Marlow, tusen takk! So this sweet young thang in Bergen tried to seduce me
with her hellig bible. When it became apparent that wasn't having the desired
effect she brought out her multe jam and my gås was cooked!
Hehe.. yes some are.. Cosmic is excused. Sitting in the wheelchair with only one hand available, he is pre-occupied with his Norwegian wood. I'm not so sure. I think it's an American. Elg er moose og elk er hjort og hjortron er multe. De'ække greitt... lol...
Thanks for the story Reilly. Klatrer, gammal gubbe, globetrotter og glad i matglade damer... Lol...
Ron: Thanks! The last photos are not my own, but they are telling a lot about Finnskogen and it's story.
If it matters to your wife: Tell her that the bear was killed after killing several sheep inside a high electric fence that was built to safely keep it out and safe from being shot. It's the truth.
Nice thread, Marlow. I was in Trondheim at a math meeting in the summer of 1997 and the woods and fiords were beautiful. The olympic team gave us a demonstration of ski jumping that was thrilling to watch. The color was so magnificent that when I flew to Ireland after the meeting was over, the emerald isle seemed a little pale by comparison.
Marlow - love your Norsk input. I've always thought - and more so recently - that Norway is the best country on earth in so many ways. Especially politically.
Environmentally it is quite similar to where I live in extreme northern BC.
Maybe I gravitated here because of spending a summer in Norway in '49, just out of high school. Loved it to pieces.
Nita
The hay drying system worked very well... Lol...
MikeL
Romantic images, yes.
jogill
Ski-jumping is a thrill to watch if you see the jumps well. And I'm glad you like the color, there is color even in the b/w photos. Though in my view nothing really compares to Ireland.
Fossil climber
People living in Norway right now are lucky. It's a very good place to live. By the way: picture number 3 above is taken 1949/1950.
For Nita - some other aspects of the hay drying system
Slaattonn
Credit: Marlow
Hesjing
Credit: Marlow
If you don't use a horse you can carry the hay on your back to the barn.
Great stuff Marlow. Keep it coming. Even though I don't speak Norge (is that the way to spell it?)
I spent a month in Norway and Svaalbard in summer '85. Have always wanted to return.
The woods that most blew me away in Norway were of a particular kind of tree out west, often lining the fjords, like these:
Not sure what type of tree, but in copses they seemed to glow. Walking through them was amazing - bright with filtered light, open to wandering, never impenetrable or dour, interesting vertical spaces, full of bird song. Strolling for 15 minutes could easily turn into a few hours. Felt like something from a storybook.
We saw so many awesome things in Norway. Next time I go back I hope to tour by bike - just one of those countries that begs to be taken slowly, and without engines. Will need good rain gear.
Birch is also the tree the "raw material" on the photo above is taken from, and it's only the outer layer that is taken, so the tree lives on very well.
HighTraverse
When you live in the country "Norge" you speak the language "norsk".
There's still people working with a horse, but it's unusual.
What's usual today:
In earlier times the best Norwegian skiers were working in the woods. The two persons to the left in the photo below were world champions - Gjermund Eggen and Harald Grønningen.
Gjermund Eggen, Harald Grønningen, Reidar Hjermstad, Jo Eggen og Johs. Harviken.
The work had to be done and it was not without danger. Doing what had to be done and doing it also under danger - that's what it was to be a man. At a later time also a few women participated.
The border didn't exist at Finnskogen - Finnskogen is large woods and many lakes at the "border" between the "two countries".
"These woods are my woods, though I do not own them."
The Swedes are in reality nice people. They gave us this country, but kept Jämtland and Härjedalen. Some Norwegians think we should do our best to buy J & H back with the oil money.
A painting giving us a not so romantic impression of "svedjebruk"
Marlow's photos are very similar to displays in the Skogsbruksmuseet in Elverum, and also in books of historical photos from Rendalen, where my father's family is from. In Hedmark, in fact, not far from the border with Sweden, which is where most of the wolves (and bears) live.
Most of the pictures are from Grue and Finnskogen and some are from Trysil. Grue and Finnskogen are about 230 km from Rendalen and Trysil is closer.
This drawing shows where Hedmark is in Norway.
Hedmark in yellow.
And this map shows Grue and Finnskogen in the south, Trysil in the middle and Rendalen in the north of Hedmark.
Hedmark with Grue, Trysil and Rendalen.
When I was a kid fishing and football were my favourite activites. We lived close to a river, Flisa. We also went to the Rendalen area a couple of times to fish in Sølensjøen.
Rikesten, a man from Finnskogen, known for his shamanic abilities. He lived the last years of his life in the house of my great-grandparents on my mother's side.
Rikesten means someone living on land owned by someone else.
Let us know!