Taste of Vesteralen, Part Two, Trondenes Middelaldergard

 November 13, 2022

The short service at the Harstad church concluded, we reboarded the bus and drove a short distance to Trondenes Middelaldergard, a living history farm depicting life around the year 1200 in Norway.  A cheerful woman in traditional garb welcomed us to the farm.  As I rarely remember names beyond the brief introduction, I'll call her Inga.  I'm determined to take notes on my next trip.

A short walk up a curved path brought us to this one room home.  Unlike the homes of the settlers of the American frontier, it is not built of sod, but is constructed of wood, and insulated all around with blocks of sod.  

We were invited to enter, and find seats on the wooden, fur-topped benches around the perimeter of the room.

I'm not a fan of being squished in with random strangers, so thankfully I was able to find a seat right by the open door.  In the photo below you can see the large stone piece that does duty as heating and cooking appliance.  It also functions as table or counter for food prep, eating and other activities.

All indoor living was done in this single room.  Sleeping, cooking, working and playing.  In leu of the side benches there may have been wooden cots, or the furs may have been placed directly on the floor for sleeping.

A beautifully decorated wooden chest, complete with hinges created in the nearby forge.

I was especially intrigued with this wall loom.  As a child visiting my North Dakota grandmother, I had the opportunity to use her large loom to make a rag rug.  This seemed like a nice, space-saving option.  We were told that their yarn and thread was traditionally made from flax grown on the farm, but a poor crop yield that year had forced them to get their fibers from nettle plants instead.

A short walk up the hill stood a simple wooden building that housed the forge.  It was intentionally situated a distance away from the house due to the high risk of it catching fire.

From the elevated position of the forge one has a panoramic view of the distant, snow-capped mountains and the fjord.

Looking in another direction, in the gray morning light, one can see the village streets of Trondenes, as well as the historical red-roofed church that is usually visited on this excursion.  The refurbishment in progress can be noted by the scaffolding on the end of the building.

Off to the side stood a more recent addition to this medieval museum complex, a simple stave church.  This church is an exact replica of one built in Haltdalen, Norway around the year 1200.  

Looking down towards the fjord, we could see the back of the house, as well as our waiting tour bus.  Here also you can see the grass-topped buildings that housed the main museum exhibits. 

It is unlikely that I would have ever visited this area if I hadn't gone on this excursion, so I'm thankful for the time I had here.  However, the problem with any type of tour is that you follow someone else's schedule.  Unlike my history-loving dad, I don't read every little plaque on the displays, but I do prefer to take a little time to ponder the lives lived in this time, and in this place, so very different than my own.  That said, with the bus engine probably already running, I trotted down the hill to the indoor museum displays for a quick perusal. 

Most of the focus seemed to be on the 10th and 11th centuries, and primarily on the Vikings.  

The following scenes are depicting the Battle of Stiklestad in the year 1030, where Tore Hund, aka Thor the Hound, leader of a peasant faction took down Norwegian King Olaf II.  The latter was later canonized and his body entombed somewhere underneath the majestic Nidaros Cathedral.  Later on my in-depth tour of that cathedral in Trondheim, I would hear many tales of the glories of St Olav.

These Viking warriors were fierce looking indeed, but I can't help but wonder how they could fight with that piece of metal hanging down in front of their eyes.  

I myself kept a close watch on the time, and before I'd had a chance to visit more than a fraction of the museum, it was time to get back on the bus to continue the tour.