Sacred stone, spring or grove
Varudi-Altküla Hiiekivi
In a field about 230 metres south of Varudi bog lies a boulder roughly five metres long and two metres high, known both as the Suurkivi, the big stone, and as the Hiiekivi, the sacred-grove stone. It carries one of Estonia's eeriest stories. According to two folklore records, women came here to receive wolf skins from a grey old man who handed them out from under the stone; they returned the skins in the morning, and the skins vanished. The tale belongs to the werewolf beliefs that peaked in Estonia and Livonia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It became a protected sacred site in 2023.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Varudi rabast umbes 230 meetrit lõuna pool põllul lebab ligi viie meetri pikkune ja kahe meetri kõrgune rahn, mida tuntakse nii Suurkivi kui ka Hiiekivi nime all. Sellega on seotud üks Eesti õudsemaid lugusid. Kahe rahvaluulekirjapaneku järgi käisid naised siin hundinahku saamas, mida jagas kivi alt hall vanamees; hommikul toodi nahad tagasi ja need kadusid. Lugu kuulub libahundiuskumuste hulka, mis olid Eestis ja Liivimaal kõige elavamad 16.–17. sajandil. 2023. aastal tunnistati kivi ajalooliseks looduslikuks pühapaigaks.