Heddal Stave Church, Notodden

Telemark · Norway · Church

The stranger would build the church in three days. The price was the sun, the moon – or his name. On the third day Raud heard singing inside the hill.

Norway's largest stave church carries one of the country's most repeated building legends. Five farmers of Heddal – Raud Rygi, Stebbe Strånd, Kjeik Sem, Grut Grene and Vrang Stivi – resolved to raise a church, and Raud was given charge of the work. As he stood worrying on the site, a stranger appeared and offered to build the whole church in three days. Payment would be the sun or the moon fetched down from the sky – or that Raud guess the stranger's name. On the third day Raud walked the fields hunting for names until, at the hill of Svintråberget, he heard a song from a rocky knoll that gave everything away: the stranger was the mountain troll Finn Fairhair. When Raud spoke the name the church stood finished and the troll was gone. By legend Finn still cannot bear the sound of the Heddal bells.

FAQ

Where is Heddal Stave Church, Notodden located?

Heddal Stave Church, Notodden is in Telemark, Norway.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Rémih · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons