Eli Knudsdatter GRAAVI

1802 - 1897  (94 years)

• Name	Eli Knudsdatter GRAAVI  [1]
  Birth	13 Jun 1802	Vestre Slidre, Oppland Fylke, Norway
  Gender	Female
  Death	7 Feb 1897	Vestre Slidre, Oppland Fylke, Norway
  Notes	Many of these tiny patch farms have now been swallowed up by the landowners, and the cottages torn down. To some of these parcels of land, a bit more ground was added on, however, and sold to small farmers. Such a small farm was the little place called Åsen [the mountain ridge], which now has completely disappeared. [Note: this was written in 1911.] Many young people in the neighborhood have no idea even where Åsen was located. But, when I was a small boy, Åsen was a so-called resting place for all who traveled over Egge Ridge between Vang and Øystre Slidre [Valdres], so that there were often 30 horses standing along the road there at any one time. And, the little cottage was more than packed with drivers on their way home. At Åsen lived Andris and Eli, and their son Ola and all three were 'clever people.' And, no matter how little they had, no one ever heard them complain even when they were on the verge of starvation. Ola, who was about as old as I, was a happy and kind fellow no matter how things were, and he was an expert singer. A song written by Peter Dass, called Happy was Halvar on the Ridge, was changed by him into Happy was Andris on the Ridge, and he sang so that it echoed over the valley. Eli, who often sat inside and mended, would 'sneak' out as soon as all the drivers had left and sweep up the little fodder remaining on the ground there, and in this way, the sole cow they had also got something to live on. Andris at Åsen was a good worker and good at doing things, no matter what, if he only got a little food in his stomach. Since he was of small stature and thinly built, and often hungry, he often used to say about himself: "It's not my muscles doing the work, it's the food." But, it was amazing how many stones and rocks he moved up there on the ridge overlooking the valley. And, although Andris had toiled until late in the evening [all his life], it was not very long before the place called Åsen was no more. EXCERPT: Gamalt fraa Valdres, Kristiania, H. Aschehough & Co., 1911. Retranslated and corrected, from the Valdres dialect of Norwegian, by Everett M. Ellestad, 23 Sept., 1989. New revisions 8 August, 1991 and 22 March, 1995, and (updated) 13 November, 1996.
  Person ID	I22060	Ellingboe
  Last Modified	13 Nov 2012

  
  

• Sources

  [S125] Vang Church Books, (Records found in original books at Hamar State Archives, LDS microfilm, or Digital Archives.), Oppland fylke, Vang, Ministerialbok nr. 3 (1809-1831), F?dte og d?pte 1830, side 196-197. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_kildeid=9395&idx_id=9395&uid=ny&idx_side=-99. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070621000402.jpg (Reliability: 3).