268 SPORT IN NORWAY. 
MissELToE (Viscum album, L. “ Mistilteinn”).—Only found 
between lat. 59° 25' 30" and lat. 59° 29'40" on the western shore 
of the Christiania, usually on lime or oak. The misseltoe figures 
in Norwegian mythology. ‘‘ Freya had extorted a promise from 
all the plants on the earth not to injure Baldr. But alas! she 
had omitted the misseltoe. The crafty Loke found this out, and 
making an arrow from the wood of the misseltoe, he gave it to 
blind Hodr, who shot Baldr with it.” 
Mountain Asx (Sorbus Aucuparia, L. “ Rogn”)—Grows wild 
over the whole country up to Finmark; the fruit will ripen 
under lat. 70°. Its altitude is the same as that of birch. 
Norway Mapusz ( Acer platanoides, L. “ Hlynr” old Norsk). 
Grows wild in low lands up to lat. 613°. Near Laurdal in Thele- 
marken, there is a tree 62 feet high, the trunk 10 feet in cireum- 
ference; it is 65 to 70 years old. 
Norway Spruce Fir (Pinus Abies, L. “ Gran”).—This and 
the Scotch fir constitute the most extensive forests in the south- 
east of the country. On the western coast it is rare, and from 
Lindesnes to lat. 62°, proximity to the sea seems unfavourable 
to its growth. This is probably owing to the fact that its roots 
penetrate but to a little depth below the surface, but run in a 
horizontal direction, and thus it cannot so well endure the stormy 
winds which sweep over the Atlantic. Forests of this tree appear 
up to lat. 67°, but never higher. A group of the Pinus orientalis 
is said to have been found in East Finmark near the Russian fron- 
tier. Their altitude is, in general, 2,700 to 2,900 feet below the 
limit of eternal snow. 
Oak (Quercus pedunculata, Ehrh. “ EKeg”).—Grows wild in 
the eastern districts up to lat. 61°, and to lat. 63° on the west 
coast. ‘Though in comparison with oaks in England the oak- 
tree in Norway attains a small size, yet occasionally specimens 
may be found which are remarkable both as regards height and 
circumference of the trunk. Thus at Valen in Sodndhordland, 
lat. 59° 40', there is an oak-tree which is 125 feet high, and the 
circumference of the trunk is about 26 feet, measured at a dis- 
tance of 3 feet from the ground. A specimen of still larger 
dimensions had formerly stood on the same property, but was 
blown down about 70 years ago. It is said that “24 workpeople 
one day took shelter within its hollow trunk; 22 got inside,” says 
the historian, naively, “ the other 2 remained outside,’ 
