4 Ole Nilsen His Life Story by Olga Nilsen Berglund When Ole Nilsen was born, on March 18, 1844, it was the custom to name a baby for a grandparent who had died. Ole, therefore, was given the name of his mother s father, and was called Little Ole. His husky ten-year-old brother, who had also been named Ole for his mother s grandfather, became Big Ole. Little Ole grew up in a family of six children with his parents , Nils Knudson Gudmundsrud and Sigri Olsdatter, in À1, Hallingdal, about midway between Oslo and Bergen, Norway. Sigri was forty-four yours old when Little Ole was born, and Nils was forty-three. Lars, their oldest, was sixteen, Kristi was fourteen, Ole ten, Nils seven, and Gro three. Father Nils was a farmer and the schoolteacher for the area. Later he became mayor, and was an active leader in the community. His mother, Grandmother Kristi, lived with the family until her death in 1856. She was a wonderful storyteller , and often entertained the younger children with tales of misse (gnomes) and trolls and mysterious goings-on in the mountains.1 One of Little Ole s earliest ambitions was to learn to read and to have a book of his own. When he surprised his whole family by knowing every letter in the headlines of his father s newspaper, he was allowed to begin to read. When Little Ole was still quite young he was given his own primer, which he considered the most beautiful book in the world. 103 104 Olga Nilsen Berglund Little Ole was eager to go to school. Until about 1860, omgangsskole (itinerant school) was held during the winter halfyear , since the children had to help with the farming and herding the rest of the year. School was held in the various homes of the parish, perhaps a week at a time in each place. The teacher and pupils sat on benches around the family table and the life of the household went on about them. Babies cried and small children caused interruptions. Of course, the school itself was noisy. After the morning devotion, with singing and prayer, the pupils prepared their lessons, each pupil reading aloud by himself so the teacher could hear that all were studying . The result was a constant buzzing. To get room at the table for any writing was often a problem. For pupils who had learned to read and write, the main texts in the school were Pontoppidan s Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism , the New Testament, and bible history. The children had a midmorning break, with snacks from home. At noon they were fed by the family who hosted the school for the week. After another break at two o'clock in the afternoon, school went on until about four. Sometimes the school fared very well in a home, but at other times the food and accommodations were not the best. The children learned a great deal in such a school in spite of all the difficulties. Most people respected the school and, as it was conducted in every home, it became important to the parents. Little Ole was proud that his father was the teacher, especially when he led the devotions and singing. In the summer all the children went along to the seter. This was a mountain meadowland used for herding the cattle. Cheese and butter were also made there. Summer cottages sheltered the herders and women workers and there was a barn and haymow for the cattle. The small children delighted in riding up to the seter on horseback, even if only between the saddle baskets. During the long summer days Little Ole liked to play with stones that he sometimes divided into flocks and herded to pasture. When Little Ole was ten years old he became a real herdsman for his parents. Hardly had the group reached the seter Ole Nilsen 105 Little Ole's home, Gudmundsrud, in Âl, Hallingdal, Norway than the neighbor s hired herder became ill, so for the entire summer Little Ole had to be responsible also for the neighbor s whole herd. He struggled to become well acquainted with...
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