Sunniva - the saint of Bergen
One topic I often talk about with visitors is Bergen’s own saint: Saint Sunniva.
Sunniva was a princess in Ireland in the 900, during the viking era when the vikings went on pillages in Ireland. She was a devoted catholic and was a very pretty and kind princess, and the viking chief was obsessed with her. She did not like him at all, a rude, heathen man, so she said no to marrying him. As he started to threaten her, she decided to flee Ireland together with friends and family in three boats and let God lead them somewhere safe.
They eventually ended up on the western coast of Norway, on the islands of Kinn and Selja. Sunniva stayed at Selja and they lived happy, poor lives there for a while. One day, however, the locals came to kill them as they though they had stolen their sheep.
Once again Sunniva and her friends had to flee, this time into a small cave on the island where they prayed to God to help them.
Apparently their prayers were heard as a gigantic rock fell down from the mountain and blocked the entrance of the cave. The only problem was that they were trapped inside the cave.
Some years later king Olav Tryggvason came to the island and discovered a strange light from the sky shining on a skull at the beach. The skull had a sweet smell.
He then went into the cave and saw lots of squeletons lying around, with the same smell. But the corpse of Sunniva was intact so he though she must be a saint. Therefore her remnants were put in a shrine in the local monastery on the island.
In 1170 Bergen became the religious centre of Norway, therefore Sunniva’s relics were transported down to the cathedral in Bergen.
The Bergeners believed she could protect the city from fires.
This cathedral was, however, destroyed by the Danes in 1531, and shortly after, in 1536, the Danish king imposed protestantism on Norway, so this marks the end of catholicism in Norway. Today, if you visit Bergen fortress in the city centre, you can see a statue of Saint Sunniva where the cathedral used to be.
As for the photos below this is a statue by the sculptor Arne Mæland from Os outside Bergen. He and his son Vidar have an art studio in Os, in the middle of nowhere, open to the public every Saturday. I visisted them some years ago and got a private tour in the studio and in the garden.
This statue can also be found on Selja, the island where Sunniva stayed. I’m planning a trip to that island this summer. The small percentage of catholics of Norwegian origin in Norway go on pilgrimages theres every 8th of July to honour her. I am no catholic, but the legend is so intriguing. I gotta go and see what it’s all about.
