Eiker is a traditional district in the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

History

Eiker consists of the

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Nedre Eiker and Øvre Eiker. The area is located in the southern part of Buskerud county. Eiker is an agricultural area with a long history. The area was first inhabited around 8000 BC. During the early

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

, Eiker was the western extension of the kingdom of Vingulmark. Somewhat later, it became part of the kingdom of

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

. The parish of ''Eker'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

). It was divided into Nedre Eiker and Øvre Eiker on 1 July 1885. Fiskum gamle kirke 02

Fiskum Old Church

Fiskum Old Church (''Fiskum gamle kirke'') is located in Øvre Eiker near the village of Darbu. It is a

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

, Romanesque church dating from approximately 1200 A.D. The church was dedicated to

Saint Olav Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

. Fiskum Old Church was constructed in a rectangular shape and has 150 seats. The church was built of stone fracture in lime mortar and plastered inside. After the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, Fiskum Church came under Haug Church at Haugsbygd. In 1866 the new Fiskum Church was built and the old church no longer had any official function. Externally, the church has preserved much of its medieval appearance. Inside the church reflects an expansion dating from the 17th century.

Etymology

The

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name was ''Eikjar''. The name is the plural form of ''eik'' which means oak. Haugen, Einar (1967) Norwegian-English Dictionary (University of Wisconsin Press)

References

Other sources

*''Fiskum Old Church'' (Ringerike-Drammen District Lag. Volume 24, No.1, February 2010) {{Authority control Districts of Buskerud Former municipalities of Norway Øvre Eiker