Norway diaries : Hafrsfjord and Sverd i fjell (Swords in rock)

This week, I'm on a work trip in Stavanger on a teacher exchange so after lessons, we've been exploring the surrounding area with our hosts. On our visit last year, we were shown a very important historical site - Sverd i Fjell, which means "Swords in rock" and is made up of three 10 metre high bronze swords planted into the ground next to the fjord to commemorate the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord in the year 872, when King Harald Fairhair gathered all of Norway under one crown. King Arthur, eat your heart out - Harald got not one but THREE swords in the stone !

This time, we came back to the same spot but the swords were just the starting point of a lovely walk along the beautiful fjord, on a waterside pathway that has recently been built.

The weather was actually milder than we expected - the forecast for Stavanger while we were waiting at the airport in Amsterdam predicted highs of 2°C and lows of -7°C so we were expecting bitterly cold temperatures but we ended up with a chilly but bearable -2°C. There were still some pretty impressive icicles hanging off the bottom of the bridge though.

And Jack Frost had been creating ice sculptures on the branches overhanging the burbling brook too.

The edges of the fjord had frozen, giving the whole place a totally still, silent atmosphere.

It's an area of outstanding natural beauty but the man-made additions are also pleasing to the eye - there's a lovely statue of a woman walking barefoot to sell fish and this strange contraption on the right is a Norwegian stile.

It was only just after 3 o' clock but the sun was already starting to set - by about 4.30pm, it was getting properly dark, but this did give us some fabulous views of the fjord at sunset.

The new path takes you along the edges of the fjord on land that has been expropriated by the state - in other words, this was the private land belonging to the owners of the big houses all along here who were forced to sell up part of their gardens. As you can imagine, they were not happy.

Here, for example, the owner has a wide public footpath separating the (new) end of his garden from his boat moorings and barbecue area.

Most people seem to have a boat of some shape or form, even the children !

The fjord must be full of lobsters, judging by the stacks of lobster pots outside some of the boathouses.

The footpath has been creatively designed to blend in with the surroundings without spoiling the overall look of the place.

In this part, high powered water jets were used to cut a path through the rock faces while preserving all the different strata inside the stone - both educational and pretty.

The landscape, with mountains, lakes, low skies and not a person in sight, frequently reminded me of Scotland - or at least, how I imagine Scotland to be, as I've never been there.

You can get a sense of how it cold it was starting to get just by looking at the photo !

We're used to seeing totally flat, smooth frozen lakes but here, there were lots of jagged edges and broken pieces of ice frozen into place at weird angles.

4pm ... twilight was descending fast. We wandered past a lady walking her pig - she is apparently a local lady who frequently wanders along here !

Just time for one more photo, then it was time to go and warm up.

One of our hosts is lucky enough to live here and he (or rather his wife) had prepared a huge plate of Norwegian waffles, that you spread with jam and cream or, if you're feeling brave, the ubiquitous brown cheese ! The perfect end to a chilly walk - and he drove us back to the swords so we didn't have to walk back in the dark !