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Munkholmen: Trondheim’s Island of Chains, Prayers, and Restless Dead

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The little island Munkholmen outside of Trondheim in Norway has had many haunted rumors for a long time. From an old Viking execution place to a state prison, who is still lingering there in their afterlife?

Rising quietly from the waters of the Trondheim Fjord, Munkholmen appears peaceful by day. Tour boats glide past its rounded shores, seabirds cry overhead, and the island seems little more than a picturesque landmark. But beneath this calm surface lies one of Norway’s darkest historical sites, a place shaped by execution, imprisonment, and spiritual isolation. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

For centuries, Munkholmen has carried a reputation as a haunted island where the past has never fully loosened its grip.

From Holy Ground to Place of Execution

Munkholmen’s troubled history began long before its stone walls were raised. In the early Middle Ages, the island served as a site of executions. Criminals and enemies of the crown were brought across the water and put to death, their bodies often left exposed as a warning to others on spikes. It is said that Olav Tryggvason had the heads of Earl Håkon and the slave Kark impaled here in the year 995.

Read More: Check out The Most Haunted Places on Mackinac Island in Michigan, Isla de Pedrosa – the Haunted Islandand The Haunting History of Spike Island for more ghost stories from haunted islands around the world.

Later, a Benedictine monastery Nidarholm Mariakloster was established on the island, giving Munkholmen its name as the country’s oldest monastery. The monks came seeking solitude and devotion, but even prayer could not erase the island’s grim legacy. Fires repeatedly destroyed the monastery, and many believed the land itself was cursed, soaked in blood long before the first chapel stone was laid.

The Prison Island

Munkholmen’s darkest chapter began in the 17th century, when it was transformed into a state prison and fortress. Political prisoners and criminals. Some were kept in damp underground cells where daylight never reached. Others were chained in small stone chambers, listening to the waves crash endlessly against the walls.

One of the most infamous prisoners was Count Peder Schumacher Griffenfeld, once the most powerful man in Denmark-Norway. Under Christian V he became the king’s foremost advisor and by far the de facto ruler of Denmark-Norway.

Peder Griffenfeld:Peder Griffenfeld (1635–1699) (original name Peder Schumacher ) was a Danish count and statesman, who was Chancellor of the Crown from 1673. He spent 18 years on the island in solitude and is believed to be haunting it.

Griffenfeld failed in his efforts to prevent war, and in 1675 Denmark-Norway entered into armed conflict with Sweden, the Scanian War . Various negotiations surrounding the beginning of the war and his friendliness to the French contributed to his being accused of treason and lèse-majesté .

After falling from royal favor, he was imprisoned on Munkholmen for nearly two decades. He spent his time reading, teaching children and writing small religious writings. After this, he was moved to Trondheim city, where he lived under guard for the last time, and died the following year.

Victor Hugo published the novel The Prisoner on Munkholmen in 1831 about Griffenfeld’s time in prison. Visitors and guards later claimed that his spirit never left, pacing unseen corridors long after his death.

Many prisoners died on the island from disease, exposure, or despair. Their bodies were buried nearby or cast into the sea. Over time, stories spread of anguished voices heard at night, echoing from empty cells and sealed passageways.

Ghostly Sightings and Unexplained Phenomena

Reports of hauntings on Munkholmen date back hundreds of years. Guards once spoke of shadowy figures moving along the fortress walls after sunset, disappearing when approached. Others described the sound of chains dragging across stone, even though no prisoners remained.

Some report sudden drops in temperature inside the fortress, accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of dread. Doors have been heard slamming shut on calm days, and footsteps echo where no one stands.

The story was popularized once again when the papers started to publish a picture, claiming to show the ghost roaming the island in 2008. 

Source: Tommy Skog

Tommy Skog and his son were visiting the island and was taking pictures of the prison towers where an oval hole in the wall on the first floor caught his attention. When looking at the picture, he was certain he had taken a picture of the ghost of a man, sitting in the opening. 

An Island That Never Truly Sleeps

Today, Munkholmen is a popular destination in summer, but its darker reputation persists. Locals often say the island feels different once the last boat departs and silence returns. As dusk settles, the fortress seems to watch the fjord, its thick walls holding centuries of suffering within.

Whether haunted by monks, prisoners, or those executed long before history was written down, Munkholmen remains a place where the past feels uncomfortably close. The sea may surround it, but it has never truly washed the island clean. 

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References:

Ser du spøkelset? – adressa.no

Peder Griffenfeld

Munkholmen

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The Ghost of the Deep: The Legend of Blåmannen at Blaafarveværket

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The haunting of the Blue man, or Blåmannen at the cobalt mine, Modum Blaafarveværk in Norway has been told for ages now. What truly lies inside the darkness of the mines?

Blaafarveværket was Norway’s largest mine and also Norway’s largest industrial enterprise in the first half of the 19th century and is the largest and best-preserved mining museum in Europe. Could it be that it’s also one of the most haunted ones?

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

Far inside the old cobalt mines of Blaafarveværket in Modum, a figure has been reported for nearly two centuries. The tunnels once rang with the strikes of hammers and the clatter of ore carts as workers extracted the cobalt-rich stone used to make the famous deep blue pigment. But beneath the sweat and industry lurked a story every miner knew: the warning spirit called Blåmannen.

Roger Pihl.

A Shadow in Uniform Haunting the Deep Mines

Blåmannen (The Blue Man) was said to appear wearing a miner’s uniform, his lamp burning with an uncanny, bluish glow. He never spoke. He simply showed himself before the disaster. Miners claimed he emerged from the darker shafts just moments before a collapse, his presence a silent signal to get out while there was still time. Those who saw him whispered that he looked more resigned than frightening, as if burdened with a duty he could not escape.

According to Kai Hunstadbråten’s article, “The Blue Man in the Rock at Modum“, the Blue Man is also said to have been called “Hans med knappene” (Hans with the buttons), due to the Blue Man’s uniform. Hunstadbråten also claims that the miners called one of the open pits at Nordgruvene “The Blue Man’s Mine”.

The Miner’s Demon: The element cobalt got its name from a mythical rock demon, a kind of gnome-like creature, who terrorized miners in German mines. German miners traveled to Norway in the 15th and 17th centuries to work in Norwegian mines. Agricala described, among other things, a rock demon from the silver mines of Annaberg in present-day Germany, with “wild eyes and a long neck like a horse.” This demon is said to have killed 12 miners simply by breathing on them. The German mining demons probably joined the crossing, but had difficulty gaining a foothold among the Norwegian workers. Norway had its own traditions of underground mines, plots and pits.

Another miner who claimed to have met the Blue Man was Hans Simen Røtter. He also worked in the cobalt mines in the 19th century. One story goes: 

“Once when Hans Simen Røtter was burning a log at Norsgruva […] a blue man came to him […] and asked him to go out, because the mine was not safe. But Røtter now wanted to set the fire first, and would not go. Then the blue man came back one or two more times and almost threatened him to go, and no sooner had he come out than the log collapsed.”

The Christmas Collapse of 1854

The most chilling encounter came in December 1854. Seven workers entered a narrow tunnel, unaware that the supports had grown dangerously unstable. Deep inside, Blåmannen appeared before them, striding toward them with urgency. Only when he pointed toward the exit and shoved the lead worker backward did they grasp the danger. The men fled in a panic, but the last of them was buried under the collapse. The sole survivor was the one who had been pushed away first.

It was December 13th and Christmas was coming. Miner Ole Torstensen noticed that a fox was following him on his way to the mines. This omen could mean a sudden death, but what was he to do? The boss was not going to give him the day off just because of superstition. Legend has it that several workers saw the Blue Man that day, and that birds pecking ominously at the windows of the sugar house where the workers slept. Ole Bøenstøa was also going to work that day, and perhaps he and Ole Torstensen mentioned the omens to each other as they set off down the mine shaft to work. It was so narrow that the eight workers had to walk in a single file.

When they had gone a little way in, a shadowy man suddenly came towards them. He was dressed in a blue miner’s uniform and held an oil lamp in his hand. The blue man looked at them and pointed towards the exit, which if he wanted them to turn around. But the miners didn’t stop. The blue man disappeared, but it wasn’t long before he reappeared and wanted them out. This time they couldn’t be persuaded either.

The miners were now restless. For the third and final time, the Blue Man appeared in the darkness. This time he went straight for the first worker in line and tried to push him out of the mine. They realized that this was a warning they had to heed, but by then it was too late. The mine began to collapse around them.

People outside heard the terrifying roar. The oldest miners quickly realized what had happened. A landslide! When the masses of rock had settled, they could hear the trapped workers’ desperate cries for help. They managed to pull three men alive from the landslide, but one of them died afterwards. Five men were found dead. One of them was Ole Torstensen. Ole Bøenstøa came out of the incident unharmed, even though the two were standing right next to each other when the landslide came. Was it the Blue Man who saved Bøenstøa, while the encounter with the fox made Torstensen’s fateful day?

From that day on, Blåmannen was no longer seen as a guardian spirit. He became a grim omen, a ghost tied to death and ruin whether he wished it or not.

Where Did Blåmannen Come From?

After the Napoleonic Wars, the enterprise was taken over by the private owners Benjamin Wegner and Baron Benecke with Wegner as director, and their ownership period from 1822–1848 is known as the works’ heyday, and possible when the rumours about Blåmannen emerged. 

One of the oldest written sources though, sets the emergence of Blåmannen to the late 1840s when a man retold a story in a newspaper called Buskeruds Blad from 1903, only signed O:

Mother often told me about an incident that happened at one of the Blaafarveværket’s pits at Modum in the late 1840s, when a man by the name of Røtter, who worked in the so-called Nordpit, was alerted in a miraculous way, so he avoided being crushed by the collapsing pit.

At night he was busy in one of tunnels burning “Stull”. The fire blazed bright and cast its shine through the dark Tunnels. Røtter stands with his back to the fire and warms himself, when a young man comes up to him from one of the side passages of the pits and says: “You must get out quickly”.

Røtter was amazed at the young man’s appearance, when he knew that there was not a human being besides himself in the pit that night.

He replied: “No, I cannot do that.” The figure disappears, but comes back after a few minutes and says to him: “Yes, now you must go”. Røtter then replied again: “No, I can’t; I have to take care of the fire and can’t leave my post”.

The figure disappears, but immediately comes back, goes right up to him, follows him to the ladder and says: “Now get up”.

He ran up the ladder as fast as he could, and then went into a nearby chair room and sat down on a bench. But he had hardly sat down before he heard a huge bang, and the ground shook. Right after there is another bang, more violent than the first, the door bursts open, and he thought the mine was collapsing.

Now it was quiet. He began to wonder what had happened, but did not dare to go out; he wanted to wait until morning. Then he came down to my parents and told them what had happened that night. When people came to the mine in the morning, the whole tunnel where he had been working had collapsed and were the banging sounds he had been hearing.

Who was the mysterious young man who made him leave the pit, so that his life was saved at the last moment? In the mines, as mentioned before, there was no one but himself. The figure was a handsome, young man, wearing blue clothes with a cut, which was not used around there.

When I read some pieces in your magazine about “Visions and Omens” some time ago, I thought of writing down what Mother has told me so many times.

Was it a Warning?

– O.

The Warning Still Stands

Even now, visitors to Blaafarveværket sometimes speak of a dim blue light flickering deep within the closed tunnels or the sound of footsteps pacing in shafts that have been empty for generations. Guides tell the old legend quietly, and with a gravity that suggests they believe every word.

One thing remains constant in the stories. If you ever glimpse Blåmannen standing in the dark with his lamp raised, do not hesitate.

Run.

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References:

Buskeruds Blad, fredag 25. desember 1903

Halloween spesial – Blaafarveværket

DØDENS BUDBRINGER i koboltgruvene på Modum – Issuu

Blaafarveværket – Wikipedia

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The Blue Room’s Lament The Haunted Legend of Hotel Union Øye

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Left by her lover, the ghost of a maid who once worked at the Hotel Union Øye in Norway is said to be lingering inside of the Blue Room. Is she still staying there?

Hotel Union Øye beside the still waters of Norangsfjorden in Sunnmøre, is known as one of Norway’s most breathtaking historic hotels. Could it be that it is also one of the most haunted ones?

In 1887, Christian Thams, a Norwegian architect, industrialist and diplomat, experienced a violent earthquake that shook the Italian and French Rivieras where he lived, claiming 600 lives, mainly due to the collapse of mortar and brick buildings. He believed that such a tragedy would have been prevented if the building tradition of Norway, with its half-timbered houses. This would eventually lead him home to Norway and build the Hotel Union Øye.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

This way and in this tradition, the hotel opened its door in 1891 with its 38 rooms, all named after their famous guests that would end up staying there, from Emperor William, King Oscar, Queen Maud and Princess Victoria. There were also authors like Karen Blixen, Knut Hamsun, Henrik Ibsen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; composer Edvard Grieg, mountain pioneers William Cecil Slingsby and Kristoffer Randers and polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

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But one room is not named after its famous guest, but rather for its haunting story. Sometimes you can apparently hear the footsteps wandering at night, a chill that slips along the halls and the unmistakable sound of quiet sobbing drifting from a single, timeworn chamber known as the Blue Room. 

A Forbidden Love at the Edge of the Fjord

Near the end of the 1800s, Hotel Union Øye was a retreat for Europe’s elite. Its guestbook carried the names of kings, artists and adventurers. Among its most frequent visitors was Kaiser Wilhelm II, who often traveled with a retinue of officers. Every other year from 1890 to 1908, he holidayed as a guest at the hotel with his entourage. One of these men, a young German count, became the center of a secret affection that would leave a permanent shadow on the hotel.

Linda, a Norwegian maid working at Øye, was known for her warm nature and quiet charm. The officer, Philip von Moltke from Dortmund, Germany, was trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, found in her a kindness and sincerity he had never known at home. Their meetings were discreet, hidden from the eyes of the aristocratic circle surrounding him. When he visited Øye, they stayed together in the Blue Room, a chamber with deep sapphire walls and heavy antique furnishings that seemed to seal them away from the world beyond the fjord.

The love between them grew, but so did the tension around their affair. The count sought a divorce, desperate to free himself and build a life with Linda. He gave her a brooch and a wedding ring before he left. His request was denied, coming from a catholic family. Bound by duty, honor and the rigid expectations of his rank as well as the risk of being banished, he saw no escape. In a moment of despair, he took his own life, leaving Linda shattered. Some say that he jumped off the boat coming back to Norway. 

Her grief was unbearable. Wearing a bridal gown and a crown of flowers meant for a wedding that would never come, she walked into the waters of the fjord and drowned, in 1901, according to some sources.. Some say she waded out into the cold waters to join him in his death, some say that she had lost his brooch gifted to her in the river and that she was looking along the riverbank to find it. 

The Lady in the Blue Room

Since that night, guests who stay in the Blue Room in room nr. 7, often speak of strange happenings and that they are both haunting the area around the Blue Room. The most common report is the sound of a woman crying softly in the darkness. Some say the weeping drifts through the walls as if someone is sitting beside the bed, shoulders shaking with sorrow. Others hear footsteps pacing the floorboards, slow and restless, pausing near the window that overlooks the fjord.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted hotels

A few visitors claim to have seen the faint outline of a woman in a white gown standing at the foot of the bed. She is described as delicate, her face partially hidden by hair damp and tangled, as if she has just stepped out of the cold fjord. She never approaches. She only fades when the witness blinks or looks away.

Hotel staff speak of sudden pockets of cold air in the Blue Room, even during the warmest summer nights. Objects are sometimes found moved from where they were placed, and the heavy door has been known to creak open by itself. Those who experience these disturbances describe an overwhelming sense of sorrow rather than fear, as if Linda’s grief saturates the very walls.

A Haunting That Became Legend

The story of Linda and the count has become part of the identity of Hotel Union Øye. Some visitors come hoping to glimpse the Blue Room’s restless spirit. Others avoid it entirely. The owners do not shy away from the tale and claim that Linda was in fact a real person, although the details of the story are less certain. Phillip von Moltke on the other hand, is a plausible, but uncertain element. 

It is true that the Moltke family was European nobility in Germany, Prussia and Scandinavia, and made into counts in 1868 by King William 1. Curiously though, the closest friends of Kaiser Wilhelm II were Prince Philip von Eulenburg and General Moltke, involved in the Eulenburg scandal about homosexual affairs within the Kaiser’s closest circle. So if there ever was an officer von Moltke who had an affair with a maid in Norway, there is little to no evidence of it found. 

Source

They preserve the room exactly as it has been described for more than a century, honoring the tragic love that took place within it.

In the reception, a bowl of garlic is placed for the guests staying in the Blue Room they can bring to the room. Placing it inside will keep the ghost away, so you will have a good night’s sleep. If you want something more happening throughout the night, you place the bowl outside the door. 

Despite its haunting reputation, the hotel is not known for malevolent spirits. According to an article, there has only been one cancellation when people have heard about the haunted rumours. The haunting of the Blue Room is quiet, mournful and deeply human. It is the echo of a promise that could never be fulfilled, preserved in the heavy silence of the fjord and the deep blue walls of the room where two lovers once found a fleeting happiness.

Guests leave Hotel Union Øye with memories of grandeur, mountain shadows and still waters. Some leave with more. They speak of tears that were not their own, the faint scent of wet flowers, or the unsettling certainty that someone unseen sat beside them in the dark.

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References:

https://www.unionoye.no/no/hotellet/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23046816155&gbraid=0AAAAADeWuny510Elimp6MbDkZox2IlNrq&gclid=CjwKCAiAxc_JBhA2EiwAFVs7XNZhAeuBCWFT9yJCokGesPRGskVkFP5VUw2YthAPBhZsXCbZRUv9CxoClVUQAvD_BwE

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Spøkelset på Union Øye

Moltke family – Wikipedia

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The Haunting of Dalen Hotel and the English Lady of Room 17

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In the deep fjords of Norway, the Dalen Hotel is one of the places said to be haunted by a guest who never really checked out. Who was the English Lady of Room 17?

Among Norway’s many haunted lodgings, few inspire as much unease as the grand and secluded Dalen Hotel in Telemark. Its turrets and dark timbered halls have earned it the nickname “The Fairytale Hotel,” but behind the elegance lingers a story soaked in sorrow. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

Guests whisper of a presence that still moves through the corridors, most often felt near one room in particular: Room 17, where the English Lady is said to linger.

The Dalen Hotel: Known for its unique Norwegian dragon style architecture, is famous for its haunting stories, particularly of the English Lady in Room 17. // Source: Eirik Solheim

The Haunted Dalen Hotel

The hotel was completed in 1894 and is a striking building among the green in the Norwegian dragon style with its towers and spires that took inspirations from stave churches and the viking age. 

The Haunted Hotel: The elegant interior of the haunted Dalen Hotel, showcasing its intricate wooden design and vintage decor were the ghost of a lady in grey is said to haunt. // Source Eirik Solheim

The hotel was, by the standards of the time, extremely luxurious. It even had running water and electric light not at all common around these parts. And from the very beginning it was a success and a tourist magnet, attracting princes and aristocrats from Norway and Europe.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted hotels

During the second world war, the Germans took over the hotel and removed the interior and let it fall to decay. It is said that a canal boat sailed out fully loaded with furniture and other equipment. Most of this has not been recovered. After many years of disrepair, it was restored and reopened in 1992 with 49 rooms. 

When the last guests check out in October for the winter close down, one guest is said to remain within the rooms. 

The Woman Who Never Checked Out

The ghost said to haunt the Dalen Hotel is known as The English Lady and although her story is known by most people working there and the locals around it, the details of the story are rather hard to find tangible evidence from.

The story goes, late in the 1800s, an Englishwoman named Miss Eliza Greenfield arrived alone at Dalen, her demeanor polite but withdrawn. Staff noticed her unusual habits and her long, solitary walks, but no one suspected the secret she carried. For months she lived quietly behind the door of Room 17. When she finally left, she offered polite farewells and vanished down the road without a backward glance.

Her departure should have been the end of her story. Instead, it was the beginning of a horror story. Soon after her room was cleaned, staff found a dead infant hidden inside. The story doesn’t often specify if the child was stillborn or if something more ominous had killed the child. 

The discovery shocked the entire region. Miss Greenfield was tracked down on her ship back to England, arrested for the crime of murdering her child. However, she took her own life before the trial started. In some versions of the tale she was actually executed for her crimes. 

The Woman in Grey in Room 17

How true is the story though? Although Christin Normann, manager at the hotel claimed the story was true in a hotel magazine, there are little to none traces of Miss Greenfield and her crimes. 

Guests staying in Room 17 still report strange occurrences though. Soft footsteps cross the floor at night when no one is there. The sound of quiet weeping rises and fades with no apparent source. In this room today, a cradle still stands, and it is said that she has returned to her child.

The haunting hallways: leading to Room 17 at the Dalen Hotel, where the ghost of the English Lady is said to linger. // Source: Wikimedia

Some visitors claim they have awakened to see a pale woman at the foot of the bed, her figure faint, her expression hollow with regret before she dissolves into the shadows.

One of the most repeated tales is about a man who once spent a night in the room and was unaware of its tragic history. Disturbed by unexplained noises, he left not only the room but also the hotel in the middle of the night.

Eirik Solheim/Wikimedia

Staff members tell of cold pockets in the hall outside the room, or a sudden fragrance of old-fashioned perfume drifting past. A few have claimed to hear a gentle knock on the door as if someone is still trying to soothe a restless child. Those who sense her presence say there is no malice in it, only unbearable grief.

A Table Set for a Ghost at Dalen Hotel

In the hotel’s restaurant, a single table remains permanently set in her memory. Candles are lit, plates arranged, cutlery polished. It stands as a quiet acknowledgment that Miss Greenfield never truly left Dalen Hotel and that the staff take notice of this. Her story lingers in every creak of the floorboards and in every shadow that slips through the lamplit corridors.

The Table set for a Ghost: Still to this day, the staff remembers and honors their hotel ghosts by giving her a plate at her table. // Photo: Per-Åge Eriksen

Some swear they have felt her pass by them in the night. Others say they caught a glimpse of a woman dressed in Victorian clothing reflected in the old mirrors.

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References:

Dalen Hotel

Spøkelseshistorien om Dalen Hotel | Strawberry

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The Haunting of Nes Church Ruins in Norway

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The mysterious Nes Church Ruins in Norway has attracted ghost hunters and legends for centuries by now. But what is really lurking among the old stones after dark?

Where the rivers Vorma and Glomma meet in Nes, west in Norway, there are the ruins of a church that are said to be haunted. Some claim that these ruins could possibly be the most haunted place in the country. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

By daylight, the ancient church ruins of Nes are a peaceful historical site. Stone walls softened by moss, the wind threading through broken archways, and birds nested in the quiet masonry. Yet when night settles, the place transforms. Ghost hunters and thrill seekers come armed with flashlights and recording devices, hoping to capture the strange energy that locals insist has lingered here for centuries.

Source: Tommy Gildseth/Wikimedia

A Thousand Years of History

These crumbling walls date back to the eleventh century, making them among the oldest standing church structures in the region. Even before it was a christian church, it was most likely a pagan place of worship. 

Throughout the years it was expanded and torn down, and in 1567 it was burned down in the Nordic Seven Years War. In 1854 the church burned down after it was struck by lightning and wasn’t rebuilt because they feared mudslides. The ruins are now a popular place for weddings, worship and concerts with grass as the floor and the sky as the roof and the graves surrounding the gothic ruins makes it a sort of park. 

Stories circulate of electronics malfunctioning the moment investigators step onto the grounds. Phones that suddenly power down, camera screens flickering into blackness, lights strobing without any cause. Visitors report the sense that someone, or perhaps several someones, does not appreciate the intrusion. The ruins, heavy with memory, seem to breathe and watch.

The Tragic Priest Said to Haunt the Church Ruins in Nes

Weathered but still imposing, they mark where generations lived, worshipped, and were buried. And beside them stands a solitary grave: the resting place of Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen who was buried here in 1837.

Finckenhagen served here in the early nineteenth century from 1800 to his death, remembered in local folklore as a deeply troubled man. Some say he took his own life inside the church, unable to bear the weight of his despair. Others insist that even death did not bring him peace.

Many visitors claim to have seen a figure in the black priest’s robes walking the path toward his gravestone. He is silent, moving with a slow and deliberate step, as if still patrolling the grounds of his parish. Those who have witnessed him say he follows at a distance, never closing in, never turning away.

Children Behind the Walls

The darkest story tied to Nes is whispered with lowered voices. According to local legend, Finckenhagen’s children were sealed within the church itself. 

He married his wife, Charlotta Amalia Hassing and had three children together as well as Charlotta’s daughter from her first marriage. No records confirm it, but many swear the land remembers that they were in fact entombed inside of the ruins. People walking the perimeter after sunset report faint cries echoing through the stonework. High, distant, and pleading. Some turn back immediately. Others keep walking until the darkness grows too heavy.

The Truth Behind the Haunted Rumors

But how much is true about the ghostly priest said to linger? Records show that Priest Jacob Christian Finckenhagen actually died of a sudden stroke, and that he was 81 years old when it happened. His iron cross is still there, and at his funeral, one of Norway’s most famous writers, Henrik Wergeland had written a poem in his honor. 

So what of his children? There are absolutely no records about them being interred in the walls of the ruins. His son Søren even did as his father had done and grew up to become a priest. 

So when did the stories start to form? Although people have been talking about strange things happening by the ruins for ages, the story of Finckenhagen was told from the early 1900 at least. And what was told about the strange ruins before this is perhaps lost to history.

Haunted By the Past

Whether the priest is a restless soul, a lingering echo, or a remnant of old fears and superstition, the legends are impossible to ignore. The Nes ruins are more than a historical site. They are a place where something remains, something that refuses to sleep.

What is true though, is that it has definitely drawn people to it though. It got so bad that they had to put on cameras as people vandalized the ruins by driving on the grass, digging illegally and spray painting on the ancient walls. Perhaps the biggest haunting of the church ruins today is from the living.

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References:

Nes kirkeruin

Rev Jacob Christian Finckenhagen (1756-1837) – Find a Grave Memorial 

Kirkeruinene omtalt i Forbes Magazine: – Er jo litt skummelt 

NYHETER | «Hjemsøkt» sommerperle

Kirkeruinene får kameraovervåkning: – Vi ser dessverre ingen annen løsning 

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The Haunting of the Gray Lady at Søndre Brekke Manor

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For centuries now, there have been rumours about the ghost of a gray lady haunting the Søndre Brekke Manor house in Norway. A presence so strong that even an exorcism didn’t have help. 

Søndre Brekke Gård in Skien, Telemark, in the south-eastern part of Norway, has a history since the 1400s as a manor house for the rich and wealthy. Since 1909 it has been used as a museum for, although some believe one resident never moved out. And rumor has it that the manor house comes with its own Lady in Gray. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

For over two centuries, staff and visitors have reported strange disturbances, unexplained noises, and glimpses of a sorrowful woman who has never found rest. But who is this lady said to still roam the halls of the former manor house?

Source

A Sudden Death in 1813 at Søndre Brekke Gård

The legend begins in 1813, when a young woman of unknown identity died suddenly inside the grand hall of the manor. No records reveal her name, her origin, or even the circumstances of her death. What is known is that she never left. Her spirit, troubled and unable to move on, is said to still drift quietly through the corridors of Søndre Brekke, seen only by the unlucky or the unwary.

This was during the time the minister of commerce, Niels Aall had bought the manor house in 1810 and the museum is decorated just as they think he might have had it when living in it. In 1813 though, Prince Christian Frederik, who would later be king of Denmark-Norway, came for a visit and a feast was held in his honor on the 21st of August. He was doing a tour to strengthen the ties Norway had with Denmark, which had been weakened after Denmark’s alliance with Napoleon in the wars. 

Although politically it wasn’t necessarily a popular visit, the feast was a welcome break for the locals, and they all joined to participate. 

There aren’t many details of how this nameless woman died though. Some say that she was very ill and it wasn’t taken into consideration as there was a visit from the Prince that took all the attention. Some say that Nils Aal had apologized to not make the party a ball because of respect for his ailing mother, Amborg Jørgensdatter Aall, was on her deathbed. The Prince ignored this though, and asked a peasant girl to dance and the feast turned into a ball either way. This version is from the famed Norwegian writer, Henrik Wergeland in his Konstitutionshistorie from 1841.

In 1895 Øverland wrote in his book Norway’s History from 1895, that it wasn’t Niels Aall’s mother dying, but his aunt, Benedicta Henrikka Løvenskiold. She died three days before the party took place. But this is uncertain as well as she died at the Kammerherregården in Porsgrunn, hours away from Brekke. 

These are just two of the texts about it, but the local legends said more. She has forever remained nameless and largely forgotten as she died in the room next to the feasting ballroom and returned as a ghost to roam its halls. 

A Warning from Beyond to the Museum’s Caretaker

One of the most unnerving encounters involves the caretaker of the manor, Jarle Ravik who was considered the go to for the story and the haunted experiences that he said happened during his shifts. 

While alone on duty on a stormy night with the wind howling, he suddenly felt a cold hand grip his arm. Shocked, he spun around, but no one was there. Just seconds later, a large tree crashed to the ground directly in front of him. Had the Gray Lady saved him from a fatal accident? Or was it simply a strange coincidence? No one knows, but the caretaker never forgot the sensation of that unseen hand.

Source

Another time he was walking a round after closing time and opened the door to the ballroom. There, the Lady in Gray was standing in front of him. He closed the door in panic before opening it again, but by then, she was gone. Ever since that time, he never saw her again, although he claimed to feel her presence, like she was watching out for him working at the museum. 

According to Ravik, he proposed a completely different tale about the ghost and the origin. He claimed he had heard about it from two old ladies from Skien. According to them, the woman who died was from a Swedish or Danish noble woman who visited with her daughter when the prince came to visit. 

According to the woman, it was unseemly for a ball because of a death in one of the European noble families, and she stormed out from the feast in protest. Her daughter remained though and when the woman returned the next day, her daughter had been assaulted by one of the prince’s officers. Because of this, she swore she would never leave the manor house again, a promise she apparently held.  

Disturbances in the Dark from the Lady in Gray

Others have experienced her presence in less dramatic but equally unsettling ways. Chairs slide across the floor with no one near them. Doors slam shut as though someone is passing briskly through the corridors. The atmosphere turns heavy, as though watched by someone who lingers just beyond sight. Some feel dread. Others feel sorrow. But everyone agrees: she is there.

A room on the second floor has been called «Den grå dames værelse», or the Lady in Gray’s Room. Other sightings have traced back to 1899 in writing when the doctor and engineer. The same year a package was delivered to Høyer who lived there at the time and the lady suddenly showed up. He described her as middle tall, a bit short grey skirt. Bråtu who delivered the package turned to address her, but she glided past him and into a door without looking at him. Bråtu didn’t think much about it, as he was used to rude rich people. But when he told the servants about her to the servants, Høyer was summoned and they went through his observation. 

“She went through a door?” Høyer asked and Bråtu pointed, but first then noticed that where she had gone through there was no door at all. 

She also showed up in 1905 a late Sunday breakfast in the room next to the Lady in Grey’s Room. The dog started barking and the man staying in the room saw her standing in front of him. 

In her room there was a new servant employed at Brekke and she went into the room one summer evening. She came out pale and silent before she collapsed in spasms. 

In the early 1900s, sightings of her were so common among the locals, they just commented, “it’s just her” when someone met her in the late 1920s. She was even spotted outside of the manor and walking around the city center in Kleiva. 

The Haunted Ibsen Show

In 1925 there was an Ibsen display in the north wing at Brekke. When they locked the room for the night, everything was fine. When they returned in the morning though, the chairs were moved, the window blinds fell down and a newly restored portrait of Ibsen had fallen to the ground and was broken. 

Was this the Lady in Grey though or was it actually the ghost of Lammers, that had the furniture displayed there? They called a ghost expert to investigate this, the father of the infamous Norwegian traitor from the second world war, Vidkun Quisling. He published his book Believable ghost stories in 1911 and was known as the expert in the field. Interestingly enough though, he didn’t mention the Grey Lady at all.

Later it was said that even an exorcism was conducted to drive the ghost out, but it seemingly didn’t have an effect. So the question remains, is the Lady in Gray still haunting the Søndre Brekke Gård?

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References:

Søndre Brekke gård – Wikipedia

Herskapshuset Søndre Brekke – Telemark museum 

https://www.telemarkmuseum.no/wp-content/uploads/gra_dame_ferdig.pdf

Den grå dame i Brekkeparken – Telemarkshistorier

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Oskorsreia – the Wild Hunt in the North

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The wild hunt is a supernatural ghost ride in the sky during the dark winter days. In Scandinavia this hunt is called Oskorsreia, often a hunt led by Odin himself that could be dangerous for people to get entangled in. 

The sound of rumbling thunder, horses tramping in the pitch black night sky, and the screams of the hunters making their way through the sky is a familiar picture for many Europeans. The idea of the wild hunt that can take you away is a frightening one. Especially in the northern part of the world, where the fear from the hunt was real. 

Loudly through air at night they haste,
An uproar on wild black horses!
As a storm the wild crowds travel by
With nothing but clouds for foothold.
Over the valleys, the woods and meadows –
Through darkness and weather, they never heed.
The traveler throws himself frightened to ground.
Listen… what clamor! It’s the forces of Asgard!
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

The time of Christmas is a cozy one for most people today. Many of the traditional customs however, have a much darker backstory than many know today. From the evil Krampus in Germany, the horse skull of Mari Lwyd in Wales to the wild hunt of Oskorsreia in the north.

Read more about ghost and hauntings during Christmas time: Ghost Stories of Christmas Hauntings

Especially in the northern part of the world, the idea of Christmas and winter have much more sinister connotations than elsewhere in the world. The days are shorter here, and the nights are much darker with more dangers lurking in the stormy winds, cold and snowy landscapes where the sun only peaks over the mountains a couple of hours each day. Christmas times are around the darkest time of the year and winter solstice has been celebrated and often feared as well as the time where the wild dark forces get unleashed into the world. 

The Wild Hunt in Europe

The idea, the fear and the legends about The Wild Hunt is found in many places in European mythologies. To the Germanic stories about the wild hunt between the Christmas weekend and new years weekend and the phenomenon was popularized when the brothers Grimm brought it up in their writings.

The Wild Hunt: Die Wilde Jagd, a German interpretation of the wild hunt by Johann Cordes from 1856. Almost every part of Europe have their own version of the wild hunt and there are many different historical, mythical or godly persons leading the hunt.

There are a lot of variations of the legends like Oskorsreia and the wild hunt, but mainly, it is the stories about restless spirits riding through the night sky. Often it is historical figures, like King Valdemar stalking a woman in Denmark, Theodoric the Great in Italy.

In Scandinavia they called it Oskorsreia and Wild Hunt was not only connected with the restless spirits in the sky, but also to the Gods and it was told before Christian times, it was believed it was Odin himself that led the hunt, the leader of the Norse Gods. 

Oskorsreia in Scandinavia

The Wild Hunt of Asgard raids the county
Whilst fall and winter at stormy nights.
But it favors to travel at Yuletide…
They feast with trolls and giants;
they closely ride by meadow and path
And pass the fearful nation.
Then, – take care farmer! Keep all in order!
As the wild hunt of Asgard may visit your home!
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

Oskoreia, or Åsgardsreia as it was later called by the 1800s national romantics as a connotation to Åsgard, where the norse Gods resided, was in Scandinavian lore restless spirits riding in the sky in the night. This happened especially around christmas time, or yule, called Juleskreia. Oskoreia was the older world for it, from a time when even Christmas hadn’t reached the icy tips of Scandinavia. 

Oskorsreia was often in folklore about making sure you were ready with the preparations for Christmas and not being outside when the hunt was on. If you were not prepared and out and about when they came riding, chances were high that you would be carried along with them. 

Julereia: Jul, meaning Yule or Christmas was also a version, sometimes used in stead of the more godly ride we oten connect Oskorsreia with. It was a group of goblins, witches, trolls, elfs and other obscure creatures, travelling around during christmas time in order to cause chaos and havoc.//Picture: Nils Bergslien 1922.

Oskorsreia was supposedly dangerous for humans to get entangled with the hunt, as it would tear at your soul and carry you so far you might not get home. Many sagas tell about people taken from their homestead and are let down in an unfamiliar place. 

To stay safe against the Oskorsreia hunt, people painted crosses of tar or chalk on their doors both for humans and animals in the more Christian area. They also placed sharp steel over the doors to protect both the people in the house as well as the horses in the stables. If you were already out when you heard the ghost riders coming, your only hope was to throw yourself on the ground, arms and legs spread out and just hope that the riders would pass you. 

The Danger of Oskorsreia

As through the air in the dark came a thunder,
– a howling horde on ferocious horses,
It raced over woods to the wedding house,
Intended to visit the bloody performance.
Then horns blew, and an awesome noise
From bells and riding-gear resounded.
Now it was close – it came over the hill –
There was an outcry: The wild hunt of Asgard!

There was a tempest in Heaven and Earth,
That hurled a horror in every heart,
It blasted along in growing circles,
It punched with wings and grabbed with arms.
Then Wolf was dragged away by his hair,
thrown up in the air and taken away,
Yes, taken away over woods and mountains,
He was never seen or heard of again.
— Åsgårdsreien by Johan Sebastian Welhaven (english translation)

Over time when there was a mysterious death no one could explain, it was often blamed on the Oskorsreia, especially during Christmas times. There are many folk tales from Scandinavia where they tell about someone trying to celebrate Christmas, but an unknown corpse appears on the farm, in the woods or close to the house no one knows where it came from. Then it was thought it was a person who got tangled up in the ride, was taken away and dropped down from the sky again. 

In the 1800, Oskorsreia and The Wild Hunt was a popular motif for the Germanic painters, poets and sculpture, and today we have many pieces of art depicting the hunt. But it is not the only place we can see the remnants of people’s fear of the wild hunt. 

Back in pre Christian times the hunt was either a ride of witches through the night, meaning Gandferd. Gand was originally the word for a pointy staff the witches used, and this witch ride is one of the origins stories of why we think witches ride on brooms. 

Why the wild hunt like Oskorsreia was happening varied, but most likely it started as an explanation to the stormy weathers during winter times. Oskorsreia and the Wild Hunt was often thought to be a warning of a coming plague or war, and also more harmless reasons as to check on people if they were doing their Christmas preparations correctly. 

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References

Salomonsen konversasjonsleksikon om Asgaardsrei

https://snl.no/%C3%85sg%C3%A5rdsrei

Wild Hunt – Wikipedia

Complete translated poem of Åsgårsreia by Johan Sebastian Welhaven: http://www.odins-gift.com/pclass/asgardsreien.htm

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The Haunted Dungeon at Rosenkrantz Tower

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The Rosenkrantz Tower in Bergen Norway is one of the oldest buildings still standing and was once the house for kings. Today it is used as a museum and perhaps they also have some of the oldest ghosts still lingering in the dungeon. 

On the old dock in Bergen city you mostly find old buildings dating all the way back to the middle ages when Bergen was the capital in Norway throughout the city’s time as a Hanseatic trading city. Today the fortress the Rosenkrantz Tower is a part of a museum and is considered one of the most important renaissance monuments in Norway. 

One of the old buildings is Rosenkrantz Tower, which still is one of the taller buildings in the city and was once known as “The Castle by the Sea” as it used to be a residence for kings when Bergen was the capital in Norway. 

The Kings Tower

Rosenkrantz Tower was originally built for the king Magnus Lawmender in 1270 and a lot of the original building can still be seen today. King Magnus Lawmender got his nickname after working extensively on the laws in his country, and much of today’s Norwegian constitution comes from his work. 

After the capital in Norway was moved to Oslo and Norway became a part of the Danish kingdom, the keep the tower is part of lost its importance as a royal seat, but was still used as a military keep.

Although the cannons in Rosenkrantz Tower have only been fired one day during war in 1665, the tower has seen its fair share of war. In 1944 during world war two the Rosenkrantz Tower was heavily damaged when a cargo ship with explosives exploded right outside. The upper floors collapsed, but the foundations of the tower still remained, like the dungeon in the tower. And deep down in the darkness of the dungeon in the tower, some former prisoners are said to still linger. 

The Haunted Dungeon

The dungeon in Rosenkrantz Tower was added on to the tower around 1500 and the final tower as we see it today was finalized in the 1560s by Erik Rosenkrantz who was a governor of Bergen Castle during a time when Norway was under Danish reign. He was at the time one of the wealthiest men in Denmark-Norway and work on the tower was done by Scottish builders, explaining the Scottish look from the time. 

The

The dungeon served as a prison where they kept the prisoners who were considered to be very violent and often some of the poorest. These are the prisoners that are rumored to be still haunting the dungeon. 

An architect named Peter Blix reported in 1884 that old people living at the time still remembered the last prisoner in the cell in Rosenkrantz Tower. So perhaps the dungeon was used in the early 19th century? 

You can walk inside of the tower and follow the hollowed and wobbly stairs down to the basement where you can barely stand up straight. The cells are small and the only light is from the cracks in the walls. Still to this day you can see claw marks from the prisoners that were confined into the dark small cells when it was used from the 16th to the 19th century. 

The irony of it all is that so many of the prisoners were convicted by the laws that the original builder, King Magnus Lawmender, made during his reign just a couple of floors above the dungeon they are forever kept. 

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References

Featured photo: Wikimedia/Rüdiger Stehn

The Most Haunted Places in Bergen 

Rosenkrantztårnet – Lensherrenes slott i Bergen sentrum – Bymuseet

The Bergen Map | Rosenkrantztårnet

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The Ghost Monks at Lyseklosteret

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In the ruins of Lyse Abbey there are rumors about the ghost monks haunting the ruins as well as a white lady roaming the roads around it. 

Lyse Abbey or Lyseklosteret is a former cistercian monastery that was built in Os, right outside of Bergen in Norway. There are only ruins of it today, as many of the monasteries were destroyed during the reformation from catholicism to protestantism in 1536. 

In 1578 stones were removed from the monastery and shipped to Denmark and used in Kronborg Castle, as Norway at the time was a colony in Denmark. The stones were also used to build the Rosenkrantz tower in Bergen.  

Ghost Monks

The monastery called  Coenobium Vallis Lucidae ( The Monastery in the Valley of Light) in Latin and named after the fjord, Lysefjorden (The Light Fjord) was founded by English monks in  From Fountain Abbey in North Yorkshire 1146 and the building was built over the next hundreds of years. They also brought fruits like apples to Hardanger, a place now renowned for its tasty apples. 

Lyse Abbey: The ruins of the old monastary is said to be haunted by ghost monks// source

It is said that the monks that first built the monastery never left and haunts the location even to this day. Many have reported about seeing cloaked silhouettes walking about as if they are working on the building. 

There have also been heard moans from the ruins of the once great monastery, especially on foggy nights, making people believe that the old ruins are haunted by Ghost Monks. 

Lyse Abbey is not the only place supposedly haunted by a monk in Norway. Read also about the ghost monk haunting Nidarosdommen. 

The White Lady In the Ruins

The ghost monks are however not the only ones that are rumored to haunt the place. Apparently there are stories about a “white lady” that walks around in the ruins of the monastery at night time and in the evening. According to legend there was a terrible accident involving a tractor in 1960 when she was bicycling along the road nearby and a tractor ran her over. 

It is unclear if it actually was an accident since it was her neighbor driving the tractor. Anyway, since then, there have been multiple reports about a woman in white around the weeks leading up to Christmas, often described as a white morning robe, wandering restless around the monastery, just looking straight ahead. 

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References

Her finner du spøkelser i Bergen – Let’s get lost

Lysekloster – Wikipedia

Kven er den skumle dama som skremmer vatnet av folk ved Lysekloster-ruinane?

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The Friendly Ghost Octavia at Den Nationale Scene

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At Den Nationale Scene theater in Bergen there is a ghost named Octavia that haunts the place. She is said to be a helping ghost, taking care of the staff and helping the actors remember their lines. 

There is a rule somewhere that every theatre needs a ghost, even if the building is new or old. In Bergen in Norway, they have Octavia at the oldest theater in Norway, Den Nationale Scene, in the beautiful art-nouveau building that opened in 1909. But as house ghosts go, she’s not so bad to have hanging around as she is said to be very friendly. 

Octavia Sperati

In the early and living days she was one of the actresses at the theater named Octavia Sperati that lived a long life as a working actress as her children did after her as well. She was born as Salmine Svendsen in Kristiansand, south in Norway, but took her middle name and married as Octavia Sperati which became her stage name as well.

Octavia Sperati was an actress who died in March 1918 in Bergen and had worked for many years at the theater in the city, dedicating her life to it and according to popular belief, she is still hanging out in the theatre, long after her death.  

She is remembered for her characters of the famous playwrights like Holberg and Ibsen where she played the character of Gina Ekdal in the first production of the play The Wild Duck and one of Ibsen’s most famous plays. 

Haunting at Den Nationale Scene

One of Octavia Speratis portraits still hangs in the lobby at Den Nationale Scene and is one of the things that are said to be haunted. The portrait has survived most things like multiple bombings during the second world war and fires that broke out in the theatre.

In a fire in 1983, her portrait was one of the only things intact after a fire at Den Nationale Scene. A man named Jørgen Fogge who worked there claimed to have heard her voice calling out in the flames. 

There have been several sightings of her over the years, most of them claiming she is in a white dress, flying around in the corridors or sitting in her kept seat in the front, watching the plays. Someone claims to have seen her with a hat, parasol and a pink ball gown in the attic.  

Before seeing her, you can hear her knocking, or her footsteps through the corridors. In some cases it is said that paintings are falling off the wall, or even the sound of her voice can be heard when the theater is quiet. 

The Helpful Ghost

Although a paranormal specter, the staff, actors and audience are not particularly afraid of her, and she is rather a dearly beloved ghost. She is said to be a helpful ghost, and her only goal is to take care of the building and the staff working there as she once did. 

She is particularly known for helping the actors to remember the lines and if they are stuck on them on stage, she will suddenly appear to help them. 

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References

Her er Norges mest kjente spøkelser – NRK Vestland

Octavia Sperati (skuespiller) – Wikipedia