Grip () is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

and deserted

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

Kristiansund Municipality Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of K ...

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

county,

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 ...

. It is located about northwest of the town of Kristiansund in the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

Grip Lighthouse The Grip Lighthouse () is located in the Grip archipelago in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The lighthouse was built between 1885 and 1888 on the high islet of ''Bratthårskollen'', north of Gripholmen. Description ...

, one of the tallest lighthouses in Norway, is located on one of the islands in the archipelago. The historic Grip Stave Church is located on the main island of Gripholmen. From 1897 until 1964, the islands were part of

Grip Municipality Grip () is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. With a land area of only and a population of between 100-200 people, Grip was one of the smallest municipalities in Norway during its existence from 1897 until it merged with ...

, but the islands were merged into

in 1964.

Archipelago

The Grip archipelago consists of 82

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

s and

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

about into the

northwest off the town of Kristiansund. The fishing village of Grip (no permanent residents) is located on Gripholmen, which is the largest and only habitable islet. On the south side of the fishing village is the main

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

, protected by two

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Breakwaters have been built since antiquity to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels from marine hazards ...

. The older and northern harbour is smaller and less protected. Other breakwaters protects the fishing village from large

ocean waves In fluid dynamics, a wind wave, or wind-generated water wave, is a surface wave that occurs on the free surface of Body of water, bodies of water as a result of the wind blowing over the water's surface. The contact distance in the wind directi ...

. The highest point is just above mean

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The Inngripan group of skerries lies about closer to Kristiansund, where a small storm shelter offered protection for

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

ed fishermen. The storm shelter has recently been restored. Since all the turf and vegetation on Gripholmen was removed to provide clean cliffs for drying cod there was little room for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Only a few tiny

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s remained. The inhabitants could keep one or two cows grazing on the nearby islet of Grønningen, and a few hens and pigs. After being depopulated in 1974, the islands are slowly revegetating.

Fishing village

The first indications of settlement at Grip is from the ninth century, where

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

settled close to the fishing grounds. Grip might because of that, be the oldest settlement in the

Nordmøre Nordmøre () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norway, Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. The area comprises the northern third of the county including the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Kristiansund Mu ...

district. Exports of fish from Norwegian fishing villages became important during the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. The Grip Stave Church is thought to have been constructed around 1470. The village belonged to the archbishop of Norway until 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 ...

in 1537, when king

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

seized all church properties in Norway.

Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

Hans Horneman in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

bought the islet from King Frederick IV in 1728 and the fishermen and their families became, in effect,

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

. The fishermen had to sell the catch to the merchants at a price decided by them later. This arrangement lasted until it was forbidden in 1893. The merchants, becoming

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

s, also bought most of the private properties.

Storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

s destroyed most of the fishing village in 1796 and again in 1804, leaving only the church and a few other houses. The first

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

s were constructed in 1882 and a harbor capable of landing small

ships A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

was not ready until 1950. The new harbour provided excessive materials which were used to create a small

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

. The

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

fluctuated for centuries, following the profitability of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, between 100 and 400 people. A now deserted village, it was once a busy place, when 2,000 fishermen could stay there during the height of the fishing season, when fishermen rowed and sailed to Grip from all over, to catch

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

. Centralization led to a declining population after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and Grip became deserted in 1974 when Hildur and Kasper Larsen left just before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. After being deserted, the old

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

s have become popular

summer house A summer house or summerhouse is a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed t ...

s, and in the summer Grip has 150-250 residents in 44 housing units, primarily the earlier population and their descendants in Kristiansund. The harbour is still a popular

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

for small

fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

s, and the village is a popular destination for

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

in Kristiansund. Beginning in 1895,

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...

between Grip and Kristiansund was established by

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

and in the period from 1914 to 1972 by

motorboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...

. Today a

passenger ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

connects Grip to Kristiansund in the summer season with one or two 30-minute crossings from the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

centre every day. When the diesel generator was started in 1950, the population was supplied with

electric energy Electrical energy is the energy transferred as electric charges move between points with different electric potential, that is, as they move across a potential difference. As electric potential is lost or gained, work is done changing the energy o ...

. The summer residents now get their

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

from 7:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night with two generators installed in the local

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, totaling 210 kVA power. The power station was privatized in 1992. The archipelago has

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

coverage from a

radio tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-m ...

in Kristiansund. There is no natural source of

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

, so the residents collect

rainwater Rain is a form of precipitation where water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Eart ...

, flush the

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...

s with

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

, and travel to town to do their

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

Infrared camera Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

s with a complete view of the village are monitored from the

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

in Kristiansund as fire protection. In 2011, the world's smallest

fire truck A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water t ...

was delivered, and the summer residents were trained in operating the equipment. The old schoolhouse has been turned into an

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, and one of the

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

s in the harbour and the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

's lodge serves as community houses.

Etymology

The name is first recorded in 1338 as "Gripar" () which is a plural form of the word (which makes sense since Grip is an archipelago). The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the name is uncertain, but it is maybe related to the Norse verb which means "catch", "seize", or "grip". If this is the case, then it probably refers to the catching of fish here.

Media gallery

File:Grip-Harbour-Kristiansund-Norway.jpg, The south harbour File:Grip-northside-Kristiansund-Norway.jpg, Houses on the north side File:Grip-Power-Station-Kristiansund-Norway.jpg, Grip power station File:Gripværingen-Grip-Kristiansund-Norway.jpg, The community house File:Gripstua-Grip-Kristiansund-Norway.jpg, The schoolhouse inn File:Grip-Stave-church-Norway.jpg, Grip Stave Church File:Altar-Grip-Stave-church-Norway.jpg, The altar and triptych File:Grip_fyr_3.jpg, Lighthouse with fishing village in background File:Fiskevaeret_Grip.jpg, The fishing village File:Grip_fyr.jpg, Grip lighthouse File:Bremsnesfjorden_og_Grip.JPG, Grip on the horizon seen from neighbour island

Archipelago

Fishing village

Etymology

Media gallery

References

External links