The Five Foolish Virgins tower over the narrowest point of this strait. What is this monument from the Roman era?
These spectacular standing stones have stood here for more than 1,700 years, concealing treasures from the Roman Empire.
The Five Foolish Virgins, photographed by Anders Beer Wilse in 1925. The medieval church at Avaldsnes is visible in the background. The top of one of the standing stones was used as a telegraph pole, and the fitting where the cable was attached remains there to this day.(Photo: Anders Beer Wilse / CC PDM)
An important person was buried here more than 1,700 years ago.
At the narrowest point of the strait, a passage that everyone travelling by sea had to navigate, five standing stones were erected within a star-shaped stone cairn.
The stones are a display of power that is clearly visible from the sea.
"The current here is strong. If you want to row through, you have to wait for the tide to turn," says Håkon Reiersen, a researcher at the University of Stavanger.
Travellers could not have helped but notice the standing stones situated on a hill overlooking the Karmsundet strait while they waited.
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Today, you can see what are now called the Five Foolish Virgins from your car as you drive across the large bridge spanning the strait.
The mysterious monument
Reiersen has conducted extensive archaeological work on the island of Karmøy, home to some of Norway’s oldest ship burials.
Reiersen has contemplated telling the story of the Foolish Virgins for a long time.
"There's a lot of curiosity surrounding this monument. What is it, and who might have erected it?" he says.
This turns out to be the story of a burial site that acquired a remarkable name many hundreds of years after it was constructed. A name that is almost impossible to understand.
All the stones are visible here. Some are more than five metres tall.(Photo: Museum of Archaeology / CC BY-NC-ND)
"Several scholars commented on the name in the 18th century. They couldn't understand why it was called that. But the name was widely known and appeared on maps," the researcher says.
Reiersen has examined historical sources, maps, and archaeological descriptions of the monument. Its meaning has changed over the centuries.
It acquired its name sometime during the Middle Ages, but the name has nothing to do with what the standing stones actually are.
Because this is a very ancient burial site.
Karmsundet today, featuring the bridge that opened in 1955. You can catch a glimpse of the Five Foolish Virgins on the left side of the image.(Photo: Ingve / Shutterstock / NTB)
Laid to rest in a vessel from the Roman Empire
It is also a very prominent burial site.
It was excavated in the early 20th century, and archaeologists discovered the remains of a special type of container, known as a Hemmoor bucket.
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These were made of brass and originated in the far north of the Roman Empire. More precisely, in an area around the river Rhine in present-day Germany. They were produced during the 3rd and 4th centuries.
And then they turned up in graves in Rogaland in Western Norway. Members of the elite were buried in them after being cremated on funeral pyres.
The remains of the Hemmoor bucket from the grave at the Five Foolish Virgins monument.(Photo: Olav Espevoll / CC BY-SA 4.0)
"It was common for them to be used as cremation urns," says Reiersen.
It is impossible to say who was laid to rest in the grave. There is no name tag or gravestone bearing a name. But both the grave itself and its location offer some clues about who this person might have been.
"The person would have been someone from the Avaldsnes elite," he says.
Avaldsnes is a village on Karmøy.
Reconstructed remains of the Hemmoor bucket found in the grave.(Image: Olav Espevoll / CC BY-SA 4.0)
Perhaps it was a powerful Avaldsnes chieftain?
The people living here were among the wealthiest and most powerful in the region. For a long time, this was one of Norway's most important centres of power, and some of the country's largest burial mounds are found here.
The person in the grave may have been someone who travelled to the Roman Empire and brought a Hemmoor bucket home with them.
"The vessel is made of brass, so it looks like gold. People might have actually believed that it was gold. It’s also possible that a powerful chieftain from Avaldsnes acquired a large number of these buckets and then distributed them among his people," says Reiersen.
Bear claws and textiles were also found alongside the remains inside the Roman brass vessel.
But the Five Foolish Virgins acquired an entirely different meaning long after this person died.
This is how the standing stones appear on the rise overlooking Karmsundet.(Photo: Museum of Archaeology / University of Stavanger / CC BY-NC-ND)
Saint Olaf and the virgins
Many centuries later, these stones became associated with several Christian stories.
The name itself comes directly from a Bible passage, specifically the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 1–13.
The older Norwegian Bible translation of 1930 states that the kingdom of heaven can be compared to ten virgins, five of whom were foolish and five wise.
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 1–13 (English Standard Translation)
1 Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 But five of them were foolish and five wise;
3 the foolish took their lamps but did not take oil with them;
4 but the wise took oil in their jars along with the lamps.
5 But as the bridegroom delayed, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
6 But in the middle of the night, a cry rang out: "Look, the bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!"
7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
8 But the foolish ones said to the wise: "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out."
9 But the wise answered: "No; there would not be enough for both us and you; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves!"
10 But while they were away buying, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 Finally, the other virgins also came and said: "Lord! Lord! Open up for us!"
12 But he answered and said: "Truly I tell you: I do not know you."
13 Stay awake, therefore! For you do not know the day or the hour.
In the new Norwegian translation from 2024 they are no longer called virgins but bridesmaids. English translations still use the term virgins.
The monument’s name originates from this biblical story. It is a motif that apears in other places, such as woven tapestries from the 18th century.
“The parable has been well known in Christian Norway since the Middle Ages. Then someone connected it to the fact that there are five stones and called them the Five Foolish Virgins," says Reiersen.
He believes this is the most likely explanation for the name.
But yet another Christian legend is associated with the stones. As in many other places along the Norwegian coast, this place has its own myth concerning Olaf the Holy.
And the legend is tied to these stones.
The stone maidens
Reiersen retells the legend:
"The saintly king is on his way to his royal estate at Avaldsnes, when five lustful virgins call out to him from the mainland side of the strait. But he does not give in to temptation, and they are turned to stone. That is why they are known as the Five Foolish Virgins."
Were women turned to stone because of Saint Olaf? Doubtful. This is a wooden statue from Fresvik Church in Western Norway, dated from around 1250.(Photo: Museum of Cultural History / CC BY SA 4.0)
“Two different traditions come together in that name. The biblical parable is older and well known. The local Saint Olaf legend probably emerged at a later date," he says.
Reiersen finds the name strange but amusing.
“The name carries a negative connotation, while also having a somewhat funny, almost ironic ring to it,” he says.
Reiersen does not think the name suits the monument. He describes it as both majestic and important, noting that it is a very well-known landmark along the Norwegian coast.
“But the Foolish Virgins have been left undisturbed,” the researcher says.
The monument acquired both a Christian name and Christian legends associated with it, and this may have contributed to its preservation, Reiersen believes.
“No one dared to incur the wrath of Olaf the Holy, so they let the monument stand,” he surmises.
The monument was once much larger
Recent investigations around the monument have also revealed that it used to be much larger than it is today, a point Reiersen emphasises in his research article.
Today, it is no longer apparent that the stones once stood in an enormous stone cairn built on this hill.
“They stood in a star-shaped cairn with three arms, but the cairn was much larger,” says Reiersen.
The arms of the mound extended much farther out than the standing stones do today, as shown in the illustration below. This made the monument even more visible from sea.
Various depictions of the Virgins and the surrounding stone cairn. The original monument resembled the one shown in Figure B.(Image: Reiersen, 2026)
This information has now been included on the sign standing beside the monument, where curious tourists can stop and learn what it actually is.
The county has updated the information based on Reiersen’s new article.
He notes that it is rare for researchers to be able to share new findings with the public in such a direct way.
"For me personally, it was rather special," he says after seeing the new sign by the monument.
