Experience the Viking age in Lofoten, with true romance, drama, sword fighting, love and death in a spectacular setting in the land of the midnight sun.
The Lofotr Saga Foundation, Borge Brass Band and Lofotr Viking Museum present:
By Urd’s Fount
by Nina E. Wester
developed from an original manuscript by Jahn-Arill Skogholt and Thorbjørn Gabrielsen
At Borg, chieftain Olaf Tvennumbruni lives with his wife Åshild and their four sons. On the neighbouring island of Gimsøya lives chieftain Tore with his wife Ragnhild and their children.
There have always been close-knit ties of friendship between the clans. Now they are to be tied even closer by the marriage of their children Åsgaut and Gyda. But the Nornes – the Godesses of destiny – spinning the threads of life - wish things to be otherwise. The country is slowly being united into one kingdom under a new king. Tore has decided to join with the king, but Olaf would rather go to Iceland and build a new clan’s seat there than give up ownership of his lands.
As the clans meet for the midsummer feast, the tense situation between the chieftains comes to a dramatic climax with catastrophic consequences. Not all of the guests arriving for the celebrations will return home with their loved ones.
The world’s largest Viking long-house was built some 1500 years ago on the sacred heights at Borg in Lofoten. The house stood for more than 400 years. Then, one day around the year 890 AD the last chieftain, Olaf Tvennumbruni, took his family and his household and left suddenly for a new life in Iceland.
Many other local chieftains from our region of Hålogaland followed Olaf on his way west across the ocean, escaping from conflicts with the new southern king, Harald Hårfagre. Harald was the first to unite the many local earls and chieftains into one kingdom and he became the first king of Norway.
The chieftain’s house is now meticulously reconstructed and forms the centrepiece of Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg in Lofoten.
Every two years, (the next is scheduled for June 2010), the Lofotr Saga brings to life the dramatic events that led to Olaf’s departure. Building on the known historical facts and speculating about the details, the Lofotr Saga tells an epic tale of destiny, passion and death.
You can read more about the Saga play here.
