Nordic Noir & Author, Vidar Sundstøl

I recently discovered Nordic Noir or Scandinavian Noir as a genre of Crime Fiction from the Nordic countries. Pop-Culture Wiki defines Nordic Noir as a genre that encoumpasses books and films that are often, but not always, a Police Procedural with the hero is often an anti-hero, typically a Defective Detective. Another web site [Nordic Noir and Beyond] describes the roots being in ground-breaking TV dramas, such as The Killing, Borgen, Wallander and The Bridge -- all of which I have watched and have become addicted to.

I enjoy a good TV series or film; however, I'm often drawn to published novels even more. Most recently I've discovered a Norwegian author named Vidar Sundstøl, who was interviewed [May 2015] by Barbara Fishter, a self described 'Librarian, Writer, and Friendly Curmudgeon', who writes a blog titled: Scandinavian Crime Fiction • in English Translation. 

Scandinavian readers who have never visited the United States have come to know northern Minnesota intimately through the inspired work of Norwegian crime novelist Vidar Sundstøl. He is best known, both in his native country and abroad, for the Minnesota Trilogy: The Land of Dreams, Only the Dead, and The Ravens.

The Land of Dreams (2014)

Only the Dead (2015)

The Ravens (2016)

The series, translated into English by Tiina Nunnally, centers around a U.S. Forest Service officer whose happy, unassuming life on Lake Superior is turned upside down by the grisly murder of a Norwegian tourist. The Land of Dreams won Sundstøl the Riverton Prize for Best Norwegian Crime Story in 2008; popular newspaper Dagbladet recently praised it as one of the twenty-five best Norwegian mystery novels of all time.

The person who first introduced me to the series, however, was Norwegian blogger Martin Roe Eidhammer, whose blog 'Norwegian Genealogy and Then Some' has a weekly feature titled Books on Monday. He shares with his readers different books that may be of interest. I was intrigued to learn about the Minnesota Trilogy, which he wrote about in September 2016. I immediately went online and purchased the first book in the series, The Land of Dreams. I quickly devoured the 284 page book and went on to purchase the next two books in the series.
The series 'ticks-off' several 'boxes' of interest for me:

• Norwegians
• Norwegian-Americans
• northern Minnesota (BWCA - Boundary Waters Canoe Area)
• genealogy / family history
• county archives
• nature / adventure
• Native Americans 
• crime / mystery
• social history

I was so intrigued with the author and his work, that I wanted to learn more, and thus discovered a 'book reading' by Mr. Sundstøl that took place on Monday, October 9, 2017 at 7 pm at the Highland Park Public Library (in St. Paul, Minnesota) -- my childhood 'stomping ground'. It was hosted by ClubBook.org

The audio recording is just over an hour long, but well worth the 64 minutes. At 7:12 -10:12 the author reads from pages 91-92. I highlighly recommend listening to the entire podcast. The author shares some fascinating insights about the trilogy, his writing process, and his most recent publication. 

This is a MUST READ trilogy.

Bygdebøker and Arne G. Brekke, Citizen Advocate

On Thursday, October 19, 2017 

Arne Guttormsen Brekke celebrated his 90th birthday! 

In 1949 a young man (see college yearbook photo left <) traveled to America to study at Luther College in Decorah, IA. His plan was to spend a couple of years studying and then return to Norway where he would make his living teaching English in one of the Universities. In the Luther College Chips (student newspaper), February 11, 1949 it said "...in 1947 Arne passed a comprehensive exam that qualified him for a junior standing in American college work. He arrived in New York on January 18 [1949] and came directly to Decorah to enroll for a second semester. His interest in medicine was founded when he was a member of the Norwegian Medical corps during the last war. Arne's plans for the future are indefinite, but upon completion of his work here at Luther, he may go on to med school or else return to Norway as an English instructor."

However, the 'universe' had a different plan.  He met a woman, fell in love and decided to live in America, but would make frequent trips to Norway.  At 6' 2" and slightly over 200 lbs, Arne was a good looking man. He and his fiancee, Beverly Wade Boardman, a 1951 graduate of Wheelock College, were married February 7, 1953 in her hometown of Newton, Massachusetts. Beverly was just shy of 24 at the time of their marriage. Children came quickly: a son Kristian in November 1954, a daughter Karen in January 1957 - both born in Decorah - and then in June of 1960, while living in Chicago, they welcomed a second daughter, Karla. 

Arne was born October 19, 1927 in the village of Flåm, Sognefjorden Norway. [Note: you can read a current article about flåm in the Scandinavian Press • Summer 2016 issue, p. 42-45.] The village is located in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane. He became a U.S. citizen in January 1961 while living in Chicago. His love of travel extended throughout his life. He made a career of organizing travels to Norway (and beyond) with the company he established:  Brekke Tours & Travel.

In June of 2002 the Argus-Leader, published in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, published this article about Arne and his passion for connecting families to their Norwegian roots.

For me, the more impressive news article, appears in the SCANDINAVIAN PRESS • Summer 2014, pages 32-37 (see the photo at the top right of this post). It's actually two articles: one written by David Dodds about Arne's work as a travel guide (which first appeared in the University of North Dakota Discovery magazine • Autumn 2012) and a second article by Jo Ann Winistorfer about the Chester Fritz Library on the UND campus in Grand Forks. In Ms. Winstorfer's article, she refers to Arne as 'the Grand Forks guru of a Norwegian phenomenon known as bygdebøker." 

There's actually a photo of Arne hanging on one wall, with the heading "The Arne G. Brekke Bygdebok Collection". 

"Do you realize the magnitude of this collection? he tells us. "It's one of the largest accumulations of bygdøbker in the world, even bigger than those in Norway!"

"A bygdebok (pronounced big-da-book, plural bygdebøker) is a history of bygd (parish or municipality) in Norway. Unique among countries, Norway has compiled and published farm and family histories since the last century, a project that continues..." Pages 34-37 of this article go into great detail about the books themselves: what makes them unique, how they are compiled, how to locate the proper bygdebok for your ancestors, and how to maneuver through the UND website:

library.und.edu/special-collections/bygdebok

Speaking of bygdebøker, you may also want to read Norwegian blogger Martin Roe Eidhammer's posts on the subject:

What is a <<bygdebok>> • posted January 28, 2016
Bygdebøker Available Online • posted January 31, 2017
Bygdebøker are made Searchable on Familysearch.org • February 5, 2016 

Old Boundaries in Norway • posted October 6, 2016  

Alternative Spellings of Norwegian Names • posted on February 19, 2017

Wishing you the very best in identifying your ancestors in a bygdebok!

How Norwegians Died--Interpreted

Martin Roe Eidhammer is a native Norwegian who has come up with an intriguing and helpful list for genealogy-minded folks who are trying to make sense out of Norwegian church records.  In his recent blog post, Norwegian Causes of Death, he has created a list of terms used in times-gone-by, and interpreted them in English.  As both genealogist and registered nurse, he figured that this list was just the type of thing he could do to help the rest of us pursue our genealogy goals.  The causes of death described include somewhat recognizable terms such as "falt" (death by falling from an elevated position), and "kramper" (convulsions), but there are many terms most of us would not otherwise have a clue about.  So, if your third great grandpa died from "alderdomssvaghet," you can now check out Martin's list to find out exactly what that means.

Many thanks to Martin for providing this information.  You can visit the main page of his blog at:  Norwegian Genealogy and then some.

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Chery Kinnick