cultural resources in henrik ibsen's early environment - Ibsen.net

itself, and I suggest it is not at all accidental that our folk-virtuosos' instrument is
constructed in just that way. Through others (i.e., other poems) there goes a gentle
romantic tone, for example through "Rabnabryllup i Kraakalund," which has the
intimacy of a children's fairy-tale, and the especially pretty erotic situation: "Je seer
dei ut for Gluggen" ("I see you through the peephole").
--But it is especially the verses (Stevene), which by their distinctive method of
coming into being and use, perhaps even more than by their contents, have claims on
the attention. The verses, named after stef, i.e., a kind of reflective, continually
backward-looking refrain in the old skalds' strophes--are indeed to be regarded as a
remnant of the improvisation through which the ancestors easily and energetically
discharged their lively hearts. To "make stev" (i.e., to carry on a (dialogue) contest in
the improvisation of "stev") is a social entertainment; it is very common in several
mountain parishes, as far as I know, especially in the southwestern part of the
country; 11 it consists of a song-competition, which is opened by a singer in the crowd
(prepared), as with a provocative glance and tone he sings one of the usually stock
challenging forms, like
"Stevjast mæ me, kan de lite nytte;
Men e ska laane de Krok aa Lykke,
Aa e ska laane de Lykkje aa Krok
Aa hægt saa Kjæften din vel ihop!"
(To make stev" with me, will do you little good;
But I shall loan you a hook for luck,
Oh I shall loan you a ribbon with the hook
11 The honourable pastor A[ndreas] Faye, who indeed has had the goodness to communicate to the publisher
most of the included stev as well as my hint about their use, etc., mentions especially Sætersdal as their true
home; yet it occurs to me that the ones from there which are presented in this collection are among the most
mediocre both in subject and form.
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