Tof­te Holy Spring has deep roots in paga­nism and the Nor­se gods. Learn more about the anci­ent spring and the myste­rious history of the area aro­und it, here

GPS Link: 56.0399360, 12.1074260  

Par­king: Tibir­ke Church Par­king Lot (56.0409465, 12.1068059)

Good To Know: The­re is not much spa­ce on the side of the road, so watch out for cars whi­le wal­king the­re 

Near­by Attra­ctions: Hele­ne Spring, Gra­ve, etc.

Tof­te Holy Spring flows from an old sto­ne wall, in an idyl­lic, gre­en area near Tibir­ke Church. The name of the spring comes from an old vil­la­ge, Tof­te, that was destroy­ed by sand drifts back in the 18th cen­tury. Howe­ver, histo­ri­ans belie­ve that the ori­gi­nal name for the spring was “Tir’s Væld” (the moder­ni­sed form of this being Tisvil­de), with Tir deno­ting the Nor­dic god, Tyr, and væld mea­ning lite­ral­ly spring. It is thought that the name Tibir­ke sha­res the same roots, and is a short form for “Tirs Hel­li­ge Bir­ke­lund” — in Eng­lish: The Holy Birch Grove of Tir — refer­ring to an old pla­ce of devo­tion to Tyr. Near­by can also be found other pre-Chri­sti­an rem­nants that sup­port some con­nection with old, heat­hen cult pra­cti­ces near Tibir­ke.

Undoub­ted­ly, the­re also exists some later con­nection betwe­en Tof­te Kil­de and Tibir­ke Church, which is one of Den­mark’s oldest chur­ches (est. 1120–1130). During Cat­ho­lic times, the church was an important pil­gri­ma­ge desti­na­tion, whe­re Tof­te Kil­de must have play­ed some sort of role. Per­haps the­re is even a con­nection to Saint Hele­ne, who accor­ding to legend was sup­po­sed to have been buri­ed at the ceme­te­ry. The church was also once used for stor­ing crut­ches, canes and other motion assi­stan­ce instru­ments, left by visi­tors to Hele­ne Holy Spring in Tisvil­de­le­je.

We don’t know much about which ail­ments Tof­te Holy Spring is sup­po­sed to have cured, and the same goes for its history of use. One can imag­i­ne that it was overs­ha­dowed by the immen­se­ly popu­lar Hele­ne Spring very ear­ly on. An old legend says that a troll, The Arnak­ke King, was very fond of the Tof­te springwa­ter. During the night you could sup­po­sed­ly hear the clanking sound of his water­buck­ets near the spring. In the near­by Tibir­ke Hills the­re is a long patch whe­re it is said that  no vege­ta­tion will grow. Accor­ding to the legend, this marks the rou­te that The Arnak­ke King would ride when visi­ting Tof­te Spring.

Select sour­ces

  • Arnold Olsen — Nord­s­jæl­land­ske Hel­lig­kil­der
  • Bering Liis­berg — Domi­na Hele­na
  • Sieg­fred Sva­ne — Dan­ske Hel­lig­kil­der og Lægedom­skil­der