Curonian Spit. Mystical "Dancing Forest"

Photos of the "Dancing Forest" in national park Curonian Spit Kaliningrad region bypassed many means mass media. The Internet is filled to capacity with them. And they are impressive. They depict a pine forest. Only the pines in it are not straight, but strongly curved. Almost tied in a knot...

Many of those who have been to the pine forest admired the slender, straight, like spears, centuries-old pines that reach tens of meters into the air. And looking at their peaks made my head spin. Pinery the Curonian Spit is also rich in such trees. But there is one place in it where the pines do not amaze with their slenderness. On the contrary, they amaze with their intricately curved and twisted trunks. Some trunks are almost tied in a knot. This area received the romantic name “Dancing Forest”.

In ancient Prussia, there were legends that trees twisted into rings were the gateway to the world of spirits. It was believed that those who pass through them could get rid of diseases and, sometimes, gain supernatural powers. The Prussians believed that by climbing through the ring of a curved pine tree, you could add a year to your life. They worshiped such trees.

In our time, as a rule, there are no reasons for worship. Much more to worry about. The twisted trunks of the Dancing Forest attracted the attention of scientists. Naturally, those who call themselves psychics also came here. And one of them concluded that the place has strong energy. That in its cry you can recharge with energy. For future use. However, he himself was afraid to go deep into the “wonderful” forest.

And many of those who dare to go deeper begin to imagine dark forces. They feel unaccountable anxiety, worry and fear. Local mushroom pickers try to avoid this one square kilometer area. Many local residents believe that this is a gathering of devils gathered for the Sabbath. And visiting this place will not lead a person to anything good.

Having studied the Dancing Forest, scientists have not come to a clear conclusion about the cause of this phenomenon. Many hypotheses have been put forward: natural factors, genetic characteristics, and the impact of viruses and pests on pines. And even the special cosmic energy of this place. At one time, Koenigsberg and its environs were considered the headquarters of the Ahnenerbe - “the German society for the study of ancient German history and the heritage of our ancestors,” who was closely interested in the occult sciences. And this society was painfully drawn to places with anomalous energy.

By the way, the Dancing Forest is not the only such place in the world. In Denmark there is the “Troll Forest”, and in Kazakhstan on the shore of Lake Borovoe there is the “Dancing Birches” park. And in these places the trees are also twisted. And there must be a reason for this.

The dancing forest seedlings were planted in the sixties of the last century. And, in my personal opinion, the trunks are really twisted for a reason. It is quite possible that they are influenced by anomalous energy. We can’t brush this aside. And if this energy has such an effect on pines, then the effect on humans will also be detrimental. But in our turbulent age various kinds mutations are most often caused by chemicals or increased background radiation.

The author of this material has visited places contaminated with radionuclides. The lush growth of vegetation there is simply amazing. Grass up to your chest and berries huge size. Beautiful wild berries that should not be eaten.

Of course, the radioactive background was probably measured in the Dancing Forest. And since there are no reports that it is elevated there, it means it is normal. But was the soil taken for analysis? After all, twisted trunks are definitely an alarm signal that nature gives us.

The retreating fascists at the end of the Second World War could well have secretly buried containers with chemical reagents or containers with toxic substances in this area. Or it may be located under the grove underground plant Germans, from which vapors of harmful substances began to seep into the ground. After all, there are persistent legends about numerous underground structures near Konigsberg.

There definitely must be something there. The trees could not “dance” of their own free will, without any reason. Only this reason must be sought. Look for, and not admire, twisted tree trunks...

Why is this Danish forest, located in the northern part of the island of Zealand, called the troll forest? Have you ever heard of these mysterious creatures– heroes of Scandinavian folklore and characters from fantasy sagas and computer games? They would really like this forest, because the plants here are just as ugly as the trolls themselves in our human understanding.

By the way, not only in Denmark, but also in different countries(including in Russia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Norway, etc.) there are similar forests. And even the local names give them very similar ones. These are places where trees, for some reason, do not want to grow the way they are supposed to - upward, towards sunlight, but they grow crookedly, at random, and generally in any way, even curling up in a spiral.

It's hard to find some scientific explanation this phenomenon. And it's not just about fancy trees, but also in their very surface, where grimaces are clearly visible, vaguely reminiscent human faces. Perhaps trolls really once existed, lived here, and then their faces were imprinted on the bark of trees? Or did these creatures themselves turn into plants?

Meanwhile, attempts to unravel the mystery of the Troll Forest were made by the first botanists who wandered here. There was a version about the fault of the winds, but it was almost immediately dismissed as untenable. If the wind bent the trunks, they would simply bend in one direction, and not turn into squiggles. Later, when science took a step into bacteriology and virology, tree defects began to be blamed on bacteria and viruses, respectively.

Since the Troll Forest is quite mature,” versions of testing nuclear and other weapons were not even considered. But for some reason they simply forgot about aliens. There were more different versions about why this place looks like a schizophrenic's dream, but all of them did not pass. Finally, the local community, led by the administration, calmed down, decided to accept as an unprovable fact that this forest was once truly inhabited by mischievous troll babies, and began to bring groups of tourists here from countries where there were no such attractions. And is it even worth doing? further searches truth, if the secret of the forest itself brings good income?

The ancestors of modern Scandinavians, at the mere mention of trolls, shook with fear and became self-conscious sign of the cross, whispering prayers. Are these really that dangerous? mythical creatures? What were they really like? And where did they end up disappearing to?

In modern fantasy, trolls are portrayed as huge, ugly and limited creatures, concerned only with filling their bellies and falling asleep. However, in Scandinavian folklore these creatures appear far from being so primitive. They were endowed with incredible physical strength, supernatural powers and to one degree or another mastered the basics of witchcraft.

HORRIBLE OUTSIDE

According to ancient legends, trolls even looked different. Some, for example, could be the size of a mountain, while others could be so tiny that they could fit in a pocket. But everyone, without exception, had a tail, more like a cow's.

In addition to hair, monsters usually had moss, grass, heather and even trees growing on their heads. And sometimes there were goals different quantities-one, three, five, nine, fifteen: the more there are, the older the troll. And not only older, but also more beautiful, since the abundance of heads attracted female creatures, which in Norway were called gygrs. However, the lifespan of these unattractive creatures remains a mystery. It was believed that before the eyes of a young troll, an oak forest could grow and die three times, and for an old troll - seven times.

FRIENDS OR ENEMIES?

Trolls lived in dense Norwegian and Swedish forests. But they also had relatives in Iceland (they were called Tretls), as well as on the Shetland and Orkney Islands. But in Denmark they were not found at all. According to legend, the trolls did not like the flat, treeless lands of this country. They hated the sun: as soon as one ray touched the skin of these creatures, they immediately turned into stones. Therefore, they reliably hid their homes in mountain caves, inside hills, mounds of stones, and even in holes underground.

Moreover, some preferred to live alone, sometimes occupying the space of an entire mountain, while others created families or united in tribes. Some trolls even formed kingdoms with a clear hierarchy and vertical line of power. They built huge underground complexes with palaces and a system of labyrinths, such as in the Dovre Mountains, where the famous Peer Gynt, the hero of the play of the same name by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, visited.

In their caves, the mountain trolls hid countless treasures - gold and gems. They loved to show off their accumulated wealth to people. According to legend, in the most dark nights they raised crystal palaces mounted on golden columns to the surface and rolled out huge chests for everyone to see, either throwing them open or noisily slamming the lids, trying to attract the attention of random travelers.

The trolls who lived under the bridges kept themselves apart. As a rule, these were loners who built the bridge for themselves and personally took payment from anyone who wanted to cross it. They differed from other brothers in their complete indifference to sun rays. It was possible to destroy these creatures only by destroying the “shrine” they carefully guarded.

Moreover, they periodically organized night forays into the barns and storerooms of nearby villages, from where they carried out sacks of grain and kegs of new beer. And sometimes they showed up unnoticed at feasts, not disdaining to steal food directly from other people’s plates.

GONE TO THE MOUNTAINS

However, the petty tricks of the southern trolls could not be compared with what their northern brothers did from the provinces of Sogn og Fjordane, Møre og Romsdal and Trønde Lag. It was they who were accused of cannibalism and other terrible sins, such as stealing cattle and switching babies. There was a belief that only human blood, especially Christian blood, could warm these cold and insensitive monsters. And they tried to get it by any means. However, many who fell into the clutches of the trolls managed to avoid death. Some were held captive for only a few minutes, others for months and even years.

The abducted people were called bergtatte - “enchanted”, or “carried to the mountains”, literally translated from Norwegian. They said the same about those who were able to get out of troll captivity. True, the saved person could no longer return to his usual way of life. He completely lost his mind from the horror experienced in the underground lair.

By the way, in order to free the poor fellow from captivity, you had to ring the church bells loudly. Perhaps this is the second most effective remedy against trolls (after the destructive sun). The sound of a bell could cause monsters to flee even from their homes.

Husbands whose wives were kidnapped by trolls were often given living dolls in exchange, which looked exactly like the kidnapped ones. However, they immediately began to wither and die without ever giving themselves away. And while the husband mourned the death of the impostor, the real wife shed tears, buried alive in the darkness and dampness of the cave.

She was forced to cook a stew from moss, human bones and pieces of meat, and was mercilessly beaten and scolded at the slightest provocation. When the troll decided to take a captive as his wife, a magic ointment was rubbed into her skin, from which her face darkened, became covered with wrinkles and pockmarks, her nose became like an onion, her body became covered with hair, her voice became rougher, and a tail pecked at the lower part of her back. The character of the unfortunate woman also changed: gradually she turned into a gluttonous, lustful, brainless troll without one chance return to the human world filled with sun and love.

How to outsmart a troll?

1) To get closer to a person, trolls can turn into anyone and anything - a goat, a dog, a tree, a stone. If you meet a suspicious stranger in the forest, under no circumstances should you shake his hand, say your name, and even less accept a treat.

2) If you manage to recognize a troll encountered in a field before he realized it, you need to run away from him, and so that the tracks form a cross with plow furrows on the arable land.

H) If the escape is unsuccessful, try asking the troll a riddle. He will never give up this game and will try to find the correct answer without leaving the place where he will die at dawn, turning into stone from the first rays of the sun. However, if he manages to solve the riddle, he will ask you his own - here you should not rush with the answer, because if it turns out to be incorrect, the troll will eat you alive.

4) Once captured by a troll, you need to find out his name, using any tricks to gain power over him and thereby force him to let you go.

5) The troll cannot stand the ringing of church bells, and in order to free his captives, they ring the bells. If the church is far away, then the bell is brought closer to the place and rings there.

6) Many Christian attributes can scare off trolls - for example, a pectoral baptismal psalter. Any objects made of steel, as well as the mistletoe plant and fires lit at city intersections, also protect from monsters.

SEDUTION BY THE HULDRAS

In order not to fall into eternal captivity to the trolls, one had to beware of their closest relatives, the huldras. Outwardly, they looked like seductive young maidens with a full head of hair. blonde hair. Their only difference from people is their ponytails, which they carefully hid under their fluffy skirts.

You could meet a huldra either high in the mountains or deep in the forest, where she was walking with deer, singing songs. It was with her beautiful voice that she lured young people to her, who easily succumbed to her charms. Khyuldra's love spell lasted for years - during this time the young man turned into a real slave, serving her family. When the capricious maiden got tired of him, she let him go free, and ex-lover could wander through the dense forest for days and nights, trying in vain to remember where he came from and what happened to him. And if the huldra herself fell in love with a person and married him in church, then she lost her tail and became an ordinary woman.

Many Norwegians still believe in the existence of huldras in the Sognefjord mountains in central Norway. It is there, on the ledges of the picturesque Schosfossen waterfall, next to the Flåm railway, that now every summer theatrical performances are held: girls dressed as huldras sing songs with enchanting voices, wittingly or unwittingly seducing tourists.

SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

Meeting a troll today is very rare. Modern researchers paranormal phenomena It is believed that with the advent of Christianity in the northern European lands, most of the magical inhabitants of forests/mountains and valleys simply disappeared. “People lost respect for the poor cave dwellers, barbarously invaded their territory, erected churches everywhere, the ringing of whose bells sent them running in all directions,” says Norwegian journalist and researcher Dag Ståle Hansen. “That’s probably why the trolls were aggressive towards Christians / whose smell of blood affected them like a red rag on bulls.”
Hansen, we do not rule out that trolls are still hiding somewhere in the mountains, under moss-covered rocks, protecting their unimaginable wealth and amazing knowledge about our world from people. However, not everyone succeeds in finding them and establishing contact.

Another researcher, John Michael Grier from the USA, almost completely agrees with the Norwegian journalist. He puts trolls on a par with fairies, gnomes and elves who once lived in the forests Western Europe. Information about them has been preserved not only in fairy tales, but also in historical documents dating back to the Middle Ages. Moreover, in many texts, Grier notes, “an everyday attitude towards such phenomena can be traced, as if all these creatures were part of Everyday life of people". So why did they disappear?

According to one version, magical creatures had own reasons for care. According to another, they could only exist in conditions wildlife, so the construction of cities and the spread Agriculture forced them to leave their usual places.

With the emergence scientific worldview Another point of view appeared, according to which the magic tribe never really existed. However, in the early stages this opinion met with fierce resistance. From the early 1550s to the 1750s, the existence of otherworldly phenomena was the subject of intense debate. Many realized that the new scientific ideology posed a great danger to the spiritual approach to the Universe. Therefore, they sought to prove that intangible phenomena also take place, and collected entire volumes of reliable facts.

But as soon as scientific ideology took a dominant position, all this knowledge was declared to be the prejudices and superstitions of ignorant people. And trolls, like others fairy creatures, have turned into heroes of legends and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation without losing their relevance and attractiveness.

Dag Ståle Hansen, paranormal investigator:

Modern residents of Norway know about trolls only from children's fairy tales and computer games. And once upon a time, farmers and hunters not only saw them with their own eyes, but also closely communicated with them in everyday life. Some trolls did all sorts of nasty things to people, while others turned out to be kind and helpful neighbors. They shared the secrets of witchcraft and witchcraft, taught to live in harmony with nature.

The very root of the word "troll" means something related to magic, and "magic:" in Norwegian sounds like "trollskap" (troll ska p). However, Christianity declared brutal war magic as an element of paganism, and in ancient ballads Saint Olav Haraldsson, who baptized Norway, appears as a real troll hunter. But who knows what we lost in this battle and who actually won.

"Line of Fate" August 2012

Among all the attractions of the Curonian Spit, undoubtedly the most mysterious and mystical is the 37th kilometer, where the mysterious " Dancing Forest". The pine forest in this place bends in the most fantastic and beyond simple logical explanation forms. Scientists have been struggling to solve this phenomenon for decades. Among the main versions of what caused this anomaly are called: biological, geoanal and bioenergetic versions. We'll look at them a little later.

So, Dancing Pine forest, also popularly called “Drunk”, was planted in 1961 on the Kruglaya dune (German. Runderberg), within standard program to strengthen the sands of the Curonian Spit. At first, no one paid attention to the trees from this area, and only years later a strange anomaly was noticed.

A little later, the tourist walking route “Dancing Forest” was laid out at this place, which quickly became very popular both among ordinary tourists and among all kinds of psychics and other hoaxers.

Today, in front of the starting point of the route, there is a fairly extensive parking lot for passenger vehicles and tourist buses. Along its perimeter there are wooden tents with souvenirs made of wood and amber, and there are also dry closets, mini-cafes and points selling local smoked fish.

At the end of the summer tourist season Many tents are folded, but some remain open, as they say, until the last tourist.

For individual travelers, at the beginning of the walking route there are information boards that briefly tell about the Dancing Forest and the famous German gliding school that existed on the Curonian Spit before World War II.

Today, only fragments of the foundation remain from the school, but once this place was rightfully considered the center of German gliding. The school was founded in 1922 and quickly became famous, and in 1936 it received Imperial status. In total, during the existence of the school, about 30,000 pilots were trained there, among whom were many famous record holders for flight duration and range. By the way, the first flight to Rossittene(modern village of Rybachy) took place on October 24, 1922, and the last one on January 18, 1945.

The entrance to the forest path leading to the Dancing Forest is marked by two wooden pillars with pagan symbols carved on them.

The fact is that previously there were beautiful beech and oak groves here, which were considered sacred by the local Prussian tribes. In the canopy of foliage pagan gods Various sacrifices were made and rituals were performed. This continued until the punitive detachments of the knights of the Teutonic Order entered these lands in the 13th century. The local population was exterminated, and trees began to be actively cut down for the needs of the knights. Naturally, such cutting affected surrounding nature and, gradually, the dense forests gave way to a real desert...

A narrow path, lined with special wooden floorings, goes sideways from the main wide path so as not to harm nature. After all, if you leave the path, the thin layer of soil covered with moss will instantly collapse and damage will be caused to nature. Imagine what will happen if several hundred more tourists follow you, and so on every day?..

And so we enter a relatively small, square section of the forest, and find ourselves, as if through an invisible portal, in anomalous zone. This area gives off a somewhat eerie feeling... there are no birds singing here, and the trees, twisted in the most incredible way, are covered with thick growths of bark and lichen.

Several dozen pine trees seemed to be twisted from pain, caused by someone’s evil invisible hand or magic...

The most famous trees are now protected by wooden fences, since a few years ago almost every first passerby wanted to take a photo with these trees, sit or stand on them. And someone also started a stupid belief among the people that if you climb through such a tree ring from west to east against the flow of time, you will instantly be cleansed of all diseases or gain an extra year of life. This caused severe damage to the tree bark. Some trees in the neighborhood, alas, have already become bare...

Attempts by scientists and ordinary people Understanding the phenomenon of the Dancing Forest has given rise to a bunch of different theories, the most famous of which I suggest you familiarize yourself with:

1. Bioenergy. All kinds of psychics who have repeatedly visited the Dancing Forest all unanimously insist that this place has strong cosmic energy that makes the trees bend. People here are either charged with additional strength, or, conversely, acquire severe headaches and weakness.

2. Biological. This version even has several sub-options. Everything here is relatively simple... Some scientists claim that strong gusty winds blowing from the sea are to blame for everything, BUT, the question immediately arises, why did the curvatures affect only one small area of ​​​​the forest on the entire Spit? And the pine trees standing next door, outside this perimeter, are absolutely straight...

Other scientists see the reason in a butterfly from the leaf roller family - Rhyacionia pinicolana(Pine shoot). The butterfly lays eggs in the apical bud of a young pine shoot, which leads to disruption of straight growth and curvature of the pine. But, again, this is all so local that it casts doubt...

The third scientist believes that the movement of sands is to blame for everything. Unlike other dunes of the Curonian Spit, the Kruglaya dune is located, as it were, on a clay cushion, which, perhaps, causes it to be more mobile than other dunes. By changing the angle of the surface, combined with the winds, the dune could cause a change in the growth of shoots. That is, the young pines wanted to grow evenly, but the sand did not allow them to do this, and they had to constantly dodge. Having reached a certain age, the pines firmly established themselves in the sand, which allowed them to continue to grow smoothly and not depend on the sand. By the way, I myself adhere to this version.

3. Mystical. Fans of paranormal phenomena claim that in this place there is a subtle connection of two matters that separate Parallel Worlds. Thus, there is, or was previously, some invisible portal to the world of spirits, the energy rings of which made the trees bend. Then the portal closed or its power weakened, and the distortions stopped.

By the way, one of the legends of the Curonian Spit says that twisted pines are young witches who flocked to the Sabbath and for some reason turned into pines during a witchcraft dance... Perhaps as a result of an incorrect spell...

4. Geomagnetic. The essence of the theory comes down to the fact that there are strong geomagnetic fields in this place... I believe that this theory can be confirmed or refuted with the help of special studies, but whether they were or not, and what their results are, I don’t know...

5. Chemical. Finally, the fifth theory suggests that the soil in this place was poisoned by some kind of chemicals still by the Germans, and this is directly associated with the gliding school located nearby. Yet again… chemical composition soil analysis seems to be as easy as shelling pears...

By the way, in Denmark, in the northern part of the island of Zialand, there is a similar place called " Troll Forest"(Danish: Troldeskoven). The trees there are also twisted in the most bizarre forms. The Danes also still have not found an explanation for this phenomenon...

Finally, I would like to note one more thing. In 2006, shoots of young pine trees were planted in the “anomalous square” for the purpose of observing them and conducting research. Will they also curl like their older neighbors or not? 7 years have passed, nothing unusual has been noticed, except for one thing - new pine trees are growing very, very slowly, as if something is greatly affecting their growth...

Previous reports from the Curonian Spit.