Google Maps™ – Tårntjernet, Jomfruland

The tiny lake Tårntjernet on Jomfruland. At the end of the last ice age the great glacier left a moraine outside the east coast. Later on a small part of it emerged to make the present island Jomfruland in Kragerø, 7.5 kilometers long and maybe one kilometer wide. This island gets more sunshine than most places in the country and in summer a lot of guests come to bath on the nice beaches on its inside, to hike on the rolling stone shore on its outside or to hike or bike on the paths through the woods. Only the 60-70 inhabitants are allowed to use a car.
(2008-07-24)

Tårntjernet (near the high lighthouse, here called 'tårn' = 'tower') is the only lake on the island and widely known because of a Kragerø artist, Theodor Kittelsen (1857–1914 – see the bottom of the Kragerø page). He is best known for his drawings and paintings of supernatural beings in nature, and above is shown one of them, the 1904 version of 'Nøkken', inspired by the lake above. If you know what a 'troll' is, 'nøkken' may be translated as 'water troll', a big slimy being lurking in small black forest lakes.

This summer a rather untidy work of art has been constructed on the shore of the ocean side of the island. To be removed before the end of the summer.
(2008-07-24)