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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Norway, by Beatrix Jungman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Norway
+
+Author: Beatrix Jungman
+
+Illustrator: Nico Jungman
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2011 [EBook #38155]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORWAY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Bryan Ness, Melissa McDaniel and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has
+  been preserved. Inconsistent spelling in the original
+  (e.g. "Holmencollen" and "Holmenkollen") has been preserved.
+
+  The following spelling corrections were made:
+    - "Bjornstjerne Bjornsen" changed to "Bjornstjerne Bjornson"
+    - "Armed with his mighty hammer Mjolmer" changed to "Armed with
+       his mighty hammer Mjolnir"
+    - "Moldoen" changed to "Moldöen"
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
+
+
+
+
+NORWAY
+
+
+
+
+     BY THE SAME ARTIST AND
+     AUTHOR
+
+     Holland
+
+     CONTAINING 76 FULL-PAGE
+     ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR
+
+     PRICE 20c. NET
+
+     Agents in America
+     THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+     64 and 66 Fifth Avenue, New York
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: COUNTRY GIRL FROM DALEN]
+
+
+
+
+     NORWAY BY NICO
+     JUNGMAN · TEXT BY
+     BEATRIX JUNGMAN
+     PUBLISHED BY A. & C.
+     BLACK LONDON W
+
+
+
+
+     Published April 1905
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                        PAGE
+       CHAPTER I
+
+     PRECARIOUS TRAVEL                                     3
+
+       CHAPTER II
+
+     BROTTEM, AUNE, SLIPER, GJORA, SUNDALSOREN, ETC.      23
+
+       CHAPTER III
+
+     ON THE FJORDS                                        45
+
+       CHAPTER IV
+
+     MINOR ROMANTIC EPISODES                              63
+
+       CHAPTER V
+
+     MAINLY ABOUT SAINTS                                  85
+
+       CHAPTER VI
+
+     ARTS AND CRAFTS                                     107
+
+       CHAPTER VII
+
+     FARM-HOUSES: WEDDING FESTIVITIES                    129
+
+       CHAPTER VIII
+
+     FORESTRY: REINDEER: LAND TENURES                    149
+
+       CHAPTER IX
+
+     FISHERIES: THE LAPPS: RELIGION AND MORALS: MUSIC    169
+
+       CHAPTER X
+
+     LEGENDS AND LITERATURE                              187
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+     1. Country Girl from Dalen               _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                 FACING PAGE
+     2. Trondhjem--Old Boats                               4
+
+     3. Costume worn in the Bergen District                6
+
+     4. The Road to Hell, near Trondhjem                   8
+
+     5. White Cap worn in the Bergen District             10
+
+     6. Trondhjem                                         12
+
+     7. Little Girl of Telemarken                         14
+
+     8. Making the Dinner--a Cottage Interior at Sælbo    16
+
+     9. Bergen                                            18
+
+     10. On the Fjord, Sundalsoren                        20
+
+     11. Country-women selling Berries on the Road to
+         Storen                                           24
+
+     12. Norwegian Captain                                26
+
+     13. Farm-house and Mill at Gjora                     28
+
+     14. Mountains and River at Gjora                     30
+
+     15. A Little Farm on the Riverside at Gjora          32
+
+     16. Ostre Kanalhavn, Trondhjem                       34
+
+     17. The Town of Molde                                36
+
+     18. Woman Spinning, Sundalsoren                      38
+
+     19. Snow-capped Mountain at Sundalsoren              40
+
+     20. Old Warehouse and Boats, Molde                   46
+
+     21. Mountains and Fjord facing Molde                 48
+
+     22. Moldöen                                          50
+
+     23. Bergen                                           52
+
+     24. A Fair Maiden of North Bergen                    54
+
+     25. Bergen Boats and Warehouses                      56
+
+     26. Væfos, Hildal, Hardanger                         58
+
+     27. A Hardanger Country Girl                         64
+
+     28. Skjæggedalsfos, Hardanger                        66
+
+     29. Hardanger Headdress                              68
+
+     30. River at Haukeli                                 70
+
+     31. A Peasant of Sætersdalen                         72
+
+     32. Espelandsfos, Hardanger                          74
+
+     33. A Boy of Sætersdalen                             76
+
+     34. Sundalsfjord                                     78
+
+     35. Sætersdalen Girl in National Costume             80
+
+     36. Sætersdalen Peasant Girl                         86
+
+     37. Moldöen                                          88
+
+     38. A Cottage Interior, Telemarken                   90
+
+     39. A Norwegian Girl                                 92
+
+     40. Kjendalsbræ                                      94
+
+     41. A Typical Norwegian Maiden                       96
+
+     42. A Baby of Telemarken                             98
+
+     43. Romsdals Horn                                   100
+
+     44. Old Age, Telemarken                             102
+
+     45. Romsdals Waterfall                              108
+
+     46. The Houses of Parliament (Storthing),
+         Christiania                                     110
+
+     47. Ski Sports--the Great Holmencollen Day
+         outside Christiania                             112
+
+     48. Room by Munthe at Holmencollen                  114
+
+     49. Skiers drinking Goosewine                       116
+
+     50. Girls on Overturned Sledge, Holmencollen        118
+
+     51. Old Canal, Christiania                          120
+
+     52. Sledging by Torchlight                          122
+
+     53. Making Native Tapestry                          124
+
+     54. Bird's-eye View of Christiania                  126
+
+     55. A Vosse Bride                                   130
+
+     56. Farm-houses built of Poles                      132
+
+     57. Country Girl, Bergen District                   138
+
+     58. Sætersdalen Bride                               140
+
+     59. A Hardanger Bride                               142
+
+     60. Making "Flad-Brod"--a Cottage Interior          144
+
+     61. Snow Plough drawn by Eight or Ten Horses        150
+
+     62. Fishing through the Ice on Christiania Fjord    152
+
+     63. Fishing-nets at Sundalsoren                     156
+
+     64. The Midnight Sun                                158
+
+     65. Mundal, Fjærland, Sognefjord                    162
+
+     66. Fishing-boats at Lofoten                        170
+
+     67. A Little Sætersdalen Peasant Girl               172
+
+     68. Buerbræ, Odde Hardanger                         174
+
+     69. A Lapp Mother and Child                         176
+
+     70. Snow-capped Mountains at Aune                   178
+
+     71. River at Gjora                                  182
+
+     72. Grieg                                           184
+
+     73. Henrik Ibsen                                    188
+
+     74. Bjornstjerne Bjornson                           190
+
+     75. Fridtjof Nansen                                 192
+
+
+
+
+PRECARIOUS TRAVEL
+
+
+
+
+NORWAY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+PRECARIOUS TRAVEL
+
+
+Of the sea voyage to Norway the less said the better. It is my habit
+to be ill when I am at sea. That is unfortunate; but habit in itself
+engenders a mode of philosophy that makes many of the evils of life
+more easily bearable than they might otherwise be. I expect to be ill,
+and literally lay myself out for it; but Nico takes up an attitude of
+aggrieved surprise that the ocean should thus overcome him, and
+consequently is a far greater sufferer than I am. However, it is easy
+to assume a more or less frivolous tone when all is over, and the fact
+must be admitted that the voyage to Norway is almost invariably
+unpleasant to the majority. From the Continent, one can go overland;
+but such a country as Norway should be approached by sea. Still, many
+a valiant sportsman prefers the land for his return when the autumn
+winds begin to blow, and so it is not surprising that less hardy
+natures are inclined to do the same. It was summer when I visited
+Norway for the first time; and, although one has frequent chances of
+viewing the coast as one steams along it from Stavanger to Trondhjem,
+I did not really begin to take any interest in the country until I had
+rested and eaten for some days in the latter town. Certainly I had one
+experience in Bergen during the two or three hours that we stopped
+there on our way north. With my usual insatiable thirst for
+dissipation, I insisted on visiting a circus I had discovered upon the
+outskirts of the town. The performance was not very thrilling; but we
+are neither of us difficult to please, and we stayed rather late.
+Thus, when we returned to the quay the gangway of our vessel was being
+pulled up. Nico made a rush for it, and was saved; but could not
+prevent the sailors from completing their task, and thus I was left
+lamenting. However, the sailors finally threw me a rope, and I managed
+to scramble on to the deck. It was most undignified, and, I am afraid,
+from the safety of the deck a most laughable spectacle; and I fled
+to hide my embarrassment in my cabin, ultimately going supperless to
+bed.
+
+  [Illustration: TRONDHJEM--OLD BOATS
+   The form of the ancient Viking ships is still preserved in these
+   boats]
+
+In Trondhjem it rained all day and all night, and the inhabitants
+cheerfully told us that it was always so. Nico, however, painted in
+the rain, enveloped in mackintoshes and encompassed by umbrellas, and
+was much disgusted to find that he attracted no attention at all.
+Accustomed as I am to be an object of inquisitive interest to the
+inhabitants of small Dutch towns, I was rather relieved to be taken so
+absolutely for granted in Norway, in spots unfrequented even by ardent
+fishermen.
+
+At Trondhjem we were delighted with the delicious salmon and
+sea-trout; but after some weeks of salmon for breakfast, salmon for
+dinner, and salmon for supper, I found myself wondering whether it was
+all that it had seemed to me at first. I am rather ashamed to have to
+confess that, in spite of the fact that wherever English was spoken
+the chances were that the conversation turned upon salmon or trout
+fishing, neither Nico nor I know anything of those earlier and more
+exciting passages in the salmon's career which culminate in his
+presence at the table. It may be said that, with the exception of the
+Germans, who visit the coast-line in ship-loads, there are
+practically no _tourists_ in Norway. Fish seem to be the main object
+of the stranger within her gates; and, as I have long despaired of
+grafting a sporting taste upon the artistic temperament, I decided
+then and there to leave the subject severely alone.
+
+Besides the anglers, many men go over for shooting. There are still
+wild animals to be found; licences are very cheap; and the Government
+even offers a reward for the slaughter of certain beasts. In the case
+of the rarer animals, such as the elk and the wild reindeer, certain
+restrictions are placed upon the foreign hunter. On the payment of a
+sum between ten and twelve pounds he is allowed to kill three reindeer
+and one elk. The native hunter suffers from the same restrictions; but
+his licence costs him very much less.
+
+  [Illustration: COSTUME WORN IN THE BERGEN DISTRICT]
+
+All this has little to do with Trondhjem. We were rather unlucky
+there, and were not, perhaps, so much impressed as we ought to have
+been. Calculations based upon careful study of the guide-book proved
+to be incorrect, and we found the doors of the Cathedral constantly
+closed against us. As it is _the_ object of interest in the place, we
+were somewhat impatient, and, when we did contrive to obtain entrance,
+were not in any way mollified to find the building pervaded by
+spectacled and reverential Germans, who bestowed superciliously
+indignant glances upon us, as on persons who were unjustly sharing a
+view arranged for their party specially. It is certainly a most
+beautiful building, and is being restored in a worthy manner. I
+remarked as much to Nico at the moment, but was immediately suppressed
+by the ancient guardian acting as our guide, who begged me in very
+stately broken English not to interrupt his discourse. Later we went
+to a music-hall and sat through a most extraordinary programme twice
+repeated. Nico ordered beer, and was served with an immense plate of
+variegated sandwiches in addition. This, I believe, was in accordance
+with the law that forbids the sale of intoxicating liquors unless food
+is served with them. All over Norway the most complicated laws are in
+force with respect to drink, and these laws seem to be different in
+every town and village. I have not gone into the subject deeply; but
+it is certainly a rare thing to meet with a drunken Norwegian in the
+country parts.
+
+Trondhjem always has been, and still is, the crowning place of the
+Norwegian kings. It seems to me that it is a long way to go for such a
+purpose; but I concluded that it was an affair in which the kings
+alone were concerned. We walked out to a beautiful waterfall near the
+town, called the Lerfos, and came back by rail. Some idea of the speed
+attained by the trains may be gathered from the fact that, although
+the train had started when we reached the station, we were able to
+board it quite easily after it had gone some distance. Then, one very
+wet morning we decided that we had had enough of the place, and,
+shaking the mud from our boots, we took train to Hell. I refrain from
+the obvious little jokes that may be made upon such a journey, and
+merely record the fact that we arrived very cold, and soon became very
+wet during our stay there. The station buildings were all locked up;
+and we wandered about disconsolately, waiting for the cart which was
+to meet us and drive us to Sælbo, where we had decided to spend a few
+days. The vehicle which we had chosen was a _stolkjærre_, and I must
+here explain some of the difficulties of locomotion peculiar to
+Norway. The mileage of railway is small in proportion to the size of
+the country: the natural formation of the land presents immense
+difficulties to the engineer. To these obstacles must be added the
+very hard winters, the heavy rainfall, and the exceeding scantiness
+of the population in many parts of the country. Consequently, almost
+all travelling is carried out by means of an admirably arranged
+posting system. On all the roads, at distances varying from seven to
+eleven miles, may be found posting stations where horses may be
+changed; where, also, the traveller may eat and sleep. These wayside
+inns are generally farmhouses, varying widely in their capacity for
+the entertainment of man and beast. They are obliged to keep a certain
+number of carts and horses for the use of travellers at a specified
+rate per kilometre, fixed by the Government, such rates being subject
+to slight increase where particularly mountainous roads are concerned.
+There are three classes of vehicles in general use. The _carriole_,
+which is the typical Norwegian conveyance, is exceedingly comfortable
+and well adapted to its purpose; it is built for one person, and runs
+easily on good springs, and may be likened to an armchair on wheels,
+but so arranged that one can either sit in it with knees bent, as in
+an ordinary vehicle, or stretched out at full length in a kind of
+trough. This obviates the stiffness engendered by endless hours of
+driving in one position.
+
+  [Illustration: THE ROAD TO HELL, NEAR TRONDHJEM
+   This is one of the rare railway stations of Norway]
+
+The stolkjærre, on the other hand, is a terrible invention, as much
+like one of our plumber's handcarts with a rough wooden seat in it as
+anything I can think of. It holds two people and a certain amount of
+luggage. On the main roads one finds the carts fitted with something
+in the way of springs; but upon roads such as it was our fortune to be
+driven on, often badly in need of repairs, they were usually much
+behind the times, and it was a wonderful and awful sensation to drive
+for untold hours under such conditions.
+
+The carriole and the stolkjærre have a small seat at the back for the
+boy who is sent by the proprietor, to be changed, along with the horse
+and cart, at each station; but in the case of the third method of
+locomotion--that is to say, with much style and excessive
+slowness--one takes over the responsibility of the whole
+affair--namely, coachman, horses, and carriage, which in this case is
+called _kaleschevogn_,--only to be laid aside when one arrives at
+one's final destination, and using the stations only for the purpose
+of resting and eating. To return to the carriole and the stolkjærre.
+It must be noted that one is expected to drive oneself, though, if
+anything goes wrong with the horse and cart, the driver is
+responsible. The mountain ponies are very surefooted and need no
+guidance; but it was our fate to be made acquainted with cattle that
+shied, with others that tripped, and with one pony (I recall the
+occurrence with horror) that stumbled on a narrow road, cut out of the
+almost perpendicular side of a mountain, three thousand feet above a
+roaring torrent. One wheel of our vehicle was actually in mid-air;
+but, fortunately, the horse fell on the shaft that was on the mountain
+side of the pass. Had this not been so, one of the stones that mark
+the site of such accidents on the Norwegian roads would have been
+erected to our memory.
+
+  [Illustration: WHITE CAP WORN IN THE BERGEN DISTRICT]
+
+It was at Hell that we had our first experience of the stolkjærre.
+This was after waiting some three hours, which Nico improved by making
+a sketch, while I looked for visionary wild strawberries in the
+soaking grass. Then appeared a cosy little carriole, upholstered in
+red velvet, and carefully covered with tarpaulins. This was
+immediately taken over by a prosperous station official, who drove off
+in comparative comfort. In a few minutes appeared the plumber's
+handcart which I have already attempted to describe, and in it a very
+diminutive boy, who manfully tackled the luggage, which he endeavoured
+to make fast with a heap of very thin string, supplemented by straps
+from Nico's sketching equipment. Now we were really off, and I had
+time to study our pony. He had a long and heavy tail, which he would
+toss over the reins; the pressure he thus brought to bear he promptly
+obeyed, and we pursued a somewhat erratic course, varied by descents
+upon the part of the diminutive boy to replace the pony's tail. At
+length we reached a lonely farmhouse, at which, he implied, we were to
+alight; and we paid him his little bill, with the addition of a small
+_pourboire_. He shook hands very gravely with Nico, and, looking again
+at his money, inwardly decided that we deserved a little more
+attention, and shook hands with me too. We did not know anything about
+posting, and, somewhat overwhelmed with this ceremonious leave-taking,
+stood for some time in doubt as to what to do next. Soon an old woman
+appeared at the door of the house, and beckoned us in. I explained as
+well as I could, with the help of a phrase-book, that we wanted a
+horse and stolkjærre as quickly as possible. This seemed to amuse the
+old lady immensely. She laughed until the tears came into her eyes,
+and, taking the book from my hands, examined it intently upside down.
+As it was getting late and we had still a long way to go, Nico
+tried what could be done by a pantomimic display. Sitting astride a
+chair, he tied his handkerchief to represent the reins, and
+supplemented the performance with encouraging noises addressed to an
+imaginary steed. This tickled the people of the house; but I realised
+that we were no nearer our object, and decided to forage for myself. I
+boldly ascended the steep incline of logs upheld by beams that led
+from the yard to a very dark stable. I found no horse; but there was a
+stolkjærre without the ghost of a spring. I appealed again to the old
+lady, who had followed me, for a horse. She merely patted me, and, I
+think, urged me to be calm. Just at this moment another boy appeared
+upon the scene, and inquired whether it was really a horse that we
+wanted. Knowing the Norwegian for _horse_, I nodded vigorously. He
+smiled indulgently, but took no other step. After another half hour's
+alternate shouting and periods of calm, the boy roused himself to
+action and went off, while the old lady, who, I believe, was really
+kind and interested in us, took me into the kitchen and made up the
+fire, as she discovered that my hands were cold. I suppose she knew
+what we wanted all the time, and that we ought to have taken things
+more easily; but at that time I knew nothing of the unwritten laws
+with regard to posting in Norway.
+
+  [Illustration: TRONDHJEM]
+
+We had a terribly long drive, through magnificent scenery, going
+uphill for miles; and very desolate and wild it seemed in the half
+light of that damp and dreary evening. Not a human being did we meet,
+and scarcely a dwelling was to be seen along the route. It was
+midnight when we reached our destination, one of the typical
+boarding-houses scattered all over Norway, in which inhabitants of the
+towns not possessing villas of their own pass a few weeks in the
+summer. They are called "sanatoriums," generally provide fishing, and
+are always amid glorious scenery. The ones that I visited were
+splendidly managed, and exceedingly reasonable in their charges.
+Marienborg, the name of the small sanatorium in which we stayed at
+Sælbo, is exquisitely situated above a very charming lake, and new
+beauties discovered themselves in whatever direction one wandered. The
+air is perfect, and the weather almost dependable, in the few short
+weeks of summer. It was now the middle of August. The hostess was
+carefully tending her strawberry-beds, and pointed out to us a fine
+specimen that was still green. The meals at this establishment may
+be taken, I think, as typical of those of the whole of Northern
+Norway. Breakfast (when you wish) consists of coffee and cream, eggs,
+and various odorous kinds of cheese, of which I can only remember the
+names of two, the reindeer cheese and the goat cheese. Dinner is at
+two o'clock. Salmon is a staple dish; the meat, generally mutton, is
+not much to boast of. The game, when one can get it, is excellent. The
+people seem to care little for any vegetable except potatoes. A great
+"feature" of the meal is the dishes of fresh berries served with an
+abundance of delicious cream. The milk, which is a general drink, is
+always skimmed. The bread is an acquired taste, cinnamon and caraway
+seeds being often used as a flavouring. A strange bread, which at its
+best form was rather pleasant, consisted of sheets of wafer-like
+thinness and considerable size, broken up to the requirements of the
+eaters. This is served with every meal. One seemed to be eating tissue
+paper without pulp. Though it is difficult to believe in its
+nourishing qualities, a Norwegian meal would be incomplete without it.
+Amid more gorgeous circumstances it is rejected for a delicately
+flavoured smooth wafer which is really pleasing with butter. In
+places near the sea we were delighted with the abundance of prawns
+and lobsters; prawns of such perfection I had never tasted before. It
+is very difficult to get fresh butter. As a rule it is made in the
+saeters in the mountains, where the cattle are kept in summer, and on
+account of the heat is very much oversalted before being sent down.
+
+  [Illustration: LITTLE GIRL OF TELEMARKEN]
+
+We stayed some time at Sælbo, as the only way to leave it was by
+riding along a narrow bridle-path for over a hundred kilometres, and
+this was not likely to be very pleasant. The only way to avoid it was
+by partially retracing our footsteps, and this we liked still less.
+Nico had become devoted to the picturesque log buildings with their
+delightful grass roofs studded with flowers, and even in some cases
+actually bearing small trees; and I had discovered a dear old woman
+who passed her time in knitting curious triangular gloves. She had
+been nurse in an English family many years before, and could speak a
+sort of English. She loved to tell me tales of her former charges; she
+did not seem to mind how much I understood, and no more did I. Her two
+sons were in America, whence they sent her a sufficient allowance to
+keep her in comparative comfort, and in addition to this she sold the
+gloves she passed her time in knitting. She lived all alone in a
+log house consisting of one large room, which served her for all
+purposes except sleeping (a tiny cabin built in the main wall served
+for that), and containing very little furniture, the peasantry in
+Norway having the good sense to appreciate the advantages of space.
+Large tables with folding legs are fixed with hinges to the wall, and
+when not in use are hooked up out of the way. In one corner of the
+room was the round whitewashed open fireplace and chimney which are
+characteristic of these log houses--infinitely to be preferred, from a
+comforting as well as a picturesque point of view, to the tall iron
+stoves generally in use. The stoves have their qualities, however,
+being narrow and made in four or five divisions above that intended
+for fuel, which is invariably wood. Each of these compartments has its
+own temperature, and is to be used with discretion for drying and
+heating purposes. One word of warning: do not put your boots in the
+partition nearest the fire.
+
+  [Illustration: MAKING THE DINNER--A COTTAGE INTERIOR AT SÆLBO]
+
+At our sanatorium all the visitors ate at one table, and we were
+charmed at our first acquaintance with a custom which holds good all
+through Norway. When the meal is over all the guests wait for the
+hostess to rise; then they follow her example and gravely bow, thus
+thanking one another for the honour conferred during the repast. This
+practice is observed wherever two or more people are seated at the
+same table, even though they may be absolute strangers.
+
+We had now discovered that by crossing the lake on a very old steamer
+we should reach a place called Brottem and thence proceed northwards
+to a spot from which we could pursue our journey. We parted from the
+lovely smiling place with many regrets, and, boarding the steamer,
+found we had it to ourselves. At a bend in the lake Sælbo was lost to
+our sight, while on either side of the narrow water the banks rose
+precipitously, thickly wooded with pines. The sun had disappeared, and
+the air was growing cold, when suddenly the steamer stopped, the
+captain proclaiming in a matter-of-fact tone that the engine refused
+to work. We ascertained that we were in no actual danger; but out of
+sight and sound of humanity, on a tiny and very ancient vessel, we
+were in a position of unpleasant possibilities. We remained stationary
+for two hours. Then one of our three navigators had a brilliant
+inspiration. That was to examine the engines, which had not,
+apparently, occurred to any of them before! After a little coaxing the
+vessel began to move again; and we eventually landed on the farther
+shore of the lake, very cold, very hungry, and much belated.
+
+  [Illustration: BERGEN]
+
+Here we found a large farmhouse surrounded by many outbuildings, and
+evidently prosperous. We were received with enthusiasm by the burly
+proprietor, his servants, and a Norwegian family engaged in fishing
+who were staying at the place. A splendid meal was prepared, and, to
+my joy, a wood fire was roaring in the tall iron stove of a large
+bedroom set apart for me. The fishing family knew a few words of
+English, which they were as much pleased to speak as we to hear. Next
+day was a Sunday, and at dinner Nico in his ignorance expressed a
+desire for something to drink, which was refused, as nothing could be
+sold on that day. The kind fishermen came to the rescue. They plied us
+with rare wines, and under that friendly influence we thawed
+gratefully. I found them enthusiastic whist-players, and eagerly
+desirous of mastering the intricacies of bridge. I did what I could in
+one short afternoon to enlighten them, and soon after sent them two
+scoring boards. Probably they will evolve a game for themselves which
+in the next generation will utterly eclipse bridge, as bridge has
+eclipsed whist and solo.
+
+  [Illustration: ON THE FJORD, SUNDALSOREN]
+
+
+
+
+BROTTEM, AUNE, SLIPER, GJORA, SUNDALSOREN, ETC.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BROTTEM, AUNE, SLIPER, GJORA, SUNDALSOREN, ETC.
+
+
+We had a splendid pony and quite a comfortable stolkjærre from Brottem
+to the next station, where we took the train to our resting-place for
+the night, a well-known fishing hotel at Storen. One of the excellent
+incidents of travelling in Norway is the service, which is exceedingly
+well done by women. They are so quick and clean and agreeable that
+they contribute to the enjoyment of one's wayfaring. The deft maids at
+the Storen hotel were no exception to the rule; but the place was not
+very sympathetic to us. We stayed only long enough for Nico to make
+one or two pictures of spots which pleased him. Then we began a long
+drive right across the country, half the distance off the main road,
+having as our destination the town of Molde. We lingered for weeks
+over our drive, staying for days at the various little stations which
+appealed to us specially by reason of that mystic attraction some
+spots have and others lack, which can neither be analysed nor
+explained.
+
+At a place called Aune we left the main route, and here the road began
+to be exceedingly bad--far and away the worst we came across in
+Norway. Before this we were struck with the splendid way the roads are
+constructed and kept.
+
+Our hearts were in our mouths one dusky evening as we galloped down
+the narrow road cut out of the precipitous side of a mountain: seven
+hundred feet below foamed and roared a torrent. We reached the valley
+in safety; but I had terrible dreams about frightened or unsteady
+ponies for nights afterwards.
+
+At Aune we met two very handsome Norwegians, who were crossing the
+country on foot. They were taking a holiday in this way; but many poor
+students are obliged to make use of shanks' ponies for the strongest
+of reasons. This slow driving during long distances becomes very
+expensive, and I presume that the continual stoppages at hotels must
+be an important item. I mention these good-looking people, not because
+we found them very interesting, but because I was surprised all
+through Norway to find so few men with any of the external qualities
+of the Viking. I had imagined that the type was strongly implanted
+in the Norsemen. Even in build the majority are unsatisfactory. A
+careful study of statistics on the subject informed me that the
+Norwegians are the tallest European race; but I can only suppose that
+the average is brought up by a certain number of excessively tall men.
+Also, the Norseman is inclined to become fat early in middle life. On
+the whole, the middle class is not to be distinguished from the usual
+type of Dutchmen and Germans with which we are familiar. The women
+have been treated in a much kindlier fashion by Nature. Even those
+whose features do not actually admit of their being called handsome
+have such smiling frank faces that they are most pleasant to look
+upon. In using womenkind so extensively in the place of man-servants
+the Norwegians show wisdom and good taste.
+
+  [Illustration: COUNTRY-WOMEN SELLING BERRIES ON THE ROAD TO STOREN]
+
+From Aune we had a terrible drive over a road in the making. The old
+path was too bad to use at all; and the new road jerked us here up a
+foot, there down a foot, as the various processes gone through in
+levelling had been completed or not. At last we left the roadmakers
+behind us, and drove for some kilometres along the old road to a
+small station called Sliper, a terrible drive which by this time will,
+fortunately, have ceased to be possible.
+
+We were delighted with Sliper. At the station were two houses, the
+station's and another. We stayed at the other. We had actually ordered
+the horse, meaning to go on, when a beautiful Norwegian woman beckoned
+to us from her doorway in the other house. She invited us to warm
+ourselves while we were waiting, and gladly we climbed up the
+twenty-five steps leading to her large room. The flap table was
+painted bright red, as were the benches, and the few pieces of
+furniture were carved and painted wood. The brilliant colours were
+mellowed by time and perhaps by smoke from the wood fire, which burnt
+in a round open grate in a corner. An immense cauldron was suspended
+from a chain in the chimney. In it was stewing a savoury mess of
+mutton and potatoes. In front sat a pale little girl, the only living
+child of the beautiful hostess. The latter had the most perfect teeth
+I have ever seen, and waving masses of golden hair. At either end of
+the big room was a small bedchamber. One the family used, and the
+other was kept for the possible guest. I believe that, as the
+station house had room for us, we were quite wrong in staying with
+the neighbour; but I think the station people were not very
+energetic--they did not object so much as they had the right to do. In
+any case, there we stayed for three days, living and eating in the big
+room with mother and child. With the exception of our supper on the
+first night, we had no meat. We lived contentedly on potatoes and
+eggs, fruit and cream, and abominable butter. It is strange how far
+the atmosphere of a place can defeat prejudices.
+
+  [Illustration: NORWEGIAN CAPTAIN]
+
+However, soon Nico became hungry, and I finished my small stock of
+literature. We took our horse and stolkjærre, and without a boy we
+followed the post on the road to Gjora. When we had driven a few
+kilometres, keeping the post carriole with its bag and its horn well
+in sight, we discovered that we had left the purse containing most of
+our wealth behind us at Sliper. Nico drove back at the pony's best
+pace. This best pace could not have been very wonderful. An eternity
+seemed to be passing as I sat on a big rock, waiting for the return of
+the companion and the purse. A few cows walked by me in inquisitive
+procession. I effaced myself as much as possible. I am ridiculously
+afraid of cows. Even the Norwegian cow, which I know theoretically to
+be the gentlest of creatures, can subdue me with a look and drive me
+to seek for any available hiding-place. At last I heard wheels; but
+they were coming the wrong way. The two men in the cart looked at me
+curiously, and drew up in front of me. One addressed me in very good
+English. It appeared that the post-driver had warned the people at
+Gjora station of our near arrival, and had presumably mentioned that
+we had no boy. After they had allowed an hour and a half to elapse,
+they were good enough to become anxious, and had come to look for us.
+I explained our delay, and we all waited for Nico's appearance. At the
+end of another half-hour he turned up. The horse had lain down quite
+calmly and refused to go on. He had tried kindness, which was of
+little use; he had waited for a passer-by who could speak the horse's
+language; in course of time the beast, having enjoyed a siesta, got up
+and continued his journey. Hence the delay.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM-HOUSE AND MILL AT GJORA]
+
+All's well that ends well. When we arrived at Gjora we met with a warm
+reception from our host and his family. The stove was lit in an
+immense bedroom which was _en plus_ furnished with two box-like beds
+of questionable shape, a small chair which was masquerading as a
+wash-hand stand bearing a small jug and basin and two minute towels, a
+writing-table, and many photographs of the Royal Family. Also, there
+was a tame bluebottle which worried me very much. All our
+blandishments were of no avail with the heartless insect. The open
+windows could not persuade him to leave us, and, in the flickering
+light of one candle in the large room, it was impossible to get rid of
+him by foul means. Every night as we went to bed he started his low
+buzzing and spoilt my temper and my sleep. Nico didn't mind it a bit.
+
+The dining-room at Gjora was palatial. I sat in a carved armchair
+upholstered in crimson velvet, and we ate from beautiful silver,
+serving ourselves with sugar from the very choicest old bowl I have
+ever seen. The cupboard, the sideboard, and the clock were beautifully
+carved and coloured. We lived on a princely tin of corned beef. For
+three days it provided us with two meals a day, and very good they
+were.
+
+Next door to the station--indeed, I believe, the house in other times
+is the station--an English family were spending the summer, fishing
+and walking. The English-speaking man we met on the road was the
+gentleman's gillie. They regaled us physically with various edibles
+from the Stores and spiritually with salmon stories, and when we left
+they sped us on our way with a new stock of reading matter. The
+country all round is exceedingly beautiful. The river which provided
+the fishing for our compatriots winds along by the road; or rather I
+should say that the road follows the course of the river for many
+miles through narrow passes in the mountains which press round--many
+of them snow-capped, as one may see when the veil of cloud which
+envelops them lifts to allow a sight of their summits. The station is
+in a cosy little hollow among these white-headed giants; and the
+weather is noticeably finer, the atmosphere softer, than at the
+preceding and succeeding stations.
+
+Between Gjora and our next resting-place, Sundalsoren, we drove
+through magnificent scenery. I think it will be admitted that the
+Sundal is at least as beautiful as that famous valley which lies
+almost parallel to it--the Romsdal. From the road one may see glaciers
+and snow mountains. Here and there are notices warning the traveller
+to drive fast. This is more especially for winter, when huge snow
+avalanches are frequent. The road crosses from left to right of the
+river. We drove over bridge after bridge, backwards and forwards,
+as the river pursued its erratic course without regarding the
+convenience of roadmaking mankind. We arrived at Sundalsoren at
+sunset, and were enraptured with the beauty of the snow mountains.
+Whether it was thus arriving in such glory, or that the place has
+really a most individual charm, I cannot say; but for me Sundalsoren
+is a memory entirely _couleur de rose_.
+
+  [Illustration: MOUNTAINS AND RIVER AT GJORA]
+
+It is a small fishing village at the head of a fjord. The fishermen's
+little low houses are built round the concave land, which is washed by
+the waters of the fjord. On the stony beach before the cottages are
+spread fishing-nets and tackle, including the bright silvered balls
+which, I suppose, attract the fish. Two wooden quays stretch their
+long arms into the water, and from the farthest point of them one may
+get a delightful view of the village. The character of the place is
+Dutch. It is almost as if a little street from Volendam had been
+dumped down amid the mountains and the snows.
+
+We were sorry to part from this charming spot when the little fjord
+steamer called for us and another passenger. Slowly we steamed through
+the fjord, now calling at a tiny hamlet on the left bank, now dropping
+a passenger in his waiting boat on the right side; here picking up
+three English fishermen, boat and all; there leaving them near their
+destination rested and refreshed. The steamers that ply the
+innumerable fjords are accommodating craft--none of your haughty
+vessels making hard-and-fast rules as to times and places. Although
+they are often punctual in their departures and arrivals, they will
+slow down and pick you up in whatever part of the fjord you choose to
+meet them, and put you down too if you have your boat along with you.
+Also it is to be noted that the food on the smaller boats is quite as
+good as one gets on the large steamers that make the journeys on what
+may be called the outer coast of Norway. Indeed, the bigger vessels
+are so often loaded with various strongly-smelling dried fish that the
+whole atmosphere is impregnated; which must rob some passengers of any
+appetite the occasional few miles of rough open sea has left or given
+them.
+
+After quitting Sundalsoren we drove through two or three good
+stations, and arrived late on Saturday night at a small place which,
+as it is on no map and many consultations with Bennett's have resulted
+in the conclusion that we were quite off the beaten track, must be
+nameless. At the time I knew the name--we had it on the bill;--but
+no one seemed to be able to place it, and now I have forgotten. I have
+a theory which may account for our presence there. At one of the
+previous stations we had telephoned in advance for a horse and cart to
+be ready, as it was very rainy and very wet and getting late. The
+horse we had was very fast; the driver was a cheerful person with a
+slight knowledge of English. Within a kilometre of the station, where,
+I presume, an equipage was in waiting, he offered to drive us straight
+on to our destination, because we had expressed great satisfaction
+with the trotting of his pony. We agreed, and tore through the tiny
+village built round the station in great haste, egged on, perhaps, by
+a guilty conscience. Then we drove for miles and miles until at last,
+at half-past ten at night, we reached the unknown little spot which I
+must perforce call X.
+
+  [Illustration: A LITTLE FARM ON THE RIVERSIDE AT GJORA]
+
+It is possible that, knowing that the expectant farmer at the avoided
+station would telephone to the station on either side of him, the
+driver preferred not to face them until their anger should have calmed
+and he should have had time to invent some excuse. I do not know to
+what extent he expected to be blamed; but I am afraid the man we
+telephoned to must have been rather mad, and so I imagine that we were
+driven to this quaint spot because there our sin would not find us
+out. Inadvertently I left a large silver scent-bottle there, and
+acknowledged the loss to be a judgment on me when I found it
+impossible to find the place again.
+
+When we arrived we went to bed. In the morning we had coffee and bread
+and jam; and Nico painted. At three o'clock we were hungry, and when
+at length preparations for a meal were made our appetites were
+ravenous. A dear little girl waited on us--a very pretty child, with
+beautiful hair. She brought on the table a few slices of thick and
+very fat raw bacon and some caraway-seed bread. Hungry as we were, we
+could not eat that. We tried to ask her what more there was. She left
+the room, and soon came back carrying the _pièce de resistance_ of our
+meal--two soup plates filled with a paste made of flour and water,
+such as we used to employ in the days of scrap-books. On the top of
+this floated a little melted butter. With this she brought a basin of
+powdered cinnamon. That was our Sunday dinner. They were such sweet
+people that we feared to hurt their feelings, and Nico ate all his
+plateful and half of mine. The half that was left we divided between
+our plates, which then looked quite empty enough. We ate caraway-seed
+bread for supper and caraway-seed bread for breakfast. With the help
+of our phrase book, we gathered that they never ate meat and very
+rarely had fresh fish.
+
+  [Illustration: OSTRE KANALHAVN, TRONDHJEM]
+
+The place is situated on water which, I suppose, is a fjord, and there
+are three or four houses besides the one at which we stayed. They made
+us understand that they were not in any way prepared for guests, and
+had some difficulty in providing us with a horse and cart. I should be
+very much interested to know the name of this little place. It is
+within two hours' drive of Molde, and as far as I could make out it
+had scarcely ever been visited by the foreign traveller. We were
+astonished to find ourselves so near to this big town, for we had
+calculated that we had at least another half-day's journey to make;
+which proves again that somewhere we had overstepped our mark.
+
+Molde is the most beautifully situated town in Norway. It has a
+population of 1800 souls. It is a very important port of call for all
+the steamers which coast between Bergen, Trondhjem, and the North. The
+town is built along the mouth of the Romsdal Fjord, and from almost
+any point a view of the grand Romsdal Mountains is to be obtained. The
+panorama on a clear day is gorgeous. To see the sun setting over the
+fjord and its background of snow-tipped peaks is to have a vision of
+fairy-like colour and beauty that takes one's breath away. All over
+Norway as one passes through the valleys and the winding fjords
+picture after picture are witnessed in rich succession, each seeming
+more beautiful than the last; but now, as at a certain distance of
+time I endeavour to recall their individual charms, I think that these
+glorious evenings in Molde occupy the most pleasant place in the
+memory of one of Norway's ardent admirers.
+
+How rash thus to limit one's enthusiasm! From Molde we went by steamer
+to Næs, and, after resting awhile at an hotel and eating an excellent
+supper, took a miraculously comfortable stolkjærre and had a long
+drive to Horgheim in the brilliant moonlight. I wonder how many
+visitors to the Romsdal have done the same? Imagine the charm of it.
+The delicate jagged edges of the mountains on the right of the road
+stand sharp and clear against the blueness of the sky; as the road
+winds in and out the Romsdal Horn reveals or conceals herself
+bathed in moonlight; innumerable waterfalls foam down from the heights
+with plashing music, looking like silver streamers hung out to
+decorate the beautiful way of some mystic procession. Our driver was
+for the time an affinity: no longer a guide in our pay, or in that of
+the hotel, taking tourists through a world-renowned stretch of
+scenery, but a romantic Norseman slowly opening out to us a valley of
+delight, his possession by inheritance and love.
+
+  [Illustration: THE TOWN OF MOLDE]
+
+He told us with a smile that was not quite incredulous of the little
+goblins with blue beards that, according to the peasants, haunt the
+fields and fjords of these parts. There are good and bad pixies, and
+much blame is laid at the door of the bad ones for any mischances that
+come about. What wonder that the people are superstitious folk?
+Perhaps it would be better to call them mystics. What sounds and
+sights may be heard and seen in such a land! Our Norseman pointed out
+a certain group among the jagged pinnacles of the rock, and told us a
+legend describing how a bridal party, instead of being the happiest of
+the happy, quarrelled and fought and were by magic turned in an
+instant into stone. Here they stand as a warning to future bridals.
+The groom and bride turn away from each other; the best man stands
+for ever with a foaming tankard in his hand; near by is the well-fed
+priest; apart and solitary is the figure of a disconsolate lover. Look
+at them in the moonlight: you will see them all quite distinctly: soon
+they will step down from their heights and mix with mortal men again.
+The air is full of movement and strange sounds.
+
+During the long way back, the wonderful person who had been appointed
+to drive us entertained us with legends of the gods and Vikings. These
+brave admirals of old times met with burial befitting their state and
+courage. The ship which they had sailed so well through wild storms
+and wilder battles was dragged ashore, and this and nothing less was
+the coffin for their richly-dressed mortal remains. The souls of the
+Vikings killed by the sword went straightway to Walhalla, where their
+ideal of bliss was meted out to them in guerdon for their bravery. At
+cockcrow all the heroes marched out and fought furiously one with
+another; but at midday all the wounds were healed, and the rest of the
+day was spent in banqueting with the great god Odin. Walhalla was said
+to be a hall of such size that the roof could not be seen. In it was a
+forest of golden trees. The walls were decorated with shields and
+warlike weapons, and through each of its five hundred and forty doors
+eight hundred warriors could walk abreast.
+
+  [Illustration: WOMAN SPINNING, SUNDALSOREN]
+
+I was sleepy, and I was awed with the majesty of all we had seen; but
+I wondered what sort of heaven was arranged for the wives and
+daughters of the Vikings!
+
+Some days after this moonlight drive I came across a book containing
+details relating to Norwegian mythology, which may be of some
+interest. Everyone knows that most of the week-days derived their
+names from these Northern gods. From Ostara, the goddess of spring, we
+get the name of our spring feast, Easter. Decoration with flowers and
+the custom of Easter eggs are as old as Paganism; and our Christian
+forefathers, to facilitate the change to the new religion, adopted
+many Pagan rites and dedicated them to the service of the true God.
+
+Odin was the father of the gods and the greatest among them. Thor was
+the red-bearded god of storm. Armed with his mighty hammer Mjolnir, he
+slew the powerful giants of winter--not without much difficulty,
+however; for at first, overcome by sleep, Thor relaxed his vigilance,
+and the wintry giants stole his hammer and buried it in the hard
+earth. Awakened and conscious of his loss, Thor appealed to Freya, the
+beautiful and benevolent goddess of love and spring. Her gentle
+influence subdued the giants of snow and ice, and Thor, seizing his
+opportunity, regained his mighty weapon, which he wielded to such
+effect that the giants were killed and their fortifications broken
+down.
+
+Though the gods are usually triumphant in these old Northern sagas,
+the demons on occasion gained their bad ends. It was thus in the story
+of Baldur, the god of light and most beloved of all the gods. In the
+full beauty of his youth he was killed by the power of Loki, the
+embodiment of envy, hatred, and revenge, and incidentally the god of
+fire. In the beginning Loki lived happily with the other gods; but
+Odin cursed him for ever for his wickedness. It was foretold that the
+loved Baldur was to be the victim of some treachery, and the gods made
+efforts to prevent such a catastrophe. Frigga, who was the wife of
+Odin, placed a spell upon everything, so that there might be nothing
+in Nature that could hurt Baldur. On account of its insignificance,
+the mistletoe was forgotten by the goddess, and of this Loki made an
+instrument of destruction. Having fashioned a dart out of a branch of
+the innocent shrub, Loki persuaded Hodur, the blind brother of
+Baldur, to hurl the weapon at his brother in sport, the innocent child
+believing that this wood, as all other, was charmed. The arrow pierced
+Baldur to the heart, killing him, and causing universal mourning among
+the gods. Among the demons were Skretti, who has left his name to many
+a haunted rock in Norway, and Niki, who is a terrible water demon,
+still dreaded by the ignorant folk in the mountains. Each year he
+demands victims and carries off the children who stray within his
+power. Our familiar nursery friends Jack and Jill are descendants of
+Hjuki and Bil, the ebbing and flowing tides, the tumbling crests of
+which, breaking one over another as the waves wash the shore, are
+rather aptly described in the nursery rhyme.
+
+  [Illustration: SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAIN AT SUNDALSOREN]
+
+
+
+
+ON THE FJORDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+ON THE FJORDS
+
+
+We were awakened rather roughly next morning. At an early hour two
+steamers landed at Næs, and a stream of tourists emerged. For two
+hours vehicles of all sorts filed past our hotel. They took the drive
+we had taken in solitude and moonlight the previous evening, and by
+the time the last carriage of the goers passed out of sight the first
+carriole of the comers-back was visible. Our dream was ended. We fled
+the Romsdal, thanking a merciful chance which, at least for a time and
+for our first impression, had given us the Romsdal in its most ideal
+beauty.
+
+Moonlight also was it when we left on an almost passengerless steamer,
+which took us up the glorious fjord back to Molde. Here we passed
+another week to our profit and satisfaction. Some interesting old
+wooden buildings on the water, about to be pulled down, provided
+subjects for Nico's brush, and I wandered about and admired, peaceful
+in the consciousness that when Nature for a time should cease to
+suffice me I had in reserve a resource--the hotel library consisted of
+a sixteen-volume History of England and a few odd volumes of an
+Encyclopædia!
+
+In an old book on Norway which I came across, the author mentions a
+visit he made to a little village near a river which he calls
+Osterthal. It was rather an involuntary visit: they had lost their
+way.--"We came to a minister's house, whose son's wedding was being
+celebrated. It was full of people of all descriptions, forming a droll
+caricature scene. [At the date this was written all the country-folk
+would be in national costume.] Our effects were brought in by the
+multitude without our paying any attention to them; the parson's
+silver plate was lying about in every direction, his watches hung in
+every room. [The author mentions this apparent plenitude of watches on
+several occasions, as giving a sign of prosperity.] A hundred persons
+at least were present of the poorest sort, eating and drinking in
+every room of the house, yet such is the honesty of the population
+that everything was safe. Our host received us most generously, and
+would accept of no reward; he was even seriously displeased that we
+presented his daughter with a couple of ducats, because she would load
+us with bread and other provisions. We spent the night in the utmost
+conviviality, and proceeded the next day over waste mountains and
+marshes on foot, till we crossed the frontier and arrived at Lerma."
+
+  [Illustration: OLD WAREHOUSE AND BOATS, MOLDE]
+
+Later we read that in one place they were indeed most hospitable and
+caught fish enough to feed the family for eight days. What joy!
+
+In another place he tells us that the bread, "generally made of the
+rind of trees, was miserable."
+
+Again: "Bonaparte is the common theme of the Norwegians. In no country
+is such praise lavished on him as in this, where his power is only
+felt in undesigningly promoting the country's advantage--from this
+standpoint the Norwegians admire him and calmly survey the convulsions
+around them."
+
+It is interesting to observe that at this date the writer gives the
+population of Norway as being under a million; now it is considerably
+over two millions. He remarks that the women, though strong, robust,
+and generally over six feet in height, are sadly wanting in feminine
+charms. In our days they have changed. We may suppose from practical
+experience that what the Norwegian women have lost in stature they
+have gained in beauty. The number of pretty women is well above the
+average.
+
+In the fulness of time we left Molde by steamer, and so southwards
+along the coast, stopping for a few hours at the ruins of Aalesund,
+the thriving little town that was entirely burnt down in January 1904.
+Of the twelve thousand inhabitants who were almost all bereft of house
+and home, only one lost her life, and that through rashness. She was
+an old woman who, finding she had forgotten some cherished possession,
+insisted on entering the burning house to recover it. At least, this
+is what was told me by an inhabitant of the place; and I take it to be
+correct, for the Norwegians of to-day are as honest and trustworthy as
+were their ancestors at the beginning of last century.
+
+We landed on this island of ruins and climbed the pretty hill which
+overlooks the town. Thence we obtained a magnificent view over the
+sea, and were able to realise the complete and terrible desolation
+wrought by the fire. At the time of this disaster Nico was in Norway,
+and the whole country rang with the praises of the Emperor William of
+Germany, whose immediate and practical generosity was a theme for
+the warmest recognition. To judge from all we heard in different parts
+of the country, it would appear that he has won the heart of Norway,
+and has made himself immensely popular with the people.
+
+  [Illustration: MOUNTAINS AND FJORD FACING MOLDE]
+
+The ancestor of our King William the Conqueror gives his name to a
+castle not far south of Aalesund. He was called Rollo the Walker,
+because he was so tall and heavy that no horse could be found strong
+enough to carry him. He conquered parts of France, and founded the
+Duchy of Normandy.
+
+As far as I remember, from Aalesund south the steamer behaved in such
+a way that we thought it would be as well to leave it for a while, and
+we landed as soon as was possible at a charmingly situated island
+called Moldöen. For various reasons, the place was without a quay. In
+torrents of rain and buffeted by the gale, we scrambled off the
+steamer on to a flat-bottomed boat, and were rowed to the island.
+
+What a dreary little place it seemed! Even though we had strawberries
+and cream at tea, and even though the best room was furnished with two
+beautiful bouquets of wax flowers under glass, the rain beat down such
+spirits as we might have had, and we went to bed disconsolate and
+cold. The beds were extraordinarily uncomfortable. I tried three of
+the four in my small room, and stayed in the third in despair. I awoke
+to find the sun pouring into the room, and the strains of "Rule,
+Britannia" filling the house with gramophonic sound. We got up and
+dressed to the tunes of the "Marseillaise" and "Willie, we have missed
+you"; ate our breakfast to a popular cake-walk; and proceeded to
+investigate. It turned out that the hospitality of the house, which we
+had deemed ours alone, was shared by a commercial traveller.
+Steamer-bound there for two days, he carried about with him for use on
+such occasions five phones of different kinds. As far as we could
+discover, he made Moldöen a centre from which he radiated to various
+islands, bearing with him on his outgoings and incomings one or two of
+the instruments. He entertained us all day long with disquisitions on
+the advantages of this one and the disadvantages of that, with
+practical examples. This was a labour of love, for he "travelled" in
+machinery. He had lived for many years in America. He had a wife and
+family in Christiania, whom he was in the habit of seeing for not more
+than a week in the year. When we left the island he left too, and
+endeavoured to get me a berth on a southward-bound steamer which
+had about a dozen berths and fifty or sixty passengers. He was not
+successful, and we all sat up on deck; but I have a kindly memory of
+him for his excellent intentions and his music.
+
+  [Illustration: MOLDÖEN]
+
+While we were on the island I saw several reindeer on the mountains
+opposite.
+
+We had intended to travel from Moldöen along the Sogne Fjord; but,
+finding it impossible to control the steamers coming from the north,
+we were obliged to postpone our visit to these celebrated parts. A
+friend who was staying at Balholm in the 'eighties related to me how
+one fine day, when they were boating on the fjord, they saw a whale.
+All the craft on the water scuttled for their lives, and the whale,
+after creating much excitement, quietly made its way back to the open
+and was seen no more.
+
+We arrived at Bergen in pouring rain. Surrounded as this town is by
+high mountains, which, while protecting her from the extreme violence
+of the storms, attract and imprison the clouds, it has rarely a
+rainless day. We stayed for three weeks.
+
+Bergen, which is still one of the most important ports of Scandinavia,
+has had an interesting commercial history. It began its growth in the
+eleventh century, and its importance may be judged by the fact that in
+1302 a decree fixed the number of its dock labourers at two hundred.
+In these centuries several commercial treaties were concluded between
+Norway and various Powers. Among others is still extant an agreement
+between England and Norway. A German body known as the Hanseatic
+League, recognising the great commercial importance of such a town as
+Bergen, began in the thirteenth century to obtain a footing there.
+Until their arrival the Norwegian trade was almost confined to the
+summer months. The first step taken by the Hansards was to struggle to
+establish themselves during the winter. The Norwegians strove for a
+long time to prevent this, and as late as 1300, it appears, the number
+of Germans wintering at Bergen was inconsiderable. Later in that
+century the Hansards instituted a factory in the town; and, aided by
+three visitations of the plague, which reduced the population of
+Norway, and by extensive privileges granted to them by Magnus
+Kagaboter, which rendered it almost impossible for the Norwegians to
+carry on an independent trade, they arrived at practically controlling
+all the commerce of the country, and in other respects held the trump
+cards in their own hands. As they increased in power, these
+foreigners became domineering, in Bergen especially, where they
+committed acts of aggression and violence against the Norwegian
+population. The native merchants in the various ports made a stubborn
+and vindictive resistance; but the Germans were there in such numbers
+that when at last the Norse efforts were crowned with success and the
+foreigners to some extent driven out, these towns found themselves
+much reduced in strength. Bergen, however, aided by her enormous
+fishing trade, continued to be the most important commercial town, and
+the Hanseatic population struggled hard to keep the supremacy which
+they had enjoyed. During the seventeenth century the Thirty Years' War
+weakened them in their own country, and the growing supremacy of the
+Dutch fleet was another influence against them. It was not until the
+middle of the eighteenth century, however, that the German factory
+entirely ceased. Even now the houses of the Hanseatic quarter are only
+beginning to be pulled down. When we were in Bergen we watched the
+process of destruction, and admired the immense strength of the
+foundations of enormous piles on which the old Germans built their
+dwelling-places and storehouses. In the quarter there is an
+interesting museum, containing many Hanseatic relics, including much
+domestic furniture.
+
+  [Illustration: BERGEN]
+
+To-day, with its trade and its immense influx of visitors to the
+country, Bergen presents an animated sight. One of my favourite haunts
+during solitary wanderings was the fish-market. On two days of the
+week--Wednesday and Saturday, I believe--if one gets there early
+enough, the little quay is crowded with amusing folk, the solemn
+fishermen from the islands, who bring their spoil to be disposed of to
+the best advantage, and the shrewd becapped fishwives, determined on
+not giving an ore beyond the lowest possible price. It is delightful
+to listen to their rapid speech with its quaint inflections. Some of
+the women wear charming starched white caps like those of Sisters of
+Charity, and others tightly-fitting black or blue bonnets with little
+frills relieving their austerity. Here and there, under a flight of
+stone steps or built like a niche in a blank wall, one catches a
+glimpse of a tiny stall where twisted cakes containing much spice are
+sold, or of the wooden boxes of varying sizes and prices which the
+Norwegians use where we use baskets and bags. Some are plain, some
+ornamented with poker work, and others more or less elaborately
+painted in the brilliant colours and the conventional flower-designs
+beloved of the Norsemen and the tourist. The Norsemen employ the boxes
+in every size, and for every purpose, from the big receptacle which
+contains the whole outfit of a young man or maid starting in life to
+the tiny five-ore box which holds little Ragna's ball of cotton and
+her jointed crotchet-hook.
+
+  [Illustration: A FAIR MAIDEN OF NORTH BERGEN]
+
+The place is surrounded by seven hills, which we did not climb, and
+has _en plus_ a theatre which we did not visit. We did, however, take
+ourselves to a music-hall, which, if it satisfied the Bergenites' idea
+of comfort and entertainment, proves them to be a people of contented
+mind. That, I am afraid, is one of the blessings of which I am
+deprived. In spite of the seven hills, the Hanseatic remains, and the
+rain, I believe I was bored in Bergen. I was not to interrupt Nico,
+because he was working very hard; I could not roam about much while
+all my clothes were in a continual state of being dried; I could
+scarcely afford to read a book an hour at one and two kroner apiece; I
+was quite destitute; even Satan found no mischief for my idle hands to
+do; and I was glad when the money we were waiting for arrived and we
+were able to make our way inland. I am just beginning to grow rather
+fond of Bergen, and by the time I see this grumbling in print I
+daresay I shall wish to take back all I have written in any way
+derogatory to the place.
+
+We left in the middle of the night, going by steamer the whole way to
+Odde in preference to taking train to a place called Voss--a
+remarkable railway journey through grand and varied scenery, the track
+being almost entirely hewn out of solid rock. There are no fewer than
+fifty-five tunnels between Voss and Bergen. However, we contented
+ourselves with that old-established means of transit, the fjord
+steamer--in this case a biggish vessel, though without sleeping
+accommodation beyond the smoking-room and a ladies' small room on
+deck. Fortunately, there were only two feminine passengers. I was one.
+The other was an American girl who, making a European tour with the
+necessary aunts, had left them in luxury and comfort in Berlin while
+she made a carriole journey over Norway. At the time we met on the
+steamer she was beginning to regret her persistence, and we were both
+glad of each other's company until she left the country to join her
+relations.
+
+  [Illustration: BERGEN BOATS AND WAREHOUSES]
+
+In the morning, drawing the curtains of our cabin, we beheld the
+glorious scenery of the far-famed Hardanger Fjord. We breakfasted
+with good appetite on biscuits, delicious prawns, and excellent
+chocolate. I do not know if the menu sounds tempting; but the coffee
+left much to be desired, and by that time we had grown accustomed to
+stranger mixtures than shell-fish and chocolate. The weather was
+magnificent, and thus, though it was rather late in the year, we
+enjoyed all the pleasure offered by Nature to visitors of this
+delightful arm of the sea without the disadvantages of mosquitoes and
+crowds experienced by those tourists who pay their homage of
+admiration in the usual season. We sat on deck the whole morning,
+enjoying the wonderful panorama that unfolded itself before us at
+every turn of the fjord. As the steamer twisted in and out we noticed
+that the fjord was generally edged with a narrow band of fertile,
+smiling country; immediately above, the wooded heights rose
+precipitously, parted here and there by silver torrents that poured
+foaming over the rocks into the fjord. Occasionally, as we passed
+close by these cascades, the spray they threw off caught the sun's
+rays and showed for a moment a wonder of all the imaginable beauty of
+the commingling of the diamond with the rainbow. High above were the
+snow-crowned mountains and the blue whiteness of glaciers. What a
+wonderful country! It seems sometimes that Nature is too prodigal.
+Where an hour of such beauty leaves one overwhelmed with marvel and
+delight, days and weeks of a panorama ever increasing in splendour
+dull the senses and--dare I say it?--almost satiate.
+
+Late in the afternoon we stopped at a small station to pick up a few
+passengers who had chosen to go so far by rail and carriole, and my
+American friend was much pleased to recognise two young scions of
+French nobility, whose titles she had read on her journey from Molde
+to Bergen, when most of the passengers were invisible through illness.
+She was convinced that Dr. Conan Doyle had been her neighbour at
+table, and she begged me to find out if he had been in Norway during
+the summer. She had a wonderful gift of enthusiasm, and did our rather
+jaded spirits a great deal of good by that intense keenness which is
+characteristic of her race.
+
+  [Illustration: VÆFOS, HILDAL, HARDANGER]
+
+After dinner we came again on deck, to find the moon pouring her soft
+light over all and imparting to the earth a romantic illusiveness.
+However, it was also exceedingly cold, and we retired early, Nico to
+smoke and doze, and I with our American to discuss the war between
+North and South and other important matters; of course, we discovered
+friends in common. All through the nights one passes on these fjord
+steamers one is constantly aroused by weird bumpings and stampings,
+and we had learnt from previous experience that this was due to the
+stoppage of the steamer at different stations to pick up and deliver
+cargoes. About eleven o'clock on this particular night, the noises
+were of such an extraordinary character, and seemed to last so long,
+that we put on our big coats and went out on the deck to explore. By
+the light of two small lamps a herd of fifty cows was being embarked.
+Some of them protested vigorously against stepping on to the thin
+plank bridging the water between them and the boat. The whole business
+was tiresome and lengthy. At last a band was improvised to pass round
+the animals' bodies; one by one they were hauled up, willy-nilly, by
+the crane and pulley, and dropped into their allotted quarters.
+
+An hour or two later we were startled from our sleep. The scene was
+reversed, and the cattle were landed at their destination.
+
+About four o'clock we were again disturbed by the running backwards
+and forwards of many feet. When the steamer settled into silence, we
+dropped off to sleep, too quickly to discover that all motion had
+ceased and that we were at a standstill. We were not shipwrecked; nor
+had we met with any untoward accident. We had arrived, and, though
+most of the passengers had left the boat and finished their night in
+more comfortable quarters, we slept on in blissful ignorance until
+after eight o'clock, when Nico came to inform us that all our baggage
+was at the hotel and breakfast ordered.
+
+We dressed with alacrity, and made our way to the enormous hotel of
+Odde, which is about the most popular resort of the tourist in Norway,
+though when we were there late in August it was without guests. We
+breakfasted in a lofty room, and noticed that the waitresses, who are
+famed for their allegiance to Norwegian costume, had relinquished it
+with their hopes of other foreign guests, and were soberly dressed in
+black. The day after our departure the proprietor and his family left
+the place, and caught us up when we finally rested at Dalen. I wonder
+if Norway is glad or sorry when the enthusiastic but destroying
+tourist ceases for nine months to take up his abode within her gates?
+
+
+
+
+MINOR ROMANTIC EPISODES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+MINOR ROMANTIC EPISODES
+
+
+From Odde we returned to our old friend the stolkjærre, and the
+American girl took a carriole. In this manner we had a little variety,
+for we changed places now and then. Both vehicles belonged to one man,
+who drove with us all the way, putting up when we did. This prevented
+the nuisance of continual change of horses and conveyance. The driver
+assured us that the carriole had been used by the German Emperor. I
+believe that in the season a great point is made of providing every
+stranger with _the_ carriole: hundreds are so honoured. Well, the
+Kaiser Wilhelm is a wonderful man, and he would be rash who should
+say, "This even the Emperor cannot do." To explain his frequent
+presence here, a story must be told. A few years ago, a young German
+lieutenant, riding down the steep road not far from the Laatefos on
+his bicycle, swerved from the straight course, and was hurled into
+the raging waters beside which runs the road. The incident is supposed
+to have been witnessed by a child and an old man, and a few weeks
+afterwards the poor victim's body, torn by the rocks beyond all
+recognition, was found at some distance from the spot where the
+disaster happened. The Emperor, with two hundred men, arrived to
+search for the body, and a stone to the soldier's memory has been
+erected by his Imperial Majesty. There is another story on the
+subject, which is only whispered; but our romantic friend seized upon
+it with eagerness, and wove a yarn of possibilities and
+improbabilities, of which she persists in believing the hero to be
+alive.
+
+On our right hand as we drove in procession from Odde, preceded by the
+carriage and pair of the French nobility, lay the Buar glacier. It was
+of a wonderful green which we had not before seen, inasmuch as many of
+the glaciers we had passed were almost covered with snow and débris,
+which concealed their colour. The road took us for some way beside a
+charming lake; after this we passed several beautiful waterfalls, the
+spray from one of which was so considerable that the road beside it
+was converted into a pond, and in the moment we took to pass
+through it our clothes were made quite wet.
+
+  [Illustration: A HARDANGER COUNTRY GIRL]
+
+At Seljestad we rested, and then drove zig-zag uphill, or, rather, our
+horses walked zig-zag, and we, on foot, cut across the winding road,
+and reached the top of the hill without much effort long before our
+horses were in sight. We were three thousand four hundred feet above
+the level of the sea, and the air was chilly. Matters were not mended
+when we drove down the hill: the sun had gone in, and the late
+afternoon at that time of the year is often too cold for enjoyment.
+Therefore we stayed awhile at a big hotel at Horre, and made
+acquaintance with a very warming drink, arac punch. After this we had
+recourse to it pretty frequently on our cold drives. Our driver tried
+to persuade us to stop at Horre; but it was still daylight, and we all
+wanted to get on. The landlady seemed rather chagrined at this
+obstinacy and bad taste; but on we drove for another half hour or so,
+when we arrived at Roldal. Here we found most of the hotels closed,
+and the owners almost on the point of departure. Also we found the
+young Frenchmen, who informed us that _they_ had ordered supper for
+8.30--to consist of trout and chicken. This, of course, was the
+supper provided for the possible traveller, and of necessity was our
+supper too; but one of these boys apologised for its scantiness, and
+said he had only ordered for their party. This was rather a joke, as,
+acting on the advice of our driver, we had from our luncheon-place
+ordered supper to be ready at 8.30. However, the meal, as far as it
+went, was very good. Afterwards we all assembled in the one small
+sitting-room still available, and endeavoured to drink the white
+spirit which is drunk all over the country and called "aqua vita." To
+my taste it is abominable; but it is exceedingly strong, and perhaps
+this is a virtue which carries it far. We found two old packs of
+cards; the five of us played a good many rather ridiculous games,
+which amused us vastly, and brought the servants of the hotel to the
+door to discover the reason of our laughter. At breakfast we were all
+delighted with the delicious jam made from wild strawberries. Then we
+started on a day's drive in good spirits, the carriage and pair
+leading. Up, up, and always up, getting colder and colder by the way;
+a short rest at a wayside sæter; a drink of delicious creamy milk, not
+possessing, however, the warming qualities of our arac punch. The tiny
+masses of drifted snow which lie among the rocks, neglected by the
+sun, increased in size and volume. Here, on one of the rocks by the
+wayside, a big snowball had been placed, probably by the youths who
+led us on. Colder and colder grew the air, until at last we turned a
+corner, and saw before us a huge mass of dirty snow. It was impossible
+to plough this, or otherwise to get rid of it: so we drove through a
+tunnel hollowed out in the snow. This was the coldest place we
+reached. Gradually we descended and got into a less icy atmosphere.
+All the same, we were exceedingly glad to get out and warm ourselves
+at a little farm, where we drank port, and I used what powers of
+persuasion I possess in the endeavour to render myself the owner of a
+particularly attractive ironing-board, wielded by a blob of wood that
+was the most delightful attempt at reproduction of a horse that I have
+ever seen. Neither offers of money nor blandishments had the desired
+effect, and I was obliged to leave the longed-for object behind me.
+
+  [Illustration: SKJÆGGEDALSFOS, HARDANGER]
+
+Cheered and fortified by our wine, we drove on to the spot appointed
+for our luncheon. Haukelidsæter is an enormous hotel under Government
+control. Prices are reasonable; they are regulated by the Norwegian
+Tourist Club. The immense dining-room is pleasing, being simple in
+design and embellishment. Opposite the hotel is a building in the
+style of the much-admired old storehouses. It was closed while we were
+there; but in the season it provides excellent sleeping accommodation.
+
+Here we fell in again with our fellow-travellers and their servant,
+and we ate very gaily together of tough stewed goat and excellent
+cream pudding.
+
+We drove on, and arrived rather early at a very pleasant little
+station, of which, however, I have forgotten the name. It was only
+about five o'clock, and in Norway there is nothing satisfactory to eat
+between dinner at two and supper at eight or nine: so I bought half a
+kilogramme of chocolate, and asked for milk and cream. I had some
+difficulty in getting a saucepan; but eventually I discovered the
+kitchen and helped myself, to the amusement of the scarlet-coated
+maid, who was already making preparations for our supper. I made the
+chocolate; and we all drank it, after our fish supper, with the
+remainder of a bottle of a very sweet and cloying liqueur called
+Augustine, which we had bought at Haukelidsæter by general
+subscription, in place of the arac punch, which was not attainable.
+The American girl and I left Augustine severely alone.
+
+  [Illustration: HARDANGER HEADDRESS]
+
+Next morning I bought with much joy an old and beautifully carved
+wooden box. I was very glad to give fifteen kroner for it; but, deeply
+attached to it as I was, we went off without it. I remembered it
+before we had gone very far, and raced back alone in the carriole.
+Then I caught the others up. Our driver expressing great curiosity as
+to my parcel, I showed it to him. He wanted to know the price, and I
+told him, rather proud of myself at having made a good bargain, as I
+thought; but he laughed discreetly, and informed us that in the depth
+of winter, when money is scarce among the peasants, their treasures
+are bought up by men, going round for the purpose, for next to
+nothing. Thus the summer tourist always pays heavily. If he gets
+things from the peasants themselves, they have to "get even" with the
+forced sales of the winter. As for the town antiquaries, the price
+they ask for their treasures would make a Dutch peasant blush, and
+anyone who has endeavoured to obtain the object of his fancy from such
+an one will realise that this is no light task.
+
+That day we drove through mysterious pine-woods, which kept from us
+all the warming rays of the sun. Before we reached the forest the road
+followed the course of a river, and then, leaving that, ran beside a
+lake. Most of the way we walked, to warm ourselves. It was late in the
+year for this route, and we were alone on the road--at any rate, for
+this portion of it. Later we met strings of peasants coming from a
+fair.
+
+We had luncheon at a little place which was quite off its head with
+business. There had been a cattle fair some distance off, and all
+those interested were on the road, making their way home. During our
+drive that afternoon we met some of the prize-winners, horses and
+cattle decorated with ribbon rosettes of many colours, and carrying
+their certificates suspended from their horns or from their necks. The
+placing of the rosettes was amusing. In most cases the animals were
+attended by a handmaiden in a dark skirt, a black velvet bodice
+elaborately embroidered in coloured silk, and a fringed kerchief tied
+gracefully round the head, and falling down the back with the long
+thick hair. Most of the peasant women in Telemarken, of whatever age,
+wear their hair loose, as indeed do the poorer country women all over
+Norway. However, the prize cows were making their way but slowly,
+grazing unchidden on invisible food among the fallen leaves by the
+wayside; doubtless the women were the wives and daughters of the
+burly farmers whom we had left enjoying their dinner at our last
+halting-place.
+
+  [Illustration: RIVER AT HAUKELI]
+
+Somewhere that day we passed a turning in the road that, had we taken
+it, would have led us to the wonderful Rjukan Fos, of which romantic
+stories have been told. Many of the most beautiful spots in Norway are
+rendered more interesting by various legends connected with them. One
+cannot guarantee their accuracy; but they are very welcome. I quote
+this tragic romance as a dark gem set in the Rjukan Fos.
+
+"Near the Rjukan Fos there is a path over the mountain called the
+'Marie Stige,' on the brink of the precipice of the famous fall, which
+even at this day the traveller treads with fear, and which was
+discovered by a young maiden in the courage of love. It was by this
+path that the beautiful Marie of Westfjorddalen went with light and
+fearless step to meet the friend of her childhood, Ejestein
+Halfoordsen. But the avarice of her father separated them, and Marie's
+tears and prayers prevailed upon her lover to fly, to escape the plot
+formed by a treacherous rival against his life. Years passed, and
+Marie was firm in her constancy. Her father died; Ejestein had by his
+valour and nobleness made his former enemy his friend, and after
+their long separation the lovers were to meet again. Ejestein hastened
+by the shortest way, the Marie Stige, to meet his beloved. Long had
+she watched for him; she saw him coming, and his name burst from her
+with a joyful cry. He saw and rushed to meet her, but fell, and the
+Rjukan whirled him into its foaming depths. For many years after this
+a pale form, in whose beautiful eyes a quiet madness lay, wandered
+daily on the Marie Stige, and seemed to talk with someone in the abyss
+below. Here she walked until a merciful voice summoned her to go and
+rest in the arms of her beloved."
+
+All the way to Dalen our drive was brightened by the rosetted cows,
+making their way up the hill which we descended. The mountain rose
+sheer on our right, two thousand feet above the road; on our left,
+awe-inspiring precipices made us hold our breath, as every now and
+then we were obliged to pass a vehicle coming the opposite way. The
+young Frenchmen in the carriage and pair were driving immediately
+before us. Suddenly there was a crash, and down fell one of their
+horses. The outer wheels of the vehicle were over the edge of the
+precipice. For one terrible second it was as if an awful tragedy could
+not be averted. The splendid little pony on the mountain-side held
+good his ground, and my driver, by sheer bodily force, half lifted,
+half pushed, the carriage from its dangerous position. The three
+occupants had jumped out; but the driver, almost paralysed with
+terror, was still sitting on his box. The pony had broken the shaft on
+which it had fallen, but, fortunately, had done itself no harm.
+Between them the men patched it up as well as they could, and we
+proceeded. We were not very far from Dalen, however, and the young men
+elected to walk the rest of the journey. We kept behind the carriage,
+in fear of further accidents, and went along so slowly that the
+walkers arrived some time before we did.
+
+  [Illustration: A PEASANT OF SÆTERSDALEN]
+
+The big hotel at Dalen was closed, and we all took rooms in a smaller
+place almost opposite, which proved one of the most comfortable
+resting-places we had come across in Norway. Indeed, that very evening
+Nico and I made up our minds to stay there for some time, and so
+turned our supper into a farewell meal. In celebration, we drank one
+another's health in exceedingly sweet champagne, and then again in
+small glasses of arac punch, in which we invited our host and his wife
+to join us, thus establishing a friendly feeling of which Nico and I
+reaped the benefit during our stay.
+
+  [Illustration: ESPELANDSFOS, HARDANGER.]
+
+The American girl and the French youths with their valet were
+travelling together as far as Christiania: so we bade them good-bye
+before we retired for the night. Nico, in the fulness of his heart,
+announced his intention of getting up next morning at five, to see
+them off. He went to the length of asking the maid to call him when
+she should awake the travellers; and in the dark hours of the morning,
+when, following her directions, she awoke only me, I finished her
+work, and pointed out to Nico the necessity of fulfilling rash
+promises. My arguments were strong, and Nico got up and saw the party
+off. He was exceedingly pleased with himself when he came back.
+
+We stayed for some time at Dalen. We were well fed, well lodged, and
+smiled upon by charming waitresses in their red sleeveless bodices and
+white frilled blouses; besides, we were favoured with most glorious
+weather. Nico worked hard, and found delightful models in the farmer's
+two daughters--one a lovely Madonna-like girl of fifteen, and the
+other a curly-haired little pickle of three. I passed most of the day
+hours basking in the sun and reading anything I could find, which
+resolved itself into a few numbers of _Cook's Tourist Gazette_ and
+three numbers of Dowie's paper from Zion City, U.S.A. The American
+journals contained many violent remarks about the prophet's reception
+in England; but in one number I read he appeared to pity us for our
+denseness. This literature, advertisements and all, did not entertain
+me long, and I went to the shop which was part of the premises to see
+if there was anything I could buy. I found only a very ordinary
+assortment of German hand-made goods, together with a strongly
+smelling selection of various food-stuffs, and one or two drawers full
+of mixed sweets for the entertainment of the youth of the village. So
+I unpicked a blouse of my own, and sewed it together again by hand,
+and that very neatly. Then I looked through the papers again, and
+found that I had missed a few words in the course of several of the
+sheets, stating who was the printer of these effusions. One night a
+party of English folk arrived, travelling from Christiania to Odde, at
+forbidden speed: that is to say, by rising early and travelling until
+late they were making in two days a journey which is fixed by law as
+taking three. I persuaded Nico to go to them after supper and to ask
+them if they had anything to read which they would exchange for the
+books I had carried with me and read three or four times. With great
+joy he brought back two magazines and a book.
+
+Another day I hired a carriole and the farmer's son to drive me to the
+Ravngju (the Raven's Abyss), which is a rock hanging over a precipice
+at a height of fourteen hundred feet, above a dashing river. I learnt
+from my guide-book that the draught of air is so strong that if one
+throws a hat over the precipice it will be refused by the abyss and
+blown back. I tried the experiment with my own head-gear, for which,
+fortunately, I had no respect and but little affection. Contrariwise,
+the Raven's Abyss changed its reputed tactics and stuck to it; at any
+rate, I never saw it again, and I drove home bareheaded.
+
+  [Illustration: A BOY OF SÆTERSDALEN.]
+
+During our stay here I discovered with great difficulty a few more
+facts about the Norwegian peasants' poetic and very interesting
+superstitions. The little gnomes, in whom all believe, often attach
+themselves to special farms. If any of the horses or cattle appear to
+thrive much better than their fellows, the folk will explain it,
+entirely to their own satisfaction, by saying that such beasts are the
+favourites of the pixies, who steal fodder from the other mangers
+to feed the animals in which they have chosen to interest themselves.
+Sometimes the gnomes devote themselves, by petty vexations, to
+worrying the life out of the people to whom they bear malice. The milk
+turns sour, the butter is rancid, the cattle pine away; and all from
+no apparent cause. It is told that one such haunted family at last
+made up their minds to move very secretly, and thought to leave the
+fairy cause of all their trouble behind them. As the last cartload of
+belongings left the farm and the people were congratulating themselves
+that they would get away without being discovered by the malicious
+familiar, he popped his head out of an empty barrel, and piping, "Oho!
+We are moving to-day!" jumped on the cart and followed them to their
+new home.
+
+The trolls are big giants who live in the mountains and are very
+rarely seen. These spirits always dwell in the seventh mountain
+visible in the blue distance. Thus, of course, they can never be
+approached by those who set out in search of them; but in their
+fastness they keep beautiful maidens stolen from earthly homes.
+
+The huldra also is an inhabitant of the heights. She is a witch who
+takes the form of a lovely woman, and meeting humans in the woods she
+lures them to follow her. Her dwelling is in the mountains, which she
+opens with a magic word. Inside is a gorgeous palace, filled with
+immense riches, and having dining-rooms containing splendidly
+decorated tables laden with all the food a Norwegian enjoys most,
+served on golden dishes. He who eats of these things is thenceforth in
+the power of the huldra. Occasionally he wins free; but never
+afterwards is he as he was.
+
+In the country the folks speak of idiots and madmen as being
+"mountain-taken," believing that these are victims of the huldra's
+wiles.
+
+If, however, the involuntary guest refuses to partake of the magic
+dishes in the mountain passes, he sees before his eyes the dishes of
+exquisite food turning to pine cones and slabs of earth, while the
+huldra loses her fascination, and can no longer hide from him the
+cow's tail by which she is to be known, nor can she keep him prisoner
+any longer. Without knowing how, he finds himself back in the woods on
+the mountain-side; and he cannot discover the entrance to the fairy
+palace.
+
+  [Illustration: SUNDALSFJORD]
+
+At Christmas, and indeed during all festivities, these various unseen
+powers are propitiated by offerings of food and drink, which are
+placed outside the farm, and invariably disappear. I should not
+like to swear that no agency but magic is responsible.
+
+At several of the trees on the land of the farm hotel at Dalen were
+fixed little shelters, each having a small entrance and a gabled roof.
+These, we surmised correctly, were for the birds. The Norwegians are
+very fond of the small songsters, and in many districts it is
+forbidden to destroy them. This delighted us, the more, perhaps, that
+we had spent the previous spring in Italy, where heartless massacre of
+birds is carried on, one of the Italian's favourite dishes being half
+a dozen or a dozen tiny ones served on polenta. The sportsmen who
+indulge in the hunt sell the birds strung together--a thread through
+their heads--by the dozen. In Norway the birds are encouraged and
+petted, and in the winter fed. At Christmas time every one buys
+sheaves of oats or other cereals still in the ear, and hangs them
+outside the windows, or, fastening the bundles on poles, erects them
+in gardens and in the open spaces of the cities. He would be poor
+indeed who had not a few _ore_ to devote to the entertainment of the
+little feathered friends at this season of universal joy.
+
+Poverty as we know it in England is scarcely to be found in Norway,
+and, on the other hand, riches as understood by a Norwegian living in
+his own country would by no means satisfy an aspirant for wealth on
+this side of the North Sea. Statistical information concerning income
+and property shows but a small difference between the principal
+classes. The income of the employer often does not exceed the wages of
+the average workman. A very slight change in the balance would bring
+many employers into the ranks of the employed. This happy country,
+though under the government of a Limited Monarchy, seems to fulfil the
+dreams of at least the reasonable Socialist. It has no nobility with
+political or economic principles, no great capitalists, no immense
+estates. The difficulty of earning a livelihood in the inclement
+climate and on the stormy coast calls for energy and endurance, and
+accustoms the worker to self-restraint. More than half the population
+own deposits in the Savings Banks. The spirit of equality is
+noticeable to the most casual observer. The proprietor of the station
+where you pass your nights is absolutely the equal of the guest, who
+avails himself of the house's hospitality for his own convenience, and
+apparently not for the profit of the owner. The servants who wait on
+one are pleasant and willing, working for their living, it is true,
+but showing none of the servility largely dependent on tips which is
+the characteristic of their class in other countries. If a _pourboire_
+is given, small or large, it is accepted invariably with a frank
+handshake; in some cases it is difficult to induce its acceptance. A
+Norwegian, whatever his standing may be, is the equal of everyone.
+Politeness on the part of the traveller is such a necessity that the
+guide-books mention it. The domineering tourist will meet with
+difficulties and rebuffs.
+
+  [Illustration: SÆTERSDALEN GIRL IN NATIONAL COSTUME]
+
+
+
+
+MAINLY ABOUT SAINTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MAINLY ABOUT SAINTS
+
+
+Nico did a great deal of work in Dalen, finishing half-completed
+sketches, and making many figure-drawings. One of the servants was
+from Sætersdalen; and, to pose for Nico, she dressed herself in her
+extraordinary costume. In the course of our wanderings we met with
+travelling natives of Sætersdalen--once, under a lucky star, with a
+woman taking her little child, a girl of three or four years old, to a
+hospital in Christiania. Between us we persuaded the child to act as
+model for an hour or two, so as to give Nico occasion to transfer her
+decorative charm to his paper. The dress for women and girl children
+alike is a straight garment of very thick cloth, sustained by
+embroidered shoulder-straps. It reaches only a little below the knee,
+and is edged by two or three bands of very thick coloured cloth, which
+hold out stiffly the rather solid material of which the garment is
+made. Under this they wear a petticoat made on the same model. A white
+shirt covers the arms and neck, and a brightly coloured knitted belt
+girdles the middle--I can scarcely call it the waist--of the wearer.
+On their hands are black mittens, embroidered in a traditional pattern
+with brightly coloured wools. The head is covered by a folded
+handkerchief, and the hair hangs loose or plaited down the back. The
+legs are encased in thick knitted stockings and sensible low shoes.
+The men and boys wear trousers that come up to their shoulders, and
+odd little round hats. The district in which they live we were not
+able to visit, to my regret. We had left it to the last, intending to
+take it on our way home, as the country can only be approached from
+Christianssand, a port touched by the steamers bound from Christiania
+to Hull; and at the last moment unforeseen circumstances compelled us
+to make our passage home as speedy as possible. There is a railway
+which will take the traveller up the valley as far as Byglandsfjord;
+but to appreciate its many charms it is advisable, and well worth
+while, to make the journey by road and water. Beyond this station the
+valley has no connection with other routes, except by rough and
+sometimes dangerous mountain paths. Accommodation for the tourist
+is exceedingly rough, and food narrowly limited in quality and
+variety. On account of these drawbacks, the Sætersdalen district must
+certainly be, from many points of view, the most interesting part of
+Norway. There the traveller will find the dresses, the customs, and
+the dwelling-places in much the same stage as they have been for the
+last three hundred years, and--what is always a great attraction to me
+and surely not less so to others--there is the joy of travelling in
+parts which are as yet almost unknown, and consequently unspoilt by
+the tourist, who must perforce bring in his wake so many doubtful
+blessings. For me the people of a country is that country's greatest
+charm--not the townsfolk or the owners and staffs of the big hotels
+with their far-spreading influence, but the unspoilt people of the
+untravelled parts. In the summer months parties of people migrate from
+the valley and take up their abode in the mountains. Thus the
+courageous but too confident traveller may find himself unable to
+obtain even such simple food as bread and milk. It is highly advisable
+for the explorer to take with him biscuits, canned food, and brandy,
+and to travel with as small a quantity of baggage as is convenient.
+
+  [Illustration: SÆTERSDALEN PEASANT GIRL]
+
+At the head of the valley it is possible to cross the mountains which
+separate Sætersdalen from Telemarken and to arrive at Dalen, on Lake
+Bandak. The peasant inhabitants of Sætersdalen are of rather a
+charming primitiveness, and some of their houses can show wonderful
+specimens of quaint and grotesque carving. Included in this
+simplicity, however, is an unpleasant and complete disregard for
+cleanliness.
+
+The moment came when, much against our inclinations, and especially
+against Nico's wishes, we were obliged to leave our comfortable
+quarters at Dalen. For the last time I basked in the warm sunshine
+which had favoured us during our entire stay; for the last time I
+retired from the too warm welcome to the shadowy balcony studio
+belonging to my room, which complaisantly looked north as Nico
+required. Only this once more should I drop sticks of chocolate on to
+the golden curls of the little Andrea as she came within range during
+her eternal roamings over the big farmyard in search of mischief. No
+fewer than ten cats of variegated colours prowled over this area; they
+delicately fished and fought for the more toothsome morsels from the
+barrel outside the kitchen window containing all the refuse of food
+stuffs, the eventual emptying of which was to the advantage of the
+pigstye. In the middle of this interesting land was a well. Over it
+hung, high in the air, an empty bucket suspended by a chain from the
+lighter end of an immense pole. The pretty cowherd would fill the pail
+with water to plenish the tubs from which her charges drank. Most
+evenings, in a spirit of wickedness, the worthy brother of the
+golden-haired baby would fill the bucket and leave it standing by the
+well, the weight of the water in it keeping it on the ground. Up would
+come an unsuspecting cow, which thirstily would drink the contents.
+Slowly she would lift her head from the now empty pail, which, flying
+as by magic into the air, would almost invariably give the bewildered
+creature a smart blow on the head. Of course, it did not hurt the
+animal; but her expression of startled and grieved surprise was most
+amusing. It was one of the excitements of my days at Dalen to have
+mild bets with Nico whether the day's intended victim would be free of
+the bucket in time.
+
+  [Illustration: MOLDÖEN]
+
+The sun went in; the air grew cold; soon darkness was upon us. This
+was the proudest moment of the day. I lit my fire, invariably with
+success, with peelings of birch bark that I had sedulously collected
+during my walks. This last time all my savings went together--how they
+blazed! Then in came the farmer, our host, with his exceedingly easy
+bill, including entries for various delightful painted butter-boxes
+and three immense wooden drinking bowls which I had bought from him.
+Then followed his worthy wife and his pretty daughter, bearing a tray
+on which was a bottle of arac punch and four glasses--he wished to
+drink to us before we went, and so we clinked the small glasses, and
+in various words of various languages expressed that we were pleased
+with one another, and almost arranged that the pretty daughter should
+come with us to learn English and to help my nurse to look after my
+babies. I have not got little Andrea with me yet; but I expect that by
+the time this book is published she will be in my house, wearing her
+pretty national costume, and rejoicing us with her charming little
+face, which is reproduced on the frontispiece of the book.
+
+Next morning we were obliged to be up by six. An hour beforehand one
+of the delightful serving-maids lit my fire, and our breakfast,
+including more arac punch, was brought upstairs. By and by, in the
+cold grey morning, we boarded the little steamer which was to take
+us through the series of lakes and canals to Skien, whence it is
+possible to go by train to Christiania.
+
+  [Illustration: A COTTAGE INTERIOR, TELEMARKEN]
+
+It was a wonderful day, albeit very long. These days that one begins
+at six o'clock seem always of unnatural length--what should be
+luncheon time in the ordinary way is only breakfast time on these
+occasions; and, when all the hours are unoccupied, how delightedly one
+would welcome bedtime in the afternoon! However, before we had time to
+become very discontented, the sun came out to cheer us up, and then
+breakfast was announced, and after that we began to shake off our
+drowsy ill-humours and look about. Our captain was a good-looking man,
+quite young, and an excellent English scholar. He was a great
+traveller, and from his talk we gathered that he was not too well
+pleased to be passing his days on this little lake steamer, going
+backwards and forwards alternately with another boat; he was rather
+discontented at this time, quite the close of the season, when the
+English passengers that his soul loved were few and far between, and
+his most usual freight a few peasants, changing at every station, and
+an occasional herd of cattle. He pointed out to us on our right a
+group of rocks known as "The Monk and Lady." I could fancy I did see
+a resemblance to two human beings, one kneeling before the other's
+uplifted hand, apparently asking for a blessing. Had I not known the
+name given to the group, I might have thought I saw the image of a
+guilty being receiving corporal chastisement.
+
+At the first station we stopped at, the little boat rolled a good
+deal, and it was only by clinging to steadfast objects that the
+passengers preserved their balance. Several young men boarded the
+boat. Also there joined us two very beautiful women wearing long coats
+to cover their best costumes, their charming head-dress concealing
+hair hanging loose down their backs. They were both married women. Two
+of the young men had pockets full of beautiful yellow apples; they ate
+them steadily, by the dozen I should say, until the pockets were
+empty. I coveted the fruit. When I am an early riser, it is
+astonishing how my most extreme longing is for unattainable apples. At
+the next station several children came on board with baskets of the
+fruit for sale. Already my appetite had become fainter; but Nico
+bought the stock-in-trade of a person of some three or four years, and
+so much occupied was I in watching the exhibition of the boy's triumph
+over his less fortunate fellows, that I did not notice the piling
+up of interest which was going on around me.
+
+  [Illustration: A NORWEGIAN GIRL]
+
+Really it was too much for one stoppage! First, the apple-sellers, who
+left us, however, before we started; next, a man with a foal two or
+three weeks old; also a herd of about thirty cattle, tied up variously
+on deck, in close proximity to the passengers; last, but not least, a
+Sætersdalen woman, in the full glory of her elaborate and brightly
+coloured costume. Walking in the fields in their own district, the
+women take off the dark cloth upper frock which this woman wore, and
+work in a grey underfrock made in exactly the same way. Here was
+material for heaps of excitement in our simple lives. When we had
+sampled our apples in the little deck-house which was all the covered
+accommodation, I left Nico half asleep and went out to look for
+adventures. The foal, with terrified eyes fixed on the water, was
+neighing piteously; every now and then a horse would trot to the edge
+of the water, apparently to neigh comfort to the poor little fellow
+making his first water journey. Frequently the boat would give an
+alarming lurch, and the cattle would slip helplessly from one side to
+the other, stamping and kicking in their efforts to regain a steady
+footing on the slippery deck. Later, at Nico's suggestion, a board was
+put up between the pony and the water, and this seemed to quiet the
+poor beast. At the next station the boat gave a fearful roll, and
+tipped over to such an extent that the perfectly smooth water of the
+lake washed one side of the deck. We were all rather frightened for a
+few seconds. The cattle were in a sprawling, kicking, terrified mass
+on the side which leaned to the water. The passengers struggled to the
+opposite side, and held on as best they could. By some means the
+steamer righted herself, and off we started.
+
+The captain was attentive to us on this trip. I think he was glad to
+air his English. He pointed out, on our right, another curious
+formation in the mountains, which he called "St. Olaf's Ship." I
+daresay in the time of St. Olaf ships were like that: so I will not
+emphasise my ignorance by criticism.
+
+St. Olaf's name is found all over the country. It is well known that
+he is Norway's greatest saint: but I daresay his history is not such
+common property. Therefore I tell it as our captain on the steamer
+told it to me. Here I may say that there is surely no country in the
+world where the average inhabitant has such an exceedingly great
+knowledge of histories, national or general.
+
+  [Illustration: KJENDALSBRÆ]
+
+Olaf Haraldssen was a descendant of Harald Haarfajer, or "The Fair,"
+who was the first king to rule the whole of Norway. Harald Haarfajer
+flourished in the ninth century, and was one of the first of the
+heroic Vikings sung of in sagas. After Harald the Fair, the most
+splendid king was Olaf Trygvasen, who with his many followers harried
+us to such an extent that the English sovereign was obliged to sue for
+peace. He endeavoured to implant Christianity among his subjects by
+sword and fire, and, after making a heroic defence and losing nearly
+all his men, fell mortally wounded during a battle against the Swedish
+and Danish kings. Norway was now in the hands of the two conquering
+kings; but they gave up their shares to a powerful Norwegian earl, who
+had given them his aid against King Olaf Trygvasen. The earl agreed to
+hold these lands as their vassal. In this capacity he was obliged to
+leave his country when the Danish king called upon him to join in an
+invasion of England. He never returned from this expedition. In 1015
+Olaf Haraldssen, another worthy descendant of Harald the Fair,
+returning from a pirating raid, seized the opportunity of assuming
+the leadership of the country, determined to carry out the intention
+of his noble ancestor, Olaf Trygvasen. With the help of various petty
+kings from the north, he overthrew the dominion of the earls and their
+overlords, the Danish and Swedish kings. He made Trondhjem his
+capital, and there he received homage from the lesser chieftains as
+king of Norway. In his turn he enforced Christianity; but on account
+of the extreme severity of his policy he alienated many of his people,
+who sought the aid of the Danish king against him. Defeated, Olaf fled
+to Russia. After gathering his forces together he endeavoured to win
+back his kingdom, but was again beaten. He was killed at the battle of
+Stiklestad in 1030. His body was taken to a place called Nidaros, and
+buried on the banks of a river. A year later his corpse was exhumed,
+and it was found that there was no trace of corruption--the face was
+just as in life, and the hair and nails had grown. This, and certain
+miracles wrought through his intercession, caused him to be proclaimed
+a saint. His body was encased in silver and placed in Trondhjem
+Cathedral, where it received great veneration until the time of the
+Reformation.
+
+  [Illustration: A TYPICAL NORWEGIAN MAIDEN]
+
+The history of Norway, with its continual relations and dissensions
+with Sweden and Denmark, is intensely interesting; but there are such
+splendid books on the subject that it would be ridiculous for me to
+attempt to introduce more than these few words into a book which
+professes to give merely the superficial impressions of a
+traveller--exceedingly interested, it is true, but--having almost
+everything to learn about her subject.
+
+Rather regretfully, we came back from the eleventh century, for the
+captain was obliged to superintend the disembarkation of the cows. We
+were rather glad to get rid of them; and they, poor things, were, I am
+sure, heartily pleased that their startling journey was over, and that
+they found themselves safely on dry land, with plenty of space to roam
+in. The pony we kept with us for a while, attempting to persuade it to
+drink milk, which, however, it refused to consider.
+
+The luncheon was pork and stewed rhubarb, served in a very small and
+stuffy dining cabin. Nico and I refused it, and regaled ourselves on a
+tin of Brand. Soon we entered the wonderful canal that joins the
+Bandak Lake to the Nordsjo Lake, which is connected by another canal
+with the head of the Skien Fjord, thus opening up an inland waterway
+from the sea at Skien right into the heart of the mountains at Dalen,
+the extreme end of Lake Bandak. Lake Bandak is a hundred and
+eighty-seven feet higher than Lake Nordsjo, with which it is
+connected: this immense difference is overcome by no fewer than
+fourteen locks, the average rise in each lock being something over
+thirteen feet. All the locks are blasted out of solid rock and faced
+with grey granite. When we reached the end of this stupendous triumph
+of engineering, the effect as we looked back was overwhelming. The
+chief difficulty in construction was a fall of eighty feet, called the
+Vrangfos. No bottom could be found to the gorge, and a massive bridge
+of granite was constructed between the two rocky sides, on which
+foundation a dam was built. Five of the fourteen locks are at the
+Vrangfos, which rages alongside in impotent fury. This immense work
+cost the country three million kroner.
+
+  [Illustration: A BABY OF TELEMARKEN]
+
+At the end of this canal is a rather pleasant little station, Ulefos,
+on the Nordsjo Lake; but we were in a hurry to get to Christiania and
+civilisation. We did not get off the boat, but continued on our way to
+Skien. We were still chatting with the captain. On our left in the
+rocks, he pointed out to us a yawning gap, ten or twelve feet high.
+That cavern, he told us, was used as a chapel, and dedicated to Saint
+Michael. He also told us that it was the tomb of the last Catholic
+priest in Norway just after the Reformation. The King of Denmark, who
+at that time was also King of Norway, had decreed that the Catholic
+religion should cease to be in both Norway and Denmark. In Norway the
+people were all the more against the fulfilment of this decree as they
+recognised that the Danish king wished to enrich himself at the
+expense of the Catholic Church. Cunning as well as force, therefore,
+was necessary to establish the Lutheran religion in the country of St.
+Olaf. The Catholic priests were banished, and their places were taken
+by foreign preachers, who, to deceive the people, kept up for a long
+time the external appearances of Catholicism. Several years after
+these primary steps had been taken, a Danish soldier named Porl, cruel
+and fanatical, was appointed preacher to the church of Solum; the
+little rock chapel of St. Michael having been destroyed, the parish of
+which it was the centre had been united to that of Solum. Soon Porl
+discovered that his parishioners still went in great numbers to pray
+in the grotto, and sometimes at night a mysterious light was seen
+among the rocks. One autumn evening, returning from Holden in a boat
+rowed by three young watermen, Porl beheld them suddenly cease their
+rowing, and, throwing themselves on their knees in the boat, cross
+themselves. This act of devotion was performed exactly opposite St.
+Michael's Chapel, from which the mysterious light reflected itself in
+the lake.
+
+  [Illustration: ROMSDALS HORN]
+
+Furious, Porl ordered them to row him to the foot of the hilly path
+which led to the chapel; but here he met with determined opposition.
+They would rather die than obey his wish. He was therefore obliged to
+return to Solum, promising himself a speedy solution of the mystery.
+In such a matter he could not trust his parishioners, devoted as they
+were to the old religion: so he took into his service two men from
+Skien, and ordered them to keep watch from afar on the grotto of St.
+Michael. One night, the eve of St. Michael's feast, they rushed to
+him, breathlessly, to announce that they had seen the mysterious light
+issuing from the cave. There was no doubt about it. He could see it
+with his own eyes. He took a sword from the wall to arm himself
+against the unknown enemy, and his two spies rowed him to the grotto.
+As they got nearer the light became of more importance. His men took
+him to the foot of the steep narrow path; but neither threats nor
+hope of reward could persuade them, fearing the supernatural, to
+accompany him. Filled with anger, he made his way alone; but at the
+moment when he had all but reached the opening to the chapel the light
+went out, and there he was between heaven and earth in the pitch
+darkness, afraid to take either one step back or one step forward.
+Gathering all his courage, he went forward, and managed to feel his
+way into the cave. God alone knew what awaited him there, and on His
+name he called. At the sound, at the far end of the cave a big stone
+was moved, and the darkness was flooded with light. Porl could
+scarcely believe his eyes when he saw before him an altar, and on the
+altar a crucifix surrounded by innumerable candles. From this
+sanctuary a venerable old man, wearing sacerdotal vestments, as if
+about to say Mass, advanced towards him.
+
+"You come in the name of God?" said he. "Come, then, in peace."
+
+But the preacher, brandishing his sword, fell on the old priest,
+crying in anger, "I was right, then! I guessed that there was still an
+accursed Papist in my parish!"
+
+"You were indeed right," said the old man. "It is he you are now
+assaulting."
+
+"It is not you that I quarrel with," said the Lutheran, "but the error
+of your ways, and the black artifices you employ to turn the heads of
+my parishioners."
+
+"Your parishioners?" repeated the old priest with dignity. "Do you
+know who I am? I am Sylvester, the legitimate pastor of those poor
+souls whom you call your parishioners, and the last Catholic priest
+left in this unhappy country. With cunning and force you have made war
+on the religion which has made Norway what it is. You have robbed her
+people of their faith; you have sacked our churches and banished our
+priests. Far from my flock, I have eaten my bread in tears and exile
+for long years; I have wept and prayed; almost have I died of grief at
+leaving my poor children deserted. But I could not die away from them.
+In spite of a thousand dangers, I returned and buried myself here in
+the ruins of my dear church. Only the inhabitants of one farm know of
+my return, and from them I receive the bread on which I live and the
+straw which is my couch. As for my 'artifices'--alas! I am old and
+incapable of doing anything for my children, who still love and
+reverence the Church of their fathers. All I can do for them is to
+pray and to celebrate Mass for them on the great feasts under cover of
+the charitable darkness. These are my ruses, these my terrible
+mysteries. Now that I have told you them, raise your sword against the
+last of God's anointed priests living in my unhappy land. Strike--for
+I wish to die here."
+
+  [Illustration: OLD AGE, TELEMARKEN]
+
+The _ci-devant_ Danish soldier was touched.
+
+"No," he said. "God forbid that I should raise my hand against an old
+man. Live, and die when God shall call you, in this spot. Adieu, and
+may God enlighten you at your last hour."
+
+"Amen," said the old man. "Both you and I have great need of the
+light."
+
+Porl left. From that day he ceased to persecute his flock, who held
+still to their Catholic practices. A few more times the mysterious
+light shone from St. Michael's grotto, and the belated wayfarer who
+saw it piously crossed himself. But when Christmas came the cave
+remained in darkness. The last Catholic priest had died. The initiated
+farm people had made a tomb for their beloved pastor in the depths of
+his chapel; and there his body lies to this day, waiting for the
+resurrection.
+
+The simple facts of the above narrative were given me by our captain;
+but for the complete and detailed history I am indebted to no less a
+person than the present Catholic Bishop of Norway--Monseigneur
+Fallize.
+
+
+
+
+ARTS AND CRAFTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ARTS AND CRAFTS
+
+
+We landed at Skien, and wandered about the town before taking train to
+Christiania. In the first place we went to a hotel and supplemented
+our day's diet of Brand by steaks that were really the best I had ever
+eaten, and by little rolls of delicious white bread, which was a
+luxury we had not had the chance of appreciating since we had left the
+Britannia Hotel at Trondhjem.
+
+The town is very prettily situated, and has charming environments--of
+which the Nordsjo Lake, if it can be spoken of in such a way, is much
+the most delightful. From the town one sees it against the background
+formed by the Liffeld Mountains. It was on these heights that during
+the Franco-German War two French officers landed in a balloon. They
+had not the slightest idea of their whereabouts, and would probably
+have perished in the snow had not the presence of an empty wooden
+match-box given them sure proof that they were in a civilised country,
+and probably within reach of human habitation. They sought hopefully
+for shelter, and were found by two woodcutters, who showed them such
+hospitality as was in their power.
+
+Across certain bridges are "the islands," where may be seen many large
+wood-pulp and paper mills. The manufacture of pulp for making paper is
+an important and ever-increasing source of revenue to Norway. The pine
+timber is ground by powerful machinery into pulp. When the trees are
+first taken from the water which carries them hither from their
+various native forests, they are sawed into blocks about eighteen
+inches long; these are quickly passed on to workmen, who with drills
+extract the knots; the surface is then cleared of bark and dirt, and
+they are ready for the stones. In the machine the sides of the blocks
+are forced against rapidly-revolving stones, and are thus ground into
+fine powder, which in the volume of water conveying it to the draining
+machine is scarcely distinguishable, so fine is it, and so small in
+proportion to the bulk of water. After the draining process, which is
+accomplished by passing the liquid over fine wires, the sheets are
+taken up by girls and put under powerful hydraulic presses;
+afterwards they are made into bales and are ready for market. These
+mills, and the many hundreds of others, are all worked by the immense
+water power which is one of Norway's greatest assets, though these
+resources are by no means fully utilised.
+
+  [Illustration: ROMSDALS WATERFALL]
+
+This knowledge, I may confess, is all at second hand. We did not
+devote any considerable time to Skien, but took the train on the day
+of our arrival.
+
+While we were waiting in the station for the ticket office to open,
+which it does one minute before the time of departure, we were amused
+by the antics of two barefooted, very ragged, dirty little boys. They
+examined us pretty thoroughly in a rather furtive way: I have no doubt
+they had no business where they were and fully expected to be turned
+out. I held out a silver ten-ore piece in each hand, and with a good
+deal of embarrassed giggling they approached and took the tiny pieces
+of silver. Very gravely they each shook hands with me, and, walking
+right over to the other side of the station, performed the same
+ceremony for Nico's benefit. Then, full of importance, they walked up
+to the refreshment counter, and each parted with five ore--about a
+halfpenny--for chocolates, and the other five ore for cigarettes.
+
+At last the authorities allowed us to buy our tickets, and we got into
+the train, which, like most Norwegian trains, consisted of
+second-class and third-class carriages. In spite of the threats of the
+booking office, we were evidently in no hurry to be off; but in the
+fulness of time we moved, and presently slept. When we awoke--at
+least, when I awoke, for Nico insisted that he had not closed his
+eyes--we had arrived at Christiania. Allowing ourselves and our many
+paper parcels to be cared for by a hotel porter, we drove with him
+whither he would. It happened to be to the Grand Hotel, which is
+comfortable, and furnished with heaps of Sheffield plated
+candlesticks--to say nothing of a lift and other luxuries to which we
+had for long been unaccustomed. We were gently borne upwards to the
+floor where was the room which the hotel porter had decided we should
+occupy. We ordered an immense jug of thick chocolate, and after
+disposing of as much of this as we possibly could, we sought our
+couches, and slept amid electric lights and other modern luxuries.
+
+  [Illustration: THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT (STORTHING), CHRISTIANIA
+   The Storthing is convened every year, and is divided into an Upper
+   House (Lagthing) and a Lower House (Odelsthing)]
+
+Christiania is built on a magnificent site at the foot of pine-clothed
+hills which extend their protection over the land-bound borders of
+the town. As one stands on these hills and looks over the town a
+delightful panorama spreads itself before one's eyes. Beyond the
+crowded houses stretches the beautiful Christiania Fjord, which, as it
+nears the town, breaks itself up into a thousand tiny fjords, and thus
+creates innumerable islands, which are chosen spots for the summer
+villas of the richer inhabitants of the town.
+
+We stayed for some time in Christiania, a delightful town, full of
+life and movement. During certain hours of the day the whole
+population seems to turn out and walk up and down the fine road in
+which our hotel is situated, and I noticed that everyone seemed to be
+acquainted with every other.
+
+We had here two good friends, one of whom was away during almost the
+whole of our visit; the other, a captain of artillery, did the honours
+of Holmenkollen for us during a delightful day we spent together. He
+called quite early in the day, and drove us up the hill which leads to
+the scene of the great _ski_ competition every winter. All the way, on
+either side of the road, are villas, which, however, are farther and
+farther apart as the hill is ascended. Just before the big hotel on
+the left of the road is a small lake; beyond this is the steep hill
+down which the ski-jumpers seem to fly as they take their leaps
+through the air. The record leap is a hundred and thirty feet. Of
+course, this sport is in the winter, when the ground is covered with
+snow and the lake is frozen over and capable of bearing on its surface
+thousands of spectators; on either side of the hill also the
+spectators are massed. Nico was present on one of these occasions, and
+declares that he had never witnessed such an inspiriting scene.
+Everyone was excited and happy; many of the crowd had come up from the
+town on their skis, or had dragged their little sleighs behind them,
+to skim down the long slope to Christiania after the festivities were
+over. The girls and the younger women wear short skirts and their hair
+flowing, and it is not resented as a liberty if one addresses
+fellow-sportsmen or women without the formality of an introduction.
+
+  [Illustration: SKI SPORTS
+   The Great Holmencollen Day outside Christiana]
+
+The big hotel at Holmenkollen is a wonderful wooden structure, built
+by a Norwegian architect named Sverre, who is responsible for many
+buildings of the same character throughout Norway, but especially in
+Christiania and its neighbourhood. It is as far as possible in
+accordance with the old Norwegian style of architecture. It
+contains many beautiful rooms, including two bedrooms furnished in
+Norwegian style with genuine old pieces of furniture. Then, there are
+various rooms reserved for the Committee or Royalty; the delightful
+smoking-room, with its splendid log-filled fireplace and its alcoves
+and corners; the magnificent dining-hall, characteristically
+decorated, its walls clothed with Norwegian tapestry of a singularly
+happy design. Architect Sverre collaborates with the great decorative
+artist Munthe, who is responsible for many of the adornments. Leading
+out of the dining-room is a singular little chamber, which is entirely
+decorated and furnished after designs by Munthe. In this strange room
+Nico ensconced himself to make a drawing which should give some idea
+of its quaintness. The wooden walls are primitively carved to
+represent various scenes from Norwegian fairy tales. The door is
+guarded by two grotesque monsters, and the chairs and small tables are
+of equally original shape and colouring. On the night of the ski
+competition the enormous dining-room is crammed with excited, happy
+parties, most of the tables having been engaged weeks beforehand, for
+it is a favourite resort for supper-parties on this night.
+
+After luncheon on the autumn day which witnessed my one and only visit
+to Holmenkollen, we drove farther up the hill, and examined with much
+interest the exteriors and furnished interiors of various old
+Norwegian buildings which have been transplanted from other parts to
+this centre, in order that the Norwegian people may keep safely some
+relics of their olden days, of which they have lost many by fire or
+neglect. There are further excellent examples of their various periods
+of architecture to be seen at Bygdo, a small beautifully wooded
+peninsula on the west of the town. It is possible, and very pleasant,
+either to drive or to walk to that place; but we went one cold Sunday
+morning by a ferry steamer, which landed us within a few minutes of
+our destination. There was a tennis tournament going on the same day
+and in the same direction; it is evident that Norwegians are great
+enthusiasts over this game, as indeed they are over athletic sports
+generally. A committee have bought a large piece of land on this
+peninsula. They wish to gather a representative collection of old
+houses from various parts of the country. The chief building is "the
+people's museum." Though not an old building, it contains a most
+interesting collection of furniture, clothes, religious objects,
+and domestic utensils from all parts of Norway and of various dates.
+Surrounding it are such old buildings as the committee have already
+acquired. Most of the residents of Christiania are subscribers to this
+institution and have the right of free entrance. Near by is a small
+Royal villa called Oscar's Hall. It looks a delightful place, standing
+in its brilliant whiteness among dark pine trees. On the King's estate
+is situated an old _stavekirke_, one of the few which remain intact.
+It is built of logs, and has a species of balcony running almost round
+it. The interior is very dark; but when one's eyes get used to the
+semi-obscurity it is to be seen that the church is most elaborately
+and beautifully carved. All these pole churches date from
+pre-Reformation times, and were consecrated Catholic places of
+worship. Catholics are still few in Norway; but the old religion is
+spreading, and in Christiania itself there are three or four parishes
+that have each a church and a priest.
+
+  [Illustration: ROOM BY MUNTHE AT HOLMENCOLLEN]
+
+I should love to return to this interesting little peninsula some warm
+summer's day; but all my enjoyment was spoilt and the edge of my
+interest dulled by the extreme cold, for which I was ill prepared.
+
+The Christiania Fjord being less influenced by the Gulf Stream than
+the fjords on the western and northern coasts, the winter is longer in
+Christiania than in many places farther north. Generally this piece of
+water is entirely frozen over, and the country is tightly locked in
+the arms of Winter from December until March; the snowfalls,
+untampered with by thaws, accumulate and cause gigantic obstructions.
+The cold, though much more intense than in the English climate, is
+more easily bearable than our milder winters. The atmosphere is dry
+and pleasant, and often the sun shines brilliantly during the short
+days, and the delightful sports of this season are innumerable.
+Skiing, of course, must take the first place. The skis are really snow
+skates. They consist of a pair of very long, but very narrow, strips
+of wood, very thin and elastic. In front they are slightly turned up
+and pointed. The correct length should measure a third more than the
+height of the wearer. The skis are attached to shoes, or merely to
+straps, set a little back from the middle of the strip of wood. The
+Norwegians are great adepts at getting about on skis. They make
+extraordinarily rapid progress over the snow, especially when it is
+neither too hard nor too sticky. They help themselves along and
+partly steer themselves by the aid of long poles. Sometimes a
+traveller on skis, becoming thirsty, will stop at a little unfrozen
+spring, and, lowering himself with wonderful cleverness until he lies
+at full length with his skis disposed just as they should be, he puts
+his mouth to the edge of the water and drinks. This is what is called
+"drinking goose wine," and I assure you there is a good deal of knack
+necessary both to get down and to get up.
+
+  [Illustration: SKIERS DRINKING GOOSEWINE]
+
+Skating is another favourite sport, for which there are plenty of
+opportunities. Sledging takes the place of driving through the winter
+months. Another gloriously exhilarating sport is tobogganing, either
+alone or in parties. The leader steers his rapid progress with a
+stick. One may meet with an unforeseen obstacle, and the occupants may
+be thrown out head-first with a jerk; but the fall in the soft snow is
+not often serious.
+
+The shops in Christiania are very good, and generally, to the stranger
+at least, very dear; but at the big fur store there I bought for a
+ridiculously small sum two of the prettiest little reindeer-skin
+coats, made by the Lapps, and as worn by the Lapps. I brought them
+home with great glee to my babies, but was nonplussed by my boy, who
+absolutely refused to have anything to do with his after he had
+elicited by hundreds of questions that the stuff the coat was made of
+was fur, that fur was the skin of the reindeer, that reindeer were
+young and had mothers and fathers, and that his coat couldn't run
+about in the snow because it was dead, and at last, that it was dead
+because Loye had to have a winter coat.
+
+When after some weeks I persuaded him that the reindeer would be much
+more sad if the coat was not worn, he consented to have it on, but
+only on condition that it should be slipped on over his feet. Both the
+little garments were a great success; but I am afraid that the
+children's nurse never quite approved them. I think she found it hard
+to get used to coats that had no hooks or buttons but were fastened
+with plaited leather strings, and she thought her charges looked
+rather _outré_.
+
+Christiania has but one picture-dealer of any importance. From what we
+saw of the pictures there we concluded that Norwegian art on the whole
+is so intensely affected as to say absolutely nothing to the beholder.
+We met two art enthusiasts at luncheon at the house of an exceedingly
+clever friend of ours, who was and is one of the editors of
+Christiania's chief newspaper. These two were man and wife, and
+obviously it was the wife's opinion, on art at least, that dominated.
+Their greatest artist in Europe's eyes they scoffed at; scarcely would
+they admit that he was clever, beauty and success being two attributes
+which do not belong to art as they understand it. They belonged to the
+ever-increasing number of folk who, to appear original and
+extra-cultivated, refuse to see beauty unless it is expressed
+grotesquely or incomprehensibly. So insistent was this particular
+devotee that she carried us along on the wave of her heated argument
+out of our friend's dining-room through the cold streets to her flat,
+where she planted us in front of a picture by her favourite artist. It
+was dark-green and white in patches laid quite rawly on the canvas.
+"Isn't it wonderful?" she cried. "Now you must own yourselves
+vanquished!"
+
+  [Illustration: GIRLS ON OVERTURNED SLEDGE, HOLMENCOLLEN]
+
+"What is it?" I asked, with tactless ignorance, after examining it
+long and patiently from as many different points as I could discover
+in the small room.
+
+"What is it?" said Nico, with artistic licence, not moving from the
+spot where he had taken up his stand.
+
+"What does it matter what it is?" the owner answered, turning on us
+with flashing eyes. "Don't you recognise the wonder of it? I myself
+had it for three weeks, loving it and admiring it, and asking myself
+how to hang it. The artist himself told me it must hang as you see it,
+and explained to me that it was a picture of a woman standing in the
+moonlight."
+
+"But where does she stand?" said Nico. "And where is the moon?"
+
+"At her feet," said the worshipper. "My friend is such a great artist
+that he reverses the natural order of things, subjugating everything
+to his art."
+
+Surely all this is rather extravagant, and surely it is not _this_ art
+that will live when the painter is no longer at hand to explain and to
+decide "which way up." It is a great pity that all these clever
+people--for the painter has immense talent, as is shown in his earlier
+work, and our two interested friends were evidently people of
+intellect--should be so extraordinarily perverted in their tastes.
+Norwegian art is comparatively young; but it has made great strides.
+It has produced Fritz Thaulow, who, though not recognised by the
+enthusiasts of the class I have described, can boast the admiration of
+all Europe; among many clever designers, the decorative Munthe;
+that rather morbid youth, Edward Munch, whose lithographs give
+evidence of the great things of which he is capable; and many other
+artists whose names, known and praised in their own country, are not
+of such widespread celebrity in this.
+
+  [Illustration: OLD CANAL, CHRISTIANIA.]
+
+During the middle of the nineteenth century flourished the great
+painter of peasant life, Tidemand. A series of his work is to be seen
+in the King's summer villa near Christiania, and his paintings, while
+not, perhaps, among the masterpieces of art, are very useful and
+interesting as showing the peasant life of Norway, under almost every
+condition, at a period when the people still wore their interesting
+costumes and had not lost any of their old ways and customs. These
+pictures are reproduced in every form, and are to be met with in many
+books on Norway, and in very many Norwegian houses.
+
+There are also in Norway painters who devote themselves to the
+beauties of Nature, with which their fatherland is so generously
+endowed. This school has produced many fine pictures; but it seems to
+be rather falling out of favour in these days of exaggeration.
+
+Arts in which the Norwegians have excelled since early times, and
+continue to excel, are those of weaving and embroidery. In these their
+nation shows an originality and charm, both of colour and of design,
+which are truly admirable. From as early as the twelfth century relics
+of cloths with figures interwoven are extant. One at present preserved
+in a church represents some of the months in allegorical pictures, and
+is evidently a fragment of a much larger piece which would include
+symbols of all the months of the year.
+
+Examples of the history of picture-weaving become plentiful and
+important with the beginning of the seventeenth century. As with all
+arts of the period, this branch was principally dedicated to the
+representation of sacred subjects. Besides these there are many
+samples of purely decorative weaving, beautiful for their colour and
+quaint conventional designs, often geometrical, or a continued
+repetition of one or two very simple expressions of the form of a
+doubtful animal. The cultured Norwegians treasure these pieces of
+woven cloth, and hang them on their walls, or even have them framed.
+In the various museums are excellent examples of every branch of this
+art. To-day it is a very thriving industry. The weavers sit at an
+upright loom, and work in fast-dyed wools with an immense range of
+colours. The design is exactly the same on both sides, and the article
+when finished will wear almost indefinitely. Large quantities of it
+are used for wall-covering, and I can imagine nothing more delightful
+for this purpose. Any design can be produced, and their great artist,
+Munthe, has made many drawings, especially for this manner of
+reproduction. Embroidery in Norway I find all the more charming
+because it is _not_ very varied. In other countries embroidery does
+many things; but here the workers cling to their very beautiful
+old-fashioned lines, and fill them in with strongly contrasted
+colours, mixing silk and wool. Mittens, gloves, bonnets, cloth, and
+all conceivable articles are gorgeously embroidered for personal wear
+or for sale, and the Norwegians themselves are by no means the least
+enthusiastic buyers.
+
+  [Illustration: SLEDGING BY TORCHLIGHT]
+
+Work in silver is another of the nation's handicrafts. In all the
+towns through which the tourist travels he will find large and small
+shops devoted to the sale of silver or silver-gilt filigree work and
+enamel. When he has seen one such shop, he has seen all; for over the
+country the same enamelled salt-cellars and butterflies and spoons,
+the same fairylike brooches and other ornaments, are repeated.
+Indeed, I became as heartily sick of these rather pretentious
+ornaments as I was enthusiastically charmed with the peasants'
+jewellery of an earlier age, frequently made by themselves, and
+showing an attractive absence of the machine-accomplished finish of
+the modern jewellery. By expressing the presence of the something
+which lifts hand work above machine work, I do not mean that there is
+not among the original silver work evidence of the greatest talent in
+this direction. The embossed filigree work is truly admirable.
+Precious stones do not take any important place. A coloured stone here
+and there, more often than not false, justifies its presence by
+increasing the beauty of the ornament, and not only by adding
+immensely to the expense of the object. One of the most striking
+pieces of jewellery is an enormous round brooch or buckle, often as
+large as a small plate. Dozens of these saucer-like pieces of metal,
+highly polished, are suspended by links to the body of the brooch,
+shaking and glittering with every movement.
+
+  [Illustration: MAKING NATIVE TAPESTRY
+   Working a design by Gerard Munthe, the well-known decorative artist]
+
+As for Norwegian wood-carving, words fail me to express my admiration
+for the bold and strong effects produced with wonderful skill and by
+very primitive methods. During the long winters the peasants
+labour, often with no other tool than penknives. Their broadly carved
+furniture, with the invariable circular design which is so prominent
+in their embroidery also, has a charm that I miss in the wonderful and
+delicate carving of the East. I tried hard to possess myself of a few
+such pieces of furniture--a very tall grandfather clock, a carved and
+coloured cradle, a sideboard, and a cupboard--but in vain. The peasant
+owners refused to sell--wisely indeed, for surely these things are
+more appropriate in their big yellow-painted log-built rooms than
+anywhere else. Other objects which I sought to obtain from various
+antiquaries were absolutely beyond the reach of my purse: charming as
+they were, the prices asked were ridiculously high. I suppose that the
+sums asked are special during the tourist season, and that Norwegians
+get what they want at much reduced figures during the winter months.
+The explanation of this is obviously the absence of any competition.
+Two or three big shops have a corner in such things.
+
+In all our travels we did not come across any little shop of the type
+one meets so frequently in most towns in England and on the Continent.
+It must be admitted that in such a country as Norway to buy such
+things as the peasants may be willing to dispose of necessitates a
+considerable outlay. For the joy of buying give me Italy, or Spain, or
+Belgium, of which countries swarm with small antiquaries to whom the
+chance of a sale is too precious to be allowed to slide for such a
+slight reason as a difference between the price asked and the price
+the would-be purchaser feels inclined to pay.
+
+  [Illustration: BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF CHRISTIANIA]
+
+
+
+
+FARM-HOUSES: WEDDING FESTIVITIES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+FARM-HOUSES: WEDDING FESTIVITIES
+
+
+The climatic conditions of Norway necessitate much expenditure in the
+building of a farm. On account of the intense cold of the winter, warm
+houses must be provided for the live-stock, and dry storage also is
+necessary. As a rule, nowadays the buildings on a farm are four,
+though in former times there were often many small buildings--notably
+the charmingly carved storehouses one still sees here and there on the
+farms, standing on round stones and piles some three or four feet from
+the ground, for fear of rats as well as for dryness. Of the four
+buildings usual on an ordinary farm, the main house is, of course, the
+dwelling-place, the size of which varies. A cellar the size of the
+whole area of the house is generally built under this for storage of
+potatoes and other necessaries. The buildings are almost invariably of
+logs dovetailed together at the corners, painted inside and out. Near
+this living place is another erection which contains the rooms for the
+farm hands, the laundry, and the winter supply of wood and peat. The
+third building is chiefly for the animals, and is divided into
+different compartments, of which some are devoted to the storage of
+farming implements, grains, etc. These outhouses are often built with
+two stories connected by an inclined plane of logs, up which the
+various vehicles of the farm are pulled to be housed during the winter
+months. The fourth building is the storehouse, built from the ground,
+in which are kept the household provisions and sometimes bedding and
+clothes not in actual use. Many of the most elaborate and ancient of
+these _stabur_ have been bought by the State or by private persons for
+presentation to the various museums which devote themselves to the
+collection of relics of old Norway and try to reproduce both houses
+and churches of old times with as many of their original belongings
+and fittings as possible.
+
+  [Illustration: A VOSSE BRIDE]
+
+The farms surrounded by these necessary buildings are often many miles
+apart, and consequently social reunions are comparatively rare. In
+winter the snow-covered ground is traversed with great rapidity by
+sledges or on ski-shod feet, and, the farm work being not so heavy or
+so pressing as at other seasons, the country people give dancing
+parties on the slightest excuse. The music is primitive; but the
+hearts and feet are light, and food and drink go round in abundance.
+In summer all the residents on the farm are busily engaged in planting
+and gathering their small crops, cutting every available blade of the
+grass which is so precious and means so much to their supplies of milk
+and butter and cheese when the ground is frozen and deep in snow.
+Their method of drying the grass is rather strange. Tall stakes are
+planted in the ground at short intervals, and on these small bunches
+of grass are impaled. To facilitate the operation, the stake is capped
+with a sharp steel point. In this manner scarcely a blade of grass
+escapes the gatherers, and the drying process is much more rapid than
+it could otherwise be on these slopes. In summer the cattle, the
+goats, and the sheep are sent out to graze on the mountain slopes. In
+charge of each flock are two or three persons, generally girls. They
+spend their summer in tiny rough huts called saeters. Hearing of these
+saeters, I inquired by what means, if not by long and difficult daily
+journeys, the dwellers in them were provided with food, and how did
+the farm people obtain from the heights their daily supply of cheese,
+milk, and butter? Simply enough: one end of a thick wire rope is fixed
+up on the heights; the other is attached to a post below. The rope
+traverses precipices, ravines, and raging torrents. With the aid of a
+pulley and a second length of wire of less thickness, one may thus
+transport buckets of milk, bundles of hay, and packages of all sorts.
+The operators at either end are warned by a whistle that their
+attention is required. We were told, by the people of a farm where we
+stayed, that a young man sending down a bundle of hay slipped, and,
+clinging to the wire, slid with fearful rapidity to the opposite side.
+Midway over the fjord which this wire traversed his fingers were cut
+right through, and he dropped. Fortunately, there had been spectators
+of the adventure, and he was rescued without further injury. In spite
+of the dangers, I believe the peasants often avail themselves of this
+mode of descent from the saeters to their homes. They are courageous.
+On our long drives through different districts of Norway, we
+frequently met with these aerial wireways; and always on the steepest
+slopes one could gain on foot one saw cattle calmly grazing on the
+scanty grass at angles which make a poor human being dizzy. How the
+great beasts can keep their foothold on the loose soil, almost as
+steep as the side of a house, puzzled me often; and how they can look
+fat and well-fed on the miserable supply of green stuff which is all
+they find in many districts is indeed a problem.
+
+  [Illustration: FARM-HOUSES BUILT OF POLES]
+
+The devout Norwegians have a theory to explain the poorness of their
+soil. At the creation of the world the angels whose duty it was to
+scatter the soil forgot Norway. Seeing this, the guardian angel of the
+land made complaints to the Creator. What was to be done? Impossible
+to restart the whole of the creation for the sake of Norway. "Come, my
+little angels," said He: "look carefully, and perhaps you may still
+find a little earth." The conscience-stricken angels swept the floor
+of Heaven, and the little dust they found they gathered in their
+draperies and scattered over the Norwegian rocks. That is why, while
+Norway is rich in stones, she is poorly provided with soil. Even in
+many of the valleys the earth is plentifully bestrewn with big stones
+and boulders fallen from the mountains, and where there are small
+tracts without stones one frequently finds that the ground is so
+marshy as to be useless. That there is as much cultivated ground only
+shows what can be dragged from Nature by men endowed with patience
+and industry. Round the fjords the fisherman chooses for his log hut a
+spot where his wife may feed a cow and cultivate a small plot of
+potatoes, while he devotes his life to gathering the hard and
+difficult harvest of the sea.
+
+At the country fairs or other rare meetings of folks for one reason or
+another, the young Norwegians meet and court. The girl must be a good
+housewife and should be able to make bread, to spin, and, in short, be
+capable of almost everything, for in this country of isolated homes it
+is impossible or difficult to provide a substitute for the invalid or
+incompetent member of a family. Sometimes among the humbler classes
+the betrothed couple wait years for the completion of their tie, as it
+is sometimes necessary to await the demise of an older couple to
+obtain a dwelling-place. During this time the bride-elect spins and
+makes up the linen that will last her for life. The betrothed couple
+are allowed all liberty to see each other and even to journey
+together.
+
+I have taken from a Norwegian paper an accurate account of wedding
+customs in the middle of the last century, and I am assured that, with
+a few exceptions, everything remains much the same to this day. The
+usages vary slightly in different districts. The Norwegian writer has
+chosen Hardanger for his description.
+
+When a young man of the people wishes to offer his heart and hand to
+the maiden of his choice, he does not accomplish the deed himself, but
+appoints as his spokesman _opordsmannen_, a man of consequence in the
+district, a relation if possible. Together they go to the house of the
+desired one's parents. First they interview the father, all standing.
+If the father agrees to consult his wife a good sign has been given,
+and the _opordsmann_ seats himself. Settlements and dowry are
+discussed, and finally the girl herself is consulted. If she consents
+to shake hands with her lover the engagement is a settled thing. All
+seat themselves for refreshments, and the party drink healths out of
+the best silver mug. Without waiting for the ceremony, the young
+couple take possession of the best room; and they are looked upon as
+man and wife. The morning after the contract the bridal pair are
+served with coffee and food in their room by the bride's parents.
+
+This interview is always on a Saturday. In Telemarken the mode of
+procedure differs slightly. The spokesman, after consulting the girl's
+parents, goes to her room, and drags her out of bed and into the
+barn, where the suitor waits to receive her.
+
+The mother of a friend once nearly had a very disagreeable experience.
+Her child's nurse was a Norwegian; the family were spending the summer
+in a hotel at Telemarken. In the night the lady's door was burst open,
+and in spite of protestations she was dragged out of bed by her
+wrists. Only the opportune arrival of her husband brought to light the
+fact that this violent attack was really intended for the courting of
+her nurse.
+
+To return to the Hardanger bridal. Soon after this the nearest friends
+and relations are invited to the betrothal party, which is occasion
+for much eating and drinking, in about a fortnight. During the
+interval the young lover presents to his mistress a wooden box carved
+or painted by himself, and containing all the jewellery he can afford
+to present to her; and the damsel prepares for her gift to him
+embroidered braces and a belt. Though maidenly modesty refuses to
+acknowledge it, these articles of attire have been in preparation for
+many months. The saying goes that he who weds a girl who is "getting
+on" will have the best supply of braces and belts.
+
+The wedding proper is usually in the summer. Invitations must be
+given in person at least a fortnight in advance, and as far as
+possible on the same day, so that on comparing notes the guests may
+have no cause for complaint. These invitations are on a large scale.
+Everyone for miles round of the same social position as the bride's
+family is invited; so, of course, are all the relations of the happy
+couple. I am given to understand that caste prejudices are very strong
+in the country districts. If the child of a _jaardemann_ (rich farmer)
+should insist on marrying into the family of a _husmann_ (small
+tenant-farmer), the family of the rich farmer will refuse to have
+anything to do with the young people, or even to see their child
+again.
+
+Preparations for feasting on an enormous scale are begun. Barrels of
+the native corn-brandy and a smaller quantity of cognac, together with
+kegs of mead and wine and abundance of beer, are provided to encourage
+the gaiety of the guests. Three or four days before the wedding the
+_klejvekjaeringer_ arrive. These are eight or ten of the women friends
+of the family, who are invited to assist in the preparations and to
+attend to the guests during the feast. It is looked upon as a great
+honour to be invited in this capacity. Cooking begins in hot earnest.
+Piles of cakes are made of rye and milk. Stalks of _fladbrod_--pancakes
+of a kind--are representative standbys. Mountains of bread and raw
+smoked meat are cut up. The ox and pig, which have been killed in
+anticipation, are made ready. Cylinders of butter, weighing from
+twelve to fourteen pounds, are placed at intervals on the board; the
+guests will help themselves, smearing their bread and cakes with it
+and then sprinkling sugar over.
+
+Two days beforehand arrives the _kjogemester_. Each district possesses
+an official of that kind, who is paid for his services. He is chief
+steward and master of ceremonies. On him falls the responsibility of
+placing all the guests in the order of precedence. As if this were not
+enough for one man, he has also control over the drinks, and during
+the festivities is liable to be called upon at any moment to make
+various speeches in extemporised verse.
+
+The day before the wedding the servants of the guests arrive. They are
+laden with presents, mostly of food and drink. They are shown into the
+_stabur_ (storehouse), where the presents and wedding clothes are on
+view, given food and drink, and allowed to go their ways home.
+
+  [Illustration: COUNTRY GIRL, BERGEN DISTRICT]
+
+In the evening of the same day the party begins. At the time this
+account was written, all came in their national costume and wore
+elaborate jewellery; but now few besides the bride have preserved this
+costume, though in Hardanger it is certainly much more common than in
+other districts. The cap mostly seen is a small tight-fitting
+bonnet--black for married women and blue for girls. In parts where
+costume is worn this rule as to colour holds good for men also.
+
+It is now the business of the master of ceremonies to direct each
+guest to the correct place at the table. The bride and the bridegroom
+sit at either end of the table, both in unmarried costumes.
+
+When they seat themselves two shots are fired. The kjogemester, in
+verse, thanks the guests for their presence at the feast, and gives
+out the names of the various voluntary helpers, of the four best men,
+of the four bridesmaids, and of the fiddler and the drummer. The
+musicians give a sample of their skill and seat themselves at the
+festive board.
+
+Early in the night the bridal pair retire.
+
+Then, after more eating and drinking, the guests dance until the small
+hours. Sleeping accommodation is found for all--bedrooms for the older
+and more respected persons, the barns for younger ones--and often a
+near neighbour's house shelters many.
+
+In the morning at eight or nine o'clock the waitresses carry round
+food and drink to the sleepers, who then get up and eat and drink
+still more. The best men brush the bridegroom's clothes and boots and
+help him to dress, and in the storehouse the bridesmaids render the
+same service to the bride. The young couple are then on view, but only
+to the parents and those of the immediate circle, to the fiddler, and
+to the drummer. The bride stands like a queen in her picturesque
+dress, decked in a silver or gilt crown, often set with many stones
+and with red, white, and blue ribbons in her flowing hair. Her breast
+is covered with brooches and ornaments linked together by silver
+chains; and one may notice that from the centre jewel hang danglements
+like small saucers, the especial perquisite of the matron. Her fingers
+are covered with rings, and she wears a gorgeous silver belt and
+silver buckles on her shoes. The bridegroom wears knee-breeches and a
+silver cord round his hat, and the rest of his clothes are in keeping
+with this grandeur.
+
+  [Illustration: SÆTERSDALEN BRIDE]
+
+Then the drummer beats his drum and the fiddler fiddles, and all
+the party crowd to the door of the stabur and receive drink from the
+hands of the bride. A squad of the men helpers lead the way to church.
+In former times the journey, if by land, was made on foot; but now the
+party drives. Occasionally the fjord too has to be crossed. One can
+imagine how romantic such a sight would be. The boats are long and
+broad. In the first one go the music, the bride and bridegroom, the
+attendant men and maids, and the parents of the couple. Before
+starting the master of ceremonies provides all the guests with brandy.
+Arrived at the church and while waiting for the pastor, who often
+comes from afar, the party adjourn to the nearest house, and drink.
+Naturally a crowd has collected to see the wedding. All who ask are
+provided with drink by the kjogemester, who has also to bid the
+bride's parents good-bye in her name and in verse.
+
+The celebrant arrived, this ubiquitous official leads the way to the
+church. He is followed immediately by the drummer and the fiddler,
+who, however, drop out of line at the church door. The bride is
+accompanied by the four best men; the groom is attending the
+bridesmaids. At the church door the maids give the groom to his bride,
+who is treated in the same manner by the best men. Then the marriage
+ceremony proceeds. The interesting pair stand throughout; the rest of
+the party are seated. At the conclusion of the ceremony all the guests
+make offerings to the parson and to the parson's clerk. When this
+important duty has been fulfilled the parson is offered wedding food
+and drink in a neighbouring house. In many cases he is presented with
+a bottle of spirits and more food. These he is to take home, that his
+wife and family may share in the feast.
+
+The journey back is made in much rejoicing. Arrived, after more food
+and drink, the party dance; the bride performing first with her
+husband, and then with the best men, and so on through the party;
+dancing last with the drummer, who, as a final compliment, must kick
+the highest beam in the ceiling. For the privilege of dancing with the
+bride her partner tips the fiddler, and at the conclusion presents her
+with a small sum, known as cradle money, to be spent on the layette of
+the hoped-for children. Sometime during the wedding day the party is
+regaled with bridegroom's porridge, which is a paste made with flour
+and cream, stirred so quickly that the cream partly turns to butter.
+This indigestible mass is followed by more drains of spirits to the
+accompaniment of music, and the master of ceremonies recites a
+toast to the honour of marriage in verse which would not bear
+translation.
+
+  [Illustration: A HARDANGER BRIDE]
+
+While the youths and maidens dance the matrons work and gossip, and
+the older men have drinking competitions, won by him who manages to
+keep his senses longest. The bride and the bridegroom retire early.
+The others dance, eat, and drink, as before, into the next day. In the
+morning the servants of the guests arrive with buckets full of sweet
+milk, which they offer to the keeping up of the banquet. In return
+they are given beer, and their empty buckets are filled with wedding
+food. After this--at least, so it happened when this account was
+written--the pair seat themselves, and every guest in turn deposits a
+money present on a large pewter plate placed for the purpose. On each
+donation the giver drinks with the couple out of a large silver mug,
+which is kept brimming by one of the best men. Then is eaten the
+bride's porridge, which is a paste made of flour and milk, and not so
+great a luxury as the bridegroom's porridge, eaten the previous day.
+
+The fun and feasting go on all day. If one may believe certain
+Norwegian paintings and engravings, fights are not infrequent. Next
+day all sleep, and badly they must need to do so; during the day
+adieux are said, and the guests, after much pressing to the contrary,
+at last take their departure.
+
+A week later the couple leave the farm and take up their abode in the
+bridegroom's house, whence the bride immediately pays a round of
+visits to her neighbours, who assemble the following day for more
+feasting at the new home. This is the end of the romance. Henceforward
+hard work and the bearing of many children are the lot of the
+Norwegian woman, varied but seldom by dissipation in any form.
+
+  [Illustration: MAKING "FLAD-BROD"--A COTTAGE INTERIOR]
+
+I have not been able to discover how far this account of the marriage
+customs of Norway may be applied to the present day; but I am assured
+by the Norwegian friend who kindly helped me with the translation that
+in the isolated country districts such affairs still follow the course
+I have described.
+
+At funerals there are celebrations of much the same kind. Although
+there is no actual dancing until after the return from the burial,
+drink passes freely. I am told by an acquaintance, who assisted at the
+funeral of one of his tenants, that the whole party were overcome by
+drink to such an extent that at the churchyard it was discovered
+that the corpse had been forgotten. The pastor was naturally
+indignant. He and the mourners had to wait in the snow-covered
+cemetery until the coffin containing the remains could be fetched. In
+districts far removed from a town the food and drink for a funeral
+party are generally ordered while the funeral subject is still alive.
+A friend, calling to offer condolences, was served with cakes, which
+she was begged to partake of on the plea that "the corpse herself made
+them." Many of the rich farmers order their own coffins and keep them
+in the stabur. In winter the ground is frozen so hard that it has to
+be blasted.
+
+
+
+
+FORESTRY: REINDEER: LAND TENURES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FORESTRY: REINDEER: LAND TENURES
+
+
+During my long walks while Nico was painting, I was refreshed and
+delighted by the abundance of wild fruit which I found everywhere,
+delicious little strawberries and large raspberries. Once, while I was
+greedily stripping a bush of raspberries, sitting at my ease on a rock
+beside the shrub, a large snake glided from under my skirt, and hid
+itself beneath the stone on which my feet were resting. I had a
+terrible fright for a moment. I have never discovered whether there
+are poisonous snakes in Norway. Every four or five years certain
+districts are infested by animals about the size and form of a
+guinea-pig. They swarm all over the country, and do a good deal of
+damage. Immense numbers are killed, and the race seems to die out,
+until, when a period of four or five years has elapsed, they appear
+again. I was told this by an English inhabitant, who could give me no
+reason for this intermittent character of their presence.
+
+The Norwegian horses take their pleasures sadly. When they are not
+working, and are set at liberty to feed along the strip of herbage,
+they are either attached by a short chain round one leg to a staple
+fixed in the ground, or, what is worse, their forefeet are linked
+closely together by an arrangement like handcuffs. To see the poor
+things trying to be frisky amid these circumstances is quite painful.
+Nico describes the movement which results as "hirpling." It is a cross
+word, I suppose, between hopping and limping, and is extremely
+expressive of what it is intended to represent. In the towns the
+horse's forefoot is tied to the wheel of the cart when the driver is
+obliged to leave it. What would happen if wandering musicians were to
+strike up an equine cake-walk, I tremble to think!
+
+  [Illustration: SNOW PLOUGH DRAWN BY EIGHT OR TEN HORSES]
+
+In a country of such scattered population, the keeping of the miles of
+road in good order is naturally a question of moment. On most of his
+drives the traveller will notice hundreds of little poles painted red,
+and bearing some kind of inscription, planted at short intervals.
+These signposts give the name of the farmer or landowner appointed
+by the _lensmand_ to look after and repair a certain area of road,
+which is also indicated on the post. I do not know whether the farmer
+or the careless lensmand is to be blamed for the terrible condition of
+some few of the roads over which we passed. On the other hand, the
+difficulties to be contended with considered, the condition of the
+chief ways is wonderfully good. Many of the roads are cut up
+inconveniently by gates, placed at quite short intervals. Every second
+minute one has to scramble off one's cart to open these obstacles; but
+I believe they are less for the purpose of causing trouble than for
+keeping some sort of control over the straying of the farm animals.
+All along the route one meets with curious wedge-shaped constructions
+of wood. These are the snow ploughs. When they are needed, as many as
+six or eight horses are harnessed to them, and slowly they force a
+passage through the deep snow. I think they can be used only at the
+beginning or at the end of winter, though I am not quite certain; but
+why should people use ploughs when winter transit is entirely and most
+conveniently accomplished on sledges and skis? The deep valleys which
+are generally a feature on one side of a Norwegian roadway are
+levelled with drifts of snow, and it is only when spring comes that
+the road may be tracked by the heads of the ten-foot poles planted
+along the path, which begin to show themselves only as the thaw sets
+in. What a lonely, mysterious journey for the solitary postman!
+
+Somewhere in the neighbourhood of Odde lives to this day a postman who
+had a terrible adventure in the snow. The history of it was told me by
+a man who drove us for days along the road across Norway between Odde
+and Christiania. In the winter in the farming districts letters are
+delivered only once a week--perforce by the postmen on skis. I
+gathered that the day of delivery is not absolutely certain, and the
+man is sometimes days on his trip. The postman in question set out, as
+usual, alone; half way to his destination he sank into a snow-drift on
+the side of the mountain. In a day or two, when his continued absence
+was remarked, search-parties of thirty or forty men set out to find
+him. Of these searchers my driver was one. With them they took his
+coffin, expecting indeed to find him, but resigned to the certitude of
+finding his dead body only. Before the third day was over they
+sorrowfully gave up the search, and returned to their homes to wait
+until spring should force the secret from the snow. At the end of
+the third day, a feeble, white-haired man staggered into the station,
+and fell fainting to the ground. For three days the postman had been
+buried alive, and at last, by dint of digging with his post-horn, he
+had got free. The rescue party had passed over his very head, and he
+had heard them speaking of him and finally deciding to give up the
+search; but of course it was impossible for him to discover himself to
+them. Imagine the joy of the community at his return! You may be sure
+he was well nursed back to health; and still, summer and winter alike,
+he carries the mail-bag over his allotted route.
+
+  [Illustration: FISHING THROUGH THE ICE ON CHRISTIANIA FJORD]
+
+It is obvious that the winter is in Norway a time of enforced
+cessation from farm work. With the exception of a certain amount of
+labour connected with the cattle, there is little to be done for
+several months. The men pass most of this quiet time in carving wood
+and making various articles out of birch bark. The women spin for
+their household needs, and knit and embroider what may be called fancy
+goods in expectation of the tourist season. The large shops buy up
+enormous quantities of the peasants' winter work, and each of the
+posting inns is a small centre where the peasants of the neighbourhood
+endeavour to get large prices for the products of their winter
+industry--prices which dwindle through the summer as the days become
+shorter and the tourists fewer. It must be admitted that they are
+extraordinarily clever carvers; and they have a rather primitive
+method of painting their wares which is very decorative and, when it
+is not too well done, quite attractive. Their nicest carving they keep
+to themselves: witness the delightful fairy-tale animals which form
+the handle of the family mangling-board, and the equally charming
+monsters which seem to perch on the arms and backs of chairs.
+
+A word on their primitive method of mangling may not be amiss. Two
+utensils are necessary--the first a kind of rolling-pin, round which
+the sprinkled linen is tightly swathed. The other, a mangling-board, a
+narrow flat piece of wood wielded by the picturesque handle I have
+described, is then pressed tightly on the linen and rolled with as
+much force as possible. I do not really believe that this operation
+can, even with great strength, make very much difference to the
+condition of the linen; but the process is much more interesting to
+watch than the working of a civilised mangling-machine.
+
+It is in the winter that the work of a forester is at its height. The
+felling of trees begins late in September, and is continued under many
+difficulties and hardships all through the winter. As the large
+forests are often at some distance from populated areas, the woodsmen
+build themselves log huts. They fill up the crannies between the logs
+with moss and turf, but on the roof they lay first a covering of birch
+bark to keep things close and dry. These huts are warmed day and night
+by a wood fire, which is always kept burning; on this they make their
+tea and coffee and do what little cooking they may need. I could not
+discover what happens to the poor horses that help the woodsmen in
+their labours. Do they share the hut with their masters, or do they
+sleep as best they may outside in the cold and snow?
+
+The trees are felled, the branches lopped off, and the trunks stripped
+of their bark, which is kept and applied to many useful purposes. They
+are then gathered together where it is most convenient, and when the
+snow becomes deep enough they are dragged or slid to the nearest
+practicable waterway. I believe that it is at this stage that the
+owner, or his representative, marks the timber for recognition. In
+many cases the owner of the forest sells his felled trees to a
+merchant, and it is here in such a case that the wood changes hands.
+In spring, when the ice-bound rivers begin to thaw, and the melting
+snow swells them in force and volume, the logs are carried by these
+torrents to the main river. During their journey hundreds of logs get
+stuck here and there, sometimes lying crossways between the banks and
+damming the river. The river drivers have their work cut out to
+obviate this happening, and, if possible, to be rid of it after its
+event, for to such a stoppage may be due most dangerous floods, and
+many accidents, when the immense mass of logs, stopped in their eager
+passage, at last are free. Sometimes the logs are chained together and
+sent down in rafts; but more often each one pursues a separate course.
+If they are jammed, the river driver, with the help of his long pole,
+must balance himself as best he can on the logs, as he springs from
+one to another, poking and prodding till at last he loosens the mass;
+and how to save himself is the question of the moment, for a risky
+calling is that of the man who endeavours to direct the logs in the
+way they should go. Sometimes, when the danger appears great even to
+these hardy Norwegians, accustomed though they are to risking their
+lives daily, the man whose duty it is to discover and cut the log
+which is probably causing the whole stoppage is put into a kind of
+harness and attached by ropes to both banks of the river, so that when
+the whole mass rends itself free he may be lifted directly above their
+violence and so drawn into safety. As it is bad for the wood to lie
+through the summer, it is important that all this work should be done
+completely and with regularity. If it is a dry season, the logs will
+be left high and dry, and be liable to crack; on the other hand, one
+may often see logs lying at the bottom of deep water so saturated that
+they cannot float. All this timber is a great source of wealth to the
+country. It is used enormously for fuel, for fencing, and in building.
+Immense quantities are exported in the raw; others are prepared for
+use in the form of doors or window frames; there is even a certain
+market for complete log houses of various sizes. Naturally, in such a
+country, one meets frequently with sawmills, and here the countless
+cataracts are found useful in supplying motive power. It is surely
+strange, all these things considered, that so little discretion is
+exercised in the felling and planting of trees. Although of late
+years, I believe, the Government has bestowed a good deal of
+attention on this question, so much of the forest land is in private
+hands and beyond surveillance that on the whole sadly little care can
+be taken to prevent the ill-treatment of the forests. It is
+acknowledged that there are many tracts of bare land which within the
+memory of living man were thick forests. In several districts wood is
+too scarce to be used for fuel, and consequently the inhabitants are
+dependent upon peat. Bogs are to be found all over the country--on the
+lonely tablelands as in the inhabited valleys. These bogs are
+generally moss lands, and, in the north particularly, they contain
+thick strata of decayed matter from the luxuriant forests of former
+days. The digging and cutting of splendid peat is one of the smaller
+industries of the country. It is thought that it will become of much
+greater importance as peat more and more takes the place of wood as
+fuel.
+
+  [Illustration: FISHING-NETS AT SUNDALSOREN]
+
+In other times there were thousands of acres of common land in Norway.
+The difficulties which this places in the way of a complete
+utilisation of the soil have led to attempts by the local governments
+to partition the common land among responsible owners; but there are
+obstacles, and in many cases the ground is shared by several farmers.
+
+  [Illustration: THE MIDNIGHT SUN]
+
+On the private property of many large farmers a feudal system of a
+kind is very much in vogue. Almost the same method is found on the
+Italian _podere_. Dwelling-places are built on the estate, and
+together with a greater or lesser plot of land, and under certain
+conditions which differ in various districts, are leased to a class of
+farm-labourers called _husmaend_. These men have certain rights of
+grazing on the farmer's land, and in addition to the rent, which is
+exceedingly small, the farmer has a right to their services during a
+certain time of the year. Superior to these husmaend are the
+_placemaend_, who own their houses but lease a certain amount of the
+farmer's land.
+
+In the south-east of Norway the cultivation of fruit is carried on to
+a large extent. In favourable years peaches, apricots, tomatoes, and
+even grapes, are grown in the open air; in the north, on the
+mountains, the summer warmth is insufficient for even hardy plants.
+
+Rye and oats are the most important cereals. They flourish and ripen
+amid harsher conditions than other grains can endure. Rye is the chief
+bread cereal of the country. A large area of ground is devoted to the
+cultivation of a mixture of barley and oats which is known as
+_mangcorn_. Experience has shown that the two grains planted together
+produce a larger crop than they do when planted singly. Besides being
+used as a human food, it is also a fodder for cattle, and a peculiarly
+excellent means of fattening swine. Berries are found growing wild in
+abundance in most of the inhabited regions; but vegetables play a very
+unimportant part in the feeding of the peasant.
+
+The Norwegian horse, while not remarkable for beauty or carriage, is
+an exceedingly useful beast. It is hardy, gentle, and very active. On
+the Norwegian roads, which are in some parts very bad and in other
+parts merely rough bridle-paths, it cannot be surpassed. In Lapland,
+as everyone knows, the horse is almost entirely superseded by the
+reindeer. These are indeed a source of profit to their masters. From
+them the Lapps obtain their milk, cheese, peat, and the skin from
+which a good deal of their clothing is made. The small sledges which
+the reindeer draw are usually for one person. They are made of skin
+and are without shafts. The reins are tied to the horns of the beast,
+and this is all the control the driver has over the animal.
+Occasionally the reindeer is vexed and turns on his master, who saves
+himself by rolling out of the sledge and covering himself with it. It
+is a wonderful fact that a well-trained reindeer can run down the
+steepest hill without once coming in contact with the vehicle behind
+it, though there is nothing in the world but its own cleverness in
+covering the ground in a sort of zig-zag movement to prevent constant
+bumping and collisions. While young reindeer are being trained in the
+way they should go, a big buck animal is fastened to the back, to do
+nothing but pull against the other continually. This animal lives
+almost entirely on the moss, its natural food, which in the winter it
+scrapes out from under the snow with its strong hoof. Many Lapps keep
+a thousand or more head of these deer. They herd them together with
+the help of their clever dogs. Sometimes during the winter a family of
+these tent-dwellers descend upon districts more favoured than their
+own, and I believe the immense flocks of reindeer do untold damage in
+the forests. Besides clothing themselves in the skin of the reindeer,
+the Lapps make from it many objects for sale in the towns. Shoes and
+coats in the Lapp style, and all sorts of small articles, such as
+boxes, bags, knife-handles, in the fur, are produced by this people. I
+came across a very old book which--in an account of a visit to
+Norway--gives a short description of a meeting with some Lapps. I
+imagine that much of it may stand as if it had been written to-day.
+
+"We accordingly provided a supply of drink and eatables; and, with a
+guide and an interpreter, set out on horseback. After travelling about
+forty hours, without seeing either any people or the road, we pitched
+our tents, at night, near a wood, with a part of which we made our
+fire. At length we met a family of about twenty persons, with their
+wives and children, who cordially saluted us, and we all shook hands.
+We shared out tobacco and brandy among them. They conducted us to
+their huts, and gave us dried reindeer flesh and milk.
+
+"Their countenances are a miniature resemblance of the Calmuck faces;
+they are diminutive in size, and to appearance wretched; sufficiently
+generous, but full of uneasiness. They suffered us to go about
+everywhere, and do as we chose; and they readily showed us whatever
+they had. We were soon as intimate as if we had been born among them.
+Their language is very harmonious. A herd of about thirty reindeer
+strayed around. Our interpreter, who, by the bye, knew but little of
+their language, contrived to let them know that we wished to proceed
+onwards, to visit a few families of their people, by means of a
+carriage with reindeer. Immediately they harnessed a sledge for us;
+but it went very slowly, as no track in the snow had been previously
+beaten down. We arrived at a tribe who were all brothers and sisters
+of those we had quitted. Their huts were formed of large poles of
+wood, and set circularly, covered with branches, moss, earth, and
+reindeers' hides; they have holes for the smoke to escape and another
+hole made in the ground. We stayed three days with these people. In
+the middle of their huts a stove is placed, on which they make their
+fire, all sitting round it. Their clothing is made of deerskin,
+similar to a shirt, and tied about the loins with a cord. We saw some,
+however, dressed in linen, for which they had made an exchange of
+skins. These people, whose manners and habits are well worth
+observation, seem to enjoy the freedom of their way of life. They have
+no words in their language which express the ideas we attach to king,
+prince, governor, laws, rights, etc. We presented them with a few
+trifles, with which they were highly delighted, and took leave of
+them, to continue our route to Tuffendalen, where, after eight days'
+dragging, we at last found good boor-cottages. Whether the Laplanders
+indirectly belong to any regular constitution, or contribute anything
+to it, I cannot tell; but I remarked that, generally speaking, like
+the poor Indian of Pope, they have no artificial wants; and thus far,
+at least, they appear contented. The whole of this tract of land is
+solitary and desert. The superficial and level extent of it may
+comprehend a thousand and eight hundred square miles. _Laplander_ is
+with them considered as a term of reproach, or a mere nickname; they
+call themselves _Samalatzes_."
+
+  [Illustration: MUNDAL, FJÆRLAND, SOGNEFJORD]
+
+Since I wrote about the restrictions on the shooting of wild animals,
+I have learned that, whilst only one elk may be shot during one year
+on any estate, the owner of the estate may mark his ground for the
+purpose into certain divisions, and by paying a slight increase on his
+licence has thereby the right to kill as many elk as he has these
+partitions of his land.
+
+While wandering in the forest, a Norwegian friend was attacked by a
+bull elk. Having no weapons and considering prudence the better part
+of valour, he climbed an adjacent tree. Not to be baulked of his
+victim, the elk had recourse to the extraordinarily brilliant idea
+(for an elk) of gnawing away the roots of the tree. For eight mortal
+hours the object of his endeavours sat on the top of the tree
+momentarily expecting its fall and his destruction. At last the elk
+turned his attention for a time to food, and on this quest he
+absentmindedly wandered away, leaving my friend to scramble down and
+be free. I should imagine there was an elk hunt next day on that
+estate.
+
+Inhabiting the innumerable small islands on the south-west coast of
+Norway are a race different from the land dwellers, with whom they
+have no communication. They are miserably poor, and live in abominably
+dirty huts on the barren land which is their heritage. Among these
+islanders consumption and leprosy claim many victims. The spread of
+leprosy is due mainly to the uncleanly habits of the people. They eat
+very little meat with the exception of pigs' flesh. The pigs feed on
+anything they can pick up, which resolves itself chiefly into the
+rotting remains of fish. The name given to them speaks for
+itself--"fish pig." Once a year, in the families that can afford it,
+such a pig is killed, and on its flesh they depend for their meat for
+months. It is not to be wondered at that such food, combined with
+their unsavoury habits, produces such terrible results. Statistics
+seem to show that leprosy has been growing less prevalent since the
+middle of the last century; but it is still necessary to keep several
+hospitals for the lepers.
+
+Another remarkable fact gives rather an interesting example of the
+evolution which must follow on any abnormal conditions. For hundreds
+of years these people have had no opportunity of duly exercising their
+lower limbs, which are in consequence short and undeveloped; while the
+extraordinary muscular development of their arms and shoulders is not
+astonishing when one considers that all their transit exercise must be
+done by rowing. In consequence of this, and perhaps also on account of
+the consanguineous marriages, many of the inhabitants of these islands
+present extraordinary appearances.
+
+
+
+
+FISHERIES: THE LAPPS: RELIGION AND MORALS: MUSIC
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+FISHERIES: THE LAPPS: RELIGION AND MORALS: MUSIC
+
+
+Although most Englishmen with any knowledge of Norway have been
+originally attracted to the country by the hope of sport, especially
+of salmon fishing, and though the rents which they are willing and
+eager to pay for rivers or sections of rivers are a substantial sum
+brought into the country, the sea fisheries are, of course, of
+immeasurably greater importance.
+
+The old sagas tell that over a thousand years ago "splendid painted
+ships, with sails of several colours," sailed laden with fish to
+England, and the abundant and varied supply of fish which
+distinguishes the coast of Norway has always been one of the chief
+sources of the country's income. In 1897 it was estimated that the
+total receipts of the trade amounted to about sixty million kroner.
+The coastline of Norway is exceedingly long; in many places it slopes
+down to great ocean depths. These various depths and the different
+conditions of the submerged surface determine the nature of the
+submarine fauna, and consequently of the fish. Perhaps the most
+important of these are cod, herring, and salmon. Cod are principally
+fished for in March and April, with lines and nets. The Lofoten cod
+fishery is carried on from several stations, spread over various
+islands. Here are the warehouses and the very primitive
+dwelling-places of the fishermen. The cod are caught with lines and
+with nets, which are baited with herrings or little metal fish whose
+gleam serves equally well to deceive the cod in search of food. At the
+favourable spots in the right season, the fish are so abundant that
+the fisherman has only to throw the line and pull it out again to find
+that a fish has bitten and thus closed its career. The spoil is taken
+ashore, split open, attached two and two together by the tail, and
+thus hung over long lines to dry. The liver is used for the
+fabrication of cod-liver oil, a medicine whose unpleasantness is more
+than equalled by its excellence as a remedy. The heads of this
+profitable fish are used for manure. In these cold regions, where
+grass is scarce, the cod heads and herrings are used as fodder for
+cattle.
+
+  [Illustration: FISHING-BOATS AT LOFOTEN.]
+
+During the season fishermen from all northern Norway flock to the
+stations. Sometimes as many as five or six thousand fishing boats,
+with a total crew of thirty-two thousand men, are gathered together.
+The catch averages thirty-five millions; and the fish are usually sold
+by the hundred, generally prepared either as "klip fish"--salted and
+dried--or as the evil-smelling _torfisk_ (stock fish), which haunted
+our wanderings through Holland, which imports large quantities. In old
+fishing laws of the islands it is insisted that no torfisk should be
+hung up after April 12, or taken down before June 12. I presume that
+after this treatment they will last and be odorous for ever. In the
+off-seasons small cargoes of this fish are carried by many of the
+passenger steamers, to the profit, perhaps, of the captain, but to the
+intense displeasure of the passengers. Indeed, all down the coast of
+Norway we noticed that the air was impregnated with the smell of stock
+fish; our towels and napkins, and indeed everything we had washed, had
+the same repulsive odour.
+
+Though the financial side of it is very satisfactory, this industry
+costs the country much in lives of men. The great enemy of the
+fisher-folk are the violent tempests which spring up suddenly in the
+Vestfjord. Often the boat is overturned, and the occupants cling as
+best they may to the various iron rings and chains. Often they drive
+their knives deep into the wood of the boat and hang on thus as long
+as they are able. Though there are lifeboats permanently attached to
+the stations, the greater number of fishermen lose their lives in
+pursuit of their calling; and after the tempest dies down, and the
+wrecks are washed ashore, often the clues to the number and identity
+of the poor drowned owners are the knives still planted in their
+boats. Nowhere are widows and orphans so many as on these coasts of
+Norway. During the fishing season the sale of intoxicating liquor is
+prohibited by the Government.
+
+The herring come next in importance to the cod. They are variable in
+quantity, and in some years are almost altogether absent. The
+fishermen insist that there are "herring periods," with years good and
+bad. Such periods are said to last for about thirty years. During
+recent times such a period seems to have set in. The herring season is
+very short. Suddenly, as if by magic, the sea swarms with fish, which
+after a time disappear as rapidly as they came. To a certain extent
+they may be relied on twice a year--for the spring fishing off the
+south coast between Stavanger and Bergen, and early in winter off
+the northern coast between the Romsdal and Tromso. This is called the
+"large herring fishery," from the greater size of the fish in these
+parts. Besides this, fishing goes on in a measure at all times of the
+year. The herring are caught either by going out to sea in search of
+shoals; or by lying in wait for them in the small bays and fjords,
+preventing their escape by arrangements of nets, and baling them out
+at leisure. In the open sea they are also caught with nets, and are
+more to be relied on as to quantity.
+
+  [Illustration: A LITTLE SÆTERSDALEN PEASANT GIRL]
+
+When a shoal of herring arrives, always announced by whales and
+flights of birds who feed on the small fish, telephones and telegraphs
+are set in motion to summon the fishermen to the spot, and to order
+barrels and salt for the packing of the fish. These are sent as
+speedily as possible by special steamers. When the shoal approaches
+the coast, an immense net encloses it as completely as possible. The
+fish are massed so compactly that a boat crossing the shoal is raised
+by them. The brilliancy of their scales as they dash about, almost on
+the surface of the water, is dazzling. Landed, they are immediately
+split open, cleaned, salted, and packed for transportation.
+
+Whale fishing is carried on to some extent off the north of Norway. On
+the little island of Skaaro there is a building where whale oil is
+prepared for use. From afar off the sickening smell announces the
+industry of the island: repulsive morsels of greasy _débris_ float on
+the surface of the water. At the landing place the rocky beach is so
+covered with grease that it is difficult to walk without falling. A
+friend arrived just as a whaler appeared on the horizon, dragging
+after her the carcase of an enormous whale, weighing seventy-five
+thousand kilogrammes. Such an animal will give about fifty thousand
+pounds' weight of oil, and will bring the captors between £280 and
+£300. Such a giant requires for his daily meal twenty or thirty tons
+of fish. To take them he opens his jaws, and closes them on water and
+fish alike; he swallows the fish, allows the water to filter through
+the curious formation of his mouth, and then squirts it up like a
+fountain through an opening in the skull. It is this jet of water
+which often causes his ruin, by indicating his position to the
+watchful whalers. On the boat which is chasing him is a cannon, loaded
+with an enormous harpoon, which is attached to the ship by a long rope
+wound round a pulley. The extremity of the harpoon is armed with an
+explosive bomb. When the whale appears the harpoon is shot at it.
+Following its instinct of self-preservation, it dives deep. The rope
+gives out rapidly. When it is entirely unwound it naturally pulls
+against the harpoon, the forked ends of which, in the resistance, tear
+the flesh of the animal. As a final result the bomb bursts in the body
+of the whale, and generally wounds it mortally. The corpse floats on
+the surface; it is attached to the boat and towed to the station,
+where it is cut up. The fat produces a large amount of oil; the
+whalebone is a productive article of commerce; and most of the
+remainder of the animal is converted into manure.
+
+  [Illustration: BUERBRÆ, ODDE HARDANGER]
+
+It is on account of the great importance and interest which we in
+England attach to the salmon fishing that I do not dare to deal with
+it, except to make an apology that any book on Norway should be
+without at least a chapter on this splendid sport. Though the
+accomplished angler is allowed to relate fish stories without
+interruption from an absolutely incredulous audience, the remarks of
+an inexperienced outsider would, I fear, not be received with equal
+docility. I am sure that an angler is born, not made: for, though I am
+ignorant on the subject, all my life I have listened to enthusiastic
+fisherman's talk, and was brought up in a nursery in which were
+"skied" various victims of my father's prowess as an angler.
+
+  [Illustration: A LAPP MOTHER AND CHILD]
+
+Since the beginning of my book I have learnt so much about the Lapps
+that I must enlarge on my borrowed history of them in Chapter VIII.
+The Lapps are nomadic on account of their reindeer, and it is
+following these animals where they choose to roam in search of food
+that takes them wandering all over the northern half of Norway. There
+are only two Lapp villages--Karasjok, in Finmarken, and Kontokeimo,
+near the Russian frontier. The permanent residences consist of cabins
+built of turf, stones, or small tree-trunks. These huts are round and
+have one opening in the top, where the light penetrates and the smoke
+comes out. In the middle of the hut a fire is kept continually
+burning, with a big cauldron hanging over it, suspended by a chain.
+The members of the family and their servants, if they have any, sleep
+on either side of the fire. The Lapps are small, in great contrast to
+the Norwegians of this region, who average over six feet in height.
+The children are often exceedingly pretty; but they soon lose their
+charm and become ugly, and are not rendered more attractive by
+their dirty habits. All their garments are made of reindeer skin, and
+the women add to these various silk shawls and handkerchiefs brightly
+coloured; by the quantity and the quality of these one may judge of
+their rank and richness. The Lapps are supposed to share a common
+origin with the Magyars of Hungary, though these, if they recognise
+the relationship, cannot feel flattered. It is certain that the Lapps
+were the first inhabitants of Norway. In appearance they are
+unprepossessing. They have small eyes, very low foreheads, flat noses,
+and thick-lipped mouths. Like the Hungarians, they are incredibly
+proud. They despise everything that is not Lapp, and refuse to allow
+their daughters in marriage to Norwegians. (I should have thought that
+the Norwegians would not have worried much about this restriction.)
+They are all baptized in the Lutheran Church; but that is as far as
+their religion goes in most cases. They are unmoral and superstitious.
+
+One might gather from the books of some of Norway's great writers that
+the nation is on the whole rather casual about morality. It would
+appear that their religion, while condemning as worthy of hell quite
+honest pleasures, looks with indulgence on a certain moral laxity,
+which is indeed so habitual that it passes uncriticised. Among the
+very strictly religious population in the south-west, a pastor would
+be quickly got rid of if he forgot himself so far as to play the piano
+or drink intoxicants; but this same people some ten years ago
+venerated as a martyr one of their clergy who, forced to confess in
+public crimes against the morality of his own parishioners, was
+consequently deposed by the Government. His flock, of their own
+initiative, built him a magnificent church, and, providing him with a
+liberal sufficiency, retained him as the director of their spiritual
+welfare.
+
+Two Oratorians, visiting Norway some years ago in a yacht, decided to
+spend a few days fishing at a hamlet somewhere in the Sogne Fjord.
+They had all the preparations for Mass with them, and wished to take a
+small unused chalet as a chapel. The farmer who owned the building was
+willing, and negotiations were concluded on payment of a nominal rent,
+when the farmer realised that my friends were of the Old Religion.
+There was no question of proselytism, as the idea concerned only the
+two priests and their Catholic English friends on the yacht; but
+all the countryside was up in arms, and a few days later prominent
+personages from Christiania had arrived on the scene to put a stop to
+the possibility of such happenings. In the meantime, however, my
+friends, little dreaming of the importance attached to their doings,
+had pursued their way along the coast, and were innocently fishing
+elsewhere. At present the ecclesiastical prejudice of the Norwegians
+is less marked, though Jews are sedulously discouraged, and Jesuits
+are forbidden the country.
+
+  [Illustration: SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS AT AUNE]
+
+Various hospitals are attended by Catholic nursing sisters, who are in
+great favour with the medical profession and with the patients who are
+lucky enough to fall under their care.
+
+All this time I am trying hard, by roundabout means, to get back to
+Bergen, because I wish to fit in, in proper context, a remark which I
+heard about the town. It seems that I cannot get back there
+legitimately, though I had hoped that the Sisters of Charity would
+help me through with their hospitals.
+
+I was listening to the woes of the American Consul in Bergen. He was
+descanting on the want of entertainment and the absence of all things
+which make an American's life possible in any country on the globe
+outside his perfect native land. I sympathised with him, and threw in
+a little grumble of my own, having relation to the weather. "O, the
+weather!" said my red-headed friend, very hopelessly and crossly.
+"Why, sure, if a Bergen horse sees a person without an umbrella, he
+shies." This seems pretty feeble as I set it down; but at the time the
+Consul was disconsolate and far from wishing to amuse me, bored and
+discontented. Thus his remark just happened to tickle me: we both
+laughed until we cried, and felt very much the better for the
+diversion.
+
+Frequently, at times of _ennui_, we found diversion in music, or in
+information about that art. The lure, though perhaps it can hardly be
+called a musical instrument, is a primitive means of conveying sound.
+The herds on the mountains used it to call their cattle together. It
+is said that no two lures have tones exactly alike, and that the
+cattle are able to distinguish and place the particular sound of their
+guardian's lure. It is a wooden trumpet, nearly five feet long, made
+of two hollow pieces of birchwood, bound together throughout the whole
+length with strips of willow. Besides being used to call the cattle
+together, it is often carried by travelling parties to avert the risk
+of anyone being lost in the wilds. Its notes may be heard at a great
+distance, and are rather harsh and discordant, possessing none of the
+musical qualities of the Alp horn used by the Swiss for the same
+purpose. Grieg composed charming music for a song called "The
+Princess." The words led me to suppose that the lure is rather a
+fascinating instrument; and the above description rather disillusioned
+me, until I decided to allow a good deal for poetic licence.
+
+The Norwegians are exceedingly musical. Their national music gives
+wonderful expression to their moods. Almost invariably in the gayest
+pieces one catches here and there a pathetic little droop which gives
+a very particular character to Norwegian music. In the country the
+post of fiddler is handed down from generation to generation, together
+with certain airs which are looked upon as family property; but
+official fiddlers are by no means the only musicians in the district.
+These are found in every family, dividing their favours between the
+violin and the guitar. The organist L. Lindeman did great service to
+his country by collecting and preserving hundreds of national ballads,
+dances, and hymns, which had lived only in the ear and the soul of the
+people, and thus were lost entirely to the outer world. The oldest of
+these songs are the sagas, sung traditions that have been handed down
+from immemorial ages. They recount the heroic exploits of the Vikings
+and warriors of heathen times. Many ballads tell of the beautiful
+_huldre_, of the fay who presages the destruction of fishermen, of the
+water sprite, and of the brownies who, living underground, are
+covetous of cattle. To gratify their taste, the brownies help
+themselves to such as graze on the mountains, but only if their
+guardian's eyes are turned off his charges; they make dwarfs of the
+beasts to enable them to enter crevices in the ground, in order that
+they may descend to subterranean passages. Many songs about these
+malicious fairies do the maidens sing as they keep their eyes
+carefully fixed on the herds, to prevent their being stolen in like
+manner. Some of the songs consist of hundreds of four-line verses,
+which must surely be a hard test to the memory of the singers.
+Sometimes two singers will have a duet in such a song, singing verse
+after verse alternately. He whose memory, or, in default of memory,
+invention, fails him first is loser.
+
+  [Illustration: RIVER AT GJORA]
+
+The Norwegian national dances have in their melodies and rhythms a
+bold and natural character which gives them considerable worth. The
+principal are the _halling_, a Hardanger solo dance consisting of wild
+gyrations and vigorous kicks at rafters of the room. He who kicks
+highest is the champion. The other dance is the _springar_, which is a
+dance for two, with no less call for the display of muscular powers.
+
+The two favourite instruments of the people, on which all this music
+has been played for centuries, are the langelik, which somewhat
+resembles a zither, and the Hardanger violin. The langelik has a long,
+flat body, with round holes, and at least seven strings, which are
+struck with a plectrum. The tone is rather weak, and the sound is
+somewhat monotonous, as the possibility of producing modulated sounds
+is almost entirely excluded.
+
+The Hardanger fiddle is higher and more arched in its build than the
+violin we know. The instrument is decorated as much as possible, the
+scroll being a dragon's head, or something equally fantastic: and the
+body of the fiddle is richly carved and ornamented with incrustations
+of ivory and mother-of-pearl. Beneath the four upper strings, which
+are tuned to suit the individual tastes of the musician, and under the
+finger-board, there are four, sometimes more, sympathetic strings of
+fine steel wire. By the aid of this instrument the people make
+wonderful sketches in music descriptive of the beauty of dawn and the
+close of a summer's day, with the birds' trills, or the huldre's song,
+or the ringing of marriage bells. I have all this from a Norwegian
+book, and from instruments I have both seen and heard.
+
+The best known of the modern music-makers of the north is the great
+Norwegian Edward Grieg, whose genius is familiar to all musicians the
+world over. He was born in Bergen, and lives there still, though he
+has travelled much in Germany, Holland, and Italy. Another name which
+we know well in this country is that of Sinding, who is of the younger
+generation.
+
+Norway has no regular opera; but the concerts which are given in the
+beautiful National Theatre are eagerly attended, and the programmes
+are representative of the musical talent of Europe.
+
+  [Illustration: GRIEG]
+
+
+
+
+LEGENDS AND LITERATURE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+LEGENDS AND LITERATURE
+
+
+In Norwegian folk-lore the devil is a person with many relations, who
+are called _Jutuls_. In favour of the legends about them there is
+often some circumstantial evidence. Does a mountain or a rock bear
+similitude to the figures of human beings or of animals? Be sure that
+the Norwegians will have some tradition to account for the formation
+by proving to you that such rocks or mountains are the various
+creatures they resemble, bewitched. In the voyage along the northern
+coast of Norway from Trondhjem to the North Cape, the traveller will
+pass seven extraordinary mountains called "The Seven Sisters." A
+little farther he will see a rocky island which from certain points of
+view resembles a cloaked man on horseback riding into the sea. The
+head and ears of the horse are particularly natural.
+
+The history of these islands is entertaining. One of the devil's
+younger brothers, who lived in this district, went on a visit to his
+seven sisters, who, like himself, were of giant growth. The sisters
+had with them a female cousin. With this Jutula their brother fell in
+love, and, as is customary in such cases, they swore eternal fidelity
+to each other. Business called the Jutul home; his beloved cousin was
+sent for to nurse a sick brother. She fulfilled this duty to
+admiration, and in the weakness of his convalescence her brother
+listened to the story of her love and promised her that she should wed
+her Jutul cousin. On his complete recovery he became less amenable,
+and, ignoring his promise, insisted that his sister should wed one of
+his dissolute companions. It is said that the Jutula's chief objection
+to this man was that he smelt strongly of tobacco; but I think that
+this must be embroidery, as my story is older than the use of tobacco.
+In any case, her refusal was absolute, and the brother was obliged to
+employ malignant magic. All the messengers from the Jutul, loving and
+beloved by his sister, were turned into rocks before they could reach
+her ear. The amorous Jutul was not aware that his beloved had a
+brother, or any other relation, and, concluding that she was the last
+of her race, believed also that it was she who had petrified his
+messengers. Wrathful, and having as his birthright an unerring aim, he
+mounted his steed and shot from his cross-bow a bolt at the dwelling
+of the Jutula. The perfidious brother was bathing at the time, and,
+presumably for the purposes of the story, he wore a sou'wester. The
+bolt, shot from seventy miles' distance, passed through the hat, and
+carried away a portion of the victim's skull; then, skimming the
+water, it pierced the heart of the fair one. She knew that only her
+lover had this unerring aim, and, thinking him faithless and cruel,
+used her dying moments in the exercise of her hereditary power, and
+petrified herself, her lover, his horse, and the floating sou'wester.
+There they remain to this day. Overlooking the scene of sorrow stand
+the seven sisters of the misguided lover, petrified with horror at the
+fate of their relations. The distance between the various islands is
+considerable; but it must be remembered that we tell of giants.
+
+  [Illustration: HENRIK IBSEN]
+
+Norwegian geography abounds in spots such as these, to which are
+attached legends; and in no country is the folk-lore more rich and
+varied. The charming story-teller, Asbjornsen, and his friend Bishop
+Moe, collected many delightful fairy-tales, mostly traditional, but
+eked out by their own imaginations. These stories are entrancing, and
+at the time when they were first given to the public they awoke a
+romantic tendency in Norwegian literature. They had a great influence
+on the work of Joseph Welhaven, contemporary with the great Weigeland,
+who died at this time. Welhaven had been rather overshadowed by his
+rival, who, for the part he had played in political struggles, was
+idolised as the people's hero. Also, his work had been too much
+influenced by the great Germans who were his contemporaries. The
+charming figures in the fairy-tales of his country gave him
+inspiration for wonderful romances with the genuine Norwegian ring and
+subjects taken from national life. Asbjornsen, however, is more than a
+retailer of folk-lore. He frames his tales in description of the
+country in which he has found them on the lips of the people, and thus
+produces vivid pictures of peasant life. The sister of Henrik
+Weigeland, Camille Collett, during her widowhood burst forth as a
+literary genius. Apart from her talents as a writer, she was one of
+the pioneers of the women's movement in Norway, which country has been
+more influenced by this agitation than any other European State.
+Immense importance is attached to it; the great geniuses Ibsen and
+Bjornson show much interest in the moral side of the question; and all
+Norwegians are very eager to discuss the subject, which is far too
+large and complicated for myself.
+
+  [Illustration: BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON]
+
+Ibsen is best known as a playwright. Indeed, from the time he
+succeeded in drama all other interests were put aside. The Norwegian
+Government provided him, at the age of thirty-six, with pecuniary aid
+to enable him to travel. It was in Rome that he wrote two of his
+greatest plays, _Peer Gynt_ and _Brand_. To-day his literary activity
+has ceased, and all who will may see the great man seated at a window
+of his flat in Christiania almost any time during the livelong day.
+
+Bjornstjerne Bjornson is still producing. He has written delightful
+romances; but for the last few years he, like Ibsen, has devoted
+himself to the stage. It is interesting to note that the splendid
+National Theatre in Christiania is managed by the writer's eldest son.
+His plays and those of Ibsen are magnificently acted, and always
+received with enthusiastic appreciation by the Norwegian public, which
+gives all its great men a splendid meed of appreciative
+recognition--how well deserved it is, the whole world will
+acknowledge. The translated commentary on the Norwegian literature of
+the last fifty years makes me feel that I would give everything for a
+knowledge of the language sufficient to let me enter into the
+treasure-house of untranslated genius.
+
+Many of our modern authors are translated into Norwegian. I noticed
+that every book-shop window contained caricatures of Mark Twain and
+translations of his works. Surely there was some particular reason for
+this celebrity of an American humourist in Norway over and above the
+excellence of his work, which one would have thought difficult to do
+justice by in translation?
+
+German books form a large part of the stock-in-trade of the Norwegian
+bookseller. The German language is very generally known--much more so
+than either French or English. In this and many other things it is
+plainly to be seen that there is much good feeling between Germany and
+Norway.
+
+  [Illustration: FRIDTJOF NANSEN]
+
+Public baths are to be found all over Norway--in some places are still
+found the _badstuer_. These are primitive Turkish baths, timber rooms
+heated with red-hot stones. Water is poured on the stones, and
+scalding steam is produced. I read in an old book on Norway an
+account by an American traveller of a visit to such a bath. He appears
+to have been rather a popular person among the Norwegian peasants, and
+was invited one Saturday in the depth of winter to assist at the
+general ablution. He relates with much amusing comment how all the
+bathers ran from their dwelling-places to the "bath chamber" in what
+he calls "the costume of Paradise." This in the depth of winter!
+Determined to do the whole thing properly, he followed their chilly
+example. At the bath, the whole company sat round the room on a sort
+of shelf. When they were thoroughly well steamed they wended their way
+back to their respective houses in the same lack of costume. There was
+no discrimination of sexes.
+
+The writer speaks in high praise of the simplicity, innocence, and
+cleanliness of the people. There is in all writings on Norway a
+unanimity as to their good qualities. For my own part, the points
+about them that impressed me most were their absolute honesty and the
+complete absence of servility. While any Norwegian is delighted to
+show politeness to the stranger, and even to take a good deal of
+trouble in helping him on his way, all these attentions arise from a
+supreme feeling of courtesy and rarely from hope of reward. Anyone
+wishing to have particular information as to a subject concerning the
+country will be met on all sides with practical offers of assistance.
+He will find books relating to his subject showered upon him, and kind
+offers to accompany him and show him practical illustrations. This
+generous spirit, which has its source in love of the native land, is
+nowhere more marked than in such an establishment as Bennet's, the
+Thomas Cook and Sons of Norway. This, one would say, is a strictly
+commercial affair; yet there is no end to the trouble Bennet or his
+staff will take to encourage visitors to see as much as possible of
+their lovely country in a pleasant way, and this without remuneration
+of any kind.
+
+Writing from Norway in 1820, a visitor says--"There is no country
+which accords better with my taste than Norway, nor is there any cast
+of inhabitants or people that I have visited for whom I have more
+esteem. Here at least are the true haunts of simple natures, and it
+has been one of the pleasantest passages of my life to dwell among the
+mountains. The Norwegians are a virtuous race; patriarchal simplicity,
+uprightness and hospitality, kindness and piety, are their
+characteristics. They entertain great reverence for their laws. In
+many other countries the laws are not obeyed on one uniform principle;
+here, on the contrary, the people respect them from principle."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+     AALESUND; 48
+     Anglers; 6
+     Antiquaries; 69, 125
+     "Aqua vita"; 66
+     Arac punch; 65
+     Art, Norwegian; 118
+     Asbjornsen; 189
+     Aune; 24
+     Avalanches; 30
+
+     _Badstuer_; 192
+     Bandak Lake; 97
+     Baths, public; 192
+     Bennet's; 194
+     Bergen; 4, 51
+     Bjornson; 191
+     Boarding-houses; 14
+     Bonaparte; 47
+     Bread; 15
+     Brottem; 18
+     Buar glacier; 64
+     Butter; 16
+     Bygdo; 114
+
+     CANAL; 97
+     _Carriole_; 9
+     Catholic nursing sisters; 179
+     Catholicism; 99
+     Cereals; 159
+     Christiania; 110
+     Christiania Fjord; 116
+     Christmas; 79
+     Cod; 170
+     Collett, Camille; 190
+     Common land; 158
+     Courtesy; 194
+     Cows; 27, 59
+
+     DALEN 73, 79
+     Dutch character; 31
+
+     ELK; 164
+     Embroidery; 122
+
+     FIDDLERS, official; 181
+     Filigree work; 123
+     "Fish pig"; 165
+     Fishing; 5
+     Fjord steamers; 32
+     Folk-lore; 187
+     Forester; 154
+     Fruit, wild; 149
+     Funerals; 144
+
+     GERMAN EMPEROR; 48, 63
+     Gjora; 28
+     Goblins; 37
+     Good-looking people; 24
+     Goose wine; 117
+     Grieg, Edward; 184
+     Guinea-pig; 149
+     Gulf Stream; 116
+
+     HAUKELIDSÆTER; 67
+     Hanseatic League; 52
+     Hardanger bridal; 136
+     Hardanger Fjord; 57
+     Hardanger violin; 183
+     Hell; 8
+     Herring; 172
+     History; 96
+     Holmenkollen; 111
+     Honesty; 193
+     Horghheim; 36
+     Horre; 65
+     Horses, Norwegian; 150, 160
+     Huldra; 77
+
+     IBSEN; 190
+     Intoxicating liquors; 7
+
+     JESUITS; 179
+     Jewellery, peasant; 124
+     Jews; 179
+
+     _Kaleschevogn_; 10
+     Karasjok; 176
+     Kontokeimo; 176
+
+     _Langelik_; 183
+     Lapps; 161, 176
+     Leprosy; 165
+     Lerfos; 8
+     Liffeld Mountains; 107
+     Lindeman; 181
+     Lofoten; 170
+     Lure, the; 180
+
+     MANGLING; 154
+     "Marie Stige"; 71
+     Marienborg; 14
+     Moe, Bishop; 189
+     Molde; 35, 45
+     Moldöen; 49
+     "Monk and Lady"; 91
+     Morality; 177
+     Munch, Edward; 121
+     Music; 180
+     Mythology, Norwegian; 39
+
+     NÆS; 36
+     National dances; 182
+
+     ODDE; 60
+     Osterthal; 46
+
+     PIXIES; 37, 76
+     Population; 47
+     Posting system; 9
+     Prawns; 16
+
+     RAILWAY; 8
+     Rain; 5
+     Ravngju; 76
+     Reindeer; 160
+     Rjukan Fos; 71
+     Roldal; 65
+     Romsdal Mountains; 36, 45
+     Roofs of grass; 16
+
+     SAETERS; 131
+     Sætersdalen; 85, 93
+     Saint Michael; 99
+     St. Michael's Chapel; 100
+     St. Olaf; 94
+     St. Olaf's Ship; 94
+     Salmon; 5
+     Salmon fishing; 175
+     "Sanatoriums; 14
+     Sea fisheries; 169
+     Sælbo; 8
+     Seljestad; 65
+     Service in hotels; 23
+     "Seven Sisters"; 187
+     Shops; 117
+     Signposts; 150
+     Skating; 117
+     Ski competition; 111
+     Skien Fjord; 97
+     Skiing; 116
+     Skis; 116
+     Sliper; 26
+     Snake; 149
+     Snow ploughs; 151
+     Snow tunnel; 67
+     Sogne Fjord; 51
+     _Stavekirke_; 115
+     _Stolkjærre_; 8, 10
+     Storehouses; 129
+     Storen; 23
+     Sundal; 30
+     Sundalsoren; 31
+
+     TIDEMAND; 121
+     Thaulow, Fritz; 120
+     Tobogganing; 117
+     _Torfisk_; 171
+     Trains; 110
+     Trolls; 77
+     Trondhjem; 5, 6
+
+     ULEFOS; 98
+
+     VIKINGS; 38
+     Voss; 56
+     Vrangfos; 98
+
+     WEAVING; 122
+     Wedding customs; 34
+     Weigeland; 190
+     Welhaven, Joseph; 190
+     Whale; 51
+     Whale fishing; 174
+     Wireways, aerial; 132
+     Women's movement; 190
+     Wood-carving; 124
+     Wood-pulp; 108
+     Wooden boxes; 54
+     Woodsmen; 155
+     Wrecks; 172
+
+     X; 33
+
+
+
+
+     PRINTED BY
+     NEILL AND COMPANY, LIMITED
+     EDINBURGH
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Norway, by Beatrix Jungman
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