- Veøy
Veøya (or Veøy) is a island outside
Molde ,Norway , located at junction of the three main branches ofRomsdalsfjord between Sekken and the mainland. It consists of one larger and two smaller islands. The name Veøy is fromold Norse "ve", 'holy'; and "øy", Norwegian for 'island'.This was a strategic location for the coastal routes during the
Viking period. The southern branch ofRomsdalsfjord lead toRomsdal (the present dayÅndalsnes ), where important trade routes led up the valley toLesja . From there it followed the pilgrim trail overDovre toTrøndelag , or down theGudbrandsdal toOstlandet . The eastern branch led throughLangfjord where they hauled their ships over 5km wide, low-lying ithmus atEidsvåg , in order to avoid the dreaded waters ofHustadvika , and then back to the shipping routes northwards toNidaros (modern dayTrondheim ). To the west, past the inlet of the fjord, were the southbound routes to Bergen.At this junction Veøy was established as a "kaupang" (
old Norse for amarket town )), and Romsdal’s economic, administrative and religious center. It had only 300-500 permanent residents, but as an important commercial center, it saw many more during the sailing season in the summer. TheApostle Peter 's church, which is built in stone, the only survivor of three churches on Veøya in the Middle Ages, dates from ca 1200. It has a capacity of 400 people, and served the entire region, while the other churches served the local population.History
Veøya is mentioned by
Snorre Sturlason in connection with the battle of Sekken in1162 where king Håkon Herdebrei was killed byErling Skakke onJuly 7 1162, during the Norwegian civil wars. Veøya, or nearby on the mainland, was probably the seat ofRagnvald Eysteinsson (Ragnvald Mørejarl),earl of Møre, whose sonHrolf Ganger (Gange-Rolv).Veøy was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see
formannskapsdistrikt ).Vestnes was separated from Veøy already the fall 1838. On1 January 1964 the islandsSekken and Veøya as well as theNesjestranda district, with 756 inhabitants in total, were incorporated into the neighboring municipalityMolde . The rest of Veøy, with 1.400 inhabitants, was merged with Eid,Grytten , Hen and Voll to form the new municipality Rauma.The island was Norway's first legally protected land, and the buildings on the island are now part of the
Romsdal museum . The small village of Veøy is now located in southern Molde, near Nesjestranda.Links
[http://omacl.org/Heimskringla/erlingson.html Link to Snorre Sturlason's Heimskringla] , where Veøy and Sekken, the nearby island, is mentioned as Veey and Sek respectively. Chapter 7. FALL OF KING HAKON.
Printed Sources
Solli, Brit (1996). "Narratives of Veøy: an investigation into the poetics and scientics of archaeology." Universitetets oldsaksamlings skrier, N.R., Oslo: Universitetets oldsaksamling.
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