New ground in Norway, Ringerike-Telemarken-Sætersdalen ... With ... illustrations, etc

Front matter

GAUSTA. NEW GROUND IN NORWAY Ringerike— Telemarken— Sætersdalen, BY E. J. GOODMAN, Author of " The Best Tour in Norway," &c. WITH FIETY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS, From Original Photographs by PAUL LANGE, Late Tiesident of the Liverpool Amateur "Photographic Association. PRINTED BY Hudson & Kearns, London, S.E., AND PUBLISHED BY George Newnes (Ltd.), Southampton St., London, W.C 1896. DEDICATED TO HERR N. KIELLAND-TORKILDSEN, President of the Skien-Telemarken Tourist Club, WHOSE PUBLIC-SPIRITED ENTERPRISE HAS CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO RENDER HIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY ACCESSIBLE TO TRAVELLERS. CONTENTS. Chapter Page Introduction . . . . . ix. I. From Hull to Christianssand. . i II. Christiania en Fete 8 III. Ibsen at Home 17 IV. Christiania to the Ringerike . . 26 V. Honefos and Kongsberg . . . 35 VI. First Steps in Telemarken. . . 45 VII.

VESTFJORDDALEN AND GaUSTA . . 54 VIII. The Rjukanfos 62 IX. Through Hitterdal to Skien. . 70 X. The Telemarken Canal . . .80 XI. Kirkebo 88 XII. Dalen and its Environs . . -97 XIII. En Route for Sætersdalen . . 107 XIV. A Night in the Mountains. . . 117 XV Upper Sætersdalen . . . .127 XVI. Viken i Valle 137 XVII. A Wet Journey . . . .153 XVIII. The Sommerhjem 165 XIX. On the Lakes 173 XX. A Sætersdal Wedding . . .181 XXI. Southward to the Sea . . 192 XXII. Arendal . . . . . 201 Summary of Tour . . .215 Index . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Gausta Frontispiece PAGE A Glade in Telemarken .... x A Telemarken Farmhouse .... xiv FACING PAGE Christianssand Harbour .... i The Ravnedal 6 Market place, Christiania .... 8 Our "Grand" bedroom ..... 10 GOLSKIRKE . . . . . . . 12 Holmenkollen . 14 Carl Johans Gade 17 Dr. Henrik Ibsen 18 Bath-house, Sundvolden 26 Skaret 28 The Tyrifjord ..... .32 The Honefos ....... 35 Lake view near Bolkesjo .... 45 First view of Bolkesjo . ... 50 Bolkesjo village and lakes .... 52 Grandsherred bridge ..... 54 Telemarken dress 58 In VESTFJORDDALEN 62 The Rjukanfos 64 Skien from the river ..... 70 Hitterdal Church . . . . . 72 Eidanger yS Drawbridge over Sundkilen .... 80 Birch wood near Kirkebo ... 84 On the road to Brunkeberg .... 88 Kirkebo 90 Stabur at Lundevald ..... list of illustrations.

VII FACING PAGE Hotel Dalen 97 Ravnedjuvet . . .... 102 Stabur at Sandok .... 104 Bordsjo lake . . . . . . .107 Our Mountain Guide no On the Bjornevand . . . . .117 Starting from Amstuen . . . . .124 At the head of Sætersdalen . . .127 Sætersdal peasants' hut . . . .128 First View of Sætersdalen . . . .130 Einangsfjeldf.t 134 Sætersdal peasants 137 The Bjornaraas ...... 142 Weekday dress Sætersdalen . . .148 On the road to Ose 153 Ancient Stabur at Ose 160 Bygland church . . . . .165 The Sommerhjem . . . . . .168 Aardal and Church . . . . .173 Bygland lake . . . . . .174 A Lake boat 181 A Sætersdal bride . . . . 188 On the Otteraa at Mosby . . . .192 Dolen — Viking-shaped boat .... 196 Off the Southern Coast ..... 201 Farvel !

Introduction

. I began the first book I wrote about Norway with an apology for its title, and I have to take a similar course in the present instance. "The Best Tour in Norway," I explained, was so called only in a certain limited sense as the best that could be made by those visiting the country for the first time and desiring to see that which was most characteristic in its physical aspects. In like manner "New Ground in Norway" describes country that is new, not, of course, in any literal sense, but in its character as a land sought by ordinary travellers in search of the picturesque. Relatively to the great army of British pleasure tourists who have flocked to the Western Fjords and the North Cape but very few have, up to the present time, explored the interior of Southern Norway, and for all but these that region is practically terra incognita, although it has long been to Norwegians as favourite a place of resort as the English and Scotch lakes are to Britons.

It will, no doubt, however, be a very popular tourist ground in the not distant future. Thanks to the enterprise of Messrs. Wilson, of Hull, assisted by their London agents, Messrs. W. E. Bott & Co., access to South Norway has been made very easy and very cheap. Within the last year or two these firms have set on foot a series of tours, for short and long periods, at what are called "popular prices," covering all expenses, and the system they have organised is being still further developed. Either in co-operation with X

INTRODUCTION.

. these English companies or independently, Nor wegian tourist agents at Christiania, Bergen, and elsewhere are also taking active steps to attract foreign visitors. Messrs. Bennett and Mr. Beyer have for many years proved themselves invaluable to tourists, to whom these courteous gentlemen are always read}* to give information and assistance while tempting them to carry away mementos of the country in the shape ofthe many beautiful and curious objects which it produces. At Christiania, Bennett's picturesque old house in Store Strand gaden is well known, and Mr. Beyer has his agenc}* in Carl Johans Gade, near the Grand Hotel. Thus every possible inducement is now offered to draw travellers to Southern Norway. It must have come to this at last. So charming a country could not for ever remain known only to the select few.

It was inevitable that the period would arrive when it would be advertised and thronged. But it has been my privilege to see it before it has become overcrowded, as it is sure to be one oL'fhese days when the British public learn what a beautiful land it is, what good accommodation it offers to travellers, and how easy it is to make one's way from one part of it to another. I think I am further justified in speaking of South Norway as " new ground," because, though I by no means claim to be its Columbus, this book, at an}* rate, is the first that has been written about the greater part of it, with the exception of one or two very small works hardly exceeding the dimensions ofa pamphlet. I have, it is true, touched upon it myself in " The Best Tour in Norway "(now in its third edition), but in that volume I briefly describe only a portion of the country, and little or nothing that appears therein is repeated in the present book. In short, I hope I shall not be considered presumptuous when I say that on this occasion, assisted by my friend and A GLADE IN TELEMARKF.N,

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. XI fellow traveller, Mr. Paul Lange, I practically have the honour of introducing South Norway to the British public at large. The reason why South Norway has hitherto been neglected is not far to seek. It is only within quite recent years that this country has been rendered accessible to the ordinary traveller. Not long ago it was impossible to journey through the land without difficulty and discomfort. The main roads were rough or unfinished, and many districts were connected merely by foot or bridle paths ; there were but few inns or hotels on an}* of the routes ; there were no steamers on the lakes and rivers ; and the fare and the accommodation to be obtained at farmhouses and stations were of the most primitive order. These conditions of course presented no obstacles to the more hardy and adventurous class of travellers, but they effectually warned off those who desire to make their journeys in comfort if not in luxury.

The people moreover had acquired the unenviable reputation of being exceptionally slovenly and dirty, and to this day the latest edition of one of the most popular guide books advises visitors in Southern Norway to carry with them a good supply of insect powder as well as of provisions. But of late years a change, as great as it has been rapid, has come over the country. The Norwegian Government and local authorities, and one or two active private societies, have effected remarkable improvements in the means of com munication from place to place, and South Norway is fast becoming as easy* a country to travel in, and as comfortable a land to live in, as any other part of the kingdom. Fine new roads have been made in many of the districts, while several of the old ones have been improved ; steamers have been put on the principal lakes, a series of which, between

INTRODUCTION.

. east and west, has been connected by rivers ren dered navigable ; a railway from the south coast penetrates far into the heart of the country, and will soon go farther, and hotels have sprung up in all directions. Undertakings of this sort are still in progress, and others will be commenced before long; but enough has been done already to justify those who wish to attract visitors to this region in declaring that there is now no difficulty or inconvenience whatever in the way of travellers who wish to explore the recesses of Southern Norway. And what, it may be asked, is Southern Norway ? What are its limits, and what are its characteristic features ? To the first question it may be replied that Southern Norway is that part of the country which lies between Christianssand and Christiania, and extends from the coast inland for from fifty to one hundred and fifty miles.

It consists mainly* of three districts — the Ringerike, a tract to the north west of the capital ; west and south of that, Tele marken, and, further south and west, Sætersdalen. In addition there is the South Coast itself, abounding in picturesque sea-ports such as Lille sand, Grimstad, Arendal, and others, very rarely visited by English tourists. The country near Stavanger cannot, properly speaking, be said to belong to South Norway. For the purpose of the holiday traveller it appertains rather to the western side; indeed, Stavanger itself is undoubtedly the best starting point for a tour of the great fjords. Christiania is not so easily detached from the area of Southern Norway, thoughit is necessarily the commencement of the well-trodden inland routes to the far north, and certainly cannot in any sense be described as " new ground," since it was the very first point sought by the earliest travellers in

INTRODUCTION.

. XIII Norway. Still, it must be included in the southern tour, as much of Telemarken, at least, can be most conveniently* reached from the capital. Besides, the surroundings of Christiania are hardly as well known as they ought to be ; it is usual!}' hurried through, and man}* a charming spot within a short distance from it is new ground to most ordinary travellers. The characteristic features of Southern Norway are wholly* different from those of the west and the north, with which British tourists are most familiar. In the first place there are no fjords here like the Hardanger and the Sogne and their branches. Fjords it has, no doubt, but they are inlets of the sea bordered by no craggy and precipitous mountains, or they are fresh-water lakes taking the name of fjord, but possessing little or nothing of its distinctive nature.

Nor is there to be found in Southern Norway any of that bold coast scenery which gives such grandeur to the west and the north. It has no great mountain islands like those of the Nordland; no vast snow and glacier-covered fields, and only one waterfall of the first magnitude. Nevertheless, it possesses charms that will in time render it a formidable rival to its sister districts in the eyes of the tourist. South Norway is a land of lakes and rivers, and forests and mountains, as beautiful as any to be seen elsewhere. It is essentially a green land, richly fertile in timber and foliage ; possessing, so to speak, a clothed wildness in striking contrast to the more naked savagery of the north. If waterfalls such as the Skjæggedalsfos and the Voringsfos are scarce, river cascades and rapids of great magnificence are numerous, and are in many cases rendered by artificial means more imposing than nature made them for the sake of the water power which they possess, and which

INTRODUCTION.

. is utilised for the purpose of floating down the vast quantities of timber yielded by the boundless forests, and of converting them into commodities of commerce. The scenery of Southern Norway is always beautiful, often grand, and sometimes even sublime. Near the coast it is soft and gentle, but it increases in boldness as the traveller pro ceeds northward, until in the line of country that marks the borders of Northern Telemarken and Sætersdalen it presents a series of landscapes worthy* to be compared with the finest scenery of the Scottish Highlands. Those who have travelled only in the west and the north will, however, repeat many of their experiences in the south. If they use the local coasting steamers they will find themselves threading narrow and still waters among a belt of rocky islands as in the voyage from Stavanger to Bergen.

On land again they will often have to travel by the familiar carriole and stolkjœrre, though four-wheeled carriages are more common in the south than elsewhere, and the country about Christiania is abundantly supplied with railwavs. On all the larger lakes there are steamers or steam launches, and on all waters plenty of rowing boats, with peculiar prows of their own, made to overcome the obstacles presented by ice in the winter. The Skyds system prevails here as in other parts, and where there are no hotels, more or less good accommodation is to be had at posting stations and farmhouses. Indeed there is now a regular beaten track in Southern as in Western Norway, and so long as the traveller confines himself to this he will find the conditions pretty much the same as those that exist in other quarters.

In two respects he may be disabused of much that he has heard concerning the incon venience of touring in Southern Norway. He may IN A TELEMARKEN FARMHOUSF

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. XV safely disregard the advice about insect powder and provisions. Neither is necessary, at any rate in the more frequented parts of Telemarken, where clean hotels with plenty to eat are to be found everywhere. Indeed the stories that have been told about the dirty habits of the peasantry in these districts are greatly exaggerated. Certainly they do not possess the Oriental passion for the bath, but they always present a neat and tidy external appearance, their houses are fairly well kept, and no such dis gusting sights are to be witnessed in their villages as are to be seen habitually in the rural parts of such countries as Germany, France, Italy, Spain and our own Ireland. Elsewhere than in the hotels the food to be obtained is simple enough ; but it is sufficient for those who can be content to live for a day or two on porridge, oatcake, milk, bread, butter, eggs and ham, of which there is always enough to be had.

Travellers who wander into out-of-the-way places must expect rough fare and accommodation, and South Norway is not the only country where they will have such experiences. To the artist, and others having a taste for the picturesque in popular manners, Telemarken and, in a larger measure still, Sætersdalen present special attractions. The inhabitants of these districts have not yet abandoned their national costume for the wares of the cheap slop-seller. In Sætersdalen everybody, from the most prosperous farmers to the humblest peasants, wears the costume that has been in vogue there for centuries, and national dress also is very frequently to be met with in Telemarken. The domestic architecture in these parts is also more interesting than in other districts of Norway. Fine old guards or farm houses, are common in the villages, while the stabur, or storehouse, is found here in many a quaint and ornamented edifice. It is in winter that the festive

INTRODUCTION.

. XVI customs of the peasantry are to be witnessed to the best advantage, but even in summer a village fete is sometimes to be enjoyed, while a good bonderbryllup, or peasants' wedding, with hundreds of the people in their quaint native costume, far surpasses in in picturesqueness anything of the sort to be seen further north. For the rest the stranger may be assured that he will find here among the people the same unaffected hospitality and good nature, the same politeness and honesty, that have gone far to render travel so pleasant elsewhere in Norway. He will have been told that the peasantry of Telemarken and Sætersdalen are uncouth and suspicious, but he will find that they are not so. They share all the best qualities of their fellow countrymen, and though they may appear shy and reserved at first acquaintance, their coldness soon melts before a genial and kindly greeting.

They seem grave and stolid like other Norsemen, but they as heartily enjoy fun when it is once set going, and up to the present moment, at an}* rate, they* have not been "spoilt," as it is to be feared some of their compatriots have been, or are being, by contact with the inferior class of American and British tourists. So much for the general superficial character istics, physical and social, of Southern Norwav. Of that which is distinctive and peculiar in both more will be said in succeeding pages.

Chapter I. From Hull To Christianssand

There are two ways of reaching Southern Norway, and both are to be recommended. One of these is to follow the route from Stavanger through the Suldal and over the Haukelisœter to Dalen in Telemarken, a road of very great and varied beauty throughout, involving journeys by fjord and lake and land, rendered easy by excellent conveyances of all kinds. It is not suitable, however, for a tour in that very early part of the summer which I have always regarded as the pleasantest time for travelling in Norway, as the snow will not by then have been cleared away on the high ground to which the road rises from Roldal, and to labour through it in its half melted condition is not pleasant. I have traversed this route myself, and have fully described it in a previous volume, but it was at a time of the year when the journey presented no difficulties, and you had never to descend from your car while the driver made the path practicable for his wheels, or to walk the "nasty bits" by the steep mountain side.

B All this has to be done early in June, and that month is, of all others, the one I always select when I can for a tour in Norway. So, in the summer of 1895, I chose the route which I considered preferable, and which I recommend rather than the other, namely, a voyage from England to the Norwegian South Coast. I started from Hull by the good steamer Montebello, one of the best of the Wilson line, and commanded by one of its most genial captains, George Pepper. The Wilson captains are capital fellows all of them ; but Mr. Pepper is one of the most jovial sort, as well as an admirable seaman, and those are to be envied who have the privilege of sitting near him at the mess-table, and listening to his good stories and cheery talk, a privilege which my companion and I enjoyed. For I had a companion, and one with whom it was a great advantage to travel, as those will perceive who survey* the beautiful reproduced photographs that form the most attractive part of this volume.

I had never set out for a tour in Norway with a fellow traveller before, though I had picked up many a one on the road, and a journey "through Norway with a photographer" was for me a very novel experience indeed. I had had, I confess, some misgivings touching this association. I had pictured to my*self a state of things in which the elaborate and tedious processes of photography might seriously impede my progress ; but I had reckoned without that host of resources which science now provides for its votaries. Little did I imagine how easily a journey with a camera could be effected, and how readily the tripod could be planted and used, to say nothing of the " snapshot." But let me not anticipate. I am not a particularly lucky man, but one piece of good fortune always, or nearly always, FROM HULL TO CHRISTIANSSAND. 3 follows me.

Whenever I take my walks abroad— on pleasure bent — I almost invariably have what is commonly called "Queen's Weather." I have now crossed the North Sea between England and Norway eight times, and have always had a good passage. I have heard much of the terrors of this transit, with its sudden storms and choppy waves, but I have had no experience of them. Whatever other people may have to say about it, I at least can give the North Sea a very good character, as it has always been on its best behaviour when I have been upon it. And as my companion happened to be also "weather lucky," of course we had on this occasion a double chance, and as a matter of fact, enjoyed the full benefit of it. Never for a moment did the kindly Montebello roll or pitch, and so slight is the vibration caused by her engines, that it was a favourite joke at meals to ask the captain "what was he stopping for?"

I have had sunshine, too, during every trip across the North Sea, and never was it brighter than during that glorious day and a half occupied by our voyage from Hull to Christianssand. As I have said, I like best to visit Norway in June, and as early in the month as possible. There are many* reasons for this preference to be found in the country itself, when you have the longest days of the year, it being hardly dark even in the South at midnight, when the land is clad in its first robes of green, embroidered with the loveliest wild flowers, when there is plenty of room in the steamers and the hotels, and when the least congenial sort of tourists are not yet on the road. This last is one ofthe reasons why a voyage across the North Sea in early summer is rendered so pleasant. You have a good class of travellers on board — people of taste and cultivation, for the most part, and not too many of them.

As likely B as not you find yourself at the table i'is-a-vis to some great folks going out to their salmon-river ; and for no snobbish reason, but because the great folk's are as a rule the pleasantest of all good company on board a steamer, I like to consort with them. They make themselves agreeable while the voyage lasts, and there's an end of it. It is enough. A grand lady of society was seated opposite to us, and I onlv mention the fact because a curious circumstance hangs upon it. She had with her a couple of sharp little Scotch terriers, and was taking them to Norway. To Norway ? I was astonished. Was not her ladyship aware that the importation of dogs into Norway was strictly prohibited, so keen is the apprehension of the authorities there on the score of hydrophobia ? Oh yes, was the quiet reply ; the fact was well known ; but in this case the two dogs were to be allowed entry by the special permission of the King.

That is how it is some times done. But sportsmen complain bitterly of the exclusion, as it is impossible to shoot ryper or elk satisfactorily without canine assistance, and the Norwegian dogs are of little use. It is true some mighty hunters have a way of their own. " I never have any difficulty about getting dogs into the country," said one to me, " I always smuggle them over the Russian frontier." The dogs on board the Montcbcllo were duly passed at the port of landing, but not before they* were made to undergo a rigid examination at the hands of a local "vet." In other respects I found our travelling companions very satisfactory, and not least of all in the case of a band of four young men from Lanca shire, who were about to make a really enterprising and intelligent tour, one that would take them far off the beaten track and through very interesting country.

It is pleasant to find a set of young FROM HULL TO CHRISTIANSSAND. 5 fellows, engaged at other times in commercial pursuits, thus chalking out a route for themselves, in which they would have to tramp over difficult ground and rough it for pure love of adventure and the picturesque. I was glad afterwards to hear that this expedition was quite successfully accomplished. Christianssand is always reached at an early hour on Sunday morning, and the steamer is usually detained there for several hours in order to obtain facilities for discharging and taking in cargo. We arrived about breakfast time, and found a large crowd on the quay waiting to welcome us. Not loudly or effusively, of course, for when was a Norwegian crowd ever noisy in its demonstrations ? They stood about and looked at us — that was all.

We put ashore several returned emigrants from America, most of whom had friends from far up the country, in wild Sætersdalen perhaps, to meet them. Presumably Olaf and Ingeborg had come back with more valuable property in those gorgeous Nor wegian travelling trunks, glittering with metal bands and blazing with colour, than they took away with them, and the good fellows themselves and their wives were dressed in their Sunda}' best, and strutted proudly about the mid-deck to impress their friends with the belief that they had travelled home first class all the way, instead of lying huddled together like a lot of pigs among the cargo, as we had seen them. The detention at Christianssand is always acceptable, as it enables one to break the voyage and see the town, and take a run into the Ravnedal or some other pleasant place.

A large portion of Christianssand had been burnt down by one of those conflagrations so common in Norway, since I last visited it, and that, too, was the best part of the place. The devastated quarter, however, had all been completely restored, and was laid out in wide, straight streets, bordered by edifices of truly palatial magnificence. Ernst's Hotel and the Cathedral had, among others, both perished in the flames, but had been replaced by buildings much finer than their predecessors. All these were constructed of stone and brick, for the Norwegians are beginning to find out the mistake of depending upon wooden walls. They are cheaper for the moment, but prove costly enough when fire breaks out. Yet even as it is, one is surprised to find how easily a Norwegian town is burnt. It is usually laid out with very broad thoroughfares and plenty of open spaces, and the general plan is a parallelogram, as in the case of Philadelphia and other American cities.

But these pine-wood dwellings of course burn very quickly, and no doubt the flames leap from side to side of even the broadest roads in a high wind, while Norway is ver}' inadequately supplied with fire engines, though it has no lack of water. Christians sand has little to please the eye of the lover of the picturesque, for there is nothing antique about it ; but it is very neat and very clean, and the new houses — those at least of the wealthier classes — are constructed with a profusion of ornament, very much in the modern French style. It is a pity that the Norwegian towns are thus so fast losing the native character, still retained at Stavanger and Bergen, but 1 suppose the change is inevitable. Two or three days, however, may be pleasantly spent at Christianssand, as its surroundings are very attractive.

For one thing, it has a noble cliff road (Vestreveien) cut through the side of the rocks that overlook the harbour and fjord. This is a favourite lounge for the townspeople, and it is well provided with seats, and the crags that tower above it have many snug nooks and lofty eyries commanding fine views. This road is the highway THE RAVNEDAL FROM HULL TO CHRISTIANSSAND. 7 to Mandal, and has branches to the coast and to places inland, all of great picturesqueness. A drive by any one of them is always delightful. Then there is the bold promontory of Odderoen stretching out into the fjord, and there are beautiful steamer trips to be taken up the Topdal fjord and the Otteraa or Torrisdal river. The town cemetery is also worth visiting, if only to see the beflagged graves ofthe brave Danish soldiers who fell in the Schleswig-Holstein war, and there is more than one well-planted park and pleasure ground within the precincts of the town.

A trip by boat may also be made to the island of Flekkero at the mouth of the fjord, which is a capital place for fishing and bathing. After a stroll through the streets we rambled over the long wooden bridge that crosses the Otteraa, and through some fields and lanes to the beautiful Ravnedal. This is a fine and ex tensive piece of ground, overlooked by rugged and lofty crags, which has been laid out and devoted to the public service. It has been judiciously left for the most part in its original wild state, with only such improvement in the shape of paths and grass borders as would render it available as a popular pleasaunce. A pretty bit of ornamental water with a high-rising fountain adorns its centre, and here it was that my friend the photographer took his first shot, and astonished us with the rapidity of his operations.