Short answers, pulled from the story.
Öland is the second-largest Swedish island, located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. It covers an area of 1,342 km2, stretches 137 km in length, and is connected to the mainland city of Kalmar by the 6 km Öland Bridge, which opened on the 30th of September 1972.
Archaeological evidence indicates Öland was first settled around 8000 BC by Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. By 6000 BC, Stone Age settlements had established themselves at Alby and other locations on the island.
The Stora Alvaret is a large limestone pavement in southern Öland that is the habitat of numerous rare and endangered species. It has been entered as a UNESCO World Heritage site and was first studied scientifically by Linnaeus in 1741.
Borgholm Castle was built between 1669 and 1681 for Queen Hedvig Eleonora and designed by the architect Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. It sits near Solliden Palace, the royal family's summer residence.
Skördefesten is an annual harvest festival held every September on Öland, attracting thousands of visitors. Farmers from across Sweden gather to sell crops and open their farms, and the town of Borgholm erects a pumpagubbe, a large scarecrow-like figure built entirely of gourds, at the town centre.
The romantic poet Erik Johan Stagnelius was born in the Öland parish of Gärdslösa in 1793 and lived there until the age of 16. He wrote several poems about the island.