Temple of Old Uppsala

"It is said that the Temple of Old Uppsala was a place for initiation rites into the mysteries of Odin."

- Theresa Lawrence

The Temple of Old Uppsala was an ancient Norse pagan site, entered through a cave about a mile west from the town of Uppsala, Sweden. The temple was built as a series of nine chambers, each one devoted to a different world of the Norse understanding of the universe:. The lowest chamber was to hold a statue of Baldur the Beautiful, and have a ring, which was worn by initiates in the Odin cult.

Long after it had been constructed, a Christian church was built over the spot where the temple lay hidden underground, though it was rumored that the Odin cult persisted in the Christian era.

In 1930, the Swedish government called for archaeological teams to help find the site. In the winter, Indiana Jones and Marcus Brody came from the National Museum, the British Museum sent Theresa Lawrence, and Forrestal also arrived. Lawrence was first to discover the cave entrance that led into the temple, but got stuck in the pit without her gear. Jones discovered her one night, and after making introductions, proceeded to enter the temple with her. As they passed through a chamber, Lawrence was frightened by a figure, and punched it - it turned out to be a skeleton dressed as Alfar, or elf. The two archaeologists were puzzled at the hanging skeletons, as the Alfar were usually believed to be related to light and beauty, and the chamber did not match the theme.

In the next chamber, Jones deduced from the giant rock carvings that the room was to represent the Jotun-Heim, or world of the giants. After Lawrence lit a brazier, which was rigged to cause the room to collapse in rock and ancient gears, she amended his theory that the room was themed on Muspellsheim, a world of giants and fire. With their way blocked by debris, Jones backtracked to the Alfar room, and climbed up rigging of the skeletons, and discovered a control room: the skeletons were marionettes. From the upper catwalk, they found a storage room, filled with scrolls and pots. Jones pulled out a scroll, which had a map of the temple. Using the map, they found the chamber with Baldur's statue.

Lawrence took the ring found at the tip of Baldur's sword, while Jones dodged, fearing traps. Lawrence used the situation to claim the ring, and leave Jones trapped in the chamber. As she left the complex, she was robbed by a gun-toting figure. Jones examined the chamber, and realized that smoke from his torch was seeping through a crack in the carved walls. It turned out that one of the stone carvings was actually a curtain, and Jones escaped to freedom with the scroll, believing that the real prize had been lost to the British Museum.

Appearances

 * Indiana Jones Adventures: Volume 1