Tafjorden is an inner branch of the

Norddalsfjorden Norddalsfjorden is a branch off of the main Storfjorden in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is located in Fjord Municipality and a small part is also in Stranda Municipality. The fjord is long, when you include the Tafjorden arm th ...

/ Storfjorden in Fjord Municipality in Møre og Romsdal 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 the ...

. It is part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

West Norwegian Fjords The West Norwegian Fjords is the common name of two fjords in Norway listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO: the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord. Geography Location The World Heritage Site consists of two areas 120 km apart, loca ...

. The

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, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

is located southeast of the village of Sylte, the municipal center of Norddal Municipality. The small village of

Tafjord Tafjord is a village in Fjord Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is in a valley located at the end of the Tafjorden, about southeast of the municipal centre of Sylte, and just west of the borders of Reinheimen Nation ...

is located at the end of the long Tafjorden. The only road leading to the rather isolated village of Tafjord goes through the long Heggur Tunnel plus several other smaller tunnels on the northern shore of the fjord.

History

When

Olaf II of Norway 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 Per ...

fled up the Storfjorden to escape the forces of Canute the Great, he and his men journeyed up the fjord until he passed through the Norddalsfjorden and reached the Tafjorden. From there they passed north up the

Valldalen Valldalen (or sometimes just ''Valldal'') is a valley in Fjord Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located north of the Norddalsfjorden. The village of Sylte, Norddal, Sylte (which is also called Valldal) is located at the end ...

valley and across the mountains to

Lesja Lesja is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is village of Lesja. Other villages in the municipality include Bjorli, Lesjaskog, L ...

on his way to exile in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. On 7 April 1934, a landslide of about of rock fell off the mountain Langhamaren from a height of about . The rock landed in the Tafjorden which created a local

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

which killed 40 people living on the shore of the fjord. The waves reached a height of near the landslide, about at Sylte, and about at

. It was one of the worst natural disasters in Norway in the 20th century.

References

Fjords of Møre og Romsdal Fjord (municipality) {{MøreRomsdal-geo-stub

History

See also

References