Skaga stave church

The original chapel was built in the 1130s during the Christianization of Scandinavia, but it was demolished in 1826 to combat persistent pagan practices in the area.

One of the legends relates that a Viking warrior named Ramunder the Evil owned a homestead at lake Unden nearby.

His daughter Skaga was so weak when she was born that he decided to leave her in the forest to be devoured by wild beasts, which was an old Scandinavian custom when children were not desired.

Later, when Skaga had inherited the homestead, she had the stave church built where people conducted their pagan sacrifices, in order to help the Christianization of the area.

Generations later, when people settled anew in the area, the stave church was the only remaining building, and it was once again the centre of a parish.

The destruction was the result of the controversies surrounding the use of a nearby well for pagan sacrifices, a custom which likely predated the Christianization of the area.

It is said that one man did not succeed in catching any bleaks in the nearby lake and so he had a silver fish crafted, which was hung above the pulpit.

[6] The clergymen of the Diocese of Skara appealed to the Parliament of Sweden for a crackdown on the sacrifices, and they wanted an end to the superstition that surrounded the "abomnable pagan shrine".