Vitlycke
This rock contains a multitude of images; ships, humans, animals, and cup marks are jostling for space with the Weather God and with the famous Holy Bride and Groom.This carving is one of the largest in the World Heritage Area.
The most famous image is the so called ritual wedding scene. Two figures are standing close together. The figure on the right is carrying a sword which protrudes behind him. The figure on the left has her hair in a braid, a sign that this is a woman.
In all likelihood, this is supposed to depict the wedding between the Fertility God and the Fertility Goddess. This so called ritual wedding is known as Hieros Gamos – the Holy Wedding. According to the myth, the god makes the goddess pregnant. In the autumn, he dies and has to descend to the netherworld, where he is forced to remain until the spring, when he is allowed to return to the land of the living. The Fertility God does not only impregnate the goddess, he fertilises all living things. This is obvious in the spring when the god returns from the netherworld and everything begins to germinate and grow.
This myth, which comes from an agricultural society, is common in large parts of the Old World, from India in the east to Scandinavia in the west.
