Kvernberget (literally "Mill Cliff" or "Mill Mountain") is a barren mountain formation with a maximum elevation of . The mountain is located on the island of

Nordlandet Nordlandet is an island in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located just east of the city center of Kristiansund, and is one of the boroughs of the city. The island is home to Kristiansund Airport, Kve ...

on the western edge of the town of Kristiansund in Kristiansund Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

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 ...

. Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget, which sits nearby, takes its name from the mountain. For a number of years, Kvernberget and the surrounding area have been popular for

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and simple

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

activities, and the summit is Kristiansund's most popular hiking destination. From the summit, much of the Nordmøre district of

county may be seen in fair weather. A drinking water reservoir is located inside the mountain.

Navigation

By the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, there was already a need to navigate the ocean north of Nordmøre, a long time before 1742, the year Kristiansund became a town. The most important urban area of Nordmøre in the Middle Ages was the fishing village of Grip, an island in the ocean north of Kristiansund. For the fishermen in the area, it was important to find their regular fishing places, so they observed the land and used mountains such as ''Kvernberget'' and other landmarks to find their way.

History

Løwenørn, a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

mariner, described this part of the Norwegian coast in 1791–1803. He tells that Kvernberget was used by the navigators onboard ships just outside Trondheimsleia. He mentions all the mountains on shore: Skarven (on

Tustna Tustna is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Gullstein. The municipality is located in the present-day Aure Municipality. The municipality included the main islands of Tus ...

), Stemshesten, ''Magnillberget'', Freikollen, ''Quærn-Bierget'' (an old-fashioned way to spell Kvernberget), and ''Plak-Myssen''.

Name

The name ''Kvernberget'' is probably a thousand years old, and refers to the mountain's resemblance to a medieval Quern-stone of a form which is still used in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

today. Fishermen working in the sea off of the island and fishing village of Grip navigated by the mountain, which they named after the tool they had at home, the hand mill for grinding

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

. A lot of mountains along the Norwegian shore are obviously named because they look like something. ''Bjønnahaugen'' (the bears hill), on

in Kristiansund, looks like a sleeping bear. On Averøya, west of Kristiansund, is a mountain that is called ''Bremsneshatten'', which is thought to look like a hat. Løwenørn calls it ''Plak-Myssen'' (a kind of seal), in the Middle Ages it was probably Brimill. The mountain looks like the head of a seal sticking out of the seabed.

References

{{authority control Mountains of Møre og Romsdal Kristiansund