Where the fresh wind blows white horses towards sharp black mountains that fall steeply to the sea, where giant cod swim deep below the sharp eyes of circling sea eagles, the moss-carpeted Lofoten islands sit in the far northerly west of Norway below Tromsø, ninety-five miles north of the Arctic Circle.

If you have ever visited Holmen Lofoten before, you might have noticed a tall man, with wild curls, usually holding a cup of coffee in his hands. His name is Håvar, meaning guardian in old Norse.

Blacksmith Alex Pole’s account of his first visit to Holmen. “I don’t think you ever forget your first sight of Holmen…”

Sny is the Lofoten word for snow. In Norway, we actually have almost 100 different expressions for this word.