The Tuddal god
One of the biggest attractions at the Tuddal Rural Museum is a knot from a pine tree shaped into a frightening face. C-14 dating at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim has confirmed that the figure dates from between 1160 and 1270. It was turned up by a plough at Moen farm in the 1880s, and after spending around 100 years with the sheriff’s family in Sauland, the “god” was returned to Tuddal Rural Museum in 1984.
We will never know whether the “Tuddal god” is supposed to depict one of the heathen gods, such as Loki or Tor, but the creepy, staring eyes certainly appear to gaze out at us from a heathen world. Perhaps it was a last symbol of the old beliefs, discarded by the local people in favour of White Christ.
Taken from Ivar T. Dahl, Glimt av Tuddal før i verden