Religion

NORWAY CHRISTIAN

FOR 1 000 YEARS

Mosterhavn in the west coast county of Hordaland has been the focus of much ado among Christians in Norway the other year. It was at Mosterhavn that Olav Trygvasson, later immortalized as Olav the Holy, landed after his conversion to Christianity.

A year before, Olav’s Viking raids on England had taken a startling turn. Twice he and his men had attacked Southeast England and twice English King Ethelred had to pay a ransom to get the Vikings to return their spoils and leave. But in the summer of 994, Olav Trygvasson knelt at a font in an English church, was baptized and subsequently vowed to bring his new religion back to Norway.

A story tied to the birth of Christianity in Norway concerns Sunniva, who according to popular legend was the virgin daughter of an Irish king. A Christian, she fled Ireland to pre-Christian Norway to escape betrothal to a heathen chief. She and a few followers drifted in three boats, lacking oars and sails, to the Norwegian island of Selja in Nordfjord. Here she was again pursued, this time by a band of Vikings.

She died a martyr’s death in a cave, and witnesses claimed to have seen a spire of light shoot to the heavens when she fell. In 996, Olav Trygvasson exhumed her body, and according to legend it was totally intact. In 997, Christianity was officially accepted by the "Gulatinget" - the public assembly which served as a court and a loose sort of legislative body for Vikings in the Sognog Fjordane country area.

It took another 200 years for Thor, Odin, Freya and other Norse gods to be replaced by Christianity throughout Norway. Selja, where Sunniva was martyred, became the first diocese in Norway. This bishopric, along with Sunniva’s casket, was moved to Bergen in 1170.

A millennium later Christianity remains entrenched as the official state religion of Norway, is taught in schools and is an extremely important part of Norwegian culture. More than 95 percent of Norwegians, including all members of the royal family, belong to the State Church (Den norske kirke or The Norwegian Church).

The history of this Church has been rocky at times, from the rebellions against the new Lutheran religion imposed in the 16th century to a recent spate of arsons against Norwegian churches, attributed to local satanist cults. But there is little doubt that it has the solid support of the majority of the Norwegian people.

Olav Trygvasson continued to play an important part in the Norwegian church long after his death. In the mid-1500s the Danish-Norwegian king declared his conversion to Lutheranism, the Protestant religion originating from Martin Luther and his followers in Germany. One of the effects of this conversion - and one which is said to have been part of the King’s motivation for converting - was the confiscation of Catholic lands and assets by the Royal Treasury.

Perhaps the richest assets of the Catholic Church were concentrated in Trondheim at and around the Nidaros Cathedral. Nidaros had been a pilgrimage site since the 12th century, and contained an impressive collection of treasures, gifts and cultural heritage items. Perhaps the most spectacular was the casket containing the body of Olav the Holy. Legend had it that the deceased Viking's hair and fingernails had continued to grow after his death. The coffin was enclosed in a larger casket studded with emeralds, gold and silver. Other artifacts in the Cathedral included the Norwegian crown jewels, and a silver cross so large "it took three grown men to carry it". Everything except for the inner casket with Olav’s body, was stolen when an expedition of Danish ships looted Nidaros in the 1540s.

According to local legend, and contemporary written sources, one of the ships carrying the treasures sank at the mouth of the fjord. One legend would have it that a crew member, aghast at being party to the unholy plundering of a religious site, scuttled the ship during the night. Another would have it that the ship struck a reef due to strong incoming currents. Both sources place the sinking close to the landmark Agdenes Flu at the mouth of the fjord. This story is at least in part supported by comparing church records with an inventory of items that reached Copenhagen, showing a large discrepancy. The problem facing modern day treasure hunters who have been attempting to locate the wreck is that the ocean depth falls steeply to more than 180 meters around the Agdenes Flu reef, beyond the reach of normal scuba diving equipment.

The modern day school system in Norway was founded by the State Church about 250 years ago, originally so that youth could "study for confirmation". The three subjects taught in the first schools were Christianity, reading and writing.

The Church’s position is enshrined in Norway’s constitution which declares that "All inhabitants of the realm shall have the right to free exer-cise of their religion. The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the State. The inhabitants professing it are bound to bring up their children in the same."

The debate about the relationship between the state and religion has been ongoing for 150 years. Critics include those who feel the State Church does not profess "true Christianity" as well as atheists who feel the government has no business endorsing a specific religion.

Surveys done in Norway show that though there are few who attend church regularly, most are comfortable with the existence of the State Church and will attend services on special occasions like Christmas and Easter as well as family events like baptisms, weddings and burials.