Legends of Olavinlinna Castle
| Legends like the maiden immured into the castle wall, the black ram of the castle, secret passages and the water spirit Vetehinen living in the stream are told in the castle. All of them are not necessarily true, but there might be a hint of truth in some of them, believe it or not. The most well known of all the legends is the tale of the young maiden, who was immured alive into the castle wall as a punishment for treason. Later a beautiful rowan tree started growing from the place where the maiden had been immured. The rowan tree had white flowers which symbolized the girl's innocence and red berries, red as the girl's blood. The rowan tree in Olavinlinna castle became so famous that in the 1950's a ballad was written about it. The rowan tree doesn't exist anymore, but the legend of the maiden and the rowan tree lives on. Another dweller of the castle also had a sad destiny. A black ram was raised in the castle in order to be eaten on a grand dinner on St Olaf's Day. The last black ram in the castle didn't end up on the dinner table, it fell down from the castle's wall and drowned in the stream in 1728. There's also a legend of the black ram. According to it the black ram repelled an enemy attack and saved the castle. It had climbed onto the castle wall, made noise with its hoofs and swung its great horns. The enemy saw the ram, got scared and ran away. They thought it was the devil himself living in the castle. |
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