"The Flagmound", overlooking the Karmsound.
The stone called "Virgin Mary's Sewing Needle" is said to have been part
of a cluster of stones that constituted a pagan place of cult.
THE CHIEFTAIN IN "FLAGHAUGEN"
The huge burial mound "Flaghaugen" was situated close to the
present church. Before the excavation it was 5m tall and 43m in dm. When the mound was
opened in 1835, they found a chieftain from around 300 AD, and his burial contained more
gold than any other grave in Northern Europe from the late Roman Period. The prominent
burial gifts witness a close contact with the Roman Empire. The chieftain that was buried
here, is also connected with the 1000 warriors from Western Norway that lost their lives
in a battle at Illerup, Denmark around 250 - 300 AD.
Archaeological test excavations have put us on the track of the royal manor of this
mysterious chieftain.
"The Flagmound", overlooking the Karmsound.
The stone called "Virgin Mary's Sewing Needle" is said to have been
part
of a cluster of stones that constituted a pagan place of cult.
KING AUGVALD
Avaldsnes (Augvaldsnes) has got its name from the legendary king Augvald
who is supposed to have lived around 600 AD. His name is connected with the worship of
Odin, and Augvald is called "the descendant of gods and the forefather of
kings". He is mentioned in several old written sources. In the Saga of king Olaf
Tryggvason we can read that king Olav one night was visited by an old one-eyed and wise
man, who was obviously no less than Odin himself. It was this visitor who told king Olav
about Augvald who had ruled at Avaldsnes in the past.
Augvald was a great warrior and seafarer who sacrificed to a cow he brought along wherever he went. He also had two daughters that were shield-maidens and they fought alongside their father in every battle. King Augvald, his deity cow and two warrior daughters were killed in a battle against king Ferking who ruled the western side of Karmøy. The shield-maidens were buried at Ferkingstad, but Augvald and his cow were brought home to Avaldsnes and buried in the King’s Mound and the Cow’s mound respectively. King Olav Tryggvason himself examined the two burial mounds. In one of them he found human bones, and in the other the bones of a cow.