American consul at Bergen, who has re-erected it on his estate of Fantoft; and a third, from Lærdalsören, was sold some years ago to the King of Prussia, and is now in Silesia. I have seen in all six, those of Borgund (Plate XIV. fig. 1), Urnæs (fig. 4), and Vik in the neighbourhood of the Sogne Fjord, those of Vaage and Lom in the Ottadal on the way to Rödsheim, Jotunheim, and Galdhöpigen, (the highest summit of the Ymes Fjeld and of Norway,) and that of Gol at Oscarshall. One of the most remarkable of all is that of Hitterdal (Plate XIV. figs. 2 and 3) in Thelemarken. The ancient church of Borgund, with its separate and much later "Klockstapel," or belfry (whose bell bears the name of St. Laurentius and the date 1663), reminding one of that of Coventry, is no longer used, and has become the property of the Antiquarian Society of Christiania. The interiors were, at least originally, mostly very obscure, with but few, and those small, windows. In some (Borgund and Urnæs), the roof still remains perfectly open, while in others (Lom and Hitterdal) a plain ceiling has been interposed, which greatly diminishes. the picturesque effect of the interior. Of the fantastic exteriors it is not easy to give a very intelligible description, and reference to the accompanying illustrations (Plates XIV. and XV.), will convey a better idea than any words of the external gallery or arcade ("Lop"), the numerous gables, the shingle covered roofs and walls, themselves coated with thick and ancient layers of tar and surmounted by conventional dragons' heads, the portal surrounded with elaborately intertwined monsters "Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire." On the west door of the church at Borgund are two Runic inscriptions "Thorir raist runar thissar than Olau misso," (Thorir wrote these lines on St. Olaf's fair) and 66 Thittai kirkia a kirkiuvelli." (This church in the church ground) Though the ancient church (Plate XIV. fig. 4), charmingly situated several hundred feet above the water, on the verdant promontory of Urnæs, upon the eastern side of the great Sogne Fjord, is by no means so picturesque in its construction, at least externally, as those of Borgund, Lom, Hitterdal, Gol, &c., and its original form has been somewhat modified by later additions, it is still highly interesting and remarkable on account of the nume rous fragments which have been preserved both internally and externally. Apparently the exterior boards and pillars of the entire building were at one time covered with sculptured bas-reliefs (Plate XV. figs. 1 and 4). Prof. Dahl is of opinion that most of the old wooden churches were covered with carvings not only on the portals (Plate XV. figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7), but also on the gables, posts, and walls, but, in the course of repeated repairs with new undecorated planks and pillars, these have generally disappeared. Though the interior of the building at Urnæs was much modified in the 16th and 17th centuries, the massive wooden columns and their cushion capitals have been preserved, and show a Byzantine character (Plate XV. fig 8), "the carvings resembling the designs in the Bible of Charles the Bold of the 9th century, and similar ornaments of ancient Greek MSS. of the same period." The carving on the doors, doorposts, (Plate XV.) capitals, &c., shows the utmost variety, no two being alike. The question has been raised whether these decorations, at times heathen in character, may not have been, at least in some instances, rescued from still older structures of the pagan period, and utilized for the adornment of the Christian churches. If this be so their interest is only heightened and rendered more mysterious. In this connection we may remember the instructions of St. Gregory the Great to St. Augustine of Canterbury: "If the temples of the idols are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God.”5 No records exist giving any precise information as to the age of the "Stavekirker," and though there is a local tradition at Borgund that the church there dates from the year 1073, it is probable that both it and those at Urnæs, Lom, Hitterdal, etc., were erected in the 12th or 13th centuries. "In consequence of the loss of life on the occasion of the burning of the Gruekirke early in this century, through the door only opening inwards, a law was passed that all church doors should open outwards, and, in carrying out this, grievous destruction was wrought both to stone and wooden structures." 5 Appendix A. Except that on one of the doorposts of the church of Tind, there is a twoline Runic inscription, stating that "Bishop Rainar dedicated this church," etc. As Rainar, or Ragnar, was the third Bishop of Hammer on the Mjösen Lake, from 1180 to 1190, the church would appear to date from the last quarter of the 12th century. |