Gribskov

Gribskov
Forest
Old beech trees in Gribskov.
Official name: Gribskov
Name origin: The common forest
Country Denmark
Region Capital Region of Denmark
District North Zealand
Municipality Gribskov, Hillerød
Part of Scandinavia
City Hillerød, Helsinge, Fredensborg
Landmark The lakes of Store Gribsø, Solbjerg Engsø,
Strødam Engsø
Building Gribskovbanen, Skovskolen, Esrum Abbey
Area 56 km2 (22 sq mi)
Biome coniferous forest, mixed deciduous forest,
semi-natural beech wood
Geology moraine hills
Plant beech, European larch, oak, etc.
Animal deers
Wikimedia Commons: Gribskov

Gribskov (Grib Forest) is Denmarks fourth largest forest,[1] comprising c. 5,600 ha of woodland situated in northern Zealand, west and south of Lake Esrum. The forest is owned and administered by the State of Denmark.

Gribskov is usually divided into four sections: The northwest surrounding the small village of Maarum, the northeast on the banks of Lake Esrum, the southwest around the small lake of Gribsø and finally the southeast, enclosing the village of Nødebo on the southern banks of Lake Esrum.

Gribskov is separated by only a thin strip of Hillerød town in the south, from many larger woodlands like Store Dyrehave at 1,100 ha, Tokkekøb Hegn at 631 ha and several smaller woods.[2][3]

Etymology

The Danish name Gribskov, literally translates to Grib-forest in English. The first part 'grib', directly translates as catch! and grab! in English,[4] but the actual meaning and etymology of the word, goes a bit deeper. 'Grib' refers to the Old Danish word for something 'without any specific owner' so Gribskov means a woodland of common ownership so to speak.[5]

Nature

Gribskov and Lake Esrum, is designated as EU habitat directive and Natura 2000 areas, as part of an even larger protection.[6] On top of that, Gribskov is designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA). Around 20% or c. 1,200 ha of the forest has been reserved as 'forest to be untouched', in an effort to preserve some of the few spots of semi-natural woodland (SNW) in Denmark and stimulate the growth of new.

The birdlife in Gribskov is varied and of international importance. The forests is home to the largest populations of common goldeneye, green sandpiper and red-backed shrike in Denmark[7] and near Nødebo at Lake Esrum, a noisy colony of great cormorants have found a home. Cormorants can be a problematic bird to administer locally, but it is to be protected in Denmark and is on list III in the Berne convention.[8]

The forest is growing in a hilly terrain (by Danish standards), with lower lying areas in the east and west. The low lying areas are dominated by beech and oak, but with several forest types mixed in, like wood pastures or old coppice woodland with alder and ash for example. The curved terrain create a lot of small ponds, bogs and swamps and exposes quite a lot of springs, some enshrouded by myths, superstition or old folk tales.[7]

Gribskov is more than 10,000 years old, dating from the end of the last ice age,[9] but the forest bear the marks of an intensive plantation industry, that accelerated from the late part of the 1700s and peaked in the 1800s. Many new tree species were introduced to the wood, former wetlands were drained and planted with trees, especially European spruce. These practises are now dismantled in Gribskov, the spruce plantations are cut down, artificial ditches are being filled to allow a more natural waterflow and it is believed to be naturally and quickly replaced by an alder, birch and willow habitat in coming years. It is expected that Gribskov will comprise more semi-natural woodland of deciduous trees in the future.

The forest of Gribskov offers a rare opportunity to observe free roaming deer of all the four species living in Denmark. This includes the roe deer, sika deer, red deer and fallow deer, with roe and fallow deers as the most common in Gribskov. Roe deer have been living here for as long as the forest itself, while fallow deer was introduced at some point during the middle ages. The fallow deer population in Gribskov, is the largest free roaming fallow deer population in Denmark, at 600-800 animals.

Lakes, ponds and wetlands

There had been a long tradition for draining by digging ditches and regulating the natural waterflow in the forest for various reasons, but these practises are now been dismantled and work is in progress to re-establish a more natural waterflow and improving conditions for wetland areas.[10] This has already bettered the biological diversity and have had a direct positive influence on the living conditions of the birds in Gribskov. There are several interesting bodies of water in Gribskov, seen from both a scientific and folkloristic viewpoint:

Store Gribsø (English: Large Grib-lake) or just Gribsø, is only a 10 ha lake, but is nevertheless the largest lake enclosed by Gribskov. It is a so-called dystrophic lake and it is impossible to see the bottom in its dark waters, even though it is only 11 m deep. The lake have no outflows and it can be ice cold just beneath the surface, so bathing should be done with care. Tradition says the lake is bottomless and was created, when God angrily punished a nun monastery that once was here. The nuns showed more interest in the monks at Esrum Abbey than in God, so he opened up the ground and the chasm swallowed up all the nuns and the entire monastery. The monastery continued to sink and sink and that was how the lake was created. It is said that one can still hear the monastery's bells ringing down in the lake on quite evenings.

Landmarks and structures

There are many small ponds, streams and lakes throughout Gribskov, but the larger ones of Store Gribsø, Solbjerg Engsø and Strødam Engsø, are all situated in the south-eastern parts. The latter two are the largest and attracts a rich birdlife, but they are both on the edge of the forest.

The most prominent landmark is perhaps Svenskegrøften (lit.: The Swedish Ditch) initiated in 1576. It is a 2–3 km long artificial canal, winding its way through the forest from the lake of Store Gribsø and south towards the settlement of Gadevang in the south-eastern section. As the name implies, Swedish prisoners of war was used for this large project, ordered by King Frederik II. The ditch is just a part of a bigger network of ditches dug since the middle ages, to supply the Frederiksborg Palace with running water, to exploit the water resource for the watermills in earlier times and to drain the wetlands so the land could be used for plantations. There is an estimated 526 km of artificial ditches in Gribskov.[10]

Pre-history

There are several relics of the past in Gribskov. An example is the megalithic passage grave just outside Kagerup, a village south of Maarum in the north-west of the forest. It was raised at some point in the neolithic Stone Age, about 5-6,000 years ago and is referred to as Jættestuen, simply meaning The Passage Grave in English.[11] Not far from the megalithic tomb, is two round dolmens, one of which is heavily deteriorated though. Another megalithic passage grave is situated in the south-western parts of the woods. This tomb is known as Mor Gribs Hule (lit.: Mother Gribs Lair) and of similar age and origin as Jættestuen. Tradition says that the notorious sorceress Mother Grib had residence in the grave chamber. She used to whistle at the wayfaring, leading them astray and then her sons killed and robbed them, when they lost their whereabouts in the woods.[12] This story gives an entirely new meaning to the name of Gribskov.

Just north-west of Gribskov, the small woodland of Valby Hegn holds a total of seven long barrows from the neolithic.

Buildings

Gribskov is cut through by the Gribskov Line, an old railway line laid out in 1878, then offering the urban population a first-time opportunity to visit the forests.

Near the village of Nødebo at Lake Esrum in the southeastern part of the forest is Skovskolen (lit.: The Forest School), a large school situated in the old foresters lodge Skovfryd (lit.: Forest-joy) from 1829-30. Here forest engineers, landscape engineers and nature guides are educated.

In the north-eastern corner is the old Esrum Abbey.

Forestry and hunting

Gribskov have a long tradition for forestry of all kinds.

In 1736, the German forester Johann Georg von Langen participated in restoring the Danish woodlands of the time, by introducing European larch. Some of the first larch trees were planted in Gribskov in 1776 and they can still be seen here today in the northwestern parts, just east of Mårum. Known as Tinghuslærkene (lit.: The Tinghus-larches), one of the trees, now marked with a yellow ring and standing 36 m tall, was picked in 1935 by the Danish forestry-genetic Carl Syrach-Larsen for hybrid experimentation. From the marked tree in Gribskov, he developed a very successful hybrid with Japanese larch, able to withstand the devastating fungal larch canker disease also known as Lachnellula willkommii. The hybrids also had a faster and healthier growth. The hybrid is known as Larix × marschlinsii or L. × eurolepis (discouraged name) and can also occur spontaneously, wherever European and Japanese larch grows together.

Nowadays parts of Gribskov are used for seed-production for species like European spruce.

The history of hunting in Gribskov is also reaching far back in time. The most visible signs are perhaps the extensive path structures laid out in different parts of the forests, especially near Nødebo in the years 1680-90 by King Christian V. Long straight lines, usually designed in star-patterns, merging and radiating from strategical points. They were constructed and used for running up and tiring the game (usually deer) in so-called parforce hunting, by horse and packs of hunting dogs. The same kind of outlay and design can also be seen in the nearby woodlands of Store Dyrehave and Jægersborg Dyrehave, just south of Gribskov. They are all former royal game reserves. Gribskov is still used for hunting nowadays - in particular deer - and some areas are not to be disturbed, but parforce hunting is illegal and has been since the year 1777.

References and notes

  1. ↑ Denmarks 10 largest forests The Danish Wood Initiative (2004)
  2. ↑ Store Dyrehave Gydendals Open Encyclopedia (Danish)
  3. ↑ Tokkekøb Hegn Danish Nature Agency (Danish)
  4. ↑ 'Grib' also translates to vulture in English, but that meaning is not associated with Gribskov.
  5. ↑ Gribskov Danish Nature Agency (Danish)
  6. ↑ 133 Gribskov, Esrum Sø, Esrum Å and Snævret Skov Danish Nature agency (Danish)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Gribskov Danish Ornitological Association (DOF) (Danish)
  8. ↑ Skarv Danish Nature agency (Danish)
  9. ↑ History of Gribskov Danish Nature Agency (Danish)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Reestablishment of natural hydrology in Gribskov and St. Dyrehave. A pilot project on areas affected by storm damage. Marie-Louise Olsen. English summary of the report.
  11. ↑ The Danish word Jættestue for passage grave, actually translates as "the Jötunns room" referring to the Jötunns of Norse mythology.
  12. ↑ A variant of the story says that Mother Grib lead travellers astray when they asked her for directions, and by blowing a whistle she signalled her six strong sons to jump forward and attack the unlucky victims. As with most folk tales and word of mouth stories, various versions exists and change slightly over the years. Mor Grib is also known as Mutter Grib, where Mutter translates as "old woman".

Sources

Coordinates: 55°59′N 12°18′E / 55.983°N 12.300°E