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Glaskogen is a nature reservoir located in the province Värmland, between the municipalities Årjäng and Arvika, in the west mid-Sweden. It was established as a nature reservoir in 1970 and has a land area of about 28 000 hectare. In the heart of the forest there's a little village called Lenungshammar which has a population of about 30 people, here you can also find a trailor and wilderness camping which is popular among tourists. Here is also an informations center, cafeteria, a small shop and a place to rent bikes and canoes.

The reserve comprises of many lakes, Stora Gla and Övre Gla being the largest. The terrain is very hilly.

The reserve is inhabited by many birds. Here you can find lesser whitethroats, three-piece woodpeckers, nutcrackers, goldcrests among others. By the lakes you can find red-throated divers and loons.

Bergstjärnet, a lake located within the nature reservoir.

Glaskogen is very popular for its hiking trails. With an estimated total of 300 km of hiking trails, there's plenty to discover. The many lakes located in the reserve make it a popular fishing preserve and canoe trip for tourists.

History

Glaskogen was first populated by finnish immigrants who sought settlement in the late 1500's.The legend says that the first people to seek settlement here only brought a knife, axe and a loonskinn filled with rye grains. The first settlers exerted burn-beating. They mainly lived in small huts and cottages on the highgrounds of the nature resevoir, in that way they could grow their grains in the valleys down below.

The oldest preserved building is a bathhouse located in the southern parts of Finnskogen, in the east of a place called Mörtnäs. It's estimated to have been built 1638.

The first mention of Glaskogen surfaced in a publication in 1610 and is mentioned in a lot of publications after that. Up to the 1940's there was tracks of the finnish influence around the area of Glaskogen. Especially in the swedish consonants b, p, d, t, g and k. Today it's hard to spot, it seems that the influence has been neutralised by generations of assimilation into the swedish society.

Industrialasation

Since Glaskogen is so rich in nature resources it become industrialized during the beginning of the 1800's. Glaskogen was during this time a important export of timber and fuel. Through the many lakes it was easy to transport the wood by fleet.

Glaskogen is the home of the popular glassworks, Glava Glassworks. The workshop was founded in 1859 near the lake Stora Gla by two brothers named Anders and Petter Olsson. The brothers were owners of large forest properties which helped them to provide fuel for the manifacturing process in the glassworks. It was known for its blown glass, especially their windows. In 1911 it stood for an estimated 38% of Swedens production of windows.

Since march 1939 the glassworks has been closed. A lot of the buildings were demolished while some today serve as glas museums, hostels and housings.

Supernatural beings

During the 1800's people were more superstitious than today. This perhaps was the case in Glaskogen, which resulted in a lot of paranormal legends of strange creatures who were lurking in the woods.

Hobergsgubben.

According to the legends there was a friendly giant who is not to be mixed up with the rauk hoburgsgubben on Gotland, Sweden. There's a tale where a man who sent his farmhand to the giant to invite him to a infant baptism. The Giant declines the invitation but wishes to donate to the childs baptism. The giant brings a huge chest full of goldpennies of which he proceeds to ladle pennies into a sack for the farmhand to bring back to the baptised child.