The Bocksten Bog

Halland · Sweden · Natural site

They drove three stakes through the body and sank it in the bog. Not to hide the murder – to stop the dead man walking.

In a small bog east of Åkulla near Varberg, a man was found in 1936 who had lain in the peat since the 1300s. He had been beaten to death, and over the body three heavy stakes had been driven – one through the heart, one through the back, one through the belly – pinning him down into the mire. The staking was not a way of concealing a murder. It was a revenant rite: a murdered man denied consecrated ground was believed capable of rising, and the stakes were there to nail him in place. The peat preserved his entire outfit – cloak, hood, hose and shoes – making the Bocksten Man the most complete surviving medieval costume in Europe. Who he was, nobody knows. What people feared he might become, we know very well.

FAQ

Where is The Bocksten Bog located?

The Bocksten Bog is in Halland, Sweden.

More haunted places in Halland

• The Strange Herdsman with Hooves, Knäred Halland · Site of legend
• The Scythe That Never Dulled, Krogsered Halland · Site of legend
• Ghost Hotel Gasten (Liseberg) Västra Götaland · Amusement park
• The Dog That Leapt into the Grave, Locknevi Småland · Cemetery
• The Evil One in the Smithy, Malmbäck Småland · Haunted site
• The Protective Circle at Gammelstad Church Norrbotten · Church
• Sven the Fiddler and the Promised Girl, Mulseryd Småland · Site of legend
• The Evil One as a Servant, Västra Tunhem Västergötland · Site of legend

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.