On calm days, Hurtigruten can almost brush the sides of the over 3280-feet-high mountains of Trollfjorden.

AN UP CLOSE EXPERIENCE
Sailing though Trollfjorden, you are so close that you can almost reach out and touch the mountainsides as you sail past. But be careful: Don’t wake the trolls!

On deck you can admire peaks such as Trolltindan (3,428 feet above sea level) on one side and Blåfjellet (3,274 feet above sea level) on the other, while the captain calmly maneuvers the ship into the 328-feet-wide mouth of the fjord and turns around a few miles farther in. All the while, you are hoping that the old Norwegian tale still holds true: That the trolls won’t wake for a thousand years, by which time our ship will have since sailed away.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION
This region has inspired famous Norwegian art and literature. In 1880, a battle broke out in Trollfjorden between fishermen who were all eager to claim the massive shoals of fish that had entered the fjord. The large steam-powered vessels had cast nets that blocked the fish inside the fjord, which was unacceptable to the fishermen in the smaller boats. The fight is mentioned in the classic novel ‘Den siste viking” (‘The Last Viking’) by Johan Bojer. It is also captured in Gunnar Berg’s painting ‘Trollfjordslaget’ (‘The Trollfjord Battle’), which is on display in the Svolvær town hall.

Trollfjorden carves inwards to Austvågøy from the west side of the 15-mile long Raftsundet, a very narrow sound between Austvågøy and Hinnøya. Here, Hurtigruten sails between the ports of call of Svolvær and Stokmarknes.