Lofoten Islands

The waters around the Lofoten Islands are famed for the winter arrival of spawning cod. Fishers gathered from a wide stretch of the Norwegian coast, drying their catch in the cold air to make stockfish for trade. In 1432 the Venetian merchant Pietro Querini and his shipwrecked companions found shelter among fishers at Røst. His account describes the islanders' food and work, offering a glimpse of a northern fishing community connected by its dried cod to markets far away.