Gåra Stave Church

Gåra (Gaara) Stave Church (; ) was a smaller, single-nave (aisleless) stave church that stood on Gårahaugen (), just outside the village of Bø in Midt-Telemark Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The church was demolished in 1850. The church has sometimes been mistakenly called "Gvålakyrkja", but Gvåla is the old name for Valen, the neighboring farm to Gåra, and has therefore nothing to do with Gåra.Nordbø, 1925, p. 48

This stave church was a so-called "lovekirke",Nordbø, 1925, p. 7 a private votive church, and is said to have been very old. Its Old Norse name was Gordina kirkja and it is first mentioned in Bishop Eystein's land register from 1398, but had to be much older than this.Hvitsand, 1984, p. 148 According to this book, the church was consecrated to the Virgin Mary on September 8, which was also the church's feast day, but its year and age are unknown.Nordbø, 1925, p. 8 Gåra Church probably did not have its own priest, but the priest of Bø Church came a few times a year to hold services. Matins were also held on Christmas Eve until 1627.Nordbø, 1925, p. 12

In 2024, Telemark County Council and NIKU (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research) published an interactive 3D model of Gåra Stave Church based on drawings by Andreas Faye (1824), where one can navigate around both inside and outside the church, with accompanying digital information boards.

The Gåra Hill

The church stood on Gårahaugen (The Gåra Hill), which belonged, and still belongs, to the Gåra farm. Gårahaugen has traditionally had a peculiar and scenic location with a good view towards Nes Church and Norsjø (Lake Norsjø). Gårahaugen is part of a large burial ground dating from the Iron Age, and there is said to have been a heathen temple (gudehov), or more probably just an important political and religious holysite, on the old church site in pre-Christian times.Nordbø, 1925, p. 6Lunde, 1972, p. 62

What remains today on Gårahaugen is the so-called "Steinmerra" (Stone Mare) and "Gapestokken" (The Pillory), which are remnants of an octagonal stone formation made of standing stones and standing stone slabs. This megalithic structure is speculated to have been a heathen sacrificial grove,Nordbø, 1925, p. 9 or at least an important religious and political holy-site from a pagan culture that was probably old and long outdated even in the Viking Age. Steinmerra is an upright stone slab measuring 6,5 meters (21,33 ft.) long and 1,7 meters (5,58 ft.) at its highest point above the ground. Along the top of Steinmerra, five large notches have been hewn out by human force, with these notches being sharpened.Nordbø, 1925, p. 13 According to stories, this was used as a method of punishment, where the condemned sat astride it with heavy weights around their legs. This is not documented and is only speculation. It may also have been used as a sacrificial stone.

"Gapestokken" is a tall, triangular menhir/standing stone (bautastein). Today it measures 2,55 meters (8,366 ft.) above the ground, and the sides are between 40 and 50 centimeters (15,7”-19,7”) wide. This is just a menhir but has been mistakenly attributed the function of a pillory. Andreas Faye (1802–1869) published an article about this church, as well as an engraved print of the church, in Skilling-Magazin No. 75 in 1836. The original sketch from Faye's notebook is from 1824. In Faye's article in Skilling-Magazin, he mentions a second Steinmerr (stone mare/slab), with the still standing so-called Gapestokken standing in the middle of these slabs. This stone slab, which is not found on the church site today, is described by Faye as longer but lower than the one that remains, and is said to have been removed when the church was demolished. Faye also writes that the stone slabs must have been as much below the ground as above the ground.Faye, Andreas, 1836,Skilling-Magazin No. 75

Another menhir is also described, which is said to have stood on the opposite side of the missing Steinmerr. This menhir was apparently removed at the end of the 1700s (18th century) and was found again in the foundations of the smokehouse on the Austre Gaara (Eastern Gaara) farm when it was demolished in the 1960s.(Hvitsand, 1984, p. 147) Look what Gårahaugen is thought to have looked like in the 1700s (18th century) in the top image of the article. The menhir found in the foundation had a hole through one end. Legend has it that there were several of these menhirs and stone slabs which formed an octagonal stone formation around the old heathen temple or holysite. The Old Norse name of the Gåra farm is Gordinj, and according to Jon Hvitsand, this may mean "The holy enclosed site," which refers to this stone formation.Hvitsand, 1984, p. 149 It is possible that some of this stone formation was removed to make space for the stave church. There are stories of a total of 6 such stone slabs, and together with the menhirs, these are said to have formed a stone formation of 12 stones, which may also indicate that it could have been an old Thing site (assembly place), a place for political purposes and a holy religious place. (Lunde, 1972, p. 62)

The book "Kirker i Telemark" (Churches in Telemark) mentions an old legend that tells how Gåra Stave Church was originally built as a heathen temple, and that Saint Olaf consecrated the building as a Christian church when he was on a mission to Christianize Telemark. This legend is also mentioned by historian Gregar O. Nordbø. Whether there is any truth to such legends can of course be discussed, but the church building is said to have been very old. The church building is thus said to have been the oldest in Grenland,Hvitsand, 1984, p. 150 which in the High Middle Ages was the area that today comprises Drangedal Municipality, Midt-Telemark Municipality, and Notodden Municipality. Gåra stave church had straight endings on both the chancel, doors, and windows, which was common for the oldest churches in Norway. Like Gåra Stave Church, many of the oldest Norwegian churches were also dedicated to the Virgin Mary. (Hvitsand, 1984, p. 148) However, Gåra Church was a stave church, and not a post church (stolpekirke) like the very first churches in Norway often were.

Another legend recounts: Tradition has it that long ago, a church first built as a heathen temple, stood at "Djupegrop" (between Valen and Vinbekk in Bø, Telemark) and that it was later moved to Gårahaugen (The Gåra Hill) by invisible forces during nighttime. Supposedly there was found a key at Djupegrop that fit in the door lock in one of the doors at Gåra stave church.Nordbø, 1925, p. 41 During a fire at Djupegrop, which spread through the forest, a stone setting resembling a foundation was revealed, and its size is the same as that of the church at Gårahaugen.Lunde, 1972, p. 61

Gåra stave church

Gåra Church was a small and simple stave church built of massive pinewood. The church was erected with six massive staves, four of which formed the corners of the church.(Nordbø, 1925, p. 12) The staves were set with solid sill beams above and below. The walls between the staves were built of massive wooden planks over an ell wide (approx. 62,7 cm or 24,7 inches). (Lunde, 1972, p. 62) On the outside, the church was clad with tarred and caulked wooden shingles on the walls and roof. In the 1720s, however, the wooden shingle roof was replaced with red clay roof tiles. (Nordbø, 1925, p. 17)

The church had 3 entrance doors: one at the western end as the main entrance, one on the south wall of the nave, and one in the chancel on the south side. Outside the chancel door, there was a small staircase, as this door was somewhat higher up on the wall due to the raised floor in the chancel. (Nordbø, 1925, p. 18) The church also had 3 windows: two in the nave and one in the chancel, all on the sunny south side. The church had exterior galleries/passages (svalganger) that ran around the church on 3 sides. There was no outer gallery/passage around the chancel. One entered the outer galleries/passages through 3 "skruv" (entrances): one at the main entrance and one below each of the windows on the south wall of the nave. The "skruv" were "røstet utad" (projected outwards) (Nordbø, 1925, p. 17). The chancel was lower and may have been slightly narrower than the nave. On the middle of the church roof, a small bell tower with a spire was built. (Nordbø, 1925, p. 19) Here hung two bells that are said to have been from the 1100s (12th century)(Nordbø, 1925, p. 8). The church also had a portal around the main entrance, consisting of two carved planks. The portal is now located in the University Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. (Lunde, 1972, p. 63)

The church bells Little is known about the church bells, which were said to have been made in the 1100s (12th century)(Nordbø, 1925, p. 8). One of the two lost bells is said to have had an inscription that was written down in 1805, but the content is unknown. (Nordbø, 1925, p. 19) In addition, one of the bells is said to have been used as a work bell at Holden Ironworks (later Ulefos Ironworks), but after an inquiry in 1916, the bell had not been there for a long time, and only one of the oldest workers at the plant could remember this bell. (Nordbø, 1925, p. 20)

Interior Inside, the church had the usual pews (church benches) on each side of the aisle, probably installed during the Reformation. There was a simple pulpit by the window in the chancel and a wooden baptismal font with a lid. A small cupboard also hung in the chancel. The baptismal font, estimated to be from the 1400s (15th century), is now at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. The knave had a flat ceiling (Nordbø, 1925, p. 18), while the chancel ceiling was vaulted(Nordbø, 1925, p. 13; 18). In both the roof and walls, in the knave and chancel, there are mentions of full body sized paintings of biblical stories, which may also have been from the 1400s (15th century). The paintings are said to have been painted in broad strokes, and Jesus' enemies are said to have had more or less inhuman features.(Nordbø, 1925, p. 13) A drawn copy of some of these paintings is reproduced in the book of Cultural History of Bø in Telemark. There were no interior galleries, the church did not get an altar until 1655, and no altarpiece was ever documented. Holy Communion was also never held in Gåra Stave Church.(Nordbø, 1925, p. 13; 18)

Runic inscription Officer, civil servant, and numismatist Claudius Schive (Claus Johan Schive) once analyzed a copy of a rune inscription that came from Gåra Stave Church. The copy was transcribed in 1839, and the rune inscription is said to have been in the exterior gallery passage to the left of the main entrance of the church. The runes were carved from right to left, and directly translated, the runes said "kora neris sun reist mik." In standard Old Norse: "Kári Neriðsson reist mik." In modern language, this becomes "Kåre Neridsson carved me". According to Sophus Bugge, one dares to identify Kåre Neridsson as "Kor Næiris son" mentioned in DN IV No. 366, p. 294 from 1354. If this is correct, the runes can be dated to around 1350, but Sophus Bugge emphasizes that the R-rune in the inscription fits better with a somewhat older dating, but there is apparently no basis for assuming that an older relative carved the runes. To the left of the runes in the inscription, some kind of sign was carved. According to Magnus Olsen, this sign is probably a stylization of joined Latin letters that forms a man's name. With this assumption, we find the name "CORE" in the sign, which corresponds to the runes that reproduce the carver's name. (Olsen, 1951, p. 186-190).N_146: Runeinnskrift fra Gåra kirke i Telemark

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