Stiklestad is a village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in the municipality of Verdal in Trøndelag county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. It is located east of the town of Verdalsøra and about southeast of the village of

Forbregd/Lein Forbregd and Lein are two small adjoining villages in the municipality of Verdal in Trøndelag county, Norway. Statistics Norway classifies the urban area as Forbregd/Lein. The village area is located about northeast of the town of Verdalsøra a ...

. The village is mainly known as the site of the

Battle of Stiklestad The Battle of Stiklestad ( no, Slaget på Stiklestad, non, Stiklarstaðir) in 1030 is one of the most famous battles in the history of Norway. In this battle, King Olaf II of Norway () was killed. During the pontificate of Pope Alexander III ...

on 29 July 1030. Stiklestad Church is located in the village and it is assumed to have been erected on the exact spot where King Olaf II Haraldsson fell in the battle. The king was buried in

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

(

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

), canonised there on 3 August 1031, and later enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral. Following the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

of 1537 the saint's remains were removed and their precise resting-place has been unknown since 1568. Norge fremstillet i Tegninger - no-nb digibok 2008112511001-319

Norge fremstillet i Tegninger - no-nb digibok 2008112511001-319

Name

The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

form of the name is ''Stiklarstaðir''. The first element is the genitive of a word ''stikl'' and the last element is ''staðir'' which means "

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...

". The word ''stikl'' might have been derived from the verb ''stikla'' which means "to jump", and this might have been the name of a nearby brook. In the 13th century Gesta Danorum, or "The History of the Danes," Saxo Grammaticus recorded that the town was named after Stikla, a shield-maiden who was most famous for raiding with the Viking captain

Rusla Rusla, also known as the "Red Woman" from Middle Irish ''Ingean Ruagh'', was a legendary Norwegian shield-maiden mentioned in the '' Gesta Danorum'' or "History of the Danes" of Saxo Grammaticus and in the Irish annals. According to Saxo, Rusla w ...

(Rusla was known as "The Red Maiden" for her brutal raids on Irish ships.) Stikla would have settled in the area at some point after her participation in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

Recent history

Given King Olav II’s role in the spread of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

in Norway, Stiklestad has been a significant site in Norwegian national culture since the 1030 battle. There has been an Olav memorial there since

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

times. Between 1934 and 1944 Vidkun Quisling’s Nationalist Nasjonal Samling party held a number of rallies at Stiklestad, in an attempt to link the party to Norway’s historic past. A special Nasjonal Samling monument was inaugurated there in July 1944, before being demolished a year later after the fall of Quisling's government. Since 1954 an annual

the Saint Olav Drama ''Saint Olav Drama'' ( no, Spelet om Heilag Olav) is an outdoor theatre performance played every end of July in Stiklestad in Verdal, Norway. The play commemorates the Battle of Stiklestad that took place in the year 1030, and which resulted in ...

, a re-enactment of the days leading up to the battle of 1030, has taken place at a specially built

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

at Stiklestad. In 1995 a Parliamentary decree established Stiklestad National Culture Centre (''Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter'') at Stiklestad to promote the story and heritage of Saint Olaf, including the annual Saint Olav Drama. There is also a folk museum, that includes a

farm, and a hotel housed in the same building as the Culture Centre.

Panorama of the area

References

External links

Stiklestad National Culture Centre
{{authority control Verdal Villages in Trøndelag

Name

Recent history

Panorama of the area

See also

References

External links