Knésetja is an Old Norse term that literally means “knee-setting,” but refers to the legal practice of foster adoption by way of placing a child on the knee of their intended foster parent. In this way, the Norwegian king and youngest son of Harald Fairhair, Haakon Haraldsson (Haakon the Good) was fostered unwillingly by Anglo-Saxon king Æthelstan. Years later upon hearing of his father’s death, Haakon made his way back to Norway to topple his half-brother Eric Bloodaxe who had been proclaimed king of Norway. His attempts worked and not only was Haakon made king, but Bloodaxe was left abandoned and fled.

After his death, the sons of Eric Bloodaxe formed an alliance with King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark to lead an invasion of Haakon’s kingdom. In one famous battle, the Battle of Rastarkalv (955), Haakon utilized clever trickery to fool the intruding Danes into thinking his forces were larger than they were, forcing his foes to retreat. By the time the enemy reached the shore, they realized their fleets had been pushed out to sea, leaving them sitting ducks ripe for slaughter. Despite the win, King Haakon’s right-hand man Egil Ullserk died in battle and in 1955, King Haakon VII commemorated the fallen with a memorial near Frei Church in Nedre Frei, a village in Kristiansund.

Kristiansund is a municipality in Norway made up of four separate islands. With its coastal locale, it’s well known for its fishing industry. However, it’s also home to Norway’s oldest opera, the world-famous Nordic Light Festival of Photography, and Norway’s scenic Atlantic Road – an engineering marvel that connects the northwestern archipelago. With its primary focus being on food and nature, I thought it only fitting to celebrate my arrival in this fishing town with a trail run and a beautiful Norwegian dinner! 

Vær så god!

Menu:

Cocktail: Northern Lights

I have yet to see the Aurora Borealis, but I can now say I’ve tasted them! While researching Norwegian-specific cocktails at the start of this project, it seemed like Norway doesn’t have a ton of specifically Norwegian specialty cocktails other than variants of other classic cocktails made with Akvavit. With this in mind, I’m stating the obvious here in that most of the cocktails on this project are likely not even something anyone actually serves in Norway, but they’re still on theme. This crisp, refreshing cocktail is made with blue curaçao liqueur, blue curaçao syrup, limoncello La Croix, butterfly-pea-flower-Infused Gin and fresh lemon juice.

My first attempt didn’t yield the desired results and I think it’s because I tried to prepare the bulk of the cocktail first and present it to Katie with the lemon juice squeeze at dinnertime. The citrus is supposed to make the butterfly pea flower in the gin turn a vibrant purple and it just … didn’t. And I think it’s because the gin had already soaked down through the rest of the cocktail and was no longer floating. The drink was still delicious and very pretty, however. Still, we tried again with a second round, this time prepping a butterfly-pea-flower-infused simple syrup (which is hilarious that we could whip up in a moment’s notice – tea witch perks, am I right?). This gave us both the beautiful look we were after but also gave the cocktail a little boost of sweetness, which it needed.

Hovedrrett (Main Course): Fishan (Fish and Chips)

Fish and Chips wasn’t what I originally had in mind for this dinner, but after learning so much about the fishing industry in Kristiansund, I thought it was only appropriate to utilize fish as the main course. The town is mostly known for klippfisk – dried cod – but their take on the classic fish-and-chips combo is also famous. While similar in concept, there are a few differences: Norwegian fish and chips are usually made with fish caught the same day, the batter is thinner, the frying oil is typically vegetable and the fries are more “classic” french fries. Their British cousins are fried in a heavier oil, have thicker batters and their “chips” are cut much thicker. I didn’t realize this, but what makes this project so great is that it allows me to learn, stay fit and eat like royalty simultaneously! All my favorite things!

My recipe called for haddock but I couldn’t find any when I went to the store, so I used cod. The batter was, indeed, a very simple, very thin beer batter but it came out really good, though not as crispy as I’d hoped. We have a leftover piece that I’m hoping to pop into the air-fryer later today to see if that changes things. The fries were dynamite and mark the first time I’ve made proper fries since I owned a deep fryer about a decade ago (I no longer have a deep fryer — all frying I do these days is usually done in a cast-iron Dutch oven with a candy thermometer attached). I tossed them in a homemade seasoning salt blend and they were wonderful.

Apparently Norwegians usually only serve their fish and chips with lemon and skip the vinegar, but when you have a wife who loves fish and chips with vinegar as much as mine does, you still bust out the malt vinegar.

Dessert: Suksessterte (Norwegian “Success” Tart)

I’ve utilized many recipes from North Wild Kitchen and so far, 100% of them have been a hit. This tart is no exception! A longstanding Norwegian tradition that was likely the result of either French or Austrian bakers who migrated to the area, this tart has everything you could want in a dessert. The base is made from almonds, powdered sugar and egg whites that get baked in a spring-form pan. It comes out soft and pillowy, which made me think it was going to be more like a cake, but it definitely comes across as a crust in the finished product.

On top of that is a bed of custard made simply with sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and cream that then gets blended with whipped butter. After spreading the divine custard on top of the almond base, I drizzled dark chocolate across the top and refrigerated for a few hours. This allowed the chocolate to harden and the custard to set. Good gods in Asgard this tart is AMAZING!! What a beautiful way to wrap up a very tasty Norwegian dinner!

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This was a very long leg of the tour. Not only was it the second-longest distance thus far (there will be longer), in my post-half-marathon world, my training runs are much shorter. Add to that the fact that I had to take nearly two weeks off while I recovered from some mild achilles tendonitis. I made up for the missed time, however, by hopping back on the bike at the gym and have also included distance traveled via kayaking down the Hiwassee River in Polk County and floating down the Little River in Townsend. It’s travel and it counts!

Also, just wanted to brag that during my one-mile weekend run, I PR’d at 10:59! With 9:38 being my ultimate goal (to do a sub-30 5K), I feel like I’m well on my way and am beyond encouraged! That’s a good day! And a good dinner!

Also, also, this update is about a week off from the monthly stats check-in but I am currently down three pounds on this cut (227lbs). Sorry about the shred. I have exactly one week left in the current phase of my strength training programming.

Also, also, også:  I unsubscribed from Duolingo and am currently taking Norwegian lessons with Babbel.

Here’s the final tracker for the Kristiansund leg:

Road Trip Tracker
Road Trip Mileage	Total Mileage	Percentage Complete
1,284.37	527.9688	41.11%
Miles to Kristiansund	Leg Mileage	Percentage Complete
121.167	130.3648	107.59%
Date	Type	Distance (Miles)
8/4/2025	Cycle	3
8/4/2025	Speed Run	2
8/5/2025	Recovery Run	1
8/6/2025	Speed Run	2
8/8/2025	Cycle	5
8/9/2025	Kayaking	5.36
8/11/2025	Cycle	4.5
8/12/2025	Cycle	5
8/13/2025	Cycle	3.1
8/14/2025	Cycle	5
8/15/2025	Cycle	5
8/16/2025	Float	1.8
8/18/2025	Cycle	3
8/18/2025	Speed Run	1.55
8/19/2025	Recovery Run	1
8/19/2025	Cycle	5
8/20/2025	Cycle	3
8/20/2025	Speed Run	2
8/22/2025	Recovery Run	1
8/22/2025	Cycle	3
8/23/2025	Weekend Run	1

93.8271 miles to Alesund! 

Alltid Videre!

-JTF