This same spirit of rivalry also possesses the younger men; each vies with the others in skill and cleverness in the dances, in which their ability to kick the highest is put to the test for the admiration and applause of the onlooking girls. This rivalry would result at times in quite a battle royal of words, and even more seriously, it would end in real danger to life and limb.
CHAPTER IV
THE SOGNE FJORD (continued)
Sailing down the Sogne Fjord from the sea coast, the scenery gradually assumes wilder and grander proportions as we advance. At Vadeim it is just beginning to be interesting and attractive, and when we come to Balholm we enter into the finest part of the fjord.
Here are prosperous farms, smiling orchards, and waving cornfields, and as an effective contrast, glacier and snow-field crown the high and steep mountains around.
Tradition points to this place as the scene of the Swedish poet Tegner's "Frithjof Saga."
Among other burial mounds ("grav-haug") of chiefs from the Viking age at Balholm is pointed out that of King Belè, whose daughter was Ingeborg, whilst at Framnæs, across the fjord, dwelt Frithjof the Viking. These names all occur in the "Frithjof Saga."
At Balholm stands an English church, the only one to be found among the fjords. Built for the use of English visitors in summer-time, its design is similar to that of the ancient wooden "stav-kirk," at Vik in Sogn. It was erected recently, mainly through the efforts of the brothers Kvikne, who during their lifetime have been the means of transforming Balholm from a mere wilderness to a place of great beauty, and one of the most important places of resort among the fjords.