Sverd i Fjell

Sverd i Fjell, swords in rock, was made by Fritz Roed and unveiled in 1983 on the shore of Hafrsfjord, where tradition places the battle of around 872 in which Harald Fairhair defeated the last rival kings and, in the sagas' account, unified Norway into one kingdom. Three bronze swords stand up to ten metres tall, driven hilt-upward into the bedrock: the largest represents the victorious king and the two smaller the defeated. Set into rock rather than a plinth, they were intended as a monument to peace, the swords planted to signify that they will not be drawn again. The site is a public shore with a path, a small beach and a view over the fjord.

What you actually see

• The three swords - bronze hilts up to ten metres, set into bedrock.
• The Hafrsfjord shore - the water where the battle is placed by tradition.
• The size difference - one large sword and two smaller ones, by design.
• The public shore - a path, small beach and open ground around the monument.

When to go

Year-round; sunset behind the swords is the classic photograph and works best in the long light of late spring and summer. The site is open at all hours with no gate.

Honest expectations

It is a single monument seen in fifteen minutes, with a car park, path and nothing else. The setting is suburban rather than dramatic. The battle date and details are known only from saga sources written centuries later.

Nearby

Stavanger centre is fifteen minutes away; Solastranden and the Jaeren beaches lie south.