Norwegian Stev: The World in Four Lines
by Beth Kollé
Local traditional dancers performing the Gangar dance of Setesdal in a group. The practitioners wear traditional folk costumes
Stev are traditional Norwegian songs from Setesdal and Øvre Telemark. A mere four lines long, these compact yet descriptive rhyming poems, set to melodies nearly as old as the landscape itself, are interwoven into the communities. The melodies are remarkably captivating, often modal and featuring quarter-tone notes (blåtoner). Deciphering the poems, composed most often in dialect, is a challenge and a joy. Some stev are lyrical, others are odes, still others are hilarious and meant for poking fun.
Similar to Japanese haiku in their brevity and wit, stev may tell a story, express an emotion or idea, or simply entertain whoever listens. Stev are featured in repartee, called ‘stevjast,’ which consists of playful back-and-forth bantering between stev singers (called kvedar), most often at a social occasion.
The origins of stev are lost, but a similar ancient cultural practice of composing poetry set to melodies is found in Iceland, where the poems are called ‘rimur.’ Rimur are short rhymes meant to describe, inform or entertain. They, too, can be found in taunting contests, and great store was set upon a person who could compose rimur on the spot.
The oldest stev, called ‘gamlestev’ (plural), are sung to a set of melodies established in the beginning of the 1300s. When composing a stev, the singer would choose one of these melodies. Gamlestev have a rhyme scheme of ABAB (the first and third lines rhyme, and the second and fourth lines rhyme). Here is a well-known gammelstev:
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Ingen fuglen flyer so høgt
som grågåsi med sine ungar. Og ingen ormen sting so sårt som falske manna-tunga. No bird flies to such a height
as the gray goose with her young. But sharper than the serpent’s bite is the false man’s lying tongue. |
By the 1700s, singers in Setesdal looked to expand the choice of melodies, and new stev, called ‘nystev,’ were added to the tradition. These melodies, some three hundred years later, are still referred to as ‘new’! The rhyme scheme for nystev is AABB.
Interestingly, gamlestev hew more closely to the thoughts and desires of an older generation, while nystev tend to resonate more with younger generations’ outlook on life. Composition of stev and melodies is ongoing in these communities.
Stev may also be sung for folk dances, and in the absence of instruments a kvedar can be sole provider of the dance music. In parts of Telemark county, stev are useful for bringing a melody to the mind of the singer or fiddler, and often the lyrics are entertaining nonsense phrases. These are called ‘slåttestev,’ meaning the melody is an instrumental tune. An example:
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Haslebuskane, dei er små’e,
men dei er full ut av nettan’. Danse lett med dei unge drø sa, så frys du inkje på fotan’. Hazelnut bushes, they are small,
but full of nuts to eat. Dance lightly with the young widows, and you’ll never freeze your feet.
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Stev are passed down through generations, mostly orally and often at social gatherings. They are considered to be national treasures, and the practice is listed on the UNESCO website under “Intangible Cultural Heritage.”
Norwegian Stev
arranged by Beth Kollé, performed by Victoria Johnson
About the Author
Beth Kollé studied classical music and Norwegian language and culture at the University of Washington, which has the oldest Scandinavian Studies department in the U.S. She has traveled to Norway many times, has lived and worked there, and organized the first HARPA tours, which introduced folk harpers to Scandinavia and Scandinavia to folk harpers. Beth is currently teaching folk dance at the local lodge of Sons of Norway in Seattle, Washington. She played a concert of Nordic folk music in the 2023-24 Circumpolar Music Series.