Kråkstad is a village and former municipality located in

Ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

municipality in

Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...

, Norway.

Overview

The parish of ''Kraakstad'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

was separated from Kråkstad July 1, 1931 - and the rest of Kråkstad was merged with Ski January 1, 1964. The village has 839 inhabitants (2006), and a train station on Indre Østfoldbanen. The Norwegian footballer

Martin Andresen Martin Andresen (born 2 February 1977) is a Norwegian former professional football player and manager, who played as a central midfielder. Club career Early career Andresen was born in Kråkstad. He was a regular on many Norway national youth ...

grew up in this village.

Mayhem

Members of the

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band

Mayhem Mayhem most commonly refers to: * Mayhem (crime), a type of crime Mayhem may also refer to: People * Monica Mayhem (born 1978), Australian pornographic actress * Jason "Mayhem" Miller, American mixed martial arts fighter * Mayhem Miller (dra ...

lived in a house near the village in the early 1990s, and became infamous when

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Dead Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

inside the house on 8 April 1991 by slitting his wrists and neck and then shooting himself in the forehead with a shotgun. Guitarist

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...

then took photographs of Dead's corpse, one of which became the cover of their

Dawn of the Black Hearts ''The Dawn of the Black Hearts'' (subtitled Live in Sarpsborg, Norway 28/2, 1990) is a bootleg live album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. The title originates from a line of lyrics Fenriz of Darkthrone wrote for the band. Despite b ...

album. Dead's suicide was said to cause "a change in mentality" in the black metal scene and was the first in a string of infamous events carried out by its members. The organ of Kråkstad Church, South Norway

Kråkstad Church

Kråkstad Church () is a parish church with its origins in the mid-1100s and has 200 seats. It was dedicated on 29 January to

Saints Peter and Paul Peter and Paul may refer to: * Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle considered together ** Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June in the Catholic liturgical calendar ** St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (disambiguation) * ''Peter and Paul'' (film), 1 ...

. The medieval church has a roughly square

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and narrow, short chorus. The structure is built from stones of uniform size and good cleavage. After a lightning strike and fire in 1801, only the walls remained and were badly damaged. The church was rebuilt with internal walls of smooth plaster. The timbered west tower was also built in 1882 with two bells which were recast after the fire of 1801. Apart from parts of the

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

, most of the interior decor is from 1882. The church organ is from J. H. Jørgensen and dated to 1943. There are some remains of an old

hillfort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

in the forest above Vientjern (a small lake), a few kilometers outside Kråkstad.

Etymology

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the old farm Kråkstad ( Norse ), since the first church was built there. The first element is an old river name (''*''), referring to the

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

; the last element is (homestead, farm). Until 1921 the name was written ''Kraakstad''.

References

External links

* Villages in Akershus Former municipalities of Norway {{akershus-geo-stub