Harald, The Norwegian

       Harald? Yes! That is my name, and I am one of the most curiously dressed of all Norwegian dollies, for, although I am very like an English doll with very fair hair and very blue eyes, my clothes are quite special. My little mistress has two of us. I am from Saetersdal, dressed in the old-time costume, and Greta comes from Hardanger; and while my clothes are the most curious, yet hers are certainly the most picturesque, so that my mistress loves us both, and everyone who sees us looks with equal interest.

       Let me tell you about myself first. I am a boy doll and so, you see, I wear an enormous pair of "buxer," or trousers, that come right up to my neck both back and front, and which are kept in place by shoulder-straps. In front I wear a breast-plate, ornamented with embroidery in green cloth, and rows of silver buttons. At my ankles are more pieces of embroidery on green cloth, though these are not so grand as the ones at the breast. On the back of the trousers is an immense leather patch, while the legs are dark brown vadmel. These are my working clothes, but for Sundays and festive occasions I have a jacket and pair of white sleeves with which I wear a white shirt, fastened at the neck with very handsome silver studs. The girl dolls of my country wear very short skirts, scarcely reaching to the knees, and at the waist a leather belt with ornamental silver buttons. The bodice is white and very full, fastened at the neck and wrists with handsome silver studs. These studs are quite one of the features of the women's and girls' dress, and far more elaborate than those of the men. Below the skirt are long woolen stockings, almost invariably dark in color, and held in place below the knees by silver garters. The shoes are very curiously turned up at the toes, while the head is covered by a scarf so that hardly any of the hair shows at all. And now let me tell you about Greta, who comes from Hardanger. She is dressed in a white skirt and very full sleeves, over which she wears a red embroidered bodice and a short, full, black skirt with red braid round the hem. I must tell you about a strange hat that the older women wear in Hardanger, and which Greta declares she has often seen when she was living there. This is called the " regnhat," and if you divide the word into two syllables and say it slowly, you will not be long in understanding what it means - "rain hat," and a very suitable name too, for it is quite as good as any umbrella. The brim of this unusual hat is made of tarred felt and completely covers the shoulders, so that when heavy rain comes the wearer is quite safely protected. Well, that is how we look in our special dresses, though my little mistress herself is not so very different from the English girls and wears very much the same clothes.

       We, in common with many other of the Continental nations, are very fond of dancing, and quite among the curiosities in this way is the dance called the " halling." Last year, when we were in the country (for we all of us leave the cities and go into the country when the summer comes), I saw them dance this one evening, at an old wooden farmhouse where we were staying for a week. First of all, the dancer squatted on the floor, and then hopped sideways, in time with the music of a violin. This was followed by swaying to and fro as though he were going to leap, then the side hopping was resumed as before, faster and faster, faster and faster, until quite suddenly he threw his head backwards and with a great leap kicked the beam of the ceiling. How we all did laugh and shout, and my young mistress held me up by two arms, and made me clap my hands together in applause. I did enjoy the wonderful life at this farm, and saw many things that looked very strange in the customs and many beautiful sights of the countryside. Most of the dwelling-houses are built of timber and are placed quite close together because of the cold weather in the winter, when it would be impossible for the people to go out far distances.

       Then we have quantities of fruits; the blaaboer, which you know as bilberry, grows everywhere, and wild raspberries are nearly as abundant, and my little mistress had a great time gathering and eating both of these.

       In the cottages the peasant girls always have wooden dolls; not a bit like I am, with my lovely fair hair and blue eyes, but dolls that their fathers cut out for them from blocks of wood, which they bring in from the forest. Quite wonderful dolls complete with beautifully modeled limbs and faces, for which their mothers make the most lovely clothes, just like their own, and upon which they spend hours and hours‚ stitch, stitch, stitch, to complete the lovely embroidery with which the plainest piece of material is trimmed.

The Norwegian Halling Dance