Moskstraumen[1] is a system of tidal eddies and whirlpools, one of the strongest in the world,[2] that forms at the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway between the Norwegian Sea and the Vestfjorden.

It originates from a combination of several factors, the dominant being the strong semi-diurnal tides and peculiar shape of the seabed, with a shallow ridge between the Moskenesøya and Værøya islands which amplifies and whirls the tidal currents.

Tides are combined with the northerly Norwegian Sea currents and with storm-induced flow to result in a significant stream, with a reported speed varying between the sources from about 11 to 20 kilometres per hour (6.8 to 12.4 mph) and above.

[7] Moskstraumen was described in the 13th century in the Old Norse poems Edda and remained an attractive subject for painters and writers, including Edgar Allan Poe, Walter Moers, and Jules Verne.

Most other writers of the time believed that Moskstraumen played an important role in the ocean circulation, but, given a large number of tales and lack of scientific observations, grossly overestimated the size and power of the phenomenon.

[13] Moskstraumen also features in the climax of Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas[1] and is mentioned by Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

[6][16] In 1999 the German painter Ingo Kühl visited the Lofoten, set up a provisional studio in Reine in a rorbu and painted Moskstraumen.