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Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
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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 "Moldoeen"

  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 Saelbo    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. Moldoeen                                          50

     23. Bergen                                           52

     24. A Fair Maiden of North Bergen                    54

     25. Bergen Boats and Warehouses                      56

     26. Vaefos, Hildal, Hardanger                         58

     27. A Hardanger Country Girl                         64

     28. Skjaeggedalsfos, Hardanger                        66

     29. Hardanger Headdress                              68

     30. River at Haukeli                                 70

     31. A Peasant of Saetersdalen                         72

     32. Espelandsfos, Hardanger                          74

     33. A Boy of Saetersdalen                             76

     34. Sundalsfjord                                     78

     35. Saetersdalen Girl in National Costume             80

     36. Saetersdalen Peasant Girl                         86

     37. Moldoeen                                          88

     38. A Cottage Interior, Telemarken                   90

     39. A Norwegian Girl                                 92

     40. Kjendalsbrae                                      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. Saetersdalen 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, Fjaerland, Sognefjord                    162

     66. Fishing-boats at Lofoten                        170

     67. A Little Saetersdalen Peasant Girl               172

     68. Buerbrae, 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 Saelbo, where we had decided to spend a few
days. The vehicle which we had chosen was a _stolkjaerre_, 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