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The Fisherwife

From there, north of the Arctic Circle, not far from The Fisherwife herself, Jorun and Audun sent us a book reminding Mari and me of the trip we took on the coastal ships that tie Norway together, reminding even Norwegians that they are a coastal nation, a nation shaped by the sea.  


The Lofotens are an archipelago north of the Arctic Circle, and Svolvaer, today, is a town of about 4000 people; 4000 very tough people.  


Norwegian public television broadcast a non-stop trip of one of the coastal ships for almost six days as it made its way from Bergen, stopping everywhere, to Kirkenes.  Bjørn Tore Pedersen, in Hurtigruten, Minutt for Minutt, wrote:


On the starboard side, when sailing into Svolvaer, Per Ung's statue, "The Fisherwife", stands as a memorial to all the women who had husbands and sons at sea, and never knew whether they would come home alive.   During a storm in 1848, more than 500 fishermen died on the Westfjord in the course of one night.  In many of the old cemeteries in the Lofotens, there are almost only women's graves. 

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