ABSTRACT
ON the shores of Ostergotland, in the firth called Braviken, where through the town of Norrkoping a violent torrent also flows, stones are found on the seashore of very different shapes, as though they had been carved or polished by the skill of man; but this is judged without any doubt to happen through the hidden influence of the sky and elements. Some of these stones have the shape of a human head, and hands, feet, toes, and fingers. Their forms are not combined as an entire body, but the pieces are made separate and so given their finish by Nature. 1 The people there are so used to sights like these that they do not trouble themselves at all about them or others like them, except insofar as they can serve to strengthen their walls and other buildings. Among mountains far distant from the sea, rocks are also found whose natural structure forms a round hollow, so that one would think they were some vast bronze cauldron or bath-tub. This may be seen in Ostergotland on the mountain called Kettilberg in the native tongue, that is, Cauldron Mountain, near the city of Linköping, my own birthplace. 3 If the Italians could carry off from this region the ancient monuments of Nature, their spirit of enquiry would certainly have no small acquisition in which to take joy, seeing that none or few of them get their fill of probing into such matters. One may see in many valleys among the mountains an infinite number of stones shaped like a ball, between the size of a calf s head and that of a goose egg, or a bit bigger or smaller, which are ready for use in cannon without needing any additional handiwork from craftsmen. Whetstones that are flat and long are also found and put to good use there. Similarly, in Vastergotland, there are boulders possessing the nature of marble, of such varying colour and size that they may be put to use as tombstones without employing a chisel, for they seem already carved, a matter I shall demonstrate in Bk XII with reference to the natural diversity of rocks which may be used for any and every kind of building. 4
Bråviken
Norrköping
Everyday sights grow stale 2
Kettilberg
Author’s birthplace
Natural stones used for cannon balls
Whetstones
Marble stones
