Book Description

Excerpt from The Norse-Folk: Or a Visit to the Homes of Norway and Sweden To an American, a visit to the home of the old Northmen is a visit back to his forefathers house. A thousand signs tell him he is at the cradle of the race which leads modern enterprise, and whose Viking-power on both hemispheres has not yet ceased to be felt. In giving a sketch of a journey among the Norse-Folk, it has seemed me that there were two sides which should most of all interest their descendants and kinsmen in the New World: one, the associations and memorials which connect them with the age when the wild energy of the race was transplanted to the British Islands, and even touched briefly in its enterprises the coasts of America; and the other, the life of to-day. When one puts his mind into the position of reading a book of travels, an author should not give him instead, dry historical details; still, glimpses and scenes of the past, side-views into the misty perspectives of early history, suggestions, quaint superstitions, relics which keep the busy present in connection with a far-away time, can surely be properly presented in the traveller's journal. In this view, while I have given free play to the memories which constantly and naturally, through various associations, bring back the saga-period and the days of the early Norsemen, I have left out of view the modern history, glorious as it is, of the Scandinavian States. The main object of this book, however, is not historical, but simply to picture the life of to-day. It has seemed to me possible to present a country and its people with something of the personal and living interest with which they come before a traveller. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.