The second day of our wanderings took us to several sites. The first was a reproduction stave church in Rapid City (the information at the link is more than you ever wanted to know -- or maybe not -- about medieval Scandinavian wooden churches).
The Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the Borgund stavkyrkje built circa 1200 in Norway. The chapel was built in the 1960s to provide a home for the Lutheran Vespers radio program. The program moved to Minneapolis in 1975 and survived in different formats until 2009.
The curators of the Borgund church provided detailed blueprints to be used in building the replica with the proviso that they would be followed to the letter.
The chapel is a popular place for weddings and there are evening vespers led by visiting pastors during the summer months.
Dragon heads similar to those used on Viking ships decorate the gable ends.
The church is adorned throughout with woodcarvings. Some were done in Norway and some done by a local artisan.
A detail of one carving. It depicts a stylized dragon and snake devouring each other.
Everywhere you looked was beauty.
The guide told us that one of the few concessions to modernity was the use of nails.
The nave was surrounded by an ambulatory. On the south side of the church an elaborate entrance opened into the ambulatory and a blank wall. The guide said that was to trick Satan into sneaking into the church and getting trapped. Or maybe the ambulatory was intended for lepers and people with diseases so that they could attend services without contacting other parishioners -- a kind of social distancing.
There was a small electronic organ tucked away behind the altar.
This Stabbur, or storehouse, was built in Norway and shipped to the site. It comes complete with a grass roof.
It now serves as the gift shop.
These rune stones are replicas made by a local craftsman, Steinulfr. They honor those who settled the land and served to defend it.
There is a "prayer walk" in the woods behind the church. Most of the statues had daisies and other flowers placed around them.
The prayer that ended the walk was the same one used by our guide to end his presentation:
As you leave this place
may the Living Lord go with you;
May he go behind you, to encourage you,
beside you, to befriend you,
above you, to watch over you,
beneath you, to lift you from your sorrows,
within you, to give you the gifts of faith, hope, and love,
and always before you, to show you the way.
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