Finding Per Spellmann

How a genealogy search led to one of Norway’s most well-known folksongs.

All Norwegians know the folk song Per Spelmann. It has really simple lyrics and a fun and beautiful tune. The song tells about a fiddler that sells his violin in order to buy a cow. However, after a while, he regrets his decision, sells the cow and buys his violin back. This is obviously a master fiddler as the song tells that he plays so the boys are dancing and the girls are crying. The two last stanzas reiterate his decision and tell in Per’s own words that no matter how old he gets, he will never again trade his violin for a cow.

Linked from YouTube channel Vikingskog

Little did I know that this song was written about a real person. I learned this as I was helping a lady finding her ancestors in Norway. It turned out that her ancestors belonged to the traveling people. This was persons who had no permanent address but traveled around making a living from selling things they made themselves or performing special crafts or arts.

The song was about Petter Christian Rasmussen Vardal or Petter Strømsing as he called himself.

Petter was born on the farm Gaupås by the Skjoldastream. Stream is in Norwegian “Strøm” so Petter started calling himself Petter Strømsing. When Petter was about 5 years old, the family moved to Sirdal where they had their base while they kept traveling mainly in the Boknafjord area (Østrem 1999: 150).

At the age of 15, Petter bought his fiddle and started to travel around on his own and play. He developed to become a master fiddler. He sometimes played himself into a trance and Gunnhild, his wife had to grab the fiddle out of his hands.

While Petter is known for his music, he was also a blacksmith and he knew how to cast in brass and bronze.  This craft might have helped him in younger years to get started with his musical career. Nevertheless, when Petter and Gunnhild’s son Petter Christian (Jr.) was baptized in Davik parish, Sogn og Fjordane county in 1788, Petter is listed as a blacksmith.

While not all travelers were welcome visitors, Petter was respected and well-liked. He sometimes stayed for weeks at the time with hosts who wanted to learn from him. Petter and Gunhild’s travels bought them around the Agder counties, His playing brought him on longer journeys than most of the traveling people undertook. Two of his children are born and baptized in Sogn og Fjordane county.  Petter and Gunnhild’s son Petter Christian was baptized in Davik Parish in Sogn og Fjordane. The minister has noted that they were on their way to Molde, which is where I live up in Møre og Romsdal county. Whether he ever made it this far, I don’t know.

A number of old dance tunes are supposed to be Petter’s work. Among them “Fanten”, “Strømsingen”, “Brureslira”, “Reisaren”, “Homslien 1 and 2”, and also “Gravbakkjen”. The latter he composed for his own funeral and it was performed by his son on this occasion. A search for “Petter Strømsing” on YouTube or Spotify produces several of Petter’s work.

Gravbakkjen

Linked from YouTube channel Various Artists – Topic

Petter’s fiddle was handed down to his son Peter Kristian and it supposedly still exists and is played by fiddler Vidar Lande. Interestingly the violin was made in France (Thedens 1998: 76).

Peter Christian Rasmussen or Peter Strømsing as he called himself is remembered by a beautiful epitaph at Lunde Church in Øvre Sirdal. Also, a monument is raised at Skjoldastraumen, where Peter Christian was born.

Petter Christian Rasmussen Vardal, son of Rasmus Jenssen Vardal and Margrete Pedersdotter Rosenvoll, was born on 19 Aug 1759 in Gaupås, Skjold parish, Rogaland county, was christened on 26 Aug 1759 in Skjold parish, Rogaland county, died on 4 Jan 1836 in Tveit, Sirdal, Vest-Agder county, Norway at age 76, and was buried on 13 Jan 1836 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway. Another name for Petter was Petter Strømsing.

Petter married Gunnhild Torsdatter. As far as I can tell, nothing is known about Gunnhild’s’ origin nor the date/year of her and Petter’s wedding.

Children from this marriage were:

1. Rasmus Pettersen Strømsing was born circa 1784
2. Guri Petterdatter Strømsing was born on 24 Aug 1786 in Åmli parish, Aust-Agder county, Norway, was christened on 29 Aug 1786 in Åmli parish, Aust-Agder county, Norway, and died before 1800.
3. Petter Kristian Pettersen Strømsing was born in 1788 in Davik parish, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was christened on 15 Jun 1788 in Davik parish, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.
4. Margrete Pettersdatter Strømsing was born in 1790 in Leikanger parish, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and was christened on 7 Nov 1790 in Leikanger parish, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway.
5. Svend Pettersen Strømsing was born in 1793 in Audnedal parish, Vigmostad local parish, Vest-Agder county and was christened on 1 Jun 1793 in Audnedal parish, Vigmostad local parish, Vest-Agder county.
6. Didrik Pettersen Strømsing was born in Aug 1794 in Sirdal, Vest-Agder county, Norway, died in 1798 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway at age 4, and was buried on 1 Jan 1798 in Tonstad local parish, Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway.
7. Petter Pettersen Strømsing was born in 1796 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway, died in 1798 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway at age 2, and was buried on 9 Sep 1798 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway.
8. Erik Pettersen Strømsing was born in 1797 in Øvre Kvinesdal parish, Fjotland local parish, Vest-Agder county and was christened on 18 Apr 1797 in Øvre Kvinesdal parish, Fjotland local parish, Vest-Agder county.
9. Guri Pettersdatter Strømsing was born in 1800 in Tjørn, Heskestad localparish, Rogaland county, Norway, was christened on 24 Sep 1800 in Heskestad localparish, Rogaland county, Norway, died on 6 Dec 1854 in Gyland, Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway at age 54, and was buried on 9 Dec 1854 in Bakke parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway.
10. Gunhild Marie Pettersdatter Strømsing was born in 1804 in Eiken localparish, Øvre Kvinesdal parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway and was christened on 19 Feb 1804 in Eiken localparish, Øvre Kvinesdal parish, Vest-Agder county, Norway.

Sources

Nils Olav Østrem. Skjoldastraumen. Tysvær kommune, 1999

Hans-Hinrich Thedens: NFL 50 år. Norsk folkemusikklag, 1998

Hans-Hinrich Thedens: De Reisendes musikk : innlegg fra seminaret på Gol, februar 1999 : artikler om spelemenn, slåtter og bånsuller. Oslo: Norsk folkemusikklag, 2000

Note: The featured photo is just for illustration. Obviously there are no pictures of  Petter Strømsing