Year-round course (two semesters)

Historical handicraft

We also offer half-year courses in Historical handicraft:

Do you have a creative spirit, or do you like to explore and learn new things? At Historical handicraft you can learn traditional crafts such as blacksmithing, forging and weaving. Teaching takes place in beautiful surroundings in the workshops at the medieval farm Stiklastadir, and in the workshop at the school. We go on two study trips, one in the Nordic region and one in Norway.

Broad expertise

You get a broad introduction to Historical handicraft. You'll also learn about natural resources and medieval culture through practical work. We often work on one technique for a week before moving on to something else the next week. Some things, such as loom weaving and forging, take longer. You have the opportunity to use the workshops at the school in the evenings and at weekends. The teachers have good expertise in several fields, such as textiles and leather, carpentry, forging and woodworking. Pupils' interests are taken into account when making plans for the year, resulting in fun projects such as making textiles from nettle and fish skin tanning.

We often go for walks in the forest, build fires the old-fashioned way and find materials that we can use. This is how you learn to use natural resources to dye yarns, make bows and tools, and you learn to find materials for projects you want to try yourself.

Collaboration with Stiklestad National Cultural Center

We try our hand at medieval textile techniques, including needle binding and piece weaving. Teaching takes place both at Sund and at Stiklestad, which is 15 minutes away from the school. At the medieval farm Stiklastadir, we work both outside, in the various workshops, and in the longhouse, which is a reconstruction of the Vikings' guild hall and living quarters. We also have the opportunity to live there.

In brief:

  • Lots of practical craftsmanship
  • Natural materials and reuse
  • Collaboration with Stiklestad
  • Cultivate your craft interests
  • Study trips in the Nordics and Norway

Social media for the course Historical handicraft

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

More about the course

This is what we will do:

  • Plant dye yarn that we needle bind with
  • Learn different weaving techniques
  • Working with axes, needles and other old hand tools
  • Learn lafting and other construction techniques with an axe
  • Forging knife blades and other tools in an old-fashioned forge
  • Making bows and arrows
  • Make your own utility items in leather and fist
  • Stay and live at the medieval farm Stiklastadir
  • Learning to find the right materials in nature

These are examples of things we've covered before, but students are encouraged to come up with their own ideas and wishes for what they want to learn.

Who is the course suitable for?

Historical handicraft is suitable for anyone who likes to do practical work. It doesn't matter if you've just finished high school, or if you're looking for a break from your studies or working life. You don't need to have any experience of craftsmanship, we just expect you to be interested and open to learning.

Two study tours: The Nordics and Norway

We focus on environmentally friendly travel and therefore do not fly. Where we travel and what we do on our trips is something we figure out together.

Spring: Study tour in the Nordics

In the spring, we travel around the Nordic region for about two weeks. During the trip, we meet skilled craftsmen who keep old craft traditions alive. These are inspiring meetings, and we also get to try out the techniques ourselves. The school also has good contacts with various institutions, folk high schools and museums that it is possible to visit. We travel by train and bus and can therefore explore several places along the way. There are many opportunities here and the students plan the trip.

Fall: Study tour in Norway

In the fall, we will take a shorter trip (4-5 days) in Norway. We'll visit skilled craftsmen who can teach us something new, or something old in a new way. In the past, we've visited the craft school at Hjerleid, participated in folk dancing in Bø and attended a course in stonework. Perhaps we will visit educational institutions that may be of interest to those who want to learn more crafts in the years after folk high school. 

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:

Øystein Viem
Teacher

Øystein is a craftsman and museum educator at Stiklestad National Cultural Center. He is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to crafts, and is passionate about recycling and using natural materials. He makes the most beautiful and the strangest things, from the bones left over from dinner to the leather remnants of his old sofa. He also has a love for bow making, knife making and edible plants. Øystein is the main subject teacher at Historical handicraft. Textile craftswoman Gunhild and woodcarver Kai, who also works at Stiklestad, also teach at the course.

Stiklestad National Cultural Center
Kristin Bjørke
Teacher

Kristin has worked at Sund since 2010, and is a positive and wise lady with a commitment to the folk high school. She loves needle weaving, needlepoint and giving old objects a new life. She has a newfound interest in plant dyeing. Otherwise, she is a down-to-earth person who likes to learn new things. Kristin is a program teacher at the program Historical handicraft.

+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 2024-2025

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

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).

In the school year 2024-2025, students will receive a total of NOK 137,900 in grants and loans from Statens Lånekasse. Of this, 40%, i.e. NOK 55,160, will be converted into a grant once you have completed the school year and had 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.
Simon Brietzke
Historical handicraft