A day at Alstahaug and Tjøtta

Koen de Vette



We woke up early this day, seven o’clock, the first day after we arrived at our hostel in Sandnessjøen. We went to Alstahaug with a cab. It used to be an important agricultural site were farmers could settle because of the fertile ground there. A big stone church was erected at the center of Alstahaug, next to the Peter Dass museum which was located in a huge carved out rock. The view from the museum was the coastline of Alsta (a municipality in Nordland). We started by taking a walk to Kongshaug, the Kings’ mound, built somewhere between the Iron age and 800 AD. The site had not been excavated that extensively, so it remains hard to tell. T was here that we were taught about many political and geographical details about this site in relation to the rest of Norway during the Viking Age and before. The chieftains, jarl, kings from the south, their political struggle and the expanding domain of the Vikings in vicious times was most fascinating to hear about. The mound being in the center of the story seemed to mystify our milieu at that moment due to a combination of its crooked tree branches, the weird shape of the mound and the sun low at the horizon. Strange shadows were cast which complemented the stories of ancient times told by our teacher there. We walked back to Alstahaug in silence, everyone seemed to be occupied with their own thoughts, which was intensely pleasing to me. I took in all of my surroundings and was having a moment of peaceful contemplation. Back in the museum we got a lecture which elaborated in detail the historical sources of Halogeland and the related saga’s which have been written in the past. After this we went to look at and to be taught about the Alstahaug church, first from the outside (me without a coat, which was less pleasant than I thought it would be), then from the inside. We were told of the basic features of Gothic and Romanesque churches and how we could distinguish those features in this church. Also, we were taught how to spot quality in the architecture of the building. The memory that sticked with me most on the inside of the church, was that we were allowed to ascent the tower of the church, we even went as far up in the tower to see the base wooden construction in the peak of the tower, and the church bell. I liked the freedom of being able to roam around wherever you wanted. When we went back into the museum, the time when we were leaving was told to us, so that until then we could see the museum about Peter Dass for ourselves. At the end of the second floor, just behind the huge windows looking out over the Alsta coast, a comfortable lounge was installed were choir music composed by Peter Dass could be listened to. I only stumbled upon it at the near end of our time there, but luckily I had some minutes left to listen to the music, which was astounding in its capacity to ease my mind and communicating something heavenly even. As my eyes drifted to the details of the coast and blue-greenish tints of the water some few meters away from me, while listening to the piece (Solen på himmelen lukket sitt øye), I felt lucky to be there. Around 13:30 we had to go to catch the bus. We went to a place that at one point in history was of great strategic importance for the Vikings, the Ringtunet -an assambly point for leaders- in Tjøtta. What remained of the ringtunet was only a big open space between the woods and a hill, but at some places at the site remains could be observed of foundations. These were the foundations of 16 houses, each house supposedly accommodating the representatives of one of the 16 regions of the political unit Helgeland. Now Petter told us about this meeting place, how it was coordinatd, what was likely being done there (performing rituals, feasting, debating, adjudicating etc.). Additionally, Petter told us about the role of women in the Viking culture, with Sigrid as a prime example of the independent work ethic women in this culture possessed. The sun was at this moment almost setting and we had to go if we were to catch the bus in time. We arrived at four o’clock at the hostel, now it was dark, everyone was tired and the only thing of note that I (and Liam) did then was going to the town centre to do groceries, Andre prepared the food tastefully and we were all kind of tired and worn out because of this day full of activities.