Honestly, it was a very random decision to pick Stockholm as my destination. I just always felt like going there, and because summers are quite hot in Vienna, it was a good opportunity for cooler weather.
After I had already booked my flight ticket and my hotel, on a random day I was looking at the wikipedia page for Seventh Seal, and I found out that Ingmar Bergman was inspired by "a medieval church painting from the 1480s in Täby kyrka", which was just north of Stockholm. Seventh Seal is one of the many inspirations for Faith in Despair, where you play against Death. So I knew I had to check it out.
So, on the fourth day of being in Stockholm, I decided to get into a train and travel north for approximately thirty minutes. When I exited, I had to walk maybe ten minutes and I was able to see it in the distance. I walked closer, and there it was in its entirety.
There was a photographer taking pictures of the Nordic runes scattered around on the outside walls (finding runes was a common occurrence in this area, there were many displayed around the town). He was laughing as I walked by, he said he had to take photos like these, because as a wedding photographer, he wanted them to have all kinds of memories.
"Are you here to see the chess player?" he asked.
Surprised, I said, "Yes, I am."
"You have to be quick, it's upstairs and the wedding starts in 10 minutes."
"Oh, I'll be quick then," I said and hurried inside, past people dressed up for the wedding.
As soon as I entered, I saw why this church was special. The paintings on the walls were incredible. Later I would learn that this church was one of the only few remaining where the walls weren't painted over with white. There was a model of a war ship hanging in front of one of the windows, and there was an Yggdrasil on the right side of the altar. During my stay in Stockholm, I learned that vikings were heavily influenced by Rome and Christianity, and so there was a period where they merged these ideas together.
I could not find the painting of the chess player, so I decided I would leave and come back later, so I could enjoy the moment.
I walked further north, past a cemetery, and into a forest. It took me another half an hour to get to a lake. I stood there, enjoying the scenery. It was quiet and peaceful.
I returned all the way to the church, now maybe an hour or more later, and this time it was seemingly empty. As soon as I entered the church again, someone started playing a beautiful piano piece right above me. I did not see who played, I just sat down and waited for it to end. It was played twice, so I realized this must've been practice. When the piece ended, an older woman came down a small flight of stairs and I said, "That was beautiful." And she laughed and said, "It's for the wedding."
There was another wedding! It didn't seem as imminent as the other one, so I thought I still had time.
I stood up and looked around more carefully. As I went closer to the life tree, I checked out the nearby bowl with the holy water inside of it. It had a golden ship embedded. That's not something you see a lot in catholic churches, I thought.
A different woman approached me from the church entrance, and she asked if I'm here to see the chess player. Once again, I said yes.
She said, "I will turn on the lights. You can see it if you walk up these stairs, and then you have to turn right and look up."
I thanked her and walked up the tight staircase. Slowly but surely I made it up and I was stopped by a black gate. I thought, maybe she forgot that this was locked. I tried to see if it was somehow possible to unlock myself, it had a strange mechanism on the right side of it. But no luck. Then I remembered, she had said, turn right and look up. So I did. And then I saw it.
I had to crane my neck upwards so far that it hurt, but I just laughed and tried to soak in the moment. Here I was, seeing it with my own eyes, the inspiration for Seventh Seal, which in turn got made fun of by Bill and Ted, which led me to this point. It was haunting in a way, but also kind of delightfully silly. As if the artist had just added a little easter egg he came up with on a whim.
I would see many more fascinating artifacts throughout my stay in Stockholm. The Vasa museum was breathtaking, with the fully intact warship from 1628. The Skansen felt like a dream. But when I met Rumpel, he told me to check out the Codex Gigas, the Devil's Bible. It was on display in the National Library of Sweden. When I checked its location, I couldn't believe it. It was right inside the park across my hotel, maybe a minute of walking.
The book is much bigger in person than it looks on photos. It is absolutely massive. According to the description, it was written "in a single night by a sinful monk who was trying to redeem himself from guilt. In despair the monk turned to the Devil, who helped him in exchange for a devil's portrait in the book."
I've met more friends in Stockholm and on Wednesday it was time to fly back to Vienna. With new inspiration and a fresh perspective, it is now time to finish my game.