Mary's Needle
Mary's Needle, known in Norwegian as the sewing needle of Virgin Mary (Norwegian: Jomfru Marias synål) is the only one remaining of several monumental stones which once stood around the church area. The stone has been somewhat taller, but, towering at 7.2 meters it is still the next largest of its kind in Norway. The stone leans in towards the church wall—the distance to the wall is in fact only 9.2 cm. A saga tells that "the day of Judgement will come when the stone comes into contact with the church wall". A popular story tells us about the minister in ages past climbing up the monument and cutting off a piece from the stone when it came dangerously near the church wall!
Read more about this topic: Church Of Avaldsnes
Famous quotes containing the words mary and/or needle:
“Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And every where that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go;
He followed her to school one day—
That was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.”
—Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (1788–1879)
“And so the needle pricked her fingers;
She fidgeted but didn’t go;
A faint forgetfulness of reasons
Kept her with him. Time is slow.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)