Audunborg (''Auduns borg'') was a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and fortification built by Norwegian nobleman

Audun Hugleiksson {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2013 Audun Hugleiksson (Hestakorn) ({{circa 1240 – 2 December 1302) was a Norwegian nobleman at the end of the 13th century. He was the king's right hand, both under King Magnus Lagabøte and King Eirik Magnusson ...

on his inherited estate near the village of Ålhus on the shores of the

Jølstravatn Jølstravatnet or Jølstravatn is a lake in Sunnfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The lake empties its water into the long Jølstra river which then flows into the Førdefjorden. The impressive eastern arm of Jølstravatn is call ...

in the municipality of

Jølster Jølster is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre was the village of Skei. Other villages in the municipality included Helgheim, Ålhus, V ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, whe ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a 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 Jan Mayen and t ...

. The site was located about north-east of the village of Vassenden.

History

The castle was built in stone sometime between 1276 to 1286, probably by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

craftsmen working out of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

. The rectangular building was and is thought to have had three stories, a store room in the ground floor, living quarters on the next floor, and a feast hall in the top floor. It had large windows and arches. The building itself had water on three sides and was thus easy to defend. It is also thought that a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

or castle wall was part of the fortifications. Recent research claims that Audun himself spent little time in his castle as his activities kept him either in Bergen, in the east of the country or abroad. As a baron, Audun Hugleiksson was allowed to keep a

hird The hird (also named "Håndgangne Menn" in Norwegian), in Scandinavian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal army, but also ...

(armed retinue) a right otherwise reserved for the king. This hird would defend him on his travels and when he was at home in Audunborg. In Medieval Norway, typically only the King and the Church had the funds to build in stone and Audunborg along with Isegran by

Glomma The Glomma, or Glåma, is Norway's longest and most voluminous river. With a total length of , it has a drainage basin that covers fully 13% of Norway's surface area, all in the southern part of the country. Geography At its fullest length, the ...

, built by

Alv Erlingsson Alv Erlingsson (''Alv Erlingsson den yngre'', died 1290) was a Norwegian nobleman, earl of Sarpsborg and governor of Borgarsyssel. Alv Erlingsson was born at Tanberg in Norderhov, Buskerud. Alv Erlingsson was the son of Erling Alvsson of Tanb ...

, are the only two known examples of private stone castles in Norway. Stories about Audun remain in local folklore and one story includes him burying all his money and sinking a silver table into the Jølstravatn before departing for his last trip to Bergen. 2002 08 30 31 Gjølanger borg

Castle ruins

Today, only the ruins remain of the castle that stood at the tip of Hegreneset by

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the s ...

. It was first excavated by Gerhard Fischer in 1934 and is probably modelled after Håkonshallen in

which was twice as long and twice as wide. A memorial at Audunborg, carved by Jørgen P. Solheimsnes from

, was erected on the site of the former castle in 1960. Its motif is the baron's seal. There was a play performed called ''Audun Hugleiksson – Kongens mann'' which commemorates the life of Audun Hugleiksson. The play was written by

Edvard Hoem Edvard Hoem (born 10 March 1949) is a Norwegian novelist, dramatist, lyricist, psalmist and government scholar. He made his literary debut in 1969, with the poetry collection ''Som grønne musikantar''. He was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize ...

and based on the book ''Kongens sendebod : Audun Hugleikson 1240-1302'' which was written by Anne Cecilie Kapstad and illustrated by Ludvig Eikaas.

Media gallery

File:Door from Ålhus kirke.jpg, The door on display in Ålhus church is supposedly from Audunborg. File:Audunborg.jpg, This image based on Håkonshallen gives an idea of how the main building of the castle is thought to have looked

References

Other sources

*Kapstad, Anne Cecilie; Ludvig Eikaas (2000) ''Kongens sendebod : Audun Hugleikson 1240 - 1302'' (Vassenden : Haugland forl.)

External links

Baron Audun Hugleiksson
(NRK)
Audun Hugleiksson
(Statsarkivet i Bergen)
Teaterstykket
– Audun Hugleiksson – Kongens Mann (the play) {{Castles in Norway Castles in Norway Forts in Norway Ruins in Norway Military installations in Vestland