Tiveden is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

, throughout history notorious for its wilderness and dangers; historically a hiding place for outlaw

Outlaw

In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

s.

Within it, the Tiveden National Park has a designated area of 13.5 km², a comparatively small and arguably the most inaccessible part of the forest. It was established in 1983, and administratively belongs to the municipalities of Karlsborg

Karlsborg Municipality

Karlsborg Municipality is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Karlsborg....

 and Laxå

Laxå Municipality

Laxå Municipality is a municipality in Örebro County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Laxå.In 1967 the market town of Laxå was merged with two adjacent rural municipalities...

.

History

The name is very old and disputed. -Ved is cognate to English Wood and the first part of its name, Ti-, either means "god" or refers to the god Tyr. Tiveden separates Närke

Närke

' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwest, and Värmland to the northwest...

 from Västergötland

Västergötland

', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....

, and was formerly a frontier between the Geats and the Swedes

Suiones

The Swedes e, "one's own [tribesmen/kinsmen]"; Old English: Sweonas; , Suehans or Sueones) were an ancient North Germanic tribe in Scandinavia...

.

The national park area has never been inhabited, but there are several ancient remains of human activities such as worshipping grounds and sacrificial sites.

Geography

The forest has small lakes with red waterlilies. When they were discovered they provided the European varieties of red waterlilies that are in cultivation. The folklore tale of how this became goes as follows:
The animal life is scarce, but the forest houses a substantial population of capercaillie

Capercaillie

The Western Capercaillie , also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie , is the largest member of the grouse family, reaching over 100 cm in length and 6.7 kg in weight. The largest one ever recorded in captivity had a weight of 7.2 kg....

.

External links

• Tiveden National Park from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
  Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
  The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is a Swedish government agency responsible for proposing and implementing environmental policies...