The unique church in Norway

Little Blue Birdie's Diary

Dear Diary

After a short flight, we arrived in Norway. It's a beautiful country. When I was in Sweden, I had heard about a church built in a unique style, in Norway. Since we had been in Sweden for a long time, and since my enthusiasm to see this church was growing, we decided to fly to Norway.

We did not have to fly far. Norway is one of Sweden's neighbouring countries. The amazing church I am talking about is the Urnes Stave Church, situated at the Urnes Farm, near the Luster municipality, Sogn og Fjordane county.

Do you know what a stave church is? This was explained to us by Robin, "A stave church is a very old fashioned wooden church, with a post and beam construction, related to timber framing. The wall frames here are filled with vertical planks. The load-bearing posts have lent their names to the building technique." The church was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979.

According to the gate keeper bird there, the church had been built three times at the same site. The present church was built around 100 years after the first. This building is believed to have been built in the 11th century and is thought to be one of the oldest there, the bird said. "It provides a link between the construction methods of the Viking age with typical animal ornamentation, the so called Urnes-style of animal art and Christian architecture", said Robin.

The portal and the other details of the north wall of the church, as well as the wall planks of the gables, are decorated in classic 'Urnes-style'. The images here are generally considered to represent a snake curling upwards. At the lower end, an animal with four feet is shown biting the snake.

As Robin said, the common interpretation of this scene is that it portrays the eternal fight between good and evil. The animal is widely believed to be a stylised lion. In Christian iconography, the lion is a symbol of the Christ, fighting the evil, symbolised by the snake, a common representation of Satan.

Now, let's take a closer look at the structure. The great engineer, 'Weaver bird' explained it to us. "This church is built with a rectangular nave (body of a church) and a narrower chain. The nave and choir (the place in a church where the choir sits), both have raised central spaces.

The choir was extended to the east in the 17th century, but this addition was later removed. During the 20th century, the church underwent a restoration process and the richly decorated wall planks were covered to stop further deterioration." The church was very beautiful; We were amazed to see its wooden work and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The saddest part of the story is that my group, Mama bird, Papa bird and Robin, the guide bird are flying back to Sri Lanka. But, a group of my very close friends will be joining me soon. They are Mandy, the Brainy Sparrow, Koshy, the Skinny Hummingbird, Maria, the Cuckoo, Buddy, the Sporty Roller-bird and Zorro, the Warrior Magpie.

Our new guide bird is Aron, the Royal-Tern. It'll be a wonderful experience for all of us. The next page of this journal will be enhanced with our joint adventures. Till then, bye!