This film looks at Sweden’s early Viking history and how the country has grown while retaining its history. It was produced by Olle Nordemar Artfilm (:29) and opens with a view from the Baltic Sea (:56) on the island of Gotland. Gotland was the center of trade (1:01) beginning in days of the Vikings and extending through the days of the Hanseatic League (1:13). The serpent head on one of the Viking longboats on a painting depicting their gathering on Gotland Island (1:20). Vikings conducted voyages to Russia and Constantinople and their neighbors on the western side of Scandinavia headed to Ireland and England (1:33). Viking artifacts including a helmet (1:52), Viking jewelry and amulets (2:24). Runestones (3:00) tell tales of heroism. An artist paints the city wall of Visby, Sweden’s medieval town (3:11). Remnants of the Hanseatic days are exemplified in Visby’s medieval churches and monasteries (3:27). The Saint Catherine Franciscan Monastery is from the 14th century (3:38) when Gothic architecture was at it’s peak. Visby has become a Swedish resort (4:21). Yachting is popular here as there are many caves and islands (4:58). When the water freezes into large slabs in the winter, Swedes race in speedy ice yachts (6:06). Skiing and cross-country skiing — Sweden has an international reputation and many Winter Olympics trophies (6:39). The annual Vasa-race covers 56 miles from Salen to Mora (7:25). It commemorates Gustav Vasa, a Swedish patriot who was exiled over political matters in the winter. As he was leaving, his followers met up with him on ski’s and convinced him to return (7:39). He led a war of liberation and became the King of modern Sweden (7:53). King Gustaf Adolf (7:59) is pictured along with a parade procession commemorating Sweden’s Flag Day (8:04). Notable landmarks include the Royal Palace in the center of Stockholm (8:17), the House of Nobility (8:32) and the Cathedral (8:39). Some of the houses retain artifacts from the Viking past and a corner stone is zoomed in on (9:18) showing Viking runes. Traffic runs on the left-hand side of the roads (10:03) and horn blowing is prohibited unless in case of emergency. King street runs through the main shopping and business district (10:25). The Royal Dramatic Theater is where notables such as Greta Garbo trained at (10:30). Jenny Lind, often known as the Swedish Nightingale (10:53) first performed at the Stockholm Royal Opera House. As the country had recently gone through a building boom (12:54), the modern beehive apartment type home is shown which gave nearly all residents a water view (13:08). The Gota Canal; (14:47) constructed over a hundred of years ago by hand, still used the series of locks which lifted boats 300 feet above sea level in the same way they had been used when it was built (15:14). The Vadstena Castle is viewed from a boat on the canal (16:08). St. Brigid formed her covenant here in the 14th century and nuns today still practice the tradition of making lace and embroidery (17:04). A man blows glass into a vase demonstrating the craftsmanship of Sweden (18:03). A factory follows with a machine pumping out over 100 billion matches annually (19:15). Lumber is retrieved from the forests (19:31) and some of the rivers are used to float lumber from the forests to sawmills, pulp factories and chemical plants. Lumberjacks often had to clear jams with either their hands or dynamite when necessary (20:25). Lumberjacks are seen in row boats following the logs down stream (22:11). A timber flume was constructed to bypass the hydroelectric power plants (22:53). Lapland is rich in iron ore deposits (23:21). Kiruna is the center of the mining district (23:55) and is the largest city in the world as it is surrounded by a vast area of oil pits though its population is only 10,000 (24:00). The sun never sets here for two months in the summer and footage here (24:31) is of one am with the sun still on the horizon. Celebrations of Midsummer’s Eve are seen as a woman blows a horn which summons in inhabitants from all over (25:11). Traditional row boats follow covered in birch branches (25:38). After church services, townsfolk dance to the tune of fiddles (26:12). John Ericson was born in central Sweden and was the designer of the first iron clad warship (27:01) and inventor of the propeller screw (27:12). Sweden has made shipbuilding a major industry (27:26). The film begins to wrap up with the statue of Poseidon overlooking the harbor of Gothenburg (28:48).

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com