The Bride Elsa Rapids

Ångermanland · Sweden · Natural site

The bridal couple rowed home from their wedding, came too close to the rapids, and the river kept them both — the falls still carry the bride Elsa's name.

Just north of the village of Norr-Edsta lies a stretch of rapids in the Fjällsjö river known locally as Bru-else-forsn, the Bride Elsa Rapids. The name comes from a bridal couple from Sörbygden who once rowed home after being married in Backe. They came too close to the rapids, the current took the boat, and both drowned. The informant's grandmother knew the bride was called Elsa, and it is after her the rapids are named. The account was recorded in 1928. This is a classic northern Swedish drowned-bride place, where the place name itself serves as the memorial: as long as people say the name aloud, the dead live on in the mouth of the district. Ångermanland has several parallels, among them Brubäcken in Edsele, where an entire wedding party drowned and the stone beside it came to be called Gråtsten, the weeping stone — because there sat those who were left behind.

FAQ

Where is The Bride Elsa Rapids located?

The Bride Elsa Rapids is in Ångermanland, Sweden.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.