Malung

Overview

Malung is home to Malungs Folkhögskola, two kilometers south of the town centre. Specialized courses include folk music, dance, mountaineering, blacksmithing and health. Malung is also where the first DreamHack event took place.

In the 29th week of every year, Malung is host to Svenska dansbandsveckan, an annual dance festival that regularly brings over 3000 caravans as well as more than 80 performing bands to the community. Every year around 50,000 tickets are sold.

History

The oldest written source mentioning Malung is the Sverre Saga from the 13th Century. The mill wheel manufacturing in the area is supposed to be centuries older than that.

The history of Malung as a village or settlement precedes local recorded history. It is however mentioned in the 13:th century tale "Sverres saga" that the Norwegian king Sverre Sigurdsson rode through a town named "Molung" while passing through Jarnberaland (swe: järnbäraland, "iron-bearing land", a part of modern day Dalarna) in the year 1177. The locals were described as friendly and helpful although heathen due to their belief in Aesir faith or old Nordic religion. This makes Malung the first settlement in Dalarna to be recorded in text.

In addition to the locality's own history one of several millstone quarries can be found approximately five kilometers south-east of the town centre. The quarry is 1700 meters long, 50–170 meters wide and it has been active since the early Viking Age based on finds dated to the later half of the eighth century. Millstones cut in this quarry has been found as far south as Lund as well as in Mälardalen, most parts of Svealand and even Norway. The quarry is a culture reserve as of 2003.

In more recent history, Malung is known as the leather capital of Sweden, with its leather industry and several tanneries. Malung also has a proud and old tradition of so-called "skinners" or "skinnare": groups of leather merchants, tailors and tanners who would walk between villages to create and sell pelts, leather jackets and even shoes in exchange for accommodation and a modest pay.

Climate

Malung has a relatively moderate subarctic climate not far below continental. In comparison with areas further east in the county like Falun, temperatures are generally chilly. Cold extremes in particular are very cold compared to elsewhere this far south in the country.

|Jan record high C = 8.3 |Feb record high C = 11.1 |Mar record high C = 16.4 |Apr record high C = 24.5 |May record high C = 27.6 |Jun record high C = 31.4 |Jul record high C = 31.4 |Aug record high C = 32.1 |Sep record high C = 27.0 |Oct record high C = 20.3 |Nov record high C = 14.1 |Dec record high C = 10.1 |year record high C = 32.1 |Jan avg record high C = 4.5 |Feb avg record high C = 5.4 |Mar avg record high C = 11.3 |Apr avg record high C = 16.7 |May avg record high C = 23.5 |Jun avg record high C = 25.7 |Jul avg record high C = 27.4 |Aug avg record high C = 25.7 |Sep avg record high C = 20.7 |Oct avg record high C = 14.9 |Nov avg record high C = 9.3 |Dec avg record high C = 5.4 |year avg record high C = 28.6 |Jan avg record low C = -25.3 |Feb avg record low C = -24.1 |Mar avg record low C = -20.2 |Apr avg record low C = -9.8 |May avg record low C = -4.4 |Jun avg record low C = 0.2 |Jul avg record low C = 3.3 |Aug avg record low C = 0.9 |Sep avg record low C = -3.6 |Oct avg record low C = -10.2 |Nov avg record low C = -15.8 |Dec avg record low C = -21.7 |year avg record low C = -28.3 |Jan record low C = -39.3 |Feb record low C = -39.4 |Mar record low C = -35.6 |Apr record low C = -27.0 |May record low C = -12.4 |Jun record low C = -5.4 |Jul record low C = -1.7 |Aug record low C = -3.2 |Sep record low C = -10.2 |Oct record low C = -21.7 |Nov record low C = -34.0 |Dec record low C = -38.0 |year record low C = -39.4 | access-date = 2019-05-14 | archive-date = 2019-04-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190411092753/https://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/ladda-ner-meteorologiska-observationer#param=precipitationMonthlySum,stations=all,stationid=103410 | url-status = dead | access-date= 9 March 2016 | archive-date= 2 May 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190502092934/http://www.smhi.se/klimatdata/meteorologi/temperatur/2.1240 | url-status= dead

Notable people

• Stina Nilsson (*1993), cross-country skier
• Niss Oskar Jonsson (*1909 +2002), businessman and founder of Jofa
• Sven Jerring (*1895 +1979), radio presenter, sports journalist and commentator

References

References

1. (14 December 2011). "Tätorternas landareal, folkmängd och invånare per km² 2005 och 2010". [[Statistics Sweden]].
2. Dreamhack
3. "Om Dansbandsveckan - Dansbandsveckan".
4. "Sverres saga" via heimskringla. http://heimskringla.no/wiki/Sverres_saga Retrieved may 30 2019
5. [http://malung-salen.se/kulturfritidochturism/kulturochsevardheter/kulturhistoriaochkulturarv.4.73524e2413e64b1dd1113c3.html Bäckström, Peter, "Kulturhistoria och kulturarv", Malung-Sälens kommun]
6. "Kvarnstensbrottet i Östra Utsjö i Malung", Quarnstensgrufvans vänner. [http://quarnstensgrufvansvanner.se/om-quarnstensgrufvans-v-nner.html] Retrieved May 30, 2019