Norway

This location is mentioned in the following paragraphs:

(§555) The people here grease boots and driving harness with fish fat that they have saved. Others buy grease from Norway, where it is produced from coalfish.

(§664)

Norway

(§665) I saw no flies in Lappmark but as soon as I entered Norway there was an abundance of them in the houses. The huge swarms of mosquitoes, on the other hand, disappeared completely.

(§695) 15th. No fences are used in this part of Norway since there is a shortage of sizable timber, so the cattle are always accompanied by a girl. The only distinction between meadow and woodland is that the woodland has a few deciduous bushes whereas the meadow is quite smooth. They cut the woodland as well as the meadow, for the grass grows quite high in both even though the cattle graze there. The cattle are not driven home either at night or for milking. Instead, they are retained within a square fence that can be moved to wherever they are being milked; the purpose of doing this is to manure the meadows. Horses roam free, pigs are tethered, cows are milked 3 times -morning, noon and evening. Goats and sheep accompany the cattle.

(§699) It is a common enough thing among us for anyone who feels indisposed during the dog days of summer to visit a spa. I can say that for several years, thank the Lord, I have had reasonable health even though occasionally feeling a little sluggish and out-of sorts; but as soon as I arrived in the mountains I received, as it were, new life and it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from me. Now that I had been in Norway a few days, however, even though I had by no means debauched myself, I was again feeling somewhat sluggish, but I revived as soon as I returned to the mountains. Without doubt, the pure and breezy atmosphere contributed a good deal to this. It is commonly thought that the air is thinner in high places and that, for that reason, people have to take wet sponges and hold them in front of their noses in order to breathe through denser air. Were it not that the barometer showed me that the air pressure is lower there, I should have said that this was simply because they have been walking uphill and have become breathless because of the blood pressing on the lungs - just as in the case of someone who causes an acceleration of the circulation of the blood by running or some other brisk exercise. It seems to me, however, to run counter to reason. We know that these mountains are higher than all the other hills in the world because there is not a single river that runs over them; the western rivers run into the western sea and the eastern rivers run into the eastern sea. If we then take into consideration all the waterfalls and cateracts that lie between the mountains and the sea, we must conclude that the mountains have a considerable height both on the seaward and on the landward side. Now, when the wind passes from the land onto the sea and has to cross over this very considerable height, it follows that it must be compressed (which is the reason why it gets both stronger and colder). If it is compressed it must become denser and consequently it often freezes here even in the height of summer. Cold consists of the air being compressed and warmth consists of it being rarefied, the consequence of this being that the air is not thinner in the mountains.

(§701) The fine, sparkling and delicious water here is completely dependent on the snow. Snow preserves water as salt preserves meat. It is obvious that the longer water stands in the heat the more it spoils, and vice versa in the cold. The Lapps treasure this water as if it were the most delicate wine. I have seen people in Stockholm who, following the Portuguese fashion, are beginning to drink water, but there is a difference as regards both the water and the heat. Here it tastes extraordinarily delicious. When I was sailing in Norway I noted with amusement how my Lapp servant took water from the sea with a scoop as soon as he got hot. He was going to drink it in his usual manner but, of course, he got salt water instead of fresh. The Lapps always carry a large ladle with them with which, as soon as they get dry and hot, they drink water to refresh themselves without any fear of becoming ill. I did the same thing. And if this splendid water did not exist, no one could travel here - indeed, it would scarcely be possible to live here since both Bacchus and Ceres are unknown; Venus, however, is not affected by the cold. Most rivers and springs have their origin in the mountain snow-water and, therefore, when it is warm in the mountains the rivers run to twice or even three times their usual size.

(§703) In Norway I heard of a curious method that someone had used in order to take away drums and various pictures from the Lapps.3 Having got wind of such objects, he would ask the Lapp to hand over the drum and the Lapp would refuse. Having asked the Lapp for a long time without any success, he takes his arm, pulls up his tunic and, before he notices, opens the vein, at which the Lapp swoons, begs for his life and agrees to hand them over. He is then immediately bandaged up and the same procedure is applied to many others. I had a guide who accompanied me to his nearest neighbour but the latter was on the point of moving on and could not receive me. My Lapp would not agree to accompany me any further until I promised him a beating with my sword; this was even though I had paid him well for his earlier work and pleaded very much for his assistance. As I reached for the sword he began to take to his heels but had no success since my servant got hold of him. He became afraid, trembled and agreed to accompany me but, since he looked back so often, I made him walk in front of me. When I reached his next neighbour and put my head in the door, my Lapp took to his heels, not going back the same way but to the mountain at the side so fast that the devil could not have caught him. He left without money or bidding farewell. So force will achieve nothing here. The interpreter said that the Lapp would not have been 100th part as frightened if he had seen me cocking my gun at him.

(§709) When we arrived at the hut, I saw some reindeer with horns no more than a 1/2 inch long because the horse-flies had eaten them away while they were still soft. The horse-flies in Norway are worse than the mosquitoes in Swedish Lappmark.

(§713) 16th. We travelled across the ice-mountain. After we had walked for a while, we saw a dense cloud in the north-east. We saw it both above and below us and, when it finally reached us, it made our clothes dampish but our hair became really wet, which is interesting. It hid the horizon from us and we could see neither sun nor moon nor, indeed, the surrounding mountain peaks. We had no idea which way to turn, fearing that on one side we should fall over the precipice and put an end to the farce just as a Lapp did a few years ago, or that we should fall the other way and end up in a river that had cut so far down into the snow that merely looking down made us dizzy. We could see no more than 4 feet in front of us. We were in the same situation as an inexperienced sailor who, in a storm at sea when the land is out of sight, fears cliffs on all sides and has no compass. Even the Lapps think it hard going when they find themselves in this sort of situation. But, even though we had no guide, good fortune led us to a reindeer trail made recently by someone canying goods over to Norway, and that showed us the way.

(§737)

Therefore, 3 reindeer are equal to 1 head of cattle.

Practical data about this location:

  • Written: Norway
  • GPS (lat,lon): [59.933333, 10.683333]
  • Geoname: 3144096