Heksens Hårbånd (The Witch’s Headband)

Built in the 13th century, Højelse Church stands quietly in the countryside near Køge, Denmark. In the stone wall dividing the church from its cemetery, a dark boulder catches the eye. Across its surface runs a pale, ribbon-like stripe, which locals have long called Heksens Hårbånd, or “The Witch’s Headband.”

According to folklore, the pale band is a strip of an angry old witch’s hair ribbon that turned to stone. The story goes that a witch was so disturbed by the powerful chime of Højelse’s church bell that she hurled a massive boulder across the sea from the Skåne region—then part of Denmark, now in Sweden—in an attempt to silence it. But the archangel Saint Michael intervened, and the stone fell short, landing within the churchyard.

Geologists, however, believe the pale stripe formed because the surrounding dark rock, rich in iron, erodes faster than the tougher, finer-grained band, composed of quartz and feldspar. This band is more resistant to erosion. Such features are common in granite landscapes and occur naturally, without supernatural explanations.