International studio (34.1908)

Norwegian Peasant Architecture


STORE HOUSE IN SATERSDAL
DRAWN BY WILLIAM PETERS

age when his dignity is expressed by an enormous
pair of trousers, the knife is also there. His first
medium for expressing his ideas is not the lead
pencil or the pen, but the knife. When tending
the cattle in the wood he whiles away the time by
cutting pipes or the national long “ Lur ” for
playing the popular tunes, or he cuts a little box
with secret locks, decorated with the primitive
ornaments he has seen in his
home, for safeguarding his
modest valuables.
W oodcarving is certainly
the most popular art in Nor-
way, and has been so from time
immemorial. We can see this
on the 8th or 9th century
Viking ship which was dis-
covered last year) the stem
and other parts are beautifully
decorated by carved orna-
ments. The wooden churches
dating from the nth and 12th
centuries also show rich work
of the same kind, especially
the doors, which are framed
by carved plait-work, dragons
twined together in endless
windings.

Our great historian, the late Prof. Sophus
Bugge, has proved that the northern mytho-
logy, with its Odin and Thor, is a variation
of the Greek mythology. The ornament,
too, has its relationship with other European
styles, especially the Roman and Byzantine.
It would have been interesting to study
the transformation of the Roman style of
church from stone to wood, but this would
lead too far from the subject in which I want
to interest readers—the peasant architecture
as seen in old buildings of a secular or
“profane” kind. It seems strange that in
such a mountainous country as Norway
wood and not stone should be used for
building houses, but our stone is not so well
fitted for this purpose, being for one thing
much too hard ; wood is far easier to work,
and is also much more comfortable for
houses in cold climates.
The first impression of a Norwegian
peasant homestead is that it consists of so
many separate buildings. There are not
several rooms for different purposes in the same
house, but for each purpose another house.
The most prominent in appearance and in
architecture is the storehouse —the “Stabur” or
loft. The first house the peasant shows a visitor
with pride is the loft, and a well-filled loft is an
unfailing sign of prosperity or even wealth.
The loft is built on posts to ensure dryness and
to prevent mice from entering. The rat is a
foreigner and has not yet reached the inner parts
of Norway. 1 he ground floor in this building


TYPICAL HOUSE ENTRANCE IN NUMEDAL DRAWN BY WILLIAM PETERS

I I 2