MusingsOfHulda

The Silver Birch at Slinde (Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway) was regarded sacred and no one was allowed to cut any branch from it. It fell in 1874 but prior to that the local farmer would pour ale over the roots of the tree every yule, in a ritual similar to the English custom of wassailing. Painting - Thomas Fearnley's Old Birch Tree at the Sognefjord,1839

This is why I will never stop sharing the stories of my ancestors. Their story is my story. I place my hands on their headstones which overlook the same valley they once gazed upon in awe when they first arrived in the new world. Their triumphs and hardships echo for eternity, in this land and in my heart. To be a Scandinavian American is an honor that holds its weight in blood, sweat, and tears. It is a unfathomable feeling to anyone who does not share this history.

“Histories have been written and more will be written of the Norwegians in America, but no man can tell adequately of the tearing asunder of tender ties, the hardships and dangers crossing the deep, the work and worry, the hopes and fears, the laughter and tears, of men and women who with bare hands carved out of a wilderness a new kingdom.” Rønning, Fifty Years in America, p.19.

Skadi (1893) by Carl Fredrik von Saltza

Stave church in Washington Island, Wisconsin

Väinämöinen and Aino by Sigfrid August Keinänen

Hulder by Theodor Severin Kittelsen

Girl from Karelia (colorized) 1894

Gudbrandsdalen valley, the home of my ancestors. “The name Gudbrandsdalen means 'the valley/dale of Gudbrand'. Gudbrand (Old Norse Guðbrandr) is an old male name compounded of guð, 'god' and brandr, 'sword'. The name may be derived from a chief (hersir) called Gudbrand. According to Snorri Sturluson the district was also referred to as i Dalom ("in the valleys") because of the many valleys. Dale-Gudbrand settled in Hundorp, Sør-Fron. At the time of Halfdan the Black there was a "chief Gudbrand north in Gubrandsdalen" (Gudbrand herse nord i Dalom). Later Eric Bloodaxe had an opponent called Dale-Gudbrand. According to the sage Olaf II of Norway met one Dale-Gudbrand, supposedly the last Dale-Gudbrand, in 1021. Historians believe there was a regional centre at Hundorp during the Viking era and that the name Gudbrand was used for many generations by the ruling family. Burial mounds (tumulus) at Hundorp suggest that powerful men are buried there.”

A bunad on display at a local Norwegian-American heritage museum. It was sewn and embroidered by my 2nd great-grandmother.

The Northern Sámi are found in the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Theirs is the largest of the Sámi languages at 15,000 or more speakers. There are districts where they are still the majority population. Shown is a Northern Sámi woman in traditional dress.

Trønderbunad by Kari Maleri. This illustration is one of many depicting the regional styles of Norwegian bunads.

2000 year old Germanic torc from Gotland Sweden. Known as the Havor ring

If you’re not enraged you’re not paying attention. This is not history, this is an intentional erasure and appropriation of a people.