Jøssingfjorden is a
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
in
Sokndal municipality in
Rogaland
Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...
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 ...
. The long fjord is narrow and deep and is surrounded by mountains. It sits about southeast of the municipal centre of
Hauge. There is some settlement on the southeastern side of the fjord: the villages of
Li,
Vinterstø, and
Bu. There is a road that runs along the southeast coast of the fjord, with sharp hairpin turns leading down from the mountains to the shore of the fjord both heading north and south from the fjord.
The
Tellnes mine, one of Norway's largest
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
mines, is located in the mountains about northeast of the fjord. The mine is run by a company called ''Titania'', and the fjord is used as the shipping port for the company. The Nedre Helleren Power Plant is located at the head of the fjord. The electricity is generated by water from lakes located high in the mountains and the water is piped down to the sea level power plant the force of the falling water produces the electricity.
At the head of the fjord is the small ''Helleren'' farm which is now abandoned. It sits in a narrow valley with steep rock cliffs on two sides, a rock
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits.
The term ''scree'' is ap ...
on the third side, and the fjord on the fourth side. The base of one of the rock cliffs stops about above the ground forming a
rock shelter
A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long or wide, rock shelters are alm ...
, or ''heller'' (hence the name of the farm). The farm is preserved and is now owned by the
Dalane
Dalane is a traditional district in the southwestern part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Lund, Sokndal, Eigersund, and Bjerkreim. Dalane is one of the 15 districts in Western Norway. It sits to the southeast of the very flat ...
folk museum.
Jøssingfjord is a place of iconic importance in the history of Norwegian
anti-fascism.
Media gallery
Helleren Jøssingfjord.jpg, Head of the fjord
Jøssingfjorden.jpg, Head of the fjord, view of the shipping port
Vinterstø 20150621 111340.jpg, Looking towards the head of the fjord
Traditional houses at Helleren i Jøssingfjord, Norway.jpg, ''Helleren'' farm with two traditional houses from the 1800s built under the rock shelter
History
The fjord is well known as the location of the
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 ...
-era
''Altmark'' incident. On 16 February 1940, the British
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
managed to free prisoners taken by the from the .
After this incident in the Jøssingfjorden, the term ''Jøssing'' came to mean a Norwegian patriot, the opposite of a
Quisling (or traitor). The Norwegian collaborator government tried to neutralize their nickname ''Quislings'' by using the Jøssingfjord event to coin a derogatory term ''Jøssing'', referring to "anti-nazis". This attempt backfired, as it was quickly appropriated as a positive term by the Norwegian populace, and in 1943 the word was banned from official use. As a consequence, the best known
illegal Norwegian newspaper got its name from the same incident: ''Jøssingposten'' (''The Jøssing Post'').
See also
*
List of Norwegian fjords
References
External links
3D Satellite view of the ''Jøssingfjord'' at Live Virtual Earth 3DSatellite view of the ''Jøssingfjord'' at Google maps
{{authority control
Fjords of Rogaland
Sokndal