In Egner's Footsteps: The Swallow's Tale with Alf Seltveit

In the summers of 1940 and 1944, Thorbjørn Egner was in Rauland. He cycled around and drew the largest farms in the village and wrote down the small and big things he was told by people who lived there. The book Gamle hus i Rauland was published in 1945, and in 2025 the Rauland Historielag was responsible for a new edition in consultation with Egner's descendants.

On our afternoon tours in 2026, we will follow in some of Thorbjørn Egner's footsteps.

On June 16th at 5:00 PM, Nesland will be the tour group, and we will visit Svalastoga.. The farm where Sveinung Svalastoga grew up and later decorated so beautifully. In Egner's book the farm is described as being «taken out of a fairy tale and makes you think of the good old days, when people could decorate and maintain an attic or a loft for several generations to make it as comfortable as possible». This summer there will be a special exhibition of Svalastoga's work at the Dyre Vaa collections and in that context the book about the Rauland artist will be published in a new edition, in collaboration with Rauland Historielag. We will of course also mark this afternoon at Svalastoga and Alf Seltveit will talk about the book.