AA倒计时-03：Runeard大坝的建造时长与用途

来源：tumblr 博客 @arendelle-archives（Arendelle Archives 4周年倒计时系列 3/10），2026-08-26 收录整理。原文：链接。图片按原文位置存放于 assets。

Part 3 of our 10-part anniversary series takes a closer look at the question: “How long did it take to build king Runeard’s dam?”

In Frozen II, it is mentioned that the people attended the grand celebration for the dam’s completion. In Frozen II: The Magical Guide (2019), it is stated that Prince Agnarr was 14 years old at the time.

2. In Dangerous Secrets (2020), it is mentioned that the plan to build the dam existed long before Agnarr was born.

3. In Polar Nights (2022), it is stated that the dam was built “almost fifty years ago.”

Following the battle of the Enchanted Forest, the dam was sealed off from the outside world for almost 34 ½ years. If we place the events of Frozen II in fall of 1846, the dam must have been completed in the spring of 1812. According to Polar Nights, construction had not yet begun 50 years before Frozen II, placing the earliest possible start date around 1796. While Agnarr was likely born around 1798, that would mean the dam was indeed already in the planning phase a few years before his birth, confirming what was stated in Dangerous Secrets. This marks one of the rare occasions when timelines introduced in different Frozen-works actually add up! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ From this, we can reasonably conclude that construction of the dam likely began between 1796 and 1797 and was completed by 1812, making it a maximum 16-year project.

The dam’s construction and possible function

Constructing a dam of this scale in the early 19th century would have required many years, especially considering the limited technology of the time and would have been a massive undertaking for a small Scandinavian kingdom. Polar Nights explains that King Runeard sought financial support for the project from other neighboring kingdoms. However, he was stumped of support or official approval from their important ally Vesterland, which would have made it even more challenging to secure the necessary funding, labor, and resources.

Different ideas have been proposed for what the actual purpose of the dam was (besides the hidden scheme of weakening the lands of the Northuldra). The Frozen II junior Novelization (2019) states that its main function was to act as a bridge to connect the lands of the Northuldra:

According to Dangerous Secrets, the dam was built to serve as a water reservoir:

In mid 19th century Norway, before the emergence of hydroelectric power plants, one of the main drivers for constructing dams was to feed the ice trade business with larger fresh water sources. These dams were typically built close to the sea and shipping lanes. Norway was a major supplier of natural ice to Britain and western Europe between 1850-1914. Judging from a few plots involving trade in the Anna & Elsa-book series (2015-2017) as well as the graphic novel Breaking Boundaries (2018), Arendelle appears to be a pretty big player in the regional ice trade and is known to export ice to the kingdoms of Eldora, Vakretta and Weselton. Pairing this with the dam’s location close to the sea, it’s very likely it was built to further expand Arendelle’s ice trade business. The fact that Runeard wanted support from other nations might suggest he intended to share some of the profit from the expanded ice trade. But due to the dam being lost to the mist at the day of its inauguration, the dam would never generate any profit and likely became a huge financial loss for Arendelle (alongside the loss of many soldiers and the king himself), affecting its finances and reputation for years to come.

Real world inspiration

The dam and its role in the movie draws inspiration from real-world history. It closely parallels the planning and construction of the Alta Dam in Kautokeino, Norway (Altademningen), which began construction in 1979. It is the tallest dam in Norway, standing 145 m tall. Despite being built in the modern era, the project faced significant delays due to protests from both local Sámi residents and environmental groups and was only completed in 1987, taking 8 years in total. The Alta controversy was also referenced in Polar Nights where Princess Inger of Vesterland strongly opposes Runeard’s plans due to how the dam would affect the environment.

The design seen in Frozen II is heavily inspired by its IRL counterpart.

Location

By geo-referencing the Frozen map found at the main restaurant at Frozen Kingdom (Tokyo), we’ve estimated that the reservoir behind the dam is around 15 km long which is close to the 18 km long (but much narrower) Virdnejávri in Alta.

Using the same tool, we can also conclude that the dam is located ca 119 km to the north of Arendelle Castle. When transporting material, tools and workers to the construction site, it is very likely that most of the travels were done by ship.