Halvor Johannesson Sandsdalen (12 January 1911 – 9 July 1998) was a Norwegian farmer, journalist, poet, novelist, playwright and children's writer. He was also a proponent for

Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

, and a local politician.

Personal life

Sandsdalen was born in

Seljord Seljord is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Seljord. Other villages in the municipalit ...

, the son of farmer Johannes T. Sandsdalen and Hæge Vetlesdotter Kjøta. He married poet Ingebjørg Kasin in 1938.

Career

Sandsdalen was a part-time journalist for the newspaper ''

Telemark Arbeiderblad ''Telemarksavisa'' is a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. ''Telemark Arbeiderblad'' was started on 1 October 1921 as a reaction to the perceived moderate stance of Skien's labour newspaper '' Bratsberg Demokraten''. How ...

'' from 1945 to 1962. From 1962 he was full-time journalist for '' Varden'', where he edited the supplement ''Telemark Tidend''. Among his poetry collections are ''Det syng i skog og li'' from 1945, ''Mannen og moldi'' from 1946, the prize-winning ''Kantate ved Skien 600 års jubileum'' from 1958, and ''Relieff'' from 1968.

Sigmund Groven Sigmund Groven (born 16 March 1946 in Heddal, Telemark) is a Norwegian classical harmonica player, today considered one of the world's leading classical harmonica players. He plays with a large number of the world's leading musicians and orches ...

and

Ivar Medaas Ivar Medaas (April 9, 1938 – January 7, 2005) was a Norwegian folksinger and fiddle player. He is best known for his 1963 song ''Dar Kjem Dampen'' written by . References 1938 births 2005 deaths Norwegian violinists Norwegian male v ...

have composed melodies to some of his poems, and among his most popular songs are "Kom sol" and "Gje meg jorda til bustad". In 1998

Geirr Lystrup Geirr Lystrup (22 March 1949 – 19 June 2025) was a Norwegian singer, poet, playwright and children's writer. Life and career Lystrup was born in Vinje on 22 March 1949. His debut album was ''Ti på taket og Måltrostblues'' from 1972. His al ...

issued the album ''Kom sol på alle mine berg'' with lyrics by Sandsdalen and music by Sigmund Groven. Among his plays are ''Anne Gonge'' from 1957 and ''Kari Sulto'' from 1958. He also wrote audio plays for radio. Among his children's books are ''Gygra i Skorvefjell'' from 1957 and ''Under eventyrhatt'' from 1964. His books on local history and folklore include ''Ormen i Seljordsvatnet'' from 1976, about the

sea serpent A sea serpent is a type of sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably in Mesopotamian cosmology (Tiamat), Ugaritic cosmology ( Yam, Tannin), biblical cosmology (Leviathan, Rahab), Greek cosmology (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scy ...

living in

Seljordsvatnet Seljordsvatnet () is a lake in Seljord Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. A small part of the very far eastern edge of the lake crosses over into Midt-Telemark Municipality. The lake is part of the Skien watershed. The lake's main inflo ...

according to local tradition, ''Hundre folkeminne frå Seljord'' from 1982, ''Trollebotn'' from 1983, and ''Frå Kivlemøyan til Brurebergi'' from 1989. He also spent time on painting, and was a friend of painter

Harald Kihle Harald Kihle (3 July 1905 – 2 August 1997) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is particularly known for his pictures with motifs from Telemark. Personal life Kihle was born in Horten; the son of Anton Jørgensen and Mina Gunelia ...

. He was a secretary for Telemark Mållag for fifteen years, and chaired the local chapter of the Labour Party. Sandsdalen was awarded the cultural prize of the county of

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

in 1990, and 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 1996. Sandsdalen's poem about the Telemark cattle has been displayed on a stone erected at Dyrskuplassen in Seljord.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandsdalen, Halvor J 1911 births 1998 deaths People from Seljord 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Nynorsk-language writers Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Telemark Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold 20th-century Norwegian journalists