Stegleholmen near Herøy
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It is almost too strange to be true, but on the small islet next to the island of Herøy, people were beheaded and their heads set high on stakes, to both warn and scare people. The name ‘Stegleholmen’ tells about their barbaric methods. Stegle is another name for a pole, and these poles were used to attach heads to, or to fasten the victims to cartwheels, which they were strapped on to as a form of torture. In Norway public beheadings were the usual method of execution for many hundreds of years. One execution that we know about in Havlandet, took place in the middle of the 17th century. At that time there was a war between Norway-Denmark and Sweden. The Swedish forces withdrew from Sunmøre, but 5 swedish scouts were captured. They were beheaded and their heads set on stakes, most likely at Steglehomen. The last beheading in Herøy took place in 1700. The condemned was a Herøy man who had killed his neighbour’s wife. Again it is most likely that the beheading took place on Stegholmen.