{"id":2671,"date":"2015-06-27T14:35:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T21:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com.php5-21.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/?p=2671"},"modified":"2015-07-15T15:34:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T22:34:10","slug":"scandirayvia-8-a-moose-once-bit-my-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/scandirayvia-8-a-moose-once-bit-my-sister\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

So my very favorite object in Stockholm is this astounding wooden sculpture of St. George and the Dragon.\u00a0 It\u2019s in the 13th<\/sup>-Century Storkyrkan<\/em>, or Stockholm Cathedral, in Gamla Stan (The Old City).\u00a0 \u00a0There aren\u2019t that many 15th<\/sup> century wooden statues still around these days; they don\u2019t survive fire that well.\u00a0 This one survives because of its political, rather than its religious meaning.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This is one kick-ass 525 year old wooden St. George and the Dragon statue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yeah, at first glance it looks like the same old St. George we all know and love.\u00a0 You know, the Roman soldier of Greek origin who was born in Turkey or Syria, and once held a town in Libya hostage by threatening to unleash a dragon on them if they didn\u2019t all convert to Christianity.\u00a0 That guy.\u00a0 But there\u2019s a lot more to this fascinating piece than the tired old myth of St. George.<\/p>\n

The statue was made by the German artist Bernt Notke<\/a> and was commissioned to commemorate Sweden winning its independence from Denmark.\u00a0 Denmark had ruled Sweden for over seventy years until Sten Sture, the elected Swedish regent, defeated the hated Danish King Christian I at the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471.<\/p>\n

So this isn\u2019t merely St. George and the Dragon.\u00a0 The heroic St. George (looking a bit like Helen Reddy, actually), is conquering the Dragon (which is really Danish King Christian I) while the young lady at the left (yeah, that\u2019d be Sweden) looks on approvingly.\u00a0 Even cooler, the Pope sent a cache of saintly relics, including items of St. George himself, to be contained in the statue.<\/p>\n

When Sweden went all Protestant just a few decades after this statue was finished, many Catholic relics and works of art were destroyed.\u00a0 The reason that this particular statue survived is mainly because of its great political significance.<\/p>\n

But all THAT isn\u2019t really what\u2019s super cool about this statue. Here\u2019s what is: Look closely at the dragon.\u00a0\u00a0 Look at the spikes and armor?\u00a0 Look closely.\u00a0 Yup, they are made of MOOSE ANTLERS.\u00a0 Yes, you read that right.\u00a0 Actual moose antlers.\u00a0 They\u2019re all over the dragon (see close-up).<\/p>\n

\"Dragon_Detail\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I just think that\u2019s so super cool on a double level.\u00a0 First, it\u2019s amazing artistically.\u00a0 Second, \u00a0 it\u2019s just so damn Swedeny, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n

The statue is so popular a bronze recreation of it was put up a few blocks away in the early 1900s.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Copy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PS\u00a0 There is a story, which I am attempting to authenticate, that in some point in the misty past\u00a0there was a period of rather heated anti-Catholic sentiment in Sweden.\u00a0 A young clerk or cleric or something at the Cathedral feared that the relics in the statue would be seized and destroyed, so he took it on himself to remove them and filed them in an anonymous spot on a shelf somewhere until the climate was safer.\u00a0 He then replaced the relics. \u00a0Centuries later, another young man randomly found the relics. \u00a0According to the story, this young man was August Strindberg.<\/p>\n

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Two more shots from Galma Stan<\/em>, or Old Town:<\/p>\n

\"bicycle\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Statistics show that young people in Sweden start having sex very early. \u00a0But I learned yesterday that murderers get a jump on things, too. \u00a0This little pixie of a killer is preparing to bury her latest victim:<\/p>\n

\"CAKE<\/a>
CAKE or DEATH? Oh, I guess he chose death.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Average Rating: 4.7<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 191<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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