This is the Nidaros Cathedral (Nidarosdomen) in Trondheim, Norway. It is a beautiful cathedral with lots of gothic architecture, secret rooms, winding stairways and a great place to look out at the North Sea. This is the view as you enter the room:
It is hard to see, but there is a slightly raised marble platform with six pictures on it (left to right, far to near): a centaur, a dragon, a pig (boar?), a lion, a mermaid holding a mirror and a scorpion.
I was drawn to it, thinking, "What is this doing in a church?" The nave looks very impressive from this photo, but as you walk in the room, the first thing you see is this large altar right in front of you. Once you can stop staring, you live your chin up to look at the ceiling and don't put it down before your neck gets sore.
There is a very old Norse document, called Speculum Regulae, or The King's Mirror that dates back to the 1200's. Part of it gives precise details regarding the physical appearance of mermen and mermaids (merman = hafstramb, mermaid = margygr). It suggests the sighting of such a creature forebodes poor weather in the near future.
I came up with all of these theories about why there would be a mermaid on the altar front. I finally decided it would need to have something to do with Saint Olav (an ancient Norse king from days gone by - there are murals and statues dedicated to him in the cathedral and all over town).
Perhaps Saint Olav was once in love with a mermaid or rescued by one when he fell out of a Viking ship. Maybe there was a whole contingent of mermaids and mermen that were a part of the Viking conquests.
I needed to find out what it meant.
I probably looked too hard, because the altar front is not nearly as old as I thought it would be. The Altar of the Holy Cross was built between 1986-1985 by Wenche Gulbrandsen - I think the marble platform was made by the same artist. There is no explanation I have come across yet. Nor are there any other pictures (photography is not allowed inside the cathedral. This is a scan of a postcard I got in the gift store. Egil Rein took the picture for the postcard.).
So I figure, what the heck? My explanation is as good as anyone else's (except for the real one, I suppose). King Olav loved a viking mermaid who saved his life. Who knew?
Your explanation is also as good as anyone else's. Five mermaid points to anyone who can tell me an explanation for / story of the centaur / dragon / pig / lion / mermaid / scorpion. Ten mermaid points to anyone who can come up with a theory involving all six. It doesn't have to take place in a church or in Norway, for that matter. Let your imagination do what it wants - it will anyway.
I have no idea what the points will add up to. We will worry about that later ;)
4 comments:
You've got my brain working this morning, Stephanie - but I've told it to stop, I need it to be focused on my rewrite :)
But what a great way to play 'What if' for future story ideas. Your mermaid hypothesis would make a beautiful tale - perhaps fantasy? Have you considered expanding on it?
Just to let you know, my maiden name is Murray and our clan crest is a mermaid holding a comb and a mirror! All meaning something, but again I don't want to start looking up stuff on the computer because I'm supposed to be rewriting. Of course, it would only take a few minutes...
Those definitely sound like heraldic symbols to me (although I'm a little at a loss for the scorpion, especially a scorpion in Norway.. unless it's a manticore or something?)
Wanting for places, dates, and names to make a tale sound properly legitimate, I'm going to go with Fred.
In the year Fred, the little-known but very important Fred of Norway set out one day to do something as important as he was. One the way he was ambushed by men who were much less important than he was, who rode naked upon horses and were terribly unheroic. They were so unheroic that they rode down our hero, the important Fred of Norway, and left him bloodied on the ground. The villains!
"Ah," said Fred, "what a terrible day for someone as important as me. I hope no one makes a record of this."
So, bloodied and limping, Fred continued on to his very important thing, when he was waylaid by -- a bat! This unimportant bat dropped down from the rafter of a farm house, flew in Fred's very important hair, and sent him running, or limping rather, for the hills. The fearsome creature with its leathery wings chased Fred into the dark and important forest.
"Still," said Fred, "the forest is not as important as I am." And he limped on with confidence, and very messy hair.
Then, just when Fred thought his important day a wash, he came upon a clearing, and in that clearing he spied the shimmering gold hair of a maiden -- oh wait, no, it was a lion. Fred fled, in a limping sort of way, and promptly fell into a pool. The lion, being too important to get itself wet, bellowed its superiority from the bank (for after all, lions are the king of beasts, and Fred was only very important, but not a king).
"Oh dear," thought Fred. "My important boots are ruined, and I shall never get out of this water in time for my important event."
But lo, another important figure arrives! As Fred stands sulking in the water, the surface catches the reflection of a woman standing on the bank. Bare-armed and bright of eye, she sends the lion off with a gesture, for though it is a most important king of beasts, she has the courage and ferocity of the mighty boar, and is also very important in her own right. The lion, knowing this, withdrew to harangue some less important traveler elsewhere.
"Ah!" said Fred. "A woman as important as I. I shall marry you!"
But Fred was limping and bloodied, with hair disheveled, and stood waist-deep in water, until his important boots were ruined. The very important woman laughed at him.
"Who are you to marry one such as me? You have not the courage I have. You see my face in the water, but you see not your own reflection. You know not your own worth."
And the woman's words stung Fred so deeply he began to bleed. She left him there, and he struggled out of the water and limped his important way to his destination, where he told all who awaited him of what befell him. He told them of fierce centaur on the attack, of a mighty dragon that only managed to muss his hair. Of the very important lion, important enough to be worthy of attacking Fred. And he told them of the woman reflected in the water, her bravery as of a boar, and her stubbornness as well, and of the wound she left upon him, as poisonous as a scorpion's sting, for he now feared himself less important than he had thought.
The people heard all this, and they knew a very important thing had happened. In time, an altar was made to commemorate the events Fred had told them, for, one and all, they agreed that all these occurrences were much more important than Fred.
The End.
Janet - Thanks for the comment. You had me researching your family crest. 5 mermaid points.
Hayley - Aaaaahhhhh!!!! I love it! 10 mermaid points plus one extra because I was grinning the whole time I read it and feel like I've learned some sort of life lesson.
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