THE PEOPLE: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
Because of its geographic isolation, the Scandinavian peninsula is the
home of the purest Teutonic ethnic stock. The Norwegians, Icelanders,
Swedes, and Danes are racially closely related, and they belong to the
same branch of the Aryan family as the Germans, Flemish, English, and
Anglo-Americans. Physically, these people are powerfully built and
tall, of the pure Scandinavian type, with fair hair and blue eyes, and
their healthy, intelligent look strikes the traveler. In addition to
the physical characteristics held in common by these Scandinavian
peoples, the Norwegians are to be specially noted for their long
narrow heads, particularly is this so among the people in the interior
of the country. Here, too, the stature is the greatest. During the
Civil War in the United States, it was found that among the enlisted
troops the Norwegians, after the Americans, had the greatest stature,
and that in breadth of chest they were excelled by none. It is
probably true, however, that the Norwegians who emigrate represent the
finest physical types, and that they possess a higher average stature
than one finds in Norway to-day, if the most northerly provinces are
excepted.
The Norwegians are a very plain people--neither pretty nor handsome.
The women are strong and square-built, and what beauty they have is
of the solid and substantial sort. Of the two sexes, the men are the
better proportioned, both in the matter of figures and features. They
have light complexions,--barring the bronzing of the skin due to
constant exposure,--light hair, blue eyes, and reasonably well-formed
noses. Both men and women have frank and open countenances.
The most marked mental characteristics are clear insight,
unconquerable pertinacity, dogged obstinacy, absolute honesty, and a
sturdy sense of independence. Björnson has well remarked concerning
his people: "Opinions are slowly formed and tenaciously held, and much
independence is developed by the rigorous isolation of farm from farm
each on its own freehold ground, unannoyed and uncontradicted by any
one. The way the people work together in the fields, in the forests,
and in their large rooms has given them a characteristic stamp of
confidence in each other." It is perhaps this isolation that has
perpetuated so many of the old customs and superstitions for which the
Norwegians are noted.
William Eleroy Curtis tells of seeing the funeral of one of these
Norway farmers:
"His house was trimmed with green boughs and festooned with ropes of
flowers and ground pine. The word _farvel_, "farewell," was worked in
green over the front door. The coffin, which was carried on a bier by
the neighbors to the little cemetery not far away, was covered with
flowers, and following it were a number of women clad in somber black
with little white shawls tied under their chins, each carrying a
wreath in her hands. The minister led the procession. He was dressed
in a long black gown reaching to his heels, like the cassock of a
Catholic priest; his hat was of felt, with a low crown and a broad
brim, similar to those worn by the curates of the Church of England,
while around his neck was a linen ruff that looked as if it might have
been worn in the time of Queen Elizabeth.
"A grave had been dug in the churchyard. The neighbors who had borne
the body, lowered it tenderly to the bottom, and when they had lifted
the cover of the coffin in place, each man, the oldest first, threw in
a shovelful of earth. All the women did not use the shovel, some of
them took up handsful of soil and let it gently filter through their
fingers into the open vault; and finally three children, somewhere
about ten or eleven years of age, followed the example of their elders
and added their little share to the brown coverlid of the dead.
The pastor removed his hat, extended his arms and pronounced a
benediction. Then the women laid their wreaths on the newly covered
grave and sorrowfully turned homeward."
Independence and frankness characterize all classes of society. Norway
has no hereditary aristocracy. In 1821 it was provided that those
holding titles might be allowed to retain them during their lives, but
they could not transmit them to their children. The Norse character
has never been marred by the yoke of slavery. The feudal system, with
its serfdom, never got a footing in the north. The people have always
been small landholders, which has developed among them an independence
of character not found in countries where the mass of the inhabitants
have no direct property interests. There is no class in Norway
corresponding to the country gentleman of England or to the grand
seigneurs and provincial noblemen of the Continent. The wealthiest
landlord is only a peasant.
Honesty is one of the valuable assets of the Norwegian people.
Attempts at extortion are so rare that tourists, accustomed to the
proverbial dishonesty of the Latin races, find travel in Norway and
Sweden a joy. An English traveler relates this typical incident: He
had lost his purse shortly after leaving Vossevangen for Stalheim.
Altogether unconscious of his loss, he walked on placidly. Suddenly
hearing hurried footsteps following him, he turned about and faced a
lad who thrust the pocketbook into the owner's hand and disappeared
before the Englishman could get a coin from his pocket to reward the
boy for his honesty. The Norwegian boy very properly did not expect
a reward for doing the only thing open to his mind upon finding the
purse.
Kindness to animals is another virtue of the Norwegian people.
Illustrating this trait we again quote William Eleroy Curtis:
"There seems to be a close relation between the human kind and
their animals. The men and women talk to the horses and cattle as
if they were understood. We had a _skydsgut_, or driver, one day,
who held continuous conversation with his horses. Every time he
would come to a hill he would walk beside them and talk to them
all the way up in a gentle, caressing sort of way, like a child
talking to a doll, and once when he stopped for water and the near
horse wanted to drink more than the driver thought was good for
him, he scolded like an old woman. The horse shook his head and
rattled his harness impatiently, as much as to say, 'You get back
onto your box and attend to your business and I'll attend to
mine.'"
That intellectuality is one of the traits of the Swedes and Norwegians
alike is evidenced in the long list of names that have become
famous in the world's literature. In spite of the high intellectual
attainments of these people, they are fond of the quiet, simple life,
with friends and kinsfolk and home employments and home enjoyments.
And they are very superstitious, too, and, in spite of their Lutheran
faith, they have never discarded the customs that grew from belief in
gods many, and fairies, trolls, gnomes and norns without number. The
forests, the mountains and gorges, are inhabited by these people
still. Nissen is the good fairy of the farmers. He looks after the
cattle particularly, and if he is well treated they are healthy, and
the cows give lots of milk. To propitiate him it is necessary to put
a dish of porridge on the threshold of the cow stable on Christmas
morning. Whenever the family move, this invisible being goes along
with them and sits on the top of the loads. In haying time he always
rides on the load of hay, and the _bedstemoder_, best mother or
grandmother, in every farmhouse can tell the children dozens of
interesting stories about the mischief or the kindness of Nissen.
He is invariably represented in pictures of farm life; he appears on
the illustrated advertisements of farm machinery; his figure carved
in wood is sold at all the curiosity stores, and he appears as a
prominent character in most of the fairy stories that deal with farm
life. He is represented as a short, fat, bow-legged man, with big
whiskers and long white hair, wearing a red hat like those worn by
clowns in circuses. He usually appears in his shirt sleeves, with an
open collar, a blue vest, and knickerbockers upon his legs, which are
as slim as those of a brownie. His circumference is greater than his
height, and his head is almost as large as his body.
Noek is the fairy of the waterfalls and is a sort of merman. You never
see more than half his body. He is very, very old, his hair and beard
are long and white, and his face is always pale and pensive. He
carries a harp and plays to amuse the spirits in the waterfall. A
statue of Ole Bull has recently been erected in his native city of
Bergen. He stands upon a pedestal which rises from a fountain, and the
water flows over the head and shoulders of a Noek at the base.
Norway offers a fine field for reformers to study the effects of
regulation upon the vice of drunkenness. Within the limits of the
kingdom are all grades of restriction, from prohibition to liberal
license. There are no pretensions about the Norwegians; there is no
affectation about their morals and no leniency in the administration
of their laws. The police and the magistrates are merciless and
inexorable, and crime is punished more severely perhaps than in any
other country. At the same time the people distinguish an important
difference between temperance and total abstinence. They give their
children beer in unlimited quantities, but absolutely prohibit the
sale of whisky, and send drunken men to prison with burglars and
assassins. Norwegian reformers hold that beer is the great promoter of
temperance, and encourage its use as a beverage, although every saloon
in the kingdom is closed on Sundays, on all holidays, and Saturday
afternoon, which is the regular pay day for the working classes. These
are practical regulations, devised for the purpose of restraining
those who are not capable of controlling their own appetites and
encouraging thrift and economy. While the saloons are closed on pay
day, the savings banks are open until midnight.
It is difficult to become accustomed to the long twilights in Norway.
One can read and write at a window as late as ten o'clock without
difficulty, and during the months of June, July, and August few
artificial lights are used, either in the streets or in the shops or
in the residences. A candle is usually kept handy for an emergency,
but it is light enough to dress and undress at any hour of the night,
and it seems childish to go to bed before dark. The hours for meals
are awkward to those accustomed to American ways. Breakfast is usually
served from seven till nine o'clock. Four o'clock is the fashionable
dinner hour, without luncheon. After dinner men return to their
business and keep open their shops and offices until a nine or ten
o'clock supper during the long days.
No one will ever starve to death in Norway. American palates may not
always crave the food, but they can not complain of its abundance. The
table is usually loaded with all sorts of fish and cold meats, both
fresh and preserved, that foreigners are usually afraid of. The
Norwegians are fond of things with a pronounced flavor, the more
pronounced the better, and cheese is one of the chief articles of
diet. A Norwegian housewife would not consider a meal complete without
five or six different kinds of cheese of all degrees of pungency in
taste and odor upon the table. At breakfast you are served sardines,
anchovies, smoked salmon, dried herring and five or six other kinds of
fish and an equal variety of cheese before they think of offering you
coffee and meat and potatoes. You get seven or eight kinds of bread
also, but it is all cold. The national bread, which is made of flour,
water and a little salt, with a sprinkling of caraway seed, rolled
very thin and punctured with holes like a cracker, is baked only once
or twice a year, and then in large quantities, as New England women
bake mince pies and put them on the top shelf to season. It is called
_grovboröd_, and tastes like a water cracker.
The servant-girl problem has been solved in Norway to the satisfaction
of all concerned, although it is doubtful whether a similar solution
would be accepted by domestic servants in the United States. In large
cities like Bergen and Christiania, there is a central employment
bureau under the direction of the municipal government, and twice a
year--one week before New Year's day and one week before St. John's
day, the 24th of June--there is a general change of servants by those
who are dissatisfied with existing conditions, and engagements are
made for the ensuing six months of the year. Families who want
servants, fill out blanks setting forth what is required and the wages
they are willing to pay. These are filed at the employment office and
are noted in a conspicuous manner upon a blackboard. Women or men in
search of employment go to this bureau during the weeks named,
examine the blackboard, and apply to the clerk in charge for further
information.
If they desire to apply for a particular position, they submit their
recommendations to the clerk, and if he is satisfied, he gives them a
card to the lady of the house. That card is good for the day only, and
must be returned by the lady of the house before the close of office
hours. If the girl is engaged, the blanks upon the card are filled out
with a general statement as to her duties, the term of service, and
the wages agreed upon, and the card is filed away for reference
if necessary. If the lady of the house is not satisfied with the
applicant, she sends her away and returns the card marked "not
satisfactory," with the request that other applicants be sent her. If
the applicant is satisfactory, the lady of the house pays her a bonus
of one krone or two kroner called "hand money"--that is, she crosses
her hand with silver as an evidence of good faith--and the girl agrees
to report for duty within one week after New Year's or Midsummer's
day, as the case may be. That is to allow her present employer to
fill her place. In some of the smaller towns the dates for changing
servants are April 14 and October 14.
The law protects both the employer and the employed. The employer
guarantees to give the servant a comfortable room, wholesome food,
take care of her if sick, and pay her wages regularly as agreed upon
during good behavior; while the girl agrees to perform her duties
faithfully during the term for which she is engaged. If there is any
complaint upon either side, it must be made to a magistrate, who
investigates and decides between them. A family can not get rid of a
servant during her term of employment without official intervention.
On the other hand, the girl's wages are a first lien upon their
property for the entire term, although judgment must be rendered and
made a matter of record. If a servant runs away from her employer,
she can be arrested and fined. Cooks are paid from $4 to $7 a month;
housemaids from $3 to $6 a month; men butlers from $10 to $15;
coachmen from $12 to $16 a month; scullery maids and men of all work
receive corresponding wages.
Nearly all of these domestic customs here related apply to Sweden as
well as Norway, and there are many interesting additional ones. In
Sweden the state dinners at the palace are always at six o'clock. At
nearly all the other courts of Europe it is customary to dine at eight
o'clock. The king's dinners are short, his guests seldom remaining
more than an hour at the table, after which the ladies adjourn to one
of the drawing rooms, the gentlemen to the smoking room, and later
all are entertained by musicians from the opera house or the royal
conservatory. Carriages are usually ordered at ten o'clock. This seems
old-fashioned, but for people who like to go to bed early and those
who are occupied with business all day it is much more sensible than
the custom followed in some cities, where social festivities do not
begin until the hour when the king of Sweden's guests are bidding him
good night.
But everybody complains that the Swedes are drifting away from old
customs and are becoming modernized. The French influence seems to
prevail, and modern Swedish life is becoming an imitation of that of
Paris.
Another of the old customs is for people to indicate their business
upon their visiting cards. You will receive the card of Lawyer Jones,
or Banker Smith, or Music Professor Smith, and so on; and these titles
are also used in addressing them. It would seem rather queer for any
one in the United States to ask, "Wholesale Merchant MacVeigh, will
you kindly pass the butter?" or "Banker Hutchinson, will you escort
Fru Board of Trade Operator Jones to the table?" But that is the
custom in Sweden and it is observed by children as well as grown
people. A lisping child will approach a guest, make a pretty little
bob-courtesy, and say, "Good morning, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court Fuller," or "Good night, Representative in Congress Boutell."
It is customary for ladies to print their maiden names upon
their visiting cards in smaller type, under their married names,
particularly if they have a pride of family and want people to know
their ancestry.
To see the old Swedish customs that have almost entirely disappeared
from the country, one must go to the hill districts of Dalecarlia,
where the people are so unlike the rest of the Swedes in their dress,
their customs and habits, and in many other respects as to almost seem
another race.
The Dalecarlians are great dancers, and the social gatherings at
their homes during the winter are always accompanied by that form of
amusement. During the summer they dance in the open air. On St. John's
Day the entire population, old and young, dance around a May-pole
erected at some convenient place, and at harvest time, whenever the
last sheaf in a field is pitched upon the cart or the stack, it is
customary for somebody to produce a musical instrument, a violin,
a nyckleharpa, a harmonicum, or perhaps only a mouth organ, and
everybody--for the boys and girls of the family all work together in
the hay and harvest fields--join in a dance before returning home.
The dances are original and often interesting. One of the most ancient
and popular is the _däfva vadmal_ (weaving homespun), whose figures
are supposed to imitate the action of the shuttle, the beating in of
the woof, and other motions used in weaving at an old-fashioned loom.
Some of the dances resemble those of Scotland, and one is almost
exactly like the Virginia reel as danced by old-fashioned people in
the United States. In another, called the "garland," the dancers wind
in and out under their clasped hands in imitation of the weaving of a
wreath of flowers. All the dances require violent physical exercise,
but the Swedish men and women are famous for muscular development.
Some of the dances are accompanied by pretty melodies sung in unison
by both sexes.
The songs of the Dalecarlian peasant are not lively, but rather slow
in movement, and are usually sung in unison, the music being rarely
arranged for parts.
Dalecarlia has a certain preeminence among the districts of Sweden
because of the part its people have played in the history of the
country, and however the other provinces may dispute among themselves
about their claims for distinction, each will admit that Dalecarlia is
entitled to special consideration. Its people represent the highest
patriotism and the noblest characteristics of the Swedish race, and
when any one is spoken of as a Dalecarlian, it means that he is a free
and intelligent citizen of independent thought and action and lives a
life of manly simplicity.[o]