Smithy

Now you have arrived at the “Smia” or the forge or smithy. It was often at the heart of old rural communities in Norway, including fishing villages like Reine. Here fishermen and local people could buy, order, and have knives, nails, lamps and various types of wrought iron repaired. Later, the smithy was also used as a salmon smokehouse. Before 1981, when the ferry route opened, there were no roads here, and boats were the only means of communication with the outside world. Reine therefore had to be as self-sufficient as possible. In addition to the orge, there was a “krambu”, a small store and a bakery here. Eventually, a separate post office and a new telegraph line were also opened for several fishing villages in Lofoten, which made communication with the outside world efficient, especially when it came to weather conditions and the result of the catches. All land and all properties on Reine were once owned by the landowners. All other families on Reine were tenants and were called "husmen" or "strandsittere". They paid the rent with hard physical work equivalent to 20 – 26 days for the owner's businesses. So, it was tough in the olden days. Later, both the fishing village and ordinary people's rights have developed in step with the times, volving into what you see today.