[Illustration: Cover art]
[Frontispiece: Sogne Fjord, Gudvangen (missing from book)]
THE
NORWEGIAN FJORDS
PAINTED AND DESCRIBED
BY
A. HEATON COOPER
ARTIST OF "THE ENGLISH LAKES"
WITH
TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1907
Published September, 1907
Black's Smaller Series
of Beautiful Books
THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS
BY THE SAME ARTIST
THE ENGLISH LAKES
PAINTED BY
A. HEATON COOPER
DESCRIBED BY
W. T. PALMER
CONTAINING 75 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOR
PRICE 20s. NET
"Every lover of the Lake District will do
well to secure a copy of this beautiful
book."--_The Guardian_.
"This very handsome and acceptable
volume."--_The World_.
"The book is one to pore over at leisure, and
to enjoy either when on a holiday or after
returning from one."--_Yorkshire Post_.
"This beautiful book is a triumph of local
literature and art which will be a treasure to
all in whose way it comes."--_Whitehaven News_.
Published by
A. & C. BLACK . SOHO SQUARE. LONDON . W.
AGENTS
AMERICA. . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
CANADA . . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.
27 RICHMOND STREET WEST, TORONTO
INDIA . . MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.
MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY
309 BOW BAZAAR STREET, CALCUTTA
{v}
NOTE
The fjords of Norway, by their unique charm, annually attract an
increasing number of English and American tourists.
This volume, the artist hopes, may be found useful to the traveller who
desires a more intimate acquaintance with the country and its people
than may be acquired from a casual visit to its shores.
It is the outcome of periodical visits to Norway extending over the
last fifteen years, including two winters spent among the fjords and
mountains of that delightful and interesting country.
In claiming for this volume no literary merit whatever, the artist
trusts that the {vi} reader, whilst accepting it as perhaps a feeble
statement of bare facts, will find compensation for any lack in this
respect by appreciating his efforts in the illustrations. A.H.C.
CONISTON, R.S.O.,
LANCASHIRE.
{vii}
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Bergen--The Hardanger Fjord--A peasant's homestead, and home
industry--Horticulture--Land tenure--Boat-building from ancient
times--The staple food of the peasants--"The Gothenburg system"
CHAPTER II
The Hardanger Fjord (continued)--Means of communication--A drive by
"kariol" from Vossevangen to Ulvik--Ullensvang, the fruit-garden of
Hardanger--The ancient and national arts of wood-carving, tapestry
weaving, and embroidery--The Hardanger
violin--Waterfalls--Glaciers--Fjord formation
CHAPTER III
The "Eddas" and "Sagas"--Heathen mythology--A pagan temple--An ancient
"Stav-kirke" at Vik--Folklore and superstition--"Balder's Baal," or
midsummer's eve fires, of pagan origin--Wedding customs
{viii}
CHAPTER IV
The Sogne Fjord--Balholm and the "Frithjof's Saga"--Life at a "sæter"
or mountain out-farm--A bear-hunter's tale--Sea-fight between King
Sverre and Magnus Erlingssön, A.D. 1184--An ancient farmstead in
Næröfjord--A wedding at Gudvangen--The Nærödal
CHAPTER V
The Sogne Fjord (_continued_)--Forestry
CHAPTER VI
The mining industry--Lærdal and the Borgund church--The
Vettisfos--Lyster Fjord and Jötunheimen--The Norwegian Tourist
Club--Jöstedalsbræ, the most extensive ice-field in Europe--Urnæs
"Stav-kirke," the oldest church in Norway
CHAPTER VII
The Nord Fjord--The approach from the sea-coast--Typical fjord
scenery--Three beautiful lakes: Loen, Stryn, and Olden--Glaciers and
avalanches--A drive from Falejde to Öie--The magnificent gorge of
Nordangsdal
CHAPTER VIII
Thee Norwegian Established Church ("den Norske Stats-Kirke")--The
Reformation--The Lutheran creeds--The Bishops and clergy--The dioceses,
deaneries, and livings--Church missions--Free education obtains in
Norway--Schools and colleges--The University
{ix}
CHAPTER IX
The Hjörund Fjord--Öie to Hellesylt--An evening idyll--The Geiranger
Fjord and its waterfalls--An ancient farm near Meraak--By steamer to
Næs--The grandeur of the Romsdal--The River Rauma--Salmon fishing--The
great sea fisheries--The midnight sun--Winter sports in Norway--Wild
animals and game--Molde, the most beautifully situated town in Norway
Index
{xi}
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SOGNE FJORD, GUDVANGEN (missing from book) . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
HARDANGER FJORD: ODDE
GODÖSUND (missing from book)
ULVIK
ÖSTENSÖ
ÖSE FJORD
SKJÆGGEDALSFOS
BONDHUS GLACIER
SOGNE FJORD: VIK "STAV-KIRKE"
ESE FJORD (A WEDDING PARTY)
A "SÆTER," VETLE FJORD
FJÆRLAND
NÆRÖ FJORD
NÆRÖDAL, FROM STALHEIM
LÆRDALSÖREN
URNÆS CHURCH, LYSTER
NORD FJORD: A SALMON RIVER, STRYN
LOEN VAND AND GLACIER
HJÖRUND FJORD, ÖIE
{xii}
GEIRANGER FJORD
MERAAK
THE MOUNTAINS OF ROMSDAL
ROMSDALS FJORD FROM NÆS
MOLDE
{1}
THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS
CHAPTER I
THE HARDANGER FJORD
To approach the Norwegian coast at sunrise is an exceedingly enjoyable
experience. Myriads of rock-islands in the sea and cloud-islands in
the sky, their perspective terminating on the distant horizon in a
peaked range of inland mountains, themselves like a cloud floating in
golden vapour of dawn.
As the rising sun burns its path upwards, the sparkling sea reflects
the glory of the sky in countless hues, and the magic of morning is
felt in the air, cool and clear as crystal, as the steamer slows to
await the pilot and the sea-birds wheel around.
{2}
Threading this intricate maze of islands, indications of human
habitation soon become evident perched on grassy headlands or nestling
in rocky creeks, and soon we are at the busy wharf of the first port of
call, Stavanger, a bustling and clean little town, whose
eleventh-century cathedral stands in dignified contrast to the
brightly-painted wooden buildings at its feet.
[Sidenote: Bergen]
The navigation of the coast here is exceedingly intricate--rocky
islands and skerries innumerable, and narrow winding channels;
lighthouses, which are seen at every turn, and on both sides of the
steamer's course, indicate the dangers and test the skill of the pilot
and captain as the steamer proceeds in a north-westerly direction to
Bergen, the metropolis of Western Norway.
Founded by King Olaf Kyrre in 1070, Bergen has witnessed most of the
stirring events of the nation's life.
The population of the town is now 72,000. During the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries the Hanseatic League, {3} which then monopolized
the commerce of Northern Europe, held absolute sway here in Bergen, and
the quaint Tydskebryggen (German quay) was their trading quarters.
Near by the fortified tower of Rosenkranz was built to hold the
Hanseatic quarter in check. It adjoins Haakonshal, the ancient palace
of King Haakon Haakonson, who died in 1263.
This is the most ancient part of the town, although it is at present
undergoing a change. Tydskebryggen is being modernized; its old-world
character is fast disappearing.
Close by is St. Maria Kirken, a quaint twelfth-century church, formerly
in possession of the Hanseatic League.
Triangelen (the fish-market quay) is interesting on Wednesday and
Saturday mornings, where a fleet of small fishing-boats is moored
alongside, lively and witty bargaining going on between buyer and
seller which is highly amusing to witness. Bergen is in many respects
a most interesting town, the ancient rubbing shoulders {4} with the
modern--the electric tram-car with the carrier's cart and "kariol"; the
slender wood-framed, sack-covered booth with the gaily-painted kiosk;
and the latest fashions from London and Paris with the divers
picturesque costumes of fisherfolk and farmer, "striler" and "bönder."
Handsome stone-built shops stand cheek by jowl with the low red-tiled
wooden ones, no two alike, in every variety of size and colour,
relieving the monotony of the narrow and crooked streets.
The climate of Bergen is exceedingly mild and humid, not unlike that of
the west coast of Scotland, and the numerous shops where umbrellas and
rain-coats are displayed for sale give some indication of the
prevailing weather, although I have known it to be fine there for
several days together. But this not being in the nature of a
guide-book--"Baedeker," "Beyer," and "Bennett" supply all the
information one necessarily requires, and much more than I have space
to admit {5} here--we must pass on to the chief subject of the book,
and enter the fjords, taking first the Hardanger Fjord.
This beautiful arm of the sea is second in regard to length, the Sogne
Fjord being the longest; but what it lacks in this respect is more than
balanced by the charm of the scenery and the greater area of land under
cultivation--orchards gay with blossom, and well-trimmed farms with
brightly-painted wooden houses, red, yellow, or white, perched high on
the mountain's flank, or nestling nearer the fjord margin. This
beautiful district of Hardanger has been the theme of poet and painter
for generations.
[Sidenote: The Hardanger costume]
The Hardanger women are mostly of fair complexion, with blue eyes, and
their costume is the most picturesque of any in the country. It
consists of a bright red or green bodice, gay with beads in front,
clean white linen sleeves, a large white head-covering ("skaut"), blue
skirt trimmed with coloured braid, and a belt of beads with an old
silver filigree clasp. The {6} unmarried wear the hair hanging in two
long plaits down the back, and for headgear a small white cotton shawl
tied under the chin in place of the more elaborate "skaut" of the
married.
It is an interesting sight to witness on Sunday mornings the
well-filled boats coming from all parts of the fjord parish, men and
girls alike rowing their graceful boats to church. On landing, they
arrange each other's toilet on the beach, and when inside the sacred
edifice, the women and girls sit on one side of the centre aisle and
the men on the other.
The service is Lutheran, and there is much singing of hymns or
"psalmer" in a leisurely way while sitting. The farmer's dog is also
quite a "regular attender," but he is usually well-behaved, and no one
appears to take the slightest notice of him unless he happens to pick a
quarrel with another of his species.
[Illustration: Odde, Hardanger Fjord.]
After, and sometimes during, Divine service small groups of farmers may
be seen in the churchyard talking over the {7} state of the market--of
crops and cattle and other gossip--as each one repeatedly turns over
the ample "quid" of tobacco in his mouth. It may be that they meet
only once in three weeks, for many a parson has two or three churches
to attend to. But the churches are, as a rule, well filled, no matter
what happens to be the condition of the weather.
[Sidenote: A peasant's homestead]
In their homes these peasants live the "simple life" in square log
houses of primitive form, finished on the outside with
weather-boarding, turf laid on birchbark for roof-covering, on which
grow masses of wild flowers, and one may even see a young birch-tree
find root there and flourish.
The houses are painted on the outside, according to the taste of their
owners, red, white, or yellow ochre, and these bright spots of colour
add a cheerful note to the landscape.
Inside the house the log walls are allowed to season, and in time they
acquire a rich tone of brown. There is {8} generally one principal
room on the ground floor, and in it the farmer, his family, and
servants live and have their meals together in quite patriarchal
fashion. In this room also are commonly found a couple of beds used by
the farmer and his wife, the other members of the household having
theirs up in the loft.
The cooking is done in the large common-room, as is also the carding,
spinning, winding, and weaving of home-grown wool for the family in
quite primitive fashion on ancient wheel and wooden hand-loom, this
industry being their chief employment in the long winter nights.
Outside the farm-house there is always a store-room, called a
"stabbur," standing separately. This building rests on short strong
pillars of wood to keep out the rats and other intruders, and in it are
stored dried meats, cheeses, milk, and other foodstuffs.
An additional outbuilding, called a "bui," is used for keeping the
clothing, tapestries, blankets, etc.; also the daughter's {9} wedding
trousseau and old silver articles--heirlooms--including a bride's crown
of silver gilt, all stored away in huge chests ("kists"). Here may
also be found carefully treasured a variety of ancient carved and
painted wooden bowls and tankards, out of use except at weddings and
other state occasions.
Another detached outhouse, called an "ild-hus," is used for the baking
of "flad bröd," a kind of rye cake, crisp and dry, and of the thickness
of brown paper.
Yet another small outhouse is required for drying corn for brewing
purposes, farmers being permitted to brew ale for their own consumption
only, the sale of it not being lawful. Most households enjoy their
home-brewed ale at Christmas-time, and they may even keep a small
quantity over until Easter.
In addition to these small outbuildings there are, of course, the barn
and cowhouse, with accommodation for horses, sheep, and pigs, forming
altogether quite a little hamlet.
{10}
On the farms the womenfolk must look after the cattle, sheep, and
goats, in addition to their ordinary household work, so they have not
much time for idle recreation. The only important break in their
humdrum lives, and to which they look forward with gladness, is the
annual removal of the household, in the early summer, to the "sæter,"
or mountain outfarm, a description of which, and the life there, I will
deal with in a subsequent chapter.
The male members of the family are chiefly occupied with the raising
and trading in domestic animals--horses, cattle, goats, sheep, etc.--in
cutting faggots from their woods, and in the making of barrel-hoops for
sale in the nearest towns. Boat-building also employs much of their
time.
[Sidenote: Horticulture--land tenure]
Horticulture does not play any very prominent part in Norway, although,
on most farms it is carried on to some extent, together with regular
farming.
Among the more enlightened peasantry it is the rule to find outside the
dwelling-house a kitchen garden where vegetables {11} necessary to the
family are raised, such as cabbages, turnips, carrots, onions, peas,
and beans, and of fruit-trees we may find in many places pears, apples,
cherries, currants, gooseberries, and strawberries.
On every hand the planting of fruit-trees is increasing, and in
favourable years quite excellent results may be obtained, but the rough
climate during the winter renders the fruit yield somewhat uncertain.
It is only in a few districts around the Christiania Fjord and the
Hardanger Fjord that horticulture is carried on to any greater extent
than to satisfy the farmer's own requirements, although at the present
time there is a strong movement for the promotion of horticulture, and
many of the counties ("amt") have appointed gardeners, who travel round
the district giving farmers free instruction in the laying out and
management of gardens and orchards. Perhaps it may be as well to
mention here that the Norwegian peasant has always enjoyed a freedom
which to the same class in other countries has been denied.
{12}
In former centuries the feudal system was generally adopted in most
European countries, but it has never existed in Norway.
The peasants have always maintained their freedom to acquire property
anywhere within the limits of their own country; this circumstance,
however, did not prevent an accumulation of the landed estates in a few
hands, the result being that the peasant class to a very great extent
became tenants and leaseholders, and less than one-half of the land of
the country was utilized by freeholders.
As far back as 1685 a Royal Ordinance was issued by which a landowner
who utilized more than one estate should pay double taxes on those in
excess of one; as a consequence the farms were gradually sold to the
peasants, a process which is going on to the present day.
This system of peasant proprietorship has worked remarkably well in the
country, nine-tenths of the farmers being now freeholders; they have
consequently a {13} more substantial interest in the development of
their farms and in the improvement of their land.
[Sidenote: Boat-building]
Boat-building is a lucrative employment, and this industry is carried
on in many places on the Hardanger Fjord--chiefly at Jondal; also at
Rosendal, on the ancient and beautifully situated barony of
Rosenkrantz, at the foot of the mountain Melderskin.
The building of boats is the most ancient industry with which the
Norwegians are acquainted.
Pliny the elder tells us that in the reign of Nero the Romans voyaged
as far north as the Baltic, and Tacitus goes on to describe what lies
beyond--that they knew, at any rate, the southern portion of the
Scandinavian peninsula; and he speaks of their finding the country rich
in arms and ships and men.
There are yet other proofs from a far earlier age in the rock-carvings
or runes called "helleristninger," dating away back to an age not less
remote than 500 years {14} B.C. These are found, among other places,
at Leirvaag farm in Askevold, on the south side of Atlöen, and at
Bohuslän in Southern Norway, where they are associated with many
chambered tombs of the Stone Age.
These carvings represent ships, some of them being quaint
representations of sea-fights, the boats being somewhat similar in
appearance to those used by the Vikings of the ninth and tenth
centuries of our era. Rude as these rock-carvings are, they give us
some idea of the kind of vessels employed in that very remote age: they
represent long row-boats with very high carved prows or sternposts, and
are steered not by a rudder behind, but by an oar at the side, and from
this practice is derived our word "starboard" or "steerboard," being
the right-hand side of the vessel.
The Vikings used also a square sail, which could be hoisted when
required. This they had learnt indirectly from the Romans.
The traveller among the fjords of Norway {15} may, to this day, see
those heavy boats with high prows and square sails, which have an
indescribable air of antiquity about their build, contrasting quaintly
with more modern-built craft of coasting vessels and fishing-smacks.
Although this ancient type of boat is fast dying out, the traveller
will yet find a number of them in Nordland, and these are still more
like the Viking ships of old, having also high pointed sterns.
These old-fashioned boats are a link between us and the remotest past
of Scandinavia, of the early period of the rock carvings, and of the
romantic period of the Vikings.
The boats built in Hardanger differ in form from those of the Sogne
Fjord and Nordland, as the traveller will note as he proceeds
northwards, the Hardanger type being of light and elegant construction,
and drawing less water than those to which we are accustomed.
Every peasant and cotter has his own boat or boats, and these may be
seen {16} everywhere along the fjord, either in use on the water, or
pulled up on the strand, and, where there is found a convenient
landing-place, log-built boathouses are erected.
Norwegians are fond of gay colours, as evidenced in the painting of
their houses and boats. Many farmers build their own boats out of wood
grown on their own farms, and some build to sell again. The cost of a
four-oared boat is about twenty-five kroner (twenty-eight shillings), a
six-oared fifty kroner, and an eight-oared boat seventy kroner.
[Sidenote: Staple food of peasants]
As fish plays an important part in the diet of the peasants, the boats
are greatly in use. The fjords being great arms of the sea, most kinds
of sea-fish are caught therein, sometimes in very large quantities,
herring being often in such densely-packed masses that quite a number
of fishermen use large wooden shovels to transfer them to their boats,
returning repeatedly to the harvest until the mass has dispersed.
{17}
At such times these fish are placed in barrels and salted, being either
kept for winter use at home or shipped to the nearest seaport town.
Fish and oatmeal porridge--"havregröd"--have formed from the earliest
times the staple food of the Norwegians, as we learn from the sagas,
and in "Hārbarôsljòô," in the "Sæmundar Edda":
"Àt ek i hvìld
aôr ek heiman fòr
sildr ok hafra."
"För jeg reiste hjemme fra, aad jeg i fred sild og havre," which,
translated, reads, "Before I left my home, ate I in peace fish and
oatmeal."
[Illustration: Godösund (missing from book)]
The peasant's ordinary routine for meals is commonly as follows: At 6
a.m., oatmeal cake or potato cake and buttermilk; at 8 a.m.--the chief
meal of the day--is served fish, and boiled, salted, or dried mutton
with potatoes; at 12 mid-day, oatmeal porridge and buttermilk; at 4
p.m., dried, smoked, or salted fish {18} with potatoes and buttermilk;
at 8 p.m., oatmeal porridge and milk.
This primitive food is still the daily custom of the peasant's
household, although in some places coffee is used after the meals, and
a very poorly-baked brown bread of barley or rye, occasionally mixed
with oats; but rarely do they eat wheaten bread.
Much has been written by Norwegian authors with reference to the lack
of cleanliness in the peasants' homes, but since so many foreign
travellers in later years have visited the country, there has been a
very considerable improvement in this respect.
The real cause of untidiness was that the women had really too much to
do in looking after the cattle and farms, which took up the principal
part of their time. Thus the ordinary household duties--the care of
the children, cooking, etc.--were to some extent neglected.
This stigma can no longer be applied, as, by their own industry and
thrift, the {19} peasants mostly are now in a more prosperous
condition. They are thus able to afford more assistance on the farms,
and their wives are spared much of the degrading work which was their
lot in the past. They have, consequently, more time for the care and
education of the children, and their homes will now compare favourably
in cleanliness with any of their class with which we are acquainted.
[Sidenote: The "Gothenburg system"]
The present prosperity of the Norwegian peasant may undoubtedly be
traced to the working of the liquor law of 1871, popularly known as the
"Gothenburg system," by which it is now made extremely difficult to
obtain intoxicating liquor, especially spirits.
The Norwegian nation may now take premier place among nations with
regard to sobriety. Norway, however, has not always taken up such a
favourable position. During the years 1830-1840 we find the country
ravaged by the "spirits plague," with its attendant sad results, moral,
economic, and sanitary. By a law {20} of 1810, anyone was allowed to
distil spirits from his own produce. This naturally resulted in an
alarming increase in the consumption of alcohol.
In the "forties" legislation took energetic measures against this,
being at the same time strongly supported by the voluntary abstinence
movement. The manufacture of spirits was only permitted when it was
done wholesale, and was, at the same time, restricted to a limited
number of distilleries. No one was allowed to retail spirits without a
licence from the Local Board, who had also "local option" in the
matter, sale of spirits being forbidden on Sundays and holy days, and
on the afternoon preceding these. A heavy tax was levied both on the
home production and on retail sale.
The beneficial consequences of this wise legislation were soon
apparent. The number of bars decreased rapidly through a breaking off
of drinking habits, and a consequent decrease in the consumption of
spirits was distinctly perceptible, as {21} well as the increased
prosperity and improved public health. The rural districts in
particular were almost cleared of spirit-selling, which was now
restricted to the towns.
By the law of 1871 the Local Boards in the towns were allowed to make
over their retail rights to philanthropic companies--"samlag"--which,
instead of seeking to make the largest circle of customers, made it
their aim to supervise and restrict the drinking of spirits, and whose
net profits from the business should be devoted to "objects of public
utility"--in other words, it was the introduction of the "Gothenburg
system."
This system is also in force in Finland and in Sweden, but the
Norwegian differs from the Finnish and Swedish in several points,
especially in the fact that the profits do not, as in the neighbouring
kingdom, go to the municipal funds. Norway does not, therefore, tempt
the municipalities to improve the state of its finances by an increased
trade in spirits.
{22}
Finally, by a law of July 27, 1894, all men and women over twenty-five
years of age were allowed to decide by voting whether there should be
any sale of spirits in their town for the following five years. As a
result of this there has been prohibition of late years in a number of
towns. For the whole country there is now only one "samlag" to every
10,000 inhabitants.
It thus follows that the many millions of kroner saved annually in
households by the reduced consumption of intoxicating liquors have
contributed greatly to raise the economic well-being of the nation, and
it has been said, with reason, that the Norwegians have educated
themselves to abstinence and sobriety.
Thus, on every hand we see evidences of this wise legislation in the
enlarged and modernized farms, increased acreage of land under
cultivation, the scientific planting of fruit-trees, and the more
general use of modern implements of husbandry.
{23}