In this essay I will analyze Norrby stenar stone circles in Närke in order to understand the stone circles in relation to the society and landscape around them. I will also compare older with newer reasearch in order to understand how archaeologists have seen the stone circles over time. To do so, I will put the stone circles in relation to the norse mythology and the ideology about Midgård.

This paper discusses the approximately twenty Middle Iron Age hillforts located in Östra and Västra Rekarne härad in Södermanland.  "Härad", an administrative division, is likely to be derived from the earlier hundred division, which was based on equipping and manning ships at a time when society was hierarchical and the elite, through travel, had contact with the Roman Empire, inspiring new gods (such as Thor and Odin) to worship. The Tuna and Berga settlements are part of the hundred division but may also have played a role in organization of the earlier travels. There is a connection between Tuna and Berga and hillforts suggesting hillforts could be part of an early organization for equipping and manning ships. Some of the hillforts have house-terraces and possibly had textile production for the travels, some were possibly built for cult.