Join Henrik on a whimsical journey through the cobblestone streets of medieval Stockholm, where fact and fiction dance together in the candlelight.
In this episode, Henrik weaves an intricate tapestry of entirely fabricated yet oddly specific historical "facts" about Stockholm's relationship with pickled herrings, psychic cats, and peculiar laws that never were.
Between tales of herring-filled shoes and cat burgomasters, Henrik reflects on the nature of control, acceptance, and the beauty of letting go.
From his old writer's den in Stockholm's Old Town to the present moment, this episode invites you to explore the thin line between history and imagination, while gently drifting off to sleep in the company of Henrik's soothing stream of consciousness.
For more information on Henrik Ståhl, click here: https://linktr.ee/Henrikstahl
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[00:00:00] Hi Sleepy, just a very quick note before we start today's episode. Do you want to listen to this podcast without the ads? Then you absolutely can. Just subscribe to Fall Asleep with Henrik+, and to do so, you can just click the link in the podcast description and it'll be fixed. See you there.
[00:00:24] Hi and welcome to Fall Asleep with Henrik. It is I, who is Henrik, and you are sleepy and it is what it is. What happens, happens. And right now there is nothing we can do about any of it, so let's just get this show on the road.
[00:00:51] Hi Sleepy, and welcome to Fall Asleep with me, Henrik. And you go by the name of Henrik. No, sorry. You go by the name of Sleepy in this context.
[00:01:11] I'm sorry for the confusion. These are confusing times, isn't it? I guess there is nothing really we can do about any of it, really, right now anyway.
[00:01:33] One of the theses in this podcast is that there is nothing we can do. But by that I don't mean that there is literally nothing we can do. What I mean is that right now, at this very moment, there is nothing you can do. Because if there were something you could do, I imagine that you would probably do it.
[00:02:03] Or maybe me talking like this gives you an impulse. There's actually some things that you can do. I mean right now. And by all means, then pause this episode and go do it. So this isn't a podcast that tells you to just let it all go and just don't care.
[00:02:31] Quite the opposite. It's actually a podcast that at least tries to create some order in which we do stuff. There is so much noise. And this noise around us, it demands of us to act. If not in action, then in our minds.
[00:03:02] Every piece of content that you take part of, every little bit of information tells you to act in some way. So this podcast doesn't do that.
[00:03:21] I try to create, well, I call it non-content because I don't really plan ahead what I'm going to say or in what manner I will produce it. I would just speak. And it is what it is. What happens, happens. And I think we're all benefited by that sort of mentality from time to time.
[00:03:51] But I've never said that we should just lay back and forget about the world and just let it be all the time. But if we never rest, if we never shut it off, if we never escape, then how could we manage to actually do stuff that matters? We can't.
[00:04:53] Safe spaces that are safe in a literal sense. Because we're always in the hands of, you know, stuff. And if there is any sense moral to this podcast, it's that it's okay. You know, it's really okay to be in the middle of the stream called life.
[00:05:22] And it's okay to be this microscopic cosmic particle being pushed around between then and now and the future without having real control because we don't. And again, I don't mean that we don't have any control because we do. Okay.
[00:05:52] So with that said, hi and welcome to Fall to Sleep with Henrik. I'm Henrik. I'm Henrik and I'm right now in my bed looking at the ceiling and I'm alone.
[00:06:15] This afternoon, this afternoon, I will pick up my daughter from school and we will go to Ikea. I mean, when in Sweden, right? So we will go to Ikea because she's going to buy some new she's nice. She's going to point at different stuff and I will buy it for her. I guess. I really don't like Ikea that much. Well, I like their furniture.
[00:06:46] My home is filled with them, but it's... I have a problem with the crowds and there's always crowds at Ikea, especially the world's biggest Ikea, which is here in Stockholm where I live.
[00:07:05] It's very big and people from all over the country, I don't know, comes here and eat meatballs and buy bookshelves, including me, that is. So when I buy stuff for myself at Ikea, I always get it delivered because I... Well, first of all, my car isn't that big. And second, I don't like crowds.
[00:07:34] Did I mention that? I don't like crowds. I don't really like people. Well, I love people. I do. It's just I want to choose when to interact and when to not interact. And therefore, I'm quite comfortable right now.
[00:08:03] Outside on the balcony, there are two bikes. And it gives me a very warm and fuzzy feeling to know that these bikes are dry. Because there's been a rainstorm over Stockholm. And there's a roof over my balcony. And I... Have you ever felt this, sleepy?
[00:08:31] That when something you own is dry and secured in harsh environments, when the weather is moody, for instance? Have you ever felt that it gives you some sort of oddly specific pleasure in knowing that the stuff you own is safe? I had this...
[00:08:58] I had this office in Old Town, Stockholm, a few years ago. It was in this house from the 13th century, ground floor. And it was a small room with a small bathroom. And the walls were curved and everything was stone, old stone.
[00:09:27] And there were spiders in the basement that had been... I mean, the cellar was actually from the early 1300s. And the rest of the house as well, although the house have been changed a lot over the years. But the spiders who lived in the basement were like... Yeah, they were very big and not very shy. And first, I was afraid.
[00:09:57] I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live with these spiders in the basement. But then I spent so many nights thinking how many centuries they've spent down in these... ...volves. And then... I grew strong. And I learned how to get along. And... I guess they're still there.
[00:10:27] They actually discovered... The landlord discovered that they hadn't changed... I don't know what it's called in English. The stems of the house. They hadn't... Well, apparently... The very foundation of the house... Not the ground. It's... The stems. Like... The thing that keeps the house standing.
[00:10:56] They hadn't been... Looked into or changed since... 1947. Which is the year my dad was born. Two years after the end of the World War II. And... So... And I guess no one had... Really ever thought about that. But... Then all of a sudden... Someone... Discovered that... Well, we need to really change the stems of this house.
[00:11:25] So they... They said... You need to like... Go... Like... Pronto. And... They offered me to... Have my office back. But it would take like... A year or something. Or... I could... Get another office. And I choose the latter. So... I moved... From that place. And I moved to another small office. In another...
[00:11:53] Also old part of Stockholm. But not so old. Like from the 1600s or something. 1700s. An old... Factory. But... I regret that... In retrospect. Because it was such a... It was a genuine thrill... To be... A part of Old Town Stockholm. With these old buildings. On Priest Street. Which was... Which were...
[00:12:23] Which is it? Which were or which was? Priest Street was... The... Original outskirts of the first Stockholm. Priest Street... Went just along the first... City wall. That were built around the... Castle. Back in the day. I guess that's... The 12th or... Oh God. This is also very... Confusing. Because...
[00:12:53] In Swedish we say... When I talk about the 19th century. I mean the 1900s. But... The 19th century is actually the 1800s in English. Yeah? So... I mean... This is confusing. But I mean Stockholm was founded in... The 1100s around that period. And...
[00:13:23] The first city wall... I guess we're talking about the 12th... The 13th century I guess. So... It was... It was a kick. I got a kick out of living... Having my office... In this... Very historic place. Like almost a thousand year old place. Well not quite but...
[00:13:53] It sounds better when I say it like that. So... I sat there... Very close to the ground. And... I wrote... I wrote... A book. I wrote operas. I wrote screenplays. And I dreamt. And I... Well...
[00:14:22] When I had been out of the town... Partying... Back in the day... I... Just... Used the bathroom... In my office. Because it was... In the middle of it all. You know? And that felt... Cool. That I could just... On my way home... Just stop and... Relax a bit... In my office. It was my first really... The first place that I truly...
[00:14:52] Really... Had for me... Other offices that I had before... Office... Is such a professional word. More like a writing den. You know? An artist's den. Other artists' dens that I've had before... I've shared with people. And... So this was my first... Real... Own place. Although... I never owned it. I rented it.
[00:15:27] I... I used to sit at my desk... And... I still have that desk. It's an old... Teacher's desk. That's been in a school... In the beginning of the 20th century. And... I... I sat at that desk... And I wrote stuff... And... Worked or whatever. And... There were... Tourists... Guide groups... Walking by my window on the outside.
[00:15:54] And the house is very curious because it leans... It's bent... Out over the street because Stockholm is actually sinking. And it's been... As long as it's been a town. That's why Stockholm is called Stockholm because of stock. In Swedish means... Log. So... The whole town is... Well, initially it was just logs keeping the city...
[00:16:23] From sinking into the swamp. But now it's... Hydraulics and pressure pumps and stuff. But... Over the centuries... The house where my... Writer's den was... Located in... Have been just... Slowly moving. You know? And... So the facade is... Covered with these... Metal plates...
[00:16:52] To keep it from... You know? Crashing. And... Every time my guide... The guide... That went by my window... With different... Tourist groups... From different parts of the world... Past my house... He... He always said... As you can see... This house is going to collapse. And then every... Person in the guide group... Looked at me with... Horror. Doesn't he know that? They thought.
[00:17:22] And it was also very... Fun to watch... People from... Well, from America for instance... With... You know... The fascination about... These... Small... Places. It's very narrow... The alleyways... The streets... Everything is so small... And... Narrow... And including my... My den. So people looked at me... And... I often heard these... Loud American voices... Saying... Look honey...
[00:17:52] People are living in this little... Places. It's amazing. Darling. I... Okay. So this was a... This was a very bad... American English. Sorry. They thought... They thought that I was living in there... Which I weren't. Although... There were two floors above me... And there... People actually... Had apartments. And I was in one of them... An old lady...
[00:18:21] She moved in there in the 60s... And... In the 60s... Nobody wanted to live in Old Town... Because it was just... Dirty and rat infested... And... You know... There were actually plans... From city council at that time... In the 60s... To tear down... The whole... Old Town... I mean... Imagine... The tragedy... You know... The cultural value being lost... But they tore down a bit... Anyway...
[00:18:51] Not all... Fortunately... Yeah... So she was very disappointed... When she... Because she wanted to move out... Move out in the suburb... Because... At that time... They were this... There were this... Huge building projects... Out in the suburbs of Stockholm... Where... People... Had... You know... Big... Lofty apartments with... Water...
[00:19:19] Water toilets... And stuff... Well... Water toilets... Of course... Water toilets were a thing before... But... They were modern apartments... And... But she got this rental... In Old Town... And now she's living in this... You know... Everyone wants to live in Old Town... Especially in a renovated apartment... And now... The rental... I mean the prices...
[00:19:48] They are huge... And... I don't think there's so much... Rental apartments... Available anymore either... It's... You buy them... And... They cost... Millions and millions... Although they are... Small and... Crooked... Not crooked... Crooked... What do you call it? Cracked... Crooked...
[00:20:16] Oh God... That... President... Person... He has ruined the world... Crooked... For me... Okay... I'm not going to go into that... I mean... The... The... The amount of... Accumulated pain... That surrounds... Whatever's happening... With this... Person... I think it's...
[00:20:47] Well... Regardless of what you think... Regardless of... Where your votes lie... You know... Just the amount of pain... That surrounds that world... And... It gives me... I know I'm not... In the US... I know I'm not... I haven't even been there...
[00:21:16] You know... Actually... I've been... In a lot of places... All over the world... But I've never been... In the States... So... I shouldn't really speak... You know... And... The whole world... Is in pain... In so many ways... And... I'm not saying that... That is new... I mean... The world is... The pain... You know... It comes and goes... It's just that...
[00:21:45] I think a lot about... That particular... Aspect of... Present day... And... I keep coming back to... Why all the hurt... You know... Why? Why all the hurt... When... We live in the best of times... Why? Why do we need to go through these... Well, it's...
[00:22:15] Almost like we're going to... Like humanity... At least in the Western world... Like we're going through... Puberty in a way... You know... Like we have teenage angst... It's weird... Because it's so... I mean... Haven't we... Haven't we been... Through puberty... All of us... Collectively... At least... Those of us who have... You know... Those of us who are old enough...
[00:22:44] It's like humanity... Keeps lagging... In... Development... In the development... Of their own... Body... You know... Every grown-up has gone through puberty... But humanity as a whole... Is still... Struggling with... Identity and... Emotions like... Hormones... Being really controlled by impulses... Not being able to think...
[00:23:13] Through stuff... Before... They act... And also... This weird... Fundamental... Illusive question... Who am I? Who am I? What am I gonna do here? What's my purpose? What is good? What is bad?
[00:23:43] But I'm not going to go too deep into this... I've... I said it... Before... And I'm... I still... Went deep... So... Okay... I hit bottom... Now... Let me just say one thing about that... That... I don't have... A problem... With speaking about... Fundamental... Unanswerable questions...
[00:24:13] I am of the opinion that... We should never shy away from stuff that scares us and... Stuff that we don't have the immediate answer to... I think that it's important to dare to... Face things... Face life or get out... Someone said to me when I was a teenager...
[00:24:43] It wasn't aimed at me... It was... My mom... Watched this... She listened to this... Inspirational... Quoter... I don't... I don't remember who he was... Who he were... He was a teacher, I guess... And he was... Lecturing around the country about... Kids and... Bravery and... Identity and stuff... And since I was bullied... My mom... Really listened to him...
[00:25:11] And at that time there was no internet... So I guess she had... Like cassette tapes or something with him... Or if he... Or if she... Maybe she listened to... Him on the radio... Or the telly... Telly or something... Anyway... It's a good quote... Although I would never encourage anyone to just leave... You know... I would encourage anyone to just face life... Because it's... What else can you do? You can just... I mean... What good is there in just...
[00:25:42] Not looking... At what's right in front of you? So... Therefore... This is a sleep podcast... And you don't have to listen to what I say... And I really mean that... But I will keep talking about stuff that moves me... And... Stuff that I think about myself... A lot... And that includes... Existential... Things... And sometimes things that can be... Perceived as scary to some people...
[00:26:12] Space and such... Because... All the things that scares you... It doesn't go away... Just because... It's time for you to sleep... And... Isn't it better to just... Slowly learn to accept... The fact that... The hard things in life... Don't magically go away... Just because you need... It to go away...
[00:26:44] I'm not saying that... It's good for you to lay awake... Lay awake in bed... And just... Think about... The awful stuff... It's... I mean... I mean it's... Only when you accept it... Then you... That you can let it go... You know... In the... In the 13th...
[00:27:12] In the 1300s... In Stockholm... Okay... So now... I'm going to tell you... A series of... Oddly specific... But untrue facts... About Stockholm... In the 1300s... Okay... So are you with me? Are you with me? So in... In Stockholm... My hometown...
[00:27:42] In the 1300s... That is... A.K.A. The 14th century... Right? Or have I gotten this... Totally wrong? Well... You can't answer... Because this is... Recorded before you... Even listen to it... So... I can't... I can't expect you to answer... But please... Answer me... Answer me... Out loud... Even if you're alone... Even if you're with people...
[00:28:13] Uh... Am I right... In this... Assumption? Answer yes or no... Loud and clear... Did you do it? Oh... I love it... I love it... Because it gives me... A sense of... I don't know... It's cool because I... It's almost like I am...
[00:28:43] I can reach out... Across the globe... And do stuff... Like almost physically... Because you did it for me... And... Oh... God I love it... I'm gonna try this... More times... Okay so... In Stockholm... In the 1300s... There was this... Very weird... Very peculiar law... Known as...
[00:29:12] The accord of the... The... The pickled herring... Accord... And this... Particular... Pickled herring accord... That... Every citizen... Must... Carry... A single... Pickled herring... In their left shoe... At all times... Now this is actually... Very very true... So the law...
[00:29:43] Which was... Came up with... Enacted by... King... Birger Magnusson... Of... Ludel Budel... During one of his... Shall we say... Stranger moods... He... Was... Frequenting... The stranger moods... It was... Well... It was said to be... A measure to ward off... Evil foot spirits...
[00:30:13] Believed to cause... Insomnia... Not even podcasts... Would help... And... Bad luck... When trying to... Smooch... Burglars... From Boston... Have you ever... Smooched... A burglar... From Boston... Sleepy... If you haven't... Then... You're missing out... Because... Burglars from Boston... Are...
[00:30:42] Smooch kings... And queens... Oh my... Goodness... God... So... Anyway... This very weird law... Gave rise to... A booming industry... Of... Of... Well... People... Making a living out of... Herrings... So... And also... Shoemakers... That made...
[00:31:11] Herring adapted... Types of shoes... With small... Small compartments... Like in the shoes... For... For... Pickled fish... You could... Open up a little hatch... In the... In the top of the shoe... And... There you could put... Your herring... And there were isolated walls... Within your shoes... So... That the herring... Wouldn't... Leak out... Because sometimes... There was this so-called... Herring moist... Especially from the pickled ones... And...
[00:31:41] Well... As I mentioned... The herring needed to be pickled... Especially one of the... The shoemakers... He was... His name was Snorre... Snorre... Herring... Kärring... It's... Well... Roughly translated to... Well...
[00:32:10] Snorre is the name... And it's... If you want to... Tweak it... In a bad way... You can... You can say that Snorre is... Is a... A dirty word in Swedish... But... It's actually a name... People were actually called Snorre... And... So... His name was... Snorre Herring... Kärring... Which is roughly translated into... Snorre... Herring...
[00:32:40] Bitch... Which was actually his name... And he became a local legend for this... He had... His isolated walls in the compartments where... He stored the... Where you could store the herring... He... Promoted this as... The orderless... Deluxe... Line of footwear... But... I mean...
[00:33:09] The secret were actually that... They masked... The... Whatever scent... That went out of the shoes... And... As you can imagine... I mean... Foot... Odor... Combined with the... The odor of herring... It's... Well... It can be a problem... Even though... Everyone had it... It... You know... The scent... Could be a problem... So... The compartments alone...
[00:33:39] Wouldn't do it... They wouldn't suffice... So... Snorre and his team... Actually masked the scent with... Overwhelming doses of crushed juniper and lavender and... And... Harkin barkin berries... Which were actually a very common berry at the time... Extinct... Nowadays...
[00:34:12] So the pickled herring accord had... Social consequences... For one... A secret society known as the... Herringless order... Emerged... They were like... Youths... Rebellious youths... Who... Who refused to carry the fish... Like... So they... They wouldn't put them in their shoes...
[00:34:42] They were... They were... Opposed... There... Therefore... They were called the herringless... So they communicated... Through secret hand signals that... Mimicked fish swimming... And they... Held... Like... These candlelight meetings in the cellars of... My old building... Well... Not my... I'm sorry...
[00:35:13] I'm sorry... So this is also a thing that needs to be considered... When... Listening to my podcast... That I actually sometimes... Clear my throat... And... Yeah... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for everything... I don't know why you do this... Why do you keep listening to this? I don't know... What I do... Sleepy... If you couldn't... If you could... If you knew... The amount of...
[00:35:41] Overwhelmingly... Strong self-doubt... That just came over me... You would probably just... Turn this podcast off... It's weird... Because I... I often think that this is a good idea... And... Even more... A great idea... And that I... Truly enjoy... Doing this in English...
[00:36:10] Although I am... Not very good at English... So... Often... I just feel... Yeah... Very compelled to continue this... But right now... As I cleared my throat like this... Like an idiot in the sleeping podcast... Who would do that? You know? And I'm not gonna edit it out... Either... You know? Because I...
[00:36:39] Made this vow... That I shouldn't... Correct... I shouldn't... Take away anything... So... What you hear is... Exactly what I go through right now... It's nothing... It's nothing... I don't tweak anything... I don't edit anything... I don't... Think... Well, I think... Of course I think... I think...
[00:37:09] I think... I think... Once... Well... In case you don't know me... I'm an... I'm an actor... That's my original... Craft... And... I... Once when I worked at this... Play... I... We were during rehearsal... And then... The director said to one of my...
[00:37:39] Fellow actresses... I want you to feel... Something... And then she replied that... I felt that I... I felt that I felt... I feel that I felt... That I felt...
[00:38:13] It's like... A mirror in a mirror in a mirror... And what really is a feeling anyway? But to be honest... That was a stupid thing... Said by the director... Because it doesn't matter what I feel... I guess what he meant was that... He wanted to see that... There was something... Going on within her... A feeling... But... As far as acting goes...
[00:38:43] You don't need to feel anything... Quite the opposite... I mean... You... You should really control... What you're actually feeling... Nobody wants to watch your... Psychotherapy on stage... People want to watch a craftsman... Doing his... Or her work... So that's why acting is an art form... And not... Just letting your...
[00:39:13] Psyche out... To people... There was this thing... About the pickled herring in Stockholm... And this is actually... Very not... Untrue... Well it is... Well... But you knew that... These are... In case you're just tuning in...
[00:39:42] Oddly specific... But... Totally false... Stories about... Life... People and traditions... In medieval Stockholm... So there was this thing... Called Stockholm herring race... And it was an annual event... Where... Citizens would... Release their... Yeah well... They would release their shoe herrings... Into...
[00:40:10] The lake... Which is... Stockholm is... Right at the cusp of... Both... The lake... The... The... The Baltic Sea... So... It's... Yeah... So they... They just... Released the... The shoe herrings into... Mälaren... And then they...
[00:40:40] They stood at the beach... And they watched... Which fish... Swam the furthest... Before... Being eaten... By seagulls... And these were... Serious matters... Nobles... Noblemen... They placed heavy bets... On the races... And there was... These huge rivalries... Between districts... And there was this... Legendary herring... This is... Actually not... Fact-checked...
[00:41:08] It could be... Untrue... But... It reportedly... Swam... All the way to... This island... Called Åland... Before... Disappearing into the depths... Of... Well... This is Östersjön... Which is the ocean... So... This was law... Up until... 1342... And...
[00:41:40] Then... It just... Went... Yeah... It was... Repealed... Actually... Because there was... This outbreak in... Very mysterious... Foot infections... That caused... Widespread panic... To Stockholm... And... Totally false... Not very credible... Historians now believe that... This was due to a fungal epidemic... And it was... Unrelated to the herrings... But... At the time...
[00:42:09] As you can imagine... The population... Took it to design... That... The spirits... Of the herring... Or foot spirits... Whatever I said... Had grown... Like... Vengeful... And... To celebrate... That the law was finally abolished... There was this great bonfire... At this...
[00:42:39] Great square in... Old town Stockholm... Called... Stortorjet... Where... Thousands and thousands of pickled herrings... Were... Burned... In this... Very pompous ceremony... Releasing a smell... Sleepy... So potent... That... It... Well... Allegedly... Kept... The... The Danes... At bay...
[00:43:09] For months... As you know... The Danes... Were really keen on... Invading Sweden... And... They did so very successfully... A few times... Over the centuries... Even to this day... There's this small monument... In Stockholm... Old town... This... It's a bronze shoe... With a... Tiny herring... You could see... Through this little...
[00:43:38] Stained glass window... And... It's a little tiny herring... Curled up inside... In this little hatch... With... Reinforced walls... Because of... Moist and smell... Hi and welcome to... Fall asleep with Henrik... Where I... Randomly mention... Old... Unspecific...
[00:44:07] No... Very specific... Traditions of... Old town Stockholm... That's... Totally... Out of the blue... False... This is... Fake news... False information... Never quote me on this one... In... 14th century Stockholm... It was... It was... Well... They believe that cats... Were...
[00:44:38] Well... First of all... That they were cats... So... Nobody had... Any doubts about that... When they saw a cat... They knew... That there was... That it was a cat... You... You... You... You... You... You... You... This is actually true... There are some theories... That...
[00:45:06] People in... Well... That historic era... Not just Greece... But... It's because the color... Blue... Is never... Mentioned... And... There are some theories that... And I don't know how credible those theories are. I'm not a scholar in this matter. Although, well, right now I am. Right now I know everything.
[00:45:38] But it's actually true. In addition to telling a lot of lies, I am also telling some truths as I've come to know them in this podcast. And it's very hard to tell the difference, but this is actually true. That, well, at least I've read it somewhere. That there could have been something in the development of the eye, the human eye,
[00:46:06] that has been taking place over the last 4,000 years maybe. And that the old Greek historians and people telling about the world that those times actually couldn't see blue as we do it. Because they never... And I mean, blue is... I mean, in Greece, in the Greek archipelago, it's...
[00:46:36] I mean, blue is ever-present, you know, the ocean and the sky. And they talk about the ocean and the sky in all sorts of different ways. And they describe the ocean and the sky and the color of the ocean and the sky. But it's always... Like, they resemble it to bronze and other metals
[00:47:05] and never, ever mentioning the color blue. And we don't know what that... how that came to be. So... But... And so there are a lot of people saying that medieval people in Stockholm couldn't recognize cats and they couldn't differ cats from dogs. They didn't know the difference. So that's why, for instance,
[00:47:33] there were a lot of people marrying dogs and cats because at that time there were... It was totally legal to marry dogs, although you couldn't marry cats because cats were... Yeah, evil. And as you know, it's still illegal to this day to marry someone illegal. No, someone evil. But it's... But people do it anyway because of attraction. Damn you, attraction.
[00:48:07] So... Besides from being cats, they were also believed to be psychic. And this belief wasn't born from any superstition. But from an incident known as the Tuna Rebellion of 1321, during which a large number of cats, without any apparent explanation,
[00:48:36] gathered outside the royal palace and stared at the king, Magnus Eriksson, for three days without blinking. And the king, he got very... He got scared, you know. And he concluded that the cats were divine messengers. You know? As you do.
[00:49:04] Whenever an animal stares at me, I think, okay, so this is a message from God. It must be. It could be because everyone had herring in their shoes. The king, of course, had it plentiful. But that wouldn't... That were never taken into consideration. And as a matter of fact, that night, a lightning strike
[00:49:33] set fire to one of the... one of the... towers in the castle. And the king became convinced that the cats had, for some reason, wanted to share this information, that they had foreseen it and wanted to warn him. So from then on, stockholders began consulting cats for important decisions, like merchants seeking success in trade.
[00:50:03] They would bring offerings of milk and sardines to... Well, a special part of Old Town Stockholm called the Feline Oracle Market. It was a bustling plaza where dozens of cats lounged on velvet cushions. So you couldn't just ask the cat.
[00:50:33] You had to watch them carefully. So you thought the question, you had it in your mind, and you looked at the cat, like on the divan, and watched for signs, like a tail flick. And a tail flick was a bad omen. A sneeze. That meant imminent wealth.
[00:51:03] So there was this one particularly famous cat called... See the Seer. Sture the Seer. And he was said to have... predicted the exact timing of a rainstorm. Much like the one covering Stockholm today. And this actually saved the city's weed stores from spoiling. Because they were out in the open
[00:51:32] at this square called Hay Square. Hay Market. Today there is actually a concert building and a hotel at this square. And it's actually true that we have a square called Hay Market or Hötårget, as you say in Swedish. So cats were involved in every part of decision-making in Stockholm at this time.
[00:52:02] In 1338, there was this tabby named... Well, Björn. and he was unofficially... unofficially elected honorary cat burgomaster after allegedly again helping resolve... resolve... resolve...
[00:52:31] Sorry. I'm getting too messy in my mind now. He resolved. Is that the correct way to say it? He resolved like this issue a territorial dispute between two fishing guilds. So the fishermen after they claimed that Björn the tabby
[00:53:01] had just wandered into their heated arguments the meeting that they had and he pawed at one side of the room and he meowed at the other thereby prompting both parties to interpret this as divine favor for a well for a compromise and from then on that
[00:53:32] tabby attended council meetings sitting on a high back chair and whenever he purred his purring was treated as a sign of approval for whatever law that was proposed. Of course there was a lot of mistrust also.
[00:54:02] Not everyone trusted the cats. There was this group of scholars at the monastery of Helgale Kamen holy buddy Helgale Kamen that argued that cats were secretly spies for rival cities particularly Lybeck and Stockholm's great trading adversary according to their pamphlet
[00:54:34] Der Klaben Glogen Blaschen Glückenschnücken Kragen Magen said that the cats were sending coded messages to like merchants by patterns they left in snow and mud and so on. So this led to a brief period of cat trials where accused cats were brought
[00:55:03] before local judges and subjected to bizarre tests such as being offered a plate of pickled herring from someone's shoe to see if they hesitated and hesitation was seen as a proof of espionage.
[00:55:35] So but these were small controversies. Overall cats in medieval Stockholm were very well beloved. When Björn the tabby the burgomaster passed away in 1340 the city held an well this elaborate funeral procession complete with a tiny coffin carried by the heads of all the Stockholm guilds
[00:56:05] and he was buried in a golden and blue box beneath a linden tree which became a pilgrimage site for centuries even today as a matter of fact Stockholm's stray cats gather near that spot on midsummer nights staring into the distance as if seeing someone
[00:56:35] or something lingering hovering like a brick hi and welcome for those of you just tuning in this is a podcast about nothing and I just say stuff and right now I am in the midst untrue
[00:57:04] but still oddly specific stories about medieval Stockholm so in the medieval Stockholm you could eat turnips like and you could eat them and then you could just you could just stick them into any other body opening and just say this is as good as eating it
[00:57:33] and nobody would think twice nobody would even blink because that was tradition and you did it in order to prove that food had a greater value than just nourishment you could just you know so you could like take a bite out of a carrot and then you could just put it in your ear and you could just say this is just as good as eating it and then everybody knew that
[00:58:02] you know you don't need food alone you need like nourishment for your mind as well you could also parade the eel you could like if you were a fisherman you could bring your
[00:58:32] largest eel to some square and you could just lay it there on the cobblestones and you could dance around it in a circle while while you know singing stuff like the eel the eel it doesn't why can't I feel why can't I feel why can't I feel like the eel and by that you just well the sense moral of this was that you would like to feel
[00:59:02] nothing like the dead eel on the cobblestones and you could wear eels as a belt over your tunic and if you didn't like that you could just climb the nearest roof and you can kick a pig in the bladder and that was actually the origin of football so you could stand there on like the black tin roof well
[00:59:31] in the middle evil that's actually that's actually the level of evil that is like not too evil but not but anyway more evil than light evil and with those words sleepy I bid you farewell this has been
[01:00:01] yet another episode of fall asleep with Henrik the podcast meant for you to fall asleep if you like what you hear if this does something to you if it helps you fall asleep well if it helps you fall asleep you don't hear what I'm saying right now but if you've enjoyed this episode for whatever reason please tell your friends that it exists and I'll see you here again next week sleepy those of you who are here
[01:00:31] I love you thank you for being a part of my life thank you for writing to me thank you for telling me about what you like and dislike and well good night sleepy it