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North and South
Stories and Genealogy of Theodore Charles Anderson and Sara Carlene Shuttleworth
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This page has been visited 1712 times
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Aust-Agder
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Ted’s Grandfather, Andrew Eng Anderson was born in Risør, Aust-Agder, Norway in 1865
Aust-Agder is a county in Southern Norway, bordering Telemark to the North, Rogaland to the East and Vest-Agder to the West.
In 2002 there were just 102,945 inhabitants in Aust-Agder, which was just 2.2% of the total population in Norway at that time. It's area is 9,212 km². The county administration is in Arendal.
The county, which is located on the Skagerrak coast, extends from Gjernestangen at Risør to Kvåsefjorden at Lillesand. The inner parts of the area include Setesdalsheiene and Austheiene. About 77% of the inhabitants live on the coast, where the main built up towns are located. Tourism is important for the county. Risør, Arendal and the other coastal towns are popular summer attractions.
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History of Aust-Agder
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Settlements in Aust-Agder´s date back to the end of the Ice Age. Glaciers covered most of Norway during the last ice age some 10.000 years ago. As these glaciers receded, fishermen and hunters, probably from further south on the European continent, trekked northward, taking advantage of the rich wildlife found near the glacier edge.
Permanent settlements based on agriculture, fishing and trade arose at a later date. Archeological findings have revealed remains of small villages dating back to 4 - 3 000 BC. During the Viking period, tribal chiefs and their warriors took part in extensive forays to many locations throughout Europe. Internal power struggles also took place during this period.
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Erik the Red (935-1001)
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Legend has it that Erik the Red’s father Thorvald Arvaldson came from the Aust-Agder area around Risør.
Erik Thorvaldson himself, best known as Erik the Red because of his flaming red hair was born around 935 in Joederen, Norway.
His father was exiled from Norway in 950 because he committed several killings. Because of his age, Erik left with his father for the coast of Iceland, where he grew up.
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He then became a Norse Chieftain in his clan on the little island of Iceland. Erik the Red revealed many times through quarrels and life issues that he possessed a temperament that would lead to trouble. In 981, a serious quarrel erupted between Erik the Red-haired and his neighbors on Iceland. In the fight that followed, Erik was responsible for the death of two men. He was convicted of manslaughter, pronounced an outlaw, and exiled from Iceland for three years. To stay meant possible death as, once convicted, anyone on Iceland was allowed to legally kill him.
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Greenland
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Desperate, Erik decided to explore the west of Iceland, and in 982, along with his family, he discovered a beautiful and attractive land, which he called Greenland, and settled in it.
The Viking settlements in Greenland were established on fjords of the southern and western coast. Erik named his settlement Brattahlid, which was located on the Ericsfjord. Erik the Red’s entire family lived in total seclusion, but they spent the three years in exile exploring the south and west coasts of Greenland.
In 985, Erik decided to return to Iceland in order to share his discovery of Greenland, and convinced others to join him in settling this new country. In 986, about 25 ships set sail with Erik the Red for Greenland. Only 14 ships survived the seas, but about 450 new colonists set foot ashore. Erik the Red continued to reside in the Eastern Settlement, his home, the village of Brattahlid, and there he raised his children and headed his family.
He had two wives, Thorhild and Thorbjarga, and four sons, Freydis, Thorvald, Thorstein, and Leif. Towards 995, King Olaf Trygvason converted Norway to Christianity, and Leif, after an adventurous trip to Norway was "saved by Christ". He returned to his father Erik and tried to convince him to accept Christianity too, but Erik refused; however, his wife, Thorhild, persuaded him to have a church built in their settlement, although he never visited it.
He died in Brattahlid, in his residence of Greenland in the year 1001.
Leif Eriksson is said to have been the first European to discover North America.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Aust-Agder became a major exporter of timber and wooden materials. Exports went mainly to the Netherlands and England. Shipping ports, situated near the mouths of rivers, developed into small towns and townships. A fleet of Norwegian commercial ships grew and gradually took charge of export activities. Timber and an expanding iron-ore industry became the backbone of the shipping industry. The county’s coat of arms, with two golden wooden beams on an iron-ore red background symbolizes the importance of these exports commodities.
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Risør
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The hallmark of southern Norway is its coast with grassy holms and skerries that guard the mainland from the harsh Skagerrak. This area has more sunny days per annum than anywhere else in Norway, making it a veritable holiday paradise for Norwegians. Many local communities gain a whole new life when their populations double several times over during the summer. That is when all the vacation homes, hotels and pensions fill up with happy vacationers who come to swim, sail, scuba dive, fish for crab and mackerel and listen to the screams of the seagulls. Others wander inland into the hills, do some mountain climbing or go river rafting.
Kristiansand is southern Norway's largest city, and its weathered old homes and pulsating summer atmosphere make it a very charming city indeed. Way out in the Kristiansandsfjord you will find Flekkerøy, Oksøy and other islands plus the Grønningen lighthouse, besides the coastal skerries that teem with life in the summertime. Kristiansand's most popular attraction, for children especially, is the zoo and Kardemomme bay.
With their white-painted houses nestled between flowering gardens and sun-bleached rocks, the little white southern towns of Lillesand, Tvedestrand, Risør, Brekkestø, Gamle- and Ny Hellesund are like pearls strung together on a necklace. When Norwegians mention the word “idyllic” it is usually this southern coastline they have in mind. Lyngør Island at the edge of the open sea is peppered with closely built wooden houses that line a cozy, sheltered harbor. It has been designated Europe's best-preserved village.
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Shipping was the original economic base for this region. Many of its men were sailors, fishermen or boat builders. This traditional coastal culture is the foundation for Norway's leading position in today's international shipping. Shipwrecks and a monument to those who fell in the battle of Lyngør in 1812 are some of the many historical memorials here.
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The town of Risør is situated on the coast in the southeastern corner of Aust-Agder. It is located between two fjords, the Søndeledfjord and the Sandnesfjord. It is a popular tourist attraction. The surrounding area includes many small lakes and hills. It is known for its beautiful coastline as well. Risør has, in the last decade, earned a reputation as the regional capital of arts and craft, which culminates in the "Villvin-festival" during the summer.
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The place is known for an old stave church dating from the Middle Ages, as well as one from the 1600s. Risør played a role in the Napoleonic war in 1807-14, when Denmark and Norway took the side with France, and therefore became the enemy of its most important trading-partner: Great Britain. (It is from this period Henrik Ibsen took his subject, when he created his famous poem Terje Vigen.) It was north of Risør, in Lyngør, that the English navy sunk the pride of Norway: The beautiful sailing ship Najaden during the Napoleonic wars.
Risør was almost wiped off the map in 1861. A great fire swept across the small town leaving just 85 houses. The city was rebuilt and today the impression is of a well-kept town with white wooden houses and red roofs.
Risør was a city built as a result of shipping and industrial interests, but today all the industry and sailing vessels are gone - leaving behind a pretty little town with a lot of summer tourist attractions.
Ted’s Grandfather, Andrew Eng Anderson was born there and married his wife Theoline Marie Tonneson there. Ted’s Dad, Oscar Thoralf, grew up and went to school there until he was 11, when Andrew Eng immigrated to the United States (visit The Sawmill).
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Tune "In the Hall of the Mountain King"
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The introductory tune used on this page is "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gunt Suite composed by the famed Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) in the year 1876.
Eight songs make up the suite. All are intended to put a musical interpretation to Henrik Ibsen's play by the same name, which was written about a decade earlier in 1867. The play is approximately 5 Acts (dependent on which version you follow) and spans from Norway to Morocco to Egypt before returning home. The play has surprisingly few principal characters, but of course all action follows the tragic (and possibly delusional) Peer Gynt in his travels and deeds. Supporting roles are filled by his mother Aase, a plain girl Solveig who is his faithful love, a young bride Ingrid, The Troll King, and finally the play's "judge" of humanity, the Button Molder.
The story illustrated by the music of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" is when Peer sneaks into the Mountain King's castle. The piece then describes Peer's attempts to escape from the King and his trolls after having insulted his daughter.
The simple theme begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra. It is played first by the bassoons, signifying Peer Gynt's slow, careful footsteps. After being recited, the same theme is echoed, but transposed up a perfect fifth (to the key of F-sharp minor, the dominant key) and played on different instruments: these are the King's trolls. The two groups of instruments then move in and out of different octaves until eventually "colliding" with each other at the same pitch; and the trolls, having spotted Peer, give chase. The tempo appropriately speeds up, and the music itself becomes increasingly louder and more melodic.
The Mountain King himself thunders onto the musical stage and runs into Peer, who quickly runs the other way; these actions are depicted with long strings of diatonic steps, interrupted by brief moments of stillness as the Mountain King looks for the hiding Peer. Peer's cover is at last blown, and the music reaches its loudest and fastest point as he runs out of the cave. A series of crashing cymbals and rapturous timpani rolls then burst forward and silence all the other instruments, with the mountain tumbling to the ground and presumably killing the trolls who had been chasing after the fleeing Peer. The piece concludes appropriately -- in both musical and theatrical terms -- with a return to the tonic, and ends on a final B minor chord, signifying Peer's successful escape.
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This page and all genealogical data contained on it are Copyrighted © 2007/2008
by Theodore C. Anderson
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