{"id":133,"date":"2009-08-16T11:28:17","date_gmt":"2009-08-16T15:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=133"},"modified":"2009-08-16T11:28:17","modified_gmt":"2009-08-16T15:28:17","slug":"seter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/seter\/","title":{"rendered":"seter"},"content":{"rendered":"

place of mountain pasture.\u00a0 In other words, a traditional seter\u00a0<\/strong>is a simple wooden cottage\u00a0in the mountains\u00a0with a barn where\u00a0Norwegian bonder <\/strong>(farmers) bring their livestock herds (cattle, goats, and sheep) to be milked after a day of grazing in the mountain pastures.\u00a0 Historically, young women\u00a0(ei seterjente<\/strong> = a dairymaid) brought\u00a0the animals\u00a0to the seter <\/strong>and remained there for the summer, caring for the animals and making cheese until September, at\u00a0which point they return to the valleys.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Norwegians (including the Sami population), as well as Swedes, Turks, the Italians, French, and many more peoples still practice transhumance-the seasonal movement of people and their livestock to a place away from the home farm (to somewhere in the mountains) to graze.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are several characteristics of modern life in Norway that have changed the tradition of \u00e5 setre-<\/strong>the verb for “going to the summer pasture.”\u00a0For one, the arrival of automobiles has changed the whole feel of going to the seter <\/strong>for the summer.\u00a0 More importantly though, it is becoming less common for people to have their own, individual setre <\/strong>(seters).\u00a0 <\/strong>It is now common for several bonder <\/strong>to have a fellesseter<\/strong> (shared seter).\u00a0 There is roughly one seter for every four farms today in Norawy.\u00a0 It is becoming less and less economical to own and maintain a seter.\u00a0 <\/strong>In fact, farming in general has been on the decline for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many of the old setre<\/strong> have either decayed or turned into summer homes.\u00a0 Some owners have taken to renting them out as vacation and tourist destinations.\u00a0 There is an organization called Norsk Seterkultur <\/strong>that is dedicated to the preservation of the norsk seter.\u00a0 <\/strong>This has proved to be quite a successful endeavor.\u00a0 A woman named Jorunn Hagen has turned her family’s original seter <\/strong>into a historic tourist destination where she sells jams, coffee, and special pancakes called lapper.<\/strong>\u00a0 For a modest fee, <\/strong>the guests can hear the history of the property back to the early 19th century, pet the animals, and even milk them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are seter\u00a0<\/strong>all over the country, but there is a concentration of them in Valdres<\/strong>, Gudbrandsdalen, og Nord-\u00d8sterdalen.\u00a0 <\/strong>If you get a chance, check one out next time you’re in Norway.\u00a0 Pay the NOK 100 <\/strong>(100 crowns) to support the preservation of norsk setre <\/strong>and enjoy the experience!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

place of mountain pasture.\u00a0 In other words, a traditional seter\u00a0is a simple wooden cottage\u00a0in the mountains\u00a0with a barn where\u00a0Norwegian bonder (farmers) bring their livestock herds (cattle, goats, and sheep) to be milked after a day of grazing in the mountain pastures.\u00a0 Historically, young women\u00a0(ei seterjente = a dairymaid) brought\u00a0the animals\u00a0to the seter and remained there…<\/p>\n

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