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Charlotte in front of Gjorslev Castle |
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Sky
Castle Secrets are written on
the basis of the 10
years, that I have lived
in the medieval castle
Gjorslev.
I tell about, what
would appear if the
thick walls could talk.
Stories that goes back more
than 1000 years back in time.
And I've looked
carefully around both inside
and out.
The Viking chief Gjor
gave the place its name.
It must be
him lying
in the barrow
down at the cliff?
And the shade in the
park at night is
probably the beheaded
king killer
Rane Jonsen,
who is sneaking around and
looking for his head in
the moat? |
Looking at Gjorslevs
tall gray
tower, it is easy to imagine
the imposing castle
when it was newly built
of limestone
from the cliff and
stretched pure white
against the sky.
One can understand why the
bishop Lodehat
called his masterpiece
the sky castle, and why Queen
Margrethe the First
loved to hold court
here.
The meter-thick walls, then
worked as a defense against
the enemy, containing
secrets that call
on imagination.
Was the lord's
daughter immured
here? Have
Kulsoen and
Gøngehøvdingen been around
Gjorslev during the Swedish
wars? We
are still looking for the
tunnel they used.
The stables, which
Frederik IV built
for his cavalry,
still stands intact
in the long driveway
and the kestrel
has built
its nest in
the embrasures since the Middle Ages.
From my window
here in
my writing room, I can see
the gallow hill over
the trees. I get scared, when
I sense the shadows
of the
people, who was once
dangling over there.
In order to alleviate
the gloom,
the old chamberlains wife
called it the Strawberry Hill.
I am grateful, that
I got to know
the old lady, before she
died. She told me about
the castle's heyday
and the ebvery day life
in the past. And
she spoke of
the Jews who
were hidden in the tower
and down in the
forest cabin,
before they
were sailed over to Sweden. I
have been in the
secret ceiling and
wondered, how they could hide
as many Jews in
there.
Along with the owner
and his children, I
have been exploring
both the past and present in
the castle cellars,
halls, parks and forests.
But even if my description
of the manor has
been greatly inspired by the
life and people in this place,
so is
the book's characters and
events created as much
from my own imagination.
Charlotte Blay |
