Liten Agda and Olof Tyste

Who was Liten Agda and Olof Tyste?

Liten Agda och Olof Tyste, refers to a legend about a young couple in Sweden between the very first years of King Gustav Vasa and the last years of before the Lutheran Reformation.

The title Liten Agda och Olof Tyste translates literally as: Little Agda and Olof the Silent. The title Agda Michelsdotter translates literally as: Agda, Michel's daughter; Olof is her boyfriend. After being kept from Olof by her father, she joins the Vadstena Abbey, a convent, instead of marrying a wealthy nobleman. She escapes from the convent and elopes with Olof, banished by the Church until the King grants the couple a reprieve.

Their story was told in Förr och nu i Wadstena by Pontin. It bears similarities to the fate of Ingeborg Jönsdotter, a merchant's daughter from Vadstena who was forced to enter the same convent in 1495 after a love affair with a young noble.