Håkan Olsén

Discover Dalarna is exactly what it sounds like. A journey through an amazing county which leaves no one unaffected. Nature reserves, primeval forests, mines and mountains. Culture, history and idyllic villages. Museums, food safaris and circus camps – and a whole lot more. Exciting places to visit in the whole county, from the cities to places rarely visited at all. Old and new. Insightful and grand. Humorous and enriching. And kind people. The book can be used as a guide on your journey, but also as a puff piece and a source of inspiration for anyone who wishes to see, learn and experience Dalarna from a new, and slightly different angle. Have a wonderful journey in the county of the mas and kulla!

How were fishponds introduced, farmed and spread in Scandinavia and the Baltic Region in early modern times? What was their economic, social and religious importance? Which fish species were significant and why? This book uncovers a long, now broken, tradition that barely left traces in the written record or physical environment. Its broad and multidisciplinary scope highlights the situation from medieval times until the late nineteenth century. Besides Scandinavia and the Baltic States, insights from England are also introduced. Several socio-cultural domains have been identified: late medieval monastic fishponds; late medieval aristocratic fishponds associated with castles and manors; seventeenth and eighteenth century ponds rectory ponds as well as urban ponds from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century.