On the Olav’s Way you will find a lot of traces of women who played an important role in the history of Norway.
Kristin Lavransdatter & Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter is a trilogy of the Norwegian author Sigrid Undset. The books that were published between 1920 and 1922, got her the Nobel prize for literature in 1928. The protagonist, Kristin, did pilgrimages to Trondheim herself, so along the route you will find a lot of references to her. About both women an article is already available on this website.
You can find traces of Kristin and Sigrid in places like:
- Lillehammer: the residence of Sigrid Undset (Bjerkebæk) and a statue of Sigrid in the city centre
- Jørundgard: near Rondane is a Middelaldersenter Jørundgard. This medieval farm was built as part of a filmset for the film Kristen Lavransdatter
- Sel: statue of Kristin Lavransdatter
- Husaby near Skaun: this place was used bij Sigrid Undset for the farm where Kirstin and her husband Erlend lived
Three war heroins:
Kari Rasmusdatter Hiran
On the Bergens Kings route (west route) you can find an memorial sign at Benteplassen. Here they remember the war heroin Kari Rasmusdatter Hiran. She was the wife of the farmer Bent A. Finne (from which Benteplassen derived), who according to the story provided wrong information to the Swedes concerning the plans and size of the Norwegian army in the great Norwegan war in 1716, after which the Swedes retreated.
Anna Colbjørnsdatte
A museum of Ringerike is situated in a old clergy house in Noderhov (west route). The oldest part is from 1635. The building was in use as a clergy house until the end of the 50’s in the twentieth century. The claim to fame was made by the wife of the clergy Anna Colbjørnsdatter. She too was a war heroin. In 1716 she fooled six hundred marching Swedish soldiers, by providing them with plenty of drinks leisurely, which provided her son-in-law with enough time to inform the two hundred Norwegian in the vicinity. After a surprise attack 130 Swedish soldiers were captured.
Pillarguri, heldin van Otta
In Otta is a statue of a girl with a horn. It is the local herion Pillarguri. In 1612 a troop of Scottish mercenaries passed through the valley trying to meet with the Swedish troops. The Swedish were fighting their way out of the Kalmar Union (Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a Danish king) and there were fight in Norwegian territory. The Norwegian army decided to lure the Scottish in an ambush at the narrowest part in the valley at Kringen. The young girl Pillarguri and a man riding on a horse backwards, distracted the Scottish mercenaries so they wouldn’t notice the dangerous valley walls. On the right moment Pillarguri blew the horn or ‘lur’ after which a torrent of arrows and gunfire came down the mountains. The Scottish were made in to minced meat. This victory is celebrated every year in Otta, where the blowing of the ‘deadly horn’ is the main event.
Søsterkirkene
In Granavollen (west route) are two churches next to each other, the sister churches. There are vairous tales going about how they were built next to each other in the twelfth century. One story is that there were two sister vying for the attention of the priest. One built a church and the other built a slightly larger one. The other tale is that the sisters had a fight and they did not want to sit in the same church anymore.
History on the other hand shows that it often happens that in medieval times two churches were built with different functions next to each other. The larger Nikolai church was for tha parish of Hadeland, and the smaller one was meant as a monestary or smaller parish church for Gran.