When I was a kid I had a National Parks passport, collecting stamps from park rangers at every location I had the opportunity to visit, and dreaming of future adventures. Now I have a McMenamins passport, which results in free fries and burgers along the way. But the ultimate in cool is a Pilgrim Passport, and I saw one for the very first time while I was in Norway.
Norway’s three earliest and most-revered saints are St. Olav of Trondheim, St. Sunniva of Selja, and St. Halvard of Oslo. On the European continent, multiple Camino paths lead walkers to the Cathedral of St. James in Santiago. Similarly these northern routes end at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. Nidaros is the northernmost Gothic cathedral in the world and the place where the relics of the Saint-King Olav rest. St. Olav’s feast is celebrated July 29th by Orthodox, Catholics, and the Lutheran Church of Norway.
Pilgrims start with a blank pilgrim passport. They can complete a route in one continuous journey, or in sections over a lifetime. Stamps are available at significant religious sites along the way.
All the routes, primarily in Norway (Pilegrims Leden)
The Finnish + Swedish route (St Olavs Leden)
One of the Norwegian routes is to travel by water along the coast; travel by sea was easier and more common for centuries. The island of Selja, is one of the holy sites on the sea route. It is the place where St. Sunniva and her companions lived and were martyred in the 8th century.
St. Sunniva is Norway’s first saint. I read about her on her feast last summer, not imagining I would soon visit her place. St. Sunniva started life as an Irish princess, even ruling for a time after her father died. An invading Viking sought her hand in marriage, but not wanting to compromise her Christian faith, Sunniva escaped. She and about forty companions got into three boats, and placing their fate in God’s hands, they allowed the currents to take them to a new place. They landed on the island of Selja. We don’t know how long they lived there before farmers from the mainland complained to the pagan king about the mysterious foreigners. The king sent a force to take care of the intruders. Sunniva and her friends hid in a cave and prayed, asking God to save them. The walls of the cave collapsed and when the representatives of the king arrived, they did not find anyone. Many years later people reported seeing rays of light coming from the cave. At this point Norway was a Christian nation and holy King Olav Tryggvason sent a group to investigate. They recovered the relics of the saints. King Olav built a church for the relics on Selja in 996 and it became an important place of pilgrimage, for commoners and kings alike.
Later a Benedictine monastery was founded and operated on Selja for 400 years. Besides the cave, the ruins of this monastery are the main thing that visitors explore at the site now.
St. Sunniva’s relics were moved to the Cathedral in Bergen in 1170. The Cathedral was leveled in 1531 in order to improve the defense of the city. Now the relics are lost.
Readers of Kristin Lavransdotter will recognize the location and story of St. Sunniva. The author, Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) had converted to Catholicism while writing the three part saga set in the Middle Ages. She recognized Selja as a holy place and wanted to buy a farm there. Unfortunately in those years, the municipality did not allow Ms. Undset because they did not want any Catholic influences on the island.
To my surprise, I had the opportunity to stay at one of the nine homes on the island of Selja—at the very farm Ms. Undset had tried to purchase almost 100 years ago. You can see a picture of the pretty white farmhouse here.
Times have changed—today this farm belongs to a Roman Catholic family. Together with others who honor St. Sunniva, they are praying for a monastery to be established again on the island of Selja. When they learned of my desire to visit Selja, they extended their hospitality to me through another female pilgrim who is staying in the house for an extended time. She warmly welcomed me and gave me a full introduction to the place and the hopes of the family whose home sheltered us.
The morning after my arrival, I hiked 30 minutes around the island to the monastic site and the cave where St. Sunniva and her companions prayed and where their relics were recovered. A light rain fell and I was glad that my host had set me up with a thermos of hot water, tea bags, and picnic lunch. After climbing into the cave and resting there, I explored the ruins of the Benedictine monastery. I also found the ancient spring which still flows clean today.
The place was silent. Standing at the dock at Selja reminded me of the stillness of standing at the dock in the first world of the 1990s computer game, Myst. I suppose in both places I was looking for clues.
I’m not continuing to Trondheim this time. But in Selja, I got a stamp.
The tradition of walking ancient Christian paths has been preserved in Ireland and in the Camino de Santiago. Now the idea is reviving in Scandinavia and the UK.
Some criticize the use of the word “pilgrimage” by tourist organizations, who market these as a journey within, rather than a journey of religious significance and veneration. Scandinavians find a sense of well-being in the forest, so they figure it doesn’t hurt if there’s a medieval church along the way as well. In the US people approach the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail with a similar spirit.
A person who decides to walk here in the footsteps of the saints may also choose to be open to a blessing from God. I think it is already a blessing to have evidence of holy ancestors to follow.
St Sunniva and St. Olav’s feast days are coming up!
Hymn of St. Sunniva (July 8)
Mode 1/While Gabriel was saying
Most blessed were the chaste royal virgin Sunniva and those who died with her, for the King of kings, showing them His grace and favour, in His compassion and loving-kindness delivered them from the hand of the infidel, and made them to dwell with the saints and angels in paradise. Glory to Him Who hath saved them! Glory to Him Who hath crowned them! Glory to Him Who worketh all-glorious wonders through His faithful martyrs!
Hymn of St. Olav (July 29)
Mode Pl. 1st
Desiring the supernal glory of God, thou didst toil for Him to the end of thine earthly life; and, having labored well, thou didst increase the talent He entrusted to thy care, being faithful to Him even to the shedding of thy blood. Wherefore, as a martyr thou hast received a crown for thy pangs from the right hand of Christ our God, Whom do thou earnestly entreat, that we be saved who hymn thee, O glorious King Olav.
Scandinavian Impressions
Norway is a land of extremes. Most waterfalls! Longest coastline! Largest exporter of salmon! Most electric cars per capita! Highest standard of living! Cashless!
The strong coffee is consistently delicious in trains, cafes, and homes. Drink it black with a sweet! I tried svele (pancake with buttercream) on the ferry, lefsa (thin spongy bread with cinnamon and sugar) at a cafe, and kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls) on the train.
Every home has a cheese slicer (osthyvel) of this design, patented by a Norwegian inventor in 1925.
It’s one thing to walk through models at IKEA, but here in Scandinavia, I love using home kitchens and bathrooms put together almost exclusively with IKEA elements.
Speaking of which, in conversation with a Norwegian friend about what a uniquely Scandinavian iconostasis might look like, we laughed at the idea of “iconostasis by IKEA.” Although it’s not the aesthetic we had in mind, I trust that the Scandinavians could come up with an artistic flat-pack solution that many mission parishes would appreciate.
Norwegians tell me that they—and Danes and Swedes—can understand each other’s languages without translation. I was able to read quite a bit of Norwegian after only studying Swedish.
Norway Your Way
Norway in a Nutshell is a well-regarded tourism package. I ended up making my own nutshell—from Bergen to Selje to Vik to Voss to Oslo. No matter where you start, you can’t go wrong with a coastal ferry, a train journey, or speedboat tour into the fjords.
At the Nobel Peace Prize Center in Oslo, I learned about Alfred Nobel (inventor of dynamite) and the 2021 honorees, journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov.
Norway has 28 wooden stave churches remaining from the 13th century. They are remarkable in their design, as well as for the simple fact of their survival—most wooden buildings of that era are long gone. You can enjoy the beautiful Gol stave church at the open air Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo.
Any small town along the fjords is a good base for amazing hikes, kayaking, and scenic views. Fjaerland, on the north side of Sognefjord, is also an internationally recognized “book town” with several used book shops. Most books will be in Norwegian, so perhaps a visit won’t be ruinous for an English reader’s wallet. Fjaerland is also the site of the architecturally significant Norwegian Glacier Museum.
Looking forward to…
…celebrating Mid-Summer next Friday in Sweden.
Thomaida