Skjold Church

Skjold Church was a church in southern Hordaland associated with the Norwegian Black Metal arson cases through Varg Vikernes’s conviction and the subsequent effort to recover rebuilding costs. The evidence identifies it as one of three churches for which he was convicted of a successful burning, and as one of the properties included in an insurer’s damages claim.

Place in the Arson Cases

In an interview, Vikernes named Skjold Church alongside Holmenkollen Chapel and Åsane Church as the three successful church burnings for which he had been found guilty. He distinguished these cases from an unsuccessful burning, making Skjold one of the sites tied to his criminal conviction rather than merely to the wider wave of attacks.

Compensation Claim

Gjensidige, the insurance company, brought a claim concerning damage to Skjold Church, as well as Åsane Church. In the related proceedings, the original demand was that Vikernes pay the full rebuilding costs for the churches at issue, a total approaching 40 million kroner. The amount was later reduced to exclude the costs of consecrating rebuilt churches and holding celebrations afterward; approximately 37 million kroner remained. These figures applied to the combined claim, not to Skjold Church alone. Vikernes rejected the charges and faced further court proceedings over the compensation.

Significance in Vikernes’s Account

Skjold Church appears in the account both as a specific site of a successful arson and as part of the broader financial consequences of the church burnings. Vikernes’s naming of it among the three convictions gives the location a clear place in his legal history, while the insurer’s claim shows how the consequences extended beyond criminal sentencing to the cost of rebuilding damaged churches.