Kinsarvik

Kinsarvik (pop: 459) is a village, and former municipality, in the county of Hordaland, Norway.

Kinsarvik was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Ullensvang used to be an annex to Kinsarvik - but in 1869 Ullensvang became the main parish, and Kinsarvik became an annex to Ullensvang. (And the municipality then changed the name to "Ullensvang".) Kinsarvik and Odda were separated from Ullensvang as municipalities of their own July 1, 1913. Most of Kinsarvik was again merged with Ullensvang January 1, 1964.

The village is today the administrative center of Ullensvang - and it is located at the mouth of the Sørfjorden and the Eidfjorden where it branches from the Hardangerfjord.

The Village of Kinsarvik

Church

The Kinsarvik church was built in 1160 and is one of the oldest stone churches in Norway. In the Middle Ages the Kinsarvik Church was the site of a market, legal magistrates, as well as a religious center. In the winters the ship masts and sails of the area were stored in the church attic. In the reformation the church decorations were whitewashed but 1961 the church was restored to its Catholic appearance including a fresco of the Archangel Gabriel weighing souls.

Huse Valley

It is the wild Kinso river that gives name to Kinsarvik. Its name stems from "kinn" which means "steep mountainside," so "Kinsarvik" is simply "The Bay of Kinso". The Kinso River drops 3600 feet from the Hardangervidda through the Huse valley (Husedalen) to sea level in the fjord at Kinsarvik. Along the way there are 4 spectacular waterfalls. The waterfalls can be viewed in 4-6 hours by hiking. The trails are slippery when wet.Kinsarvik is also a major access point for longer treks across the Hardangervidda, Norway's largest national park.

Hardanger Bestikk

The Hardanger Bestikk factory has been producting flatware utensils in Kinsarvik since 1958. Their product line includes contemporary design as well as patterns copied from the Viking age.

Tourism

Kinsarvik makes a good base camp for visiting the surrounding areas. Hardangertun is the large camping ground bordering directly on the Kinso river and the beaches of Hardangerfjord. Besides regular camping it also runs an extensive programme for school groups, offering instruction in rock climbing, canoeing and even archery; the large "Familieparken" has for years been a popular destination for families with small children, featuring water slides and a range of fun park installations. The other large camping ground, Kinsarvik Camping, offers modern cabins perched on a grassy expanse overlooking the fjord. The Bråvoll Camping caters to tents and RVs. The Kinsarvik Best Western hotel caters to those who arrive by car or ferry. There is a large supermarket, gasoline station, and souvenir shops including factory visits to Hardanger Sylvplett. The fjord offers many opportunities for fishing and boating. Kinsarvik Båthavn is hardly a full-feature marina, but for the lucky few guests it offers power, water and an idyllic park. In 2007 a web camera was installed overlooking the harbour, so that sailors may plan their arrival and view the weather conditions.The shores of the fjords in this area are thick with fruit trees, primarily cherry and apple trees. There are spikes in tourism for the flowering and harvest of these trees.

The history of Kinsarvik tourism has been one of dramatic changes. Up until the 1970s the village was the busiest ferry port in Norway and a crucial junction on the only all-year road connecting Bergen and Oslo. Alternative routes then eroded its importance, but in 2006 the Norwegian Parliament approved Hardangerbrua, a monumental bridge project only 12km from Kinsarvik. When completed, it will reestablish inner Hardanger as a dominant route and tourist stop for both east-west and north-south traffic.

History

Sámi

The reindeer herds on the Hardangervidda plateau origins not from the old Reindeer population which occupied all the high plateaus in pre-historian times, but is merely a result from early 1900 initiatives with reindeer herding on the Hardangervidda. For this both reindeer and sami (herders) were brought to the area. The reindeer herdring on the Hardangervidda did not succeed and the reindeers either escaped or were let loose. Some of the Sami herders settled down in Kinsarvik, but more so in Eidfjord - one of the bordering counties.

Archaeological studies have shown that reindeer and the hunting of reindeer on the Hardangervidda was well established in the iron (Viking) age and Middle Ages.http://bergenmuseum.uib.no/forskning/hardangervidda/index.html but this was done by other than the Sami people.

Vikings

In the time of Julius Caesar a clan known as Charudes was reported to live in the Jutland region of Denmark. The people were reported to be involved in many battles and thereby had a tradition of warfare. About the time of the fall of Rome and the arrival of the Huns there was a great movement of people in Europe. The Charudes were squeezed between the Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes. It has been theorised that the clan, which was by now referred to as Horder or Harding left Denmark and settled in Scotland, Iceland and the area around what is now Kinsarvik, setting up an independent kingship. The county of Hordaland and the region of Hardanger are thought to be named for this people.

In 787AD a Viking ship sailed from the Hardangerfjord and attacked Dorset England. It is likely that the Viking Age began in the village of Kinsarvik when this ship sailed. The shores of the Hardangerfjord are steep and rocky. The gradual earthen banks at the mouth of the Kinso River were an important place for the building and repair of the Longship. Any attack on Kinsarvik would have to be made by ship. The area was backed by the glaciers of the Hardangervidda and on the east any land force would have to go around the long, narrow, and deep waters of the Sørfjord or Eidfjorden. It was an ideal defensive position for Vikings.

The Vikings of Kinsarvik would have been in close contact with the Sami of the Hardangervidda. The people of Hoordland rarely exhibit lactose intolerance, a trait likely picked up by mating with the Sami. Perhaps the sagas which recount the meeting of the Vanir and the Æsir are mythical remnants of the actual meetings of sami and Horder. The peoples of Hardanger frequently raised dairy cows. Dairy cows were in turn brought to the islands and lands settled by the Norsemen.

By 900AD the King of Hardanger was well established in Kinsarvik. This in spite of Harald Haarfager who united most of Norway under his rule. Legend has it that the king at this time was captured by the English while on a Viking raid and imprisoned in a tower. A special longship was prepared which was painted white on one side, and black on the other. The ship was sailed to the tower with the white side showing, the king was rescued, on the return trip the black side of the ship was visible which confused the English who were in pursuit. There is a variation to the Norse saga which claims that the rowers on one side of the ship had aliegance to a leader who used white shields (which were displayed on the side of the ship), while the rowers on the other side had a different leader and black shields, but both groups cooperated for the rescue of the king.

Christianity

The kingdoms of Norway entered into a series of wars with Sweden around 1000AD. At this time many Vikings fled to Iceland. In 1013 Olaf II of Norway became king and converted to Christianity. The conversion was not uncontroversial, and Olaf II was replaced by Canute the Great. Even so the wooden Stave churchs that were being built were easy to burn down by those who did not want to give up their Viking ways. The Vikings of Kinsarvik were also in alliance with their sami neighbors and fellow pagans. After a series of Viking defeats the Christian forces established a presence in Kinsarvik, building a stone church which could not be burned down in 1160.

Christianity also brought English settlers with Apple rootstock. The English also brought the art of grafting to the fruit industry of Hardanger about 1300AD. The area around Kinsarvik is well suited for growing fruit and it practice expanded.

By 1536 the Protestant Reformation was underway. The first church in Norway to convert was in Ullensvang just a few miles from Kinsarvik. At this time the paintings and frescos of the Kinsarvik church were covered. In the 17th century the woodwork of the church was painted. In 1961 the original frescos were uncovered.

External links

* http://home.c2i.net/campingguiden/Hordaland/ullensvang/ullensvang.html
http://84.205.39.225/view/index.shtml
http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?iata=&promoCode=&corpID=&propertyCode=73013#null
http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=1&qmo=ms&dq=kinsarvik&near=&oq=kinsarvik&z=11&ll=60.403341,6.731873&spn=0.150573,0.461426
http://www.hardanger-bestikk.no/
http://www.hardangertun.no/familieparken/fKrasjbatar.htm
mailto:[e-mail]

References

Harding, Stephen E. (2002). [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1901231348 "Viking Mersey: Scandinavian Wirral, West Lancashire and Chester"]
Birkely, H. (1994). "I Norge har lapperne først indført skierne", Indre Billefjord: I ut
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/-sczsteve/Harding.htm King Harding