Part 7

Pictures have been found cut into rocks in Norway and Sweden. This is an old rock picture of a Viking ship, made many, many years ago. It shows a Viking defending his ship against two smaller ones.

Ivar grew well. There was great joy in the family when he cut his first tooth. His father, as was the Viking custom, gave him a “tooth fee.” The gift was a knife in a gold sheath. This was fastened to a leather belt sewn with gold thread. He gave him also a large farm where he would live when he became a man.

As time went on Ivar grew to be a beautiful child; he was fair and had blue eyes. Like all boys of his age he loved to play. Nothing pleased him more than to put in the water a toy boat with a sail and watch it go out to sea.

When Ivar was six years old his parents began to think of sending him to be fostered. Boys who were to be great warriors were not brought up at home but sent to some friend who was wise and brave, to be educated. Ivar’s father and mother chose a brave man named Gudbrand to educate Ivar.

Ivar’s father made ready to send a messenger to Gudbrand. On the day when the messenger was to sail, a fleet of fifteen boats was seen coming towards the shore. Each ship carried a white shield on its mast. This meant that they were friendly and peaceful.

As the vessels came nearer shore they made a beautiful sight. Along the sides of the boats were the colored shields of the warriors. The sails, too, were striped in bright colors. Ahead of the other ships was a dragon ship flying a flag with an eagle on it. By this flag every one knew that this was Gudbrand’s ship.

Hjorvard and Sigrlin were glad to see Gudbrand’s ship coming at this time. Hjorvard went out to meet the great warrior. There were great feasts that day.

The next day when Gudbrand was talking to some of the warriors, Hjorvard came up to him with Ivar in his arms. He put Ivar on Gudbrand’s knees. It was an old custom that the man upon whose knee a child was seated was bound to become his “fosterer.” Hjorvard’s men shouted with joy to see Ivar seated upon the knees of Gudbrand, who was known for his wisdom and bravery.

At last the day came when Ivar was to leave his mother. Sigrlin was sad to see him go for he was to be away for long years. Ivar walked down to the shore between his parents, chatting merrily. As the ship left the shore Sigrlin stood on the headland watching it go. Then, with a deep sigh, she went homeward.

The wind was fair and after a sail of three days Gudbrand’s ships reached home. Sigrid, his wife, was well pleased when she saw Ivar. She prepared a room for him close to her own.

For a few days Ivar was homesick. He missed his father and mother and his playmates. Everything was new and strange. Soon, however, he grew to love his new home and his foster parents.

Gudbrand and Sigrid had a son named Hjalmar. He was a year older than Ivar. The two boys became good friends and learned together. As they grew older they were taught gymnastic exercises, games of ball, running, wrestling, jumping, and swimming. They learned how to steer and sail a boat. They learned how to ride. They even learned ship building and worked in the ship yards. Both boys were taught how to write on birch bark and to engrave letters on stone, gold, and silver.

Ivar and Hjalmar were better at sports than any other boys of their age. They could swim like eels and could shoot straight.

When Ivar was fifteen years old Gudbrand gave him a beautiful ship called _Stallion of the Surf_. Hjalmar also received a beautiful ship called _Deer of the Surf_. Gudbrand took the two boys sailing with him and trained them to build camp and to cook for themselves.

Ivar began to wish to see his own people again. Then the two boys sailed to the home of Ivar’s father and mother. They were greeted with great joy by Hjorvard and Sigrlin, who treated Hjalmar as kindly as if he were their own son.

After three years Ivar and Hjalmar were ready to sail the seas on expeditions of their own. They were Vikings, brave and bold.

Adapted from Ivar the Viking, Paul du Chaillu.

Planting the Flag of Norway at the Bottom of the Earth

Crowds of people stood on the banks of the fjord at Oslo in Norway. Bands were playing and flags were waving. Cheer after cheer arose from the crowd as the boat, the _Fram_, came into sight. On the _Fram_ was a brave Norwegian named Nansen who was returning from adventures in Eskimo land.

In the crowd which cheered Nansen was a lad seventeen years old who also dreamed dreams of adventure. That lad was Roald Amundsen. “Some day,” said Roald, “I’ll travel as far north as I can go. I’ll stand at the North Pole—the spot at the very top of the world.”

People had known for a long time then that the earth is a big ball. The spot at the very top of the big ball is called the North Pole and the spot at the very bottom of the ball is called the South Pole. No matter which way a person standing at the North Pole looked he would be looking south toward the other end of the ball. If he stood at the South Pole, no matter which way he looked, he would be looking north towards the top of the ball. But when Roald was dreaming his dreams no one had stood at either the North Pole or the South Pole. Roald thought, “Perhaps I can be the first to visit the North Pole.”

How would he know when he reached a spot which no one had seen? Roald had seen the instrument which sailors use to tell direction when out at sea. It is a needle that always points toward the north star and that star is almost directly overhead at the North Pole. Roald knew that he could carry such a needle with him. With it he would be able to tell when he came to the North Pole. For there the needle could no longer point north, so it would move about trying to find north.

But Roald was then too young for such an adventure. Ten years passed after Nansen’s return before he began to prepare for a journey to the North Pole. He was to sail in the same boat that Nansen had used, the _Fram_. Amundsen’s party was almost ready to start from Norway when news came that an American, named Peary, had reached the North Pole. Already the Stars and Stripes floated over that spot at the top of the earth.

Roald Amundsen still longed to visit the North Pole, but he decided not to go at that time. He said, “No one has yet reached the South Pole—at the bottom of the earth. We will go to the South Pole. Perhaps the Norwegian flag may be the first to float there.”

On a bright sunny day in August, 1910, about a year after Peary found the North Pole, Amundsen and his men set out on the long journey from Norway to the South Pole at the bottom of the earth. He knew that the Antarctic (ant ark tic)—the land and water at the bottom of the earth—is a place of ice and snow. Amundsen knew much about cold lands of ice and snow as he had always lived in Norway. He had traveled on skis ever since he was a small boy. He had read many books about the land to which he was going.

He planned everything very carefully so that he and his men would have every chance to succeed. He said, “If a person starting on a hard task prepares for the task carefully, he is likely to succeed—and then people say he had _good luck_. If a person does not prepare carefully, he is likely to fail—and then people say he had _bad luck_.”

On the deck of the _Fram_ were ninety-six Eskimo dogs. Amundsen said, “The Eskimo dog is the best animal to endure the cold and to pull sledges over the ice and snow.” Amundsen gave each man in the crew a number of dogs to be in his care. The men named their dogs and began making friends with them as soon as the journey began. They must have the dogs ready to work well with them by the time they reached the Antarctic.

On the deck of the boat too were skis and snowshoes, heavy blankets, suits of Eskimo clothes, suits of reindeer skins, canned meat and other foods, and lumber ready to fit together for a house. Amundsen had tried to make sure that he and his men would _be lucky_.

The first part of the journey was through the North Sea along the coast of Norway. Then the _Fram_ sailed into the Atlantic Ocean. As they traveled farther and farther south, the weather got warmer each day. The men saw the sun get higher and higher in the sky each noon. Then they came to a place where the sun at noon was almost directly over their heads. They were then halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole.

The men put on light summer clothes. The dogs kept under the shelter built for them, but still they suffered from the heat.

The _Fram_ went on farther south, but the weather began to grow cooler and cooler. The farther the boat went from the place where the sun was almost directly over head at noon, the cooler the weather was. The men put on warmer clothing and the dogs left their shelters.

By New Year’s Day the _Fram_ was in the icy waters of the Antarctic. The men saw huge pieces of ice floating in the water. The boat had to make its way through the ice. In about two weeks more, they reached a wall of ice about one hundred feet high. Amundsen was expecting that wall of ice, which was the edge of the great field of ice called _The Great Ice Barrier_.

The _Fram_ could go no farther. The men unloaded the supplies on the ice. Not far from that spot, they dug into the ice and made a cellar where they stored their supplies. Over it they set up the house they had brought from Norway. They called their new home _Framheim_, which means _Fram home_.

In January the weather in the Antarctic is much like June weather in the far north. Day after day the men watched the sun go in a circle around their home on the ice. The sun there moved much the same as they had seen it move in the Arctic where Hammerfest lies. At Hammerfest, that town which is farther north than any other town, the sun is in the east in the early morning, in the south at noon, in the west in the late afternoon, and in the north at midnight. But in the Antarctic the men saw the sun in the east in the early morning, in the _north_ at noon, in the west in the late afternoon, and in the _south_ at midnight.

The men knew that after April twenty-second the sun would not be seen in this land at the bottom of the earth for four months. They would not have time to reach the South Pole before that long night came. They must wait for another summer.

During the long night the men lived comfortably in their house on the ice. They looked over every sledge, every piece of harness, their clothes, and their skis to make sure that everything was in shape for the trip over the ice to the South Pole.

The sun appeared in the sky for only a few minutes on August twenty-fourth. Each day after that it crept a little higher and stayed a little longer until at last the long day came when the sun was in the sky for weeks and weeks without setting.

For weeks after the sun appeared, the weather was bitter cold. The men watched for signs of warmer weather. Late in September they saw a seal crawl out of the water. They then knew that they soon would have warmer days, so they began to prepare for the journey to the pole.

On October twentieth, Amundsen and four other men with four sledges and fifty-two dogs set out from Framheim. The sledges were loaded with provisions enough to last four months. As they journeyed south, they stopped at different places and built up piles of snow blocks. The heaps of snow would help them find their way back. Under the blocks of snow they put supplies which they would need as they came back.

The dogs made good time over the ice of the Antarctic. They traveled about seventeen miles a day. The men on their skis easily kept up with the dogs. But by the middle of November they came to snow-covered mountains. Some of them are two miles high. Travel was then harder. The party traveled up about one mile. They then rested. Travel was easier for a few days as they had reached a high level stretch of land which we call a plateau (pla tō). They then began to climb mountains again. Early in December they were up two miles high. From that time on they traveled on another plateau. Travel was easy on this level stretch of land. The men knew that the South Pole was on this plateau. The end of their journey seemed near.

On the night of December thirteenth, they had that strange feeling that something was going to happen. And at three o’clock the next day they were on the spot which they reckoned to be the South Pole. The happy men seized each other’s hands. How glad they were! They then did the most important act of the journey—they planted the flag of Norway on that spot.

The hands of all five men held the flag as it was set into place. Amundsen would have it that way. He said later, “It was not for one man to do this; it was for all who staked their lives in the struggle, and held together through thick and thin.”

As the men put the flag in place, they said, “Thus we plant thee, Beloved Flag, at the South Pole, and give the plateau on which it lies the name _King Haakon VII’s Plateau_.”

So while the Stars and Stripes floated at the top of the earth, the red, white, and blue flag of Norway floated at its bottom.

In about six weeks the happy men were back in Framheim. About a week later the _Fram_ set sail for the long return trip to Norway. But early in March the _Fram_ reached land from which messages could be sent and the whole world soon knew that the flag of Norway had been planted at the South Pole. And the whole world did honor to the brave men from the north who planted it there.

BOOKS TO READ

While you are studying about Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, you will enjoy reading one or more of these books.

1. Aanrud, H., Lisbeth Longfrock. Ginn and Company: Boston.

A story of farm life in Norway long ago. Note.—A new translation of this is published by the John C. Winston Company, Philadelphia, under the title, Sidsel Longskirt and Solve Suntrap.

2. Asbjornsen, P. C., Fairy Tales from the Far North, Burt Publishing Company.

Stories that children of the far north read.

3. Aulaire, Ingri M. d’, and Aulaire, Edgar P. d’, Children of the Northlights. Viking Press: New York.

Stories of Lapp children with many beautiful illustrations.

4. Bay, J. C., Danish Fairy and Folk Tales. Harper and Brothers: New York.

More stories that children of the far north read.

5. Burglon, N., Children of the Soil. Doubleday, Doran and Company: Garden City, New York.

A story of Sweden, which tells of old Swedish customs.

6. Everson, F. M., and Everson, H., Coming of the Dragon Ships. E. P. Dutton and Company: New York.

Two Viking children, their adventures and everyday doings.

7. Falkberg, J., Broomstick and Snowflake. Macmillan Company: New York.

Fairy tales with one especially amusing story about a giant.

8. Hamsun, M. A., Norwegian Farm. Lippincott Company: Philadelphia.

Translated from the Norwegian—a picture of farm life of present-day Norway and of the doings of a lively family of children.

9. Lagerlof, S. O. L., Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Doubleday, Doran and Company: Garden City, New York.

An interesting story by one of Sweden’s best story-tellers. Nils flies over Sweden on the back of a goose. This book was written to help in making geography interesting for Swedish children.

10. Lattimore, E. F., Seven Crowns. Harcourt, Brace and Company: New York.

A little girl visits her grandmother in Copenhagen and spends seven crowns as she pleases.

11. Palm, A., Wanda and Greta at Broby Farm. Longmans, Green and Company: New York.

This is translated from the Swedish and tells what happened to two little girls and their dog.

12. Scott, G., Kari. Doubleday, Doran and Company: Garden City, New York.

A story of a girl in Norway.

13. Schram, C. W., Olaf, Lofoten Fisherman. Longmans, Green and Company: New York.

Olaf lives in the Lofoten Islands and goes fishing.

14. Thorne-Thomsen, G., East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon. Row, Petersen and Company: Evanston, Ill.

A collection of Norwegian fairy and folk tales.

15. Zwilgmeyer, D., Johnny Blossom. Pilgrim Press: Boston.

A story of a little boy in Norway some years ago.

16. Zwilgmeyer, D., What Happened to Inger Johanne. Lothrop, Lee and Shepard: Boston.

An amusing story of the doings of a Norwegian girl.

INDEX AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION

ā as in māte ă as in căt â as in câre ȧ as in ȧsk ä as in färm

ē as in ēve ĕ as in lĕt ẽ as in hẽr ī as in mīnd

ĭ as in ĭt ō as in mōte ŏ as in nŏt ô as in ôr

ū as in mūte ŭ as in cŭt û as in bûrn [=oo] as in f[=00]d [)oo] as in f[)oo]t

* * * * *

American relations: trade with, 9, 12, 37, 49, 94 travel in, 10, 30, 49, 90, 115, 117 Independence day in Denmark, 114-17 explorer at North Pole, 180 Scandinavian Foundation, 42 Danish Clubs, 115-16

Amundsen, Roald (äh´mŭn sen, rōld), 176-88

Andersen, Captain, 169-71

Andersen, Hans Christian, 4, 82-9

Antarctic (ȧnt´ärk´tĭk), 185, 186

Arctic Ocean (ärk´tĭk ō´shun), 11-12, 93

Atlantic Ocean, 22, 182

Baltic Sea, 98

bird roosts, 17-19

Bjornson, Bjornstjerne (Byûrn´sŭn, byûrnst´yūrn), 42

boy scouts, 104-6

Brok (brŏk), 156-9

buried treasures, 162-4, 177

cariole (kăr´ĭ ōl), 51

cattle, 27, 60-70, 73, 77-78

Christmas, 32, 108, 109, 110, 111

cities and towns: Bergen (bĕr´gen), 90-96 Copenhagen (kō´pn hā´gen), 71, 143 Hammerfest (häm ẽr fĕst), 7, 11-14, 184 Odense (ō´thĕn sā), 82, 86 old Danish town, 78 Oslo (ōs´lō), 51, 136, 143, 162 Stockholm (stŏk´holm), 97-106, 146

clothing: for high pastures, 67 explorers, 182-4 old costumes, 113, 150

coal, 9, 32

co-operation: Danish plan, 79-81

Danish-American Club, 115-16

dragon boats, 163, 165, 175

eider ducks, 93

electricity: in far north, 5 on farms, 59 power plants, 32 use of, 7, 11, 129

Ericsson, Leif (ĕr´ĭk sŭn, lēf), 4, 168

factories: cheese making, 64-6, 79 creameries, 64-6, 78 cod-liver oil, 11, 25 electric power, 32 matches, 37 paper, 36-7

fairy tales: far north, 26, 153

farms: Danish co-operative, 79-81 Denmark, 71-81 drying grain, 57-58 fox farms, 56-7 “little farms,” 101 making hay, 53-4, 56 Norway, 51-9

fish: cod, 20-5, 93 drying, 24-5 halibut, 93 herring, 16, 93 market, 93 shipping, 9

fishermen, 16, 20-5

fishing boats, 16, 17, 20-4

fishing towns, 16, 24

fjord (fyōrd): cause of, 30-1 travel on, 51-3, 165

flags: American, 9, 114, 117, 181, 187 Danish, 9 Norwegian, 134, 187-8 other lands, 9 Swedish, 138

food, 66, 75, 95-6, 108, 110

forests, 33 conservation, 37

Fram (främ), 180-8

giants: fairy tale, 26, 32, 107, 111, 153, 158-61 nature’s, 27, 32

glaciers (glā shŭrz), 27-32, 73

gods, 153 Frey (frī), 153 Loki, or Loke (lō´kē), 153-61 Odin (ō´dĭn), 107, 111 Thor (thôr), 153-61 Tye (tī), 153 Wodin (w[=oo] dĭn, or ō´din), 153

government: protection of fishermen, 24 providing land, 69-70, 101 Scandinavian union, 134 Norway’s separate government, 134-5

Gudbrand (g[=oo]d´brănd), 174-6

Gulf Stream, 12-13

high pastures, 60-70

Hjalmar (hyäl´mär), 176-8

Hjorvard (hyôr´värd), 172-3, 175

houses: farm houses, 74-5 fisherman huts, 15-16 Lapp huts, 46-7 old houses, 147-50, 152, 167 saeter huts, 60-1 summer houses, 100-6, 139-42 Stockholm buildings, 103

Independence day: Norwegian, 134 American in Denmark, 114-17

instruments for direction, 180

islands: coast of Norway, 14-17 Denmark, 142 Stockholm, 97-8

Ivar (ī´vär), 172-8

Jotunheim (y[=oo] tŭn hīm), 26

knights, 4, 105-6

languages: foreign, 10, 87, 143 in schools, 136-7

Lapland, 45

Lapps, 44-50

Lofoten (lō fō´ten), 20-5

logging, 33-6

mail delivery, 12, 59

Maypole, 1, 11-14

Mid-summer Eve, 111-114

milkmaids, 60-69

mountains: carriers, 56 city in midst, 90, 92 high peaks, 26, 32, 52-3 how clothed, 38-42 moss, 44 streams, 34-6 walls, 17, 52-3

museums: Amundsen’s equipment, 183 Andersen, 86-7 open-air, Oslo, 162-3 open-air, Norway and Sweden, 145-52

Nansen (nän´sĕn), 179-80

national anthem: Norwegian, 133

northern seashores, 12

Norsk (nôrsk): words, 136

North Cape, 11

North Pole, 179-80

North Sea, 90 Odense (ō´thĕn sā), 82, 86 Oseborg (ōs´bûrg), ship, 162 Oslo (ōs´lō), 51, 136, 144, 162

palace, 103, 104, 136

paper pulp, 36-7

pirates, 98, 168

plateau (pla to): King Haaken VII’s (häw´kōhn), 186

quay (kē), 102-3

rainfall, 92

reindeer (rān´dēr), 1, 43-8, 68-9

saeter (sā tẽr), 60-70 Grotli (grōt´l[~i]), 68 huts, 60, 63-4 location of, 69-70

schools: Danish, 71-2, 80-1, 142-4 Lapp, 47-9 libraries, 144 Norwegian, 132-7 studies, 131, 134 Swedish, 137-42 Viking education, 173-6

ships: of different nations, 9 on northern seas, 12 passenger, 10

Sif (sĭf), 154-5, 157

Sigrlin (sĭgr´lĭn), 172, 175

South Pole, 181, 187-8

sports: races, 141-2 sail-skating, 124-7 skating, 111, 127 skiing, 1, 111, 118-24, 181, 186 swimming, 102, 139-42 teaching of, 138

sun, 3, 5, 6, 7, 18, 182, 183

sunshine: days without, 5, 13, 20 nights with, 7, 20

Thor (thôr), 153-61

travel: automobile, 27, 53, 67 boats, 12, 14, 67, 73 dog sleds, 182, 186 on mountain roads, 62-3, 51, 67 railways, 12, 51, 97 cariole, 51 skis, 120-1, 181

trees: birds’ Christmas, 109 birch, 15, 38 fir, 38, 108, 112 juniper, 38 most northern, 9 pine, 112 spruce, 108, 112

Viking (vī´kĭng or vīk´ĭng): boats, 2, 163, 165, 174-6 boy, 172-8 custom of “name fastening,” 172-3 how named, 165 modern, 169-71 tales of, 165-9

waterfalls, 32

wind on flat lands, 125-6

windmills, 74

wood, uses of, 8, 36, 93-4, 103

woodcutters, 34

Yule-tide, 33, 107-11

Yule-tree, 1, 33, 108-9

End of Project Gutenberg's Near the Top of the World, by Nelle E. Moore