Hellig-Olav og trollet Sigge.

A long time ago Saint-Olav visited all parts of Norway, and wanted to convert the Norwegians from heathens to good Christian men. (In those days women and children were not important). He also visited Avaldsnes, on the island Karmøy. Before he left the place he wanted to give the parish a church where they could worship God. He wanted to give them a church built of stone and with a tower.

When the workers started building the church, they didn’t build as fast as the king wanted. Then a troll came to him, a troll that lived nearby, at Reheia, in one of the big mounds that still can be seen there. Saint-Olav made a deal with the troll that he should build a church made of stone, with a tower. As a reward the king should give him the sun and the moon, or the king’s own life. Trolls like this are fast workers and can build large buildings twice as fast as ordinary workers..

This troll that lived at Reheia, started building. And the work went much faster than the king had wished for. In one-two-three the church was nearly completed, only the tower was left to be built.

Saint-Olav was in big trouble. In the evening he despaired, next morning the church would be finished. He knew that in no way could he get hold of the sun and the moon. This was a matter of losing his own life! Well he went for a walk; he knew that in times of trouble it always helps to go for a walk. He walked up at the Reheia, to the area with the large mounds. From one of the largest mounds he could hear a child crying a mother singing. (It was the troll’s family). The song went like this:

So, ro, little child. Tomorrow will Sigge, your father, come. With sun and moon to his little child.

This was good news for the king, Saint Olav knew that if a troll was mentioned by its name by a Christian, it would burst. (Sometimes it would be turned into stone). He ran back to the royal estate and went to bed with peace in his mind.

Early next morning he got up, he walked to the church and he saw the troll standing on the church roof, ready to place the keystone in the dome. And as the troll was in the midst of placing the keystone, Saint-Olav called out:” Be careful now dear Sigge, I don’t think the keystone will find its place”. As the king mentioned the troll’s name, Sigge burst, turned into stone and fell with his head first and close to the church wall. He is still standing there, as the stone monument Virgin Mary’s Needle. 

The distance between the church wall and the stone is 9,2 cm, and we know that the day the stone touches the church wall Doomsday will come. It’s the day of Harmageddon.

Comment:

The legends about Saint-Olav and the troll exists in various versions, the two of them are responsible for several old stone churches in Norway. Avaldsnes is the only place I know of that the troll is related to Harmageddon, from time to time I go for a walk and check if the distance is still 9,2 cm.