Lofoten Islands, Norway

This scene is an original illustration set in Lofoten Islands, Norway. It lies in the polar circle, where the climate is subpolar oceanic — cool summers, few frosts.

A triangular timber rack stands in the foreground hung with rows of split cod, drying in open air. Behind it a row of steep-roofed red cabins sits on timber stilts over the water, a small fishing boat moored alongside. The sun rests on the sea horizon and everything is drenched in low honey light, shadows stretching long across the boards.

Why is the fish air-dried outdoors instead of salted?

Air-drying fish outdoors without salt only works where the summer stays cool and the air dry — a narrow band of high-latitude coast. The stilts and steep roofs answer sea level and snow load. And the light itself is the clue that fixes the latitude: this is late evening, yet the sun has not set. Only above the Arctic Circle does the sun behave this way.

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