“Chet, pull over.
Emily is getting sick.” The contents
of Emily’s stomach ended up in a ziplock bag and the side of the road.
We drove a VW van along a sinuous road making hairpin turns
up a mountain and then back down again.
The views of mountain tops, lakes, rivers, and countless waterfalls were
stunning but the route itself left most of us feeling queasy. A steep road down the mountainside finally
led us into the Setesdal valley, our desired destination. We traveled a bit south along the Otra river
and were happy to settle into a simple cabin in Valle.
Valle, Norway has a population of about
1,300 and is part of the traditional district of Setesdal. The Setesdal valley is separated from the
neighboring valleys in the east and west by large mountain plateaus. (Emily left her mark on the eastern mountain.) The Otra river flows through the valley and
south to the sea. Setesdal valley is one
of Norway’s
most traditional and conservative regions.
Just like small towns in the US, the population is
declining. People are employed in
government and community jobs. A small
hyrdro-power plant employs about a dozen people. Farmers and herders must take on additional
jobs to make ends meet. In the global
world, farm goods are not keeping up with the cost of living. On the other hand, life appears to be good in
Valle. The air and water are clean. The school kids have a trail up the hillside
as part of their outdoor school.
Valle is infrequently visited by tourists; it’s not labeled
in the guide books as a top destination.
However, my family was given a couple of books a while ago: Harstad Heritage and A Short Record of Some Familes from Saetersdal, Norway. They include family trees, pictures and
stories. The family tree begins with
Kittle Aanondson Harstad and Eli Espetvedt, born in Saetersdal, Norway
(1834, 1837 respectively). They
emigrated and lived in Minnesota and North Dakota. Their oldest son born in Minnesota,
Oscar Andreas Harstad (1867-1929) married Carrie Fjeld (born in Valdres Norway
1874-1941). Their son, Casper (1897-1978), is my great grandfather, the
father of my dad’s mom. Norwegian
customs, traditions, and language may possibly have been followed for the first
two generations but likely by the time Casper
was growing up the Old World ways were
forgotten; they were a new people, Americans.
I feel it’s unfortunate that we American have few
long-standing traditions. I do like
Thanksgiving. It’s neither commercial
nor religious. Perfect for our family:
celebrating a harvest festival with loads of yummy food. I wish I would have asked my grandma more
about her past. I’ll at least have to
start making the strudels she used to make.
Tomorrow we’ll celebrate Midsummer’s day with the Swedes. They’ll have the traditional Midsummer pole,
songs, dances, costumes, and food (strawberries and cream and pickled
herring). Now that I have a child (and
another one coming) I ask myself what kinds of traditions I want to instill in
our family. We are not religious so
we’ve been celebrating the seasons.
Doing art projects and crafts to reflect the changes of the year and
putting nature based spins on the religious holidays.
While living so close to Norway, I wanted to physically
visit Valle. I don’t know really why, I
suppose it’s interesting to see an Old World
connection even though I’m a mut. Prior to our trip, I used Google Earth to fly
around the Setesdal valley to locate and “see” the present landscape that
matched the photos in the family books. Upon
arriving in Valle, I picked up a tourist pamphlet at Valle Motel and found a walk
that began at the Valle church and went up the road to Harstad. According to our family book Harstad was once
a large farm several generations ago. Over
time it became subdivided and split among family members and now seems to be
part of the town marked by a sign. I
asked the lady at the front desk for some directions to Harstad and mentioned
my family connection. She said she could
call a Harstad in Harstad. Even
better. He appeared at our cabin door
excited and willing to tell us stories and give us a tour. He led us up a hill and walked us around
Gangshei, the farm where Kittil Harstad was born and lived with his family. Five generations ago Kittil Harstad left
Valle and immigrated to America
to make a better life. I looked around
at the lush quiet valley and steep mountains and thought how wonderful it would
be to live there. I see the landscape
and think about all the hikes, ski trips, and river trips I could do. I have no way to really understand what life
was like to survive off a small farm during years of famine.
Vilhelm Moberg’s The Emigrants series has allowed me to
read about fictional Swedish settlers that immigrated to America during
the same time period as Kittle Harstad. I
picked up the first book about six weeks ago and had a hard time putting all
four of the books down until I read the entire story. Vilhelm Moberg is such an amazing author that
his written words allow me to abstractly feel and understand the history. These books have given me a glimpse of what
life may have been like for Kittle Harstad when he decided to emigrate and
tells of the struggles and rewards of settling a new land. Kittle Harstad must have been successful in America. According to the family books, he was able to
send money for his other family members to immigrate to America and
even sent money to buy food for people remaining in Valle.
I highly recommend The Emigrants series, especially if you
like historical fiction. Vilhelm Moberg
is like the Howard Zen of Sweden. He has also written A History of the Swedish People.
We left Valle,
Norway after
only two nights there. I feel fortunate
to have met Tjornliv (spelling ?) Harstad and to have seen the sights imprinted
in our family book. However, I hope that
perhaps I’ll be able to visit again someday and stay a little longer to further
explore the landscape and to learn the traditions and customs of the area.
Perhaps some of the nature loving culture has been passed
down to me over the generations. I am
finding that my reserved somewhat aloof nature is similar to the Scandinavians
I’ve met and observed here. And I do find it curious how much I love the mountains
of Montana
and feel at home there. Valle,
Norway is strikingly similar
to a valley in Montana. As we drove away from Oslo
and towards the mountains Amelia asked, “Are we going to Montana?”
We’ll be living here in flat Sweden for another year but I will
do what I can to settle us back in the mountains where I’ll start making
Norwegian strudels.
