photo by Mary Alice Downie
The eighteenth-century warehouses of Trondheim cast multi-colored reflections in the River Nid as our flock of tourists fluttered ashore from the good ship Trollfjord. A May Day parade was in full force, with drummers and choristers in scarlet robes scurrying around Nidaros Cathedral.
We had landed at the ancient capital of Norway, founded in 997 by the Viking King Olav Tryggvason. Norwegian monarchs still come here to be consecrated in the Cathedral. It’s Scandinavia’s largest medieval building, begun in 1070 in honour of another Olav, martyr and patron saint of Norway, who was killed in the battle of Stiklestad (1030). Tradition says that his bones were secretly buried for a year where the high altar now stands. Later, his silver shrine was taken by the dastardly Danes and melted down for coinage, but Olav may still be here . . . somewhere.
The cathedral became one of the four major pilgrimage sites of medieval Europe, along with Santiago de Compostela, Rome and Jerusalem. Pilgrims, particularly from Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, Orkney and the Faroes, flocked here, though not for the sunny climes. If the Spanish portion of what is essentially a continent-long pilgrimage is a golden blaze, the weather here can be harsher. The Cathedral is grey and Gothic, bearing the hand of the English craftsmen that helped build it. Legend says that when the Cathedral is finished, the city will sink into the fjord . . . so builders are still working on it.
“It’s very dark, try not to walk into a pillar,” warned Nora, our guide. “Odd name for a Norwegian,” I thought, and then I remembered A Doll’s House. Most of the original furnishings have gone missing, but the church is still filled with treasures: a Russian icon, c. 1500, a tattered British naval flag (“because they were the first to arrive after Norway was freed in World War II,” according to Nora), splendid modern stained glass, and other pieces by Norwegian artists. ” A rare 18th century ‘Wagner’ organ, one of four in the world, built by a contemporary of J.S. Bach, is another standout. “We’re not claiming that Bach played it, but he could have,” Nora hedged.
In 1994 the Ministry of the Environment created the Pilgrim’s Way Project, encouraging modern pilgrims to undertake the rugged journey (approximately 400 miles), along the ancient trails from Oslo to Trondheim. Information: www.visitNorway.com/us
For a look at another European pilgrimage, check out Nicole Pensiero’s journey to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Our Readers Comment…