no time
in non-essentials,--a book that can be read in a few sittings and yet
will give a glimpse over this quaint and wondrously interesting corner
of Europe. This book has been prepared, as have all the predecessors
in this series, by the help of many who have written most delightfully
of striking things in Norwegian life. One has specialized in one
thing, while another has been allured by another subject. Accordingly,
"Norwegian Life" is the product of many, each inspired with feeling
and admiration for the one or two subjects on which he has written
better than on any others. Liberty has been taken to make a few
verbal changes in order to give to the story the unity and smoothness
desired, and a key-letter at the end of each chapter refers the reader
to a page at the close where due credits are given.
J.M. HALL.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC TIMES
CHAPTER II NORWAY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER III SWEDEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER IV THE RELIGION OF THE NORTHMEN
CHAPTER V THE LITERATURE OF NORWAY
CHAPTER VI THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN
CHAPTER VII GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN
CHAPTER VIII THE ARMY AND NAVY
CHAPTER IX PUBLIC EDUCATION
CHAPTER X HAAKON VII, NEW KING OF NORWAY
CHAPTER XI THE ROYAL FAMILY OF SWEDEN
CHAPTER XII CHARITABLE AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS
CHAPTER XIII MATERIAL CONDITIONS
CHAPTER XIV HIGHWAYS, RAILWAYS, AND WATERWAYS
CHAPTER XV THE PEOPLE: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
CHAPTER XVI HEALTH, EXERCISE, AND AMUSEMENTS
CHAPTER XVII THE NEWSPAPERS OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN
CHAPTER XVIII NORWEGIAN FOLK SONGS
CHAPTER XIX WOMEN OF NORWAY AND SWEDEN
NORWEGIAN LIFE
CHAPTER I
PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC TIMES
A glance at the map will show that the Scandinavian Peninsula, that
immense stretch of land running from the Arctic Ocean to the North
Sea, and from the Baltic to the Atlantic, covering an area of nearly
three hundred thousand square miles, is, next to Russia, the largest
territorial division of Europe. Surrounded by sea on all sides but
one, which gives it an unparalleled seaboard of over two thousand
miles, it hangs on the continent by its frontier line with Russia in
Lapland. Down the middle of this seabound continent, dividing it into
two nearly equal parts, runs a chain of mountains not inappropriately
called Koelen, or Keel. The name suggests the image which the aspect of
the l
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