First, listen to the story and then click on the AR symbol in the image above.

This will bring up an image of the Aranäs helmet, also known as Torgis Knutsson's iron hat. It is a so-called spangenhelm, a helmet type that was very common in Europe around the year 1300. It was found during excavations at Aranäs in 1916. The Aranäs helmet shows visible traces of fire and rust, and its left side is slightly flattened. The burn marks on the helmet can reasonably be explained by the fire that broke out in the castle in 1305. The heat from the fire likely caused the iron to soften, resulting in the flattening of the helmet under the pressure of the debris. The helmet is housed at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.

The story in text:

“Aranäs, det var ett fäste
Där varo bröderna alla gäste
Marsken (Torgils) hade dem alla bjudit in
Öl och must, mjöd och vin…”

“Aranäs, it was a nest
Where every brother was a guest
The Constable (Torgils) asked them here
For mead and wine, cider and beer …”

The year is 1304, and the stronghold here in Aranäs is at the centre of a power struggle in Sweden. The sons of
Magnus Ladulås – Birger, Erik and Valdemar – are in conflict with each other. Birger, the oldest, is king, but suspects that his brothers Erik and Valdemar are conspiring against him with the help of King Håkon in Norway. Sweden's powerful Lord High Constable, Torgils Knutsson, invites the brothers to a reconciliatory meeting here at his stronghold, Aranäs. Birger gets the brothers to sign a document where they promise not to enter a foreign alliance or appear at court unless they have been summoned. But the conflict continues in what is called the Håtuna Games.

The following year, the Lord High Constable is arrested at Lenaborg, and his stronghold here at Aranäs is burned down.
Aranäs is then donated by Duke Erik to the nuns of Gudhem and it seems they stayed at Aranäs for a period in the mid-14th century.

Aranäs slowly loses its importance and declines. In 1550 it seems the stronghold lay in ruins even though the estate still remained. After a long period of decline and a change of owners, Årnäs, as the place came to be called, was a rich farm property in the 18th century. The present-day Årnäs Manor, in whose garden the stronghold ruins lie, was built in the 18th century.

Excavations have shown that Aranäs stronghold comprised a rectangular tower structure of several storeys measuring about 13 x 19 metres, and with walls 4 metres thick. Later, an adjoining square stronghold wall about a metre thick was added to the tower, each side about 35 metres long. The structure was surrounded by a moat adjoining the walls.

During the excavations the so-called Aranäs helmet – also known as “Torgils Knutsson’s iron hat” – was discovered. The helmet is typical for the time around 1300. Perhaps it once belonged to the powerful Torgils Knutsson before he lost both Aranäs and his life during the bitter 14th-century struggle for the Crown.