The Wild Telemark region has experienced great changes throughout its history. But long ago and for many centuries, the area was a haven for Norsemen, known as the Vikings during their three-century period of exploration. During that time, the strength of the region was in Heitradair, now Heddal, the site of the Heddal Stave Church just a few kilometres outside of Notodden.

 

The mercantile influence of the Vikings cannot be underestimated, notably as a result of the export of whetstone from Eidsborg in West Telemark, an important commodity found throughout Europe, as well as the iron mining on the Hardangervidda in Vinje.

 

Their spirit lives on here today, all over the Wild Telemark.  They have left their mark and their legacy, in the legends and stories and the unmistakable Sagas.

 

All over the world, people have now embraced the legacy of the Viking through film and creative stories. Now, The Wild Telemark is poised to bring the real stories of the real Vikings.

 

Vikings legacy, to be experienced