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Hannah Murray Hannah Murray Honors 3120.01 Honors 3120.01 March 12, 2014 March 12, 2014

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Motes of dust move randomly through the colored shafts of air, and the grotesque sulls

and tongues of !ooden gargoyles carved from darer memories line the lintel a"ove the door. # !al to!ard the altar 

!here Christ$s sad face is cro!ned  "y an ancient vine !hose loose thorns

are "lunt and rusted remains of medieval nails. %he dar "ody of !ood s&lits along the grain, and a thin !hite "lood flo!s. #t forms icicles that dri&

in the dim light of morning sun.

%here are many others neeling !ith me,  "ut they have no !eight.

'ld (orse and )atin hymns are sung in silence, and their lo!ered eyes "urn !ith faith.

%he lilies are gone,

and no! the altar is covered "y !ildflo!ers. %he first tourists of the day arrive

on a small "us. # !al to!ard them,  "ut they cannot see the dra!n cross"o!

in my hands, or the &aired !olves !aling "y my side.

**+cer&t from -rayer and /ision in the Stave Church at ldal,- "y %ed enttinen

Stave Churches, or stavkirker , are !ooden churches "uilt "y /iing tri"es !hen

they !ere first converted to Christianity in the eleventh century. hen Scandinavian tri"es "egan to "uild large shi&s and to go a*viing5 around the ninth century, their targets !ere often monasteries and churches, as they !ere usually !ealthy and &oorly defended. %hese raids gave the /iings an early e&osure to Christianity, and small /iing grou&s that settled in #reland, +ngland, and 6rance intermarried !ith the local  &o&ulation and !ere some of the first /iing converts.

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#n 787, under Charlemagne5s initiative, the 9nglo*Saon St. illi"rord esta"lished a "isho&ric in remen :in modern north!est ;ermany<, "ut these early

missionary attem&ts into Scandinavia !ere largely unsuccessful. Conversion occurred "y and large as a &olitical strategy, and it !as often a caveat of &eace treaties !ith

surrounding Christian ingdoms. 'nce a /iing chief acce&ted Christianity, his tri"e did as !ell = at least in name. %he %reaty of edmore in 878 required >anish leader

;uthrum to leave southern +ngland under the control of 9lfred of esse and to acce&t Christianity. 9 /iing e&edition to +ngland in ??1 led "y 'laf # %ryggvason resulted in 'laf5s "a&tism and, u&on his return to (or!ay, his claim to "e ing. 'laf "egan the first successful attem&ts to Christiani@e (or!ay, "eginning !ith coastal regions !here

Christianity !as already no!n. 'laf ## Haraldsson continued his efforts, and around 101A !as recogni@ed as ing throughout (or!ay and com&leted the Christiani@ation of the region.

%his does not mean, ho!ever, that the /iings did a!ay !ith their (orse

mythology and traditions. ather, much lie the conversion of ome, eisting stories and images !ere incor&orated into Christian &ractice, and this is evident in the architecture and decoration of the churches they "uilt. Stave churches "lend Christian imagery and omanesque influences !ith the ornate decoration and sym"olism traditional to the /iing &eo&le.

%he oldest surviving church is at Brnes in Sogn, (or!ay, and contains elements dating to 100. %he first attem&ts at !ooden churches !ere &osts stuc directly in the ground, !hich often rotted. %he churches that survive today are the results of the second or third attem&ts. y the fourteenth century, "et!een eight hundred and t!elve hundred

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stave churches may have eisted in northern +uro&e. %!enty*eight survive in (or!ay, many still in ecellent condition. Bnfortunately, a Satanist movement in the 1??05s led "y heavy metal musicians !anting to reinstate (orse gods "urned many of the churches, destroying t!enty*t!o. Historical societies and &rivate donors contri"uted to the construction of historically accurate re&licas.

Staverefers to the u&right "eams used to construct the churches in a &ost*and*

lintel style, in contrast to hori@ontal log construction &o&ular in +astern +uro&e. %rees !ere stri&&ed of "ranches and left to gro! for several years, resulting in a hard, sa&*filled outer layer that !as resistant to rot. 'nce the staves !ere cut, they !ere treated !ith tar and the foundation !as laid on a "ed of stones fitted !ithout mortar, allo!ing drainage. racing and high sills Doined the main staves at the four corners of the church to each other, and each vertical &lan !as held to the net one !ith tongue*and*groove Doining.

%he stave church style is a result of "oth estern +uro&ean and /iing influences. %he "asic structure is reminiscent of the "asilica, containing a nave, chancel, and a&se, and inner columns !ith omanesque ca&itals and round arches. %he ceiling resem"les the ;othic style, "ased on a system of struts and "uttressing for !eight distri"ution and

 "racing against !ind &ressure. ut unlie the stone churches that !ere so customary in +uro&e and ome, the /iings "uilt their churches of !ood. Multi*tiered, stee& roofs made of !ooden shingles rise u& to!ard the sy, many dis&laying "oth crosses and dragons heads :that so commonly adorned /iing long"oats< on the ti&s of ga"les. 9lso unique to the stavkirker  is the rich ornamentation of the carvings "oth inside and out,

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Surrounding the heavily decorated entrance, or &ortal, to the church is a !ea&ons &orch !here /iing men left their defenses.

Columns su&&ort the interior of the church, in "et!een !hich are round arches that em&loy techniques found in shi& maing. ather than forming the arch from a solid  &iece of !ood, the car&enters fished together :Doined at an angle< t!o Enees,F or

naturally curved !ood !here the roots turn u& to Doin the trun of the tree. %his technique gives the structure elasticity in heavy !ind gusts.

aintings in the stavkirker  more closely resem"le +uro&ean ;othic art, as the

/iings had no &ainting tradition of their o!n from !hich to dra!. aintings mainly consist of vaulting over the nave, altar frontals, and ci"oria, or fied !ooden cano&ies over altars. Bnlie the Christian iconogra&hy de&icted in every as&ect of contem&orary 6rench and +nglish ;othic churches, all narrative &ainting in a stave church occurs in the immediate vicinity of the altarG the rest of the church5s decoration is &urely ornamental.

%he &aintings themselves contain similar su"Dects to = and the form of = later y@antine iconogra&hy, !hile em&loying the "righter colors and fluidity of 6rench ;othic &ainting. %he vaulting of %or&o dis&lays an enthroned Christ in the &osition of antocrator, surrounded "y the evangelical sym"ols of the four gos&els. %he thic lines and "right colors call to mind a stained*glass !indo!, as does the lac of dimensionality. %he decorated "arrel vaulting of the l church features a crucified Christ again in "right colors, and !ith a more fluid form than the antocrator. %he artist seems to em&loy the Celtic horror vacui technique, filling in s&ace !ith floral &atterns and geometric sha&es.

9ltar frontals often featured a series of miniatures de&icting various scenes from Christ5s life. (es church5s Madonna and Child em&loys ;othic frame!or to highlight the almost

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Ia&anese style in !hich the &air are &ortrayed = the flat noses and slanted eyes, and es&ecially the gras&ing and smiling of the fat Christ child, are far from the delicate arisian miniatures of the same time. Some of the miniatures tae on as&ects of (orse mythology. %he altar frontal at ldal &ortrays the entrance to Hell not as gates or a &it in the ground, "ut as the mouth of a giant, fire*s&outing "east, liely a dragon.

9longside the Christian imagery of the church, elements of (orse mythology and tradition are &reserved, seemingly as a second language conveying to the /iings the message of salvation in a manner familiar to them. /iing architects had a model for this synthesis in the form of the Heliand , an e&ic Saon &oem telling the story of Christ in a

/iing setting. %he chief holy &lace in (orse mythology is the evergreen ash Jggdrasil, !here oden sacrificed himself "y hanging. 9lso no!n as the %ree of Bniversal )ife, Jggdrasil is said to &rotect the last "oy and girl, )if and )ifthrasir, at the end of time.

 Helianddra!s com&arisons "et!een this tree and Christ5s cross, calling the cross Ea tree

on a mountain.F ;. onald Mur&hy, in his essay EJggdrasil and the Stave Church,F suggests that the stave church is a ty&e of Christian Jggdrasil, the &ine staves and tiered roofs evoing a large, evergreen tree, and the a&&earance of "oth crosses and dragons on the ga"les &ointing to the &romise of salvation and the nearness of death :the great dragon  (idhogg gna!s at the roots of Jggdrasil and devours the cor&ses of those guilty of the

!orst crimes<.

%he heavily decorated &ortal, !ith its intert!ining vines and com"ative animals, may "e seen as the "ranches of Jggdrasil and the "easts that fight in the "attle of

doomsday, or agnaro. +ntrance into the church, then, is the only !ay to esca&e the violence of the !orld, Dust as Jggdrasil is the salvation of )if and )ifthrasir. 'nce inside

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the church, the crucifi and de&ictions of Christ5s life near the altar are reassuring, though these too carry hints of (orse mythology. #n the l stavkirke, the image of Christ

carrying his cross to Calvary de&icts a green tree !ith the "ranches sa!n off rather than the ty&ical image of the cross. %he altar frontal from ldal de&icts Christ5s harro!ing of Hell as the releasing of souls from the mouth of a great ser&ent.

#n acce&ting Christianity and in "uilding churches, the /iings did not give u& their culture stee&ed in mythology. ather, they made the message of Christ and salvation a &art of their story. %he stavkirker , in their structure and decoration unlie any other

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ors Consulted

enttinen, %ed. Erayer and /ision in the Stave Church at ldal.F Kenyon Review 11,

no. 2 :March 1, 1?8?<K 122*123, htt&KLL!e".a.e"scohost.comLehostLdetail sidNA7d?afd*f1d*4033*aa"7*37a703283ad

O40sessionmgr4001PvidN3PhidN4104P"dataNIn(&d;B?Qhvc3Rt";l2QR O3dO3dd"Na&hP9(N7104302 :accessed 6e"ruary 1, 2014<.T

uton, >avid oden.The wooden churches of Eastern Europe: an introductory survey.

Cam"ridge, +nglandK Cam"ridge Bniversity ress, 1?81.

Hauglid, oar and )ouis ;rodeci. Norway: paintings from the stave churches.

;reen!ich, C%K (e! Jor ;ra&hic Society, 1?AA.

Ienins, uc. E(or!ay5s Stave Churches.FThe Saturday Evening Post , 1 Ianuary, 1?80,

htt&KLL!e".a.e"scohost.comLehostLdetailsidN?d03?a24*334a*4de4*a003*  "8Ae4"e23"ac

O40sessionmgr4002PvidN3PhidN4104P"dataNIn(&d;B?Qhvc3Rt";l2QR O3dO3dd"Na&hP9(N17?3A00 :accessed 6e"ruary 1, 2014<.

Mur&hy, ;. onald. EJggorasil and the stave church.F ythlore 31, no. 1*2 :Se&tem"er

22, 2012<K A*2.

'lsen, %ed. Eising from the 9shesK Congregations re"uild after Satanist arsons.F

!hristianity Today, 1? (ovem"er, 1??7, htt&KLL!e".a.e"scohost.comLehostLdetail

sidNfd2de"0*2?"8*4ca"*a"28*a878?4eA3f 

O40sessionmgr4003PvidN1PhidN4104P"dataNIn(&d;B?Qhvc3Rt";l2QR O3dO3dd"Na&hP9(N232248 :accessed 6e"ruary 1, 2014<.

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illiams, ;areth. E/iing eligion.F ""! History, 17 6e"ruary, 2011,

htt&KLL!!!.""c.co.uLhistoryLancientLviingsLreligionU01.shtml :accessed March 1A, 2014<.

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