b o o k Falko, the firft archbifhop who was interred in this5
— v—' church, was a- great benefaCtor to the fee; and is the fame-
perfon mentioned in the formerpart o f this chapter, Who, in
x 273, transferred the epifcopal feat from Old to New Upfala.
He alfo caufed the bones o f his predeceflors to be ttanfported'
from their burial-place in Old Upfala, tothe cathedral, where
they were depofited with great folemnity and many cere*
monies *.
The firft proteftant archbifhop was Iiaurentius Petri of'the
province o f Nerike, who, in conjunction with his brother
Olaus Petri, firft preached the reformed doCtrines to the
Swedes, and tranilated the Bible into his'native tongue. Soon
after the eftablifhment of the reformation; the introduction
o f which was greatly owing to his labours, he was, in 153 r,
confecrated archbifhop; and continued to fill the fee with
credit until his death; which happened in 15 70 , in the 73d
year o f his age.
In the facriftary o f the cathedral are contained feveral
relicks, both facred and hiftorical. The latter confift of a
few curiofities, which I fhall particularize from their allufion
to the hiftory o f Sweden. The firft I fhall mention is an old
log o f wood rudely carved into the refemblance o f a head
fcarcely human, and called the image o f the God Thor, formerly
worfhipped in thefe parts; and to whom human fa-
crifices ufed to be offered at Old Upfala. That this image is
o f very high antiquity fhould feem evident from its rude
workmanfhip; and it may probably have been one of the
deities to whom the fuperftitious inhabitants paid their pub-
lick homage ; as, in early ages, and amid a barbarous people,
the idols are in general o f the coarfeft form. With re-
IpeCt to the figure, 1 fhall obferve, that Dahlberg, in his Sue-
* Perinlk ioldf p . * 3 5.
da
ma Ahtiqua et Hodierna, has given an engraving o f it b y f a r c h a p .
too elegant to bear much refemblance to the original ; , ,
but the reader will find a more accurate delineation in Perin-
fkiold’s Monumenta Ullareàarenfia, in which no foreign em-
bellifhments are added.
A whetftone, feveral .feet in length, next attracted m y attention
; which, .as tradition relates, Albert, who-in 14 3 4 af-
cended the throne of Sweden, fent in .mockery to Margaret o f
Waldemar, recommending her to iharpen upon it her own
fword and the weapons o f all her army : a taunt which he
would willingly have retraCted, when routed and taken
prifoner by the very woman whom he affeCted to defpifè.
The third curiofity was a ragged ftripe o f linen fattened
to a ftafflike a pair o f colours, called .the fhift o f Margaret ;
which was carried in battle as the main ftandard, in order to
animate the troops by the recollection o f her martial -fpirit.
Thefe remains were preferved at Nuremberg, brought from
thence when that town was taken by the Swedes, ¡and depofited
in the cathedral o f Upfala in honour o f the Semiramis
o f the North. How this fhift was firft procured by the inhabitants
o f Nuremberg, why it was there confidered as a
xelick, and the exaCt period when it was imported into Sweden,
1 muft leave to be afcertained by thofe who are difpofed
to trace its hiftory and adventures. I did not learn, however,
that it has ever had the honour o f giving a name to any
particular colour like the fhift o f Ifabella queen o f Caftile.
The kings o f Sweden were formerly crowned in this cathedral
; but that ceremony is now .performed at Stockholm,
Charles XII being the -laft monarch who was inaugurated at
Upfala.
P 2.90*