Lövestad Carved Statues

Located inside of and in the gardens surrounding the Hembygdsmuseum in Lovestad, a locality situated in Sjobo Municipality in Sweden, a blue collar worker once decided it wise to carve a series of rocks with biblical texts and his own work. Over ten years starting around 1880 the miller carved, one by one, about 3,500 words in all using a miller's adze, which is a tool that weight about 2 kg.

Hembygdsmuseum, which lies in the countryside to the south of Osby, is housed inside of a seventeenth century building that has been well preserved; it attracts visitors for more than just the impressive carvings. The carvings, though, have always served as the main attraction. Built up by the local folklore society of Osby, the carvings give a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of people living in this region more than 100 years ago.

A Swedish website, translated with the help of Google Translate, argues that the miller was named Nils Nilsson. He also worked as a farmer and created a water mill before attacking the rocks with a religious fervor, according to sources that have attempted to reconstruct the creation of Nilsson's remarkable stone garden in the late 1800s.

No matter the miller's name or additional occupations, the stone are just as impressive and continue to draw an audience for their beauty and for the messages that the carry.