22 July 2018:
Brønnøysund, Norway:
Sweet Dreams

By Corey Sandler

Many Norwegians call Brønnøysund “the coastal town in the middle of Norway.”

But many tourists remember it this way: “the port near the mountain with a hole in the middle.”

Silver Wind at the dock today.

Brønnøysund is about 75 miles below the Arctic Circle, which means there is a short period of twilight between about 1 and 4 in the morning on the day of our visit.

The outer reaches of the region include the Vega Archipelago World Heritage Site, which consists of about 6,500 islands and islets, spread over more than 385 square miles or 1,000 square kilometers.

The islands are home to all sorts of birds including greylag and barnacle geese, cormorants, and many, many eider ducks.

You may well have slept upon a pillow, or under a duvet or comforter with a link here.

For a long time, the islands off Brønnøysund have been at the center of eiderdown trade.

There’s even the Museum of the Eider Ducks in Nes, if you’re looking for some bedtime stories.

Torghatten Mountain—Square Hat Mountain—rises like a colossal castle of sheer granite.

Torghatten from the nautical bridge of Silver Wind as we arrived in the morning

According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful girl Lekamøya.

When the troll realized he would not get the girl, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king of Sømna threw his hat into the path of the arrow path to save her.

The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.

If you don’t buy the story about the murderous troll and the girl and the arrow, there’s this: scientists say the hole was formed during the Scandinavian ice age, about 11,000 B.C.E. Ice and water eroded looser rocks, while the harder ones in the mountain top resisted erosion.

All photos and text Copyright 2018 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

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