Kolmården

Kolmården is a belt of forest and rugged ground between Södermanland and Östergötland. In medieval accounts it marked a boundary between neighbouring lands, and its woods posed a formidable obstacle to travel by land. Routes nevertheless crossed the forest, linking the districts around Lake Mälaren with those to the south. In the early Middle Ages travellers also relied heavily on the Baltic coast, where sea routes offered an alternative to the difficult passage through the wooded interior.