Seljord Hotel & Geotourism

Seljord has a beautiful setting with breathtaking scenery and an exciting cultural life. Guests can find both peace and quiet here, or plenty of activities and adventure – you may even solve the mystery of the Seljord sea serpent.

The area has a number of idyllic villages, hamlets and farms rich in nature and culture and with a variety of activities. The landscape here provides for plenty of adventure, both summer and winter. High mountain plain and peaks, lakes, reindeer, grouse and mountain trout contrast with gentle lowlands with deep, mystic waters. Seljordsvatnet lake hides more than most know. It is said to be home to a sea serpent, and both young and old believe this to be true. So if you have ever dreamt of catching sight of a sea serpent, pay a visit to Seljord.

Seljord is a lively and well-developed centre with a wide range of commerce. There is also a great variety of art and culture with concerts, theatre and art exhibitions.

There is so much to choose from in Seljord – the perfect setting for an active holiday. The Seljord lake is great for swimming and other water sports.

We have a wide network of contacts with small-scale companies providing guided tours, some of which sell the goods they produce.
The chefs at Seljord Hotel use, where possible, produce from local agriculture.

Seljord Church
A stone church in the Romantic style, built during the 12th century and consecrated to Olav the Holy. There is a stone carving of a face in the north-west corner of the church and legend has it that this portrays the holy king. There is also a legend which claims that the church was built by a goblin. Once the building had been completed, the goblin fell from the roof and died. On the spot where he fell, even today, no grass grows. The altarpiece dates back to 1588 and the baptismal font is from the 17th century. A comprehensive restoration project was initiated and administered by the Directorate of Cultural Heritage in 1972. Guided tours during the summer.

Flatdal Church
Flatdal Church is a long church built in 1654. This site was previously home to a stave church. In 1923, the crucifix, altarpiece and baldachin from the old church were collected and placed in the church, thanks to bishop Bernt Støylen. Flatdal Church is nearby the village of Flatdal, a picturesque and protected village on idyllic low-lying lands.

Mandal Chapel is a timber long church, consecrated in 1954. In 1863, Ole Bringen, then 16 years old, travelled from Mandal to America. In 1947, he sent a letter to the priest in Seljord enclosing 8000 dollars which he wanted to be spent on building a church in Mandal.

Åmotsdal Church is a timber, clad cruciform church, consecrated in 1792, built on the site of a former stave church. The church was built by Jarand Rønjom, a versatile artist and craftsman from Åmotsdal.

Hjartdal old vicarage
In 1963, the 16th century Holm vicarage was moved from Hjartdal to Nutheim. The building has been restored and returned to a setting which is historically genuine pre 1863, when the building was a residence for clergymen. This building is rich with history, the threads of which have been cleverly sewn together by artist Erlend Grøstad.
The building is used as a residence, but also in connection with courses in painting held in Nutheim.

When the vicarage was moved to Nutheim, Grøstad believed that it would be natural for the building to have a chapel. So a chapel was built in the cellar. The chapel is in use today for religious festivals, christenings, weddings and religious conferences, where guests stay at the hotel.

Eva Bull Holtes Museum and Sneie crofter’s farm in Åmotsdal
Eva Bull Holte was born on 15 January 1922 and died on 15 February 1993. She is buried in Åmotsdal. She and her husband purchased the Sneie crofter’s farm in Åmotsdal in the 1950s. They then started their collection of old log buildings to accompany those already on the farm.
Eva Bull Holte gained inspiration from many of the landscapes of Åmotsdal, but also from other parts of West Telemark. In her later years however, sites from Åmotsdal are more frequent in her works.
Eva Bull Holte was educated at Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole in Oslo (1940-44), Statens Kunstakademi (1946-49) and Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (1948-52).  Among her teachers were Per Krohg and Jean Heiberg.
Cézanne in particular was one of the painters who inspired Eva Bull Holte.
The Norwegian National Gallery, Bergen Billedgalleri, Riksgalleriet, Norges Bank, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Arts Council of Norway, The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D. C. and Collection Leon Hess in New York have all purchased Eva Bull Holte’s works of art.

On Saturday 12 June 1999, the art museum at Sneie in Åmotsdal was officially opened by the county governor of Telemark. The former CEO of Hydro, Johan B. Holte, met the costs of the museum. Seljord municipality runs the museum in cooperation with the board of directors for the memorial fund set up for Eva Bull Holte. In 2003, the museum was extended with a separate exhibition room for guest artists.

Åmotsdal handicrafts studio
In the summer of 2005, Åmotsdal handicrafts studio moved into a new building facing the museum on the road up towards Sneie. Sale of handicrafts and artwork and traditional fare.

The artists’ hotel, Nutheim Gjestgiveri – from 1877.
Galleri Nutheim opened in 1978 and has exhibitions of artists connected to Flatdal. Nutheim Gjestgiveri opens its doors to bus tourists, providing delicious meals and guided tours of the area’s attractions.

Dyrskuplassen festival site
Seljord is known internationally as a site for events. The Dyrsku festival has been held at Dyrskuplassen site every year since 1866. During the second weekend in September, around 75,000 people visit the annual cattle show and agricultural exhibition, which is one of the largest events of its kind in Norway. Dyrskuplassen is also the arena for Scandinavia’s largest country music festival, dance band festival, accordion festival and a number of other events and gatherings. Dyrskuplassen is the name of the festival site and it has an idyllic location between high mountains, approx. 1 km from Seljord centre. For information on hiring the site, contact Dyrsku’n arr. AS.

Lakshøl
A watercolour painting by S.O. Wolff from 1882 shows that there was only one mill on each side of the waterfall in Lakshøl at that time. The oldest of these mills is thought to be the one on the Venås side of the fall. It is written: “The mills are known as Qværn and there are 76 of them, of which only the Laxhøl and Herrefoss mills run all year round”. In 1787, Olav Kristianson Garvik lived in Øvland in Krokan and received the silver medal from the then Danish ministry of agriculture for opening the mill and saw mill at Lakshøl.

In later times: Sudigard Bjørge owned 1/3 of the rights to the waterfall and nordre Øverland owned 2/3. The fall splits into two and is divided as described above (see the fall channel). Bjørge owned the top building with the mill and saw mill (with the mill on the top floor). The rest of the buildings belonged to Øverland. First is the red mill (with drying room). The remains of these buildings can still be seen today, including machines and equipment. One man had his employment at the mill. The drying room was used for flour for food. The different types of flour were ground and sorted in the many different chutes you can still see. There are also lifting machines for sacks and a railway to drive goods in and out of the buildings.

A planing mill and sawmill are located below the mill. Six men worked the plane, but the planing mill and sawmill were not operational at the same time. At that time, both the planing mill and sawmill were quite modern. During the busiest periods, 12-13 men would work here.

During the 1930s, Eivind Øverland purchased a generator and built the power station, providing electricity all the way to Øverlandsgrendi. 3-4 light bulbs for each farm were quite an innovation! Initially, the power station was only used to provide lighting at the Lakshøl mill. The rest of the equipment was powered by the water. During the construction of the Sundsbarm power station, the flow of water to Lakshøl power station was reduced. Consequently, the owner received compensation and was granted free power for all operations at Lakshøl mill.
In 1981, Sundsbarm sold the turbine and generator to a private individual in Vinjesvingen.

Selstadloftet in Koparvollen – Medieval loft from 1200-1300.
Visit a medieval building on the Koparvollen rampart in Brøløs in the centre of Seljord. The Selstad loft is a unique cultural historical memorial and one of the best preserved medieval buildings in Norway.

The Flatdal village
Flatdal has its very own little village with 10 farms and 40 houses gathered around the rampart which now forms the junction into the village. There are very few examples of this type of village built on a mound in Norway. The reason behind this settlement is connected with the waters which often flooded the village. The agricultural land is therefore located on strips of land towards Flatsjø lake. Pay a visit to Myklestoga in the village – with its unique collection of old objects and exhibits.

Myklestoga
Myklestoga is an old farmhouse in the village in Flatdal which houses a collection of antiquarian objects from Telemark. The majority of the objects date back to the 18th and 19th centuries. It also has a marvellous collection of rose painting, unique for its variety and quality and representing most of the well-known rose painters. Margit Lien was responsible for the collection. She was an antiques dealer and bequeathed all her objects with antiquarian value to a fund. The fund also took over her house and turned it into a museum for her collections.
Myklestoga house was built in 1480 then reconstructed in the 18th and 20th centuries. It is a preserved building.

Kunstlåven
An old reconstructed barn used as an art gallery.

Øvsttveiten – the uppermost farm on Seljordsheii, an old subsistence farm housing the same family for around 300 years. The farm has around 8-10 old venerable buildings, including a washhouse for linen and clothes, operated by a huge floodwater wheel. This water wheel can also operate a plane, thresher and lathe. The washhouse was restored in 1992.

Blika mine
During the 1880s, gold was found at the Blika farm in Svartdal. By 1882, claims for mining of gold and wismuth were made at the Bleka, Barstad, Svartdal, Haugsvold and Svervelid farms. The first to run the mines were the “French mining company” in Bamble. In 1897, a smelting plant was set up at Blika. At its peak, the mine employed 80 men. It changed owners several times between 1916 and around 1930. There was little activity for around 30 years, then the mines fully reopened in 1932. In 1937-38, the mine employed 17-18 men and remained open until war broke out in 1940.

Guldnes mine
The Guldnes mines are located by the Sundsbarm lake at 657 metres above sea level and around 15 km north-west of Seljord centre. The mines are on a peninsula which protrudes into the lake. The area is hilly and forested, with very few houses. The hamlets of Mandal and Langlim are nearby. You can now drive right up to the mines by following the road along the banks of the lake. A 10 km stretch of the road is private and is closed at Vindsvoll farm. The mines at Guldnes opened in 1538, and remained open for short and longer periods until the 1880s. Many of the mines and settlements we can still see today are from the most recent periods of mining. However, there are still traces of the earliest mining in some of the mines, when they loosened rocks by heating with open fire.
The surrounding area is characterised by the Sundsbarm dam which dates back to the 1960s. Many of the oldest mines were flooded when the dam was built, removing all traces of the ancient miners. It was German miners who first found copper and silver at Guldnes. King Christian III received message of this in 1538 and was eager to start up business there. He employed a German mining superintendent – Hans Glaser – who was requested to employ workers from Germany. In the space of 11 years, from 1538 to 1549, around 300 German miners came to West Telemark. There were no houses nor food for them, and confrontations quickly arose between the miners and the local farmers. In 1540, the farmers from nine villages gathered to form a rebellion. They attempted to chase the German miners out of the area. This rebellion was viciously stopped by a royal army from Denmark, Bohuslen and Akershus. 16 of the farmers were sentenced to death. 10 of these purchased their freedom by paying vast sums. One of the farmers was named executioner and had to execute the remaining five. The very first dalar – or Norwegian coin - was made from the silver from Guldnes in 1545.

Cultural landscape in Svartdal
The cultural landscape in Svartdal and Hjartdal in the north of the municipality has been nominated for UNESCO’s cultural landscape prize 2003 for protected cultural landscapes. This is a unique area where the small-scale character and old structure of the past has been perfectly preserved. Many of the cultural memorials are still functioning today and in harmony with the rest of society. Houses and buildings from the 19th century and back to the Middle Ages are surrounded by beautiful meadows full of herbs. But please do not pick the Telemark flower – the Søstermarihand or Elder-Flowered Orchid – it is protected! Please also show consideration when walking around this area – and contact the Tourist Information in advance for any information required.

Gullgråni tree
The Gullgråni spruce tree is located on the old road over Gjelstadhei at the north end of the Kvålsgard farm. This is a unique tree with filled pine needles and hanging branches. Botanists are very interested in this tree.

Spådomsnuten rock – can be found in Skorvefjellet mountain. A fortune teller previously predicted that this rock will fall into the Flatsjø lake causing a huge tidal wave. This event is to take place at the end of time and when there is a town between Vallaråi and Sjerveåa. This may only be a prediction, but the gulley beside the rock, known as Spådomskløyve, has definitely grown in size in recent years.

Øverlandseika
Oak trees are an unusual sight in our forests, but there is a huge, ancient oak tree in the woods at Ytre Øverland in Trollebotn. Botanists believe this tree to be 8-900 years old. It is hollow and can house 8-10 persons. It is so wide that it takes 5-6 adults in a ring to circle the entire trunk. For our forefathers, a sighting of the Øverlandseika oak tree was something of great value.

Bruredynnan – historical monument at the end of the Rondebergåsane fields, with remains of old rock paintings dating back thousands of years.

The sea serpent
In central Telemark – a region with historical connections to fairytales, folk tales, fantasy and creative inspiration – lies Seljord lake whose waters conceal a great secret. What is hiding beneath the calm, blue surface?

For 250 years, maybe even longer, people have claimed sightings of a large and serpent-like creature in Seljord lake. The first written record of this dates back to 1750 – when Gunleik Andersson Verpe from Bø was rowing over the lake from Ulvenes to Nes. When he reached the middle of the lake, a sea serpent emerged, attacked and capsized his boat. The story does not mention what happened to poor Gunleik Andersson Verpe. Around a decade later, in 1786, Hans Jacob Wille describes a strange creature in his book entitled “A description of Sillejords Vicarage in Øvre-Tellemarken in Norway”. Wille does not mention the size of the creature, but recounts that “it is said to be very strange, and the most poisonous of all. It goes under the water, like an eel, and a number of years ago it bit a man on his big toe when he was wading barefoot over the Laxhøl river”. In later years, several people have claimed to have collided with the sea serpent while out rowing and others describe spotting the serpent sliding out from between the rocks on the shore and into the water. Some descriptions liken its head to that of a crocodile, others to a horse or a moose. Some claim the creature to be a few metres in length, others talk of lengths up to 30 or 40 metres. Over the years, there have been a significant number of observations, and on average several every summer. The number of observations has also increased over the past decade, and seems to be particularly frequent during the warm summer months. Sea serpents are not exclusive to Seljord, but have been sighted in many parts of the globe. For centuries now, large and inexplicable sea creatures have been sighted along the entire coast of Norway. As a matter of fact, this stretch of coast is particularly rich in observations, also on a global scale. Olaus Magnus (16th century), Erik Pontoppidan d.y. (18th century) and many others have provided detailed and dramatic portrayals of the appearance of the various creatures. The 19th century in particular had a high number of observations, while this number has seen a decrease in modern times. There is also a number of legends around fresh water lakes in Norway, but today it is first and foremost Seljord lake where people continue to claim sightings of inexplicable movements in the water. These observations in Seljord lake raise a number of questions: How probable is it that there is a large creature in the lake? How could such a creature have arrived in the lake? And is Seljord lake special in some way in comparison with other medium-sized lakes? Simple facts about the lake fail to provide an answer: it is around 15 km long and almost 2 km wide at the most. The greatest depth is around 150 metres while the average depth is between 50 and 75 metres. On a Norwegian scale, Seljord lake is relatively shallow. We should also mention that the lake is at quite a distance from the sea. From a geological perspective, the bed of the lake is made up of old rock types, mostly quartzite, dating back 1000 million years. This forms poor soil conditions and low nutrition levels in the water. Scientists can therefore confidently state that it would be impossible for a sea serpent to survive in the lake (if it exists), for two important reasons: firstly, the size of the lake is not sufficient to be able to feed an animal, or a family of animals of 10-20 metres length. With all the scientific facts we know today about wild animals and the space they need, it becomes clear that Seljord lake would be like a tiny, narrow aquarium for a sea serpent measuring several metres in length. Secondly, Seljord lake did not exist some 10,000 years ago since the entire reservoir was filled with ice. At that time, the sea reached all the way in to the Øvrebø-moen heath, or to the present east bank of the lake – but it is very unlikely that the waters reached all the way into the reservoir itself.

Despite these decisive arguments against the existence of a sea serpent in the lake, both locals and tourists still claim to have seen strange movements out on the lake, and interest in this phenomenon was further intensified by the major international sea serpent expedition in the summer of 1998, when Discovery Channel purchased the exclusive rights to cover the search for the serpent. There were certainly many expectations of sensational findings, but without results. However, the analyses carried out are now available and these contain enough facts to keep the mystery alive, at least if you have a little faith …

Mannslagarroet – a deep and wild valley at the foot of Mannslagarnuten mountain. The name is derived from legends of an outlaw hiding out in the valley. The story goes that Olav Garvik killed a young boy by the name of Torgrim Svartdal during a wedding in the neighbouring farm at Øverland in 1684. Olav escaped to Roet and remained hidden there for several years, but was then captured, sentenced to death and beheaded at Seljord Church.

Kovadølen – During levelling work at this farm in Norbygdi in 1980, a stone coffin was found from around the year 400. The burial chamber, built of stone slabs, is large in size – 2.70 metres long, 0.70 metres wide and 0.80 metres deep. It contained a number of valuable finds indicating that a powerful person had been buried there. This site was previously home to a church consecrated in the name of St. Laurentzius.

Kivledalen valley was once home to a Catholic church. This unique mountain valley is well known for the legend of the Kivlemøyane – three young girls shepherding their goats on the steep grassy slopes high above the church. They played beautifully on the buckhorn and flute and, ignoring church times, played so their music spread throughout the valley. The notes reached all the way into the church and drew the churchgoers out of the church in the middle of mass. The Catholic priest was so angry that he walked out onto the church doorstep in full garb, lifted his arms towards the Kivlemøyane girls and turned them into stone. They became three blocks of stone on a ledge high up in the gulley. Today, only one of the stones remains, but the legend of the Kivlemøyane and the melodies they played live on in stories and folk music.

Plane wreck at Skorve
During the Second World War, two planes crashed at Skorve. These tragic events took place in the autumn of 1944. One of the planes was American, carrying weapons to the Norwegian home front. It collided into the Skorvefjellet mountain at Langfjøllhaddin. The other was a German transport plane which crashed near Hestesnuten rock, further north. Many lives were lost. You can still see remains of the plane wrecks today.

Ballongfararsteinen (balloon voyager stone)
This memorial stone has been erected in memory of two Frenchmen who travelled from a besieged Paris by balloon, all the way to Lifjell in November 1870 – a dramatic, long and cold voyage from a war-threatened city, ending at Lifjell just above the Stronde farms. Brothers Harald and Klas Strand were transporting timber when they found the French balloon voyagers, the morning after they landed. Word of this quickly spread throughout Norway, and the Frenchmen were greeted as heroes on their journey from Seljord to Kristiania. Gunnar Sveinsson has written a local historical play on the balloon voyage, and Einar Østvedt has written a book entitled “The first air voyage over Norway”.

Ståle Åsheim
Legend has it that Ståle was at a gathering with his brother when they began to fight. In those days, most men carried a knife with them at all times, and Ståle who was both drunk and quick-tempered, stabbed his brother. He was sentenced as an outlaw because of the murder of his brother. He ran off and hid in a cave in Skorvefjellet mountain. However, the winter cold and hunger forced him to return to the village. There, he hid in the attic in his home at Åsheim. He turned this into a kind of fortress, building gun slits into the walls. These can still be seen today.
He was a gifted sharp shooter, so no one dared approach. At that time, there were seven robbers at Sundsbarm who the local policeman had been unable to catch. Ståle was promised his freedom if he could catch or kill these criminals. Ståle set off and did not have to look far to find them. But as he drew closer, Ståle began to scratch and shake and pretended that he had a bad case of lice. He asked the robbers if they would allow him to boil his clothes at their house, and they agreed. Ståle filled a pot with ash and water and brought it to the boil. During the night, while the robbers lay sleeping, Ståle lifted up the pot which now contained lye and poured it out over the sleeping men. They jumped to their feet but had been blinded by the acid, and Ståle killed them all. He then returned to the village a free man.

Guro Heddelid is a character from a medieval legend originating from Grunningsdalen. She is said to have come from the large farm at Heddelid, which was in Grunningsdalen valley and which was destroyed by a rock fall. Today, you can still see traces of huge rock falls, but nobody really knows where the farm was. Guro was a proud, strong and noble women and the subject of many rumours. It is thought that many a suitor came to the valley to claim her hand and had to fight off their competitors. The legend claims that Guro died during the Black Death in 1349.

Gagnås – is the stretch of mountain between Trollebotnen and Seljordsdalen valley. Local traditions claim that this mountain contains a goblin village. Openings in the rock face can be seen from the Garvik side near Gjelstad. It is said that Hølje Dale’s sister, Gonill, was pulled into the mountain at Trollebotnen to the goblin village and never returned. Hølje visited her there once, and he wrote a poem describing this event in 1860.