Ale Bowls and Festive Events in Traditional Norway

Ale Bowls and Festive Events in Traditional Norway

by Carol Hasvold

Ale bowl (ølbolle) with rosemaling.

Possibly made by Talleiv Maalar, Telemark, Norway, 1784.

Vesterheim 1982.060.001–Gift of Ingeborg Bjornstad.

A

s you tour Vesterheim Museum, you cannot help but be impressed by the number of beautiful carved and painted bowls on display. When you learn that they are ale bowls, you must wonder about the place ale consumption held in traditional Norwegian society. Were the Norwegian country folk enormous drinkers? Was ale drinking a huge social problem or did it somehow have a legitimate place in country society?

In olden times, Norwegians were acquainted with wine, mead, and ale. Wine is occasionally mentioned in the saga stories, mostly associated with people of wealth and with luxurious meals. Wine was more likely to be drunk by folk who had traveled to France and acquired this somewhat refined taste.1 Mead, made of fermented honey, had its ancient roots in Germany. But home-brewed ale was the favored drink from ages past in Norway.

Ale drinking had its background in pre-Christian times.

Heathen worship often took the form of a “blote,” drinking as an offering to God. Drunkenness and ecstasy were thought to open a connection between humans and supernatural powers.

Sacrificial eating and drinking were holy and sacred, and had a powerful effect in bringing good fortune to the family.2 It was the belief that participants should drink until a state of intoxication or ecstasy was reached, or no benefit would be gained from the ceremony.

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It is unclear what part drinking of ale played in everyday peasant life. Snørre Sturlasson describes one household of saga times where fish and milk were served one day and meat and ale the next. But this was in a wealthy household, and it seems clear from many sources that ale did not play a big role in daily life of country folk.

The daily drink was mostly sour milk, sometimes mixed with water. However, it is clear that people drank ale that was both strong and abundant at festive events.

After the eleventh century, when Christianity was established in Norway, drinking and brewing of ale were limited to a few special times of the year. There were two kinds of events where ale drinking was an important part of the celebration. The first were calendar events such as Midsummer and Christmas. Less regular, but very important, were life events marking a change from one status to another: birth and baptism, marriages, and burial of the dead. Ale drinking was thus connected to every festive event.

Celebration of these events involved special work and expense for the family. Neighbors also got involved by donating food or money and by helping with the work and organization of the event. People lived in the same place throughout generations and were well acquainted with each other. There was a communal feeling that bound people together and family relationships stretched out over a whole neighborhood.

An important part of the preparation for a festive event was the brewing of the ale. In the early nineteenth century it was customary to brew ten to twelve barrels of ale for a wedding, and four to six barrels for a lesser event. Neighbors might contribute money or grain for these expensive events.

Sprouted and roasted barley was cooked and fermented according to recipes handed down through many generations.

According to tradition, it was Odin who first taught brewing to humans, so ale was surely a gift from the gods!

There were many customs related to brewing. There was a strong connection between strong ale and fire, strength, and virility. It helped to have a vigorous fire under the cooking pot, and if possible some young men should fight and wrestle around the room. Also it was very unlucky to sweep the floor when brewing was going on—“the dirtier the floor, the better the ale will be.”4 Vesterheim

Horsehead-handled bowl (kjenge) with chip carving.

Western Norway, eighteenth century.

Vesterheim LC0809–Gift of Mrs. J. Stinsrud.

Ale bowl (ølstaup) in stave construction with burned decoration. Western Norway, eighteenth century. Inscription: “H. R.” Vesterheim LC0810.

Ale dipper (ølause) bowl with burned scalloped border and carved handle end. Sigdal, Norway, circa 1800.

Vesterheim LC2171–Gift of Edward Dahl.

Vol. 6, No. 1 2008

When it was time to brew ale, they first made malt.

Barley was soaked in water for several days and then spread out in wide shallow containers or on the floor of a warm room.

Soon the wet grain began to sprout, and it was then called malted barley. A fire was made in the drying house and the sprouted grain was spread on a drying platform over the fire until it was completely dry. The dried malt was then ground in the small mill which stood on the hillside over a small stream on every farm. Malt could also be purchased if the farm was lacking the necessary supplies. Malt and grain were often in short supply and in many years were imported, especially from England.5

According to old recipes, the brewing was begun by pouring the malt into a brewing pan or wash boiler. Warm water was poured over and the mixture was stirred with a stick, called a meiskror, until it became a thick mash. It was covered and let to sit a couple of hours. A large stave vessel, a rostekar, was prepared with a large sieve set in on the bottom, and wooden pegs or boards, straw, and juniper twigs laid in the sieve. The mash was poured into this vessel, and this was called the brewer’s wort, the fermenting infusion of malt.

A sample was drained from the bottom of the rostekar and tasted to see if it was going to be good ale. The wort was then drained off into a large kettle and boiled, then poured into another stave container, the fermenting vat. When it was cooled, some yeast was added, and then it could be called øl, ale. The container was covered with a cloth and the ale began to ferment. When it had fermented from three to five days, it was poured off into kegs or barrels. After it sat a few days, the ale was finished.6

It must be admitted that it is a huge challenge and a leap in imagination for persons visiting a museum exhibit or reading or writing an article about ancient Norwegian cultural practices to try to understand how people in society lived and related to one another two centuries past. Fortunately, modern Norwegian writers such as Sonja Pollan, Kristofer Vistad and others are engaged in these endeavors as well. They interpret from early sources the complex relationships, social patterns, and mores that gave rural communities their shape. They utilize primary sources such as H. J. Willes’s: Beskrivelse over Sillejord Præstegield i Øvre Tellemarken i Norge (1786), which describes both economic and social life in the eighteenth century. Another important source is M. B. Landstad’s descriptions of people and folkways that he encountered in his early days (1840s and 1850s) as a young prest [pastor] in country parishes in Telemark and other regions of Norway. These scholars draw on unpublished material in Norwegian archival collections as well and, with their help, we attempt to jump backward in time and peer into the lives of our ancestors.

According to all accounts, Christmas was one of the major occasions for brewing and drinking of ale. The ale was brewed in early December and was ready to be sampled

by December 21, Thomas the Brewer’s day. Marked by the symbol of a barrel on the traditional calendar stick, this was a day when neighbors went from house to house, sampling the new ale, or “tilting the bowl.”7 This was an example of the ceremonial and communal aspect of ale brewing and drinking.

A person should neither brew nor drink ale alone. A story from Vegusdal gives an example of this: A man was out in the brewing house brewing ale at night by himself. The julebukk 29

(Christmas goat) came and stamped out the fire and with his horns he tossed the man high into the air!8

Brewing was an important part of the preparations for Christmas, but not the only one. Everyone had a special role at Christmas. The mother cleaned the house, hung colorful home-woven blankets or coverlets on the walls, and in some areas of the country painted geometric designs on a log in the wall high above the long table where they would eat. She prepared especially rich food, so everyone would consume extra calories, in preparation for the lean months of January and February. Rømmegrøt was a special treat and a bowl of it was set out for the julenisse (Christmas elf ) also. If he was not treated well, the nisse would be angry and the cows would go dry and the horses would go lame.

A big tub of warm water was put in the middle of the floor in the central room of the house: There was a bath and clean clothes for everyone—father, mother, children, hired boy, hired girl, and last of all, the herd girl who slept in the barn with the cows. Straw was spread on the floor for the family to sleep on, leaving the bed for the spirits of ancestors, who might come back to visit in the Christmas season.

The father took special care of the animals, swept snow away from the farm buildings, and with pitch painted a cross on the doorways of the farm buildings to protect them all from evil spirits. He set up a sheaf of grain, the julenekk, on the peak of a building so even the birds would have a special feast. Then he shot three shots into the air with his gun—this was called “shooting in Christmas.”9

The father as head of the family was responsible for being a generous host and was responsible for making a happy Christmas atmosphere. On Christmas Eve, Juleaften, the father and mother received the family, along with their renters and hired men, around the fireplace. The father shook hands with all and wished everyone Merry Christmas. He led prayers and songs and everyone shared in the rich food that had been prepared. If the farmer was not a jolly type, one of the husmenn, or cotters, might be asked to host the Christmas gathering. This was a special time when the wealthy farmer, members of his extended family, as well as the husmenn and their families, were all on an equal footing.

Ale was drained from the barrels into large dippers and carried into the stue, the main living room of the house, and poured into serving vessels there. The father poured from a kanne, or pouring tankard, into smaller bowls from which individuals might drink.

In medieval times, the most common drinking vessel was the ale horn, an actual horn from an ox or goat.

The custom of using a drikkehorn (drinking horn) persisted through the centuries for ceremonial occasions such as honoring a distinguished person or remembering the past. These were often decorated with bands and feet of silver or gold in fruit or leaf designs.

Turned wooden bowls exist from the fifteenth century on, first plain, then after 1700, painted with floral designs. A special style of bowl with the interior turned in three arcs is thought to be of workshop production and dates from the late 1700s. One arc had floral designs, one had geometric designs, and the third arc usually had an inscription in precise fraktur (medieval book print) lettering. The arcs also formed markers 30

Ceremonial drinking horn (drikkehorn) with silver mounts.

Given in 1899 to Minnesota Senator Knute Nelson by his home community of Evanger, Norway.

Vesterheim LC0108–Gift of the Knute Nelson family.

Spouted ale tankard (tuttekanne) with burned decoration.

Spout is a hollowed out natural branch from a side stave.

Western Norway, 18th century. Vesterheim LC1521.

Spouted ale tankard (tuttekanne). Rosemaled by Herbrand Sata.

Hallingdal, Norway, 1804. Inscription: “Johannes Grimsgard.

N.O.D. Anno 1804. N.H.” Vesterheim LC0807.

Vesterheim

that showed the amount of ale each participant could drink.

The designs most often were painted in red and green on a gold ground. These bowls are thought to have been modeled on earlier bowls imported from Germany or Holland.10

Skåls or toasts were drunk in the home at Christmas for peace and a prosperous new year. Also there were toasts to God and the Christ, to the Holy Spirit, and to the Virgin Mary. The children were allowed to partake of the juleøl, the

Ale bowl (ølbolle) turned in three interior arcs.

Translated inscription: I stand with honor on the table: men brought me from the countryside to have me here.

Setesdal, Norway, 1756.

Vesterheim LC0233.

Christmas ale, for the first time. Because of the forms and rituals of the occasion, there was no danger that they would think they should continue after the holiday season.

An ale bowl from 1795 is inscribed, “Jeg her en rose staar Gud give os en frubar Aar.” (Here I stand with flowers on, God give us a fruitful year.) Another bowl dated 1795 warns against drinking too much: “En toste drik og en dram: der kan gjøre got i en man: Men vil ha da mere have: skal du skallen fra ham tage.”

(A little drink is good for a man, but if he wants more, take the bowl away from him.)11

At the end of the evening, the father went outside and gave a loud shout, and heard the same from all his neighbors. The saying was, “You can hear that people have something to make themselves happy with.”

Of course, no matter what festivities were carried out at home on Juleaften, the custom on Christmas Day, Første Juledag, was to go to church. Because of drinking at home, it was difficult for many, and also a challenge for the pastor. Nevertheless, when the bell rang, all who were able to attend took off their hats and fell on their knees for prayers and readings. M. B. Landstad, a Lutheran pastor and reformer in the nineteenth century, tells about Christmas Day in his first country parish. He was already dismayed by the unruly behavior of men under the influence of the Christmas ale and on the way home he was accosted by a neighbor and offered him a drink. This white-haired old man was used to offering ale to the prest and the klokker (lay assistant) as a Christmas greeting. Landstad refused the drink and brushed the man off, and the man was quite insulted. Landstad later said that he felt bad about the incident and wished he had been more gracious.

He also said that Christmas in his time still had some heathen

Drinking bowl (kjenge) with high wing handles and painted interior.

Carved by Christen Oleson Kjørnes, Sogndal, Norway. Painting attributed to Sevat Bjørnson Uppheim, Hallingdal, Norway.

Inscription reads: “COSK 1830. “ Vesterheim 1968.027.001– Gift of Rudolph L. Dalager.

Vol. 6, No. 1 2008

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aspects, where sacred and profane were in a sad way combined in people’s lives. The excessive eating and drinking contributed to chasing Christ out and calling the old Norse gods back in.13 We might notice that the mark for Christmas on the old calendar sticks is not a baby, but an ale horn.

In Seljord there are accounts of people, most often men, well under the influence of Christmas ale, sitting out in the granary on Christmas night. This is called å sitte gloms og kle julestolen. This custom was described by Magnus Landstad as well as by Moltke Moe, who also collected stories and customs from the nineteenth-century Norwegian countryside.

The person waited for a vision to appear that would tell him who he would marry, or sometimes it would be a vision of a spouse who had died. This was a very risky and superstitious event. The person could not read, speak, or sing after dinner.

Three bowls were placed on a table in front of him as he sat in the granary, one of water, one of milk, and one of ale. The man might say a rhyme such as this, to call up a spirit: “No set eg meg ned i Sattans namn, han skal føre min kjærast fram.”

(Now I sit down in Satan’s name, he shall bring my sweetheart forth.) The spirit might choose one of the bowls from which to drink, which would be a prediction of fortunes for the year to come—water presaged a poor year; milk, just average; and if the spirit chose ale, it would be a prosperous year.14

The days following Christmas were fraught with hazard, as the spirits of the dead and also the spirits of the old Norse gods might be roaming about the countryside at night.

People ventured bravely out in the evenings, with outrageous costumes and noisemakers, and an effigy of a billy goat, a julebukk, to keep all those spirits away from the homes and loved ones during this season. People visited friends and neighbors and ale was shared during these visits also, but more informally, with little ritual associated with the occasions.

From ages past, people in many cultures believed that the sun had died as the days shortened as December 21 approached. By the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6, the days were noticeably longer, and many people celebrated the rebirth of the sun. Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, was set at this time to put a Christian overlay of meaning onto an old pagan festival and to bring some moderation into the old rituals.

In Hallingdal, there was a custom that on January 6 a man could sit on the floor with a bowl of ale between his knees, pick up the bowl with his mouth only and drink it down, then again with his mouth only, throw it back over his shoulder. If the bowl landed upside down, the man would die within the year, or at least have very ill fortune. If it landed right side up, the man would prosper, and live to drink the Christmas ale again.

At Easter and Pentecost, people brewed ale, but to a lesser extent. On Langfredag (Good Friday) they baked ash cakes.

Easter and the events leading up to it had more of a religious character than Christmas, which was tied to the death and revival of the sun.

Minor autumn festivities accompanied harvest time and the bringing of cattle down from the summer mountain pastures. Neighbors traveled in clusters, sampling the cheese and butter that had been made by the herd girls over the summer, and visiting each other as the cattle or sheep were brought to the home farms. Home-brewed ale was often shared at this time. There was fiddling and dancing, as it was a 32

Ale bowl (ølbolle) with rosemaling.

Hallingdal, Norway, nineteenth century.

Translated inscription: “I am a fine little bowl, I will be your little friend.”

Vesterheim 1986.093.009–Gift of Floyd Fairweather.

Ale bowl (ølbolle).

Western Norway, 1857.

Translated inscription: “Drink my friend, pass it to your neighbor then. LJS and SSD 1857.”

Vesterheim LC0802.

good time for young men and women to court and exchange gifts. There was buying and selling of animals and farm produce, and a skål was often drunk to seal the deal.

In the eighteenth century there was a custom called a kast, or throw. If a family was very poor, they or a friend could invite their neighbors to a dance. People would come and dance, drink ale, and “kast” food, clothing, or household goods in a pile for the aid of the impoverished family.15

Weddings were huge events for the young couple and for the families and neighborhood as well. After a year or two of courting and exchange of sweetheart gifts, a match was agreed upon. For more prosperous families, a go-between carried out negotiations considering the relative wealth of the families, trying to make a match that would guarantee future prosperity of the couple. An important part of the preparations was the brewing of ten to twelve barrels of ale.

Vesterheim

When the day for the wedding arrived, the bridegroom and his friends went to the stabbur or loft on his farm, where the bridegroom was dressed for the event. A drummer and a fiddler played, ale was passed around, and the bridegroom and a couple of his friends danced jigs. The men all went down to the stue (main room of the house) where his family and guests sat waiting. The bridegroom greeted everyone with a handshake, and sat at the høysete. The høysete, or “high seat,” was at the end of the long eating table, and had paintings or tapestries on the wall behind it, and a beautifully carved and painted cupboard above and in the corner. This is where the father or, for special ceremonial occasions, another honored person, was seated. Food and bowls of ale were passed around several times. There was often a fest-master, a master of ceremonies, to oversee the event, to see that all traditions were properly carried out.

Then all processed on foot or on horseback to the home of the bride. The procession included an unbridled horse with a woman’s decorated side-saddle as a gift to the bride. A large ale bowl was carried in the procession. This demonstrated support of the groom’s friends and family. Passing of the bowl showed that he would be a good provider for the new household.

Similar activities were carried on at the home of the bride. The young woman remained in the stabbur with her friends, and her mother and aunts as well. She shed a few tears to show that she was sad to leave the home of her childhood. She was dressed in the finest festive dress that the family owned, and as much silver jewelry as could be placed on her costume. This showed the wealth of the family, and the silver with its dancing reflections served to protect the wedding couple from huldrefolk, underworld creatures, who might wish to kidnap the bride or disrupt the wedding. She also practiced walking around wearing the bridal crown if such was the custom in her family, because, if the crown fell off during the festivities, it was a very bad omen or might even indicate that the bride was not a virgin.

When the bridegroom’s party approached the bride’s home, two of the groom’s friends were sent on ahead to get permission to enter. The father offered them a drink of ale,

Ale pouring bowl (trøys) with carved acanthus detail. Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, circa 1800.

Vesterheim 1977.070.001–Gift of Mrs. Carl Solberg.

Vol. 6, No. 1 2008

Ale bowl (ølbolle) with rosemaling and carved exterior. Valdres, Norway, 1823. Attributed to Ola Hermundson Berge. Translated inscription: “When I am full, then I have friends, when I am empty they forget me. “ Sidsel Knudsdatter Wiigh. Anno 1823.

Vesterheim 1985.006.001–Museum purchase.

Horsehead-handled ale bowl (kjenge) with rosemaling.

Voss, Hordaland, Norway, nineteenth century.

Vesterheim 1975.060.001–Museum purchase.

Single serving bowl (einskildskopp) turned with scored decoration. Norway, nineteenth century.

Vesterheim LC7259.

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Especially in Telemark and Setesdal they had ale bowls so large they had to be set on the banquet table. Ale was dipped out with small dippers carved in the shape of geese, ducks, or hens, which floated on the ale. The ale hen and also small turned bowls could be referred to as einskilskopp, a single serving bowl.

Ale duck (øland) with painted wing detail.

Telemark, Norway, nineteenth century.

Vesterheim 1991.042.019–Gift of Bruce Hitman.

Large ale serving bowl (ølbolle).

Attributed to Thomas Luraas.

Telemark, Norway, circa 1850.

Translated inscription: “This bowl is in honor of my father Sten Olsen Gullerud.

1701. Like a flower I stand on the table.

Happy will be the guests who take a drink from me.”

Vesterheim 1977.058.012–Gift of Ruth Herber.

Ale goose (ølgås) with rosemaling.

Os, Hordaland, Norway, 1866.

Vesterheim LC0843.

which signaled that they could tell the bridegroom to come to the house. At this message, the ale bowl was passed around and a huge cheer went up. As the procession came to the house, the fiddler played the bridal music, and when the bride came down into view, she danced with the other young women accompanying her.

In the stue, the main room of the house, the groom sat at the lowest seat by the table, and the bride sat in the “high seat.” Food and ale were passed, with music and jollity for a 34

day or even two or three days. In some areas it was the custom for the bride and groom to sleep together during this time, assuring that they would be compatible and should have children to carry on the family name.

When it was time to go to the church to have this union ratified by the pastor, the bridegroom’s friends came forward and asked permission for them to go together to the church.

They bargained back and forth about a bride price: “Hundre daler, hest og sadel” (hundred dollars, horse and saddle) was the Vesterheim

usual, but this was negotiable. And then the bride should weep again at leaving her family. When all was agreed upon, they again gathered around the table and drank a skål to seal the bargain.

So the bridal procession made its way through the mountain valleys, or even across fjords, to the church, where it was received by the prest [pastor]. Landstad noted that performing this service for a group who had drunk so much in preparation for this event was the most unpleasant task he had to perform as a clergyman in God’s house.16 However, it was a necessary step because he was representing civil as well as religious authorities in formalizing this union.

As the wedding party wound its way back to the groom’s home, which was usually where the young couple would reside, there were loud shouts and shooting of guns to announce that the wedding had been accomplished. When

they arrived at the home, the master of ceremonies gave the new bride a little bowl of ale, which she drank, and then threw the bowl over the house! If she did not get it over the roof, it was a very bad omen for the marriage, or again, it might indicate that she wasn’t a virgin.

The celebration continued at the groom’s home, with the bridal pair at last sitting together at the high seat of the table. Food and drink were passed again, with drumming and fiddling, and everyone dancing with the bride and with each other. After a night of rest, the new married couple signaled their status as the bride passed around honey cake to the guests, and the groom again passed a bowl of ale. In Setesdal they all drank a final toast to the new couple, and as they drained the bowls, they tossed in silver coins and expressed their good wishes and thanks for the celebration.

Moderate sized bowls which were passed from hand to hand were properly called a skål.

The name bolle originally referred only to the large serving bowls, but later referred generally to all sizes of ale bowls.

Ale bowl (ølbolle). Painted by Ola Brennehaugen. Ål, Hallingdal, Norway, 1878.

Inscription: “Sander S. Sandersen Aar 1878.”

Vesterheim 1985.095.002–Museum purchase.

Ale bowl (ølbolle) with rosemaling.

Vest Agder, Norway, 1837.

Inscription: “TTLD 1837.”

Vesterheim 1980.067.006– Gift of Esther Binfield.

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Wedding ale bowl (ølbolle) intended for passing.

Eggedal, Norway, 1835. Translated inscription: “Drink my friend and go home to your sweetheart.”

Ole Kittelsen Mari Andersdatter Kopseng, 1835.

Vesterheim LC2464–Gift of Henry Ansten.

When the young couple was blessed with a child, the neighbors came with rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge) for the strengthening of the mother, and doubtless the father as well. Warm ale with butter and gammelost (aged goat cheese) melted in were also given to revive the young mother.

Another important time in community life was the burial of the dead. A death in the family was an economic and social crisis.

This was not exactly a time of celebration, but a time to observe a proper burial and show social support for the family. The funeral events were actually called the gravøl, the burial ale, which indicates the central role played by ale drinking in this process.

The elderly often had their coffin prepared and their ale brewed, expecting that their end was near. House doors and windows had to stand open so the soul could leave, and horses had to be protected so they would not be spirited away by the dead.

When the person “let go,” neighbors were invited to the house, and each came with a gift of food or ale. The casket sat on a table covered with a white cloth, with a cross and candles all around. Mourners came in, made the sign of the cross over the casket, and prayed the Fader Vor, the Lord’s Prayer. When all were assembled, the people stood in a ring around the casket and it was opened for the dead to be viewed.

The assembled company sang three hymns, with long pauses between for the passing of ale. The lid was fixed on the casket, which was then carried to the doorway.

A family member then spoke on behalf of the deceased, in appreciation for the friendship and support that had been enjoyed in the past. This was called the “parting toast.” The casket was carried into the middle of the farmyard and a large full ale bowl was set upon it. A neighbor gave a talk, remembering good times—this was called a “farewell skål.”

Then all drank from the big ale bowl in memory of the dead.

The group then processed across the fields to the graveyard. At the churchyard, the pastor said prayers and each person cast three lumps of dirt on the casket. They all bowed their heads, fell on their knees, and prayed the Fader Vor again.

The group returned to the family home, where they had food, ale, and even dancing.

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Ale bowl (kjenge) with double serpentine handles.

Sogn, Norway, 1800. Inscription: “Anders Christensen Qvatem. 1800.”

Vesterheim 1988.083.001–Gift of Rochester Friends of Vesterheim

These examples show that ale drinking was connected with certain events and roles. Ale drinking probably relaxed tensions and made it easier to carry out those roles. Drinking of toasts at these special times dramatized the events and communicated the significance to the participants. It also served as a way of passing the rituals and values to the younger generation.17

But on the other hand, too much drinking was a hindrance, so there was a need for moderation. Many ale bowls had admonitions against excessive drinking, for example, “It befits a guest to drink moderately and behave properly, even though the host pours richly.”18

Festive occasions were part of country traditions, and the host did not want them ruined by drunkenness. The fiddler could exert some control, as even Landstad noted that when there was more dancing, there was less drinking.19 Women also were generally more sober than men and could exert a moderating influence. But through time the influence of the church, especially the piety of the Haugean revival, made itself felt in sobering these celebrations.

So we can look at all the beautifully carved and painted bowls and pitchers, and think about the celebrations that they have seen. According to old sources, ale drinking was an important part of festive events. However, home-brewed ale Vesterheim

did not keep well, so it was drunk up and there was no ale to be consumed until the next big event.

The very fact that hundreds of these bowls have survived, with interiors as well as exteriors brightly painted, supports the theory that this drinking was not a constant or everyday pattern. Norway was cold and life was hard in olden times.

The celebrations and accompanying drinking of ale gave warmth and comfort and solidarity to the community through the years.

Endnotes Kristofer Visted og Hilmar Stigum, Vår Gamle Bondekultur, v.2, (Oslo: Cappelen, 1952), p. 105.

2 Sonja Pollan, “Alkoholvanenes forankring i kulturmønstret, en studie av høgtids-skikker i en gammel bygd,” in By og Bygd, Norsk Folkemuseums Årbok, v. 20, Oslo: Tanum, 1968), p. 11.

3 Visted, p. 107.

4 Pollan, p. 20.

5 Visited p. 109.

6 Visted, p. 112.

7 Pollan, p. 20.

8 Pollan, p. 21.

9 Pollan, p. 22.

10 Visted, p. 117.

11 Pollan, p. 20.

12 Pollan, p. 23.

13 Pollan, p. 26.

14 Pollan, p. 27.

15 Pollan, p. 30.

16 Pollan, p. 36.

17 Pollan, p. 46.

18 Pollan, p. 13 19 Pollan, p. 42.

1

Bibliography Knut Gjerset, History of the Norwegian People, v.1, (New York: MacMillan, 1915).

Odd Norland, Brewing and Beer Traditions, (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1969).

Sonja Pollan, “Alkoholvanenes forankring i kulturmønstret, en studie av høgtids-skikker i en gammel bygd,” in By og Bygd, Norsk Folkemuseums Årbok, v. 20, Tanum, Oslo, 1968.

Kristofer Visted and Hilmar Stigum, Vår Gamle Bondekultur, v.2, (Oslo: Cappelen, 1952).

Kari-Bjørg Vold Halvorsen, Livets høgtider, symbol og gjenstandar, in Med Egin Hand, Håndverk og Kunst på Bygdene, (Oslo: Norsk Folkemuseum, 1993).

About the Author

Carol Hasvold grew up in the Norwegian-American community of Jefferson Prairie, on the border between Wisconsin and Illinois, east of Beloit, Wisconsin. She has always been interested in the roots and origins of people, earning a bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Kansas, an additional major in anthropology at Luther College in Decorah, along with minors in museum studies and Norwegian language. Digging even more deeply into the past, she also worked as an archaeologist in Iowa and Israel during most of the summers in the 1980s.

Carol worked as registrar and librarian at Vesterheim for 17 years. During this time, she studied many special topics related to traditional Norwegian culture, such as courtship customs, ale bowls and festive events, silver makers and marks, and artwork

by Norwegian-American women artists.

Ale bowl (Kjenge) with double horse and ram handles.

Made in Western Norway, 18th century.

Vesterheim 1985.097.002–Gift of J. Harry and Josefa Andersen.

Vol. 6, No. 1 2008

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