Ancestor cult in Rogaland By Richard Natvig. Stavanger Aftenblad Wednesday 25.02.

1976 It is amazing how much of the pre-Christian religion that have survived all the way to our days. Richard Natvig from Haugesund tells in this article about how much Gardvorden or tun allen and the hulders have been ta en into consideration. !hen the archeologist ".!.#r$gger investigated a burial mound from the Iron "ge in Raunadalen in %&'&(the man on the farm told him that it was )gardvorden) that lived in the mound( and that this )gardvorden) used to be given a slaughtered animal every time anyone died on the farm. !hen #r$gger as ed if it was a long time since last time this had happened( the man answered )*h( we did slaughter a cow for him when my father died.) It was a man in his forties( telling this( very serious. +,mil #ir eli- "ncestor cult in Norway. It is almost %''' years since the Christianization of Norway started for real( and only about a hundred years ago( some of the pre-Christian religion was still alive. It is almost unbelievable( but it shows how hard to ill the religion of the Norsemen was( and one understands what problems H/ on the good +H0 on "1alsteinsf2stri. and his successors must have had. 3he public cult( in the hof directed towards the gods( was fairly easy to brea . It was easy to control( and on the old cult places( churches was often built. " lot harder was the daily cult( home on the farm. Here it was the ancestors who ruled the ground( and they were more important than the gods. 3hey were closer( and more useful for the life on the farm. 3he cult at the grave mounds was banned( and the dead were buried on the churchyard( instead of home on the family farm. 4espite this( the sacrifices on the old mounds continued( and taboos about burial mounds have stuc until this century. 3he fact that so many of the names of the grave mounds are still nown( shows the significance of these mounds in peoples consciousness. In Rogaland we have for instance 5vertinghaug in 4irdal( Hellehaug on 6inn$y( Gunnarshaug and H/vardshaug at 3orvstad( Hemmingshaug in 5 /re and Hemmingstad( to mention some. 3he name 5verting is probably older than the %% century7 H/vard is mentioned in literature from around the &th century( and Hemming is mentioned in Heims ringla. 3he ancestor cults have stayed alive longest in remote areas7 the reason for this is probably that the family and family tradition have been ept alive longer there. 3he most evident traces of this we find in places where new times have brought little change( and where families have lived uninterrupted. *ne e8ample of this in Rogaland is 6raf9ord. In 6raf9ord people have for a long time ept memories from a long way bac in time. Here the memory of gardvorden and his name have been preserved. Gardvorden( who some places are called tunvord or tun all( is a ind of guardian spirit and eeper7 in old Norse gardvord means a person that guards a farm. ,very farm in 6raf9ord had its gardvorden the farm 6raf9ord( his name was 6rane( on :olaug ;olbein( on ;ommedal ;rane( on H/land Herremann and on #r/dland he was

named 5tigand. Regarding 6rane( we don<t have to go more than =-> generations bac +these e8amples are ta en from )6ol eminne fra Rogaland). *n "mdal( in 5trand parish( the people had to go to bed at a certain time at night to not disturb tun allen7 if not( he would not give them any peace that night. "t #9erga in the Hylse f9ord( tu ellen manifested in the shape of a large serpent. !hen a girl at the neighboring farm saw this( she got scared( but the old woman( who was ta ing care of tun allen said- )*h( you don<t need to be afraid of my tun all( he never hurt anyone.) "t 5teinsland in H9elmeland( there was a )smalhus) +narrow house. east of the other houses on the farm7 this was where tun allen was most of the time. "part from that it was an old shac on the farm and )there a bed always was made ready for tun allen. Here no people lived.? 3un allen always wanted the best for people and gave good advice. 3un allen at 3engesdal in Hylsf9orden were living in the living room +the best room in the house. and people who tried to sleep there at night were thrown down on the floor by the tun allen. In ,rf9ord it should always be a made bed for H/mannen in H/mannstuen( he came there every night to sleep. !e can probably call H/mannen a gardvord too( even if he is not specifically is called that. @i edal- Gardvorden helped against evil )vetter.) If you where on good terms with him( you could leave house and cattle( and nothing wrong ever happened. #ut if he was angry( he carried the hay away from the cattle( so they always where hungry and s inny. " man was one day out riding( and an evil vette was after him. Gardvorden then shouted( )ride on the field( not on uncultivated ground.) 3he man then instantly rode into the field( and the evil creature had no power over him. " Gardvorden protects the farm against hostile powers( and gives good advice( but in return he is surrounded with certain taboos- noise and wor ing in the evenings and use of his bed. He is supplied with food and drin and his own house or room with a made bed. He eeps the farm happy and is the invincible helper( the property<s guardian and the farmers )good genius). 3un allen at 5teinsland followed the man on the farm when he moved to another place7 he was in other words more connected to the family than the farm. In 6raf9ord the tradition tells us that the farm guardian was the first settler( who had cleared the area( and built the farm. If we go to 5ogn it is said that )Gardvorden is the revenant of the one who first cleared the farm( and therefore the man is worthy of all respect.? !e can probably conclude that gardvorden is a real representative of the dead ancestors who ept on being a part of the life on the farm and with the family after death( and whom it is important to stay on good terms with. 3his one achieves through sacrifice( and eeping certain rules +taboos.. Gardvorden is the one in the family who begun the building of the farm( the first settler( or another powerful individual who stood out in a

way that made him the main representative for the dead in the family. 3he gardvord culture is in other words a genuine ancestor cult7 his house and his bed are the farm<s holy place( the ancestor cult<s )chapel.) 3he gardvorden goes truthfully enough under a collective term in the tradition with the term )gardvord) or )tun all() his real names are forgotten in most places( and many places also his connection to the family. 3he reason for this must be the long period of time gone by since the ancestor cult became a forbidden religion. It is only remnants of it left. 3he Norwegian )nisse) with his Christmas porridge hails from a gardvord. 3he word nisse comes from the male name Nils. It is not only the gardvord who have been the ob9ect of a cult. In several stories about the hulder we hear about people who have sacrificed to the hulders( porridge( beer and por meat( especially on Christmas ,ve. "t Aitlasund in 5 /re there lived an old woman who cared a lot for the hulders. "s soon as she came they floc ed around her( and she cut small pieces of ham( which she gave them. "ll wor had to stop when it got dar to not disturb the hulders. 6rom 6orsand- !hen people had made porridge on Christmas ,ve( they poured some into a plate and put it outside( )it was so much( so )9ulesveinane) could have a taste.) *n @ea( old ;risten was so cheap( he would not give the Bul hulders any beer( but he got punished- 3he hulders chased his cattle out in the snow at night. !hen he saw one of the hulders( and tried to shoot her( she 9ust turned into a toad and 9umped away )3hen ;risten understood that it was no point in challenging the hulders. Aater he always put beer out for Christmas.) 3he attitude towards hulders in pre-Christian times( were more connected to fear and staying away from them than anything else. 3o meet hulders is a bad omen7 they are 9esters( they have magical powers( which change people( etc. 3he hulder is a comple8 creature. It was originally not a part of the ancestor cult. 3heir dangerous side is on the contrary a typical trait for nature @etter( while the ancestral spirits( the families and farms guardian spirits( brings luc ( even if there are certain taboos surrounding them. 3he hulder have ta en over several elements from the ancestor cult. 3he original inhabitants of the mound( the ancestors( were identified with draugs and trolls by the Christians( and the memory of the old religion and the grave mounds real meaning wea ened. 4espite this( one ept on sacrificing( at least for important festivals( in the belief in )luc () and the hulder became the old cult person<s heir7 the reason was that there was no ban against hulders in the religious laws. 3hey have melted together with the ancestors to such degree that it can be hard to see what is real religion and what is nature mythology. #ut in one ind of tale it is not difficult to see the connection to the ancestor worship---the tales of Bul visitors.

In the old Norse religion there was held alfablot in the middle of winter. !inters are from ancient times( the time of the ancestors( and the elfs are the spirits of the dead. "t Bul time the dead gathered( and this time was dangerous for the living if they did not uphold the taboos. In later )fol etro) the dead came to the farm at Bul and too over so the people on the farm had to give up their beds( and sleep in hay on the floor. 3he best- nown tale about Bul visitors in Rogaland is 3rondsagnet +the tale of 3rond.. 3he common version is this*n ;vame in H9elmeland the hulders came every year at the Bul evening in big pac s( and the people had to move out of the house( and have it ready and tidy when they came. 6irst there came an old man named 3rond( then came the rest( they then started to dance and party and scream( later they sat down to eat( but first they made a toast for 3rond who was sitting in the high seat. CNow I<m pouring one for 3rond) one of them said. ,ventually they were chased away by a brave man with a gun( and never came bac . In Rogaland :auland has noted this story si8 different places. In one of the places( the visitors are 9ust called )trolls() the rest of them use the term )hulder() in a degrading sense. 3hese stories have their root in the one belief that the spirits of the dead return to the living at certain times of year. 3his is a common belief( especially in )primitive) religions. 3his time is particularly sacred( a certain amount of taboos must be upheld( and sacrifice to the ancestors is done. "t the same time there is a time of feasting and renewal of the society and nature. 3he other root these stories have from the time they where created( namely Christian time. 3he ancestor spirits have become 9ust dangerous creatures that must be shunned. 3hey have been renamed into hulder( despicable trolls( who come at Christmas and misbehave and disturb the peace of Christmas. Deople have forgotten who they really were. 3he tales tell us that 3rond is shot and they are chased away( never to return. It is a common thing in places which have these ancestor feasts( that the spirits eventually are led out of the village( away from the living( with song( dancing or drums or a lot of noise( and are told to stay away until ne8t time. In these tales this is twisted into chasing them away for good. 3hey do no longer have a purpose. ,ven if the attitude towards the hulders in these tales seems very different from the attitude towards the ancestor spirits where people worship them( there can be no doubt of the origin of these tales. !e can sum it up by saying that gardvorden( tun allen( tunvor or nisse is a representative for the dead of the family( through him all the dead where worshiped( at the same time he can be an individual who have stood out in some way( for e8ample by clearing the farm. 3he hulders were not originally ancestor spirits( but have( as the ancestor cult was forbidden( ta en over many traits from the stories of the dead. 3he cult of the dead have eventually died out( but at the big festivals as for instance Christmas( the cult have been ept alive( especially in remote areas( many places 9ust as a tradition( other places as a necessary part of the Bul celebration which it could be dangerous to leave out.

Richard Natvig