Jøssingfjorden is a
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...
in
Sokndal
Sokndal is the southernmost municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hauge. Other villages in Sokndal include Li, Rekefjor ...
municipality in
Rogaland
Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. The long fjord is narrow and deep and is surrounded by mountains. It sits about southeast of the municipal centre of
Hauge. There is some settlement on the southeastern side of the fjord: the villages of
Li,
Vinterstø, and
Bu. There is a road that runs along the southeast coast of the fjord, with sharp hairpin turns leading down from the mountains to the shore of the fjord both heading north and south from the fjord.
The
Tellnes mine
The Tellnes mine is one of the largest titanium mines in Europe. The mine is located about northeast of the Jøssingfjorden in Sokndal municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The mine has reserves amounting more than of ore grading 18% titani ...
, one of Norway's largest
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
mines, is located in the mountains about northeast of the fjord. The mine is run by a company called ''Titania'', and the fjord is used as the shipping port for the company. The Nedre Helleren Power Plant is located at the head of the fjord. The electricity is generated by water from lakes located high in the mountains and the water is piped down to the sea level power plant the force of the falling water produces the electricity.
At the head of the fjord is the small ''Helleren'' farm which is now abandoned. It sits in a narrow valley with steep rock cliffs on two sides, a rock
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...
on the third side, and the fjord on the fourth side. The base of one of the rock cliffs stops about above the ground forming a
rock shelter
A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
, or ''heller'' (hence the name of the farm). The farm is preserved and is now owned by the
Dalane
Dalane is a traditional district in the southwestern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund, and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway. It sits to the southeast of the very flat JÃ ...
folk museum.
Jøssingfjord is a place of iconic importance in the history of Norwegian
anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...
.
Media gallery
Helleren Jøssingfjord.jpg, Head of the fjord
Jøssingfjorden.jpg, Head of the fjord, view of the shipping port
Vinterstø 20150621 111340.jpg, Looking towards the head of the fjord
Traditional houses at Helleren i Jøssingfjord, Norway.jpg, ''Helleren'' farm with two traditional houses from the 1800s built under the rock shelter
History
The fjord is well known as the location of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
-era
''Altmark'' incident. On 16 February 1940, the British
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
managed to free prisoners taken by the from the .
After this incident in the Jøssingfjorden, the term ''Jøssing'' came to mean a Norwegian patriot, the opposite of a
Quisling
''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English meaning a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for ''traitor''. The word ori ...
(or traitor). The Norwegian collaborator government tried to neutralize their nickname ''Quislings'' by using the Jøssingfjord event to coin a derogatory term ''Jøssing'', referring to "anti-nazis". This attempt backfired, as it was quickly appropriated as a positive term by the Norwegian populace, and in 1943 the word was banned from official use. As a consequence, the best known
illegal Norwegian newspaper got its name from the same incident: ''Jøssingposten'' (''The Jøssing Post'').
See also
*
List of Norwegian fjords
References
External links
3D Satellite view of the ''Jøssingfjord'' at Live Virtual Earth 3DSatellite view of the ''Jøssingfjord'' at Google maps
{{authority control
Fjords of Rogaland
Sokndal