Norway – Borgund Stave Church

Viking + Chrisitan Symbolism

There is a guide available to ask questions. He pointed out the tops of the columns along the walls. At the capitals, where the columns reach the roof there is a small face on each. The faces represent different figures in Norse Mythology, including Odin. The small Odin face even had a crack through the right eye, so historians are fairly certain that this is indeed Odin and not a figure from Christianity. If like me, you are unfamiliar with Norse Mythology, you’ll likely remember from the Marvel movies that Thor’s father Odin is missing an eye – so fascinating.

The fact that there is Norse symbolism in the early churches likely had to with the fact that original missionaries needed to bridge the gap between what locals believed and Christianity. Another example of this is the decorative tree on the sides of the upper stave levels. Our guide didn’t have an exact answer to what it could be referring to but believed that trees and images of trees were highly important to the locals.

Fun Facts about the Borgund Stave Church

While visiting, there were only two other guests wandering the building at the same time as us. For that reason, we began asking the guide questions about the church. He excitedly told us some fascinating elements and even went back into the building to show us some things with a flashlight. Here are some fun things I learned.

• The black color of the church comes from the exterior layer of tar that coats the entire building. The tar helps protect the timber from the environmental elements, allowing it to survive to this day. It also makes the building extremely flammable. How it has survived is mindblowing to me.
• The church was built on top of a stone foundation. It is because of this stone foundation that the wood does not rot – it is not in contact with the earth.
• Locals used to bury people underneath the church but had to stop the practice due to the smell. However, even after the church banned the practice, people still dug out areas next to the church and shoved in the small coffins of babies who died before or after childbirth next to the church. It is not easy to find these, but because it was so quiet, a guide showed us a couple of visible coffins (he moved a few rocks and we had to get down on our knees to see them with a flashlight).
• There are small holes on one of the upper staves. In winter, when it was particularly cold, the church or patrons would cover the holes with pigs’ skin to help keep in the heat, while still letting in light.
• Everyone attending mass would stand with women on one side of the building and men on the other. There were a couple of benches available for the sick or elderly.
• There is a rectangular opening near the apse of the building, where unwanted/sick people could stand either in the external gallery or outside the building and still hear and possibly see the mass take place.
• The external gallery surrounding the building was likely multi-functional. Not only does it protect the building against the harsh elements, but it was also a place for patrons to place their weapons before entering. No weapons in church!