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Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition
Volume XVII
Norway
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Edmund William Gosse
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition
Volume XVII
— Norway
Edmund William Gosse
N O R W A Y
Part I.—Geography.
Plate XX.
ORWAY comprises the western and northern
divisions of the Scandinavian peninsula. It is bounded
N. by the Arctic Ocean, W. by the Norwegian Sea and the
North Sea, S. by the Skagerrak, and E. by Sweden, Finland,
and Russia. It lies between 57° 59′ (Lindesnæs, or The
Naze) and 71° 11′ (Knivskjærodden, close to the North
Cape) N. lat. and 4° 30′.5 (Utvær, off Sogne Fjord) and
31° 12′.5 (Renö, adjacent to Vardö) E. long. The length
of the coast-line, exclusive of fjords, bays, and islands,
is 3018 miles, and the area 122,780 square miles. The
country, which has its greatest breadth, 280 miles, at the
61st parallel of latitude, is comparatively narrow, measuring
only 70 miles across between the 64th and the 68th
parallels.
Configuration.
The Scandinavian peninsula constitutes for the most
part a rocky region, of which the loftiest tracts lie on
the Norwegian side. The interior of Finmark, the most
northerly district of Norway, has no considerable heights;
but the frontier between Sweden and Norway, from Tromsö
stift (69° N. lat.) to the southern part of Throndhjem stift
(63° N. lat.), is marked by a continuous mountain range,
called Kjölen (the keel), which, geologically, extends in
lower levels still farther south as the frontier between the
two countries. In this range are specially conspicuous the
alpine regions occupying the interior of Tromsö stift, with
peaks reaching a maximum altitude of 5475 feet,—the
ice-clad tract of Sulitjelma east of Salten Fjord (6178 feet),
the heights east of Throndhjem Fjord (4560 feet), and those
east of Röros (4680 feet). From this region the loftiest
line of the rocky mass takes a direction bearing west-south
west, under the name of the Dovre Fjeld, commencing with
a plateau only 2000 feet high, but rising farther west into
mountainous tracts like those of Snæhætten, whose summit
(7566 feet) was long regarded as the highest in Norway,
Rundane (6930 feet), the Jotun Fjelde, where the loftiest
peak of Norway, or indeed of northern Europe, occurs
(Galdhöpiggen, 8400 feet), and terminating at its western
extremity, north of Sogne Fjord, in the snow-field known
as Justedalsbræ, where Lodalskaupen reaches the height
of 6790 feet. From the Jotun Fjelde the ridge extends
southwards, under the name of the Lang Fjelde, comprising
the Fille Fjeld (Suletind, 5807 feet; Jökuleggen, 6247
feet), the Hemsedal Fjeld, Hallingskarvet (6430 feet),
Hallingjökelen (6539 feet), Hardangervidden (Haarteigen,
6063 feet), and is gradually lost in more moderate
elevations towards the extreme south of the country. Thus a
glance at the map will show that the ridge of highest
points which traverses the Scandinavian peninsula runs
almost parallel to the west coast of Norway, and that the
lines retain on the whole this relative position in their
various deviations. The narrower part of the mountain
mass occurs on the side of the ridge facing the Norwegian
Sea, the broader part on that facing the Baltic and its
arms. In the latter direction,
i.e.
, eastward, the surface
of the country presents a comparatively uniform slope,
alike in Sweden and in the part of Norway lying south
of the Dovre Fjeld and east of the Lang Fjelde. West
of the ridge, on the other hand, the rocky mass maintains
on the whole a higher elevation, sinking comparatively
slowly and here and there in ledges towards the sea, so
that in various localities its final descent to the ocean is
exceedingly abrupt, or it terminates in lofty precipitous
islands.
In Norway the mountainous region constitutes chiefly
a vast plateau extending well-nigh over the whole country,
the general outline of which has been noted above. From
this tableland rise the summits of the mountains, and the
rocky mass itself is intersected by wide fissures, forming
valleys, lakes, and fjords. The roads across the mountain
ridge traverse the valleys, and hence can afford no standard
by which to measure its height. Its elevation is estimated
at from 2000 to 4000 feet in different localities. From
the position of this mountain ridge it naturally follows
that the longest valleys and the longest rivers are found
in the “east country,”
i.e.
, the part of Norway lying to the
east of the Lang Fjelde and south of the Dovre Fjeld,
whereas on the west coast the valleys are invariably short,
and many of the fissures are occupied by deep fjords
penetrating far into the interior. Such parts of the country
as may justly be entitled plains (as, for instance, Romerike
in east Norway, and Lister and Jæderen on the south-west
coast) are exceedingly limited as to both number and
Rivers.
extent. Hence the rivers are navigable only for short
distances, and even then only exceptionally by large vessels.
It is only in those comparatively frequent cases where the
rivers expand into lakes that they can, strictly speaking,
be navigated by ships. On the other hand, the waterfalls
in Norway are exceedingly numerous, and many of
them remarkable for their height, body of water, and
great beauty. The most important rivers are enumerated
below.
(1) The Klar Elv flows from Fæmundsö into Sweden. (2) The
Tista (7 miles) flows through Femsö and thence into the sea at
Frederikshald. (3) The Glommen, the largest river in the Scandinavian
peninsula (350 miles), rises in Söndre (South) Throndhjem amt,
north of Röros, flows through Österdal, and disembogues by two
arms into the Skagerrak at Frederikstad. It is navigable for large
ships 7 miles from its mouth up to Sarpsborg, where it forms the
celebrated Sarpfos (69 feet). The Glommen has numerous
tributaries, of which the most considerable is the Vormen, flowing out of
Lake Mjösen. (4) The Gudbrand Laagen (50 miles), rising in
Lesjeskogen Vand (a lake with two outlets) on the Dovre Fjeld and
flowing through Gudbrandsdal, forms Lake Losna and falls into
Lake Mjösen at Lillehammer. (5) The Drams Elv (163 miles,
reckoned from the source of the Bægna), the outlet of Lake
Tyrifjord, falls at Drammen into Drammen Fjord, an arm of Christiania
Fjord. The chief tributaries of the Drams Elv are the Rands
Elv, which flows through Rands Fjord; the Bægna (87 miles),
which rises in the Fille Fjeld and passes through Valders; and
the Hallingdal Elv (113 miles), which has its source in Hallingskarvet
and flows through Hallingdal and Lake Kröderen. The two
first of these tributary streams unite at Hönefos, at the northern
extremity of Lake Tyrifjord. (6) The Nummedal Laagen (143
miles) rises in the mountain lake Normands Laagen on Hardangervidden
(Waste of Hardanger), flows through Nummedal, passes the
mining town of Kongsberg, and falls into the Skagerrak at Laurvik.
(7) The Skien Elv (126 miles) receives the drainage of eastern
Thelemark and falls at Skien into Skien Fjord. (8) The Nisser
Elv (112 miles), from Nisser Vand, falls into the sea at Arendal.
(9) The Topdal Elv (84 miles) rises in western Thelemark and
disembogues at Christiansand. (10) The Otteren (140 miles) flows
through Sætersdal, where it expands into several lakes, and falls
at Christiansand into the Skagerrak. (11) The Mandal Elv (85
miles) reaches the Skagerrak at Mandal. (12) The Sire-aa (84
miles) traverses Siredal, forms Siredal Vand, and disembogues into
the North Sea. (13) The Bjoreia (22 miles) rises on Hardangervidden,
forms the celebrated Vöringfos (474 feet high), and
discharges itself into Hardanger Fjord. (14) The Rauma (36 miles),
from Lesjeskogen Vand, flows through Romsdal and has its outlet
at Veblungsnæs into Romsdal Fjord. (15) The Driva (70 miles),
from Snæhætten on the north side of the Dovre Fjeld, flows through
Drivdal and disembogues into Sundal Fjord. (16) The Orkla (98
miles), flowing from Opdal through Orkedal, discharges itself into
Throndhjem Fjord. (17) The Gula (78 miles) rises in close proximity
to the springs of the Glommen and flows through Guldal to
Throndhjem Fjord near the embouchure of the Orkla. (18) The
Nea (70 miles), from Selbusjö, the river on which Throndhjem is
situated, forms the Lerfos. (19) The Namsen Elv (85 miles) flows
through Namdal and enters Namsen Fjord at Namsos. (20) The
Rös Elv (16 miles), the outlet of Rös Vand, falls into Ranen Fjord.
(21) The Ranen Elv (42 miles), from the frontier range,
disembogues into Ranen Fjord. (22) The Salten Elv (43 miles) falls into
Salten Fjord. (23) The Maals Elv (74 miles) flows into Malangen
Fjord. (24) The Skibotten Elv (43 miles) falls into Lyngen Fjord.
(25) The Reisen Elv (70 miles), from the Swedish-Norwegian
frontier, disembogues into Reisen Fjord. (26) The Alten Elv (98
miles), from the Finmark plateau, flows past Kautokeino and falls
into Alten Fjord; it is navigable with boats for a considerable
distance. (27) The Tana Elv (175 miles), which constitutes throughout
a great part of its course the frontier between Norway and
Finland, disembogues into Tana Fjord ; it also is navigable with
boats for a considerable distance. (28) The Neiden Elv (50 miles)
is in south Varanger. (29) The Pasvik Elv (77 miles), which for
part of its course constitutes the Russian frontier, drains the great
Enare Lake and flows into Kloster Fjord, an arm of Varanger Fjord.
(30) The Jakobs Elv (15 miles), the last frontier river borderiirg on
Russia, disembogues close to King Oscar II.'s Chapel.
Lakes.
The fresh-water lakes of Norway must, as already stated,
be generally regarded as mere river expansions. Hence
they are, as a rule, long and narrow, and, to judge from the
soundings hitherto made, exceedingly deep.
The most important are:—Fæmundsö in Österdal, 35 miles long,
2300 feet above the sea; Oieren (Glommen); Mjösen, the largest
inland lake of Norway, 57 miles long, with a surface-area of 200
square miles, 400 feet above the sea, and 1483 feet in depth, the
bottom being 1083 feet beneath the level of the North Sea; Randsfjord,
43 miles long; Tyrifjord, comparatively quadrangular in
form; Kröderen (the Hallingdal Elv), Nordsjö, Hiterdal Vand,
Tinsjö, Siljord Vand, Bandak Vand, Nisser Vand, in Thelemark;
Bygdin, Gjende, 3314 feet above the sea; Vinster Vandene (Jotun
Fjelde), Hornindal Vand (in Nordfjord), Selbusjö (Throndhjem),
Rös Vand, possibly the largest inland lake of Norway next to
Mjösen, and by comparison of a somewhat more quadrangular form,
in Helgeland; and Alte Vand (Tromsö stift). A map of Norway
on a large scale shows a prodigious number of smaller sheets of
water, more particularly in Christiansand stift. The total surface-area
of all the fresh-water lakes of Norway is estimated at 2930
square miles, or 2.38 per cent. of the area of the land.
Southern coast.
The numerous and in many cases very extensive fjords,
as well as the height and contour of the country, give to
the different parts of the coast of Norway a remarkably
varied character. For long distances the mainland does
not come into direct contact with the sea, girdled as it is
by a belt of islands, holms, and skerries, more or less
thickly set, which forms the so-called “skjærgaard” (fence
of skerries) or outer coast. Between this wall of islets
and the mainland, accordingly, extends a connected series
of sounds—“leder” (roads), as they are called—of the
greatest importance for coastal navigation, since they
admit of the employment of smaller and weaker vessels.
The whole of the coast from Svinesund, the terminal point
of the southern frontier towards Sweden, as far as Lister,
is comparatively low. Of its most noteworthy fjords the
first in order is that of Christiania, 90 miles long from
south to north, or from the Færder lighthouse to
Christiania. Here, at its head, it forms Bunde Fjord, extending
north to south; and some distance down Drammen Fjord.
Farther west comes Langesund Fjord, which enters Skien
Fjord in a northerly direction. The remaining fjords on
this tract of the coast are of minor importance. Of islands
must be mentioned those in close proximity to Christiania:—Jelöen,
in the vicinity of Moss; the Hvalöer, off the
eastern shore of Christiania Fjord; Nöterö and Tjomö, off
the western shore; Jomfruland, in the vicinity of Kragerö;
and Tromöen, near Arendal. The navigable roads or sounds
on this part of the coast are not strictly connected, though
comparatively considerable in extent. Open tracts,
unprotected by a belt of islets and skerries, occur at the
mouth of Langesund Fjord, and along the coast westwards
from Lindesnæs. At Lister the coast begins to rise, and
continues to do so as far as the flats of Jæderen, where the
land has a gentle slope towards the interior of the country.
This tract, with the sole exception of Egeröen, has no
girdle of skerries, nor is it anywhere intersected by any
considerable fjords.
Western coast.
From Bukken Fjord, however, which lies fully exposed
to the sea, the “skjærgaard,” in a stricter sense,
commences, to continue almost uninterruptedly along the
whole west coast. Bukken Fjord sends off several arms,
the principal of which are Stavanger Fjord and Lyse
Fjord, the latter noted for its great narrowness and its
lofty precipitous walls. The roads or navigable sounds
between Bukken Fjord and Bergen are open to the sea at
the mouths of the larger fjords only. Of such the most
noteworthy is Hardanger Fjord, which, beginning at
Bömmelen and piercing the country for 80 miles in a north
easterly direction, sends off several arms. That nearest
the head is the picturesque Sör Fjord, lying north and
south. From Bergen northwards to Cape Stad there is,
if the mouths of the fjords be excepted, a well-protected
“led” or road. At the 61st parallel of latitude we have
the longest fjord of Norway, Sogne Fjord, which penetrates
100 miles into the country, everywhere shut in by high
and precipitous rocky walls. Northwards, its chief arms are
Fjærland Fjord, Sogndal Fjord, and Lyster Fjord;
eastwards, Aardal Fjord and Leirdal Fjord ; southwards,
Aurland Fjord, together with Nerö Fjord, the grandest of
them all. Off the north shore of Sogne Fjord we have the
most westerly islands of Norway, viz., Utvær, and farther
north the lofty islands of Alden, Kinn, Batalden, and
Skorpen. Here Dais Fjord and Förde Fjord, and farther
north Nord Fjord, of very considerable extent, penetrate
into the country. Off Nord Fjord lies the island of
Bremangerland, with a mountain summit, the Hornelen, rising
to the height of 2940 feet. The land at Stad projects
into the sea without any belt of islets; the protecting fence,
however, soon recommences farther towards the north-east.
On this part of the coast, that of Romsdal, several large
fjords penetrate deep into the country, such as Stor Fjord
in Söndmöre, with numerous arms, the most important
being Hjörund Fjord and Sunelv Fjord, Romsdal Fjord,
Sundal Fjord, and Surendal Fjord. To an exposed tract
of coast, Hustadviken, south of Christiansund, succeeds
Throndhjem Led (Throndhjem Road), shut off from the
sea by the large low islands of Smölen and Hiteren, the
latter of which is the largest island in southern Norway.
From Throndhjem Led the broad and extensive Throndhjem
Fjord stretches in several directions, first south-eastwards,
then eastwards, and finally north-eastwards, for
about 80 miles into the country, as far as Stenkjær on
Beitstad Fjord.
North of Throndhjem Fjord an outer coast with a
navigable “road” extends almost unbroken to the North Cape.
Among other fjords in Nordre Throndhjem amt Folden
Fjord and Namsen Fjord must be mentioned; off the latter,
the low-lying group of islands bearing the name of Vigten
project far into the sea, surrounded, as in the case of
Smolen and Hiteren, by an extremely shoaly “skjærgaard,”
which stretches right up to Vest Fjord, and renders an
approach to land very difficult and dangerous. The coast
of Nordland is distinguished by a chain of lofty picturesque
islands, as Torghatten, with its natural tunnel, 400 feet
above the sea, which runs from south-west to north-east for
a length of 520 feet, Vægö, Dönnesö, Lovunden, Trænan,
Hestmandö, Lurö, Fuglö, and Landegode. The mainland,
too, exhibits magnificent mountain summits, viz., the Seven
Sisters on Alstenöen, Strandtinderne, and the snow-field
Svartisen. The fjords, though not so long as in southern
Norway, are still of very considerable size, as, for example,
Bindal Fjord, Vel Fjord, Vefsen Fjord, Ranen Fjord, Salten
Fjord, Folden Fjord, Tys Fjord, and Ofoten Fjord. Off
Salten are the well-known Lofoten Islands, skirting westerly
the broad arm of the sea called Vest Fjord, which terminates
in Ofoten Fjord. The Lofotens consist of a chain of
islands separated from each other by broader and narrower
channels. The mountains on the outermost group are not
particularly high—indeed the principal island, Röst, is
remarkably low; but otherwise the islands exhibit a chain of
granite peaks to be counted in hundreds, strangely
characteristic with their jagged, fantastic outlines, and towering
to a height of from 2000 to 3500 feet above the level of
the sea. This truly alpine scenery is rendered the more
imposing in character by the fact of its rising directly from
the sea. The Lofotens are connected on the north with
the group of islands called Vesteraalen, which, in their southern
parts, fully equal the Lofotens in grandeur. Within
these groups of islands lies the largest island in Norway,
Hindöen (area, 865 square miles), with the lofty peak,
Mösadlen. From the innermost creek of Ofoten Fjord the
Northern fjords and islands.
distance to the Swedish frontier is only 6 miles. North
of Hindöen, in Tromsö amt, there is also a chain of large
islands, as Senjen, Kvalö, Ringvasö, and others. Of large
fjords may be mentioned Malangen Fjord, Bals Fjord, Ulfs
Fjord, Lyngen Fjord, as also Kvænang Fjord, with the grand
scenery of the Kvænang peaks. In Finmark, the large
coast islands Sörö, Stjernö, Seiland, Kvalö, Ingö, Magerö
extend to the North Cape; but here the “skjærgaard,” or
outer coast, comes abruptly to an end. The coast of east
Finmark presents a totally different character: flat mountain
wastes descend precipitously to the ocean without any
islands beyond, save Vardö, with two low islets at the
farthest eastern extremity of Norway. The fjords of
Finmark are broad and long, as Alten Fjord, Porsanger Fjord,
Laxe Fjord, Tana Fjord, all extending southwards, and
Varanger Fjord, which takes a westerly direction. The
farther east one proceeds the lower does the country
become; the sharp peaks disappear and give way to a low-lying,
monotonous landscape on the north side of Varanger
Fjord; the south side, however, exhibits a more varied
aspect, especially where, between the tributary fjords,
several islands occur. The total area of the islands of
Norway amounts to 8460 square miles.
Sea-bed.
The form of the sea-bed off the shores of Norway has been
investigated, partly by the Coast Survey and partly by the Norwegian
North Atlantic Expedition, 1876-78. (See
North Sea
and
Norwegian Sea
.) The hundred-fathom line of the North Sea extends
west of the British Islands, and north of Shetland towards Norway,
off Cape Stad. But the bank bounded by this line does not fully
reach the Norwegian coast. From off Stad (62° N. lat.) a depression
in the sea-bed, called the Norwegian Channel, stretches along
the west and south coasts of Norway, southward and eastward,
almost to Christiania Fjord and the Cattegat. The deepest part of
this channel, upwards of 400 fathoms, extends through the
Skagerrak between Arendal in Norway and the Scaw. Off Lister the
depth is 200 fathoms, and off Bömmelen, the shallowest part, 120
fathoms. Thence it increases in a northerly direction, reaching
200 fathoms off Sogne Fjord, after which the channel finds an outlet
into the deep basin of the Norwegian Sea. The breadth of the
Norwegian Channel, computing by the hundred-fathom line, is from 50
to 70 miles; it is narrowest in the southernmost part, off Lindesnæs.
Its walls shelve gradually down on either side, and the bottom is
comparatively wide and flat. The bank extending between the
coast and the inner slope of the channel is exceedingly narrow,
being only from 7 to 10 miles broad. The Norwegian Channel thus
constitutes a definite boundary between the plateau of the North
Sea, with the countries rising from it, and the land of Norway.
North of Stad occurs an expansion of the Norwegian coastal bank.
Its outer slope rapidly descends towards the deep basin of the
Norwegian Sea. While the hundred-fathom line keeps comparatively
close to the Norwegian coast as far as the Russian frontier—off the
Lofotens only does it extend a little more than 40 miles from land—the
two-hundred-fathom line, which, off Romsdal, at Storeggen,
runs at a distance of 40 miles from the shore, takes a northward
direction, the coast, on the other hand, deflecting towards the north
east and north-north-east. Accordingly the distance between them
continues to increase till, off the coast of Helgoland, it reaches 130
miles. Off the Lofotens and Vesteraalen it again approaches the land,
at its nearest point—off Andenæs in Vesteraalen being scarcely 10
miles distant. North of Vesteraalen, the two-hundred-fathom line,
or the edge of the coastal bank, makes another bend towards the
north, and draws off from the coast of Norway. The Barents Sea,
which bounds Norway on the north, is a comparatively shallow
ocean tract, the greater part of its bed ranging between 100 and
200 fathoms below the surface. Norway is thus encompassed by
a series of rampart-like coastal banks, in the strictest sense
continuous,
being nowhere broken by channels through which ice-cold water
from the depth of the Polar Sea would otherwise find a passage to
the “sejlled” or navigable roads along the coast, and to the deep
fjords that penetrate so far into the country. The Norwegian
fjords have as a rule the remarkable characteristic that the bottom
for great distances lies deeper, and in some cases very considerably
deeper, than the surface of the coastal banks; thus, for example
the Norwegian Channel is upwards of 400 fathoms deep in the
Skagerrak, Stavanger Fjord has a depth of 380 fathoms, Hardann>r
Fjord 355, Sogne Fjord 670, Nord Fjord 340, Throndhjem Fjord 300
Ranen Fjord 235, Vest Fjord 340, Alten Fjord 225, and Vaitager
Fjord 230. These maximum depths occur in manv cases at a great
distance from the sea.
Geology.
For our knowledge of the geology of Norway we are
chiefly indebted to the results brought to light by the
Royal Norwegian Geological Survey, under the direction
of Professor Kjerulf. To the geologist Norway presents
a region of the highest interest, alike from the structure
of the country itself and from the fact of the rock-surface
almost everywhere lying bare and being intersected by
natural profiles of valleys and ravines. Extensive tracts
Archæan formation.
consist of the Archæan formation, with its strata of gneiss,
hornblende schist, and quartz,—the first of these forming
the lower, the last the upper section, both of great depth.
The beds are generally folded, and in part vertical. This
formation occurs particularly in Romsdal, in the vicinity
of Arendal, east of Christiania Fjord (gneiss), in Thelemark,
Hallingdal, Nordfjord (quartz), along the shores
of Sogne Fjord, throughout the inner tracts of east
Finmark. Above this formation is the Sparagmite, chiefly
consisting of fragmentary rocks in thick strata, with felspar
embedded. The lowest beds are grey and red Sparagmite,
partly accompanied by deep masses of conglomerate. To
this formation belongs the blue quartz, widely distributed
throughout central Norway, as also subordinate green and
black clay schist and black limestones. In the latter, which
constitute the upper part of the formation, the Primordial
Zone, we meet with the first traces of animal life—the oldest
trilobites. The Sparagmite formation extends throughout
a great part of central Norway, Österdal, Gudbrandsdal,
Land. In other parts the Primordial Zone is met with
immediately above the Archæan rocks. Then succeeds the
Silurian system.
Silurian system, also of wide extent, occurring in a series
of beds distinctly marked off by their fossils.
Characteristic strata in this system are the orthoceratite limestone
with graptolithic schist (Lower Silurian), next lime
sandstone, pentamerous limestone, coral limestone, along with
other strata, such as red clay schist, limestones, and marl
slate (Upper Silurian). The Silurian beds are almost every
where greatly bent, compressed, and dislocated; the strike
is in the great majority of cases from south-west to north
east. At and around Christiania, in the tracts bordering
on Lake Mjösen and Skien Fjord, the Silurian beds occur
without being metamorphosed, except locally at their
contact with eruptive rocks. In the environs of Bergen, the
outer part of Hardanger Fjord, the Hardanger Waste,
in Sondre Throndhjem amt we meet with regionally
metamorphic schists and limestones containing Silurian
fossils. In the medial of the three sections of the Throndhjem
schists occur Upper Silurian fossils. The Silurian
system in Norway extends in the direction of south-west
to north-east, straight across the southern part of the
country, from Hardanger Fjord to some distance east of
Throndhjem Fjord, as also from Skien Fjord to Lake
Mjosen. Above the Silurian system is found, in various
localities, more particularly west of Christiania Fjord, a
sandstone formation, to some extent along with
conglomerates, of which the geological age remains uncertain, no
fossils having as yet been found in it. With this formation
the series of stratified rocks in southern Norway
may be said to terminate, since the next fossil-bearing
strata are diluvian, containing Pleistocene animal remains.
Local formations.
In various parts of the country we meet with extensive
and highly-remarkable beds, geologically established with
special local designations, and which, on the discovery of
fossils indicating the sections, will, no doubt, at some later
period be classed under the names given to the great and
generally accepted formations with more precision than is
possible at present. Such are, farthest north, the Gaisa
series and the Raipas series in Finmark; in the Throndhjem
region, the older of the Throndhjem schists,
conglomerate and the sandstone series, and the Gula schists;
in central Norway, environing the Jotun Fjelde, the alpine
quartz. Of Mesozoic beds (Oxford clay) a few only still
remain on the island of Andö in Vesteraalen; they consist
of sandstone, coal, and oil-shale, with embedded Jurassic
fossils.
Eruptive rocks,—granite.
The eruptive rocks—granite, syenite, porphyry, gabbro,
norite, serpentine, greenstone, &c.—have broken through
the beds of the various formations in a variety of ways, at
one time as vast masses in continuous streams, at another
time as isolated dome-like summits or simply cutting up
wards as dykes. Old granite occurs in Christiansand stift,
Thelemark, the Hardanger Waste, where it extends over
extensive tracts and at its boundaries is seen to break through
the Archaean formation, sending off multitudinous coarse-grained
dykes, as also on the east side of the mouth of
Christiania Fjord, in Aadal and in Hedal, south of Valders,
and in Österdal. Very extensive tracts of granite are met
with along the coast of Romsdal and in Nordre Throndhjem
amt, where the coast, called Fosen, exhibits its
characteristic rounded forms. Up through Nordland we pass
numerous granite tracts of considerable extent. The whole
of the Lofotens and Vesteraalen, together with all the outermost
islets, holms, and skerries along the coast of Nordland,
consist exclusively of granite. The interior of Finmark
also has very large granite tracts. Extensive masses of
post-Silurian granite and syenite, as also of porphyry in
sheets, occur to the west and north of Christiania Fjord;
it is at the borders of these masses that the Silurian system
here becomes prominent. The largest tract of gabbro
is that of the Jotun Fjelde; this rock is also met with
extensively in Throndhjem stift and in Tromsö stift.
Norite occurs chiefly near Sogne Fjord and at Egersund.
Serpentine, in tracts of very considerable extent, is met
with principally throughout Throndhjem stift. Dykes of
post-Silurian porphyry, but more especially of greenstone,
pierce in large numbers the Silurian system of eastern
Norway; similar dykes, however, are also seen here and
there throughout the country traversing both schist and
granite.
Minerals.
Notwithstanding its great abundance of rocks, Norway
cannot be said to be rich in valuable ores or minerals.
Thus, for example, true coal does not occur; Jurassic has
been found on Andöen, but only in seams extremely limited
in extent. Gold is met with very sparingly in veins of
quartz at Eidsvold, in the rivers of Finmark, and along
with silver in the Kongsberg mines. The latter metal is
found as native silver in veins of calcareous spar at Kongsberg,
where the state owns a silver mine of considerable
value. Copper occurs in numerous localities, as Thelemark,
Röros in the Throndhjem district, many parts of the west
coast, more especially at Vigsnæs on Karmöen, and in northern
Norway at Kaafjord in Alten. Nickel is produced in
some parts from sulphuretted iron ore, particularly on
the island of Senjen in Tromsö amt. Iron ores are met
with in southern Norway, particularly along the coast near
Arendal. According to the geological survey, the presence
of ore is intimately connected with the eruptive rocks, at
the limits of which they are accordingly to be looked for,
both in the Archæan and in the later formations; thus
on the confines of the oldest granite we find alike iron and
copper ore; on those of gabbro, sulphuretted iron ore
containing nickel and apatite.
Volcanoes, in a strict sense, and their subsequent results,
such as hot springs, have not been met with in Norway.
Geological changes.
The portion of the earth's crust now visible in Norway has
obviously in the lapse of time undergone very great changes with
respect to the position of its parts, their level, and their surface.
Both the oldest formation and the later systems are almost every
where greatly bent, compressed, and distorted, and also denuded,
and their parts forcibly dislocated, alike as regards situation and
relative height. Formations that in the interior lie at a height of
several thousand feet are on the coast found level with the surface
of the sea. Strata resting on the summits bordering a lake or the
shores of a fjord are again seen on islands in such lakes or fjords,
and level with the surface of the latter. One side of a valley
exhibits a profile which, in regard to the height of the various strata,
differs materially from the profile of the opposite side. The whole
rocky sheet is cut up in various directions, and the several laminæ
are now sunk beneath, now raised above, those adjoining them.
These dislocations have been occasioned by fissures, which in many
places can be pointed out, and the number of such provable faults
of dislocation increases almost every year. The direction of the
fissures is manifestly of the greatest assistance in indicating the
form exhibited by the surface of the country. The subsidence
between two fissures produces a valley, a fjord, its rise on the other
hand a height, a promontory. Professor Kjerulf has succeeded in
showing that the entire system embracing the valleys and fjords of
southern Norway may be easily referred to four principal directions,
corresponding very nearly to the four quarters of the globe, round
which the principal directions of the valleys and fjords are found
grouped with predominant frequency. The same applies to northern
Norway, and can also be shown to distinguish the fjords of
Spitzbergen, Iceland, and Greenland; the same directions are again met
with in the lines of the Icelandic volcanoes, springs, lava-dykes,
and volcanic eruptions.
Influence of the ice age.
Vestiges left by the ice age are very conspicuous and varied
throughout Norway. The rock-surface exhibits almost everywhere,
and more especially when sheltered by loose superincumbent layers,
a ground, polished, and striated aspect; up to a height of 4000 to
5000 feet the striation runs in the direction of the valleys, or from
the lofty inland tracts, towards the sea. Boulders of foreign origin
are found scattered over the mountains, in the fields, and in the
loose layers covering the surface; their origin can often be determined
with certainty. Old moraines, consisting of gravel-walls
lying transversely to the direction of the striæ, indicate by their
position the fronts of the ancient glaciers, and by their numerous
serial lines an equal number of breaks in the retreat of the ice into
the country. Layers of clay and banks of mussel-shells, in which
are embedded the remains of arctic marine animals, indicate the
sedimentary deposit of the material carried down by the rivers of
the ancient glaciers to the sea.
Snow-masses.
At the present day perpetual snow is found in Norway only in
elevated localities. The most celebrated masses are the following—(1)
the Justedalsbræ, between Sogne Fjord and Nord Fjord. It
occupies an area of 580 square miles, reaches an altitude of 5000
feet, descends with its snow-cap to between 4000 and 4500 feet, and
sends off numerous glaciers on either side; several of these extend
very nearly down to the sea, as the Boiumbræ in Fjærland, in Sogn,
426 feet above the sea; the largest of the Justedal glaciers is the
Nigardsbræ. (2) The Folgefon, between Hardanger Fjord (Sör
Fjord) and Aakre Fjord, with an area of 108 square miles and
an altitude of 5270 feet. It sends off only three glaciers. (3)
Hallingskarvet. (4) The snow-fields of the Jotun Fjelde, east of
Sogne Fjord. (5) The snow-fields of Snæhætten. (6) The Store
Börge Fjeld in Helgoland. (7) Svartisen, the largest snow -field
but one in Norway, between Ranen Fjord and Salten Fjord in
Nordland. It sends off a number of glaciers, some of which reach
almost to the sea-level at the heads of the fjords. (8) The
Sulitjelma snow-field, east of Salten Fjord, on the Swedish frontier.
(9) The Jökul Fjeld, between Kvænang Fjord and Ox Fjord, on
the boundary of Finmark. It sends off magnificent glaciers towards
the sea. One of these, in Jökel Fjord, a branch of Kvænang
Fjord, extends down to the water's edge, so that fragments of its
ice fall into the fjord and float as small icebergs on the surface, the
sole instance of the kind in Norway. (10) Seilarid snow-field, on
the island of Seiland, near Hammerfest, the most northerly névé
in Europe. The limit of perpetual snow in Norway is estimated at
3080 feet on the island of Seiland, 5150 feet on the Dovre Fjeld,
from 4100 to 4900 feet on the Jotun Fjelde, from 3100 to 4100
feet on the Justedal snow-fields, and from 3100 to 4100 feet on the
Folgefon.
Marine terraces, beach-lines.
Traces of relative changes of level between land and sea are
observed in numerous localities. The highest marine terraces (in
which the remains of marine animals have been found) are met
with in the east part of the country and near Throndhjem at 600
feet above the sea-level; at the heads of the fjords on the west coast
they lie lower. This obviously proves these districts, at the termination
of the ice age, while the glaciers were still in process of melting,
to have been relatively lower than at present. And we have further
indication of the fact that the interior lay higher during the ice age in
the “giant kettles” occurring near the level of the sea, since these
are believed to have been formed at the foot of cataracts in the
glaciers, the substratum of which must, of course, have been above
the level of the sea. Along the whole coast, in numerous localities,
from Söndhordland (between Stavanger Fjord and Hardanger Fjord)
nearly to the North Cape, and along the fjords, are found ancient
beach-lines cut out in the solid rock. Their real significance as
sea-level marks is shown by their perfectly horizontal direction, by
their extending in several localities on the same level as the most
elevated of the marine terraces (
e.g.
, that of Throndhjem), by the
circumstance that in other places they run in a line continuous
with the surface of adjoining terraces, and finally by the
sea-wrought caverns found on the same level. It is in northern Norway
especially that beach-lines largely occur. In several localities
there are two parallel lines, the one above the other. Throughout
extensive tracts these lines can be referred to particular levels, thus
indicating a pause in the rise of the land that afforded sufficient
time for the action of the sea, or pointing to the presence of certain
climatic influences favourable to this production periodically
alternating with unfavourable intervals. No change of level in the
Norwegian coast within recent years can be scientifically shown.
Earthquakes are of rare occurrence in Norway.
The following is a summary of the results arrived at by
the Norwegian Meteorological Institute (1867-83). The
Temperature.
number of stations is from forty to fifty. The coldest parts
of Norway, where the mean annual temperature is below
32° Fahr., are the highest regions of the country and the
interior of Finmark (Karasjok, 26°.4); on the sea-shore it
is only at Varanger Fjord that it falls below 32°. The
highest mean annual temperature (44°.6) is that of Skudesnæs;
and the outer coastal margin from the mouth of Sogne
Fjord to Lindesnæs has a mean annual temperature of 44°.
The interior of southern Norway and that of Finmark have
the longest winter (200 days with a mean annual temperature
of under 32°) and the lowest winter temperature, the
mean temperature of the coldest day being under 14°. From
the interior districts towards the coast the climate becomes
everywhere milder in winter. From Lindesnæs an exceedingly
narrow strip of land stretches along the west coast
northwards right to the mouth of Throndhjem Fjord where
the lowest mean temperature of any day exceeds 32°. Röst,
the outermost of the Lofoten Islands, belongs to this strip
of coast (32°.9 in January). The January isotherm for 32°
reaches beyond Tromsö up to the 70th parallel of latitude;
on the one side it extends down to the southern coast of
Iceland, on the other to the alpine districts of Norway. In
January the interior of Finmark has a temperature of 20°.5,
central Norway, at an altitude of 1600 feet, 11°.3. The
winter isotherms follow the contours of the coast and lie
very close together. The summer is hottest in
south-eastern Norway (Christiania, July, 61°.9); next come
Hardanger (July, 58°.3) and Sogn (Sogndal, July, 60°.3).
Karasjok has in July a mean temperature of 57°.2. On
the coast the summer is colder than some distance inland;
it is coldest on the Finmark coast (Vardö, July, 47°.7)
and in the lofty inland tracts (Röros, 52°, 2000 feet above
the sea). The interior of Finmark has a higher temperature
(upwards of 57°) than any part of the outermost
coastal margin as far south as Jæderen (59° N. lat.). The
temperature in July (50°.2) at the North Cape (71° N.
lat.) is the same as in the southern part of Iceland (63°
to 64° N. lat.). The isotherm for 52° passes through the
Lofotens (68° N. lat.) and the Shetland Isles (62° N. lat.);
that for 56° extends from Jæderen straight across the
North Sea to the northern part of Scotland. On
reducing the temperature to the sea-level we get for the
south-eastern part of Norway a maximum of heat exceeding
60°. The interior having a warm summer and a cold
winter, and the coast a cool summer and a mild winter,
the annual range of temperature is greatest throughout
the inland regions (55° in Finmark, 45° in central
Norway)
and least on the coast—from Lindesnæs to Vardö.
In Österdal and the interior of Finmark the mercury
sometimes freezes (-40°). Along the outermost line
of coast, from Romsdal to Jæderen, the mercury never
sinks below 12°. At Karasjok a temperature of -58° has
been observed. The highest known readings are those
observed at Christiania (90°) and in Finmark (96° in the
vicinity of Varanger Fjord). Throughout a tract extending
straight across the country near the 65th parallel of
latitude the maximum temperature does not reach that
observed in the south-east and in Finmark. Along the
coast the highest temperature is from 77° to 79°, and
on the outermost skerries it hardly reaches 75°. The
diurnal range of the temperature of the air is greatest in
the south-east (Christiania, 15° in July, 3° in January),
least on the coast (only 5° in July). In Finmark it is
inappreciable during the dark season, when the sun is
below the horizon throughout the twenty-four hours. At
Vardö it is 5° in July. In spring the heat everywhere
makes its way from the coast towards the interior of the
country (in Finmark from north to south); in autumn the
cold passes from the interior towards the sea (in Finmark
from south to north). The thermic anomaly is in Norway
during the winter months always positive; along
the west coast it reaches as much as 36° in January, and
off the Lofotens amounts to even 43°, the highest value it
anywhere attains on the globe; even in central Norway it
is +11° in January. In July it is greatest in Lapland,
viz., +9°. Along a narrow strip of the south-western coast
of Norway it is negative in the month of July, though
hardly -2°; hence this strip of coast is comprised in the
negative thermic anomaly of the North Atlantic during
summer.
Relative humidity.
The tension of vapour is at all seasons of the year greatest
on the coast and least in the interior of the country.
The relative humidity is greatest on the coast of Finmark
(82 per cent. per annum). Leirdal in Sogn, which lies
under the lee of the Justedalsbræ, has an annual relative
humidity of only 65 per cent. In winter it is greatest in
the cold tracts of the interior (85 per cent.) and least on
the west coast (70 per cent.); in summer it is greatest on
the coast (upwards of 80 per cent.) and least in the
interior (Christiania, 60 per cent.). On the driest days
it can sink as low as 20 or even 12 per cent.
Isobars.
Just as the isotherms exhibit a tendency to follow the
contours of the coast, so likewise do the isobars. In the
mean for the year there is a maximum of pressure (reduced
to the level of the sea and to the gravity at 45° lat.) in
south-eastern Norway comprised within the isobar for
29.88 inches. The isobar for 29.84 inches extends from
the north of Scotland over Bergen, Dovre, Throndhjem,
and parallel with the coast of Nordland to Lapland. The
isobar for 29.80 inches passes across Shetland and the
coasts of Romsdal, Nordland, and Finmark to the south
side of Varanger Fjord. The isobar for 29.76 inches
passes a little to the north of the Faroe Islands, across the
Lofotens, and along the Finmark coast to Vardö. Out
in the Norwegian Sea there is a minimum pressure of
air (29.72 inches), with its longitudinal axis stretching
from south-west to north-east, between Iceland and
Norway; it extends into the Barents Sea, between Beeren
Eiland, Novaya Zemlya, and Finmark. In January the
normal isobars take approximately the same course.
Central Norway has a maximum of 29.97 inches. The isobar
for 29.80 inches extends from the north coast of Ireland
across Scotland to Stad and Lapland; that for 29.60
inches passes from the Faroe Islands towards the north
east, off the coast of Norway. The least pressure of air in
January is at the North Cape (29.64 inches). A minimum
occurs east of Iceland (29.45 inches, a still lower
(29.37 inches) west of Iceland, and another not quite so
low in the Barents Sea to the north-east of the North
Cape (29.56 inches). In July there is a minimum of
pressure (29.80 inches) over central Norway (61° N. lat.).
Along the part of the country adjoining the coastal region
we have a maximum zone with a pressure of 29.85. In
the sea between Iceland and Norway a trifling minimum
(29.76 inches) occurs. It is obvious that the distribution
of pressure must be regulated by that of temperature,—a
maximum pressure of air over the colder, a minimum
over the warmer localities.
Winds.
As a consequence of this normal distribution of the pressure
of the air the prevailing winds in winter blow from the
land to the sea, with a deviation to the right. These are
accordingly north-easterly along the Skagerrak, southerly
along the west coast, south-westerly in northern Norway.
They are for the most part cold winds, and cool down the
surface of the sea throughout the nearest tracts. In
summer sea-winds prevail; they blow along the land with
the land to the left, more especially in southern Norway,
where the coast of the Skagerrak has south-westerly,
Lindesnæs westerly, and the west coast northerly winds.
In northern Norway the prevailing summer winds are
northerly. The winds blowing along the coast, in one direction
or another, up or down, are twice as numerous as those
blowing across it, from the land or the sea. In accordance
with the greater value of the normal gradient in winter than
in summer, the force of the wind on the coast is greatest in
winter; during that season it rarely ceases to blow on the
coast; but the number of calm days is very considerable
in the interior of the country in and around the locality
of the maximum barometric pressure. In summer calm
weather is comparatively frequent on the coast (maximum
zone of pressure), but not to the same extent in the interior.
Upon the whole, the force of the wind on the coast is at all
seasons of the year much greater than in the inland tracts.
Storms are frequent on the coast (30 stormy days a year), rare
in the interior (4 stormy days a year). Their most
frequent direction is the same as that of the prevailing winds,
viz., for the whole country on an average from the south-west,
then from the west and the north-west. They are
most frequent in winter, particularly during December
and January (4 a month), rarest in summer (hardly 1 a
month).
Clouds.
The amount of cloud in Norway is on the whole
considerable. The coast of Finmark has the largest proportion
(upwards of 3 cloudy days to 1 clear day). In the interior
of the country the amount of cloud approximates 50 per
cent. The summer months are somewhat clearer than
those of winter.
Fog.
Fog is most frequent on the west coast and the coast
of Finmark in summer, rarest in winter. In the south-east
part of the country the reverse is the case. In winter a
frosty fog hangs over the inner extremities of the fjords
when the cold is severe and the wind blows out from the
land over the open water of the fjord.
Rain.
The number of days with rain or snow is upon the whole
greatest on the coast, from Jæderen to Vardö, least in the
south-east part of the country. At the North Cape, in the
Lofotens, along the west coast between Stad and Sogne
Fjord, precipitation occurs on as many as 200 days of the
year. On the Dovre Fjeld and on the coast bordering the
Skagerrak the number of rainy days amounts to about 100
a year. The number of days with snow is least at Lister,
increasing from 20 a year in that locality to 50 on the coast
of Nordland in the vicinity of Throndhjem Fjord, on the
Dovre Fjeld, and in Christiania, to 90 at Andenæs and
Vardö, and to 100 at the North Cape. From Vardö to
Andenæs, on the Dovre chain, and in the high mountain
tracts snow occurs more frequently than rain. Snow can
fall on the coast in all months of the year from the North
Cape to the Lofotens. The amount of precipitation is
greatest on the coast, between Sogne Fjord and Stad, where
it amounts to 77 inches. West of a line from the coast of
Romsdal to Christiansand it is above 40 inches. In the
Lofotens it reaches 45 inches. Throughout the south-east
and in Finmark it falls as low as 12 inches. In the former
region, however, exceptions occur; thus, for example, a
short distance north of Christiania the annual rainfall is
40 inches, whereas in the city itself it amounts to only
26 inches. In the south-east the amount of precipitation
is greatest during the months of July and August, on the
west coast late in autumn or in the beginning of winter.
The amount of precipitation is least in spring.
Thunderstorms.
Thunderstorms are not very frequent in Norway. They
occur chiefly in summer, either during rainy weather and
with southerly to south-westerly winds or (especially
throughout the interior) on very hot days. In winter the
heavy gales from the west and south-west on the west
coast are often accompanied with thunder and lightning
of an exceedingly dangerous character, the clouds hanging
very low. Not less than a hundred churches in Norway
have been struck and destroyed by lightning during the
last 150 years, and of these not less than forty on the
coast, in the winter thunderstorms, as far north as the
Lofotens. At the North Cape, too, thunderstorms occur
in winter.
Temperature of water in fjords.
The mild climate Norway enjoys must be chiefly ascribed to the
high temperature of the water that laves her shores. (See
Norwegian Sea
.) The fjords are filled with the heated water of the
Atlantic, which in their deepest parts exhibits a constant
temperature as high as, in the north even higher than, the mean
annual temperature of the air, representing an amount of heat
which during the coldest of winters can be reduced only to a slight
extent. Thus in the depths of the Skagerrak channel the temperature
is 42°, that of Sogne Fjord is 43°.7, of Throndhjem Fjord 42°.8,
of Ranen Fjord 40°.6, of Salten Fjord 38°.1, of Vest Fjord 42°.8, of
Alten Fjord 39°.2, and of Varanger Fjord 37°.6. Where the
temperature at a depth of 100 to 200 fathoms is above 32° the water
does not freeze; hence the open coasts and fjords of Norway. It
is only in the innermost and more continentally situated arms
of fjords into which rivers disembogue, as also along shallow
stretches of coast—the coast of Lister, for example—that the
sea is found to freeze in winters of exceptional severity. The cold
prevailing land-winds in winter cool the surface of the sea on the
coasts; therefore the surface-temperature increases outwards
towards a thermal axis extending off the coast of Norway, and the
isotherms of the sea-surface assume the same linguiform shape
as those of the air. In winter the surface of the sea on the coast
has a higher temperature than the air. The surplus heat is in
January 4° at the Skagerrak, 10° at the North Cape. In summer
the surface of the sea is in part very slightly colder than the air.
Thus upon the whole the sea exerts a direct influence in raising the
temperature of the air; and the prevailing direction of the wind
from the south-west tends to diffuse this heated air over the nearest
inland tracts, in particular those of the west coast. In summer
Norway is indebted, as regards climate, to the long days which, by
reason of her high northern latitude, she enjoys. The heated water
on the banks and in the fjords having during winter rendered
impossible the formation of ice on the coast, and thus provided against
any waste during summer of solar energy in a melting process, the
sun can freely exert his beneficent influence, working, so to speak,
well-nigh—in Finmark actually—without intermission throughout
the short period of vegetation.
The current sets as a rule along the Norwegian coast from the
mouth of Christiania Fjord, passing round Lindesnæs and thence
on to the North Cape and the Russian frontier. In the Skagerrak
the water is much less salt than on the west coast, being mixed
with fresh water from the great rivers in the south-east part of the
country, and those emptying into the Baltic. The tidal water is
scarcely appreciable east of Lindesnæs; its height increases,
however, rapidly northwards (Lindesnæs 1 foot, Stavanger 3 feet, Bergen
4 feet, Throndhjem 8 feet, Hammerfest and Vardö 9 feet). In
narrow sounds the tidal current is often exceedingly strong; the
following are examples—the Moskenström or Malström in the
Lofotens, the Saltström at Bodo, the Ryström at Tromsö.
Flora.
The forest growth of Norway consists chiefly of pine and fir,
which clothe the slopes of the mountain valleys, especially in
southern Norway (as those of the Glommen and its tributaries,
those of the Drammen, Laurvik, Skien, Arendal, and Christiansand
districts, and those drained by the rivers disemboguing at
Frederikshald). Extensive forests of Coniferous trees are also found
in Throndhjem stift and the amt of Nordland. The Coniferous
woods of Bergen and Tromsö stifts consist—with a solitary exception—of
fir alone. The extreme limit of the fir belt in southern
Norway is from 2200 to 3000 feet above the sea; throughout the
Throndhjem region, from 1600 to 2000 feet; at Talvik in Alten
(70° N. lat.) it does not exceed 700 feet. With the sole exception
of the birch, none of the foliferous trees indigenous to the country
form woods of great extent. The birch, reaching higher up the
mountain sides than do any of the Conifers, forms a belt above
them, which is, however, exceedingly narrow in southern Norway.
Next come the dwarf birch (
Betula nana
) and various species of
willows, and, last of all, between this and the snow-limit, the
lichen belt. But the line of demarcation between this region and
the willow belt is not distinctly traceable, the dwarf birch and
some few of the willows—more especially the creeping rotundifolious
varieties (
Salix herbacea
or
polaris
)—extending occasionally
to the very edge of the snow-fields. Other plants also, such as the
snow ranunculus, the Alpine heather, and numerous mountain
plants, many of them distinguished by their beautiful flowers,
grow abundantly here. The region of the Dovre is especially
noteworthy, as the tract in which the alpine flora of Northern Europe
is found in greatest variety, and within comparatively narrow
limits. In the fertile and less elevated districts of Norway the
forest growth, apart from Conifers, includes the ash, elm, lime, oak,
beech, and black alder. The aspen, white alder, mountain ash, and
bird cherry thrive at a considerable elevation, and are occasionally
found even in the birch zone. The oak still grows abundantly on
the south-eastern coast, from Jarlsberg-Laurvik amt to Christiansand,
but is nowhere found in extensive forests. The only locality
in which the beech can be said to thrive is Jarlsberg-Laurvik amt.
Fauna.
The vast fir and pine forests are still the haunts of the largest
of European carnivora—the bear, the lynx, and the wolf. The
numbers of the last-mentioned, however, have, in southern Norway,
been steadily and one may almost say unaccountably decreasing
during the last twenty years; and the wolf may be now regarded
as the most rare of all Norwegian beasts of prey. In Finmark
it still abounds, constituting the worst enemy to the herds of
reindeer. The bear also is less frequently met with, a fact to be
accounted for by the immense quantities of timber felled of late
throughout the country. The animal is most numerous now in
Throndhjem, Nordland, and Romsdal amts; it occurs with
comparative frequency in the amts of Bratsberg, Nedenæs, Buskerud,
Hedemark, and Christian, and is not absolutely rare in Nordre
Bergenhus amt. About 150 are annually killed throughout
Norway; in 1849 the number was twice as great. The lynx does not
appear to have suffered any diminution within the last twenty
years; as many as 120 are annually killed. Nordre Throndhjem
amt would appear to be its northern limit. This animal is most
destructive to hares and all kinds of feathered game. In the great
forests especially where the soil is marshy, and there is a mingled
growth of ash, mountain ash, and willow (
Salix caprea
)—the
elk occurs, and indeed appears to be increasing in numbers in
some places, notwithstanding the vast quantities of timber felled,
a fact chiefly attributable doubtless to the rapid decrease of its
worst enemies, the wolf and the bear. It is most numerous in
Hedemark and Buskerud, and in some parts of Akershus and
Smaalenene, though considerable numbers have been met with of
late throughout Nordre Throndhjem amt; in a westerly direction
it has penetrated as far as Nedenæs amt. The elk is not found in
the west of Norway, but its place is partially taken by the red
deer, which selects as its haunts the largest of the wooded islands
on the coast and the numerous semi-insular projections of the
mainland. It is most abundant on the island of Hiteren, at the
mouth of Throndhjem Fjord. The wild desolate wastes of the
fjelds are the home of the glutton and the reindeer, the lemming
and the polar fox. Large herds of reindeer still roam throughout
the alpine region of the fjelds between eastern and western
Norway, and on the Dovre mountains, the Rundane, and the
highlands between Gudbrandsdal and Österdal, and Gudbrandsdal and
Valders; but this noble animal has become scarcer of late years,
owing chiefly to the numbers killed by peasant hunters, who fire
their rifles into the midst of the herd, sometimes maiming at a shot
half-a-dozen animals, which they cannot hope to secure, and which
afterwards become the prey of the glutton. In some years, and in
certain localities, the lemming makes its appearance in countless
multitudes, to be attacked by its numerous enemies, particularly
birds of prey, among which are the snowy and the short-eared owl;
the common kestrel too, and the rough-legged buzzard, are seen in
large numbers at such times, sweeping over the wastes of the fjelds.
The lemming has an enemy among ruminants even, the reindeer
crushing it with a stroke of his cloven hoof for the sake of the
vegetable matter it contains. Hares are found all over the country
up to the snow-limit. In Finmark occur several species of small
mammals of Russian origin.
The sea that washes the shores of Norway abounds in fish; and
hence the coast, with its numberless islands, holms, and skerries,
is a favourite haunt for such birds and mammals as prey upon fishes
and other marine animals. When the herring approaches the coast
to spawn, it is hotly pursued by the whale; and in Finmark when
shoals of capelan make for the coast in spring, accompanied by
cod, which gorge themselves with this their favourite food, the
fin-whale (
Balænoptera musculus
) and the blue-whale (
Balænoptera
sibbaldi
) are also exceedingly numerous, and their presence has
given rise to a most important branch of the fishing industry. The
waters of the fjords, and the holms and islets of the coast, abound
in the spotted seal (
Phoca vitulina
), and the
Phoca barbata
is not
uncommon in some localities on the outermost skerries.
Avifauna.
Feathered game—capercally, black-cock, hazel grouse—is still
abundant in the forests, though less plentiful now than formerly,
owing to the reckless manner in which they have been destroyed
by amateur sportsmen. The woodcock is distributed pretty equally
over the whole country; besides the lynx, it has enemies in the
marten, fox, and weasel, the birds of prey most destructive to it
being the sparrow-hawk and the great eagle owl. The finest
ptarmigan are found in the birch region of the fjelds; but in southern
Norway they often prefer the more elevated tracts of the willow
zone during summer, though even then they are most abundant
in the birch zone. The “rype” must be regarded as the most
important of Norwegian game birds, on account of its numbers no
less than of its flavour. It is extensively snared in winter, and of
late years dogs have been used to hunt it. On the numerous
islands lying off the northern coast, where the vegetation is
strikingly similar to that of the birch belt and willow region of
the fjelds, ptarmigan are plentiful. The treeless island of Smölen,
in the bailiwick of Nordmöre, where they occur in great
numbers, is the most southerly of the insular localities they
frequent. The marshy tracts of the fjelds are the breeding-grounds
of numerous varieties of fen-fowl, the lapwing (
Charadrius
apriciarius
) and the dotterel plover (
Charadrius morinellus
) occurring
in great numbers. The double snipe and the teal, which also breed
in the willow belt, are frequently shot by sportsmen when in pursuit
of ptarmigan. In the numerous mountain tarns various species
of divers are met with, for instance the
Fuligula marila
and the
Fuligula clangula
. The partridge, which has strayed across from
Sweden, is now pretty evenly distributed throughout the amts of
Akershus, Buskerud, Hedemark, and Christian; but in severe
winters, when the fall of snow is exceptionally heavy, nearly every
bird perishes, and several years elapse before the stock is recruited
by immigration from the neighbouring kingdom. Almost every
species of sea-fowl occurring in northern Europe that prey upon
fish is found along the coasts, some of them breeding together in
countless thousands in certain localities. The coast north of Stad
is their chief haunt. The so-called “fugleberge” (bird cliffs) are
chiefly frequented by the
Mormon fratercula
, the flesh, eggs, and
feathers of which provide the owners of these preserves with some
of the chief necessaries of life. The great black-banded loom occurs
in tarns and mountain-lakes all over the country.
Fish.
Of the various species of freshwater fish the
Salmonidæ
are beyond
comparison the most important to the inhabitants. In the more
extensive of the lakes, which are generally of great depth, trout
attain almost the size of salmon, weighing up to 30 ℔. In some
lakes the red charr attains a weight of 12 ℔, as does also the
Finmark variety of this fish, which, in common with the sea-trout,
remains during most of the year in deep sea-water, ascending the
rivers in the spawning season only. Mountain-trout are found
to thrive best in certain lakes and tarns within the birch and
willow belts; but, owing to the abundance of food they can obtain,
do not readily take the fly, hence they must be fished for with
live bait or netted. As a rule, however, the great mountain-lakes
yield excellent sport to the angler. The Mjösen abounds in grayling
and charr; there is good grayling fishing too in the Tyrifjord and
Randsfjord. Next to these species the perch, pike, bream, and
eel are found in greatest numbers; but the eel is met with almost
exclusively in a few rivers of southern Norway. Norway,
notwithstanding the great number of its rivers which empty their waters
into the sea, will not, owing to their inaccessible character, bear
comparison with Great Britain or Ireland as a salmon-producing
country. The most destructive enemies of freshwater fish in Norway
are the otter, the loom, the duck, and the osprey.
The sea being very deep, both in the fjords and off the coast, such
fishes and marine animals as affect great depths are there abundant.
Some species are of great economic importance. On the banks off
the coast of Finmark, at a depth of 150 to 200 fathoms, large
numbers of the Greenland shark (
Scymnis glacialis
) are annually
captured, their livers yielding a large quantity of oil. During the first
half of the present century the sun fish, or basking shark (
Selache
maxima
), abounded on the coast, its capture forming an important
branch of the fishing industry. It is now but rarely met with;
and the fishery has been discontinued. No species of fish can
compare in point of importance with the herring and the cod,
which, taken in immense quantities on the western coast, constitute
one of the chief sources of national wealth.
Part II. Statistics.
Population.
The population of Norway on the 31st of December 1882 was
1,913,000, of whom 1,509,000 were living in the country districts, and
404,000 in the towns. Subjoined are the figures for each of the
eighteen counties (amter) into which the kingdom is divided:—
Smaalenene
114,000
Akershus
100,000
Buskerud
104,000
Jarlsberg and Laurvik
92,000
Bratsberg
87,000
Hedemark
123,000
Christian
113,000
Nedenæs
79,000
Lister and Mandal
77,000
Stavanger
118,000
Söndre Bergenhus
121,000
Nordre Bergenhus
88,000
Romsdal
125,000
Söndre Throndhjem
123,000
Nordre Throndhjem
84,000
Nordland
116,000
Tromsö
60,000
Finmark
27,000
Of the towns the following seven had the largest population
(Christiania and Bergen being each a separate amt) : Christiania,
119,407; Bergen, 43,026; Throndhjem (1875), 22,152; Stavanger
(1879), 23,500; Drammen, 19,582; Christiansand, 12,282; and
Christiansund, 9025.
Norway is the most sparsely-populated country in Europe, having
an average of about eighteen persons to the square mile. The
distribution is very unequal: the greatest density is in Christiania
stift, which contains about seven-twentieths of the whole population
in seven-hundredths of the total area of the country. The
density is relatively great along the coast. The districts which lie
more than 600 to 700 feet above the sea are comparatively sparsely
peopled. Notwithstanding the great emigration to America and
Australia which has taken place in recent years, the population of
the country has steadily advanced. About 1660 it numbered only
300,000, while at the beginning of the present century it was 800,000.
Agriculture.
According to the returns completed in 1875, the owners of real
property in the rural districts numbered 173,183, the total value
of their properties being stated at £42,390,000. 24,713 English
square miles of the southern stifts are estimated to be under wood,
while the whole arable land of the country in 1875 amounted to
738 square miles, with a production valued at £2,794,000. At the
same date the live stock included 151,903 horses, 1,016,617 cattle,
1,686,306 sheep, 322,861 goats, 101,020 pigs, and 96,567 reindeer.
Fisheries.
The fisheries form one of the most important sources of the
national wealth. In 1881 they employed upwards of 120,000 men,
and the aggregate profits were estimated at about £1,111,000. The
principal are the cod fisheries, along the inner coasts of the Lofoten
Islands, where, in 1881, 26,850 men on 6153 boats caught 28,400,000
fish, valued at £312,400. In the same year the cod fishery in
Finmark yielded about 13,000,000 fish, at a value of £131,000;
those on the coast of Söndmöre produced only one-fourth of this
amount. Next come the herring fisheries, which in 1881 yielded
2,412,630 bushels, valued at about £277,800. 6,165,000 mackerel
(£42,700) were also taken. The summer fisheries of coal-fish, ling,
salmon, trout, lobsters, and oysters at the same time gave a total
of £222,200.
Manufactures.
Manufacturing establishments in 1878 numbered 2628, employing
an aggregate of 41,391 hands. The leading place here is taken by
the saw-mills, of which there were 112 driven by steam (3402 hands)
and 630 by water (4274 hands). Next come 551 cotton-mills
(2037 workmen), 199 brick-works (3540 workmen), 123 cod-liver-oil
works (598 workmen), 112 shipbuilding yards (2388 workmen),
and 27 wood-fibre factories (805 workmen).
Mines.
Mines are a considerable source of wealth to the country, their
production in 1879 being estimated at £202,200. To this sum must
be added £11,310 for apatite, £6150 for felspar, and £24,360 as
the value of hewn stone exported in that year. The most important
mines are:—the silver mines at Kongsberg, which in 1879
produced 9415 ℔ of silver, and a surplus of £3750; the copper
works at Röros, producing 6880 tons, valued at £17,800 ; the copper
pyrite mines at Vigsnæs, with a production of 39,898 tons, and a
value of £69,440; the nickel-works at Senjen in Nordland, which
yielded 3828 tons, valued at £5000; the iron-works of Næs and
Egeland, which produced 2400 tons, at a value of £1050; and the
iron-works of Holden, with 5660 tons, worth £2500. It must,
however, be mentioned that the production of the mines since 1879
has been diminishing.
Commerce.
The foreign trade of Norway is steadily increasing. Its aggregate
value in 1882 was estimated at £15,724,500 (imports, £8,916,700;
exports, £6,807,800). The principal imports were:—corn, 1,100,000
quarters, £1,836,650; beef and pork, £202,660; butter, £310,570;
colonial wares, £894,950; and manufactured goods, 1,305,560.
Among the exports the leading place is taken by timber (£2,549,450),
of which the greater part was sent to England. The fishery
products sent abroad were valued at £1,444,450, and the metals at
£117,450. The port of Christiania has the largest trade, the
imports in 1882 having been worth £4,082,800, and the exports
£1,409,200; next to Christiania come Bergen and Throndhjem.
The mercantile marine of Norway some years ago passed through
a period of stagnation, but revived somewhat in 1880 and 1881. At
the close of the latter year it consisted of 7977 vessels (7618 sailing
vessels and 359 steamers), with an aggregate tonnage of 1,520,407.
The gross freight earned was £5,021,200, of which not less than
£3,969,500 were derived from the carrying trade. The largest
shipping ports are those of Stavanger (669 vessels, 120,017 tons),
Arendal (412 vessels, 171,858 tons), Bergen (348 vessels, 84,870 tons),
Christiania (318 vessels, 105,193 tons), and Drammen (281 vessels,
85,028 tons).
Railways.
The Norwegian railways have a total length of 973 English miles.
(1) From Christiania along the eastern coast of Christiania Fjord
to the Swedish frontier (Smaalensbanen), including the inner or
eastern line between the station of Ski and the town of Sarpsborg,
156 miles. (2) The Trunk Railway (Hovedbanen), between
Christiania and Eidsvold by Lake Mjösen, 42 miles. (3) From Lilleström
on the Trunk Railway to the Swedish frontier (Kongsvingerbanen),
71 miles. (4) From Eidsvold to Hamar (Hedemarksbanen), 36
miles. (5) From Hamar to Throndhjem (Rörosbanen), consisting
of four administratively separate sections—Hamar to Grundset, 24
miles; Grundset to Rena, 16 miles; Rena to Stören, 199 miles;
and Stören to Throndhjem, 31 miles. (6) From Throndhjem to
the Swedish frontier (Merakerbanen), 63 miles. (7) From
Christiania to Drammen, 33 miles. (8) From Drammen along the western
coast of Christiania Fjord to Skien (Grevskabsbanen), with
a branch line from Skopum, 98 miles. (9) From Drammen to
Randsfjord Lake (including branch lines from Hougsund to Kongsberg
and from Vikersund to Lake Kröderen), 89 miles. (10) From
Stavanger to Egersund (Jæderbanen), 47 miles. (11) From Bergen
to Vossevangen, 67 miles. The first three are commonly called the
eastern railways (Östbanerne), (5) and (6) the northern
(Nordbanerne), and the last three the western (Vestbanerne).
Post-Office.
With improved means of communication the Norwegian
post-office has made corresponding advances. In 1882 there were
forwarded a total of 13,990,100 letters, of which 11,749,600 were
inland, and 2,240,400 were sent abroad; 2,728,800 letters were in
the same period received from foreign countries. The Government
telegraphs had at the close of 1882 a line length of 47,065 miles,
with a wire length of 85,485 miles. The telegrams transmitted in
that year reached a total of 880,876.
Education.
As regards primary education Norway takes a leading place
among the states of Europe. In the country districts 207,922
children were instructed in 6408 schools by 3374 teachers and 108
preceptresses in 1878; in the same year 40,826 children in the
towns were instructed by 372 teachers and 367 preceptresses in 144
schools. There are, besides, 147 citizen-schools, middle-schools, and
higher-schools, with a staff in 1878 of 824 teachers and 466
preceptresses; the scholars numbered 16,800 (9150 boys and 7650
girls). The university, that of Christiania, has 50 professors and
1000 students.
Army and navy.
Service in the army or navy, without the right of providing a
substitute, is obligatory on all males who have completed their
twenty-third year; the only exemptions are in favour of ecclesiastical
functionaries, pilots, and the inhabitants of Finmark. To the
navy are drafted all conscripts who have made a voyage to foreign
parts of at least twelve months, all conscripts from Nordland and
Tromsö, and a certain number of those from southern Norway who
are accustomed to the sea. The army is made up of the troops of
the line, the landværn, and the landstorm; the term of service
is seven years in the line, and three in the landværn. The
landstorm consists of every man capable of bearing arms, under fifty
years of age, who docs not belong to the line or the landværn.
The troops of the line in continuous service number 1850
noncommissioned officers and men, and consist partly of volunteers;
the other troops of the line in time of peace are called out for drill
only in summer. For infantry recruits the minimum period of
drill is forty-two days, for cavalry and artillery ninety days; for
those who have passed out of that category it is only twenty-four
days. The military schools are at Christiania. The average
annual conscription is 6300 men. The total establishment of the
army on 30th June 1878 was 68,809 men, viz., infantry 60,672
(48,275 combatants), cavalry 2735 (1343 combatants), artillery
5150 (2867 combatants). The commissioned officers numbered 703.
The numbers on a peace footing were:—for the line 15,878 (war
complement 3203), for the reserve 17,089, for the landværn 12,846.
There were also 532 musicians.
The navy is manned in part by volunteers. The term of service
is from the age of twenty-two to that of thirty-five. The schools
for naval instruction are at Horten, where also is the chief royal
dockyard. The fleet consists of two wooden steam frigates, two
wooden steam corvettes, four monitors, two first-class gunboats,
several second and third class gunboats, two training ships, and
some transports. There is also a torpedo service.
Constitution.
The constitution of Norway primarily rests on the “fundamental
law,” or
grundlov
, which was promulgated at Eidsvold on the 17th
of May 1814, and afterwards, on the union with Sweden, agreed to,
with slight modifications, in Christiania on the 4th of November in
the same year. To this must be added the Swedish succession
ordinance of the 26th of September 1810, accepted by Norway in
November 1814, and the
rigsact
, or charter of union, of 1815.
By the first-mentioned Norway is a free, independent, indivisible
kingdom, united with Sweden under the same king. The form of
government is a limited monarchy, and the throne is hereditary in
the male line. Evangelical Lutheranism is the established religion.
In their foreign relations the two kingdoms are regarded as one.
The one cannot make war without the other, and there is a common
diplomatic corps, which is controlled by the ministry of foreign affairs
in Stockholm. In all other respects each kingdom is regarded as
Executive.
sovereign and independent. The executive is vested in the king,
who comes of age when he is eighteen. His person is inviolable,
and all responsibility for his official acts rests with the council of
state. This body consists of two ministers, and at least seven (at
present nine) councillors, chosen by the king from among the
citizens, of at least thirty years of age. One minister and two
councillors must always be with the king when he is not in Norway.
The others form, under the presidency of the remaining minister, or
of the viceroy if there be one, the Government in Christiania; its
authority is decisive, except in cases reserved for the king, when it
only advises. As viceroy in Norway the king can nominate only
the crown prince. Formerly the Government in Christiania was
presided over by a governor, but this office was never filled after
1855, and in 1873 it was abolished (on the accession of Oscar II.).
Each of the seven councillors has charge of one of the seven state
departments (finance, justice, home affairs, church, war, navy and
post-office, and audit). The king can declare war and conclude
peace, make alliances and treaties, and has the supreme command of
army and navy; but for offensive war the consent of parliament is
necessary. The king appoints to all public offices, and can dismiss
at pleasure his council of state and other Government functionaries,
the highest officials of church and state, the heads of the army,
and the commandants of fortresses. He can also issue provisional
ordinances relating to trade, taxation, industry, and legal procedure,
provided they are not contrary to the fundamental law of the
country and the laws agreed upon by parliament; these ordinances
are in force till next meeting of parliament.
Legislature.
While the king has thus the executive power, the right of
legislation and taxation is exercised by the people through their
representatives in the parliament or
storthing
, which statedly meets in
Christiania in the beginning of February every year. The king
can, however, when circumstances require it, summon an extraordinary
storthing. The elections are for a period of three years.
The number of members is, by a law passed in 1878, fixed at 114,—38
from the towns and 76 from the country. The members are
not chosen directly, but by electors nominated by the voters.
Several little towns are grouped into one electoral district. In the
country there is an elector for every hundred voters in the parish
herred
). The electors afterwards meet in each county, and choose
the number of members fixed by law. Only citizens who have the
right to vote are eligible, and they must, moreover, be at least
thirty years of age and have been ten years settled in the country.
Every Norwegian citizen, not being a criminal or in foreign service,
is entitled to vote, if he has passed his twenty-fifth year, has been
settled in the country five years, and has certain property
qualifications—a public appointment, ownership or tenancy of land, or, in
towns, ownership of property worth at least 600 crowns (about £33).
Immediately after the opening of parliament one-fourth of its
members are elected to constitute the “upper house” or
lagthing
the remaining three-fourths form the lower house or
odelsthing
. In
practice this means a division between the legislative and the
controlling powers of parliament. Every bill or proposed enactment
must be introduced either by a member or by Government through
a councillor in the odelsthing. If it passes it is sent to the upper
house, and if carried there also the royal assent gives it the force of
law. If rejected by the upper house it goes back, with or without
remark, to the lower house, where it is again discussed. If again
carried it is sent once more to the upper house, and if it fails to obtain
the requisite majority of votes the whole parliament now meets, and
two-thirds decide the motion. To give legal sanction to a resolution
of parliament thus carried the royal assent is still required.
The royal veto in ordinary questions is not absolute; a resolution
passed unchanged by three successive regular parliaments becomes
law
ipso facto
; but it is otherwise where alterations in the
fundamental law are involved. Parliament also fixes taxation, its enact
ments with regard to which continue in force only until the 1st of
July of the year in which the next ordinary parliament meets.
Parliament alone has control of the members of the council, of the
supreme court of justice, and of its own members; for crimes in their
public capacity these can be put on their trial at the instance of
the lower house before the supreme court of the kingdom (
rigsretten
),
which is composed of the supreme court of justice and the
upper house of parliament. The proceedings of parliament and
of its divisions are carried on, when not otherwise determined by
special vote, with open doors, and published. The members of the
council are not allowed to take part in the proceedings. By the
fundamental law Norwegians only, with a few exceptions, are eligible
for public appointments.
Administratively Norway is divided into six dioceses (
stifter
),
with a bishop at the head of each, and into eighteen counties
amter
) under the civil administration of an
amtmand
or
governor.
Administrative divisions and officers.
The towns of Christiania and Bergen form counties by
themselves. The dioceses are Christiania, Hamar, Christiansand, Bergen,
Throndhjem, and Tromsö. Christiania stift embraces the counties
of Smaalenene, Akershus, Buskerud, part of Bratsberg, Jarlsberg
and Laurvik; Hamar those of Hedemark and Christian;
Christiansand those of Bratsberg (part of), Nedenæs, Lister and Mandal,
Stavanger; Bergen, besides Söndre and Nordre Bergenhus takes in
part of Romsdal; Throndhjem the rest of Romsdal, with Söndre
and Nordre Throndhjem; Tromsö the three northern counties
Each diocese is divided into deaneries (
provstier
), each under a
dean, who is elected by the clergy of the district concerned; each
amt is divided into bailiwicks (
fogderier
), each presided over by
a sheriff or
foged
, appointed by the king to watch over the
maintenance of the law, carry out judgments, and collect taxes and
customs. In each town similar functions are assigned to the
byfoged
or town sheriff, who, however, has a more extended authority.
The sheriff in the country has generally in each parish a substitute
or
lensmand
. In the larger towns there are additional officers
charged with municipal and police affairs. As regards courts of
justice, only the supreme court and the rigsret, already spoken of,
are fixed by the constitution. Courts of first instance are held in
the towns by the sheriff and in the country by district judges, who
travel on circuit twice or thrice a year. From the interior courts
cases are in second instance carried on appeal to the superior
diocesan courts, of which there are four—one at Christiania (in two
divisions), one at Christiansand, one at Bergen, and one at Throndhjem.
From these courts cases relating to values of more than 400
crowns (about £22) and criminal cases proceed to the supreme court
of the kingdom, which, according to the fundamental law, is
composed of a president (
justitiarius
) and at least six assessors. The
municipal court of Christiania consists of a president and seven
assessors; from this court there is direct appeal to the supreme
court of the kingdom.
National flag.
The kingdom of Norway has its own national flag, red, divided
by a dark-blue, white-bordered cross into four parts. In the
upper square, next to the staff, the union mark is placed. The
Norwegian escutcheon is a crowned golden lion on a red field,
armed with the battle-axe of the tutelary saint, St Olaf.
H. MO.
H. RA.
O. A. Ö.
Part III.—History.
The early history of Norway is exceedingly obscure.
The scanty allusions to Scandinavia and its inhabitants
which we find in the classical writers refer to the inhabitants
of Denmark and of the south of Sweden. The first
mention of names which can be identified with any
certainty as those of known Norwegian tribes is found in
Jordanes, a writer of the 6th century. The traditions of
the earlier times which are preserved in Norse literature
can scarcely be said to afford any sure ground for history,
for whatever truth may be in them seems to be almost
hopelessly concealed beneath an overgrowth of mythological
and genealogical legend. It is, however, certain that the
first settlers after the nomad tribes of Lapps or Finns,
whose traces are still found far south of their present
limits, were the ancestors of the present inhabitants,—Germanic
tribes closely akin to the Danes, Swedes, and Goths.
Early immigrants.
The time of their immigration is unknown, but is conjectured
with probability to have been at the latest not
long after the commencement of the present era. The way
by which they came has been the subject of a lengthened
controversy. Munch and his school held that the first
proper Norwegian settlements took place in the north,
and spread thence down the western coast and the centre
of the country. Later historians incline to the more
probable theory that the country was settled by immigration
from the south. To some extent the theory of a
northern immigration derived its vitality from a view of
early Norwegian history which is now generally rejected.
Until recently the collection of old Norse poetry which
passed under the name of the
Eddas
was regarded not
merely as the peculiar inheritance of the Norse branch of
the Scandinavian family but as the oldest and most primitive
relic of Germanic mythology and legend. It fell in
naturally with this view to regard the Norse people as
leaving their primitive home at a later time, and as travelling
by a different route from the rest of their kin. And
plausible arguments could also be drawn from archaeology.
There is a well-marked distinction between the older and
younger iron ages in Scandinavia. The older age, which
is more fully developed in Denmark and the southern part
of the Scandinavian peninsula, is marked by greater refinement
of workmanship, and is more under the influence
of southern art. The younger age, which is best marked
in Norway and in Sweden proper, is rougher, and has more
the appearance of an independent growth. It seemed
natural, therefore, to regard the comparatively sudden
transition to the more recent archaeological period as
evidence that the land had been occupied by a new people,
closely akin indeed to the earlier inhabitants of the
south, but which had come fresh from the common home
and had not been subjected to the same influences. For
various reasons, however, this more recent period cannot
well be put farther back than the end of the 7th century,
a date which brings the supposed northern immigration
so near historic times that if it had taken place it must
have been distinctly commemorated in tradition; and, at
the same time, it is now generally admitted that even the
oldest of the Eddic poems must be referred to a period
close to or within the limits of authentic history. In all
probability, therefore, we may regard the change of custom
and the rise of the earliest poetry as marking a period of
development and expansion which affected all the Scandinavian
peoples, but which, we may well suppose, presented
peculiarly individual characteristics in the isolated districts
of Norway.
Early viking expeditions.
Towards the end of the 8th century we first hear of
that phase of history which made the Scandinavian peoples
well known during the next two hundred years to the
nations of north-western Europe. In 787, if we may trust
a record of later date, the ships of the Northern sea rovers
first appeared on the English coast, and in 793 and 794
they plundered Lindisfarne and Monkwearmouth. Thence
forward we find them in continually increasing numbers on
the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, in England and France,
and on the southern coasts of the North Sea, isolated
expeditions going as far as Spain and the Mediterranean.
It is not easy to determine the share taken by the Danes
and Norwegians respectively in these earlier expeditions,
for the contemporary chroniclers confounded them under
common names. But the geographical relations of the
two peoples naturally led them into different tracks. The
coasts which lay nearest to the Danes were those of the
southern shores of the North Sea and the English Channel;
but the nearest way for the Norsemen of western Norway
lay straight across to the Shetlands and Orkneys and
thence south along the Scottish coasts. It seems probable,
therefore, that the first expeditions which ravaged the
coast of Northumberland, and which swept down by the
Hebrides to Ireland, and thence in some instances to the
more southern coasts of France, before Flanders and the
northern coasts of France began to suffer, started from
the western coasts of Norway. Some years later, when
the Danish expeditions become numerous and powerful,
they fall with heaviest force on Flanders, England, and
France. Of course, when the rovers increased in number
and their excursions became wider, we find these kindred
peoples in the same countries and joining in common
expeditions. At an early period they come into collision in
Ireland. Northumberland seems for a while to have been
almost common ground, and Rollo, the chief who completed
the permanent settlement in Normandy, is generally
admitted to have been a Norseman, although the point is
contested by Danish writers. But on the whole it was
in the north and west that the Norse vikings had their
chief haunts and formed their settlements. At first even
the largest viking expedition had no further aim than
plunder: they simply devastated the coasts on which they
landed and returned with their booty to their native
country, or sold it in foreign parts; but after a time we
find them making permanent settlements, either attracted
by the richer countries or driven from their own by the
pressure of population or by political reverses. In the
middle of the 9th century the Norse kingdom of Dublin
was founded. In the latter half of the century the Danes,
with a possible admixture of Norsemen, had obtained a
permanent footing in England. Towards the end of the
century the Scottish islands, which had hitherto formed
a temporary refuge and starting-point for vikings, were
occupied by permanent Norse settlers, and the colonization
of Iceland was commenced.
Primitive territorial divisions.
Before the end of the 9th century we know comparatively
little of the internal condition of Norway. The land is
divided into
fylkis
, which in point of relative size answer
roughly to the English shire. The word is connected
etymologically with “folk,” and seems to indicate that the
fylki was originally a district peopled by a subdivision of
the race. In the case of many of the fylkis this is borne
out by the formation of the individual name, while in
others the name seems to have applied directly to the
district itself. There seems to have been an early union
between some of these fylkis, having laws and customs of
their own. The
Egil's Saga
tells us that Gula-thing was
originally constituted from Horda-fylki, Sygna-fylki, and
Firda-fylki; and this seems confirmed by the three twelves
which form so conspicuous an element in the Icelandic
law courts. In this case Horda-fylki may give us the
name of the race by which that part of the country was
originally settled, while the others are simply names of
districts subsequently occupied by the same tribe. At a later
time the whole country was divided into great districts,
each with a common thing and a body of law of its own.
These law districts, which corresponded to natural divisions
of Norway of considerable importance in its history, were
the district of the Frosta-thing, which comprehended the
northern fylkis as far south as Sogne Fjord; that of the
Gula-thing, which comprehended the south-western fylkis;
and that of the Uplands and Vik, which included all the
country south and east of the central mountain chain, and
which had in old times its only common meeting-place in
the Eidsifia-thing, but from which at a later time the Vik
district with its Borgar-thing was separated. Within the
fylki we find a minor subdivision called the
herad
, at the
head of which stood the
hersir
, who held his office by
hereditary right, and who, like the Icelandic godi,
presided over the civil and religious affairs of the district.
At the head of each fylki stood as a rule the king, though
occasionally we find more than one king in a fylki, or more
than one fylki under the rule of a king. In at least one
district of the country, also, the chief power is in the hands
of a race of jarls, a title which in later times was conferred
by the kings, but which at this early period, although
inferior to that of king, does not appear to be necessarily
subordinate. It is difficult to define precisely the position
of these petty kings. They seem to have represented the
fylki in external affairs and to have been its leaders in war,
but their power depended greatly on their personal qualities
and the extent of their private possessions. That they had
no very deep hold is clear from the readiness with which
they disappear after the union of the kingdom. But both
in fylki and herad every matter of importance was determined
at the thing, the meeting of the free people. In
some respects the condition of the people in Norway differed
materially from that of other Germanic peoples at a similar
stage of development. Owing probably to the nature of
the country, we find no trace of the village community
which has played so important a part in kindred races.
As far back as we can go the ground was owned by
individual proprietors, who partly held it in their own use and
partly let it out to men who were practically their dependents.
These proprietors, with the hersir families at their
head, formed something closely resembling a landed aristocracy.
The most powerful members of the class,
distinguished by their descent, possessions, and personal qualities,
scarcely acknowledged a superior. They were surrounded
by a band of dependents trained to arms, and were accustomed
to foreign expeditions, which increased their wealth,
power, and warlike habits. Nor did the law of equal
succession which at all times prevailed in Norway at all
break up the power of these great families. The more
common practice seems to have been, not to divide the
lands, but to give the younger and more restless members
their share of the inheritance in movable goods and let
them seek a settlement for themselves. After the lands
were settled such a practice must eminently have tended to
increase the readiness to undertake foreign expeditions,
while at the same time the wealth and power acquired in
these expeditions fostered the increase of powerful families
at home.
About the end of the 9th century Norway first became
a united kingdom, and from that time we have a comparatively
full and authentic record of its history. On the
west side of the Vik, the present Christiania Fjord, lay a
Vestfjold kings.
small district called Vestfjold, ruled over by a race of kings
descended, according to a not very trustworthy legend, from
the Swedish Upsala kings. The whole country round the
Vik stood, as might be expected from its situation, in
closer relation to Denmark and Sweden than the rest of
Norway did. According to one version of history the
Vestfjold kings occupied for a short time the Danish throne,
while according to another they were tributaries of
Denmark. There was a well-known trading-place within their
territory; and probably at an early time they shared
extensively in the traffic of the neighbouring seas and in the
expeditions of the Danes. The first clearly discernible
figure amongst these Vestfjold kings is Halfdan the Black,
who, partly by family connexions and partly by conquest,
included within his kingdom the country around the head
of the Vik, and thence inland to Lake Mjosen. Halfdan
died at a comparatively early age, leaving a son, Harold,
Harold Fairhair.
who afterwards bore the famous name of Harold Fairhair,
and who, according to the commonly received story,
succeeded his father in 860, being then ten years of age.
Mr Vigfusson contends, however, with considerable
probability, that Harold's reign, as well as the colonization of
Iceland, has been antedated by nearly thirty years, and it
seems, to say the least, improbable that the events during
the first ten years of his accession could have taken place
in his early youth. But, setting aside the question of
chronology, the story of Harold's reign, as given in Norse
history, appears to be substantially trustworthy. After
obtaining a firm hold on his father's dominions, he went
north through Gudbrandsdal and descended upon the country
of Throndhjem, which he speedily brought to subjection;
and in the three or four subsequent years he had subdued
the whole country as far south as Sogne Fjord. He
appears to have received material assistance from two great
chiefs, Earl Hakon, whose descendants are conspicuous in
subsequent history as the Hlada jarls, and Earl Rognwald
of Mœri, the ancestor of the dukes of Normandy and the
Orkney earls. The country south of Sogne Fjord was
still unsubdued, nor was its conquest apparently attempted
for some years later. It was the most warlike part of
Norway, and from it probably issued the greater part of
the Norwegian viking expeditions, which were now in
their fullest vigour. The western chiefs appear at length
to have taken the initiative, and to have gathered together
a great force, summoning aid apparently even from their
kinsmen beyond the western sea. Harold sailed south to
meet them, and a fierce battle took place at Hafrs Fjord,
near Stavanger, in which he gained a complete victory;
the hostile force was entirely broken, and from this time
his rule over all Norway appears to have been undisputed.
Every man was forced to own him as master; new taxes
and obligations were imposed; the fylkis were put under
the rule of earls, and the hersirs became or were replaced
by the king's
lendermenn
,—a title which becomes familiar
in subsequent history. These lendermenn, however, must
not be mistaken for an official nobility deriving their main
strength from the king. They became the king's men,
bound to support him and to follow him in war, and they
received lands from him in return, from which they derived
their name; but they were still for a long time merely the
old hersirs under another name, powerful local chiefs who
were ready at any moment, if the occasion seemed to
require it, to lead against the king their dependents and
the free proprietors by whom they were surrounded. But
many of the leading men refused to live in Norway upon
these terms. They sailed with their families and dependents,
some of them to Iceland, but many more to the Scottish
islands, which had long been a favourite resort of
the western Norwegians; and thence for years they kept
up a series of raids upon Norway. Harold for a while
endeavoured to encounter them on the Norway coast, but
finding this interminable he at last crossed the sea with a
great force and fell upon the vikings from the northern
islands as far south as Man. Orkney, and probably the
Hebrides, were placed under Norwegian earls, and from
this time we hear comparatively little of marauding
expeditions from these islands to Norway. Many of those
driven out in this western expedition settled ultimately in
Iceland, the colonization of which was completed during
Harold's reign (see
Iceland
). Harold in his later years
divided his kingdom among his sons, giving a predominance
among them to his favourite Erik Blood-axe. He
died at an advanced age
c.
933
A.D.
On Harold's death Erik attempted to make himself sole
king of Norway, and defeated and slew two of his brothers
to whom vassal kingdoms had been assigned by their father;
but his tyrannical and unpopular character fostered the
reaction which naturally set in against the strong rule of
Hakon, son of Harold Fairhair.
Harold. Hakon, a younger son of Harold, who was brought
up at the English court, and was afterwards known as
Athelstan's foster-son, was sent for from England. He
was presented by Earl Sigurd, the son of Earl Hakon
(Harold's early supporter), at a great thing at Throndhjem,
and there, after promising that he would restore the old
rights which his father had taken away, he was accepted
as king. In the words of the saga, the tidings flew through
the land like fire in dry grass that the Throndhjem people
had taken to themselves a king like in all things to Harold
Fairhair, except that Harold had enslaved and oppressed
all the people in the land, while this Hakon wished good
to every one and offered back the odal rights which Harold
had taken away. The people flocked to him from all sides,
and Erik soon found himself compelled to leave the country,
and sailed west to the Orkneys. Hakon's reign was true
to the promise of its commencement. In the Uplands
and in Vik he left his kinsmen in possession of the vassal
kingdoms; Earl Sigurd ruled under him in the north, and
the rest of the kingdom he took into his own hand. The
landowners were freed from the burdens and vassalage of
Harold's days, although some of the least oppressive taxes
appear to have been continued, and the Gula-thing and
Frosta-thing were reorganized, with probably several
amendments on their respective laws, and were extended
to their later boundaries. In one respect Hakon was not
in accord with his subjects. He had been brought up as
a Christian at Athelstan's court, and attempted to introduce
Christianity into the land; but in this attempt he
signally failed, and at one time seems nearly to have broken
with his people in consequence. On the whole, however,
Norway enjoyed under Hakon internal peace. The troubles
which beset his reign, more especially towards its close,
arose from Denmark and the sons of Erik Blood-axe.
Erik Blood-axe.
It is not easy to trace Erik's career after he fled to the
Orkneys. According to the Norse sources, he received
Northumberland from Athelstan as a vassal kingdom not
long after leaving Norway. In the English sources we find
him represented as holding Northumberland not under but
in opposition to the English king. It is probable enough
that he may have held it in both relations; but, however
that may be, he certainly ruled for a time at York, and fell
in England
c.
952. At the time of his death his wife
Gunhild went to the Orkneys with her children and thence
to Denmark. She was a famous character in the history
of the time, and to her the Norse tradition attributes much
of the evil that appears in the career of her husband and
children. According to one account she was the sister of
Harold Bluetooth, but it is scarcely credible that the
relationship between two such well-known figures in the 10th
century should be unknown to the principal Norse writers.
The favourable reception which she and her children met
with in Denmark is sufficiently accounted for by Erik's
own Danish descent, and the relations which then existed
between Denmark and Norway. Shortly after their arrival
in Denmark Erik's sons commenced a series of expeditions
against Norway which lasted during the rest of Hakon's
reign; at last, after gaining many victories over the
invaders, Hakon was taken by surprise and slain
c.
961.
On Hakon's death the sons of Erik, with Harold, afterwards
called Greyfell, at their head, got possession of the
western part of Norway, but Vik and the Uplands remained
under their former kings, and Earl Sigurd still kept firm
hold of the Throndhjem country. Earl Sigurd was treacherously
Earl Hakon the Great.
slain, and was succeeded by his son, Earl Hakon the
Great; and for many years afterwards the history of the
country is a series of struggles between the sons of Erik and
Hakon, mixed up with occasional interferences from
Denmark. At length Harold Greyfell was slain in Denmark,
and Hakon succeeded with the help of the Danes in
driving the sons of Erik out of the country. For a time
he remained in nominal dependence on Denmark, but this
was soon shaken off, and in the latter part of his life
Hakon, though he never assumed the title of king, ruled
in entire independence over the whole north and west of
Norway. Latterly he excited animosity by some reckless
outrages on the feelings of the people; a rising took place
against him in the Throndhjem country, in which he was
slain
c.
995, and at the very time of the rising Olaf
Tryggvason landed in Norway.
Olaf Tryggvason.
Olaf was a great-grandson of Harold Fairhair. His father,
Tryggve, had been treacherously slain by the sons of Erik,
and his mother had with difficulty escaped with him.
After some strange adventures the boy was received and
brought up at the court at Novgorod, and then in his early
youth took to a viking life. He soon became a famous
leader, and plundered far and wide. In 991 we hear of
him in England as one of the chiefs who fought the battle
of Maldon, and he appears there again in 994. He sailed
on his Norwegian expedition from Ireland, and found the
whole country well disposed to receive him as king. Olaf's
short reign of five years was chiefly occupied with his
efforts to Christianize the country. He had been baptized
some time during his English expedition, and had taken
up Christianity in a more serious manner than was generally
the case with the Northern converts of his class, who
as a rule submitted to baptism as a convenient or necessary
transaction. Olaf's Christianity does not appear to
have been of a very deep or enlightened type, but he was
thoroughly in earnest about it, and set himself to enforce
its supremacy with the whole energy of his character.
And in an incredibly short time, if he had not exactly
succeeded in making his subjects Christian, he had at
least made it very unsafe for them to be anything else.
By force, or gifts, or persuasion, or even by torture if
necessary—for his anger was sometimes cruel enough—he
had soon scarcely left a man of note unbaptized in
Norway. Even Iceland was persuaded to accept the faith by
his energetic handling of the Icelanders at his court. Of
course this wholesale conversion was of a very nominal
character, and even Olaf himself always appears to be
little more than a loyal and devoted heathen vassal of the
new faith. Perhaps the strangest thing is not merely that
he attained his end so rapidly, but that he did so without
rousing and alienating the people. His splendid personal
appearance, his wonderful strength and skill in arms, his
inexhaustible courage and energy, and the frank chivalrous
nature—bright and joyous when in quiet, but capable of
terrible passion when enraged—seem to have overawed and
attracted every one at the time, and have made him since
the favourite hero of Norse history. In the fifth year of
his reign (
c.
1001) Olaf undertook an expedition to the
Baltic, and a league was formed against him by the kings
of Denmark and Sweden, and by Earl Erik, the son of
Hakon, who had fled into Sweden after his father's death.
Olaf went with a powerful fleet, he himself commanding
his great ship the “Long Serpent,” the largest and best
manned that had ever sailed from Norway. His foes lay
in wait for him on his return under Swöld, an island off
the German coast which cannot now be identified, and
there took place the most famous and picturesque battle
in Norse history. Olaf's ships were induced by treachery
to pass by the island behind which the forces of his
enemies lay, while the hostile chiefs watched them as they
sailed by. At last when all were gone on their way to
Norway but the few ships which with Olaf himself brought
up the rear, the enemy rowed out and fell upon them.
Olaf bound his ships together with the “Long Serpent”
in the centre, and his foes surrounded him on all sides.
One after another the ships were taken and cleared of
men, and at last the crew of the “Long Serpent” were
left alone, under a shower of spears and arrows, with the
whole enemy around them and with fresh men continually
attempting their decks. The saga tells us that Olaf's
men grew so mad with rage that they leaped at the ships
that surrounded them, not seeing that they were often
so far off, so that they fell into the sea and perished.
At length almost none were left, and Olaf leaped
overboard in his armour. His people at home could scarce
believe that he could have perished, and for many years
stories were circulated that he had been seen in foreign
countries; but, however that may be, says the chronicler,
Olaf Tryggvason came back no more to his kingdom in
Norway.
The two kings and Earl Erik divided Norway among
them, but in reality the greater part of the country was
held by Earl Erik and his brother Earl Svend, under a
little more than nominal vassalage. In the south some of
the districts were more directly dependent on Denmark and
Sweden. Fourteen years afterwards another descendant
Saint Olaf.
of Harold Fairhair appeared in the country. Olaf, son of
Harold Gränske, had, like most of his race, spent his early
youth in foreign expeditions. When about nineteen he
came back to Norway with a small band of well-tried men,
and went first to his kinsmen in the Uplands, where some
of the small kings of Harold s race still remained in a not
very close dependence on Denmark. Erik was by this time
dead; Olaf succeeded in driving Svend out of the land,
and became in a short time more thoroughly king of all
Norway than any one had been since Harold Fairhair.
He rebuilt Nidaros (the modern Throndhjem), which had
been founded by Olaf Tryggvason, and which may be
called henceforward the capital of Norway. Like Olaf
Tryggvason, he was a zealous adherent of Christianity,
and, as soon as he was firmly settled, proceeded to enforce
it on his subjects. The previous conversion of the land
had been superficial, so that, except in the parts of the
country which came most into relations with foreign
countries, the old religion had still a strong hold, and in
some districts was predominant. Under Olaf heathen
worship was suppressed with the utmost severity, and
Christianity may be said to have become the professed
religion of the land. Olaf's rule was firm and powerful.
Equal justice was dealt out, as far as practicable, to every
one, often in a summary fashion. The great families had
flourished under the earls, and seem to have been almost
wholly independent within their own districts, but, as
they one after the other came into collision with the king,
they had to yield. Olaf was in many ways a greater man
than Olaf Tryggvason: his aims were higher, and he
understood them more thoroughly; but he lacked some
of the gifts of his brilliant predecessor. Olaf Tryggvason
was the very incarnation of the old popular ideal, and,
had the times been favourable, might well enough have
passed into tradition, Christianity and all, as one of the
Æsir who had come back again to earth. But the other
Olaf was in some ways a new force in Norway. He was
aiming at a united Christian kingdom under a strong
central power, and these ideas, in so far as they were
intelligible, were repugnant to the Norse chiefs. And,
besides, his character was somewhat still and reserved, not
always destitute even of traits of cunning, so that
altogether, though every one was forced to respect his courage
and ability, and his own followers were devotedly attached
to him, most of the Norwegian chiefs never wholly
understood or trusted him. In one way or another he incurred
the enmity of many of the most powerful men in the
west and north, and he had a dangerous foreign enemy.
Canute was at the height of his power, had claims, he
thought, upon Norway, and was, moreover, deeply
irritated by an expedition which Olaf had made upon
Denmark along with the king of Sweden. He had
connexions with many of the chiefs, which he fostered as
much as possible, and in 1028 he came with a great force
to Norway; Olaf could make no head against him, and
was compelled to fly to Kussia. But after a while Olaf
heard that there was for a time no ruler in Norway, and
resolved to attempt to win back his kingdom. He obtained
assistance in Sweden, gathered his friends from Norway,
and then went over the mountains into the Throndhjem
country. The chiefs who were most bitterly opposed to
him drew together a great force and met him at Stikklestad,
and there, when only thirty-five years old, he was
defeated and slain in August 1030. There is a singular
change to be observed in the narrative of this latter part
of Olaf's life. He seems to have become more devoted to
Christianity, and in every way more thoughtful and gentle.
The stories about him look as if his adversities had forced
him to take a retrospect of his life and prepare for a new
career; and if he had been the victor at Stikklestad it
is hard to say what influence he might not have exercised
upon subsequent history.
A short experience of Danish rule under Svend, the son
of Canute, made Norway bitterly regret the loss of Olaf.
The resentments which had been awakened by his stern,
just rule passed out of sight, and men only remembered
his great qualities, and that in his time the land was free
from foreign interference. His devoted adherence to
Christianity, especially in his later days, gave a definite
direction to these reminiscences; he was regarded as a
martyr and saint, and miracles were reported to have been
wrought by him even under the very nose of his Danish
successor. Olaf was rightly regarded as the patron saint
of the new Christian monarchy. It was he who not only
had Christianized the land, but had for the first time
thoroughly united the kingdom. His reign had given rise
to a feeling of unitedness and independent existence which
the country never had before and never afterwards wholly
lost. For nearly a century afterwards Norway was ruled
in internal peace by the kings of his race. The church was
organized and became powerful. The private viking
expeditions gradually ceased, for it began to be considered
a scandal to plunder in Christian lands; and possibly also
the practice grew more dangerous. Swein Asleifson, in
the middle of the 12th century, is the last recorded viking
of the old type, and he dwelt in the Orkneys. At the
same time several of the kings made greater foreign
expeditions, which probably afforded a sufficient vent for their
more restless subjects. The central authority of the king
grew stronger and more stable. His court and personal
following were better organized. The lendermenn, although
still remaining chiefs of the landed aristocracy, ceased to
exercise the same semi-independent power in their own
districts, and came into closer relations with the king and
court.
Magnus, son of Saint Olaf.
In 1035 Magnus, Olaf's son, who had remained in Russia,
was sent for by some of the leading men, and was readily
accepted as king. Magnus, or rather the chiefs in his
name, for he was still very young at the time, had settled
the quarrel with Denmark by coming to an agreement with
Hardicanute, that when one died the other should succeed
to his crown. In 1042 Hardicanute died, and Magnus
peacefully took possession of his kingdom. But troubles
soon arose from Svend Estridsen, nephew of Canute the
Great, who attempted to seize Denmark, and who had
entered into terms with a formidable Norse ally. Harold,
Harold Hardrada.
Sigurd's son, known sometimes as Hardrada (hard counsel),
the half-brother of Olaf, was one of the last and most
famous of the great viking chiefs. His father was a small
Upland king of Harold Fairhair's race; he had fought
when a boy at Stikklestad, had gone to the East and taken
service with the Greek emperor, and was now come back
to the North with great wealth and fame. For a short time
he entered into league with Svend, but an arrangement
was soon brought about by which he and Magnus were
made friends, and Harold became joint king of Norway.
Magnus died in the following year (1047), leaving
Denmark to Svend and Norway to Harold; Harold was not,
however, inclined to relinquish Denmark, and wasted it
year after year by terrible incursions; at last he undertook
a more formidable task, and fell in England in 1066
with the very flower of Norway at the battle of Stamford
Bridge.
Olaf Kyrre.
Harold's son, Olaf Kyrre (the quiet), ruled Norway in
peace for twenty-seven years, a peace which may in some
respects have been due to the way in which the country
had been drained of its hottest blood by Harold's expeditions.
During this reign the country attained considerable
prosperity, trade increased, and, among other merchant
towns, Bergen, which soon attained the first place, was
Magnus Barefoot.
founded. But Olaf's son Magnus (known sometimes as
Magnus Barefoot), who succeeded his father in 1093, reigned
in a manner more like his grandfather. He was
continually occupied in foreign expeditions, and at last fell in
Ireland in 1103.
Eystein and Sigurd Jorsalafari.
The three sons of Magnus succeeded to the kingdom at
his death. One of them died in youth, but Sigurd and
Eystein reigned long together, Eystein being a king like
Olaf Kyrre, while Sigurd inherited to the full the warlike
qualities of his family. The great external event of the
reign is Sigurd's expedition to the East, from which he
gained the name of Jorsalafari (the traveller to Jerusalem).
The account given by the saga of the origin of that
expedition is characteristic and probably enough true. Many
men had already been to Jerusalem and to Constantinople,
and there they had got renown, and had all kinds of news
to tell when they came home, and those who had taken
service at Constantinople had the best luck in the way of
gain; so the people bade one of the kings undertake the
expedition. Sigurd went with a great force, fought many
battles by the way, gained much plunder in heathen lands,
and visited Jerusalem and Constantinople. Sigurd survived
Eystein, and died in 1130. In his last year he showed
traces of insanity. He was the last true representative of
Harold Fairhair's great race, and with him the classical
period of Norwegian history may almost be said to come
to an end.
Period of anarchy.
With the death of Sigurd commences a long period of
internal strife. His son Magnus was forced to share the
sovereignty with a colleague, Harold Gilchrist, who
professed to be a natural son of Magnus Barefoot, and who in
a short time succeeded in deposing his colleague. Harold
was slain in 1136 by another pretender. Parties had formed
themselves amongst the lendermenn aristocracy, who took
as their nominal heads the sons and grandsons of Harold
Gilchrist, often mere children; the church hierarchy, now
growing powerful, interfered in the struggle, and the whole
land was divided by bitter feuds. The disorganization of
the country was shown by the appearance of bands of armed
disorderly men, generally at first on the Swedish frontier.
Unity at last seemed likely to be secured by an innovation
in the succession. A powerful chief named Erling Skakke
Magnus, son of Erling Skakke.
managed to get his son Magnus, who by his mother's side
was a grandson of Sigurd Jorsalafari, accepted as king,
first by the leading party and then practically by the whole
country. He came to terms with the hierarchy; an agreement
was entered into in 1164, by which various privileges
were secured to the church, and a definite rule of succession
was adopted. The kingdom was to be held as a fief of St
Olaf, and the church dignitaries were to have a powerful
voice in the succession. In return for these concessions
Magnus was solemnly crowned by the archbishop of
Throndhjem, and his defective claim was thus strengthened
by a new form of legitimation.
There seemed every reason to suppose that the kingdom
would now rest firmly on the united support of the aristocracy
and the church, but in reality the basis proved to
be an insecure one. The aristocracy stood no longer as
formerly in close connexion with the mass of the free
people, and they had not yet become welded together in a
The Birkebeinar.
separate organized order. One of the troops of
adventurers which had appeared in the previous state of
confusion, and had been the followers of one of the various
claimants to the throne, was known as the Birkebeinar.
They were on the verge of extinction when they secured a
Sverri.
leader of no common type. Sverri was a Faroe Islander.
He seems to have been well enough aware himself that he
had no claims to royal birth, but he gave himself out as
the son of Sigurd, the son of Harold Gilchrist, and as
such was accepted by the Birkebeinar. In a little while
it became clear that his talents for command were of the
first order, and the little troop of disorderly men became
in his hands a disciplined military force. A fierce struggle
ensued with Magnus, who in the end was defeated and
slain in 1184 at Fimreite on Nord Fjord. Sverri became
king, and represented himself as maintaining the old law
of succession and the old order of things as against the
arrangement of 1164. But in reality his reign was the
commencement of a new phase. The older kings were
within very narrow limits absolute, and claimed the kingdom
as an odal right; but they were confronted and
controlled by the mass of free landowners under their local
aristocratic chiefs. A change had gradually taken place,
and it seemed as if a separate aristocracy were to detach
themselves from the people, and, with the help of the
church, take the administration into their own hands.
Sverri struck the hardest blows at both. He effectually
prevented the formation of a powerful nobility, and he
wholly repudiated the domination of the church. He had
hammered out for himself a theory of church and state
not unlike that of Henry VIII., and held that the king
derived his title from God, and was entitled to an equal
supremacy over both. The church retaliated by
excommunication, for which, however, Sverri and his followers
cared nothing, and by which their position does not seem
to have been in the least affected. New officials appear
in the administration of local affairs who were appointed
and directly controlled by the king, and if his plans had
been fully carried out it seems likely that the whole power
would have been centralized under his hands. He had to
fight, however, for his kingdom to the very end, and at
his death in 1202 it seemed doubtful what turn affairs
would take.
The party strife continued with scarcely an intermission
until long after Sverri's death. The party of the
Birkebeinar, however, kept well together and were on the whole
the stronger. Their rivals had their chief seat in the
south, and were closely connected with Denmark. At
Hakon, grandson of Sverri.
last Hakon, a grandson of Sverri, was placed on the throne
in 1217, and in 1240 the last of the rival claimants to the
throne fell, and the whole country was once more at peace
under one king. The stormy times of Norway's history
appear suddenly to pass away, and the stillness that ensues
is likened by one of its historians to “the stillness on a
battlefield after the battle.” Hakon died in 1263. There
are only two external events of note in his long reign.
The one is the acquisition of Iceland, which, like the parent
country, had been thoroughly worn out by the struggles of
its chiefs. The other is Hakon's Scotch expedition in
1261, which was put an end to by a storm and by the not
very important battle of Largs, and which showed
conclusively how much the seamanship and fighting power of
Magnus Lagabætr.
Norway had declined. Hakon's son Magnus surrendered
the Hebrides to Scotland by the treaty of Perth in 1268.
There is some dispute whether or not this was done under
condition of a tribute, but there seems to be no doubt
that the tribute, if due, was at all events never paid.
Magnus was known by the surname of Lagabætr (law
reformer), a designation which indicates the chief work
of his reign. The great changes that had taken place
during the long period of the civil wars must have
rendered some alteration of the old law imperatively
necessary; and, while something had been done in Hakon's
reign, the work was completed under Magnus. In place
of the old provincial laws a new law book was prepared
for the whole kingdom, compiled from the older laws with
the changes that seemed necessary. Many of these changes
relate to customs and rights which had their origin in
heathen times. Others show the altered relation of classes.
A conspicuous feature is the new importance of the king's
Erik, son of Magnus.
officials and the increased power and position of the king
himself. Magnus died in 1280 and was succeeded by
his son Erik, whose only child, the Maid of Norway,
perished at sea when on her way to Scotland. In 1299
Erik died and was succeeded by his brother Hakon,
who died in 1319, and whose only daughter carried the
Norwegian crown into the Swedish line. During the
Hakon, son of Magnus, abolishes the Lendermenn.
reign of Hakon the lendermenn, who had so long been
conspicuous in Norse history, finally disappeared. Hakon
abolished them by a decree, without apparently even
consulting his council, and without encountering the slightest
resistance. They do not even reappear in the minority
which followed, and which must have afforded them a very
favourable opportunity of recovering their power. They
occupied, in truth, an anomalous and untenable position.
They had long ceased, as we have seen, to be the chiefs
and representatives of the free landowners, and they had
failed to assert themselves as a separate power by the side
of the king. Under Magnus Lagabætr they had acquired
the title of barons, but even under long minorities they
never got any real hold of power. The king was too
strong for them after they had lost their old position, and
he preferred ruling through officers of his own who were
wholly dependent on him. Neither was there any room for
the growth of a nobility of another type. On the one
hand the position of the king was too absolute, and on
the other hand the people were too firmly rooted in their
old traditional independence. The mass of the small
landowners, among whom the greater families, by the
partition of their domains, gradually sank back, were
ready to obey the king and his officers; but they were not
the material on which an intermediate power could be
rested. They admitted that the king had an odal right
to his kingdom and a definite claim for services and
payments, but in the same way they themselves had an
immemorial odal right to their lands. The situation of Norway
during the Middle Ages might be shortly described as an
absolute monarchy resting almost directly on one of the
most democratic states of society in Europe. Titles appear,
but they represent little or nothing. The ruling officials
or deputies of the king are occasionally oppressive, but
there is no permanent subjection to them.
Union with Swedish crown.
From the time of the union with the Swedish crown
the history of Norway is bound up with that of the other
Scandinavian countries. With Sweden she entered the
Calmar union in 1397, but when that union was broken in
Union with Denmark.
the beginning of the 16th century she remained with
Denmark, and during the whole time of union can scarcely be
said to have had a history of her own. The Danish kings
were accepted in Norway with only an occasional show of
dissent and resistance. One of her oldest and most famous
colonies, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, was in 1468
given in pledge, never to be redeemed, to the Scottish king
by Christian I. The commercial towns fell under the iron
rule of the Hanseatic League and all the old enterprise
seemed to have perished. Intellectual life appeared to
fall as low as commercial prosperity. The vigorous
Norse-Icelandic literature was supplanted after the time of
Hakon Magnusson by versions of foreign legends and
history, but even that disappeared, and, as the manuscript
copies grew scarcer, it appears as if for a while the
Norwegians had ceased to read as well as to write. The
Reformation spread more slowly into Norway than into the
other Scandinavian countries, and had to be encouraged
by the Danish kings by methods not altogether dissimilar
to those by which Christianity had at first been introduced.
But better times began to dawn during last century.
Restrictions were removed from lands and the administration
was improved. The material prosperity of the country
rapidly increased and a new life began to appear.
Reverts to Sweden.
By the terms of the peace of Kiel (14th January 1814)
Norway was to be transferred from Denmark to Sweden.
The Norwegians were at first inclined to resist this, but
their means of resistance were small and the Swedes offered
liberal terms. In the same year the constitution was
solemnly ratified, and Charles XIII. was taken as king.
Since then the country has been peaceful and prosperous.
The only serious political troubles have been those arising
from the question whether the king has an absolute veto
upon alteration of the fundamental law of the kingdom.
Bibliography
.—P. A. Munch,
Det Norske Folk's Historie
(Christiania, 1852-63); J. E. Sars,
Udsigt over det Norske Historie
(Christiania, 1873-77); R. Keyser,
Norges Stats- og Retsforfatning
(Christiania, 1867). Different views of the part taken by Norway
and Denmark in the viking expeditions are represented in Gustav
Storm's
Kritiske Bidrag til Vikingetiden's Historie
(Christiania,
1878); and J. C. H. R. Steenstrup's
Inledning i Normannertiden
(Copenhagen, 1876). See also Konrad Maurer's
Die Bekehrung
des Norwegischen Stammes zum Christenthume
(Munich, 1855). The
original sources are only accessible to English readers in Laing's
Chronicle of the Kings of Norway
(London, 1844), a translation
from
Heimskringla
, which does not, however, represent the best
versions of some of the sagas. Valuable historical notes are to be
found in Messrs. Vigfusson and Powell's
Corpus Poeticum Borcale
(Oxford, 1883). (
A. GI.
PART IV.—
Literature.
The literature of Norway bears something of the same
relation to that of Denmark that American literature bears
to English. In each case the development and separation of
a dependency have produced a desire on the part of persons
speaking the mother-tongue for a literature that shall
express the local emotions and conditions of the new nation.
Two notable events led to the foundation of Norwegian
literature: the one was the creation of the university of
Christiania in 1811, and the other was the separation of
Norway from Denmark in 1814. These events were the
signals for intellectual and political independence. Before
this time Norwegian writers had been content, as a rule,
to publish their works at Copenhagen, which was the
metropolis of the realm; they had now a capital of their
own in Christiania. The great distinction, however, between
Norway and America was that the former was sufficiently
ancient and sufficiently neighbouring to contribute to the
glory of Denmark a great many young men who quitted
the colonial and narrow circle into which they were born,
and became to all intents and purposes Danish writers.
The first name on the annals of Danish literature, Peder
Clausson, is that of a Norwegian; and if all Norse writers
were removed from that roll, the list would be poorer by
some of its most illustrious names, by Holberg, Tullin,
Wessel, Treschow, Steffens, and Hauch.
We must first examine what was done in Norway itself
during the colonial period. The first book printed in the
country was an almanac, brought out in Christiania in 1643
by a wandering printer named Tyge Nielsen, who brought
his types from Copenhagen. But the first press set up
definitely in Norway was that of Valentin Kuhn, brought
over from Germany in 1650 by the theologian Christian
Stephensen Bang (1580-1678) to help in the circulation of
his numerous tracts. Bang's
Christianiæ Stads Beskrifuelse
1651, is the first book published in Norway. The name
which next detains us is that of Christen Jensen (d. 1653), a
priest who collected a small glossary or
glosebog
of the local
dialects, and which was published in 1656. Gerhard Milzow
(1629-1688), the author of a
Presbyterologia Norwegica
1679, was also a Norse priest. The earliest Norwegian
writer of any original merit was
Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter
(1634-1716), afterwards the wife of the pastor Ambrosius
Hardenbech (see vol. viii. p. 214). She is the author of
several volumes of religious poetry, of a very lacrymose
and lamentable order, which have enjoyed great
popularity down to the present day. The hymn-writer Johan
Brunsmann (1637-1707), though a Norseman by birth,
belongs by education and temper entirely to Denmark.
Not so
Peder Dass
(1647-1708) (see vol. vi. p. 831), the
most original writer whom Norway produced and retained
at home during the colonial period. Another priest, Jonas
Ramus (1649-1718), wrote two important posthumous
works in prose,
Norriges Kongers Historie
(History of the
Norse Kings) in 1719, and
Norriges Beskrivelse
, 1735. The
celebrated missionary to Greenland, Hans Egede (1686-1758),
wrote several works on his experiences in that
country. Peder Hersleb (1689-1757) was the compiler of
some popular treatises of Lutheran theology. Frederik
Nannestad, bishop of Throndhjem (1693-1774), deserves
mention as the founder of the periodical press in Norway,
having started a weekly gazette in 1760. The missionary
Knud Leem (1697-1774) published a number of
philological and topographical works regarding the Lapps of
Finmark, one at least of which, his
Beskrivelse over
Finmarkens Lapper
, 1767, still possesses considerable interest.
The famous Erik Pontoppidan (1698-1764) cannot be
regarded as a Norwegian, for he did not leave Denmark
until he was made bishop of Bergen, at the age of forty-nine.
On the other hand the far more famous Baron Ludvig
Holberg (1684-1754), the chief of Danish writers, belongs
to Denmark by everything but birth, having left Norway
in childhood.
A few Norsemen of the beginning of the 18th century
distinguished themselves, chiefly in science. Of these
Johan Ernst Gunnerus (1718-1773), bishop of Throndhjem,
was the most eminent; he was the first man who gave
close attention to the Norwegian flora. He founded the
Norwegian Royal Society of Sciences in 1760, in unison
with his friends Gerhard Schöning (1722-1780) the
historian and Hans Ström (1726-1797) the zoologist. Of
these three friends Schöning deserves the greatest prominence
in this place, because he wrote more in Danish
and less in Latin than the other two. In belles-lettres
Norway began to show vitality only when the century had
reached its half-way point. Peder Christofer Stenersen
(1723-1776), a writer of occasional verses, merely led the
way for Christian Braumann Tullin (1728-1765), a lyrical
poet of exquisite genius, whose talent is claimed by
Denmark as one of the jewels in the crown of her literature,
but who must be mentioned here, because his poetry was
not only mainly composed in Christiania, but breathes a
local spirit. He has been called the Father of Danish
lyrical verse. From Tullin's day for about thirty years
Denmark was principally supplied with poets from Norway.
That portion of the chronicle of Danish literature which
extends between the great names of Evald and Baggesen
presents us with hardly a single figure which is not that of
a Norseman. The director of the Danish national theatre
in 1771 was a Norwegian, Niels Krog Bredal (1733-1778),
who was the first to write lyrical dramas in Danish, and
who exercised wide influence. A Norwegian, Johan
Nordahl Brun (1745-1816), was the principal tragedian of the
time, in the French taste. It was a Norwegian, J. H.
Wessel (1742-1785), who laughed this taste out of fashion.
In 1772 the Norwegian poets were so strong in Copenhagen
that they formed a
Norske Selskab
(Norwegian
Society), which exercised a tyranny over contemporary
letters which was only shaken when Baggesen appeared.
Among the leading writers of this period we can but just
mention, besides those above named, Claus Frimann (1746-1829),
Peter Harboe Frimann (1752-1839), Claus Fasting
(1746-1791), Johan Wibe (1748-1782), Edvard Storm
(1749-1794), C. H. Pram (1756-1821), Jonas Rein (1760-1821),
Jens Zetlitz (1761-1821), and Lyder Christian
Sagen (1771-1850), all of whom, though Norwegians by
birth, find their place in the annals of Danish literature.
To these poets must be added the philosophers Niels
Treschow (1751-1833) and Henrik Steffens (1773-1845),
and in later times the poet Johannes Carsten Hauch
(1790-1872).
There is no example of a writer of importance,
born in Norway since 1800, who is counted among Danish
authors.
The first form which Norwegian literature took as an
independent thing was what was called “Syttendemai-Poesi,”
or poetry of the seventeenth of May, that being the
day on which Norway obtained her independence and
proclaimed her king. Three poets, called the Trefoil, came
forward as the inaugurators of Norwegian thought in 1814.
Of these Conrad Nicolai Schwach (1793-1860) was the
least remarkable. Henrik Anker Bjerregaard (1792-1842),
born in the same hamlet of Ringsaker as Schwach,
had a much brighter and more varied talent. His poems,
collected at Christiania in 1829, contain some charming
studies from nature. He brought out a tragedy of
Magnus Barfods Sönner
(Magnus Barefoot's Sons) and a lyrical
drama,
Fjeldeventyret
(The Adventure in the Mountains),
1828. The third member of the Trefoil, Mauritz
Christopher Hansen (1794-1842), was a laborious and fecund
worker in many fields. His novels, of which
Ottar de
Bretagne
, 1819, was the earliest, were much esteemed in
their day, and after Hansen s death were collected and
edited, with a memoir by Schwach. Hansen's
Poems
printed at Christiania in 1816, were among the earliest
publications of a liberated Norway, but were preceded by
a volume of
Smaadigte
(Short Poems) by all three poets,
edited by Schwach in 1815, as a semi-political manifesto.
These writers, of no great genius in themselves, did much
by their industry and patriotism to form a basis for
Norwegian literature to be built upon. They wrote, however,
on national themes without much knowledge, and in
complete bondage to the conventional forms in vogue in
Copenhagen in their youth.
The creator of Norwegian literature, however, was the
poet Henrik Arnold Wergeland (1808-1845), a man of
great genius and enthusiasm, who contrived within the
limits of a life as short as Byron's to concentrate the
labours of a dozen ordinary men of letters. He held
views in most respects similar to those pronounced by
Rousseau and Shelley; he never ceased to preach the
dignity of man, the worth of liberty to the individual and of
independence to the nation, and the relation of republican
politics to a sound form of literature. His own ideal of
literature, however, was at first anything but sound. He
was the eldest son of Professor Nikolai Wergeland (1780-1848),
who had been one of the constitutional assembly
who proclaimed the independence of Norway in 1814 at
Eidsvold. Nikolai was himself pastor of Eidsvold, and
the poet was thus brought up in the very holy of holies of
Norwegian patriotism. His earliest efforts in literature
were wild and formless. He was full of imagination, but
without taste or knowledge. He published poetical farces
under the pseudonym of “Siful Sifadda,” trifles unworthy
of attention. These were followed, in 1828, by
Sinclair's
Death
, an unsuccessful tragedy; and in 1829 by a
volume of lyrical and patriotic poems, which attracted the
liveliest attention to his name. At the age of twenty-one
he became a power in literature, nay more, an influence
in the state. But these writings were coldly received by
connoisseurs, and a monster epic,
Skabelsen, Mennesket, og
Mesias
(Creation, Man, and Messiah), which followed in
1830, showed no improvement in style. From 1831 to
1835 Wergeland was submitted to severe satirical attacks
from Welhaven and others, and his style became improved
in every respect. His popularity waned as his poetry
improved, and in 1840 he found himself a really great poet,
but an exile from political influence. His
Jan van
Huysums Blomsterstykke
(J. van Huysum's Flower-piece), 1840,
Svalen
(The Swallow), 1841,
Jöden
(The Jew), 1842,
Jödinden
(The Jewess), 1844, and
Den Engelske Lods
(The English Pilot), 1844, form a series of narrative
poems in short lyrical metres which remain the most
interesting and important of their kind in Norwegian literature.
He was less successful in other branches of letters;
in the drama, neither his
Campbellerne
(The Campbells),
1837,
Venetianerne
(The Venetians), 1843, nor
Sokadetterne
(The Cadets), 1848, has achieved any lasting success,
while his elaborate contribution to political history,
Norges
Konstitutions Historie
, 1841-43, is forgotten. The poems
of his last five years, however, enjoy as true a popularity
as ever, and are not likely to lose it. The only influence
which Wergeland, in spite of his genius, has had on
Norwegian literature is the removal of traditions and the
release of style in various directions. His obscurity and
extravagance have stood in the way of his teaching, and
his only disciples in poetry have been Sylvester Sivertson
(1809-1847), a journalist of talent whose verses were
collected in 1848, and Christian Monsen (1815-1852).
A far more wholesome and constructive influence was
that of Johann Sebastian Cammermeyer Welhaven (1807-1873),
who was first brought to the surface by the
conservative reaction in 1830 against the extravagance of the
radical party. His first publications were polemical, and
were mainly directed against Wergeland. A savage attack
on
Henrik Wergeland's Poetry
, published in 1832, caused
a great sensation, and produced an angry pamphlet
in reply from the father, Nikolai Wergeland. The
controversy became the main topic of the day, and in 1834
Welhaven pushed it into a wider arena by the publication
of his beautiful cycle of satirical sonnets called
Norges
Dæmring
(The Dawn of Norway), in which he preached a
full conservative gospel. Norway has not followed
Welhaven in politics, but it certainly has in literature. The
salutary character of his advice was instantly felt by the
younger men of letters. As a poet and as a critic he
continued to do admirable work. He published volumes of
lyrical and romantic poems in 1839, 1845, 1848, 1851,
and 1860; and he enriched the language by two excellent
critical studies, one on Holberg, 1854, and the other on
Evald and the Norwegian Club
, 1863. His collected
works appeared in eight volumes in 1867-68. He was
assisted in his controversy with Wergeland by Henrik
Hermann Foss (1790-1853), author of
Tidenornerne
(The
Norns of the Age), 1835, and other verses.
Andreas Munch (b. 1811), the oldest now-living Norwegian
author of any repute, has been one of the most rapid and industrious
of poetical writers. He took no part in the feud between Wergeland
and Welhaven, but addicted himself to the study of Danish
models independently of either. He published a series of poems
and dramas, one of which latter,
Kong Sverres Ungdom
, 1837,
attracted some notice, without securing much position. His
popularity commenced with the appearance of his
Poems Old and
New
in 1848, and has only lately begun to decline. Andreas Munch
makes little or no appeal to the highest poetical susceptibilities;
his work is melodious, facile, and graceful, but without depth
of feeling or artistic beauty. His highest level as a poet was
reached by his epic called
Kongedatterens Brudefart
(The Bridal
Journey of the King's Daughter), 1861. Two of his historical
dramas have enjoyed a popularity greatly in excess of their merit;
these are
Solomon de Caus
, 1854, and
Lord William Russell
, 1857.
Munch published a fragment of an autobiography in 1874, with
the title of
Barndoms- og Ungdoms-minder
(Memoirs of Childhood
and Youth).
A group of minor poetical writers may now be considered.
Magnus Brostrup Landstad (1802-1881) was born on Maasö, an
island in the vicinity of the North Cape, and therefore in higher
latitudes than any other man of letters. He was a hymn-writer
of merit, and he was the first to collect, in 1853, the
Norske
Folkeviser
, or Norwegian folk-songs. Landstad was ordered by the
Government to prepare an official national hymn-book, which was
brought out in 1861. Peter Andreas Jensen (1812-1867) published
volumes of lyrical poetry, mostly to edification, in 1838, 1849,
1855, and 1861, and two dramas. He was also the author of a
novel,
En Erindring
(A Souvenir), in 1857. Aasmund Olafsen
Vinje (1818-1870) was a peasant of remarkable talent, who was the
principal leader of the movement known as the “maalstrœv,” an
effort to distinguish Norwegian from Danish literature by the adoption
of a peasant dialect, or rather a new language arbitrarily formed
on a collation of the various dialects. Vinje wrote a volume of
lyrics, which he published in 1864, and a narrative poem,
Storegut
(Big Lad), 1866, entirely in this fictitious language, and he even
went so far as to issue in it a newspaper,
Dölen
(The Dalesman),
which appeared from 1858 to Vinje's death in 1870. In these
efforts he was supported by Ivar Aasen, to whom we shall return,
and by Kristoffer Jansen (b. 1841), now the only remaining
“maalstrœver,” who resides in the United States, and who is the
author of various important works,—an historical tragedy,
Jon
Arason
,1867; several novels,—
Fraa Bygdom
, 1865;
Torgrim
, 1872;
Fra Dansketidi
, 1875;
Han og Ho
, 1878; and
Austanfyre Sol og
Vestanfyre Maane
(East of the Sun and West of the Moon), 1879;
besides a powerful but morbid drama in the ordinary language of
Norway,
En Kvindeskjebne
(A Woman's Fate), 1879. Superior to
all the preceding in the quality of his lyrical writing was the late
bishop of Christiansand, Jörgen Moe (1813-1882), author of three
little volumes of exquisite verses, published in 1850, 1851, and
1853. He is, however, better known by his labours in comparative
mythology, in conjunction with P. C. Asbjörnsen.
The mixture of such opposite elements as the wild genius of
Wergeland and the cold critical judgment of Welhaven would
seem to have formed a singularly happy basis for the writers of the
next generation to build a literature upon. The now-living poets
of Norway may hold their own without fear of too severe a rivalry,
not merely with those of Denmark and Sweden, whom they easily
excel, but with those of the great powers. There can be no reasonable
question that Ibsen and Björnson are the two most original
figures of their generation in the Teutonic world of imagination.
But their energy, and that of their companions, has been almost
entirely confined to two fields,—the drama and the novel. The
narrative and epical forms of poetry, and even the lyric in its more
ambitious directions, have not flourished in the modern Norwegian
school. The most conspicuous name in Norwegian literature is
that of Henrik Ibsen (b. 1828). His early efforts were not remarkable,
and to this day he has not succeeded in any field but the
drama, where he is a master. His first tragedy,
Catilina
, 1850, was
a work of little importance. It was not until 1856 that he came
forward with a romantic drama,
Gildet paa Solhaug
(The Feast
at Solhaug), in which an individual style was noticeable. Two
successive tragedies,
Fru Inger til Österaad
, 1857, and
Hærmændene
paa Helgeland
(The Warriors on Helgeland), 1858, displayed a
sudden development of power. In 1863, at last, he wrote an
historical tragedy,
Kongsemnerne
(The Pretenders), which is a work
of maturer genius. He had by this time, however, been drawn into
a new channel. In 1862 he began his series of lyrico- satirical
dramas on modern Norwegian life with his
Kjærlighedens Komedie
(Love's Comedy), a brilliant study, which was succeeded by two
masterpieces of a similar kind,
Brand
in 1866, and
Peer Gynt
in
1867. These were long dramas, written entirely in octosyllabic
rhyming verse. In
De Unges Forbund
(The Young Men's League),
1869, which was a political satire of much force, he abandoned
verse, and has since written all his dramas in prose. In 1871 he
collected his lyrical poems, and in 1873 he published
Kejser og
Galilæer
(Emperor and Galilean), a double drama of portentous
size, on the career of Julian the Apostate. Since that time he has
published, about once in every two years, satirical comedies of
great pungency and wit, laying bare some sore of modern social
life among his countrymen,—
Samfundets Stötter
(The Pillars of
Society), in 1877;
Et Dukkehjem
(A Doll's House, or Nora), in
1879;
Gengangere
(Ghosts), in 1881; and
En Folkefiende
(An
Enemy to the People), in 1883. The last of these is a humorous
apology for the poet's severity as a satirist, which in his latest
works has seemed excessive even to his greatest admirers. He has
lived in voluntary exile from Norway since 1864.
It has been a misfortune to Björnstjerne Björnson (b. 1832) that
he was born four years later than Ibsen, with whose powers his
might else be more exactly matched. It is possible that in some
respects his mind is more richly endowed than Ibsen's, and it would
seem to be more versatile; the elder poet, however, is the superior
artist, and has his qualities under more severe control. Björnson
has made several false starts; Ibsen scarcely one. The first successes
of Björnson were made in the field of the novel, where he adapted
from the German school of “dorfgeschichten,” a species of realistic
and yet romantic tale of life among the peasants in the mountains,
which was singularly charming and attractive. Of these the two
first,
Synnöve Solbakken
, 1857, and
Arne
, 1858, were among the
best, and made his name famous. His ambition, however, was to
excel in dramatic writing, and after three comparative failures—
Halte
Hulda
(Halting Hulda), 1858;
Mellem Slagene
(Between the
Battles), 1859; and
Kong Sverre
(King Sverre), 1861—he made a
great success with his heroic trilogy of
Sigurd Slembe
in 1862. In
the meantime small sketches of peasant life, and the exquisite little
story called
En Glad Gut
(A Merry Lad), had supported his
reputation. In 1863 he brought out a tragedy of
Maria Stuart i
Skotland
, and in 1865 a little comedy
De Nygifte
(The Newly-married
Couple), which enjoyed an overwhelming success. Another story,
Fiskerjenten
(The Fisher-Girl), in 1868, was found less fresh and
unaffected than his early stories, and he returned to his charming
pristine manner in
Brudeslaaten
, 1873. Since that year he has
published but one novel,
Magnhild
, 1877, and a slight study of
Italian life,
Kaptejn Mansana
, 1879, neither quite worthy of his
genius. All his other productions have been dramatic. Fired with
emulation for Ibsen, he has written
Sigurd Jorsalfar
, in 1873, an
historical saga-drama, and a series of satirical comedies,—
En Fallit
(A Bankruptcy), 1875, an admirable piece;
Redaktören
(The Editor),
1875;
Kongen
(The King), 1877, a political manifesto in four acts;
Leonarda
, 1879;
Det ny System
(The New System), 1879;
En
Handske
(A Glove), 1883; and
Over Ævne
(Beyond his Reach),
1883,—the last a very singular study of epileptic hysteria as a factor
in religious enthusiasm. Björnson is a republican of the most
advanced order, and his views are pushed forward too crudely for
artistic effect in several of his later works.
Two writers of novels who owe much to the example of Ibsen
and Björnson are Jonas Lie (b. 1833) and Alexander Kielland (b.
1849). Lie was late in developing his talent, and has lost much
time in wavering between the sentimental and the realistic schools
of treatment. He has finally thrown in his cause with the latter
in his last novel
Livs-Slaven
, 1883. His best books have been
stories of seafaring life—
Den Fremsynte
(The Man with the Second
Sight), 1870;
Tremasteren Fremtiden
(The Threemaster “Future”),
1872;
Lodsen og hans Hustru
(The Pilot and his Wife), 1874; and
Rutland
, 1880. His tales of town-life—
Thomas Ross
, 1878, and
Adam Schröder
, 1879—have less of the novelist s illusion. Kielland
may prove to possess a stronger talent than Lie; his progress has
been more rapid and steady, and he has a clearer idea of what
he wishes to do. He began by being strongly influenced by Zola
in his
Garman og Worse
, 1879, and his
Arbeidsfolk
(Working
People), 1880. His latest works have shown steady improvement
in style and a growing independence of French models. From
this, the youngest of distinguished Norwegian writers, we may
turn back to a few older names which close the list of novelists.
Nicolai Ramm Ostgaard (1812-1873) to some extent preceded
Björnson in his graceful romance
En Fjeldbygd
(A Mountain
Parish), in 1852. Frithjof Foss, who wrote under the pseudonym
of Israél Dehn (b. 1830), attracted notice by a series of no less
than seven separate stories published between 1862 and 1864, but
has been silent since. The two most important women-novelists
have been Jacobine Camilla Collett (b. 1813), a cousin of the
poet Wergeland, author of
Amtmandens Döttre
(The Governor's
Daughters), 1855, an excellent novel, and many other volumes;
and Anna Magdalene Thoresen (b. 1819), a Dane by birth, author
of a series of novels.
The labours of Peter Christen Asbjörnsen (b. 1812), in conjunction
with Bishop Moe, in the collection of the old Norse folk-tales,
demand prominent recognition in any sketch of Norwegian literature.
Before they were twenty years of age these friends began to write
down the stories of the peasants. In 1838 Asbjörnsen first made
public some of the results of his investigations in a little publication
for children called
Nor
. Not until 1842 did the first authorized
edition of the
Norske Folkeeventyr
see the light. It was followed
in 1845 by
Huldreeventyr
, or stories about the fairies or sirens
which haunt the mountain dairies, by Asbjörnsen alone. Of these
a second series appeared in 1848, and in 1871 a new series was
published again by Asbjornsen alone of the
Folkeeventyr
. It was
from minstrels, boatmen, vagabonds, and paupers that the best
stories were collected, and it is a significant fact that most of these
professional reciters are now dead. Had Asbjörnsen and Moe
neglected the duty of preserving the ancient legends, they would
now, in all probability, be entirely lost. What has been done by
Asbjörnsen for the peasant-stories has been done for the dialects in
which they were composed by Ivar Aasen (b. 1813). Since 1850
he has received a pension from the state to enable him to study the
peasant-patois, and his great dictionary,
Norsk Ordbog
, first printed
in 1858, and his other linguistic publications have been the result.
He is the creator of the artificial language, the “maal,” which Vinje,
K. Jansen, and others have written in; and he has published in
it a valuable collection of proverbs, 1851.
The principal historian of Norway has been Peter Andreas Munch
(1810-1863), whose multifarious writings include a grammar of Old
Norse, 1847; a collection of Norwegian laws until the year 1387,
1846-49; a study of Runic inscriptions, 1848; a history and
description of Norway during the Middle Ages, 1849; and a history
of the Norwegian people, in 8 vols., 1852-63; Jakob Aall (1773-1844)
was associated with Munch in this work. Jakob Rudolf Keyser
(1803-1864) performed services scarcely less important in printing
and annotating the most important documents dealing with the
mediæval history of Norway. Carl Richard Unger (b. 1817) has
taken part in the same work and edited
Morkinskinna
in 1867.
Sophus Bugge (b. 1833) is a leading philologist of a younger school,
and Oluf Rygh (b. 1833) has contributed to the archæological part
of history. The modern language of Norway found an admirable
grammarian in Jakob Olaus Lökke (1829-1881). A careful historian
and ethnographer was Ludvig Kristensen Daa (1809-1877). Ludvig
Daae (b. 1834) has written the history of Christiania, and has traced
the chronicles of Norway during the Danish possession. Bernt
Moe (1814-1850) was a careful biographer of the heroes of Eidsvold.
Eilert Lund Sundt (1817-1875) published some very curious and
valuable works on the condition of the poorer classes in Norway.
Professor J. A. Friis (b. 1821) has published the folk-lore of the
Lapps in a series of very curious and valuable volumes.
In jurisprudence the principal Norwegian authorities are Anton
Martin Schweigaard (1808-1870) and Frederik Stang (b. 1808).
Peter Carl Lasson (1798-1873) and Ulrik Anton Motzfelt (d. 1865)
were the lights of an earlier generation. In medical science, the
great writer of the beginning of the century was Michael Skjelderup
(1769-1852), who was succeeded by Frederik Hoist (b. 1791).
Daniel Cornelius Danielsen (b. 1815) is a prominent dermatologist;
but probably the most eminent of recent physiologists in Norway
is Carl Wilhelm Boeck (b. 1808). The elder brother of the
last-mentioned, Christian Peter Bianco Boeck (1798-1877), also demands
recognition as a medical writer. Christopher Hansteen (1784-1873)
was prominent in several branches of mathematical and chemical
literature, and was professor of mathematics at the university for
nearly sixty years. Michael Sars (b. 1805) has obtained a European
reputation through his investigations in invertebrate zoology. He
has been assisted by his son Georg Ossian Sars (b. 1837). Baltazar
Michael Keilhau (1797-1858) and Theodor Kjerulf (b. 1825)
have been the leading Norwegian geologists. Mathias Numsen
Blytt (1789-1862) represents the section of botany. His
Norges
Flora
, part of which was published in 1861, was left incomplete at
his death. Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) was a mathematician of
extraordinary promise; Ole Jakob Broch (b. 1818) must be
mentioned in the same connexion. Marcus Jakob Monrad (b. 1816),
an Hegelian, is the most prominent philosophical writer of modern
Norway. Among theological writers may be mentioned Hans
Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824), author of the sect which bears his
name; Svend Borchman Hersleb (1784-1836); Stener Johannes
Stenersen (1789-1835) ; Wilhelm Andreas Wexels (1797-1866), a
writer of extraordinary popularity; and Carl Paul Caspari (b. 1814),
the learned professor of theology in the university of Christiania.
No very recent compendium of Norwegian literature exists.
La Norvége
Littéraire
, by Paul Botten-Hansen (1824-1869), is an admirable piece of bibliography
so far as it reaches, but comes down no farther than 1866. Professor
L. Dietrichson published in 1866 the first and only part of an
Omrids af den
Norske Poesis Historie
(Outline of the History of Norwegian Poetry). J. B.
Halvorsen is now publishing a
Norsk Forfatter-Lexikon
, 1814-1880 (Norwegian
Dictionary of Authors); this promises to be a very valuable work, but has not
as yet proceeded beyond the letter B. In English see the earlier chapters of
Gosse's
Northern Studies
(1879; 2nd edition, 1882). (
E. W. G.
VOL
. XVII.
NORWAY & SWEDEN
PLATE XX.
. Bartholomew,
Edinʳ
encyclopædia britannica, ninth edition
This territorial division is the only one which has been known in
Norway since that into “fylkis,” which had become antiquated even
in the days of Harold Haarfager. These fylkis were more numerous
than the present amter.
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