My father’s name is Guttorm and he lived on this farm from when he was born until his parents built a house right next to the farm, closer to the seaside. He has lived here his entire childhood, His grandparents lived here while him, his brother and parents lived in the house close by but spend a lot of time at the farm growing up. He remembers things from his childhood that connected him to this place, and he remembers his grandfather telling him stories about this family and the house.

He moved into the house in his teens, lived on the second floor while his grandmother lived on the first floor, she lived in the house until a few years before her death, he says that he believes that she loved this place and that is a good reason to make sure that we are still here. he moved out and decades went by and now he is the one living here making sure the farm is in good condition. He makes sure the family heritage is alive to this day and hopefully in generations to come.

Before reading the interview it’s important to understand what oral history is when many think about oral history they think about it as a story. In this incident like many other situations, my father has been told information from his father and grandfather. The question many people would ask is, is this information true and how can we trust oral history? East Midlands Oral History Archive´s article What is oral history mentions that: ” Oral history can be defined as the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinion of the speaker.” The oral history is history based on the speaker’s personal opinion of the information the speaker has. further, the article mentions that: ” All historical sources have their problems, and oral history is not necessarily any more biased or partial than documentary evidence. 

The interview was done in Norwegian, I wanted to make sure he was as conftable as possible and doing the interview in his native language made it comfitable for him. under you will se a clip from the interview aproximatly 10 minutes long, I made sure to get the most important part of the interview and then transcribe it over to english. Under the sound clip, there is a transcript of parts of the interview.

the interview:

Margrethe: Okay so, why is this farm so important to you, and why did you decide to live here?

Guttorm:  The farm is important to me because it has been in the family for so long and when my brother died, we had an agreement that we would keep it in the family so it would stay in the family.

Margrethe: yeah, since you have said that it has been in the family for so long, is that then one of the reasons why you wanted to live here?

Guttorm: It is one of the reasons why I wanted to live here, but the most important things are to get it back to how it used to be here.

Margrethe: Yeas, because you have renovated parts of this farm, your brother renovated this farm first, but you were the one renovating the brewery houses and the fields and fences…

Guttorm:  Boathouse, the docs…

Margrethe: Is it because you want to keep it functional or is it because like you said to get it back to the way it used to be?

Guttorm: I want it to go back to the way it used to be, but also because I like it like that.

Margrethe: How do you know as much as you do about the family history?

Guttorm: I have been told things from my grandfather and my father

Margrethe:  Have you asked them about the history?

Guttorm:  well a little bit, sometimes. But during the years information has popped up and you get to know more things.

5 minutes and 43 seconds into the interview:

Margrethe: The name Johan is repeated throughout the family generations, is there a reason or meaning behind you calling you son Johan?

Guttorm: Well, it follows the family, yeah it follows the family so in a way its kind of natural to do it

Margrethe: With the name Johan and the generations and the house, another thing follows, you have mentioned a pocket watch?

Guttorm: That pocket watch is inherited, on the pocket watch it says Johan Skalle, so its natural that I called my son Johan and the clock is now with him

7 minutes and 45 seconds into the interview:

Margrethe: Are you happy with your decision to move out here and keep the family heritage going, even though it might be some consequences to it?

Guttorm: Yes I do, but it is tiring, the constant work to be able to afford the restoration and there is so much money going out all the time. And I am too old, I should have done this 25 years ago haha.

Margrethe: Do you hope that one of us children are gonna continue or keep the things you have done to this place in a good condition?

Guttorm: I hope one of you will, but I’m not putting that burden on anyone, they have to figure that out on their own

Margrethe: Do you hope that because of all of the work that has been put into it or because our family have been here for so long?

Guttorm: Its everything really, its fun if someone is interested in keeping the family on these grounds and keep all the work put into it in good condition