Styvi

Styvi

Captain Magne Ahlen, Stig Buvik, and Botolv Hov.  Mr. Hov is half of Styvi's population.

 

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There are two Norwegian languages.  Bokmål is the language everyone else thinks of as 'Norwegian'.  The other language is called Nynorsk, which you may be tempted to translate as "new Norwegian".  Resist the temptation; Nynorsk is closer to the language of the Vikings than to any modern language.  Surprisingly, it is spoken by a fair number of Norwegians even today.  Norwegian communities vote to determine which language will be used for instruction in the local schools, so scattered throughout Norway you will have both Bokmål communities and Nynorsk communities.

 

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Styvi is almost too small to be called a village.  It is, in fact, the smallest town with its own postal code in Norway, possibly anywhere.  Botolv and his wife Kjellaug  (sounds like "cello")  are the only residents and they are both in their 80s.  They speak only Nynorsk.  They know some Bokmål, but aren't very comfortable with it.  They 'own' Styvi and run it as a museum of practical arts.  The barn is full of interesting gadgets for doing all sorts of things that have to be done on a farm that is isolated much of the winter: tools for boring wood to make pipe, a machine that twists paper-like tree bark into rope, huge saws for carving trees into lumber, and many, many more.  A small store sells ice cream, snacks, postcards and stamps to the tourists who stop as part of a tour, as we did.

Botolv claims to be able to prove the unbroken line of ownership for this farm and this town for the past 3,000 years; that is: well back into the Bronze Age.

Styvi is today part of a nature preserve.  It will never be developed beyond what you see here.  Its remoteness fairly well guarantees that in any case.

 

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Penny Ford, Stig Buvik, Kjellaug Hov, and Norene Clarke.