LARS CHRISTIAN KOFOED RØMER DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY university of copenhagen FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES faculty of social sciences UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN · DENMARK PHD THESIS 2018 · ISBN 978-87-7209-158-7 LARS CHRISTIAN KOFOED RØMER Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm Tales in an Underground Landscape · in an Underground Tales Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm Excursions Anthropological Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm PhD thesis 2018 · Lars Christian Kofoed Rømer LARS CHRISTIAN KOFOED RØMER DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY university of copenhagen FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES faculty of social sciences UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN · DENMARK PHD THESIS 2018 · ISBN 978-87-7209-158-7 LARS CHRISTIAN KOFOED RØMER Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm Tales in an Underground Landscape · in an Underground Tales Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm Excursions Anthropological Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm PhD thesis 2018 · Lars Christian Kofoed Rømer Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm i Tales in an Underground Landscape Anthropological Excursions in the Danish Island of Bornholm PhD thesis by Lars Christian Kofoed Rømer Danish Folklore Archives Department of Anthropology Royal Danish Library Faculty of Social Sciences University of Copenhagen Submitted: January 2018 Supervisor: Kirsten Blinkenberg Hastrup Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen This PhD is funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research|Humanities (FKK) (grant no. 4089-00034B) Copyright © 2018 Lars Christian Kofoed Rømer ISBN 978-87-7209-158-7 (Printed book) ISBN 978-87-7209-168-6 (E-book) Printed by SL grafik, Frederiksberg, Denmark (slgrafik.dk) ii Europe has two histories: a well-known, written history and an underground history. The latter consists in the fate of the human instincts and passions, which are displaced and distorted by civilization. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer – The Importance of the Body, Dialectic of Enlightenment, iii Contents Acknowledgements vi Tables: List of Figures viii Introduction: An Opening of Bornholm’s Landscape 1 Archiving andscape 1 Elements of Bornholm’s Landscape 5 Subterranea Pastn nd Ridicule 12 Subterranea and a erground Landscape 15 Tal nd ultiplicity i Landscape 18 Outli hesis 22 1. Subterranean Secrets: A History of Silencing and Revelations 24 Written Silence: The nachronicity f Tales 25 A ublic Secret 28 Concealed resence 31 Bypassing stness 33 Unknow ecrets 39 The resentness f ales 42 2. Childhood Landscapes: Animist Education and the Eruption of Wildness 45 Children’s Tales 46 Teaching nimism 50 Semi-educated ildness? 54 Under ttack 57 Unfamiliari nd eing ot-at-Home 63 3. Monumental Affects: Megaliths, Beacons, and Round Mounds 66 “Hello Holy Woman” 67 Pilts - Familiar laces 72 Contemplations i a ound ound 78 Chronotopi nd Anthropotopi ffects 82 4. Cultivating Wilderness: Hunting and Companionship 85 Hunting uck rom ower and Mounds 87 Becoming-wi uck 91 The attue 95 Educating unting orals 98 Celebrating Companionshi nd Wilderness 104 iii iv 5 ommnal crsons Waln ybrd eographes 106 Three Hors in the aradise Hills 106 First teps 106 Rocs of we and the ense of lterity 108 Into the Weather-World 114 Walking to ase 120 Inscriptions - Maing a momentary) ar 124 Walkin Hyrid eoraphies 127 6. Photographic Memories: Montaging a Town’s Decline 130 A sense of Ton-ship 131 Reivin Ton-ship 138 Epic theatre eepin Loss live 143 Auto-ethnoraphical ontages 147 7 Terran of errors Hstorcal Tremors and Neglect as sal 149 Immigrant ocs – Terror and ncertainty From Elsewhere 149 olice and Bags of Blood 153 Misrepresentational aps 158 Shiverin onds 163 Nelect and Resignation as sal 165 Remoteness and a eripheral Center of ttention 169 8 he Subterranean rm Neglect and a Sel-Defense sland 173 "To Wolfsen 174 The Emergence of ndergrond orces 179 Internal lterity and a Call for olidarity 184 Waves of Enchantment and recarios atriotism 187 The oetics of elf-Defense and ational Belonin 193 9 Unearthn he ast Metal etectn rotecton and Fathern rehstory 197 The eil and anef 198 Stealin from ast and resent Owners 201 Sterranean nishment and a ense of rotection 204 Cltivatin rehistoric Enconters 209 The Contagios Magic of Historical ntimacy 215 Fatherin the ast and Becomin History 217 Trnin the Layers Collectin a Landscape 222 Conclson he hronogeherness and en-Rchness of a Landscape 224 Bibliography 233 English Summary 247 Dansk Resumé 249 iv v Acknowledgements Thi PhD hesi i fun h anish Council o Independent esearch | umanities (FKK) grant no. 4089-00034B) Without thi grant doctoral udi woul ot a been ossibl n han th Council o t upport A with ny hnographic rk, ha neither been onceived no rried ut n lidarit but s yet deeply ndebted o the umerous colleagues, ellow tudents nterlocutors, an th o nexpect encount hat a continuousl ap n ap t th rs. In egard to he hance events that sometimes emerge t here and alter one’s path I ant to press sin gratitu to lse Mari ofo Directo f h Danish olklo rchi an hea f artment t h Royal anish Libra fo vin m h pportunit a tl duat nthropologist o egin at the archi in h rin of 12, an ngoin encouragement o rin th istorical aterial nto h resent am lso ndebt o Marianne olm edersen n Vibeke teffen for heir ole making this chance materialize. would li to han all f m colleagu at h archi throughout h past x in particula n Christian ristensen, Ditt oldschmidt Len Halsko ansen Pall Christiansen Carolin yvan and Jen enri Koudal, as e as ig Roa Svenningsen rom he Department f p ictu an hotograph for lping e ind my way through the chival aterial At he epartment nthropology, niversity f openhagen, ould ike hank he taff nd student who o lmost one nd al ecades have pro an nspirin an allengin academi hom In articula I sh o press est titu to perviso Kirsten astrup H commitment nd ritical ngagement ith y work have far xceeded what ould ossibly have xpected a ha a continuous source f nspiration nd uidance. m lso hankful orten xel Pedersen and Stine røij o th many conversations i he llways or over lunch, and n articular Henri Hvenegaa Mikkelsen or aking it im ead hrough he irst rafts of ost he chapters in his thesis. I lso hank Vicki Antosz nd ine ammeltoft for the l nd ssistance ll practical atters in he final tages f the project. Among my ellow hD student wish o xpress y than o rau Menn Camilla da avnbøl, j edegaard Heiselb ofi osenlun Lau Thoma Ravndrup edersen Mett in usk Aarhu University) and Aja ith University f uthern Denmark) fo hei of encouragement and suggestion an metim for simpl endin a istening ea I lso sh t hank Michael aussig at the Department nthropology, Columbia University, fo i comment n hought on th verall ramewo f rk. v vi As the ast three ears have entailed countless commutes etween y home on ornholm and the Roal anish ibrar an Uniersit I is to etend heartfelt ratitue to sster amilla m frens as Esen asar Mille and ara and ther artners an ilren for allowin me to send man a nght n teir oes n ornholm I s to than m rens an amil in articular m other and n-las for ther ontinuous spport patiene an assistane oreoer am eel inete to the numerous persons ho each n their on way ave articiated n te ormation o te etnoraphic ontent of this or th reset to the personal stories the hae sare all but those who nsste on aearin with teir actual names ave een anonmized in te text; man terefore annot be named. Yet I ant to express y ratitude to them all or their illingness to allow e to atch a limpse of the histores stores eotions an sensations that for each of the ae p the lansape the lie in an moved through. At Bornholm’s Musem inn Ole Nielsen Rne Laursen icholas aretta an Aners Pihl esere seial thans for elping e naigate te as, oects, an historical writins on Bornolm, an aob errng-ansen or alloin me to articiate n oficial eetins at the useum and or spportin or Last t ost mortantly, I annot egin to exress y loe an admiration or y wife Magda, for er ontinos suort. Withot er illinness to endure te requent erios o physical an ental absence, er patiene in listenin to onstant tal of thins nerroun an er relentless teamin up with onerull onrous aughters Eira an maya in ther joint eforts to ee ullin me to the srae oul neer ae ae t through eate this or to ou Lars rstian ofoe ømer Ibser anuar 18 vi vii Tables: Maps and Figures Figure . he Blti e x Figure . Bornholm . 900 xi Figure . Shelves n the anish ollore Arhive xii Figure . Svend rundtvg 84 Danish ollore Arhives 4 Figure . Figure 5.Georg Josefsen, ca. 1900 (Bornholm’s Museum) 4 Figure . Locations of Bornholm’s entrenchments (Contains data from SDFE HM2007) 8 Figure . Krlle Blle ostcard – “All in a nutshell” 10 Figure . Bonavedde’s Farm and the mound Falhøj, as photographed by Ella Ellekilde in 1927 27 Figure . 2016 Arhaeologcal xcavtion ste 38 Figure . The carpenter’s truck and Bokul in the background 41 Figure . Where Edith’s father saw the Subterrnens 41 Figure . Children’s drawings of Subterrnens 44 Figure . Bobbarlus Birthd e 47 Figure . he one tone n dlight 48 Figure .