The mountain directly ahead of you is Beitelen, 675 metres high, and it marks the exact point where the Aurlandsfjord splits in two. The wider eastern branch continues as the Aurlandsfjord toward Aurland and Lærdal. The narrow western branch is the Nærøyfjord. Beitelen is the gateway between them.
The name comes from Old Norse and means "chisel." The local historian Johs. B. Thue suggested the mountain got its name because it looks like a wedge driven into the landscape, splitting the fjord apart. In Norse mythology, the landscape was shaped by supernatural forces, and a chisel-shaped mountain at the exact fork of a fjord fit that worldview perfectly.
The slopes of Beitelen have one of the best stands of linden trees in the region. In the fjord below, fishermen used to set longlines for cod and ling, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. One day they hauled in something unexpected: a two-tonne basking shark tangled in a herring net. Basking shark liver was valuable, but this one was apparently more trouble than it was worth. They loaded it onto the steamer Stavenes, brought it to Beitelen, and sank it in the fjord. The farm of Stigen, visible on the cliff face 360 metres up, can be reached by a steep trail from the fjord that continues to the summit of Beitelen.
The name comes from Old Norse and means "chisel." The local historian Johs. B. Thue suggested the mountain got its name because it looks like a wedge driven into the landscape, splitting the fjord apart. In Norse mythology, the landscape was shaped by supernatural forces, and a chisel-shaped mountain at the exact fork of a fjord fit that worldview perfectly.
The slopes of Beitelen have one of the best stands of linden trees in the region. In the fjord below, fishermen used to set longlines for cod and ling, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. One day they hauled in something unexpected: a two-tonne basking shark tangled in a herring net. Basking shark liver was valuable, but this one was apparently more trouble than it was worth. They loaded it onto the steamer Stavenes, brought it to Beitelen, and sank it in the fjord. The farm of Stigen, visible on the cliff face 360 metres up, can be reached by a steep trail from the fjord that continues to the summit of Beitelen.