In Trier, the German city – stands this large roman city gate build from 186 AD to 200 AD. It is called Porta Nigra. It is named such because of the darkened colour of the stones Wikipedia tells me.

The summer before I headed off to the Norwegian equivalent of high school, I was travelling with my mother in Germany. My sister had married there – and we spent a few weeks travelling the land, and would eventually end up at her place. On our trip, we came to this city – Trier. And I stood before this huge black gate.  Almost 2000 years old, it still stood there – defying time and decay. Monstrous. Huge.

Looking up at this amazing construction, I felt what only can be described as a gust of time. Literally. Something so old, and so rich in  history, it was almost beyond my comprehension.  I have experienced such moments later. At Akropolis , and at Knossos.

Sometimes I think it`s the closest we as humans can get to time travel. It is like we stand at a border, gazing into a time portal. Close to it, and yet so far away. This was the first time for me, and I was mesmerized. 40 years later – I can still feel it.

Thing is – when I have made that viking weave, patinated it, and working on it with some steel wool – I get that same feeling.