Norsk 101: Out of the Classroom and into Norway
(Ut av klasserommet og inn i Norge) with ISS
Photo: Christie Ericson
Dag tells us a fairytale about Askeladden / Dag forteller oss et eventyr om Askeladden.
Language practice with Christie Ericson
Although I loved (Selv om jeg elsket) my Norwegian course (norskkurset mitt) at the International Summer School (på Den internasjonale sommerskole) (ISS) this summer (i sommer), the course was very intensive (så var kurset veldig intensivt). I was glad to take a break (Jeg var glad for å ta en pause) and go on (og dra på) an excursion to (en ekskurjon til) Telemark, which included (som inkluderte) the Hardangervidda National Park Center (Nasjonalparksenter), the Telemark canal (Telemarkskanalen), and the Krossobanen cable car (taubane).
Telemark was beautiful (var vakkert), with tall mountains (med høye fjell) and deep valleys (og dype daler). Many fairy tales and legends (Mange eventyr og legender) come from (kommer fra) this area (dette område), and it was easy to see why (og det var lett å se hvorfor) as we drove up (mens vi kjørte oppover) a narrow, winding road to (en smal, svingete vei til) Uppigard Natadal, an 18th century guest farm (en gjestegård fra 1700-tallet) where we spent the night (hvor vi overnattet).
Photo: Christie Ericson
Uppigard Natadal.
Our fantastic host (Vår fantastiske vert), Dag Aanderaa, told us about (fortalte oss om) the history of the farm (gårdens historie), with humorous stories about (med humoristiske fortellinger om) ghosts (spøkelser) and trolls (og troll). We learned that Dag’s (Vi lærte at Dags) fjøsnisse is a modern (er en moderne) fjøsnisse, and he doesn’t like porridge (og at han liker ikke grøt); he likes hamburgers (han liker hamburgere)!
Dag also told us that (fortalte oss også at) it was customary (det var vanlig) to paint a cross on cradles (å male et kors på vuggene), so a troll could not take a human child (så et troll kunne ikke ta et menneskebarn) and exchange it with a troll child (og bytte det ut med et trollbarn). But he forgot (Men han glemte) to paint a cross (å male et kors) on the cradle of his grandson (på vuggen til barnebarnet sitt), Amund, who works on the farm (som jobber på garden). Dag isn’t sure if (er ikke sikkert på om) Amund is a troll or a human (er troll eller menneske), but he thinks (men han synes at) Amund is nice (er snill), so he will keep him (så han vil beholde ham).
As we drove away (Da vi kjørte bort) from the farm (fra gården), I was certain that (var jeg helt sikker på at) I saw trolls (jeg så troll) in the steep mountains (på de bratte fjellene).
Men snipp snapp snute, så var eventyret ute!
To learn more about the Univeristy of Oslo International Summer School (ISS), visit www.uio.no/english/studies/summerschool.
See also “Telemark is packed with attractions”: www.norwegianamerican.com/travel/telemark-attractions.
This article originally appeared in the September 6, 2019, issue of The Norwegian American.
