Selbjørn

Historie

Selbjørn is an island in Austevoll municipality in Hordaland county, Norway. The 25km2 island is the second largest in the municipality (after Huftarøy). Most of the population lives along the northern and eastern coastlines of the island. The commercial centre of Selbjørn is the village of Bekkjarvik, where Bekkjarvik Church is located.NameSelbjørn is based on the old Norwegian word Salbjǫrn meaning the bear in the saddle. The interpretation is that sailors and fishermen used Selbjørn as replacement for a more ancient "Hund" meaning quarry. However, "Hund" is the same as the Norwegian word for dog and "Hund" in the meaning of dog was according to old tradition something not to be mentioned at sea. The result being Salbjorn or Selbjørn as the new word for "Hund" (quarry).The island's name was used in naming the fjord that lies immediately to the south, Selbjørnsfjorden.GeographyThe island lies just north of the Selbjørnsfjorden on the southern part of the Austevoll archipelago. The neighboring island of Stolmen lies just to the west and the island of Huftarøy lies just to the northeast.KongsafjelletThe highest point on the island is the 185m tall mountain Kongsafjellet. Kongsafjellet has a strategic position to overview all the shipping lanes for boats coming from the North Sea and going north/south along the coast and in between the nearby islands. The estate of the historic Viking Kings at Fitjar was also seen from the hilltop, and due to this and some archaeological findings, it is believed that King Haakon the Good used the hilltop as a scouting location as part of his Vikings security system.