Day 24

Vuku to Stiklestad 
Distance: 6.7 miles / 10.8 km
Cumulative: 265.6 miles / 427.4 km 

“With this we may encourage ourselves, that we have a more just cause than the bondes…” Olav Haraldson, 29 July 1030, Spoken as he was about to lead his 3,500 men against Danish King Canute’s 13,000 at Stiklestad.

A lot to cover today so buckle up. 

First the history lesson. After King Canute fomented an uprising against him, Olav fled to Kiev (хай живе україна) and hung out with his cousin for a bit. While there he developed a reputation as a great healer. This was based largely on an incident where he gave a boy some bread and it cured a boil on his neck.

As he contemplated his next career move, Olav considered becoming a monk. In the end he decided he would rather be king again—fair enough. He journeyed home across the Baltic Sea landing in Selånger, Sweden, which is where we picked up his tracks. He marched across Sweden and Norway, ignoring the mosquitoes, and camped at Vuku, coincidentally where we stayed last night. On July 29, 1030, he marched to Stiklestad, gave his men a rousing pep talk (not as good as the one from Independence Day, but inspiring nonetheless), and promptly died in battle. 

But the miracles kept coming. When he fell in battle he landed on a stone, leaving an indentation. If you are keeping track this is the second time he has dented a stone. There is a 12th century church with the altar built on the exact spot where he fell. Behind the altar they have that dented stone. 

The church built where Olav died. 

The altar with Christ carrying a sword?

Olav’s death. The eyes and feet are creepy. 

The stone Olav dented when he fell in battle. 

The veneration of St. Olav is not without its commercial aspects. Here in Stiklestad they have a large hotel adjacent to the church. That’s where we are staying. Next door is an outdoor museum with some cool old buildings and re-creations. There’s an amphitheater and a labyrinth. I’m pretty sure the gift shop has an Olav snow globe. 

Olav’s chapel on the museum grounds. Until 2002 it was a storehouse. 

A replica of a Middle Ages guest house. You can stay here and sleep in those beds but we opted for indoor plumbing. 

Norse gods. Thor is second from left and Odin to his right. The two on the outside are Freyr and Freyja, brother and sister gods of fertility. I will not comment further. 

The exit sign. 

Gotta admit, we couldn’t figure this one out. 

Our second topic is woodworking. I’ll bet you didn’t see that one coming. The Kreative Senter where we stayed last night is run by Mona and Kai. They teach classes in various arts. She paints, but their main thing is woodworking. Turns out, they are world class woodworkers. They have been commissioned by the National Trust of Norway to carve a replica of the 11th century Urnes portal (a church door), an iconic work of Norwegian art. They have been working on it for four years.

This is the door. See the split down the left side? They couldn’t figure out how the original was cut so the seam almost disappeared. They finally found a 1000 year old tool in Hungary that will allow them to do it. 

This is a small selection of their tools. 

The tricky part is they are carving the door using the same tools and techniques used in the 11th century. Kai has made all the tools. And when I say he made them, he dug peat bog from the mountains to fire a furnace to allow him to forge the iron to make the tools as they would have been a thousand years ago. I asked if he had ever heard of Home Depot but he didn’t laugh. These guys are serious next level. 

Our hike today was short and uneventful, although fairly hilly. It was almost all on small paved roads and the views were bucolic. 

Our first view of the fjord connecting to the Atlantic. 

After three days in Norway we have decided the Norwegians have a much higher regard for the sanctity of the bathtub. We have not seen any abandoned.