Halldor Olson Opedal (May 26, 1895 – January 17, 1986) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

teacher and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

from Lofthus in the

Hardanger Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord and its inner branches of the Sørfjorden and the Eid Fjord. It consists of the municipalities of Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik and Kvam, and is l ...

district. Opedal was trained as a teacher and worked in

Tyssedal Tyssedal is a village in Ullensvang municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the shore of the Sørfjorden (Hardanger), Sørfjorden about north of the town of Odda (town), Odda. Tyssedal is located in an environment in ...

for 37 years. He traveled extensively in the area and collected folk tradition and dialect material from the Hardanger countryside by listening to old people who were skilled at telling stories. His two largest series of books were titled ''Makter og menneske: folkeminne ifrå Hardanger'' (Power and People: Folk Tradition from Hardanger, 22 volumes) and ''Folk or gamal tid: folkeminne ifrå Hardanger'' (Folk from Old Times: Folk Tradition from Hardanger, eight volumes). Opedal also wrote a description of the people at the

Kjeåsen Kjeåsen is a mountain farm (with two farmsteads) in the municipality of Eidfjord in Norway's Hardanger district, in Vestland county. The farm lies at an elevation of at the innermost point of the Simadal Fjord. The farm is no longer being worked ...

mountain farm in the

Simadal Fjord The Simadal Fjord ( no, Simadalsfjorden) is a branch of the Eid Fjord in the municipality of Eidfjord in Vestland, Norway. The Simadal Fjord is the innermost branch of the Hardangerfjorden, Hardanger Fjord. It is long and extends east from its mo ...

titled ''Kjeåsfolket i Hardanger. Soga om eit utkantfolk'' (The People of Kjeåsen in Hardanger. The Story of an Unknown People, 1980), which was also translated into Swedish. Opedal's total book production runs to 7,500 pages. Opedal received the

King's Medal of Merit The King's Medal of Merit (Norwegian: ''Kongens fortjenstmedalje'') is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business, and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold ...

in gold in 1961. In 1975, he was awarded the

Arts Council Norway Honorary Award The Arts Council Norway Honorary Award ( no, Norsk kulturråds ærespris) is awarded annually by the Arts Council Norway. The prize is awarded annually to a person who has made a significant contribution to Norwegian art and culture. The pri ...

for local history in recognition of his work with folk culture in Hardanger. In 1975, Opedal created the Halldor O. Opedal Fund for Norwegian Language Development with a capital of

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

600,000, and he established the Halldor O. Opedal Fund for Charitable Purposes, with a capital of NOK 2.8 million to benefit cultural aims in Hardanger. Opedal died in

Ullensvang Ullensvang is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hardanger. The administrative centre is the town of Odda. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Lofthus, Utne, Vikebygd ...

in 1986. A bronze bust of Opedal, created in 1995 by

Oddmund Raudberget Oddmund Raudberget (born July 12, 1932) is a Norwegian artist, painter, and sculptor. Raudberget was born in Stadsbygd and as an adult has lived in Oslo, Asker, and Drammen. From 1951 to 1954, Raudberget attended the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art. ...

, is displayed in the center of Lofthus today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opedal, Halldor O. People from Ullensvang 20th-century Norwegian writers Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Norwegian folklorists 1895 births 1986 deaths