Heddal stave church

Heddal stave church is a stave church in Notodden, Norway. The church is a triple nave stave church and is Norway's largest stave church. The legend says the church was built in three days by Finn, who was a troll. This probably happened in the beginning of the 13th century. After the reformation the church was in a very poor condition, and a restoration took place during 1849 – 1851. However, because those who did it didn't have the necessary knowledge and skills, yet another restoration was necessary in 1950's. The interior is marked by the period after the Lutheran Reformation in 1536/1537 and is for a great part a result of the restoration that took place in the 1950's.

The Legend

There is a legend telling about the erection of church. Five farmers from Heddal had made plans for a church and they decided to have it built.

One day Raud Rygi, one of the five men, met a stranger who was willing to build the church. The stranger, though, sat three conditions for doing the job, of which one must have been fulfilled before the church was finished:

Raud had three options, either to fetch the sun and the moon from the sky, forfeit his life-blood, or guess the name of the stranger. Raud thought the last would not prove too difficult, so he agreed to the terms

But Raud got trouble as the time began to run out. All of the building material had arrived during the first night, then the spire was built during the second. It become clear to Raud that the church would be finished on the third day.

Down at heart and fearing for his life, Raud took a walk around in the fields trying to figure out what the strangers name could be. Still wandering about he'd unconsciously arrived at Svintruberget (a rocky hill south-east of the church site) when he suddenly heard a strange but most beautiful and clearly audible female song:

"Hush-hush little Child, Tomorrow Finn will bring you the Moon and the Sky. He will bring you the Sun and a Christian Heart, so pretty Toys for my little Child to play a Part."

Raud solved the riddle after all. The stranger's name was Finn and he lived in the Svintru Mountain. Finn, also known as Finn Fairhair, could not ever since stand the sound of church bells, so he moved along with his family to Himing (Lifjell).