A CHANGE OF NAME

Waipawa Mail, Volume LI, Issue 38, 13 December 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

A CHANGE OF NAME

TRONDHJEM TO NIDAROS

ANCIENT VIKING CAPITAL ANG R V DEMONSTRATIONS The former Norwegian capital has lately been brought into prominence by an enactment of the legislation this year —by which it reverts to its ancient name: “Nidaros” —the enactment to com c into force next year. It will be recalled that the present capital (Oslo) underwent a similar re-baptism .some years ago.

Ji would be inaccurate to say rhat these changes take place without friction and by the unanimous consent of the people. Angry demonstrations have accompanied the change and threatening appeals to th c Government, to have the enactment rescinded, but without success. Sea Rovers’ Capital. Trondhjem, or, as it was then called, “Nidaros,” is tli L . ancient capital of the vikings—the dauntless sea rovers who were at one time the dread of northern Europe. Trondhjcin, the present, name of the town, denotes the home of tjje throne, as it was, and is stiil, in the cathedral of th c town that the coronation ceremony takes place when a king is to be crowned. The purpose of the proposed change of nam e is to get rid, as fir as possible, of any traces that remind the people of the time when their country was iu subjection to the Danes.

Trondhjem lies about 3| days 1 distance by sea from the English coast. Th chief port of departure from England, for passenger steamers is from Newcastle. The passage over the North Sea to Bergen direct takes hardly more now than 24 hours. Passengers proceeding further north to Trondhjem. or to the North Cape, disembark at Bergen, and take one of the line steamers of the Nordenfjcldske Steamship Company, whose headquarters are at Trondhjem. Trondhjem is the third town of Norway in point of commercial importance, coming after Bergen, which follows Christiania (Oslo), the present capital. Thu town eonkiins about 60,000 inhabi tants. It is wtuated on the fjord of the same name, and surrounded by high hills, which can hardly be called mountains. In the town itself there i • not a great deal beyond the cathedral for the visitors to see. The first view of the town, however, ft olll the deck of the approaching steamer is sufficiently striking. Though ii many ways up-to date, and possessed of several tine modern buildings, it. is hardly likely cvet to become modern, and. so far as one can see, lias no particular desire to become so. Jt dates back to the year 997. The town is laid out on generous lines, resulting in a certain impression o' spaciousness, absent from Bergen, though less now since the great lire of a few years ago. “Stiftsgiiarden.” Besides the cathedral, which is the clowning glory of the town, there is tlm Royal Palace (“ Stiftsgaardcn ’ ’), the residence of the King and Queen when they visit Trondhjem, which is rarely more than once a year and then tli King only. The royal residence is reputed to be I he largest in Scandinavia. This is its almost sole claim to distinction, as it possesses no striking architectural feature. When the King is not in residence it is open to the public. It contains much old furniture, tapestries, and pictures of great interest to those whose thoughts live in the past, which would leave a somewhat small percentage of thc population interested in such tilings. An object of interest to the tourist i s the Lerfossen Waterfalls outside the town. These consist of an upper aud

i lower falls. Motor-cars run to and ; from thc falls at regular intervals. i During the winter months they are -frozen, hanging over the cliffs in gi■’vfjc ice-crystals. In summer, when W rife which feeds the falls i s swollen by melting snows from the volume of water pouring i ovei thc cliffs is not a negligible quan tity. Nor is the depth of th c falls inconsiderable, and the dull, continuous thunderous sound can be heard a long way off. A cafe overlooks, almost overhangs, the falls, and here an agreeable hour may be spent before return ing to the town. The Norwegians, by xtfctaM&.Yi are expert in the art of nmk- - •iiig-coii.". In proportion to its population, Nomay is one of thc best customers of coffee-producing countries. Memorial Cathedral. Tlie cathedral in Trondhjem was elected as a memorial to the martyrking Olaf Jlaraldsson, who carried into effect the christening of the Norwegian people. The cathedral at first consisted of a little chapel, which in 1030 was built beside a medicinal spring that had its rise beside St. Olaf’s bur ini place. This spring still exists insiuo the wall of th 0 high chancel of ;iic cathedral. In the year 1070 St. Olaf’s nephew, King Olaf Kyrrie, established a bishop’s see iu Trondhjem, and built a lied nil church, wherein he deposited .he shrine which previously had been lodged in other churches in the town, setting it over the high altar of the cathedral. Th,. Pope’s legate, an Englishman, visited Norway in 1152, founded the archicpiscopal see in Truidhjcm, and advanced thc cathedral to the rank of metropolitan church in the Norwegian provinc c of Catholic Christianity. The province consisted of eleven bishoprics. The cathedral, as it then was, became steadily enlarged and rebuilt, aud became the largest and most splendid of all the churches in Norway. Lt was famed far and wide on account of St. Olaf’s saintliness, and was visited by pilgrims from the whole >f northern Europe. Thc church and arehiepiscopal sec owned great possessions, derived income from landed estates, and received tribute and gifts. Thc archbishop was the first man in the kingdom beside the king.

National Independence. The history of the building of the cathedral, as it now stands, extends from the year 1152 to 1328. In 1183 it was reformed and enlarged by Archbishop Eystein. In 1230 Archbishop Sigurd began to enlarge and rebuild the unfinished Roman wing in high GqVitr ; %tj4e v .f The west front was erected iu 1248, and was decorated with gilded sculptures of the apostles and other saints, in several rows. Of these only the lowest. ar c partly remaining as one cf th best witnesses of the high state of ecclesiastical sculptural art in the country - in the Middle Ages. Th e cathedral was approaching completion when it wa. destroyed by fire in .1328. In the Norwegian retrograde time the archbishops were unable to maintain groat building in repair. In 1424 the wing stood without a roof, and after the church was again burnt in 14.32 (71451) and 1531, only thc cross wing and chancel were kept in repair, while thc wing remained a ruin up to the present time. $n Norway regaining its national indepfficteiiccs/iii the 19th century the rebuilding of the Trondhjem Cathedral in its original form became a matter of national concern. The rich find of fragment!; from the ruined parts rendered possible the solution of the archaeological part of the task with pious care.

The west, wing has become almost completely re-roofed, and the work of restoration in all parts of thc cathedral is being hurried on, with a view to its being entirely completed by the year 1930. It will then undoubtedly be one of the finest ecclesiastical structures in Europe.