Lighthouse story
The legend of Kullamannen
Kullamannen – the Kullen Man – is mentioned in Danish chronicles as early as 1220. He was described as a wise man with supernatural powers and the ability to see into the future. According to legend, he lived in a tower at the tip of Kullaberg.
Others say he was a knight who, because of an unhappy love, had settled on desolate Kullaberg. The knight's name was Thord Knutsson Bonde, and he had a strange ability to see into the future. People travelled far and wide to learn their fate. Whoever lived at Kullagården has also been called Kullamannen, as has whoever kept the lighthouse's flame alive – the two merged, since responsibility for the light was for a long time tied to the owner of Kullagården.
Locals know at once what is meant when people talk about Kullamannen. The farmer, the lighthouse keeper or the troll. Perhaps it is the barren landscape, the unpredictable and sometimes harsh weather and the steep cliffs dropping straight into the sea that set the imagination going. You don't have to spend long on the mountain to notice the powerful forces at work. The mighty Kullamannen also decided who would fall from the mountain and which ships around Kullaberg would be wrecked. Sailors rounding the point still held offering and greeting ceremonies for the supernatural ruler of the mountain well into the 1950s.
When the clouds drift around Håkull, the mountain's highest point, people say that Kullamannen's wife is brewing – and then you know with absolute certainty that rain is on its way.
Sometimes Kullamannen meddled in the lives of ordinary people, as when a farmer from Kullen got into a dispute with a nobleman. The farmer had right on his side, but the nobleman had the court on his. The farmer was given three days to get from Stockholm to his farm, and with the strength of despair he did his utmost to achieve the impossible. On the third night he was still far from home when a small man on a big horse came riding up and told him to climb on. It was a mighty ride over mountains, forests and churches, but well before dawn the farmer was home and managed to save his farm. He knew for certain that only one man was powerful enough to do the impossible: Kullamannen.
Even today you can run into Kullamannen. Every year several people fall from the cliffs. Runners trip over stones and branches that suddenly appear out of nowhere. Mighty forces rule the mountain, and you should take great care not to awaken their wrath. But if you have Kullamannen on your side, there is no better ally.