"Where Smaland's kings were buried and its laws were spoken for over a thousand years"
Inglinge hög
Ingelstad, Kronobergs län, Sweden
Inglinge hog dominates its Smaland landscape: a burial mound thirty-seven meters across and six meters high, crowned by a standing stone and an ornate stone sphere known as the Throne of the Vira Kings. Surrounding it, approximately 130 ancient remains, including stone ships and stone circles, compose a grave field where Iron Age and Viking Age communities placed their dead beside the mound where assemblies governed the region until 1926.
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Quick Facts
Location
Ingelstad, Kronobergs län, Sweden
Site Type
Coordinates
56.7462, 14.9097
Last Updated
Feb 17, 2026
Learn More
Inglinge hog was constructed around 600-700 CE during the Vendel era as a royal burial comparable to the great mounds at Gamla Uppsala. The site's dual function as burial ground and thing assembly venue persisted for over a millennium, with assemblies continuing at Ingelstad until 1926.
Origin Story
The Vendel era (approximately 550-790 CE) was a period of consolidated power in Scandinavia, when regional kingdoms coalesced and their rulers expressed authority through monumental burial. Inglinge hog belongs to this tradition, its scale comparable to the famous royal mounds at Gamla Uppsala. The ruler buried here governed the Varend kingdom in Smaland, and their mound became the seat from which successors exercised and transmitted authority.
Snorri Sturluson, writing in thirteenth-century Iceland, described a Norse practice of kings ascending burial mounds to assume royal authority. Whether this specific practice occurred at Inglinge hog cannot be confirmed, but the Throne of the Vira Kings arrangement is consistent with the tradition Snorri describes.
Key Figures
Unknown Vendel Era Ruler
The individual buried within Inglinge hog, believed to be a regional king or powerful chieftain of the Varend kingdom
Snorri Sturluson
Medieval Icelandic historian whose descriptions of Norse royal inauguration practices provide context for the Throne of the Vira Kings
Vaxjo Municipality
Local authority managing the site as a cultural heritage destination with visitor parking and information panels
Spiritual Lineage
Inglinge hog connects to the broader Scandinavian tradition of monumental royal burial that includes the mounds at Gamla Uppsala, Anundshog, and other major Vendel and Viking Age burial sites. The thing assembly tradition links it to the Norse democratic governance system documented across Scandinavia and Iceland. Archaeological finds from the grave field include Viking Age buckles and a Bronze Age sword, indicating use spanning centuries before and after the mound's construction.
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