Paper short abstract:

Pilgrimage conceptualisations are currently transforming geographical, cultural and religious landscapes in Norway. The paper explores how ongoing negotiations of the phenomenon include differing views on pilgrimage as long-distance hikes inland and as travels by boat along the coast.

Paper long abstract:

Since the 1990s, pilgrimage has become an increasingly visible phenomenon in Norway. This development entails heritagisation of shrines sought by pilgrims before the Protestant Reformation. Today “routes with roots” inspired by visual and administrative elements from the Camino, including pilgrim credentials and branded way-markers, are developed on levels from grassroot initiatives to governmental strategy projects. A range of agents participate in the ongoing interpretations of what contemporary pilgrimage entails. While pilgrimage realisations in Norway mainly have been centered on routes accommodated for journeys on foot, a shift towards increased focus on maritime pilgrimage is now observable. The Sunniva Route to Selja and The St Olav Ways to Nidaros are two such routes, leading to the former shrines of St Sunniva and St Olav respectively. These routes have recently been connected by way of the Coastal Pilgrimage Route and holds the status as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.

Based on interviews and participatory observation along these routes, the paper explores the tensioned-filled co-construction of pilgrimage in Norway. Ongoing negotiations of what pilgrimage as a contemporary phenomenon entail is exemplified by differing notions of pilgrimage as long-distance hikes inland and as travels by boat. The aim is to re-orientate the notion of place in relation to pilgrimage by focusing on the development of pilgrimage routes as administrative projects by “pilgrimage bureaucrats” and “long-term pilgrims”. A further aim is to ask to what extent these developments exemplify dynamic and shifting interfaces between the spheres of religion, politics and cultural heritage.