Svanøy (also called Svanøyna and Brulandet) is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the municipality of

Kinn Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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 island is located in the

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the souther ...

district of the county. The island lies just to the west of the mainland, in the mouth of the Førdefjorden. The Brufjorden runs along the north and east sides of the island and the Stavfjorden runs along the south side of the island. The island of

Askrova Askrova is an island in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located along the Brufjorden, near the mouth of the Førdefjorden, about northwest of the island of Svanøya. Askrova sits about southwest of the town of Florø and ab ...

lies about northwest of Svanøy. The island of Svanøy is heavily forested with many hills and small mountains. On Svanøy, there are plants and trees that usually are not found on the west coast of Norway, such as

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

. The tall mountain Vågsfjellet is the highest mountain on the island. The boat to

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is No ...

runs several times every day from Svanøybukt. Olaf cross at Svanøy, 1912

History

A stone cross was erected at Brandsøy on the mainland in honor of

St. Olaf Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpet ...

, and later it was moved to the island. There is a sacrificial place from the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

on the north-east side of the island. The Viking,

Eirik Bloodaxe Eric Haraldsson ( non, Eiríkr Haraldsson , no, Eirik Haraldsson; died 954), nicknamed Bloodaxe ( non, blóðøx , no, Blodøks) and Brother-Slayer ( la, fratrum interfector), was a 10th-century Norwegian king. He ruled as King of Norway from ...

, was allegedly born on the island. The island was historically called ''Brulandet'', and it is now called ''Svanøy''. The name comes from the Bishop

Hans Svane Hans Svane (Svaning) (27 March 1606 – 26 July 1668) was a Danish statesman and clergy member of the Church of Denmark. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1635 and Bishop of the Diocese of Zealand from 1655 until his death. ...

who owned the main farm and manor on the island from 1662—1685. Since that time, it has been known as Svanøy (lit. "the island of Svane"), although ''Brulandet'' is still one of the official names of the island. Bru Church was located on the island from the 12th century until the 1872, serving the ''Bru'' parish (named after the old name for the island). In 1872, the church was torn down and the new

Stavang Church Stavang Church ( no, Stavang kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Stavang. It is the main church for the Bru parish which is part of the Sunnfjord prost ...

was built on the mainland to serve the parish.

References

External links

Visiting Svanøy
Islands of Vestland Kinn {{Vestland-island-stub

History

See also

References

External links