Gripsholm, Sweden, 1997  |  Image: 9 of 12 Previous Image Next


© 1997 Lawrence I. Charters

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Gripsholm Castle offered one unexpected surprise: a pair of famous Russian cannon. Captured by Sweden several years apart in the early 1600s, the massive weapons -- much larger than most cannons of the age -- were dragged back to Sweden as spoils of war. Even though nearly a decade separated the capture of the first from the capture of the second, the Russians named both of them "Wolf." The Swedes, possibly annoyed at the task of dragging such massive weapons through the mud, named them after pigs: the earliest capture is known as "The Boar" and the latter, "The Sow."Scanned from a photographic print. © 1997 Lawrence I. Charters
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