Ymbjorg Hansdatter-Sandver

Warren Fagerland’s maternal grandmother’s family came from the mountainous inland county of Oppland, Norway.  In fact, these ancestors were all localized in Vågå Parish.  Vågå Church dates to about 1150.  Originally a stave church, it was reconstructed as a half-timbered Latin cross structure in the 17th century.  Countless ancestors were surely buried here.  We can’t identify any individual gravestones anymore.

Our last ancestor born in Vågå was my 2GGM Ymbjorg Hansdatter-Sandver.  Her parents Hans Hansen Svare and Else Hansdatter lived on Svare 1SVAH-ree Farm from 1850 to 1866.  The last ancestors buried in Vågå were Ymbjorg’s four grandparents:  My 4GGPs  Hans Hansen Sandviken and Anne Jonsdatter, and Hans Olsen and Ymbjorg Jacobsdatter.

Near the church, there is a feature in a mountainside known as Jutulporten, or Jutul’n’s gate.  According to local legend, the giant troll Jutul’n lived inside the mountain.  A particular story about Jutul’n explained how our ancestor Johannes Blessum (alive in 1600) got his crooked neck!

Jutulporten

“Jutul’n gave Jehans Blessom a lift home from Copenhagen – so fast that they flew over hill and valley.  Back in Vågå, Jehans was told not to look up if he heard a bang. Of course he forgot this, and saw the Jutul Gate open – filled with the glare of gold – just when Jutul’n went in. Now Jehans understood who had given him a lift.  But his neck was fixed in the very position for the rest of his life.” ¹

Lom Kirke is a true stave church located about 20 miles west of Vågå Kirke (zoom out a little bit in map above).  As far as I know, there was no family here, just an interesting relic of local history.

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