Articles

Introduction

With the introduction of Christianity to Norway in the 10th and 11th centuries, churches of different sizes and forms were built. Some may have been made partly of stones, some wooden buildings had earth-bound posts, and some had their lower construction set on a frame. Even though the wooden churches had structural differences, they give a recognizable general impression. Formal differences may hide common features of their planning; while apparently similar buildings may turn out to have their structural elements organized differently. Certain basic principles must have been common to all types of building. Basic geometrical figures, numbers that were easy to work with, one or just a few length units and simple ratios, and perhaps proportions as well were among the theoretical aids all builders inherited. The specialist was the man who knew a particular type of building so well that he could systematize its elements in a slightly different way from what was the case in the buildings known hitherto, thus carrying developments a stage further. My research has been concentrated on the planning and design of the early wooden churches, especially in Norway.

Summary of articles

Fra en omvisning i Gol stavkirke
(A Guided Tour in Gol Stave Church)
Middelalderforum, nr.2/ 1996: 15-23.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
The paper describes how the wooden church from Gol in Buskerud was bought by the king in 1884, and reconstructed in the Folk Museum in Oslo. In spite of all changes in the building through the centuries, the architect Waldemar Hansteen was able to reconstruct most parts. Where original parts were missing, he copied forms and sizes from Borgund stave church. The paper discusses some of the problems arising when moving an old church away from its original setting and into a museum.

Innvielsesrituale for trekirke
(Ordo for dedication of a wooden church)
Hikuin, vol. 24, 1997: 83-98.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
In the literature of the medieval wooden churches it has been suggested that it was contrary to Canon Law to raise churches entirely of wood, that the Roman Church demanded the use of stone as the main material. Even if it has been an established practice to build in stone, there seems to be no documentation showing that such a rule was even given as an order. An Irish Ordo from before 900 CE for the dedication of a wooden church is translated and commented on. The Ordo shows that wooden churches were given the same ritual as those in stone.

Var det krav om høye stavkirker i middelalderen?
(Was it a requirement to build lofty stone churches in the Middle Ages?)
Viking, vol. LX, 1997: 85-94.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
The paper discusses three interrelated questions pertaining to the building of churches in the Middle Ages. Firstly, were there ever any ecclesiastic regulations stipulating that churches should be built of stone? The answer given in this paper is no; there is nothing in the liturgy or Canonic Law that states this as a requirement. There were, however, traditions for modelling churches on Solomon’s Temple, and on Mediterranean building practices in general. The second question raised is whether churches had to be tall based on liturgical demands. The answer suggested here is also negative, as the liturgy was primarily focused on the celebration of the Eucharist at the altar. The extreme hights to which many cathedrals were built were condemned an expression of vanity and greed by members of the Church who adhered to a more puristic and apostolic view of Christianity. Thirdly, the more recent allegory of the nave as a lofty forest is dismissed as having no basis in medieval Christian thought.

Røldal stavkirke eller…?
(Røldal – Stave Church or what…?)
Viking, vol. LXI, 1998: 131-145.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
In this article the stave church of Røldal is discussed. In form and construction the church resembles other stave churches in Norway, but its details and overall construction has made it difficult to place typologically; it resembles the Finneloft building at Voss. The church is usually dated to the 14th century. The construction of the lower part of the church is discussed, and the author puts forward the hypothesis that the church originally had corner posts dug into the ground. If so, at least two of these wooden posts survived in their originally state until 1913. This would contradict the assumption that wooden posts set in the ground lose their capacity to bear the superstructure after a short period of time due to rot. The idea is put forward that the building represents a profane type of construction that was in use before, during and after the time of the other stave churches.

Research in Medieval, Norwegian wooden Churches, relevance of Available Sources
Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 13, nr. 4, 2000: 7-23.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in English.
This paper points out that there are several sources available to answer questions posed to a medieval building, and that the sources have different potentials. The question is asked what sources may be of interest for the study of medieval church planning and design. Of the sources available three main groups may be described, that is normative, descriptive and attributive texts, drawings and models. For the history of planning, design and building, however, the archaeological and the building remains are direct, original sources in the absence of the building proper. Finally, the standing buildings represent the richest source for the architect/building historian. If physical objects and texts are examined according to their innate characteristics then, the combination may broaden the knowledge of planning and design of the early wooden churches of Norway.

Hvorfor ble kirkegårder velsignet?
(Why were churchyards blessed?)
Hikuin, vol. 27, 2000: 57-66.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
The question asked in this article is why churches were dedicated and churchyards were solemnly blessed in the Middle Ages. Five possible reasons are proposed. Firstly because a possible pagan place of worship had to be purified by exorcism and blessing before it was suitable for Christian worship. Secondly, because a priest was not allowed to celebrate mass in a church before the altar was dedicated to God in the name of a Saint. By this action the whole place was reserved for Christian worship perpetually. Thirdly, because the dedication ceremony was meant to create awe and respect for the holy place so fugitives seeking sanctuary should be left unharmed. Fourthly, because the public and circumstantial rite was meant to make visible the transfer of property, and the new property boundaries. Finally, because the ritual should inculcate into the public respect for the property of the Church. Dedication of churches and solemnly blessing of churchyards were therefore both mean and aim. The aim was to promote respect for the site and the people residing there. The mean was to create awe by connecting it to holiness. In a predominant oral culture this had to be done by actions and statements.

“Stavkirkeprekenen” som bygningshistorisk kilde
(The Stave-church Sermon as a source for building history)
Fortidsminneforeningen, Årbok 2001: 91-96.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
This paper discusses a 12th-century Icelandic/Norwegian homily, for the day of dedication of a church. It is known as The Stave-church Sermon since the text gives a multilevel allegorical explanation of different parts and elements of a wooden church building. While the rite of dedication of a church was normative, the homily belongs to a different tradition. The impression is that the description of the various parts of a wooden church is not a documentation of a specific edifice, may not be even a type of church. The church described cannot be placed topographically, nor can it be dated or placed typologically. Building elements known to a 12th century congregation are mentioned in order to illustrate the Scripture. The importance of the homily for the building historian is the use of terminology connected to parts of wooden buildings.

Trekirkene før stavkirkene. En undersøkelse av planlegging og design av kirker før ca. år 1100
Avhandling for graden dr.ing. Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo.
(Wooden churches before the stave churches. An investigation into the planning and design of churches prior to c. 1100 CE. Dissertation for the Degree of Dr.ing. Oslo School of Architecture.)
Abstract in English. Abstract in Norwegian.

From Vitruvius to Alberti: Systematic Thinking in medieval church design. Paper submitted at the conference: (Theorising) History in Architecture and Design,  at Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo, 25th-27th April 2003.
Sammendrag på norsk. Full text in English.
Some 1500 years after Vitruvius the Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti wrote his On The Art Of Building In Ten Books. Medieval scholars educated in literary traditions describe churches outwardly and superficial. The builders tested different hypotheses for solutions in design and construction without writing down and elaborating them methodologically. Therefore it could not be called a theory proper; but rather an architectural sub-theory. The paper concludes that the builders' praxis was rejected by scholarly discourse, but that craftsmen with their sub-theory did not require written discourses to initiate, fund, plan, design, construct and develop the buildings that were required.

The "Inverse Design problem" In Medieval Wooden Churches of Norway.
At the 6^th Asian Design International Conference in Tsukuba, Japan, 14-17 October 2003.
Sammendrag på norsk. Full text in English.
This paper discusses the "inverse design problem": how to reconstruct the original design principles in medieval wooden churches of Norway. In Northern Europe, many of the early medieval churches were of wood and the principal load-bearing elements consisted of earth-bound posts. Norse traders, raiders and craftspeople became acquainted with Christianity in the 8^th and 9^th centuries, if not earlier. So, before the arrival of the first missionaries to Scandinavia, Norse craftsmen may have known how to plan, design and construct churches. In the early 12^th century, the most common way of building churches in Norway was with the posts/staves on low foundations of stone. The medieval craftsman had his knowledge of form transferred mnemonically by words and actions from other carpenters; no design manual seems to have been left. The direct design problems may have had some possible solutions, one of which was established in plan and elevation. Attention to measurements and ratios was obviously essential to ensuring an easy and sound construction. The modern building archaeologist, however, has to solve the "inverse design problem": how to extrapolate from the existing solutions the lengths and ratios back to several possible options. The options are contingent on different materials, static necessities, economy, Biblical symbolism, sub-Euclidean geometry and vernacular building traditions. The paper proposes a way to circumvent the inverse design problem in a research situation, exemplified in the medieval wooden churches of Norway. Even if this problem may not have a solution in a strict sense, the probability of one selected option to another has to be discussed and evaluated before one elaborates a hypothetical design system.

Grunnforskning på grunnstokker. For en nysgjerrighetsdrevet kirkeforskning
Fortidsminneforeningen, Årbok 2004, vol. 158: 137-140
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
The Department for the Environment through its Directorate for Cultural Heritage is responsible for the heritage management of churches, but there appears to be no authority with responsibility for the long-term development of competence and professional research on the structural archaeology of the churches. Building up and maintaining the research environment in this field should be a public undertaking, but neither architect training nor any university institute offers professional courses in building archaeology with regard to medieval churches. What can be done about this?

Preken fra en takstol, bokanmeldelse av: Ola Storsletten: Takene taler. Norske takstoler 1100-1350, klassifisering og opprinnelse. Del I, 444 s., del II, 314 s. CON.TEXT, avhandling 10, Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo 2002.
Fortidsminneforeningen, Årbok 2004, vol. 158: 189-192
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.
Ola Storsletten, civil architect, dr.ing., and research officer at NIKU, has published a work on the known medieval roof structures in Norway. On the basis of an extensive systematization of the documentation he considers the origins of the tie-beams in the stone-built churches and the stave-churches. The reviewer is critical about the range and disposition of the material, the somewhat unclear presentation of the problems, and the subsequent vague conclusions. However, the many clear, reliable and informative drawings and the comprehensive descriptions make the work a valuable foundation for further research on the roof structures of medieval churches in Norway.

De tidlige trekirkenes planlegging og design
(Planning and Design of the Early Wooden Churches. A Contribution to a Theory.)
Hikuin, vol. 30, (2003), 2005: 95-101.
Abstract in Norwegian. Full text in Norwegian.

For more than 160 years, researchers have conducted investigations into the churches which existed before the stave churches in Norway, and they have pointed out possible prototypes both at home and abroad. However, theories relating to origins often deal only with external form. In my dissertation (Jensenius 2001) the conclusion reveals that church building was part of an experience-based tradition wherein knowledge about the buildings' visible and invisible order (measurements) was transferred from prototypes through imitation of a series of actions.

Hvor ble det av proporsjonsbegrepet i arkitekturen?
(Where are the proportions in architecture gone?)
Nordisk Arkitekturforskning, vol. 19, No. 2. 2006: 81-93.
Sammendrag på norsk. Full text in Norwegian (PDF).

The article discusses the notion proportional systems and asks if they have relevance for today. “Proportion” is traced back in time to the history of arithmetic and geometry. The numbers and ratios, fulfilling practical needs for reckoning quantity in planning and design, were idealized as “perfect” numbers and ratios by the theorists. Very seldom, craftspeople wrote down their constructive mathematics, based on their experiences. The axiomatic theoretical mathematics, often intermixed with speculative, cosmological variants, belong to a tradition calling itself universal, abstract and general. The paper concludes that systems of proportions may be used, with or without adhering to a neoplatonic worldview.

Lorentz Dietrichsons ”De norske stavkirker”: en klassiker.
Viking, bind LXIX – 2006: 275-288.
Sammendrag på norsk. Full text in Norwegian (PDF).

This article discusses some of the underlying premises in Prof. Lorentz Dietrichson’s great classic “De Norske Stavkirker” (The Norwegian Stave Churches) from 1892. In this book, he made an invaluable contribution to the research on these buildings, as he collected and systematized the large material, seen as an important part of Norwegian cultural history. His investigation made it clear that stave churches were also in fact an independent section of the European architectural inheritage. However, the author points out that Dietrichson had few models for his investigations, and that contemporary scholars abroad hardly knew about these buildings. Dietrichson’s conclusions therefore were both subjective and controversial. But his rhetorical power, his wide reading, and his extensive travels made his book difficult to discuss or contradict on a specialist basis. Everyone who wished to study these churches has always had to relate to Dietrichson’s presentations, and his interpretations of the buildings. This has led to a certain tired stagnation within the research activity. The article points out an alternative interpretation of the churches, which may lead to new conceptions.

Staver som brytes og kirker som faller
Vedlikehold og rivning av kirker i middelalderen
(Broken columns and falling churches.
Maintenance and demolition of churches in Medieval times.)
Kirke og Kultur, nr. 5/2007: 418-429.
Norsk sammendrag. Full text in Norwegian (PDF).

In the last years it has been a discussion about how to maintain churches from the last hundred year, when they no longer are in demand or in a poor condition. Sale or alteration of the pattern of utilization of the building or change in purpose for which the building is used, has been proposed. Some have reacted to this, since it seems too dramatic just to tear a holy church down. The paper, with a design historical approach, asks how the Church in the Middle Ages practiced maintenance and demolition of consecrated buildings in Norway.