Legend
There is a legend about the church; during the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century Hedalen was depopulated, and the valley became a wilderness. A hunter one day shot an arrow after a bird, but instead of hitting his prey, it missed and struck the bell. Then, there he found the church, standing in the middle of the dense forest.
As the hunter believed this must be a church for huldra or other supernatural beings, he took his flint and steel and threw it over the church. This was something believed to seize property from huldra, and so he wanted to prevent the church from disappearing. On the place where the steel fell, a farm was later built which still has the name Ildjarnstad (Firesteel).
In the church the hunter shot a bear which had made its lair by the altar. The skin from this bear still hangs on the wall of the sacristy.
Read more about this topic: Hedal Stave Church
Famous quotes containing the word legend:
“The Legend of Love no Couple can find
So easie to part, or so equally join’d.”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)
“Newspaperman: That was a magnificent work. There were these mass columns of Apaches in their war paint and feather bonnets. And here was Thursday leading his men in that heroic charge.
Capt. York: Correct in every detail.
Newspaperman: He’s become almost a legend already. He’s the hero of every schoolboy in America.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
—Willis Goldbeck (1900–1979)