The inspiring Gudbrandsdalen

Artists and authors have been drawn to the beautiful Gudbrandsdalen for generations. Why is this? Read about why four of Norway’s most renowned writers have been inspired by the valley.

 

Lars Mytting – present-day acclaimed author

(1968)

The author Lars Mytting draws on inspiration from his childhood years in Gudbrandsdalen in his literary work. Photo: Julie Pike

Lars Mytting grew up at Fåvang in Gudbrandsdalen, and this has influenced his writing. Spectacular nature, a unique storytelling tradition, and fascinating legends have been important sources of inspiration for his books.

“The opening narrative of every story inside of me is an imagined landscape resembling my memories growing up. A landscape shaped by the weather, and with river Lågen meandering through the valley surrounded by steep mountain sides stretching up to the mountain plateaus.”
Lars Mytting

Mytting is also fascinated by a unique local storytelling tradition and way of communicating. He admits that the one thing he regrets is not listening more carefully when the elderly talked. He recalls how they exaggerated and lied when telling stories.

“I remember well the show-off style of storytelling around the coffee tables. Old people making fun of each other in an elegant and abrupt manner. A style with precise, sharp, and hard-hitting formulations. It is a tradition that has inspired me as well as many other excellent storytellers.”
Lars Mytting

Lars Mytting acclaimed work includes the non-fiction book “Norwegian Wood”, the novel “The Sixteen Trees of the Somme”, and his most recent book “The Bell in the Lake”. 

READ MORE: Lars Mytting: – I am inspired by Gudbrandsdalen

 

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Henrik Ibsen – a journey through Gudbrandsdalen

(1828 – 1906)

Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt” is performed on the open-air stage by lake Gålåvatnet every summer. Photo: Bård Gundersen.

Henrik Ibsen is a world-renowned dramatist and lyricist. He received both national and international acclaim, and is considered the world's most performed dramatist after William Shakespeare. One of his works – perhaps the one he is most famous for – is the dramatic poem “Peer Gynt”.  

In 1862, Ibsen applied for a travel grant to collect myths and folk tales. His quest for inspiration took him through Gudbrandsdalen and then on to Western Norway. It was most likely on his journey through Gudbrandsdalen that Ibsen heard stories and legends about the local Peer Gynt from Vinstra, which inspired him to write the poem. When he returned from his travels, he wrote to his publisher in Denmark.

“It may be of interest to you that Peer Gynt is a real person who has lived in Gudbrandsdalen – probably at the end of the last, or beginning of this, century. His name is still well known among the locals.
Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen's world-renowned drama “Peer Gynt” is not just a fairytale. It is a reflection of its time as well as a poem about Norwegian culture, nature, and a local storyteller. As so many others, Ibsen was inspired by his journey through the Gudbrandsdalen valley.

At the annual Peer Gynt Festival, visitors can enjoy concerts and an open-air staging of the play at Gålå.

READ MORE: The history behind Ibsen’s Peer Gynt

 

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Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson – with farmers’ interests at heart

(1832 – 1910)

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's home, Aulestad, Photo: Ian Brodie

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson purchased the farm Aulestad in Follebu close to Lillehammer in 1875, and lived there with his family until his death in 1910. Bjørnstjerne was a one of the great personalities of his time, and was a formidable force in literary, cultural, and political life. He was outspoken and a strong believer in a just society, both in Norway and in Europe. 

Bjørnson grew up on a farm, and farming and farmers’ interests were issues close to his heart. He wrote a series of what at the time was called “peasant tales”. His strong belief in the investment in farmers to encourage agriculture and forestry was one of the reasons he and his family moved to Aulestad. It brought him closer to what he was passionate about and had been fighting for. He found peace in an environment that he was familiar with.

Furthermore, Aulestad was located not far from Vonheim Folkehøyskole – the country’s first community college, and an educational institution after Bjørnson’s heart.

“Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was often surrounded by controversy; he had an opinion about everything. He was often at the centre of events. When he moved to peaceful Aulestad, the hustle and bustle gradually followed suit.
Bente Forberg, Lillehammer Museum

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson.

Bjørnson often travelled abroad, and many of his works were written on these trips. Ideas were born at the magnificent Aulestad farm, but Bjørnson changed surroundings to get his thoughts down on paper. 

Norway has fostered few Norwegians with an international significance on par with Bjørnson. He wrote novels, poems, and articles – and last but not least, Norway's national anthem “Ja, vi elsker”. In 1903, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his authorship.

“Rather belong to a small group of people suffering injustice, than a large group doing injustice.”
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Experience Aulestad’s spectacular yard and gardens, open to the public from early morning to late at night. During the summer season, there are guided tours of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's home.

Aulestad, one of Norway's best preserved author's residences. Photo: Ian Brodie.

READ MORE: Lillehammer – one of Norway’s most important cultural centres

 

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Sigrid Undset – at the centre of events

(1882 – 1949)

On this typewriter, Sigrid Undset wrote many of her works. Photo: Ian Brodie

One of our greatest authors, Sigrid Undset, moved to Bjerkebæk at Lillehammer in 1919. She was then 37 years old. This was the period during which she wrote the novels earning her a Nobel Prize in Literature. Sigrid Undset was one of the greatest and most internationally renowned Norwegian authors in the 1900s. Her authorship is wide-ranging, and includes novels of contemporary life as well as historical novels set in medieval times. Among the latter is the renowned Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy.

It was the well-researched Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy that brought Sigrid Undset to Gudbrandsdalen and Lillehammer. Here she could immerse herself in the surroundings she had chosen for the books. Furthermore, she had the open-air museum Maihaugen within easy reach, where she could study building techniques and environments dating back to the period in which the books where set.

Sigrid Undset often used Maihaugen to study how people lived in medieval times. Photo: Jørgen Skaug.

Sigrid Undset was also passionate about flowers and nature. At Bjerkebæk, she transformed the garden from a heap of rocks to an oasis. She was interested in home and interior design, and preferred handmade as opposed to mass produced. She appreciated quality materials, and this she had access to in Gudbrandsdalen.  She created a beautiful home for herself at Bjerkebæk where she, as one of Norway’s most famous personalities at the time, could enjoy some tranquillity and a break from the public eye.

“The new house is so beautiful you have to see it to believe it. (…) it as close to my taste as it could possibly be.”
Sigrid Undset

Sigrid Undset also travelled extensively.She visited medieval cities and ruins. Churches, cathedrals, and places of pilgrimage. Art and nature. Along the way, she collected postcards – and filled album after album. Maybe she needed them for her own stories? 

Some of her close friends from the artist community in Rome later settled in Lillehammer. Having them close by was of great comfort to her when she moved to Bjerkebæk. Sigrid Undset died in 1949.

Sigrid Undset’s home is open to visito rs from May to September.

Sigrid Undset was born in Denmark and moved Bjerkebæk at age 37.