Fine-leaved Vetch / Langklaset Vikke

Fine-leaved Vetch / Langklaset Vikke

Vicia tenuifolia 


In Denmark: 
Fine-leaved Vetch / Langklaset Vikke is native and first of all registered in the Danish Isles  At Funen at Hindsholm, at Zealand along the coast of Storebælt, the inside of Isefjord and Roskildefjord and at the island Møn. (Jessen 1931)


Fine-leaved Vetch has still a main occurrence area in the northeast of Funen, Northwest Zealand, Stevns and East Møn. Also some sporadic discoveries in Jutland and at the island Falster. 
(Christiansen og Prehn 2009, Faurholdt 2006, Næsborg et al. 2001, Tranberg et al. 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009) and at Bornholm, where it was observed in 1985. (P. Wind pers.obs. 1985).

There are no informations about the population-development  of Fine-leaved Vetch/ Langklaset Vikke. The species is possibly vaguely declining .  It seems that it tolerates mowing in light-open facilities. (Næsborg et al 2001). It is able to spread secondary to culture-affected soil in edge of ditches, at railway slopes, in cultures with greenery and edges of roads. (Faurholdt 2006, Hansen, A. 1977, 1981, 1982, Lyshede 2004):

Fine-leaved Vetch /Langklaset Vikke is native to most of Europe and the northwestern part of Africa. The spread of the species reaches the Caucasus to the east and the central part of Asia. The northern limit of its distribution is the middle part of Sweden  (Hultén og Fries 1986) (.Christiansen og Prehn 2009, Faurholdt 2006, Hansen, A. 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, Hansen, K. 1981, Hultén og Fries 1986, Jessen 1931, Lyshede 2004, Næsborg et al. 2001, Tranberg et al. 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, Tutin et al. 1964-1980).


Source: Fagdatacenter, Biodiversitet og Terrestrisk Natur, for Den Danske Rødliste , Roskilde. 

 photo: grethe bachmann

View from the habitat Høvblege, (Møn) to the Baltic Sea.

Short summary  from Wikipedia
Vicia is a genus of about 140 species of flowering plants commonly known as vetches. It is in the legume family (Fabaceae). Member species are native to Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. ( subfamily see Vicia, wikipedia) 
(...)
Fine-leaved Vetch is an established scrambling perennial, known only from Breadsall Cutting (SK3839). It was first discovered in 1979 and was still present in 1997. It is introduced to England from central and southern Europe as a grain contaminant.

A perennial herb occasionally found naturalised on grassy banks, verges and waste ground, especially by railways. It is often introduced as a contaminant of grain. Lowland.

(...)

V. tenuifolia was grown in Britain by 1799, but not recorded from the wild until it was reported as a casual arising from imported grain in 1859. Some European botanists treat it as a subspecies of V. cracca.

photo: grethe bachmann 

Field Cow-Wheat / Ager Kohvede

 
Melampyrum arvense, commonly known as field cow-wheat, is an herbaceous flowering plant of the genus Melampyrum in the family Orobanchaceae.

Field cow-wheat is like other cow-wheats a hemiparasite - although it is a chlorophyll plant and can assimilate itself it also sucks nutrition from neighbouring plant-roots. It cannot flourish without a host from which to take nutrients.

In an experiment where the growth of M. arvense was compared on rye grass, alfalfa and flax, it was found to grow much the best on the leguminous plant, alfalfa.

Field cow-wheat is quite rare in Denmark (only found in the Isles). It grows in dry and open land , in a dry habitat and chalky soil.  Field cow-wheat has pink-purple flowers from June till August- September.

The photos of field cow-wheat in this article are from the island Møn. (place Magleby)

It was earlier a problematic field weed, but apparently due to a change in farming methods it has disappeared from the fields. The best place to see the plant is probably in Seili, around the archipelago research centre. Field cow-wheat grows casually in different parts of southern Finland and on the shore of southern parts of the Gulf of Finland.

The upright stems of this species, which may branch, are terminated by a spike of pink to purple bracts amongst which the tubular flowers appear. Younger, lower bracts are green however, as the pink/purple colour appears and deepens only with time. The plant grows up to 40 or 60 cm high.

The ordinary leaves are lanceolate and opposite and may have short teeth. The bracts are also lanceolate and have long teeth up to 8 mm. The flowers are two-lipped with a closed throat and are 2 – 2.5 cm long. They are pink to purple with a yellow or white patch.

Field cow-wheat  is distributed throughout Western Europe, southern Spain, southern Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, central and northern Sweden, and northern Finland. Also its range extends east to the Ural Mountains, and it is found in Turkey. In Great Britain it only occurs in a few locations in south-east England.It is becoming rarer, at least in Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland; this may be due to a reduced area of arable land and changes in farming practices, such as seed-cleaning and intensification.

The flowers are pollinated by bumblebees. The seeds may be dispersed by ants which are attracted  by a small oil body attached to each seed, and which carry them to their nests for food. Like some other species of Melampyrum on the undersides the bracts have minute nectar-producing glands, which attract ants, bumlebees and other insects. These glands are violet in the case of Melampyrum arvense, are visible under a hand lens and take the form of minute scales which secrete a sugary solution.

photo 2013 Magleby, Møn: grethe bachmann

Grazing with Cattle, Sheep and Horses in Mols Bjerge

So- called half-cultural areas like meadows, heaths and pastures can today - as a part of nature conservation - be preserved by grazing with cattle, sheep and horses.

 



Cattle 
Cattle is ideal for nature conservation . They eat the grass and don't like the bitter tasting flowers like buttercups. Furthermore they do not graze by the cow dungs. In this way several plants will be allowed to flourish for the benefit of the propagation of flowers and insects.

In public areas a specially developed forest breed is used, which is a crossbreed between 2 Danish dairy breeds and 9 various beef breeds. They are though animals , adapted for grazing in nature land all year.

At the Mols laboratory small longhaired cattle of the Galloway race is used. They are imported from Scotland and have the same properties as the breeds mentioned above.




.

A cute Galloway calf - just look at those eyelashes!

 
Sheep 
Sheep are especially good for nursing the archaeological sites, the slopes and other vulnerable places. Sheep are better than cattle to keep trees and bushes down, but their grazing results in a more flower-poor cover of plants. Icelandic sheep are used at the land of the Mols laboratory.




Horses.
Horses are used in a few places in Mols Bjerge for nature conservation. Horses are better than cattle and sheep to eat the wavy hair grass, which is the most common grass in the open fields. Unfortunately the horses are not well-suited where the public is allowed to go because of their curious and restless behaviour.   
  

 

a small part of Øvre Strandkær's buildings

Mols Laboratory is owned by Naturhistorisk Museum in Aarhus. It is used as a field lab by scientists and students from universities and colleges.

Øvre Strandkær is a property of Miljøministeriet (Ministry of Environment). Here is an exhibition and from here is managed the forest-district's cattle-herd , ab. 200 animals, which are used for nature conservation. at Mols and Helgenæs. They are peaceful animals, which thrive in the nature land all year.

photo: grethe bachmann. 
source: Aarhus Amtskommune Naturafdelingen. 

Vrads Sande - Heath, Inland Dunes and a Veteran Railway.

A pretty vintage car in Vrads Sande

Vrads Sande, is a protected  heath and dune area northwest of the village Vrads in the eastern part of Store Hjøllund plantage 15 km southwest of the town Silkeborg. The area was listed in 1968,. It was never cultivated. It forms a pot-shaped hollow in the terrain, which falls in steep slopes from 120-110 m above sea down to a small heath-lake ab. 85 above sea level.

Vrads Sande - Sun and Rain .

Besides this hollow lie spread overgrowth inland-dunes and rests of meltwater-terasses. East of the road Vrads-Hjøllund are widespread heather, blueberry, lingonberry and juniper-vegetation, while a grazed grass-heath covers the area to the west.

 On the southside of some of the dunes are socalled lichen heath (low heath) dominated by plants which can endure drought ( lichener)

Vrads Sande has borders to the east to another and larger 300 ha protected area, Snabegaard with Salten Å- river. The Snabegaard-area with grazing, heath and forest hills was listed in 1976. The nature path Horsens-Ssilkeborg passes through this area.

Vrads Sande - golden autumn.

The open vintage car drives back before the rain and thunder comes!What a lovely car!

Veteran trail Bryrup-Vrads
 - is driven by a group of enthusiasts  they try to keep the old material, buildings and facility and to maintain a veteran trail operation on the stretch Bryrup-Vrads.

The railway drives on a 6 km stretch of the closed Horsens-Bryrup-Silkeborg railway, which was closed in 1968. The trip goes from Bryrup through a forest area and passes the lakes Kvindsø, Kulsø and Snabe Igelsø till Vrads Station. It is a very pretty tour which is called "Danmarks smukkeste jernbane". Vrads station is a restaurant and café and it is open, when the veteran trail drives its ordinary schedule.

Christmas tree-train.
In the first week-end of December a Christmas tree-train drives from Bryrup with a stop by a Christmas tree-place, where the passengers can buy their Christmas tree, the train drives on to Vrads station,  where the passengers get glögg, applecakes and Christmas goodies. Afterwards the train drives back to Bryrup station. It is a very popular tour. As far as possible the tour is carried through with a steam locomotive. 



photo Vrads Sande September 2015: grethe bachmann  
photo Vrads Station 2008: grethe bachmann 
   

Salten Langsø - undisturbed landscape

Salten Langsø holds a safe distance to disturbers.

Salten Langsø is a lake in Mid Jutland, about 12 m deep and 6 km long and very narrow, it lies in a tunnel valley in the lake district of Mid Jutland west of the lake Mossø. Salten Langsø has winding shores, and it mirrors the shape of the melted deadice-lump from Ice Age, which created the lake. The lake bassin has steep sides and is divided into four parts. In the western part is an island and the lake is here divided into two inlets.

 




the map is too dark, but you can of course see it better on Google Earth.

Salten Langsø with the valleys, the Salten river valley and the lake itself, is a side branch of the Gudenå river, and it is among the most undisturbed nature areas in Denmark.

Salten Langsø is like Mossø a part of Natura 2000-area in the Mid Jutland lake district , and it has some of Denmark's most beautiful and varied nature. The lakes and the valleys  are some of the most imprssive and illustrative Ice Age landscapes. ( the Gudenå river crosses north- south )

Salten Langsø is in several places only a few hundred meter broad. On the northside of the lake are high, forested hillsides (Høvil and Højkol skov) and Ildal skov. The southside, Addit Næs and Salten Næs in a relative flat area with forest, heath, farmland and several small lakes. The terrain rises again to the southwest , Addit skov, which is difficult to access. The highest point is Møgelbjerg (137 m).

Blueberry bushes

.

The forests are privately owned, but driven with great emphasis on nature - and therefore the planting is very varied, and several areas have the characteristics of a natural forest. 

 

Along the path were hundreds and hundreds of digger wasps nest in the earth. I saw no wasps

, but it was interesting to see those little nests, looking like little volcanos ! I 'll recommend you to search for the digger wasps on the net for there are so many species!
 


The area around the lake is ,considering Danish conditions, sparsely populated. The lake is a part of Salten Å-river's water system, which is a side branch of the Gudenå- river. The lake is a natural eutrof lake with an average depth of 4,5 m, and a max depth of 12 m. Half of the lake area is under 4 m deep. The shore vegetation is mainly a narrow fringe of alder (Aldus glutinosa) (Danish: rød-el.) In a few places grow reed. 

In the DOF-list were in january 2012 registered well 17500 observations of 188 bird species, only few waders, but all other possible forest birds.The area north and south of Salten Langsø is mostly covered in forest, but it contains also a combination of lakes and forests which makes it one of Denmark's best terrains for birds of prey. Both the whitetailed eagle and the osprey are often seen. The white-tailed eagle has been breeding since 2008.

It is not a great fungus year this year, but at least there was one Karl Johan and a one of the little pretty red ones.



 








photo Salten Langsø September 2015: grethe bachmann

Skarrildhus 2015 - the Stone Salmon, the Church Yard, the Raven, the Hawker and the Tar Ovens

The Salmon

The stone salmon at Karstoft Å (near Skjern Å river.

The Salmon, head

A huge stone sculpture of  the Skjern Å-salmon was created  at the spot close to Karstoft Å, Skarrildhus in West Jutland  by the Aarhus-sculptor Jørn Rønnau.

Seven Danish artists will use nature in the future National Park Skjern Å as a gallery for six Land-Art Works.

Karstoft Å, Skarrildhus

Land Art is the description of a direction of visual art  which emerged in USA in the late 1960s based between sculpture and landscape architecture



 Jørn Rønnau's giant 45 meter long stone salmon at Skarrildhus is not the only Land Art work in this neighbourhood, fx an area will be decorated with winding paths with small heart figures made of chausse stones and grass; a poem will be created about light and words; a poetic landscape with four small islands in a forgotten wetland -  and much more.

 

fish bench, Skarrildhus

The coming National Park Skjern Å has already manyfold initiatives created by local citizens, unions and traders, and there will be a cooperation between them and the Land Art artists.

information about the Skarrildhus-area, Naturplan.dk

Skarrild church yard.

The Church Yard

Information from link: 
www.airmen.dk/p353.htm
 
"In connection with the RAF´s first bombing raid to Königsberg (here, now Kaliningrad) in East Prussia Lancaster ME650 crashed on 27 August 1944 at
Clasonsborg in the parish of Skarrild. All of the crew perished. The German Wehrmacht wanted to bury the deceased "on the spot", but local Danish citizens obtained
that they were interred on the churchyard. This was quite an achievement from the Danish side, as the Germans just from 27 August 1944 started obeying an order to
dig down allied airmen "on the spot". Residents of the parish were accused by the Germans of being pro-English, as they showed up to accompany the airmen to
their graves."

the Raven, Skarrildhus

I always like to see the raven in the air and listen to its rough voice. A very clever bird. 

Info from wikipedia: 

The Raven

Some notable feats of evidence that the common raven is unusually intelligent.  Over the centuries

it has been the subject of mythology, folklore, art, and literature.  In many cultures, including the indigenous cultures of Scandinavia, ancient Ireland and Wales, Bhutan, the northwest coast of  North America and Siberia and northeast Asia, the common raven has been revered as a spiritual figure or  god.

Southern Hawker, Skarrildhus 

Southern Hawker /Aeschna cyanea. 
It is one of the largest dragonflies in Denmark. 67-74 mm. Southern hawker is a great flier, it flies with a speed of 25-30 km hour, while it is catching insects in a fangkurv (trap) which it shapes with its legs. The prey is eaten in the air -  you can hear the crunch! 

Tar Oven,  foto stig bachmann nielsen, naturplan.dk

Tjæreovnene/ Tar Ovens
Near Skarrildhus are some interesting industrial buildings where two old tar ovens have been repaired and restored to remind about a trade which has died out long ago. The rebuild of the small industry was established in order to show the production of charcoal and wood tar and to communicate a piece of cultural history from the first half of the 1900s. The production functioned from 1910 until right after WWII.

      

photo Skarrildhus/Skarrild kirke:  2003/2015: grethe bachmann
photo: tar oven, stig bachmann nielsen, naturplan.dk 

Devil's Bit Scabious / Djævelsbid

Succisa pratensis



Devil's bit is common in Denmark, it grows especially in poor and sandy acidophilus with low pH, where it does well among grasses and other perennials and bushes. It is also found in bog-meadows and pastures, in moist heaths and calcareous fens. It is well suited  as a garden perennial for a "wild garden look"  - and is a valuable bee-plant since it is blooming from June into October. . 
It is the main foodplant of the Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia), a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP). The butterfly lays its eggs in large batches and the caterpillars live as a group inside a conspicuous silken web. As both plant and invertebrates are rare, their survival relies on careful management of sites containing these species.

It is distributed throughout the British Isles, western and central Europe, extending eastwards into central Asia. It is absent from eastern Asia and North America.



The bluish or purple flowers are gathered in semicircular heads. The fruits are winged nuts which are spread by the wind. The root of the plant is a short, vertical or a little angled rootstock. Its unlobed leaves distinguish it from  Field Scabious  - and it is distinguished from Greater Knapweed by opposite pairs of leaves contrary to Geater Knapweed's alternate pairs.

Folklore 
The legend about its name is told in various tales. The short black root was in folk tales bitten off by the devil, angry at the plant's ability to cure these ailments, in anger against the Virgin Mary, or as part of some 'devilish plot'. The plant is easy to pull up, if you want to see the off-bitten root.Gerard tells us: "'The greater part of the root seemeth to be bitten away; old fantastick charmers report that the divel did bite it for envie, because it is an herbe that hath so many good vertues and it is so beneficial to mankinde". The legend referred to by Gerard tells how the devil found it in Paradise, but envying the good it might do to the human race, bit away a part of the root to destroy the plant, in spite of which it still flourishes, but with a stumped root. The legend seems to have been very widely spread, for the plant bears this name, not only in England but also on the Continent.


Folk Medicine

Devil's bit Scabious is an old medicinal herb, known since the 4th century. The plant is still used for its diaphoretic, demulcent and febrifuge properties, the whole herb being collected in September and dried. It makes a useful tea for coughs, fevers and internal inflammation. The remedy is generally given in combination with others, the infusion being given in wineglassful doses at frequent intervals.
Species of scabious were used to treat Scabies, and other afflictions of the skin including sores caused by the Bubonic plague.The word scabies comes from the Latin word for "scratch" (scabere).
The root was used against boils, coughs and eye-inflammations The crushed root was used as a cover on shingles. A wine decoction from root and flowers and destilled water was used against diseases.like breast abscesses, cough, and inward diseases. A decoction from the plant against clotted blood and plague.


Culpepper assigned it many uses, saying that the root boiled in wine and drunk was very powerful against the plague and all pestilential diseases, and fevers and poison and bites of venomous creatures, and that "it helpeth also all that are inwardly bruised or outwardly by falls or blows, dissolving the clotted blood,"' the herb or root bruised and outwardly applied, taking away black and blue marks on the skin. He considered "'the decoction of the herb very effectual as a gargle for swollen throat and tonsils, and that the root powdered and taken in drink expels worms."

The root was written into the Pharmacopoeia in 1772.

Livestock
A horse with worm was given decoction from the root. The plant is astringent and the vet used it for cleansing and healing wounds in the horse's hoof. A special cure was to hang the root around the horse's neck in order to heal keratitis = eye infection

Witchcraft
The root was part of a brandy-extraction for humans and livestock, who were being depraved by witchcraft. It was also used in other magic means against witchcraft in cattle, accidents during butter churning, for sick pigs etc. The root was given to horses if there was witchcraft in the stable.


Superstition
Together with other roots like asafoetida, coral stone and a magic formula it was put under the bed sheets against a broken marriage promise, caused by evil people.

Dyeing:
Decoction of the fresh herb dyes wool and yarn green, from the dried herb yellow. The root gives a yellow dye;  the leaves dye green, and they dye black with ferrous sulphate.

At the Faroe islands Devil's bit is used for dyeing green.

photo Tustrup, Djursland, August 2015: grethe bachmann
 Source: Brøndegaard, folk og flora, bd. 4 and Djævelsbid,wikipedia.

The Vikings - Odin,Thor, Tyr.....

                            Three Nordic Gods 

Uppsala temple, Carl Larsson, wiki

                                                                                        
 The religion of the Nordic Vikings was like the religion of the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans -  polyteistic. They believed in many gods, and there were many gods at hand -  a god for everything a human might need.

Odin, Icelandic, wiki

Odin is the main god, a magnificent demonic and  terrifying, sadistic figure. He was obsessed of a quest for wisdom, and he sacrificed one eye for this knowledge. He is merciless, capricious, heartless, he is the god of war and warriors, he owns the spear Gungner, the selfrenewing goldring Drøpner, the eight-legged fast horse Sleipner, and he is guarded by his two wolves and achieves news from everywhere by his two ravens Hugin and Munin -  he consults with Mimer's severed head,  he finds the runes and knows their power, he hunts by night with his escorte over mountain, forest and field, he reveals himself on the battlefield and for the men dedicated to death as a one-eyed gestalt, swept in his cloak and witha wide-brimmed hat.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Odin and Sleipner wiki

Odin is also the god of the bards, he is the leader of the mysterious assignation, the rage of the soul. He knows about witchcraft and seid, nothing is alien to him, he is the god of magnates, aristocrats, and a dangerous god. Sometimes he is called Alfader, which is true, since he is in the lead of the Asa-gods, but he is  not a kind old man like an Alfader should be, he is not loving and protective, mild or understanding, he is not a typical Alfader-figure. His clients among humans are kings, earls, chiefs, magicians, poets and those who are killed in the battlefield. They are led by the valkyries to Valhalla and end up like a part of the incalculable warrior troop, the Einheries, the forever fighting and resurgent warriors, who'll have to assist Odin when Ragnarok arrives. 

In order to reach all his goals, all his purpose, all his collecting knowledge and wisdom, Odin does not hesitate, he avoids no fraud, cunning or broken promises, he is tough on everyone and not less tough on himself, he is both chynical and cold, he is wild and ecstatic. He is the deepest and most grandios god among all gods, and there is a long distance from him to Thor, the next Asagod.

Thor and chariot, drawing 1895 wiki

Thor is mostly depicted as a red-bearded, powerful fellow with his hammer Mjølner - he is associated with thunder, lightning, storms and strenght and with his chariot pulled by two goats.Thor is a democrat, Odin an aristocrat,  Odin takes care of the upper class, while Thor is a popular guy. A thing is missing around Odin by those who describe him, namely the humour, of which Thor has got enough. There are lots of myths and anecdotes about Thor. He was the strong and faithfull protector of the Viking-farmer, and  he is the brawler among the giants, who are always goals of his  wielding hammer.

Thors Hammer, wiki

Thor fishing, runestone, Hørdum kirke, Jutland.GB

The thunder was rolling when Thor swept above the clouds with his goat chariot. He was humorous and ready for fight when he stepped forward with his hammer in his hand, but there was one thing he missed. He was neither cunning or sly. The giants, who knew about witchcraft, often brought him into trouble. The Nordic Vikings composed many colourful and entertaining adventures about the deeds of this favorite god: He fetches the mighty beer kettle by the giants, he fetches his stolen hammer, he goes fishing for the Midgard serpent by himself,  he experiences the strangest events when visiting the king of the giants, Udgardsloke, where he is escorted by the sly Loke.

runes on a lanse, wiki

Viking farmers Faroe islands , wiki

Thor could be extremely tempered but he soon was reconciled. The Viking-farmer understood him and liked him. Thor brought entertainment into the evenings by the fireplace, but he was more than that, he was  also very important to the farmer, except for Norway, since he was the protector of the harvest and the wellfare of the farming. He was an agricultural god and played a central role in daily life and was often considered to be more necessary than Odin himself, this seemed to appear in a report from Adam of Bremen, who told that Thor's figure, and  not Odin's, took the middle place in Uppsala Temple, where three main gods were placed for worship, Odin, Thor and Frej  Thor could also be summoned at the weddings to give the bride fertility, and when the runestones had to get protection from a god, it was Thor and not Odin who had to "vi the runes" (to inaugurate). It is also characteristic that when the heathen Nordic people found a sign to put up against the Christian cross  they chose Thor's hammer, not Odin's spear. Thor was a more common god than Odin, he was summoned by all kinds of people besides the farmer, by smith, fisher, captain of the sea. He was much more close to life and confidential to Everyman than the incomprehensible and distant and dangerous Odin.


Tyr as Asagod is a  much more pale character than Odin and Thor, he is brave and frank, he loses one hand when the the Fenris wolf has to be tied, and he fights during Ragnarok

Tyr and the Fenris wolf. wiki

with the Hellhound Garm itself. The Nordic people tells not much more about him.

work of Tacitus, wiki

Those three Asagods are not new in the religious belief of the Germanic people,  they are all mentioned with Roman names in the famous book about the Germans by Tacitus, written about year 100 A.C.. Odin is Mercury, Thor is Hercules, Tyr is Mars. It is said about Mercury that he is the supreme Germanic god, and humans are sacrificed only to him. Odin has in common with the Roman Mercury and the Greek Hermes that he is the leader of the dead and appears with a cloak, a broadrimmed hat and a spear (staff) - or else there is not much alike between the two gods, and it is probable that the capacity of savagery and demonic capriciosity, which characterizes Odin - but is missing in Mercury -  is due to the East Germans neighbouring to the wild Asian nomads, who overturned Europe in the Migration period. Together with the Gothic culture stream from the areas of the Black Sea towards the North.this Mongol-like Odin-figure might have reached Sweden and from here the rest of Scandinavia.

Baby Hercules, strangling a snake, wiki

To translate Thor into Hercules suits well, but it does not explain the thunder and the lightning hammer. Thor must be an ancient acgriculture god and thunder god. Also Tyr is only partly covered by his Roman partner Mars, whose Nordic name Tyr, Tir, Ti is related to the Roman Jupiter,  the Greek Zeus, the Indian Dyaus. It is not known how old these threesome gods of the Germans are. Maybe not that very old. Cæsar says that the Germanic people worshipped the powers of nature: fire, sun, moon. The Germanic people named three weekdays after three gods:  tirsdag: Tyr, onsdag: Odin, torsdag, Thor. 

Source: Johannes Brøndsted Vikingerne, Nordiske Guder, Gyldendal 1960. 

photo wikipedia

photo: Hørdum kirke, runestone; GB