Vormsi church
Vormsi church
Legend has it that St. Olaf’s Church on Vormsi was built by Valdemar II of Denmark in 1219, which is one of the four dates carved into the stone in front of the church door. However, the construction of the church in 1219 has been called into question, as the settlement of Vormsi is considered to have taken place later, in the second half of the 12th century. The name Vormsi first comes up in history records in 1391.
The first church was most likely a wooden church (evidence of this was found during the 1990 renovation) and the present stone church was built later. The oldest part of the church is the choir built in the 15th century. The stones protruding from the outer wall of the choir suggest that the intention was to construct a stone longhouse. However, this did not come to pass until several centuries later.
Russwurm writes that during the Livonian War, Vormsi was pillaged by Tatars in 1575 who smoked the parish priest to death in a sauna, destroyed church records and took documents, church bells and altarpieces to Saaremaa. The Tatars were hardly the only looters during turbulent times. The wooden longhouse of the church was probably also destroyed during the Livonian War. Of the mediaeval furnishings, only a fragment of a 15th-century altar cabinet depicting a reclining Madonna and child survives. The altar cabinet depicts a scene of the three wise men worshipping the baby Jesus in the arms of the Virgin Mary as she lay down. There is currently a copy of the same scene in Vormsi church.
Vormsi church got its stone longhouse in 1632 and this date is also inscribed on the stone in front of the church door. The longhouse is almost square and divided into three by wooden columns supporting the beams. No tower was built for the church. The bell was placed above the door under the high ridge of the roof. The church underwent major repairs in 1772 and in 1829, when the church windows were enlarged and given a pointed arch. These dates are also among those inscribed on the stone in front of the church door.
During World War II, the indigenous people of Vormsi left for Sweden, taking church property with them. Those departing were worried that any items left behind would be destroyed under Soviet occupation. Most of the valuables were secretly deposited in the vaults of the Sparbanken in Stockholm and in the Swedish History Museum since 1973. The property of Vormsi church was brought back to Estonia in 2006, but it is kept in the St. Michael’s Swedish Church in Tallinn.
The people who settled on the island after the war wished to resume the activities of the congregation, but were not allowed to do so by the occupying authorities. The church stood unattended and was looted. During the time of the collective farms, it was occasionally used for storing grain, hay and potatoes.
In 1988, the restoration of the church began with the help of donations. A fund for Vormsi church was set up to collect donations. The restored and repaired Vormsi church was reconsecrated on Olsok on 29 July in 1990.
The church fund commissioned new church supplies for the congregation and had a replica built of the historic pulpit, the original of which was made in 1660 by Tallinn master craftsman Berent Martens. Only a few details of the altar, completed a decade later in the workshop of Haapsalu master craftsman Gerg Basilaque, have survived. For example, an angel figurine from the altar was found in the 1960s in the sand dunes near the village of Borrby.
St. Olaf
Nõva church is consecrated to St. Olaf, who is also the patron saint of Norway and whose death is celebrated as Olsok (Olaf’s Wake/Vigil) on 29 July.
St. Olaf was King Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway, who reigned from 1015 to 1028. A series of 11th-13th-century chronicles survive about his life and doings. In his younger days, Olaf was a successful Viking who is said to have raided England, destroying London Bridge. In 1008, he also tried to conquer Saaremaa, but failed. He was baptised in Rouen in Normandy in 1014 and returned to Norway in 1015, where he proclaimed himself king. Olaf is seen as the man who united Norway and brought Christianity to the land. In 1028 he lost his country and a year later was forced to flee to Kyivan Rus. In 1030, he allied with the King of Sweden to return to Norway in an attempt to regain power, but was defeated by the Norwegian force made up of pagans, peasants and Danes at the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July.
Olaf’s body remained in the town of Nidaros (now Trondheim), where he was buried. Soon miracles started to happen near his grave. A year after Olaf’s death, his body was exhumed and historical sources report that the crowd was surprised to see that his remains had not decomposed. It was considered such a wonder that the Pope himself confirmed Olaf’s canonisation.
The cult of St. Olaf quickly spread all over Europe, including the British Isles, the Netherlands, Russia and beyond. The St. Olaf’s Church in Tallinn as well as the churches on Vormsi and on both of the Pakri islands are also dedicated to St. Olaf in Estonia.
There are two statues of St. Olaf in Vormsi church – one of them stands in a niche above the west portal of the church, the other inside the church next to the door. The statue inside the church was first commissioned to be installed in a niche just above the door. Once it was finished, however, it became clear that the statue looked more like another saint, St. George, and was much too large to fit into the niche. After the first failed attempt, the task of making a new statue was given to Andres Rodionov, one of the foremen of the restoration efforts. He created the terracotta sculpture that now sits in a niche above the door of Vormsi church.
Church building legends
Carl Russwurm, who studied the Estonian Swedes in the 19th century and wrote about them in his book ‘Eibofolke’, published in 1855, has recorded a legend claiming that Vormsi church, said to have been commissioned by Count Douglas at the time Tallinn was founded, was originally to be built on a hill in Sviby, which still bears the name Kerkebacka. But what was built by day was demolished by night, because the original location was not to God’s liking. The same happened with the hill near Hullo and also in Suuremõisa on Tuuleveskimägi (windmill hill). But when they came to the place where the church now stands, and where there used to be a stable in those days, a cross appeared, and when they started construction, the same amount of work was added during the night as they were able to complete during the day.
There is a similar account from a slightly later time, but in this version the church was built by the Danes and the unsuccessful sites were the Sviby Kirikumägi (church hill) and then the Kersleti Kirikumägi.
Sundial and pillory
A restored sundial can be found near the southern portal in Vormsi churchyard. The first sundial was installed in the churchyard in 1741, but it was destroyed during the Soviet occupation. The only surviving part of the original sundial was a slab of carved stone with the date of manufacture 1741. The slab survived in the Läänemaa Museum in Haapsalu.
In 2014, it was decided to restore the sundial with the help of donations from Estonian Swedes in memory of Sven Salin, the long-time chairman of Svenska Odlingens Vänner (cultural association of Estonian Swedes in Sweden). Born on Vormsi in 1933, Salin passed away in 2013.
By the church gate, there was once a pillory for punishing sinners between two pines.