Hylestad Stave Church

Carving from Hylestad Stave Church doorway (left side). Carving from Hylestad Stave Church doorway (right side).

The Hylestad Stave Church was a stave church located in Hylestad (now Valle municipality), Setesdal district, Norway. The church was estimated to have been built in the late 12th to the early 13th century and was demolished in the 17th century. Some of the intricate wood carvings from the church doorway were saved and incorporated into other buildings. They are now on display at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.

The carvings show several scenes from the legend of Sigurð Fáfnir's bane. A section of one of these carvings in which Sigurð kills Regin was the basis for a Norwegian postal stamp.^[1]