Norway – Page 3 – ToBatheOrNotToBathe

Langvatnet

The Swede Nils Persson founded Sulitjelma Aktiebolag 10/2-1891, after 4 years of trial operations. Sulitjelma had a permanent settlement of 50 in 1880, which increased to almost 3,000 within 30 years. The immigrants came from all over the northern hemisphere, and the community became a conglomerate of Sami, Kven, Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Germans and Russians. Here you could make money, but the work was hard and the living conditions miserable, especially in the early days.

The Mining Company ‘Sulitjelma Gruber’ consisted of 18 different mines.

Sulitjelma’s nickname for many years was ‘The Hell of Lapland‘, which says something about the poor conditions. The term was first used by the agitator Kata Dalström, the writer August Strindberg’s niece. It was strictly forbidden to agitate for trade unions. All agitators were chased from the village as soon as they were discovered. As was said in Sulis: ‘Norway’s laws stop at Finneid‘. A female agitator who managed to speak in the Sulitjelma mines before the spies discovered her, was Helene Ugland from Froland near Arendal:

“Aren’t you worth as much as the foremen and leaders? No, you are worth more. Do you understand that? It is you and your dirty, powerful fists that have value to the exploiters. You are the ones who raise money for the foremen, the managers, the clerks or whatever they are called, the ones who squander it. And what do you get in return? Pay for the work… yes, but you get something else, too. You get mocked and fired if the managers don’t like you.“

Old Sulis. A large flow of water in the Giken river. The lake ‘Langvatnet’ in the background, with two cable cars.

Like many other mining communities, there was a clear distinction of class in Sulis. Clerks and engineers had good living conditions, high wages and access to hunting and fishing. Workers who tried to do some hunting, however, were dismissed. In the beginning, only the mining company had a shop (sometimes very poor products), so they got the money back from the workers. For a long time they also had their own money system in Sulitjelma. Hence, the Company could save all salaries in the bank, and earn interest on it.

Christmas lights on a new home (2023) at Charlotta in Sulitjelma.

A strategic ploy to keep wages down was to sell work assignments at auction once a month, a kind of auction called ‘lisitation‘. To get the job, the worker teams had to underbid each other, and the result was mistrust between the teams. The ‘Mining Act‘ of 1848 gave the mining companies the burden of support for the personnel when they had lived on the mine’s premises for two consecutive years. According to the law, sick or injured workers were therefore supposed to receive support from the Company, but this could be avoided by dismissing workers after 23 months of service at the latest. In this way, the Company could evict workers who were injured or fired, and also the families of workers who died. Later, the same (living) worker could easily get a new job – at Sulitjelma Gruber. Martin Tranmæl has said that Sulitjelma was “a small tsardom, where the capitalists ruled unrestrained“.

Langvatnet (the Long Lake). View inwards, Sandnes and Fagerli in the background.

Towards the end of 1906, the management got an idea to introduce use of something they called ‘control marks‘. The point was to know exactly how many hours the individual miner worked. This was to happen by each worker being handed a lead chip in the morning. The chip was ment to be worn at the chest, and when the mark was returned at the end of the day, the working hours were clear. The chips were immediately named the ‘Sulis Medal‘, or the ‘Slave Mark‘, and were deeply hated. The scheme with the control marks was first introduced in the Charlotta mine, which the management knew had the largest proportion of workers with family responsibilities. It was thought that this would go under the radar in the other mines , but that did not happen.

The slave marks. “*We are not slaves!*“, the miners shouted, knocking over the chip box. The following night, the marks disappeared after a break-in at the mining office.

At the Hanken and Charlotta mines, 200 men were dismissed when they refused to wear control marks, and a rebellion, the ‘Mark War‘, spread from mine to mine. The workers wanted to start a trade union, but how was that to happen when the Company had banned all kinds of meeting activities? The Company owned all houses, roads and all the land in the valley. They also had a private police force. Where could they meet? The solution was lake ‘Langvatnet’. Nobody owns the water, and the 13^th of January 1907; 1,300 people met on the ice at Langvatnet. Ole Kristoffer Sundt spoke standing on a margarine box: ‘Everyone who wants to join the trade union goes to the left!‘ No one stepped to the right. This happened during church time, and the comment from the priest was as follows: ‘The old Sulitjelma is falling now!‘

The Hanken miners represented by computer-worker Knut.

After the meeting at Langvatnet, 13 trade unions were established: 7 for miners and 6 workers’ unions. Sulitjelma had scattered settlements and difficult transport conditions, therefore this many departments.

The film ‘*Sulis 1907*‘ was directed by Nils Gaup and presents some of the prelude to the miners’ uprising. Knut (to the right) was a featured extra in the movie. Here in Olavsgruva at Røros.

After living with the Sulis movie for many weeks in 2022, Tobatheornottobathe just had to take the trip to Sulitjelma and experience the place for ourselves. We wanted to have a bath in lake Langvatnet! Ideally it should have been done through a hole in the ice, but as the premiere was set to October, this was relatively impossible. And where to swim? Langvatnet (Spoiler alert!) is actually quite long, almost 11 km (under a kilometer wide), so the possibilities are many. We chose the new housing estate Charlotta, built on the slag heap of the Charlotta mine.

A bit difficult to walk on the water this time.

A bath here was fine for us, but as previously mentioned: The locals hesitate, because of polluted water!

Ref:
– Frifagbevelse.no – https://frifagbevegelse.no/magasinet-for-fagorganiserte/slavemerket-som-reiste-arbeiderkampen-pa-norges-nest-storste-arbeidsplass-6.469.821411.e4bf5b2fa7
– Eyvind Viken: ‘Pioner og agitator – et portrett av Helene Ugland‘, Falken Forlag, 1991
– Wikipedia: Sulitjelma Gruber

Sulitjelma

Sulis was for many years Norway’s most polluted place, but now (in 2023) the forest has returned.

In Sulitjelma (nickname Sulis), human activity has been traced 1,000 years back in time, but then we are talking about nomadic Sami people. Permanent settlement began with the Norwegian Anders Larsen in 1848. The name Sulitjelma comes from Pitesami language, but is not explained with absolute certainty. Suggestions for translations are ‘The Eyes’ Threshold‘ or ‘The Sun’s Eye‘.

Not all that glimmers is gold, but pyrite (“Fool’s gold”) certainly looks very much like it.

In 1858, the Sami Mons Petter found a stone that he thought was gold. Disappointingly, he did not become rich, as it turned out that he had found pyrite. However, the industrialist Nils Persson realized what it was, and that this could be useful in his factory at Hälsingborg, Sweden. He started test mining operations at Langvatnet southwest of Fauske, in 1887. This became an industrial adventure that was to last for over 100 years.

Sulitjelma Aktiebolag was founded on 10/2-1891. The population in Sulis increased dramatically from 50 around 1880 to 2,750 in 1910 (today less than 400 people). A total of 18 mines were opened in the area, and Sulitjelma Aktiebolag was for many years Norway’s second largest employer. With the mines came the need for cable cars, a laundry, an ore crusher, a power station, a wharf and eventually also a railway. The transport was demanding and expensive, with several reloadings along the way, to and from rail and boat.

In Sulis, a visit to both the mining museum and the visitor mine is just right. Photo: Unknown other visitor

The Sulitjelma mining industry closed in 1991. During 100 years of operation, 6 million tons of metal and sulfur were produced. Most of it was sulfur. The rest were: 470,000 tons of copper, 215 tons of zinc, 282 tons of silver, and 3.7 tons of gold. The visitor mine is located at +59 m (above Langvatnet). The mine shafts (which are now mostly filled with water) go all the way down to -396 m (ie approx. 250 m below sea level). The length of the shafts corresponds to a journey of 1240 km (Sulitjelma – Drammen).

The passenger lift down into the depths had an incline of 45 degrees. In the visitor’s mine, you can ride the mine train 1.6 km into the mine, but you cannot take the lift into water filled tunnels.

After a mine visit and the corresponding mining museum, a bath must be just right, we thought. However, after several testimonies from the locals, the conclusion was that ‘You don’t swim in Sulitjelma, it’s polluted here!‘ Too bad, we thought. Or? Maybe we could have a bath anyway? It felt really, really disappointing not to bathe, as tobatheornottobathe see it.

Look at this marvellous waterfall in the Giken river!

What if we did the bathing thing with our mouths closed? If the problem is heavy metals, then surely they won’t jump into our bodies during a short bath? And we thought this waterfall in the Giken River was so extreme in its colours, that we just had to bathe it.

Most of the pollution in the Sulitjelma waterways comes from the Giken River. After the mine was closed (1991 to 2013), NIVA has estimated the amount of heavy metals coming out of Lake Langvatnet to approximately 25 tons of copper, 30 tons of zinc, 80 kg of cadmium and 4,500 tons of sulphate – each year. Today, the pollution mostly comes from runoff from the mines. Attempts have been made to stop this by filling the mine tunnels with water. The fish in Langvatnet, though, actually do not contain heavy metals above the recommended values, but the people in Sulis still do not want to eat it (or to swim in the water).

Swimming in the Giken River is basically not something we recommend, even if the colors are spectacular.

Tynset

In the north end of Østerdalen lies Tynset, 493 m above sea level. This is so high that you cannot expect matured grain every year. Agriculture is therefore dominated by cattle and sheep, with forests in addition. The name comes from the river Tunna = ‘the one that swirls‘. Of the municipality’s 5,500 inhabitants, more than half live in the Tynset village.

A number of beautiful rivers flow through Tynset municipality, so Tobatheornottobathe was hopeful for some waterfall bathing possibilities here. And yes, from highway 3 there is a good view of the beautiful Magnillfossen. But who was Magnill? Or was it a Magne that originated the name ‘Magnill waterfall‘? Comments are gratefully received. However, the first attempt at Magnillfossen ended with a visit to Tunnfossen instead.

Tunnfossen under Highway 3. Should we really pass this before turning right? We never found out what the description meant!

On a general basis, we at Tobatheornottobathe would like to thank Tynset Municipality so much for taking the trouble to list bathing places on their website. If only all Norwegian municipalities did the same! BUT – there was the small practical inconvenience that we didn’t understand how to get to Magnillfossen, despite the waterfall being on the list. The description was extremely simplified, and we didn’t get any help from the natives either, when we asked. We conclude that waterfall trips are not common here. It is described that you should drive past the waterfall on your way to Trondheim, and then turn right. But then you pass Tunnfossen first – and it was not mentioned even though it is both large and beautiful (but not really accessible for bathing, unfortunately).

Our next attempt at Magnillfossen was therefore in the opposite direction of the description. We arrived high up in the valley. Here there’s a nice cultural landscape with horses – and cranes. We parked above the waterfall and began the descent along a field. Pretty soon we ended up in a magical, old pine forest – much to Idun’s frustration. In this warm, south-facing hillside, the whole ground was alive – with ants. They crawled up over the sandals – and bit. Every attempt to brush them off ended up with even more crawling up the legs, you shouldn’t make any stop here! It wasn’t long before the waterfall trip was interrupted, and we made a new attempt below the waterfall.

High pine forest in Magnilldalen. An unbelievable large number of ants effectively shot down the excitement.

The third attempt was better. We parked at ‘Midteng’ below the waterfall, there is a bridge over the Tunna. But Idun was still a little stressed. This time not so much by ants, but by necrophilic flies, intensely concerned with the scab on Idun’s ancle after a bicycle fall a couple of weeks earlier.

From Midtenget it is about one kilometer to Magnillfossen. The path is obviously not much in use, but it worked well, and we had a varied walk by meadow, river and forest.

Magnillfossen is a beautiful waterfall with a deep pool. Here you can jump in when there is high water flow, and the pool functions as a fabulous counter-current pool. Highly recommended!

Magnillfossen delivers, well worth the trip!

After a swim in Magnilla, it’s a good idea to visit Tynset. Here you can climb the world’s (unofficially) biggest ‘spark‘ (kicksled/kicker). The kicksled is placed in front of the municipality building ‘Brunosten‘ (the Brown cheese), in 2010 winner of the award ‘Norway’s ugliest town hall‘. The first magnum kicksled (4 times larger than a normal one) came into place in connection with ‘Sparkens dag‘ (Kicksled’s Day) at Tynset in 1994. Both Sandefjord and Farsund have since constructed larger kicksleds, but today’s kicksled at Tynset (6 times larger than normal) is said to be the world’s largest (2023).

Knut and the kicksled. The giant kicksled weighs 2 tonnes and is almost 12 meters high.

As always, it’s not just about climbing, there has to be music too.

If you come to Tynset, you will enjoy yourself! (the municipality slogan).

As always, a ~~kick~~ bath in Tynset is just right!

Cat’s Eye and Opera in the Highlands

When the glaciers disappeared after the Ice Age, large blocks of ice remained here and there. Some of these were covered by sand or gravel, and therefore melted down quite slowly. The result was so-called dead ice pits, or pot hole formations, which filled with water became more or less circular lakes or ponds, connected to each other via the groundwater. Kattjønna (The Cat Lake) south of Kvikne was formed in this way.

Knut in full speed across Kattjønna. The pond is circular like a cat’s eye.

Kattjønna has neither inlet nor outlet, the water level depends on the groundwater. But charming, yes indeed! This lake is 4-5 meters deep, it does not freeze 100 % in winter and it is really generously filled with trout. We had a very pleasant stop at Uncle Jon’s in Kvikne, with prawn dinner, quiz and swimming. Kvikne is nice!

Lovely morning bath in Kattjønna with cousin Kristine.

‘A lot of work with the blog!‘ said Kristine, when we asked for a few more photos before the end of the bath.

The goal for the trip was Svarthammerlia and ‘Opera di Sætra 2023‘. The first performance at this mountain farm in Tylldal was in 2010, and it is something we would really recommend. Adventurous experiences in wonderland. This year’s show was based on people and stories from the comic newspaper “Pinchcliff Times’ (‘Flåklypa Tidende‘). What could possibly be better than playing on an old farm?

Everything’s just right at Opera di Sætra.

We had booked seats on the bus from Tynset, and it was great fun. The party was ongoing already as we arrived on the bus for the first time, and we were lucky enough to end up in the middle of a bunch of happy ‘Østerdøler’, who kindly guided us during the trip.

On the way up: ‘Here I shot my first moose!‘.
On the way down: ‘Here I shot my first moose!‘.
Comment from the sideline: ‘Here too?‘

It was a great show. Everyone, including singers and musicians, were really good. A splendid atmosphere with lots of humour. Especially the guys making ‘moonshine’ were a hit.

Good feelings on set. The guys with the ‘Moonshine’ had their own party on the right flank.

What about swimming, you think? Well, yes, the Svarthammerlitjønna is just right for a bath, but then you actually have to drive yourself. Since we went by bus, we didn’t have time to swim neither before nor after the show. We just had to be satisfied with the breakfast bath at Kvikne. Next time!

Lots of inspiring details at Sætra di Tylldal.

Kvikne

Kvikne is located in the watershed between Østerdalen (where the Tunna river flows south towards Glomma) and Trøndelag (Orkla’s source).

The first metal ore discovery at Kvikne was reported to the king in 1629 (extraction of copper probably took place much earlier). King Christian IV is said to have been so excited by this that he created a ‘Day of thanksgiving for the upcoming mining industry‘. He also ordered the creation of a mining town (Bergstad), but this did not happen. Instead, the miners were allowed to build their own farms at site.

When Christian IV visited Kvikne in 1635, he ordered the construction of a new church, since the old stave church had fallen into neglect.

Kvikne church from 1652. The panel is fixed with wooden plugs.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was baptized here in 1833, while his father Peder Bjørnson was a priest in Kvikne.

About 10 km south of Kvikne are the remains of the Eidsfossen dam from 1917. The dam was built to provide electricity to the Røstvangen mines on Kvikne mountain, which produced copper-bearing pyrite.

The dam had a balance hatch of the ‘Clapet Equilibré‘ type. Equilibrium was obtained by a concrete sinker in water. The purpose was to maintain a fixed water level in the reservoir, regardless of the water flow. The hatch was designed by engineer John Kinck, but was not a great success. Already during the first winter, the entire hatch froze, and an attempt to loosen the ice using explosives was really not a good solution.

For Tobatheornottobathe, this turned out to be a bathing pool’s paradise!

Great rapids in Orkla. A little caution is a must.

This part of Orkla river consists of a long series of rapids, with charming pools everywhere. Recommended! And actually, we were not the only bathers by Eidsfossen this beautiful summer day.

Knut wanted to get up to the hole he saw in the rock on the other side, but was a little skeptical about crossing the river. A quick security review was approved, however, and crossing wasn’t really very difficult or dangerous. Or at least it worked this time! It sure will vary with the amount of water in the river. Always make your own judgments!

You will find lots of interesting geology here, including large and small caves in all directions. And yes, Idun bathed too. We both had a few rounds of stream baths. Great fun!

Maybe not very elegant, but very fun!

A bath or three in Orkla’s rapids is just right – if you are careful. Wet shoes can be practical, and a wet suit as well (for buoyancy, not against the cold in such a hot summer day). Maybe even a helmet? But we think the most important thing is to be two or more together and to show caution all along the way.

“The woman against the stream” is an old Norwegian fairytale. It tells about a woman who was so stubborn that when she drowned, her husband told them to search upwards the river, and that’s where they found her! Any similarity to actual persons depicted here is most likely not by coincidence!

Orkla

We have bathed in Orkla before, at the outlet in Orkanger. There, Orkla is flowing peacefully (actually overflowing when we were there, after the storm Gyda’s ravages). Now we wanted to see if the river had other qualities for bathing pleasures. Orkla is Norway’s 11^th longest river, 172 km from Orkelsjøen in Oppdal municipality to the Trondheimsfjord. There are 5 power plants in Orkla. Tobatheornottobathe has developed a fascination for waterfall bathing, and before we go for a trip we always check if there are any places on the road with ‘foss’ (waterfall) in their name. And yes, there are waterfalls in Orkla, with scenic names such as Storfossen and Litjfossen (the Big and Small Waterfall).

We stopped by Litjfossen, but it was a bit confusing, all the while the dam there was called Storfossdammen. Big or small waterfall? Where are they, these two? Anyway, this was obviously not a good bathing place for Tobatheornottobathe. Even the salmon must have trouble here, as there wasn’t a drop of water in the salmon ladder. At Nåvårdalen, however!

Unbelievable? This is actually the Orkla river!

It was a both refreshing and relaxing bath in Orkla. Not much reminiscent of the name meaning ‘the digging river‘. Instead it was tempting to call this gem ‘the Little Orkel Sea’.

Nåvårdalen. Swimming shoes may be an idea in Orkla, as the stones are quite sharp.

In Nåvårdalen you will find the beautiful remains of Nåvårdalen’s smeltery, which came into operation in 1653. This was the only smeltery of the Kvikne copper mine that was in operation after the ‘Storofsen‘ flooding in 1789. The purpose of the smeltery was to remove as much sulfur as possible from the copper ore.

Nåvårdalen smeltery. Kvikne Kobberverk started up in 1630 as one of the first, larger copper mines in Norway. The oven in the picture is from the 19th century.

King Christian IV strongly encouraged mining, but for the local farmers it was not necessarily an advantage to report the finding of new ores. Mining meant compulsory labor for the local population, and they could earn more by digging and farming on their own. It is said about the copper ore at Kvikne, that it was discovered by ‘Old Nils’, but that he later forgot where it was…

On the other side of Rv 3 we saw a truly beautiful waterfall. Nameless on Google Maps, so we choose to call it Nåvårdalsfossen. We wanted to have a bath there!

But no. The pools were just not deep enough, and a bath just wasn’t right. After all, we run a blog called ‘To bathe or not to bathe’, and not ‘To dip or not to dip’!

Nævra to the nth

Summer in Trøndelag! After weeks of single-digit temperatures (Celsius, in June!) the heat was on, and we needed to cool down. Knut’s cousin Gry arrived in Trøndelag with her bathing suit in her luggage, ready to join a ‘ToBatheOrNotToBathe Adventure‘. What could possibly be a better choice than the river Nævra on a short detour between Værnes Airport and Trondheim?

Even the norse god Odin (carved into the tree trunk) thinks this is a fantastic area for barbecue and outdoor sleeping in hammocks.

We had tried to have a bath in Nævra before, but ended up swimming in Humla, so this time we started a little further upstream. This is a really nice area! ‘Næverhølet‘ was a tantalizing name on the map that we absolutely had to try. Well yes, there was kind of a hole in the river as it meandered quietly and beautifully. But to go bathing there? No, it just seemed too boring.

Tobatheornottobathe in Næverhølet? Not this time, no.

So we went back to the car, and oh yes, that was the right choice. Further downstream there were waterfalls! You can jump, and you can swim in Nævra!

We first tested something that might have been ‘No 1‘. (ref post ‘Winter Waterfall Wonderland‘).

‘No 2‘ was more like a jacuzzi, but fun, Gry thought.

‘No 3‘, on the other hand – it was impossible. Despite a good height, there was no free fall, and no pool to swim in either.

When we arrived, there were 3 boys jumping into ‘No 1‘. Fortunately, they stepped back when we arrived, so we didn’t get them in the head. However, we didn’t dive this time. Knut did not want to risk a recurrence of his back problem, and the ladies, unfortunately, just weren’t brave enough.

But as a bathing place! Bathing or jumping in Nævra is just right!

Two Spa or not to Spa!

Tobatheornottobathe celebrates 2 years these days. Hooray!

Our youngest daughter, Une, is home from France this summer and helps with practical tasks inside and outside the house: painting, masonry and miscellaneous. That is really good for us. It’s actually very nice to have a longer visit at home, and very satisfying to make progress on the house, which ‘Should have been completely finished at once (10 years ago), not almost-finished like everyone else are doing it!‘ That did not happen of course, we were so tired of house building and fixing, that when the house was good enough to live in, we stopped working and never quite reached the end. The first item on the program that has actually been finished this summer is painting the flagpole (and casting a new foundation, since we suddenly discovered that the old one just crumbled away). It was 10 years since the last time. Yes, we have to do regular maintenance in between activities to finish the house, and then it takes even longer.

Since 2 years of bathing and blogging coincided with the completion of the flagpole, we had to flag. Photo: Une Hunstad Løwø

In the absence of a longer holiday/trip abroad this summer, we wanted to celebrate with something spectacular and different, and so the 2-year’s bath became a SPA in Trondheim’s old mansion: Hotel Britannia.

You are welcome even before you enter. Who is looking forward to the SPA?

Apart from all the hot pots in Iceland, we have had no intention of reviewing water parks in our blog. But we really enjoy to treat ourselves with a little SPA every now and then. And Tospaornottospa was very excited about the wellness lounge in the basement of Britannia. A fun effect in the jacuzzi that didn’t have bubbles was the northern lights in the sky.

Northern lights in a relatively decent color right here, but occasionally it was blue? None of us have ever seen that!

Except that, there was a 12 m pool for swimming and a lot of different saunas, but what is the purpose of all the variants? Who wants to sit in a semi-lukewarm room with 55 degrees Celsius? But the Finnish sauna was absolutely perfect. And we always appreciate the possibility of a cold water dip. Hot and cold alternately, that’s the best! A bowl of ice to rub you with was a fun feature as well.

Idun was absolutely sure when we started the exploration of Trøndelag’s bathing spots: ‘If we put in a little effort, we will easily manage to bathe 2-3 times in all 39 municipalities in Trøndelag in one year!‘ Well, that was a bit optimistic. Not all weekends can be devoted to swimming, and besides, there is also bathing outside Trøndelag from time to time. Now, after 2 years, we are about halfway there. So then it’s just a matter of looking forward to 2 new years? We have to admit that the expenses for the 2-year celebration are not exactly in line with the income of the blog, which is rather precisely at 0. But it’s fun!

A Bath in the Iron Age

On the island Jøa you can travel in time! And that is thanks to Jan Tranaas, who has built an Iron Age house in Storvika.

Storvika (The Big Bay) is located on the west side of Jøa, Namsos. The long house is quite well camouflaged.

People have lived at Storvika/Tranås for at least 2,000 years. Here there are burials from the Iron Age, i.e. before the Viking Era. The finds contain traces of both the houses where people lived and the mounds where they were buried. Remains have been found for a ‘long house’ (more than 50 meters), a home for dozens of people, perhaps up to 50. Finds from Tranås include scissors, a sickle, a knife, parts of a sword and rivets made of iron, a spinning wheel and a baking plate of soapstone as well as a bronze pin. These finds are from around AD 400.

The Iron Age house on Jøa. For the next visit we will be wearing woven woolen clothes!

Building an Iron Age farm has cost Jan 20 years of thinking, 5 years of construction, 5,000 working hours and NOK 2 million. Well spent, both time and money, Tobatheornottobathe thinks, because the result is really fabulous. The new (from 2013) longhouse is 27 meters long and consists of stone, timber and turf. Naturally, we do not know in detail how the houses were built in the Iron Age – apart from the stone wall and the corner logs. Jan justifies his construction partly with findings from Sweden. The house in Storvika is heavy and solid and can withstand a storm or three. And that is needed, because the weather can be harsh at the coast of Trøndelag.

‘Janheim’ is furnished for guilds. Could an Iron Age wedding be something?

Jan’s dream has been to recreate the story of who the people in Namdalen originate from and how their ancestors lived. Today, there is scarce information about the way of life before the Viking Era. He thinks we need more knowledge about the time when the ‘Trønder‘ cleared the land, started cultivating the soil and for the first time built houses for people and cattle. People and animals lived together, the cattle provided warm houses during wintertime. Iron Age Jan has put coins under the logs, with the year when the house was built. So, if someone rediscovers the site in another 1,500 years, they don’t need the hassle of carbon dating to find the age of the house.

Tobatheornottobathe is considering a birthday party at ‘Janheim’! Maybe it is even possible to stay overnight here?

Storvika is an adventurous place, completely sheltered from modern times. We had a splendid bath in amazing surroundings, and a fantastic weather. The November bath will probably look a little different.

Our swimming gear was not quite ironage-ish. Next time perhaps a woolen bikini made by the single-needle knitting technique? Or just nothing at all.

References:
– Namdalsavisa 25/11-2013: ‘Jernalder-Jan hadde en drøm’.
– Information on site.

Hovsodden

In the Middle Ages there were only three churches in Namdalen: Nærøy, Overhalla and Fosnes at northern Jøa. Fosnes parish included, among others; Namsos, Flatanger, Otterøya and Gjæslingan.

Today there is only a chapel at Fosnes, as the church site has been moved to the village of Dun in the middle of the island. On the other side of Fosnesvågen you will find Fosnes Camping.

Early Christianity was good at cultural assimilation. The first churches were often placed on existing worshipping sites (hov), but this did not happen on Jøa. Peculiar! Placement of the church site was a very important decision, and around Jøa they had a dispute about this. A legend tells that in order to reach an agreement, fate (God) was allowed to prevail in the following way: The timber foundations of the church were pushed into the sea from Kirkenesset at Salsnes. The church was then to be erected where the logs drifted ashore. And the logs, they drifted ashore in Fosnesvågen on Jøa. But then no one rescued them before they went out to sea again. Now they ended up at Seierstad (today’s ferry quai) at Jøa. But again they drifted out to sea before being salvaged, and time passed. When the logs ran ashore for the third time, it was once again in Fosnesvågen. The logs were picked up and the church built at Fosnes (this is quite reminiscent of how the conquerers in Iceland let the Norse Gods decide the location of the farm by throwing the high seat logs into the sea and notifying where they drifted ashore).

We went from Fosnes to Hov on the east side of Jøa (where the church should have been placed), but there were not much visible left of the old times. Further towards the sea, however, is Rakkavika, and that’s a nice place to have a bath.

We wondered a little about the name, whether a ‘rakker’ had lived there (the rakker used to be the executioner in Norwegian towns, and also the one who emptied toilets and latrines). However, this far out to sea and in areas so desolate, it is unlikely that anyone at Jøa was employed to empty the toilets or run as executioner. It may seem that the word comes from rakke = a ring where the sail is attached to the mast (the ring protrudes from the sail), and in nature something that sticks out is called a headland. Tobatheornottobathe therefore concludes that the name ‘Rakkavika’ means Oddevik (Headland Bay), a really charming contradiction. Comments are welcome!

From Rakkavika, there are beautiful hiking trails in several directions. Because of that, we actually did not bathe there, as we wanted to see where the paths brought us. A well-arranged trail leads out towards the sea, to Hovsodden. Benches and tables, a barbecue and a view map are placed there. A fantastic place with a wonderful view!

Hovsodden. Splendid view towards the ocean.

From the barbecue area, an easier, marked path goes all the way to Jøa’s westernmost point. For small children’s feet, this is a really nice ‘mountain tour’, with the possibility of climbing the ‘Rakkabolt’, Jøa’s ‘Kjeragbolt’.

Once at the sea, you will find the finest white beach you could wish for. At least if you have small children with you.

Beautiful white sand on the beach at Hovsodden. The interesting, yellow geology is a rock of Styrofoam.

Tobatheornottobathe prefer to bathe from rocks in stead of sand, so we went even further out, to Oksholmen (The Oxen Islet). And yes, it was a really wonderful bath.

The coastal rocks were black of algae, and warm! It was really nice to dry off in the sun. For sure it is just right to swim in Rakkavika, but perhaps even better to have a bath at Hovsodden.