Photos

There are many such beautiful stave churches in Norway, many of which were built only in the first few centuries after conversion from Norway's native Germanic paganism to Christianity. The pagan roots still show on the churches, with dragon heads and traditional carvings looming eerliy over the eaves. This is the Fantoft Stave Church, which has had a somewhat interesting history. It was first built on a fjord in 1150, then moved to Bergen in 1883, burned down by a black-metal-musician-turned-arsonist in 1992, and finally reconstructed in 1997.

My intent with this photo (which involved some fake mist being created for the camera lens) was to show how with time, the entire systems that once defined a nation can be forgotten. Paganism has come and gone in Norway, and Christianity seems to be on the decline (not only in Norway but in almost all of Europe) in favour of secularism. The very spiritual foundations of the nation have disappeared into the mists - will we forget them or do they have a future?