Coiiforniation of the Cotmtry 2 i 



virtue of its substantial yeomen (bcender, bonders), the 

 backbone of the Norse nation, and independent beyond 

 Rfij other district of Norway; into the two long valleys, 

 the Osterdal and the Gudbrandsdal, which the Dovre- 

 fjeld separates from the Throndbjem country and the 

 Uplands, which lie alongside of them; into the fjord dis- 

 trict (Northern and Southern Bergenhus, or in history 

 Hordaland and Sogn) — to which we may add Sondre- 

 More and Eomsdal — a region which, we have seen, is 

 cut off from the Gudbrandsdal by mountain ranges ; into 

 the barren, uneven country of the southern bulge of the 

 peninsula Eogaland, Agder, Thelemarken ; and fiually, 

 into the more fertile region which lies to the south of 

 Lake Mjosen, where the Uplands cease. 



These last are the divisions most often mentioned in 

 Norse history — East Agder, Greenland, Westfold to the 

 west of the Christiania Fjord, Vingelmark to the east. 

 And just behind these regions, between them and the 

 true uplands, lie Eingariki, Eomariki, and Hedemark. 



Add to these divisions by hill and valley the vast 

 forests which still cover the inner slopes of the country, 

 and of which the traveller who goes by rail from Chris- 

 tiania to Throndbjem gains some idea, and we see how 

 difficult a country Norway must have been to unite 

 into one whole. We understand how rival forces may 

 march and countermarch in such a country without 

 ever coming in sight of one another ; and we are in a 

 position to understand the tale of constant wars and 

 factious rivalries which make up the history of Norway. 



For when we come to the coast the same features 

 meet us. The inimmerable fjords and bays by which the 

 coast is cut up ; the countless islands which lie outside 



