Follow the path down from here and you will find an old stone cross, which is a protected cultural monument dating back to the Middle Ages.

The history of the stone cross
Though the stone cross has functioned as a navigational aid for sailors along the fjord, the reason it was erected was to commemorate the lawman, councillor and knight, Sigurd Brynjulvsson of Aga. In the autumn of 1303, Sigurd’s body was found washed up on the shore here at Hesthamar. The details around Herr Sigurd’s fate are not clear, though it would seem the cause of death was by drowning after a shipwreck on Samlafjorden, and his body drifted ashore here at the meeting point of the two fjords, Samlafjorden and Sørfjorden. Rumour has it that he was found headless, which would indicate that this was no drowning, though there is no evidence to support this.

The drawing of the cross from 1626
There is no concrete proof of exactly when the cross was erected, but we do know that it was registered and drawn in 1626 by Jonas Skonvig. Skonvig was the son of a priest from Skånevik, and he travelled around the Bergen diocese during the summer of 1626 with the express purpose of documenting historical monuments. He was given this assignment by Ole Worm, a professor of medicine who was a committed researcher of historical monuments, and who collected and registered ancient objects and historical monuments, especially rune stones and inscriptions.

The Maltese cross is missing today
Skonvig’s drawing shows a Maltese cross made of soapstone at the top. The Maltese cross was lost during the 1800s when a youngster allegedly climbed the cross and caused the top part to break off. In later years, the cross was fixed with a narrow transverse slab. The 4.5m tall vertical stone is probably the original. The stone cross was most likely erected not long after Sigurd’s death. The Maltese cross was a common characteristic of Christian knights in the Middle Ages.

The tombstone was salvaged
Sigurd Brynjulvsson Aga was laid to rest with the Cistercian monks at Opedal in Lofthus. The order had a large farm with a chapel, where Sigurd was buried and afforded an impressive marble tombstone, which portrayed him in full knightly armour in the European tradition. The date of his death is also written on the stone. Sigurd's tombstone is one of the finest we know of from the Norwegian Middle Ages. After the Reformation was brought to Norway in 1536, the monks were banished from Opedal, and the beautiful tombstone of this great man from Aga was removed and laid down as a stepping stone in the Ullensvang church at Lofthus. Over the many generations of visits to the church, the inscriptions on the soft marble stone gradually wore away. The aforementioned Jonas Skonvig also came to Lofthus in 1626, when the inscriptions were still visible. Understanding the significance of the stone, he drew a picture of it. Today, the tombstone can be viewed together with other medieval tombstones by the church at Lofthus. A copy with a full inscription can be found at Agatunet, the place where Sigurd was lagmann, or lawman. It is at Aga that you will find the oldest preserved courtroom in Norway, the Lagmannsstova, which dates back to 1220.

Drowning or murder?
The question of Sigurd's demise will probably forever go unanswered. Was this powerful man, who certainly had enemies, actually missing his head when he was washed ashore here at Hesthamar? What we do know is that Sigurd died at a time of unrest in the land. Sigurd was part of the council of King Eirik II Magnusson. Eirik became king as a minor, and a board of trustees, a king’s council, was hence appointed. They had a major influence over his reign, from 1280 until his death at the tender of age of 30 in 1299, when he was succeeded by his brother Haakon V. It is known that Haakon had a troubled relationship with several of Eirik's confidants – for example did he have Baron Audun Hugleiksson hanged in Bergen on December 2nd, 1302. Whether it was the cold winds of power politics in the kingdom, or the stormy winds on the Samlafjord that put an end to Herr Sigurd, we will probably never know.