Vestre Slidre, search for the ancestral home

  Vestre Slidre, Eastern Valleys, Norway
Saturday, June 26, 2004

We started up E6 heading for Vestre Slidre which we found on a map is on E16. It was a very pleasant drive up there. Along the way we even saw a Garasje Salo which did turn out to be a garage sale. So we stopped!

Vestre Slidre

When we got to the village, we started looking for a place to stay as it was getting late. He found a small hotel on the right about 1 km north of the village. They had rooms but were unable to accommodate us for supper as they were hosting a wedding there that evening. We got settled and changed.

1-Fjord from our hotel room

Then we headed up to Fagernes which looked like a pretty big town. We drove around and finally found a restaurant that was open. we went in and found that they were already out of many items on the menu. We struck up a conversation with them and the four of us had supper together.


That afternoon, we started to explore the area based on what we had seen were attractions on the village map board. We drove up to the place where the only originally standing rune stone in Norway is, that being on a hill overlooking the fjord.

Rune stone

It is called Einangsteinen and is housed in a glass case. The area is just out in a field with the glass enclosure and an old burial ground called the Gardberg historical site.

Rune stone

1-Burial grounds

Fjord from burial grounds

From rune stone spot

The rune stone

Rune Stone

has a pretty simple text: " I Gudgjest made the runes." They date to the 4th century AD. There are around 900 burials plotted ranging in time from the Iron Age (500 BC) to the Viking Era (around 800 AD). The bodies were first cremated before burial. Most of the graves were plundered in ancient times though some srtifacts have been found. In one man's grave from around 325 AD there were a sword, lance spear, shield buckler, knife, awl, and strap buckles. A woman's grave feom the same time frame contained a needle bobbin, gold finger rings, buckles for her clothing, a knife, and strap buckles.

We then went to a nearby village Lomen to visit a stave church.

Lomen stave church

1-Lomen stave church

2-Lomen stave church

It was in a very beautiful rustic area. As we passed one house going up to the church, there was a couple of families sitting outside holding a mini-concert!These churches are of wood construction and only about 30 remain in Norway. This one was originally built in 1180 and rebuilt in 1750. The church bells in the steeple date from around 1200 and 1350.

4-Lomen stave church

5-Lomen stave church

6-Lomen stave church

6-Lomen stave church

It functioned as a church until 1914. There were gravestones in the adjacent cemetery but we found none that appeared to be from my family.

2-Lomen stave church

When we checked in, I asked the desklady if she knew where Grythe Farm was (we found on the University of Bergen website that my family had worked on that farm). She said it was still there but somewhere on the other side of the fjord, she didn't know exactly where. So we headed across the bridge and started driving along the road to the right. In a while, we came to a large farm

1-Grythe Farm

that said "Grythe." We got out so Marilyn could take a photo of me by the sign. As we were standing there, two small children came on bicycles up the drive. I asked if they spoke English but their linguistic skills were sparse (though my Norwegian is zero). They went back towards the house and a large red-headed fellow came up the drive.

2-Grythe Farm

He spoke excellent English (turns out he had worked in the Pacific Northwest for Weyerhauser). I showed him the University of Bergen data and I explained that they were my greatgrandfather and my greatgreatgrandfather. He said he recognized the name and in fact there was still a young lad in the village that shared our patronym. He told us that he was restoring the old farmhouse and invited us in to see it. He let us take pictures and a movie. There were old family pictures on the wall and he said they were probably my ancestors. I had a strange feeling standing there where my family had lived up until 154 years ago!

Next we drove back to Slidretun to visit the old stone church.

Slidredomen

Slidredomen, a medieval stone-built church, was once the main church for Valdres. The church was built around 1170. It is in a very tranquil site overlooking the fjord.

Fjord from Slidre stone church

Grave marker in Slidredomen

We headed back to the hotel for our night's repose. As we walked in, we heard good old country music. Turns out the wedding reception had hired a group that does a pretty good job of imitatng our country stars. We sat outside the salon for a while drinking beer and listening to the music.

The next morning we crossed the fjord again to visit the ruins of the Mo Church. This stone church was built around 1215 and was used until the Reformation in 1537.

Mo Church ruins

1-Mo Church ruins

Is served as a parish church for folks on both sides of the fjord. The church was limed on the exterior. The congregation stood duringservices, much like the Orthodox Churches do today. The church fell began to dissemble after the Reformation. Local farmers took many of the church's stones to use for their foundations. The east wall was partly restored in 1972 to 1975. During restoration about 85 medievel coins dating from 1150 to 1513 were found that were probably pushed into the floor boards by the congreants.

Well, mission accomplished! We found the ancestral home and visited the community where my ancestors lived. I wondered why they would have left such a beautiful and quiet place to relocate to then-wild Wisconsin. I guess it was for the opportunity to start a new life. Another consideration might be that the family property was always left to the oldest son. If you were one of the younger siblings, you had to start to build your own life. Perhaps that is the reason why so many Norsemen emigrated to America.

Fjord scene

Fjord view