Here in Nordfjordeid you can follow the lives of people who have lived here since the Vikings until today. The group or «klynge» of traditional wooden houses in Eidsgata and Tverrgata are from our recent past, but the houses and burial mounds at the Myklebust farm, an important center of power in the Viking Age, show evidence of thousands of years of human settlement.

Nordfjordeid is located near the fjord, with easy access to the Hornindal water. Eid is originally a term for a spot where boats can go no further and one’s journey had to be continued over land. Traditionally the village is called Eid because of its proximity to the Hornindal water. Nordfjordeid is a more recent name, used in order to distinguish this eid from others.

Abundant resources with land of high agricultural quality, good fishing and hunting opportunities together with easy access to the fjord, have made this area favourable for settlements. A stone axe dating from the Paleolithic period – Old Stone Age – discovered during excavation suggests that people have lived in this area for more than 6000 years.

During the Bronze Age, agriculture replaced hunting and gathering, and with this development the town emerged. By the Iron Age people were well established in this area. Proximity to the fjord was crucial at this time because the fjord was the Vikings’ way out into the world; this made Nordfjordeid a center of power in the region.

After the Viking Age, Nordfjordeid played an important regional role as a religious, commercial and military centre. The emergence of Eid as a small town began with Tverrgata and Eidsgata in the mid-1800s and continued until the late 1900s.

Its mixture of ancient and modern culture gives Nordfjordeid a special character. The city centre is still developing, and cultural activities and experiences are an important part of people’s lives. Recent additions to Nordfjordeid’s cultural life are the popular Malakoff Rock Festival and the new Opera House, one of two in Norway.