Year-round course (two semesters)

Historical handicraft

Do you want to become a jack of all trades? Do you want to try your hand at everything from blacksmithing and carpentry, to plant dyeing and weaving? Do you think a medieval farm sounds like the world's best classroom?

Then is Historical handicraft the course for you 

Broad knowledge

On Historical handicraft We have a wide range of techniques and materials. In other words, you will not become a specialist, but will be introduced to many different crafts. We mainly use traditional tools and have a sense of reuse and repair. You will create many beautiful things that you can take home.  

the course is run in collaboration with Stiklestad National Cultural Center which is a 20-minute drive from the school, and we have classes both there and in the workshops at the school. The workshops at Sund are open 24 hours a day, and with inspiring classmates and teachers there are good opportunities for nice evening projects.  

At Stiklestad we sometimes spend the night in the longhouse , and get to experience what it was like to cook, live and sleep in the Viking Age. At Stiklestad we also meet other skilled museum craftsmen, such as woodcarver Kai.  

In brief:

  • Historical techniques and tools 
  • Natural materials and reuse 
  • Varied traditional crafts
  • Study tours in the Nordic countries 

Social media for the course Historical handicraft

Photographer: Eric Roy Brandvik-Hansen, Sofie Røssland Berrefjord and students at the course.

More about the course

The variation is great, both in techniques and materials. The content of the course can vary slightly from year to year, depending on the students' interests. We often work with one technique for a week before moving on to something else.

This is some of what we typically work with:  

  • Tanning of leather 
  • Make a knife, with a blade you forge yourself 
  • Plant dyeing 
  • Weaving ribbons 
  • Forging 
  • Carpentry 
  • Never work 
  • Sewing in sheepskin 
  • Weaving on floor looms 
  • Tin casting 
  • Needle binding 

In addition to the techniques themselves, you will also learn a lot about the properties and history of the materials. We will also be out in nature collecting materials.

Two study trips

We go on two study trips a year. A two-week trip in the fall, and a shorter trip in the spring. The trips are by train or car. The destination is not decided in advance, we figure it out together based on which crafts we are curious about, or if there are special places we want to visit. On previous study trips we have been all over Norway, or we have crossed the border to Sweden or Denmark. Along the way on the trips we meet knowledgeable people, take courses in various crafts and visit exciting museums.

Here you can watch the video student Hedda Lan Vøllestad made from her study trip in Norway, Germany and Denmark in the spring semester 2020:

Historical handicraft is suitable for both those who have been tinkering with crafts for a few years already, and for those who are completely new. Perhaps you have tried your hand at knitting or crocheting, and want to learn more, or simply become a little more handy and self-reliant. As long as you are curious about learning, you will be able to enjoy yourself.

Øystein Viem
Teacher

Øystein Viem is a teacher at the course , and also works as a museum craftsman and mediator at Stiklestad . He is committed and knowledgeable to the max, and an exceptionally versatile craftsman who does everything from knife making to fish skin tanning. He is also a pleasant person from Trøndelag, who has a freezer full of run-over animals for future tanning.

Stiklestad National Cultural Center
Kristin Bjørke
Teacher

Kristin Bjørke is also a teacher at the course . She has worked at Sund for many years, and has herself been a student at the school. She ensures that the craft students get on well at Sundbobla. To weave is to live, says Kristin. Who is also very fond of recycling, gardening and embroidery.

+47 913 36 573E-mail address

- When I started at Historical handicraft I had very little experience with crafts. But I quickly learned that it didn't really matter how much prior knowledge you had as long as you wanted to learn and found it fun to work with your hands. So I would say that the most important thing I learned at Historical handicraft was not necessarily how to make all the different wonderful things we learn to make, but how fun and useful it is to be able to use our hands to utilize the nature around us.

Malin Johansen Trondsen

Historical handicraft 2021

Students' annual plan Sund folk high school

The last day of school for the 2024–25 school year is Thursday, May 15, 2025.

Sund folk high school , annual plan for the school year 2025-2026

Sund Folk High School, Annual plan – school year 2025-2026

Year program: Fall 2025–Spring 2026

NOK 137 500,-

School fees include:

  • Accommodation in a double room at Sund fhs
  • All food at Sund fhs (four meals per day) - we don't charge extra for special diets, vegetarian or vegan food
  • The study trip - academic program, accommodation, food and transportation are included
  • Joint school trips and excursions
  • Wireless internet, copying and printing for teaching
  • Use of gym, training room, rehearsal room, photo studio, darkroom
  • Use of washing machines and dryers
  • Expenses for the vast majority of electives
  • Transport in connection with training
  • Administration fee at NOK 2 500,-

All lessons are free of charge.

School fees are not included:

Most of the materials we use in teaching are included. However, if you want to make something different/more/larger than what the teacher has planned, you must expect to pay for the extra equipment yourself.

  • Deposit for key and use of equipment at NOK 1 300,-
  • Single room supplement at NOK. 5 850,- (650 per month for 9 months)
  • Pocket money for personal consumption

Loans and grants from Lånekassen

As a student on year-round programs at Sund folk high school , you are entitled to study support from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (if you are a Norwegian citizen).

For the 2025–2026 school year, you as a student will receive a total of NOK 151,700 in grants and loans from the Norwegian State Loan Fund. Of this, 40%, i.e. NOK 60,680, will be converted into a grant once you have completed the school year and have it approved. If you are a student on a half-year course, you will receive half the loan amount. 

Read more about loans and grants atwww.lanekassen.no.
As soon as you have a place at Sund folk high school , you can apply for grants and loans atwww.lanekassen.no.

We do not have an application deadline and you can apply throughout the year. We start admitting students from November 15, and accept students as long as there is room at the course.

Admission criteria:

  • Age limit 18 years, exceptionally 18 years before the study trip
  • We accept students as long as there is room on the course you apply
  • We focus on motivation and interests

Application:

  • Send an online application
  • We'll get back to you as soon as we can
  • Write a little about yourself and why you want to join Sund
  • It's a good idea to apply early, even if we don't start admissions until November 15.

Historical handicraft
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What former students say

I was 26 years old when I attended Sund, I am Danish and took a break from medical school. The best thing about Sund was the people! Very nice people who attended the course, and the teachers Kristin and Øystein were of the highest caliber.
Skilled communicators and craftsmen.
Person portrait
Simon Brietzke
Historical handicraft