Today I didn’t make any effort to entertain the kids until mid-afternoon. I was busy filling in some gaps and writing the last piece of text for my Östergötland manuscript, an entry for the gazetter at the end of the book. It’s been my main project for almost four years. What remains now is fiddling with details (bibliography, figure numbering and captions, test-reader comments, read-through and final copy edit) and collecting/making illustrations.

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Regna and Skedevi parishes
In northernmost Östergötland, far from the plains belt, is Lake Regnaren whose surface is 60 meters above current seal level. It empties through a short stream northward into Lake Tisnaren (44 m a.s.l.), through which the province boundary runs. The southern and western shores of Regnaren are a fertile enclave forming the core of Regna parish. Between Regnaren and Tisnaren is Skedevi parish. On the northern shore of Tisnaren are the fertile parishes of Västra and Östra Vingåker in Södermanland province.

Before the construction of modern roads, Regna and Skedevi had much better communication with Södermanland than with central Östergötland. Throughout our period of study the two parishes display a series of elite indicators.

Starting in phase D1 of the Migration Period, Regna parish has a stray copper-alloy brooch with punch decorated and gilded Sösdala style silver sheet panels. With the Vendel Period, the destroyed cemetery of Smedjebacken at Ruda in Skedevi very near the province border becomes productive. We now see a seax sword of type ?SAX4, a gilded disc-on-bow brooch with cloisonné and a small domed oval brooch with animal art, all of the Late Vendel Period. From the Viking Period, Smedjebacken has three swords and a type Petersen E lance head. In 1914 Byle Östergård in Skedevi near Ruda yielded a hoard consisting of three gold arm rings, weighing 139 g. Finally, Skedevi parish has a Husby royal manor of the 11th/12th centuries next to the church. The parish name was once probably an appellative: a skedevi was a pagan sanctuary where ritual horse races were staged (Sv.ortn.lex. p. 277).

Meanwhile in Västra Vingåker parish, we see e.g. a Migration Period openwork bracteate-like gold pendant from Skonäs and from graves at Sävstaholm a Vendel Period display bridle and a garnet-studded Husby type brooch. Östra Vingåker has not to my knowledge produced anything comparable.