The Fjord Country

The fjord country of western Norway is rich in tradition and beautiful to see. Hardanger fjord is best known for its fruit production, its spectacular scenery and its folk traditions. The Hardanger bunad and the eight-stringed Hardanger violin have become synonymous with Norway itself.

At Gudvangen, at the end of the Nærøyfjord, where pagan religious rituals are believed to have taken place in the Viking Age, the memory of the place is reinforced by the modern imagined representation of a Viking warrior.

The forests, mountains, lakes and rivers of western Norway serve to delight tourists while they employ the nymphs and spirits of the Norwegian folkloristic and mythological traditions. At Kjosfossen in the Flåm valley, such creatures are seen regularly by those traveling the Flåm railroad up and down between Myrdal and Flåm. Sometimes they wear green, sometimes they wear red.

And, if you are not battling with the spirits, you might find yourself in the middle of a National Romantic landscape that reminds you of the portrait of I. C. Dahl, Stalheim, a realistic rendering of Jordalsnuten in the breathtaking Nærøy valley.