The church is an old house

[baleanoptera]

the roof of Hopperstad Stave Church

The first two things you will notice about stave churches are that they are not very big, and secondly that they smell of tar. The tar smell is distinctive, almost all encompassing. And it changes with the seasons.

In winter the smell will be soft and blended with the clear scent of cold. In summer it will be heavy and heady. Sometime you visit a church that has been newly tarred, and then you can almost smell the building before you see it. The boards and the pillars will have a glistening, dark coat and they will be sticky to touch.

I guess the reason I mention tar is that, in a way, its smell is a constant reminder that these are buildings constructed from what was living matter. These buildings are made of wood.


Fantoft Stave Church, near the city of Bergen

The time frame of the stave churches are from the late 11th Century, to the end of the 13th century. After this the church builders seem to prefer stone. Now this makes the churches some of the oldest existing buildings in Norway, and parts of the timber have been dated as nearly 800 years old. I often ponder that when I visit the churches, that they are constructed by material that was alive long before there was a notion of something called Norway. Granted there are stone churches that are older, but stone is not wood and was never alive in the same way. Maybe it is silly that this distinction is important to me, but it is.


Two drawings showing the interior of Borgund stave church. Notice how it is all constructed around a square?

The name stave church is derived from the architectural construction. The buildings frame is based on four main posts that create a square. Around these posts the rest of the building is constructed. Posts are known as stav in Norwegian, (stafr in Old Norse), hence the name.


Detail of Borgund Exterior

The frame is stabilised by various support pillars, and beams in the shape of St. Andrew crosses. There are few if any windows, leaving you with a small church room seemingly filled with twilight. This makes visiting a stave church something of a strange experience. I’m used to churches being filled with light, or at least having light as a pivotal aesthetic, but not with the stave church. The moment you step inside its church room you are in a world of your own. The light from the world outside is not let through – it is just you and whatever holy you think is represented there. It is all a bit daunting. But then again the stave church is a place of otherness and mystery, so perhaps it is fitting. Let me explain what I mean.


Dragon roof beam at Lom Church

The exterior is usually dominated by sloping roofs, and wonderful carvings. Dragon heads on the roof beams, highly ornate portals and pillars. I’ve talked about one such portal before, but all the stave churches portals are organic and filled with slithering monsters. Those that are not depict scenes from the sagas, such as the story of Sigurd that kills the dragon Fafnr. Sometimes the monsters spills out on the pillars as well, and they take on such wondrous shapes that the art historians still argue about exactly what they are meant to be.


The portal of Hedal Church, please note that this is a different church than the one called Heddal mentioned below

Some of the churches, usually the largest ones, have a small corridor circling the church room proper. These are known in Norwegian as lønnganger, where ganger means corridor or space you can walk in, and lønn means secret and hidden. I think the lønn is particularly apt, as these walkways are neither inside nor outside the church. They are between places, between the outside and the holy room at the churches centre.
In the back of the church, where a wall is all that separates this corridor from the apse with the altar, this passageway will be at its darkest. There you can usually find symbols carved into the wall by who knows how many people over the years. Some are runes, some are crosses. Others are symbols of specific farms or families – while others again are mixes of all of these. Runes about travelling ended with a cross for example or a farm symbol with the harvest rune in conjuncture. These symbols can sometimes be found other places in the churches as well, but that dark between place betwixt the altar and the outside? There you will always find them.


Monster on a pillar from Borgund church. Is it a lion or a dragon? That is the debate.

The myth and magic doesn’t stop there. Most stave churches have a legend connected to their founding, usually about how the church was built by trolls or giants. Or how the trolls or the devil tried to stop the building of the church in the first place. In that respect the one connected to Heddal stave church is pretty symptomatic:


My favourite! Heddal Stave Church. Incidentally also the largest of all these churches. My grandparents lived on a farm ten minutes from this church, and you could see it from their kitchen window. Very cool.

Once upon a time five of the farmers in Heddal agreed upon building a church in the valley. One of them, named Raud Rygi, one day ran into a stranger who promised to build the church. But on one condition; when the church was finished, Raud had either to bring him the sun and the moon, the blood of his heart or guess the strangers name. Raud thought it would bee more than enough time to discover the man's name, and so he made the deal.

But alas, he didn't get very much time. During the first night all the timber was in place, the second night the tower was raised, and the third day the church would be finished. Fearing for his life, Raud strolled along his fields desperately wondering how to guess the strangers name. Then he heard the most beautiful song coming from inside the nearby mountain:
"Hush, hush, little baby do –
Tomorrow father, Finn, will bring to you,
Moon and sun and Christian heart
As toys for you, so nice and smart".

The riddle was solved! The builder was the "troll" Finn, who lived in the nearby mountain. That's how Raud saved his life and Heddal got its church. But the troll couldn't stand the sound of the church bells every Sunday, and therefore moved with all his family to the mountain, Himingen.


Heddal Church in snow

Now I would argue that most holy buildings are places of mystery and myth, but with the stave churches it is tangible and overtly present. The feeling of something supernatural is displayed in the portals, sometimes there are dark passages that leads to walls covered with runes and there are myths and legends surrounding each and every church. Since I love myths and mysteries I guess that is part of why I like these buildings so much. Also I think they are stunningly beautiful.

The title is from an old Norwegian psalm. I found it a bit appropriate.

ETA: Be warned as there might be a part two to this entry. ;)

Comments

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I think they are stunningly beautiful too! ** that dragon roof thing is ALIVE, I am sure **

It is interesting that Russian stave churches are quite different.. They resemble usual Russian church style (with onion roofs) and don't look as "other" as Norwegian do :

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/56466601.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=5A1FDC95B2C10A407310950F633C8773284831B75F48EF45

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

They are all just stunning! The big one is beautiful, but it's the small ones with the amazing roof carvings that call to me. And OMG, Rohan! I had no idea 'til I saw these pictures, but wow.

[wildtiger7.livejournal.com]

The picture of the Heddal Stave Church looks like a painting. (is it a painting?) It's wonderful.

[lage-nom-ai.livejournal.com]

You are awesome!! (And so are the churches).

Now I really, really, really want to come visit, augh! :D

And I think that story about Rand and the troll Finn is funny--reminds me of 'Rumplestiltskin'...

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I think it is a photo (though I've now stared at it so closely trying to figure this out that I'm not rightly sure). The strange light is very typical for the summer months here, when the sun doesn't set before 23.00, and even then the light is more dusk than dark and everything seems a bit supernatural. I think that is what is going on.

But yes, the church is gorgeous. And huge! All the other churches are basically one room, but this one actually has two. hee.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

The roof carvings are just amazing aren't they? I love them so much.

And yes - I believe they were the inspiration for Rohan architecture. These churches and the Maori houses combined actually.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

I love the Russian churches and church architecture. Those wooden churches are really amazing.

I must admit I have a particular fondness for buildings made of wood. Its a combination of the texture of the material and the restraints the use of wood as a material places on the buildings. After all a wood beam is strong, but not as strong as stone (or concrete), and so the building must adapt to its building material in a different way. I find that fascinating. But then again I do geek a bit about architecture.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Hee. Thank you - you are pretty awesome yourself.

And I would love to have the opportunity to show you around here. Though the focus I suspect would be on fjords and vikings. hee.

It does sound a bit like Rumplestiltskin doesn't it? Perhaps it was a common problem? ;)

[dianora77.livejournal.com]

They look like giant beehives! Amazing. I love the pagan details on them, like that dragon. :D Brilliant!

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

ooh, I like the beehive comparison. Very apt. And yes, the pagan details are awesome. (and a bit scary, but that is partially why they are awesome).

[mr-kit.livejournal.com]

Excellent churches.

I'm surprised they're so ornate, given how small they are. Who does one pay for an expensive-looking church with only a small congregation?

[mnemo-syne.livejournal.com]

Hello, I've just added you, I hope that's alright! Lage_nom_ai said I should a while back, but I never got around to it until now. (I have a master's in art history too - Baroque art & architecture - though you certainly wouldn't know it from my journal entries, which are mostly about TV, attractive menfolk, and similarly deep subjects. :D) I think I'm really going to enjoy your posts.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Hello! I've added you back. Always nice to meet new people.
And especially one who comes recommended from such a nice source, and who is an Art Historian as well. ;) And I have to ask (geek that I am)what specifically did you write about?

which are mostly about TV, attractive menfolk, and similarly deep subjects. :D)

Hee! They sound like excellent subjects to me.

[mnemo-syne.livejournal.com]

Excellent, thanks!

Because I was not going on to the PhD program, my department did not require a master's thesis (I choose to get an additional master's in another area entirely). So I cannot be said to have had a particular focus beyond the broad category of Baroque; I've written about such disparate subjects as garden architecture, German tomb sculpture, Xu Bing, Felicien Rops - I could never stick to one thing!

That is probably more than you wanted to know, sorry.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent question. I think the answer is that at the time they were built they weren't so small, as just the right size. Norway has never been a densely populated country (after all today there are only 4.5 mill people living here), and so the churches didn't need to be that big. You could fit the local congregation in there just fine. As for the decoration - well people have always spent more money than what they have on religious buildings. Be it out of belief or desire for status (or sometimes as acts of penance, donating money and riches to a church has always been a smart thing to do. So I suspect that played an important role.

But since there are few written sources about these churches, all we have is guess work.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

On the contrary. And I must say(with the fear of sounding a bit morbid) but German tomb sculpture sounds fascinating! I'm very fascinated by monuments and memorials, and basically commemorations and memory in general, and tombs are clearly in that category.

And Felicien Rops, is that the artists with the rather, um, saucy drawings?

[mnemo-syne.livejournal.com]

I think my professor found me a bit morbid as well, when I choose that topic! It IS really cool, though, and liminality was the hot topic at the time and easily tied in, so. It all worked out.

Rops, yes, saucy is one word for it...disturbingly anti-woman and macabre would be another! Er...now you're going to think I'M disturbed! I also like pretty paintings and glitzy Rococo. :)

I see we both have a thing for Red Riding Hood...one of my favorite fairy tales. I have your icon too, actually, saved for future use. Heh!

[schionatulander.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this interesting and beautiful post! The photos are stunning, especially the first one of Heddal Church. The light and atmosphere is breathtaking there. - The interwovenness of the old religion or myths and the new Christian religion in the decor of these churches is a very intriguing element that I always loved in early medieval churches... But it's much more prominent here with the sagas told about their founding. That's fantastic. Therefore, they are even more part of the "old" and "new world". Really, really fascinating! Thank you.

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :) Heddal church, especially, is sight to be seen.

The interwovenness of the old religion or myths and the new Christian religion in the decor of these churches is a very intriguing element that I always loved in early medieval churches

Me too - and not to pimp my own posts, but I did a post about the portal of Urnes Stave church about a year ago. It is here (http://baleanoptera.livejournal.com/41862.html). That portal is also a fascinating mix of old and new.

And I talked about creating a second post (or maybe I'll just expand this one), but that one will mostly be concerned with the Legacy of the Stave Churches. You see in the late 19th Century architects looked to these churches for inspiration for a new, national architectural style. What they came up with was the so-called dragon style. Seen among other places here in the Frogneseter (http://www.ctwrye.com/1Frognerseter%20Front.jpg) building right outside Oslo, and here in the Dalen Hotel (http://www.dalenhotel.no/) in the inland region.

Lastly I read your article, and enjoyed it immensely. Sadly I've been swamped with work lately so I haven't been able to reply properly, but I'll make time in the very near future. Thank you so much for linking me to it. I truly enjoyed it. :)

[schionatulander.livejournal.com]

I would be greatly interested in that second or expanded post!- The two links you sent made me really excited. The "dragon style" is so truly 19th century I am completely enthralled. Love it! - I am going to read your post on the portal now and will wait with anticipation for more information on the dragon style! :-) A journey to Norway or Scandinavia in general ranks now nearly on top of my wish list... Ah well, I am allowed to dream, am I not?

(Thanks for complimenting me to my article. I am glad you liked it. Now I only have to get the publication done...)