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Paper short abstract

This presentation explores administrative and geographic penumbras of the development of the St Olav Ways. It is analysed how debates about the realisation of this national pilgrimage venture in Norway influence how contemporary pilgrimage is framed and managed in the Nordic countries.

Paper long abstract

The St Olav Ways to Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the most extensive network of pilgrimage routes in the Nordic countries. Developed through both grass roots initiatives and governmentally administered projects since the 1990s, it is now recognised as the “official” pilgrimage project in Norway and holds the status as a Cultural Route of Europe. As such, there is a high degree of public administration on both the national and transnational level, with power relations and hierarchies being created in the processes. All the routes in this network must lead to Nidaros and demonstrate a connection to “the heritage of St Olav”. Because of the status as a state-funded pilgrimage venture, these criteria present a frequent source of contestation that sometimes leads to conflict with pilgrimage agents focused on other historical shrines and/or various interpretations of contemporary pilgrimage practices.

This presentation focuses on the development of the national strategy for pilgrimage in Norway to exemplify how realisations of pilgrimage as a cultural-political field can bring to light differences in how pilgrimage is understood. Furthermore, it is shown how such debates also can be productive in defusing differences and creating new arenas for collaboration. This field of “pilgrimage bureaucracy” is analysed as a penumbral zone (Coleman 2021) surrounding pilgrimages to Nidaros and other historical shrines in the Nordic countries. It is based on analysis of consultation responses to the governmental report (2008) that laid the ground for the national pilgrimage strategy (2012) and interviews with agents involved in this process.