It has, according to lore, only three legs, and are often described with glowing red eyes, or even headless.
The Helhest originates from a church-related tradition. To avoid the bad luck of being the first buried in a new cemetery, a gruesome practice involved burying a live animal, usually a horse with one leg cut off, to exist between life and death and guard the souls. This “church warden” was believed to protect the church from harm and symbolize the transition between worlds, with the Helhest being one such entity from Nordic mythology.
Hel of the Norse Underworld:Hel is in Norse mythology an underground realm of the dead where it was believed that most people ended up when they died. In Norse cosmology, north is the direction towards cold and death and Hel is cold and inhospitable, and that the way there leads “north and down.” Hel, the daughter of Loki, is also the name of the ruler of the underworld. Her skin is partly blue-black like a corpse and partly human-colored. It is said that Hel welcomes those who die of illness and old age into her own hall.
Digging up the Horse Grave
In the 1970s, archaeologists investigated the supposed grave of the Helhest but did not find the remains of a three-legged animal. Instead, they discovered parts of a nobleman with his head between his legs. Giving perhaps more questions than answers.
Buried in the same place as the Danish kings and queens, a legend about one of the smaller graves haunts the Roskilde Cathedral. It is said that a horse was buried here before any people, and it haunts the graveyard as the three legged helhest, an omen of death.
As a place of dubious drug testing and the place where most lobotomies were done, the Lier Hospital and former asylum was left with a haunted rumor lingering in the decaying walls. Although most of the buildings are now torn down, it is still remembered as one of Norway’s most haunted places.
The Danish ghostly horse spirit Helhest is said to roam around St. Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark. It is believed seeing the three legged horse is an omen of imminent death.
According to old legends and Danish folklore, there are stories of three legged horses haunting the churches and graveyards in the country. in Saint Olaf’s Church, the spirit of the helhest is said to be the omen of death.
Could it be that the oldest church in Oslo also has the oldest haunting? From legends about a dragon’s den underneath the structure and the ghostly silhouette haunting, the Gamle Aker Church perhaps has more activity than what meets the naked eye.
During a time when Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Empire, there was talk about a vampire haunting the streets of Veliko Tarnovo. The rumours got so bad, that the Islamic rulers had to turn to pagan belief to rid themselves of the bloodthirsty creatures.
In the windswept landscape of Norway’s west coast lies the Utstein Monastery, a site steeped in history and haunting tales. Known as Norway’s best-preserved medieval monastery, its ancient stone walls and iconic Gothic windows whisper stories of faith, love, and loss as well as the ghost of a Lady in White.
In the ancient St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, there are said to be restless spirits still lingering. One of the more well known is said to be the ghost of Jonathan Swift, perhaps best known as the author of Gulliver’s Travels.
In one of the city’s oldest buildings, the freshest food is served in the ancient locale. For years though, there have been talks about Stortorvet Gjestgiveri restaurant being haunted, and even made it as one of the most haunted clips in the national ghost hunting show.
Haunting Jone’s Road in Dublin, a headless horseman is said to roam after his life turned dark after scheming peers. And the former Dublin Sheriff, Buck Jones has become one of Ireland’s most well known headless horseman ghosts.
Next to the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, there is a pub called John Kavanagh’s ‘The Gravediggers’, where they went to have a pint after working at the cemetery. Rumor has it that the pub is haunted by those buried next door.
Moon Mausoleum
