TRONDHEIM, THE FASCINATING CAPITAL OF TRØNDELAG

Today, The Grandma has been remembering when she was living and working in Trondheim, one of the most beautiful places in Trøndelag county, Norway.

Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway.

Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is the fourth largest urban area. 

Trondheim lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the River Nidelva. Among the significant technology-oriented institutions headquartered in Trondheim are the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), and St. Olavs University Hospital.

The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post and served as the capital of Norway from the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros; it then became, and has remained, the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the site of the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality was formed in 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset Municipality, Leinstrand Municipality, Strinda Municipality, and Tiller Municipality, and further expanded on 1 January 2020, when Trondheim merged with Klæbu Municipality.

Trondheim is home to football club Rosenborg, Norway's most successful football club, and Granåsen Ski Centre, which has hosted the World Championship in Nordic Skiing.

The city was established in 997 by Olav Tryggvason and it was originally named Nidaros, in Old Norse Niðaróss. The first element of the name was the local river Nid. The last element of the name was óss which meant the mouth of a river. Thus the name meant the outlet of the river Nid. Although the formal name was Nidaros, the city was commonly known as kaupangr, which means city or marketplace, or more specifically kaupangr í Þróndheimi which means the city in Trondhei". 

Trondheim, in Old Norse Þróndheimr, was the historic name for the whole district which is now known as Trøndelag. This is the area where the people were known as Trønder (þróndr). This district name Trondheim meant the home of the Trønder people (literally Trønder-home) and Trøndelag, in Old Norse Þrǿndalǫg, originally meant the law area of the Trønder people (literally Trønder-law). The name of the Trønder people derives from the Old Norse word þróndr which is an old present participle of the verb þróask which means to grow or to thrive.

During the late Middle Ages, the city name was commonly shortened to Þróndheimr, dropping the kaupanger part, and over time the name became Trondhjem, using the Dano-Norwegian spelling rather than the Old Norse spelling since the city was part of the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway for centuries.

On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Around the time, many municipalities and cities had their names changed to Norwegianize the spelling and make them look less Danish.

On 1 January 1919, the name of the local Church of Norway diocese was changed from Trondhjem stift to Nidaros bispedømme. In 1924, the name of the Norwegian capital city was changed from Kristiania to Oslo, removing the name referencing a Danish King in favor of the very old name Oslo. 

In 1928, a referendum in Trondhjem was held on whether to keep the current name or to bring back the original name of Nidaros. On 6 March 1931, the name was formally changed to Trondheim, using the medieval Norwegian spelling instead of the Danish version Trondhjem. The name of the diocese and cathedral, however, continued using the name Nidaros.

Trondheim was briefly named Drontheim during the Second World War as a German exonym.

Trondheim was named Kaupangen by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997 CE. Shortly after that, it came to be called Nidaros. Initially, it was frequently used as a military retainer of King Olav I. It was also frequently used as the king's seat and was Norway's capital until 1217.

People have lived in the area for thousands of years, as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures, and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the kings of Norway were hailed in Trondheim at Øretinget, the place for the assembly of all free men by the mouth of the River Nidelva. 

During the Second World War, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germany from 9 April 1940, the first day of the invasion of Norway, until the end of the war in Europe, 8 May 1945. 

The city and its citizens were subjected to harsh treatment by the occupying power, including the imposition of martial law in October 1942. During this time, the Germans turned the city and its environs into a major base for submarines, and contemplated a scheme to build a new city for 300,000 inhabitants, Nordstern, near the wetlands of Øysand on the outskirts of Melhus municipality. This new metropolis was to be accompanied by a massively expanded version of the already existing naval base, which was intended to become the future primary stronghold of the German Kriegsmarine. A start was made on this enormous construction project, but it was far from completed when the war ended, and today, there are few physical remains of it.

Trondheim is situated where the River Nidelva meets Trondheim Fjord with an excellent harbour and sheltered condition. In the Middle Ages the river was deep enough to be navigable by most boats. However, in the mid-17th century, an avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable, and partly ruined the harbour.

Trondheim has a broad music scene, and is known for its strong communities committed to rock, jazz and classical music. The city's interest in Jazz and classical music are spearheaded by the music conservatory at NTNU which has been called one of the most innovative in the world, and the municipal music school, Trondheim Kommunale Musikk- og Kulturskole. The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Trondheim Soloists are well-known. The city hosts a yearly Jazz festival, and is home to Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. The Fjordgata Records label is also hosted in Trondheim.

Classical artists hailing from Trondheim include violinist Arve Tellefsen, Elise Båtnes and Marianne Thorsen. Also the Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir.

More information: Life in Norway

I just enjoy walking around the city [Trondheim]. 
I would go to Bakklandet. 
It's the oldest part of the city. 
It's very beautiful and cozy there. 
It's a great place to walk around on a sunny day.

Ingrid Syrstad Engen

MELHUS & THE ENIGMATIC PORTRAIT OF PETTER DASS

Today, The Grandma has been organizing some souvenirs, memories and photos of her last trip to Melhus, the wonderful municipality in Trøndelag, Norway, site of the enigmatic portrait of Petter Dass, the Norwegian Baroque poet and hymn writer, whose works are deeply admired by The Grandma.

Melhus is the administrative centre of Melhus Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located in the lower Gauldalen valley, along the river Gaula, about 15 kilometres south of the city of Trondheim. The 2.93-square-kilometre village has a population (2024) of 7,224 and a population density of 2,466 inhabitants per square kilometre.

The village lies along the European route E06 highway as well as the Dovrebanen railway line. The railroad stops at the Melhus Station in the central part of the village. The historic Melhus Church is located about 1.5 kilometres south of Melhus in the village of Storsand. 

Melhus is the largest urban area in the municipality, so it has a mall, many stores and businesses, restaurants, banks, a medical centre, a school, and the municipal government offices.

Melhus was the site of many important events during the Viking Age. It was the site of the Rimul farm in Melhus at which Jarl Haakon was killed by his slave, Tormod Kark. Jarlshola is the location in Melhus thought to have been the hiding place of Jarl Haakon and Tormod Kark on their last night before the infamous murder at Rimul.

The village, originally the parish, is named after the old Melhus farm, in Old Norse Meðalhúsar since the first Melhus Church was built there. The first element is meðal which means middle. The last element is the plural form of hús which means house. The farm is one part of a greater and older farm, which had the name Óðinssalr which means the salr (mead hall) of Odin.

Melhus Church, in Norwegian Melhus kirke, also known as the Gauldal Cathedral, is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Melhus Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. 

It is located in the village of Storsand, about 2 kilometres south of the village of Melhus. It is the church for the Melhus parish which is part of the Gauldal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros. The gray, stone church was built in a cruciform design in 1892 using plans drawn up by the architect Carl Julius Bergstrøm. The church seats about 500 people. The churchyard contains a cemetery.

The church contains a controversial oil painting, which has been thought to be a portrait of Petter Dass.

The earliest existing historical records of the church date back to the year 1533, but the church was built much earlier. The first church in Melhus was a medieval stone church that was constructed in stages from about 1150 to 1190. Construction probably began shortly before the year 1150, and the chancel was probably completed around 1160. Based on stylistic features, the nave should have been completed around the year 1190. The church was originally dedicated to St. Andreas. It had a rectangular nave and a narrower, rectangular chancel with a lower roof line. There was a tall tower on the west end of the roof of the nave. There was also a small wooden entry porch on the west end of the church.

In 1589, there were five churches in the Melhus prestegjeld, more or less equivalent to a parish, and Melhus Church was the main one. The annex chapels were scattered about the parish. Two of the five were located in Leinstrand and Flå and the remaining two churches were in Hølonda.

In 1814, this church served as an election church, in Norwegian valgkirke. Together with more than 300 other parish churches across Norway, it was a polling station for elections to the 1814 Norwegian Constituent Assembly which wrote the Constitution of Norway. This was Norway's first national elections. Each church parish was a constituency that elected people called electors who later met together in each county to elect the representatives for the assembly that was to meet at Eidsvoll Manor later that year.

In 1889, a Royal Decree was issued which ordered that the old medieval Melhus Church be demolished. During this demolition in 1890, a perfectly preserved hatchet dating from about 1100 was discovered in a wall of the medieval church. This axe was identified as the country's only preserved tool for cutting stone, in Norwegia steinhuggerøks from that period, and it is now located in the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology. The new church was designed by Carl Julius Bergstrøm. The new building was consecrate on 10 November 1892. It is a neo-Gothic cruciform church in stone with around 500 seats.

Although the old church was torn down, several architectural elements of the medieval building were saved and incorporated into the new building. Much woodwork from the old church was included in the newer one. The old portal was also reused in the new church. Apparently, a few artifacts from the old church were not moved to the new church, and instead ended up in other places. When Gerhard Schøning visited the old medieval church he noted this: At the southern side of the entrance to the choir, there is an epitaph that Karen and Anders Helkands have erected to their parents and children. When the medieval church was demolished in 1890, the epitaph was no longer there. Few people knew that the epitaph was hidden on Søndre Melhuus farm.

The newer church building has been carefully maintained for over one hundred years; it has had several renovations.

In 1999, Medieval runic inscriptions were discovered on the medieval portal. These inscriptions were professionally examined in 2001.

Melhus Church houses a collection of painted portraits, primarily of clergymen. The most well-known painting is one that has traditionally been considered to be a portrait of Petter Dass, a 17th-century Norwegian poet and hymn writer. The painting was thought to be the only existing portrait of the poet.

More information: Melhus Kommune

Melhus Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from Melhus Municipality in Trøndelag county. It has sections for association football, team handball, volleyball, orienteering, Nordic skiing, weightlifting, and powerlifting. It was established on 28 February 1898.

The men's football team last played in the Second Division in 1996. The football teams of Melhus IL and Tiller IL started a cooperation after the 2012 season, and the team that was known as Melhus/Tiller in the 2013 season was promoted to the Second Division. Ahead of the 2014 season, the cooperation evolved into an own club which was named Rødde FK.

More information: Melhus Idrettslag

Den som intet våger, intet vinner.

He who dares nothing, gains nothing.

Norwegian Proverb