From the point where the river Bulsjö empties into Lake Sommen,
extending in a northerly direction for about eight miles, bordering the
parishes of North Wij and Asby, nearly up to a point called Hornäs,
stretches the principal fjord, one of several branching off from the
large lake.
Near Vishult, in the first named of these parishes, descending to the
lake from the elevation that follows its west shores, is a wall-like
precipice, Urberg, which, from the lake, presents an especially
magnificent view, as well in its height and length, and in its
wood-crowned top, as in the wild confusion of rocks at its base, where,
among the jumble of piled-up slabs of stones, gape large openings, into
which only the imagination dares to intrude.
From this point the mountain range extends southward toward Tulleram,
and northward, along the shore of Lake Sjöhult, under the name of
Tjorgaberg, until it ends in an agglomeration of rocks called Knut’s
Den.
In this mountain dwells the Urko, a monster cow of traditionary
massiveness, which, in former times, when she was yet loose, plowed the
earth, making what is now Lake Sommen and its many fjords. At last she
was captured and fettered by a Troll man from Tulleram, who squeezed a
horseshoe around the furious animal’s neck and confined her in Urberg.
For food she has before her a large cow-hide from which she may eat a
hair each Christmas eve, but when all the hairs are consumed, she will
be liberated and the destruction of Ydre and all the world is to
follow.
But even before this she will be liberated from her prison if Ydre is
crossed by a king whom she follows and kills if she can catch him
before he has crossed to the confines of the territory.
It happened one time that a king named Frode, or Fluga, passed through
Ydre, and, conscious of the danger, hurried to reach the boundaries,
but, believing he had already passed them, he halted on the confines at
Fruhammer, or, as the place was formerly called, Flude, or Flugehammer,
where he was overtaken and gored to death by the monster. In
confirmation of this incident, his grave, marked by four stones, is to
this day pointed out.
Another narrative, which, however, is known only in the southeastern
part of the territory, relates that another king, unconscious of the
danger accompanying travel in the neighborhood, passed unharmed over
the border, and had reached the estate of Kalleberg, when he heard
behind him the dreadful bellowing of the monster in full chase after
him. The king hastened away as speedily as possible. The cow monster,
unable to check its mad gallop at the border, rushed over some distance
to the place where the king first paused, where, in the gravel-mixed
field, she pawed up a round hole of several hundred feet in breadth,
which became a bog, whose border, especially upon the north side, is
surrounded by a broad wall of the upheaved earth.
Still, at times, especially preceding a storm, the Urko is heard
rattling its fetters in the mountain, and both upon the mountain and
down near the shore of the lake by times.
Extraordinary things are said to happen. One and another of the
residents thereabouts assert even that they have seen the Urko in her
magnificent rooms and halls, which the neighbors do not for a moment
doubt.