Johannes Skar (18 November 1837 – 3 February 1914) 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 the ...

educator 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 ...

Biography

Skar was born at

Øyer Øyer is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg. The two largest villages in the municipality are Granrudmoe ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

, Norway. He was the son of Ole Torsteinsson Skar (1802-1886) and Mari Johannesdotter Lånke (1814-1894). His brother was educator

Matias Skard Matias Skard (28 May 1846 – 28 July 1927) was a Norwegian philologist, educator, psalmist, essayist and translator. Biography Matias Olsen Skard was born on a family farm at Øyer in Gudbrandsdal, Norway. He had planned to study theology but ...

(1846–1927). He was raised in the traditional region of

Gudbrandsdalen Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending towar ...

and attended the Latin School in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

(''Lillehammer latinskole''). He later studied at the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

where he took his degree in 1860. As an educator, he first worked as a children's tutor. From 1883 to 1892, he taught at Bruuns Folk School (''Bruuns folkehøgskule'') in

Sel Sel is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Otta. The municipality also includes several notable villages including ...

and

Gausdal Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru. Other villages in Gausdal include Follebu, Forse ...

. The school was operated by his brother-in-law,

folk school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;' ...

pioneer

Christopher Bruun Christopher Arndt Bruun (23 September 1839 – 17 July 1920) was a Norwegian priest and educator. Biography He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of jurist Johan Peter Bruun (1810–1843) and Line Stenersen (1816–1901). Af ...

(1839-1920). Skar collected folklore throughout his adult life. These works includes legends, fairy tales, proverbs, riddles, nursery rhymes and songs. In 1881, on the initiative of

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter ...

(1813-1882) and

Jørgen Løvland Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland (3 February 1848 – 21 August 1922) was a Norwegian educator and civil servant of the Liberal Party who served as the 10th prime minister of Norway from 1907 to 1908. Background Løvland was born at Lauvland in Evj ...

(1848-1922), he received a private grant from citizens in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

to continue his for his collection efforts. The following year he received a scholarship from the university at Christiania. In 1897 at age 59, he was granted a state scholarship which provided financial support for the remainder of his life. He then moved back to Setesdal. In 1876, he published a book which contains information about life and folklore in Gudbrandsdalen. Olaf Norli (1861-1959) was the publisher for the main body of his work. His main contribution to Norwegian literature is the work ''Gamalt or Sætesdal'' (1903-1916), a collection of eight volumes of the old peasant culture in the valley of

Setesdal Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes. The Otra river flows through the valley of ...

. These are works of cultural history with a prominent portion about the older folk culture in Setesdal built on the valley's pastoral past. Two volumes were published after his death. He died at Bygland in

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, en, "East Agder") was a county (''fylke'') in Norway until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . The ...

during 1914. He was buried in the cemetery of Årdal Church at

Grendi Grendi is a village in Bygland municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the east side of the lake Byglandsfjorden in the south part of the municipality. Grendi sits along the Norwegian National Road 9 about north of the ...

in Bygland. A bust of Johannes Skar was designed by sculptor

Dyre Vaa Dyre Vaa (19 January 1903 – 11 May 1980) was a Norwegian sculptor and painter. Background He was born in Kviteseid, Telemark, and later lived and worked in Rauland. He was the son of Tor Aanundsson Vaa (1864–1928) and Anne Marie Roholt ...

(1903–1980) and cast in bronze. It was erected in the churchyard of Årdal Church in 1924.

References

Other sources

* Olav Bø (1953) ''Johannes Skar, Gudbrandsdølen som skapte Gamalt or Saetesdal'' (Oslo: Olaf Norli) 1837 births 1914 deaths People from Øyer Norwegian folklorists {{norway-writer-stub