by Åsmund Ohnstad
Åtnes Farm is probably one of the oldest in the Aurland area; 2000 years plus. The farmyard, beautifully sited on a wide crag, commands unimpeded views up and down the Aurland fjord. The mountainside above the farmyard offers woodland, hayfields and summer grazing.
Most of the meadows lie beneath the farmyard. The farm enjoys good soil, although draught can be a problem at times. At Fronnes, across the fjord, there are eight burial mounds made from rocks. It was the custom to ensure that the dead would have a view of their home, and these burial mounds are facing Åtnes straight on. The mounds may be as ancient as the farm itself.
Population increase after the Black Death
In 1522, Åtnes had two farmers, Halvar and Olaf, and we believe there were 12-15 people living here at the time. We also believe that the farm has been inhabited ever since the Black Death in 1349/50. The households grew relatively rapidly round 1600, and in 1666 there were five farmers at Åtnes. Their harvest was 40 barrels of cereal, and their livestock included 4 horses and 60 cattle and sheep. We estimate that at the time, the farm was home to 30 – 40 people. The 18th century and the first half of the 19th century saw a significant population increase, and in 1845 the farm was home to 58 people, five of them farmers and five of them crofters. The crofters would be renting a strip of land nearby, while working for the farmers in spring and autumn.
The farmyard
The farm changed hands round 1700, and it is likely that the oldest buildings date back to this period. The Guttormstova building is a robust timber house, now extended with a loft. Most of the other buildings on the farm were built in the 19th century. Four of the holdings were sited on the crag itself, while one was sited further to the north and closer to the sea. This holding was probably established in connection with the redistribution of land in the 17th or 18th century; its buildings were demolished in the 1900s. The crofts were also sited north of the farmyard and further down towards the sea.
Woodland and outlying fields
There was only limited farmland available for crops; in the 1860s there were approx. 55 acres, of which 19 were used for growing cereal and potatoes, and 36 were used for grass production. Nevertheless, they collected half their feed from the outlying fields: grass from the hayfields and leaves from the woodland. The farming method involved the use of simple tools such as long and short handled scythes, hoes and forks. This was labour intensive work, and the assistance provided by servants and crofters was essential to keep the farm going. In 1845, there were four crofters and four servants. The crofters and their wives would work on the farm in the spring and during the harvest against an agreed daily wage. Servants were normally hired a year at a time and were given lodgings, food and rather meagre pay.
Summer grazings
In the spring and summer, all livestock was transferred to grazing land in three different locations, two on the mountainside and one further inland to the mountainous east. The Høgsete shieling was used in spring and Joasete and Liverdalen in summer. The latter was a mountain shieling, and it took 4-5 hours to get there on foot. There are a number of deep ravines in the mountainside above the farm. This land formation is called a jo in the local dialect, and has lent its name to the summer shieling called Joasete. The summer pastures were used for as long as possible, from early/mid June to the end of September. When the grass was getting poorer in one place, they would transfer to the next. Because the grazings were found at different altitudes, the grass would tend to flourish at different times over the summer. In the 1970s, when rivers and lakes were dammed for the benefit of hydro electric power stations, the Liverdalen mountain shieling was submerged.
Emigration
The emigration to America started in 1851. …….. –year-old Guttorm Olsen emigrated with his sweetheart, Brita Frondal, and settled in the southern part of Minnesota in the Mid West. In 1850, there were 15-16 young people between the ages of 20 and 30 living at Åtnes. Only a few of them would be given a chance to take over a farm; the others would have to become crofters or move elsewhere. Two of them moved to Bergen, one to Norland, and eleven of them moved to America, where they did well for themselves. Many built large farms and were blessed with numerous children.
Towards a new era
The slopes at Otternes are rather steep; even as agricultural modernisation gained momentum after the war, it was difficult to put tractors and other large machinery to good use at Åtnes. Also, the farm was run by elderly people in the 50s, and as most of them were unmarried, there was no surge of renewal and modernisation. The old houses remained as they were. In the 1980s, Aurland Council bought the houses and the farmyard with a view to restoration and conservation and continued to work the farm into the 1990s.
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