Unlike a lot of Europe, Norway and Sweden had huge forests of old growth trees to build with. This was helpful for churches such as this as well as for building ships. Compare that with, say, Rome where stone was more convenient and preferred. Some of the earlier stave churches really straddled the time between Christianity and Norse Mythology so the images on the inside and outside had both pagan and Christian themes. Since it was Christianity that is generally considered to have been the most important factor in ending the viking age, those earlier stave churches (see the Urnes Stave Church for instance) are awesome physical representations of the transformation of one of the most interesting times in European history in my opinion.
Sandisamples on April 18th, 2020 at 11:28 UTC »
This looks so interesting! I wonder what the inside looks like.
majorminorminor on April 18th, 2020 at 12:21 UTC »
Looks like it wants to sprout mechanical legs and scuttle into the woods.
hijackn on April 18th, 2020 at 13:56 UTC »
Unlike a lot of Europe, Norway and Sweden had huge forests of old growth trees to build with. This was helpful for churches such as this as well as for building ships. Compare that with, say, Rome where stone was more convenient and preferred. Some of the earlier stave churches really straddled the time between Christianity and Norse Mythology so the images on the inside and outside had both pagan and Christian themes. Since it was Christianity that is generally considered to have been the most important factor in ending the viking age, those earlier stave churches (see the Urnes Stave Church for instance) are awesome physical representations of the transformation of one of the most interesting times in European history in my opinion.