Edsleskog and St Nils's Spring

Dalsland · Sweden · Church

The priest Nils was attacked and killed carrying the sacrament to a sick man. Where he fell a spring broke out – and a church so vast that Skara diocese lived off it.

In the late 1100s Nils was priest at Edsleskog, near present-day Åmål. Legend has it that he was on his way to a sick parishioner with the sacrament when he was set upon by evildoers and beaten to death. On the spot where he suffered martyrdom a spring is said to have broken from the ground. Nils became a saint, and the cult grew fast: around 1221 Pope Honorius III urged Bishop Bengt of Skara to honour him properly and grant indulgences to those who visited the church. Over the place of his death rose a brick church, 49 by 28 metres – Sweden's first known dated brick building and the country's second-largest structure of its day. Pilgrims came in such numbers that Edsleskog long provided half the income of the entire Skara diocese. The spring has been rediscovered and restored.

FAQ

Where is Edsleskog and St Nils's Spring located?

Edsleskog and St Nils's Spring is in Dalsland, Sweden.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.