The Norwegian stave churches arouse both wonder and admiration. Especially these incomprehensible dragons, these pagan symbols
The dragon style has always fascinated me, and when one of my friends challenged me to paint a stave church, I chose the North Portal. Not the rest of the church. Mainly to get closer to the subject and to recreate it as I can imagine this gate might have looked, with gold leaf and dark blue colour. There is also a specific historical basis for the fact that the girl and the man fit into the picture of the times.
Why are these dragons there anyway?
The answer may be found in Norway’s oldest stave church; Urnes stave church, built in the 1130s, where parts of the church come from an earlier church, including the iconic portal from 1070. The North Portal with its distinctive dragon pattern.
A wormhole in battle at first glance. Next, a particularly scruffy-looking monster is discovered, which looks like a dog to me. Probably a greyhound as far as the physique is concerned.
But according to the scholars, the monster represents a lion.
Specifically, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
So, Jesus Christ, according to Christian tradition.
And the wormhole? Evil, of course. The Serpent in Paradise.
The battle scene thus represents the battle between good and evil.
And Jesus wins. Several of the snakes’ tails are transformed into lilies, which can symbolize salvation.
But the style, which occurred in parts of Northern Europe, can also be traced back to the British island of Lindisfarne. To the monastery that the Vikings attacked in 793 AD.
Books and articles are available online for those who want to know more about Urnes stave church and the Urnes style. Among other things, «The Urnes Project» – a collaboration between eleven researchers from Europe and the USA – has discovered many exciting things.
Thank you for your attention!
Tom Thowsen
TOM THOWSEN 