About us
November 1st 2018, Tilla and Christer, moved to Lofoten to take a year off and practice their interest in mountaineering. After a short while, they understood that Lofoten was the place they wanted to spend all their time. In December 2019, they had the opportunity to take over the holiday centre at Ørsvågvær, and on January 1st 2020, Tilla had her first day as the owner of this company called Skårungen.
We chose to call this place for Skårungen as it feels a bit like our first time going to winter fishing in a small rowboat. We wish that everyone who comes to visit us will get the same experience and feeling as we got the first time we came to Lofoten, pure love for the nature and the local people living here.
The opportunities in Lofoten are endless, and the location is unique! There is only ones imagination which can set the boundaries for what one can explore in this area. We have had some amazing days with freediving in the turquoise water, climbing the steep mountains, enjoying every moment in the midnight sun, backcountry skiing in the northern lights and seeing the ocean boil in cod during the spring season.
We recommend that you to come and try to be a “Skårungen” in Lofoten, and maybe you will leave being a true Kar.
Est. 1890
The history of Skårungen
It all started on the small island, Ørsvågholmen, located right outside our hotel. On the island, there was a small farm, a fishing port and «rorbuer» (traditional cabins). The location was chosen as it was very easy to moor the small rowing. In 1895 all buildings were destroyed in a devastating fire. The buildings were rebuilt on the mainland and consisted of a big home for the landowner, a 5-floor building where there was a grocery store, a telegraph and small rooms for people working in the fishing port. The landowner also rebuilt a lot of small «rorbuer», which are still in use today.
In 1913 the landowner went bankrupt, as the cod didn’t come to this side of Lofoten for many years. Since the fishermen used rowboats, they always chose the fishing port closest to the cod, and unfortunately, Ørsvågvær lost its business.
In 1920 a new owner bought the land and put up a cod liver boilery. This was built on a large wooden deck standing in the water. Production from the boilery was good, but over the years the oil spilt on the wooden deck made it slowly rotten and after many years the entire building broke down.
The fishing season continued during the second world war, but was more commercial fishing this time. In the years after WW2, the fishing was considered good and with new equipment such as fishing sonars and other mechanic fishing tools, the industry got too effective. This led to overfishing and at the end of the 1950s, there was «no» more cod left in the area, so in 1963, the landowner went bankrupt and the bank sold the land to a new owner. The new owner did not work with fish and started to rent out some rooms in the old landowner house to tourists. He also ordered 16 small cabins form a local factory
– the Pioneer huts - that you can rent today as well.
Skårungen is a local term used as a nickname for young fishermen going out for the winter fishing after cod for their first time. It can be translated to «a rookie». The «skårungen» was put to do all the dirty work, like washing the boat, cooking the meals and doing the dishes. At the end of the cod season, it was a rule that the «skårungen» had to buy liqueur (handskanne) to the boat crew - the ritual was called «Handsing». The «skårunge» became a half member of the boat crew – «Halvkar». They were now a part of the crew, but still young and only paid half the normal salary. Most importantly they were now a step closer to become a «Kar» - a man and a full member of the crew.
Young fisherman “Skårungen”