Set Forth, Pilgrim! Friends Await You

July 25, 2009**

"...Set Forth! You were born for the Pilgrim Road. You have envisioned enemies – You will find brothers and sisters..." From engraved stone in Spanish Majorca. I have spent time wandering on Pilgrim Roads and Footpaths. I am searching, as are others, for those Pilgrim moments of discovery. I left Muklia Ungdomsenter this morning with no definite destination in mind for the day. Only possibilities. Such is the pilgrim life. I found myself some hours later passing Meslo Gård, indentified by its friendly roadside sign as a refuge ¨Herberge¨ for pilgrims. I wasn't going to stop there so early in the day. Mowing her lawn in the front yard was Ingrid Meslo. In Spain, you would call her the "hostelera". I stopped and, finding her smiling and friendly, asked her if she would call Segård Hoel for me to book me accommodation for the evening. She had the phone, knew the number, and was soon making the arrangements for down my road. Very efficient. Next she was asking me, "Would I like a cup of coffee?" I confessed that would be hard to resist, especially if she had some freshly made. She didn't but was off to her kitchen quickly to remedy that small shortcoming. In minutes, she returned with a tray, a thermos, a plate with rolls and small delicacies, and two cups. The second cup was the detail that told me I was welcome. She would interrupt her lawn mowing chore, sit down and rest, and enjoy coffee and conversation with me. And I would return to my pilgrim road fortified and renewed. She gave me a small gift as I left – a reliable tip regarding the "Stadion" road that would return me to mountain ridge levels and my pilgrim trail with just a little less effort. Pilgrims, I recommend Ingrid's refuge to you. And I leave you with another thought. The English word ¨Enthusiasm¨ derives from the Greek. Broken down into its Greek root parts, it translates to ¨filled with the Divine Spirit¨. Pilgrims, you know how this feels. The spirit is reflected in many of your faces and in the light in your eyes as your own pilgrimages bring you safely into Nidaros⁄Trondheim. May that spirit guide you all.

A Key for the Pilgrim

July 27, 2009

“You’ll find the key under the ‘S’ in ‘Washington Mills’”, my telephone confidant instructed. I did. I’d reached the “Skytehuset”, or shooting clubhouse at the Svorkmo Rifle Range. There were cars out front but, as promised, no one was there to greet me. The “Mills” firm was an advertising sponsor of the shooting competitions. The clubhouse, with a kitchen, half dozen bunk berths, and showers (!) was comfortable and … all mine for the over night. Mid evening the mystery of the cars was explained. Berndt, a German Pilgrim priest came by with a friend to claim them. They were part of a church supported, vehicle backed, mostly German Pilgrim group a day ahead of me on the Leden. Before leaving, Berndt gave me his Pilgrim blessing and … another “key”: Walking on this morning, I would need to be especially alert for a nearly concealed way mark indicating a critical track turn. Without the minister's warning, I’d have missed it for sure. His “key” opened the door for me to a soaking wet but beautiful day of boggy marsh hiking. Mid afternoon, when my wet feet next touched down on firm asphalt I was thinking that I needed to pull out a map to refresh on what I thought might be six more kilometers of solid ground walking. Instead, there it was—a welcome sign reading “Kleivan Pilegrim Herberge—50 meters”. 27 days into a challenging Norwegian Pilgrim trek, I had pulled off 32.5 kilometers by 3:30 p.m.—real powerwalking. Liv, the Herberge host, was a former school principal. She and her partner Jonvold had restored the old farm building creating one of the nicest pilgrim’s refuges on the Olavsleden. And I catch Toni O’Bryne, Irish Pilgrim woman, here. We have lots to catch up on—neither one of us having met another Oslo-Trondheim Pilgrim in our month of walking. Liv told me, “We enjoy the Pilgrims. We’ll give the herberge another couple of years to decide if it’s something we want to do for the long term.” One day more into Trondheim!

The Gjøvik Commitment

July 27, 2009

(Written to my young nephew Anders:) So here I am one day’s walk out from the Nidaros cathedral. 20 days back I was arriving on the shores of Lake Mjøsa in pouring rain discovering that the boat across the lake sailed both to Hamar, as I had planned, but also to Lillehammer, a two day jump farther north on the Pilgrim trail. Soaking wet and discouraged, I was ready to ship out for Lillehammer. Checking schedules, I discovered that the boat didn’t sail to Lillehammer daily and I would have to wait two days to short cut to the winter Olympic city. Relieved, I chose instead to sail the next day to Hamar and walk my whole Pilgrim route. Suddenly I felt really good—fully committed. I wanted to walk—every day, no short cuts, no shirking, no “Yellow Blazing”. I negotiated 32.5 km today, a good part of it over “myra” or soaking wet marsh. Done by 3:30 p.m., it was easy. I wonder if at your age I had the resources to tackle this kind of project. Rain 25 of 28 days. I’m not sure where I would have found the ambition. Your mother helped provide it for this trip, researching your chosen St. Olaf College (in Northfield, Minnesota) and discovering the pilgrimage. It seemed natural that I invite you along. A good idea? I don’t know. But succeeding sure feels great!

The Gaula River Boatman

July 28, 2009**

My last pilgrimage day brought me to the banks of the Gaula river. You telephone from Øysand camp ground, a few kilometers before you reach the river and alert the ferry man. For 50 NOK ($8US) he paddles a row boat from the Sundet farm on the opposite bank to come to get you to bring you across. This service was available historically at this spot for pilgrims in the medieval period and has been re-established for modern pilgrims a year or two ago. Jon Wan the ferryman gave me a brief tour of his farm (50 acres of wheat and sheep), pilgrim "Herberge", and introduced me to his period costume dressed wife (they had overnight pilgrim guests depart just before my arrival). Jon had been to Mercer, Wisconsin, and Duluth,Minnesota. They say that in the mid 19th century half of the population of Norway emmigrated to the United States and most Norwegians today have relatives in the American Midwest. From the Kleivan herberge, I walked 26 km into the Nidaros Cathedal today. It was enjoyable that even on my last day into a fair sized city, I walked most of the day through natural landscapes on forest track. Past a ski jump among other things. At 4:30 I arrived at the Cathedral, crowded with tourists, and retreated to the quieter Nidaros Pilgrims hostel behind the church.

Pilgrim Triumphant!

July 28, 2009

I was offered this interesting observation: Olav Haraldsson, King Olav II, who brought Christianity to Norway dying a martyr’s death in battle at Stiklestad in 1030, was really a Catholic saint, since he preceded Martin Luther and the Reformation. And for that reason, many Catholic services are moved from Trondheim's Catholic Ilen Kirke into the Lutheran Cathedral during the Olavsdagene Festival week.
So I reach Trondheim today right on schedule. At the Pilgrim Hostel, I rush through a quick succession of introductory experiences meeting pilgrim people, take a quick shower, and board a bus back out to the Lade Kirke on the margins of the city. It’s Olavsok, the eve of the feast day of the Scandinavian patron saint and all clerics in the city are on duty.
Beginning at 8 p.m., people assemble in churches on the periphery of the town. After a prayer and a hymn, they begin walking into the Cathedral in the gathering twilight. These processions are lead by a deacon with crucifix and ministers robed in their finest cassocks. Each procession stops at three neighborhood churches along the way into the city center for a rest, a reading, and hymn. By the time our pilgrim processions converge on the Cathedral, our numbers have swelled so that we will fill the church for an 11 p.m. high mass. An all woman choir leads the congregation through the musical liturgy. Nearly a dozen ministers, some of them women, some pilgrim ministers from foreign countries, preside. And the church remains open all night long for silent meditation and hourly devotional ceremonies. Beautiful. I take in the first of the vigils before seeking restful sleep at 2 a.m.

Olav's Pilgrim Way, In Retrospect

August 1, 2009

It wouldn’t quite be accurate to say that Olav Haraldsson died a martyr’s death. In fact, he went down sword in hand as a good Viking should. In a nutshell, he had gone wrecking Viking havoc abroad from Norway as a young man just after the first Millennia and returned a wealthy man. Empowered, he set out to unify the country till then fractured into the fiefdoms of local warrior chiefs. Having converted abroad, he also sought to impose Christianity by force. In 1028, the Swedes, seeing the unrest he was generating, instigated a revolt to exploit it. In 1030, at Stiklestad, 100 km north of Trondheim, the Swedish led malcontents triumphed and Olav died in battle. His body, interred on the banks of the Nidelva River at Trondheim “Nidaros”, soon became the focus of a pilgrimage. Miracles followed, Olav became the rare Scandinavian saint, and hindsight left petty chiefs unifying a country Christian and not dominated by Swedes. There is a choir/organ loft over the rear of the Nave of the “Our Lady’s” Vor Fru Kirke in Trondheim. The area at the rear of the church that it overhangs has no pews. Instead it has chairs, tables, and volunteers who staff there a continuously open coffee house. It’s not even commercial as you recognize the value of your coffee and biscuit by donation only. People come in to read papers, chat, and just rest weary (tourist) feet. Meanwhile, undisturbed, others worship elsewhere in the church. I think other churches in Trondheim host guests this way too. I love this. It brings cold architecture back to life. I’ve reached the end of my Pilgrim road today returning to Trondheim from Stiklestad. I’ve turned my Pilgrim’s scallop shell around symbolizing the end of my journey. I head for Oslo and home.

Sly Departure

I hope you've enjoyed Pilgrim walking in the company of the Pilgrim Sly. But let's admit that the grizzled, bearded character smiling at you from the margin of these posts was a younger Sly, a Sly freshly invigorated from Bicycling Adventure in Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotian Canadian Maritime Provinces during the summer of 1993. Here we have the wiser Pilgrim Sly, at his writing platform on the sun deck of the Pilegrimsgard Hostel behind the Cathedral in Trondheim in August of 2009. His writer's pen will be put to paper again soon ... during the next Adventure of Buffalo Jump Sly!

For more information about the Norwegian Olavsleden Pilgrim Way, including detailed route maps and accommodation information, copy and paste this URL of its official website into your web browser: http://www.pilegrim.info/ Click on the British flag at the top of its home page for English translation.

Copyrighted in 2001, the Cicerone Guide "Pilgrim Road to Nidaros, St. Olav's Way: Oslo to Trondheim", by Alison Raju, remains the definitive English language guide to the Olavsleden.

The Olavsleden, In Daily Stages

The following is a description of the 27 days worth of stages that I walked between Oslo and Trondheim. Formatting requirements oblige me to render them in somewhat cryptic form:

Day//Km//Km From Oslo//Pilgrim Way Stop

0//0//0//Oslo,Ronningen Vandrerhjem
1//17//17//Oslo,Ronningen Vandrerhjem
2//28//45//Langbru (Tent)
3//23//68//Onsakervika Camping,Røyse (Tent)
4//33//101//Sløvika Camping,Jevnaker (Tent)
5//25//126//Blokkhus Farm,Brandbu (Tent)
6//43//169//Hekshusstranda Camping,Kapp (Tent)
7//10//179//Gjøvik Vandrerhjem Hovedetun
8//0//179//Hamar Vandrerhjem (via Skibladner)
9//26//205//Konfirmantsalen, Veldre,Brumunddal
10//28//233//Samuelstue Camping,Havik (Hytte)
11//18//251//Lillehammer Vandrerhjem
12//34//285//Pilegrimsloftet Borkerud,Tretten
13//31//316//Gildesvollen,Ringebu
14//18//334//Sygard Grytting,Sør-Fron
15//24//358//Øvre Kjæstad,Kvam
16//9//367//Sjøa Vandrerhjem
17//28//395//Jørundgard Middlealdersenter,Sel
18//28//423//Budsjord Gard,Dovre
19//12//435//Fokstugu Fjellstue,Dovrefjell
20//22//457//Hjerkinn Fjellstue,Dovrefjell
21//34//491//Ryphusan Ubetjent Hytte,Dovrefjell
22//30//521//IMI-Stolen,Oppdal
23//32//553//Muklia Ungdomssenter og Leirskole
24//31//584//Segard Hoel,Meldal
25//27//611//Svorkmo Skytterhus
26//32.5//643.5//Kleivan Pilegrimsherberge,Bukvika
27//25.5//669//Nidaros Pilegrimsgård

Pilgrim Notes:

I walked the Western “Cultural Route” of the Olavsleden/Way of St. Olav from Oslo to Gjøvik. From Gjøvik I sailed the Skibladner steam ship to Hamar where I picked up the Eastern “Historic Route” of the Olavsleden walking it from there to Trondheim. Combining the two route segments together in this fashion lengthened my total Pilgrim Trek slightly to the total of 669 kilometers. My route choice was suggested by my Cicerone Guide, the “Pilgrim Road to Nidaros: St. Olav’s Way / Oslo to Trondhejm”, author Alison Raju, as a means of avoiding industrial areas traversed by the Historic Route as it leaves urban Oslo. It also afforded me a chance to sail the historic “Skibladner” steamship across Lake Mjøsa.
My first day of Pilgrim walking brought me from the Maria Kirke ruins in central Oslo to the western Oslo suburbs at Lilleaker. From there I took public transportation back to my Oslo overnight lodgings at the Ronningen Vandrerhjem/Hostel. My second Pilgrim day began with the tram ride back to Lilleaker from whence I commenced my second day of walking. From Lilleaker I walked continuously to the cathedral at Nidaros/Trondheim. There were few Pilgrim friendly lodging options in the Lilleaker suburban area suggesting the creative tram riding solution.
I completed the 669 kilometers (418 miles) of Pilgrim walking between Oslo and Trondhjem in 27 days as indicated averaging about 25 kilometers (15+ miles) per day. As any experienced long distance walker will guess, I walked numerous additional kilometers running errands and taking in the odd side trip diversion to visit interesting attractions. For example, I walked at least 10 kilometers during my “zero day” in Hamar visiting the Domen Kirke and returning to my Vandrerhjem lodgings. Likewise, on my third Pilgrim Day I walked at least 6 extra Kilometers under back pack load and off route to visit the historic Bønsnes Kirke.

--Mark

Wisdom From Majorca

Set Forth, Pilgrim! Your head does not know where your feet are leading your heart...