Mountains, fjords, tunnels and bridges... onto Sortland!

June 10, 2010
Today was our last day in Lofoten, so our hosts decided to leave us with an introduction to their heritage. Our first stop for the day was to Lofotr, the Vikingmuseet. This interactive museum allows guests to walk in the footsteps of the chieftain and see the life of a Viking thousands of years ago. Walking up the hill to the reconstructed chieftain’s house, you can see wooden poles for where the remains of five houses and six graves were found. The discovery of this Viking location was accidental; a farmer in the area came across an amulet, a tiny piece of glass with an etched picture of gullgrubber. The little images of the god Odin and Skade, a giant and a Sami woman, are called “gullgubber.” The Viking and the Sami woman were not considered an acceptable match but their love was so strong that they convinced everybody they were meant to be and thus became the symbol of true love. An amulet depicting the sacred wedding of Odin and Skade was found by the high seat in the Chieftain’s Hall. The amulet in gold was used to tip the priest’s pointer, which was then used to turn the pages of scared scripture.


The chieftain’s house, on what looks like a Viking ship, was 78 feet in length and 5.3 meters at its widest point. Inside, the museum, the house featured several areas including a place for the women to weave. Unlike most weaving set ups where the rows continue downwards, this particular weaver started from the bottom and moved upward indicating that the women were extremely strong to pull the thread upward. There was also a tool area with several versions of popular items today including a saw and chisel. There was an area for cooking (they made bread by mixing barley, water and blood), sleeping including a bed for the chieftain (decorated with horses since they were considered protector animals), playing games (including an older version of chess and tic tac toe), storing food and gathering for meetings and other official duties. An interesting discovery was that women of the time used to keep many things in locked boxes and the more keys the woman carried, the more important she was considered. The location of the house was probably the most important decision in planning to settle. With the natural barrier of a fjord down the hill, the Vikings could see the incoming traffic into the area and could plant several men on both sides of the fjord to offer a first line of defense in case of attack.

After the museum, we were invited to dinner at Terje Johnasen’s house where his son had created a traditional Norwegian dinner. This particular meal, Terje explained, was usually their holiday celebration set up and is largely influenced by how his parents and his wife’s parents used to cook their food. The menu included avocado shells with a blue cheese and fish mixture, topped with peeled shrimp; potato salad; a tray of deli meats including ox; a tray of seafood including shrimp, salmon and cod; bread; homemade sour cream; and, honey melon, which is tastes like a yellow watermelon. We piled back into our rented van for our next stop for the day to Henningsvær.

Henningsvær is the cutest and most picturesque seaside village nestled between mountains. On our drive into the area, we came across our first single-lane bridges. In order to save money, the bridges were built with one lane instead of two and bookmarked with traffic lights. The cars on one end wait until they have a green light and can cross the bridge to pass the waiting traffic on the other end. This system works well for a country of only 4.5 million residents and an island with less than 3,500 residents. In comparison, the state of New Jersey alone has 9 million residents! Henningsvær is home to an art gallery showcasing the art of Gunnar Berg and photographs of Frank Jessen. The photo slideshow showcased images of Lofoten and the beauty of the Norwegian coastline.

From Hennginsvær, we headed to Fiskebøl to switch cars and say goodbye to our Lofoten hosts and hello to our Vesteralen hosts. Vesteralen is a large municipality, so for the first two days we were spending time with the Stokmarknes hosts although we will be based at the Coast Guard headquarters in Sortland. On our way to Sortland, we made one last stop to visit the offices of NorLense AS, a company that makes offshore booms, oil containment equipment, harbor safety equipment and inflatable tents. NorLense makes 95 percent of Norwegian’s booms and considering the presence of oil in this country, that is a significant amount. The booms are made in a large open warehouse and are generally made in 25 meter sections for a maximum length of 400 meters. The booms are 3 meters in height, about 1.5 meters go above the water and another 1.5 meters below as a skirt with a chain to keep the boom in place. Perhaps the most interesting technology of NorLense booms versus other companies is their ability to create flexible technology so the boom can withstand the waves and other natural obstacles in the water. NorLense is also proud of their rapid technology, making it so that only one person is need to guide the boom out into place and allowing the offshore deployment of a 400 meter boom in only 15 minutes and the coastal deployment of the same boom in only 5 minutes. A custom boom can be ordered and created in one man year or approximately a fortnight.

An hour and half later, we finally reached our home for the next four nights at the Coast Guard headquarters in Sortland. We had another delicious Norwegian meal at a local restaurant and reunited with Marianne and Ann Lisebeth, two of the Norwegian team members that visited us in the United States. Dinner, drinks and good company… a perfect ending to our first night in Sortland!