Sverd i fjell is a commemorative monument located at the Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord

Hafrsfjord is a fjord or bay located in the municipalities of Stavanger and Sola in Norway. Stretching 9 kilometres. Hafrsfjord fjord is bounded by Tananger, Sola and Madla...

 fjord, just outside the city of Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The monument was created by sculptor Fritz Røed

Fritz Røed

Fritz Røed was a Norwegian sculptor. He is most associated with his work, Sverd i fjell, the commemorative monument which symbolizes the unification of the nation of Norway. -Biography:...

 from Bryne

Bryne

Bryne is a city, located in, and the administrative centre of, the municipality of Time, Norway. Bryne is located about 25 minutes south of Stavanger by train. The area of Bryne is 4,79 km²....

 and was unveiled by king Olav V of Norway

Olav V of Norway

Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...

 in 1983. Three very tall swords are planted into the rock of a small hill next to the fjord. They commemorate the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord

Battle of Hafrsfjord

The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch.The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord...

 that took place here in the year 872, when King Harald Fairhair gathered all of Norway under one crown.

The largest sword represents the victorious Harald, and the two smaller swords represent the defeated petty kings. The monument also represents peace, since the swords are planted into solid rock, whence they may never be removed.

In Popular Culture

Sam Dunn

Sam Dunn

Sam Dunn is a Canadian anthropologist and film-maker whose work focuses on the culture of heavy metal. Together with Scot McFadyen, Dunn owns Toronto-based production company Banger Films, Inc.-Metal: A Headbanger's Journey:...

 filmed on location at Sverd i fjell while he was touring Norway doing interviews for Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is a 2005 documentary directed by Sam Dunn with Scot McFadyen and Jessica Wise. The film follows 31-year-old Dunn, a Canadian anthropologist, who has been a heavy metal fan since the age of 12...

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Bladehenge in Brütal Legend

Brütal Legend

Brütal Legend is an action-adventure/real-time strategy game created by Double Fine Productions and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America and Europe...

 by Tim Schafer

Tim Schafer

Timothy Schafer is an American computer game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in January 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts...

 was modeled after Sverd i fjell.

See also

• Ytraberget
  Ytraberget
  Ytraberget is a peninsula in Hafrsfjord in Sola Kommune, Norway. Ytraberget is connected to Indraberget, and it divides Sørnesvågen and Grannesvågen. Harald Fairhair fought the Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872 AD...