Re: Paudor Knudsen Risberg
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In reply to:
Paudor Knudsen Risberg
5/08/01
Hello Helle,
Thank you for your response.I thought it might take a month or two.
There are a couple of things.Some of the information on the immigration forms is put down by an inspector who is interviewing the applicant. Knut may have said Elia's son and the inspector wrote it down as Eli's son.One of my Aunts said Knut could have used Eliasson instead of Risberg as a last name,but he had strong feelings about Risberg.
There is a slight divergence between Norwegian and Swedish use of "ris".In Norwegian it is true that it means straw or grass or twigs that can be made into a broom,or even a small stick or branch to give a child a beating.
In Swedish ,that is real Northwestern Swedish,it is more important than that."Ris"
used in the hair at "Jul" goes back before Christian times.What they would really like to put in their hair is what English call "holly".They have a song"deck the halls with baughs of holly".Holly trees have crisp diamond shaped leaves that stay bright green all winter and have bright red berries that stay on until spring.
The idea goes back to celebrating the strengthening of the sun about January first,
and greenery represents returning Spring.
It is a little too cold for holly to grow in most of Scandinavia, so evergreen is used instead.They don't put straw in their hair,but they use mountain greenery,i.e. evergreen sprigs.
Why do the Swedes call them "ris" instead of "einer"? There is a reason for that.Mountaineers in the German Alps take hikes in early Spring.They hope to be able to tell their wives that "ein ries ist gesprungen".There are songs that say this.
Ein ries is a sprig of evergreen.Down close to a river or stream it may be a new shoot of cedar.Away from the stream it would probably be a pine.The sprigs can snap upright in a second during a very warm day in early spring.They have been held back by frozen mud or ice and finally are released.It is a good omen to see a "ries"
spring up in a second.
Sverige or Sweden is "the land of the Svear",
but in the last few hundred years they sometimes say "the land of the Svears and Goths"
The Goths are the "round heads" who came to southeasternSweden from Germany.The Svears are the long heads,similar to Norwegians.The Swedes were not enthusiastic about having these Goths,but they did have a subtle effect on the language.One can find many many german derived words in a Swedish dictionary.There was also a lot of German influence in Bergen Norway in medeaval times.
I am sure you come into contact with people from central and northern Sweden and you can ask them about "ris" in their hair at "Jul".
I would be interested to hear.
Yours truly,
Bob Risberg