Hanklit and Feggeklit, Mors in Limfjorden

Hanklit: stig bachmann nielsen, Naturplan Foto


Hanklit, 55 million years old.

I often get mails from Danish-Americans or Americans with Danish roots, mostly via my other blogs. I got a mail from a helpful American with a Danish name. One of his family lines came from the island Mors near Hanklit. I have found some old photos from Hanklit and Feggeklit.

The protected cliff Hanklit is Denmark's largest moler cliff. It is placed on the northwestern coast of the island Mors in Limfjorden. It rises to a height of ab. 60 m from the beach. From the top is a fantastic view. The contents of Hanklit is a mix of volcanic ash and moler, and the layers are visible as dark volcanic ash stripes, alternating with moler stripes. In the moler layers are fossils of fish, snails, insects and plants.



My son photographing the view to Limfjorden by the big red stone on the beach.


Two boys looking for interesting stones on the beach.

An old legend from Mors says that when God was about to create Jutland, he first made a small test-model. It was so beautiful that he couldn't bear to throw it away, so he made the waters of Limfjorden a little broader to the west and placed the model here. The model was later named Mors!


In a field close to the Hanklit-parking place a goose seemingly was watching the cattle on the hill. When we approached the fence to take some photos, the goose became absolutely heated and was hissing until it lost its breath!


Feggeklit


Cattle an swans with young ones at Feggesund (the sound)

Feggeklit is another protected moler cliff at the northern tip of Mors. It is about 24 m high, ab. 1 km long and 300 m broad. It was an island in Stone Age. From the narrow beach can be noticed geological layers from the childhood of Earth. The layers are alternating like at Hanklit. The dark stripes are in numbers 146, which corresponds to the number of volcanic eruptions. Like at Hanklit are here many fossils.

Southwest of Feggeklit are pretty beach meadows with a rich bird life, i.e. avocet, big plover, lapwing, common snipe and a few yellow wagtails. Upon Feggeklit itself and the beach meadows are rare plants like Vår-potentil (Potentilla tabernaemontani) and Liden Snerre ( Galium sterneri).

A little south of Feggeklit is the moler museum in Sejerslev, open in the summer season. Here is a rich collection of 55 million year old fossils of plants, trees, birds, fish and insects. Near the museum is a gravel pit, where people can go fossil-hunting and thengo to the museum to have their finds examined.

From the parking place it is possible to go up on the steep cliff to enjoy the view or walk along the cliff. At extreme high tide and strong western wind it is not possible to walk along the beach.this usually happens in the winter season.

It is not allowed to dig for finds or cleave stones in the cliff.



Beach meadows with cattle at Feggesund.


The memorial stone by "King Fegge's grave" at Feggeklit.

The northern part of Mors with Hanklit, Skarrehage and Feggeklit is part of the moler landscape of Limfjorden. According to legends was Feggeklit created, when the sorceress from Dybhav had to visit her family in Thy. She filled her apron with earth in order to get across the waters without getting her feet wet. The apron broke and the cliff rose high above Limfjorden.

The legend about king Fegge and prince Hamlet.
According to legend a royal castle was situated at Feggeklit. In the castle resided two kings. They were the brothers Fegge og Horvendil. Since the kingdom was too small for two kings, they ruled by turns three years at a time; he, who did not rule the land, went sailing as a pirate and stayed away for three years. Horvendil was married to the beautiful Geruth, with whom he had the son Hamlet. King Fegge fell in love with Geruth. When Horvendil came back after three years as a pirate, king Fegge killed him. Now Fegge was sole king, and he married Geruth. Prince Hamlet was sent away, but one day he came back and killed king Fegge, revenging his father.

King Fegge was buried at the western side of Feggeklit with his golden sword. At present has been raised a memorial stone. The legend forms the basis of Shakespeare's tragedy about prince Hamlet. He has placed his scene at Kronborg castle, but the legend origins from Feggeklit.

Source: Politikens store Danmarksbog ; Feggeklit og Skarrehage molerværk, Feggeklit Færgekro.


photo 2002: grethe bachmann