VIKING
Magazine for the members of Sons of Norway. July 2008
Nature’s ROAR
www.sonsofnorway.com
One man’s quest for truth in the wilderness
Features Page 8
Nature’s Roar!
An unconventional instructor makes us think twice about the great outdoors p.8
By Elizabeth Oliver Illustration by John Dinser
Meet an unconventional teacher with an island, a mission and a lot of mackerel.
On the western coast of Norway, about 159 kilometers north of Bergen, far into the sea from Sognefjorden, lies a rocky, windswept island called Litle Færøy. Here, alone on this tiny island of a mere 600 by 700 meters, lives Roar Moe. Moe moved to Litle Færøy 10 years ago to start a school that teaches young people the traditional ways of Norwegian coastal culture, ways that Moe sees rapidly disappearing in today’s fast-paced, technology-dependent, nature-starved world. Each summer, Moe invites groups of youth to leave their modern lives behind by stepping back in time and back to nature.
The idea behind the school is to challenge young people not only to question the lifestyles they lead, but also to get them to experience-firsthand-other alternatives. Moe hopes his students- mostly primary school students from Norway and college kids from Denmark, Arizona and elsewhere – feel the empowerment that comes from self-sufficiency. He challenges them to look to history for answers to contemporary problems.
“Moe doesn’t want coastal traditions to disappear in today’s fast-paced, nature-starved world."
Living the philosophy
A T.S. Eliot quote Moe admires captures the spirit behind his work:
“Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
Moe also cites the philosophy of his friend, famed Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, as inspiration for what he does on Litle Færøy. Naess, with the likes of Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and others, helped start the Deep Ecology movement, an ideology arguing for environmental ethics that value the inherent worth of all beings. Those who work for social change based on this idea are motivated by a love of nature as well as a love of humans.
For Moe, Deep Ecology is not simply a philosophy. He is adamant about living and reaching these ideals. “I see kids coming here,” he says. “There is a disconnection between their hands and their heads. They have a shortage of practical experiences.” He sees a remedy for his students in Norway’s nature and history. “I want to fill old bottles with new wine,” he says. The traditional knowledge Moe teaches often applies directly to the contemporary environmental problems these kids are all too aware of. Moe asks, for example, "How can I move from one place to another without using gasoline? Is there some tradition in history? You can use sails and oars, but it depends on winds, waves, and the knowledge you have of how to do that.”
On Litle Færøy this practical experience begins with mealtime. Instead of the quick eats they’re accustomed do, Moe’s students work for their food at every stage. They are taught to set nets in the evening, then rise early to pull them from the sea, clean the nets, collect their catch (often cod and mackerel), clean it, filet it, cook or dry it, and finally, eat it.
All the lessons of Litle Færøy involve hard work, sharp minds and time. Moe’s friend and business partner Gudrun Ingvaldsen - a hardy 74-year old woman who, like Moe, lives a solitary, self-sufficient lifestyle on a neighboring island- teaches students the traditions of the land. She shows them how to prepare traditional fish dishes, how to cut grass using a scythe, and how to shear the island’s sheep, spin the wool and knit hats with the yarn.At night, before retiring to tents t, the kids gather around the fire to share stories and ponder the mental and philosophical value of their labors.
Meanwhile, much of Moe’s teaching takes place on the water. Like the land traditions Ingvaldsen teaches, Moe wants students to practice the ways of people in Lagoy - Solund (the region surrounding Litle Færøy) around the turn of the century, prior to the introduction of the motorboat. Students sail the same type of square-sailed boat that the Vikings used-a boat that Moe helped build. It’s an extremely difficult type of boat to sail.
While traditional European sailboats have two to four gaff sails, the square sail has one main direction, with the wind coming from behind, but any change in orientation or wind direction and sailing this boat becomes technically complex. Of course, that’s part of the point. “It is important for me to articulate the process, the time it takes,” says Moe. “I want young people to reflect on how we can transfer these old lessons into modern times. What can we learn from the past that we can use today and in the future.
Practice to theory, and back
Moe’s interest in the past stems from his own seafaring youth and is intricately tied to the history of the Norwegian coast. Moe’s father and grandfather were seamen in the glory days of Norwegian shipping and fishing. “My grandfather is my great hero,” says Moe. “He taught me how to sail, how to navigate tough waters, the basics of how to survive.” That was the early 1960’s. When oil was discovered in the North Sea around 1970 life in Norway changed dramatically- especially along the coast. Tremendous wealth entered the country. The standard of living soared, and people on the coast left centuries-old ways of life and moved to inland cities for education and higher-paying jobs. “I was part of it,” reflects Moe. “I went from a traditional self sufficiency taught from one generation to another and into an academic way of getting knowledge. I went from practical knowledge into theory.”
Moe studied physical education in Oslo in the ‘70s, participated in a sports clinic at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, in 1980, and taught skiing at Voss Folk High School throughout the ‘80’s. At Voss, Moe became involved in the resurgence of Telemark skiing and began working on projects building traditional boats. He apprenticed sewing traditional canvas sails and sailed on the Hjemkomst, an authentic Viking ship that sailed from New York to Bergen (and now sits in a museum in Moorhead, Minn.). Moe went on to acquire coastal navigation certification and worked as a fisherman for a few years before, in 1990, he began to ponder how rapidly Norwegian life as changing [fix this to indicate that he taught at Voss and Bergen during the academic year…
This was when he and three friends from Voss went in search of a location for a new kind of outdoor school, a place they could dock their historic sea crafts, and a place where young people could, as Moe put is, “get away from the myths of the history and find out how life on the Norwegian coast really was.” In 1993, they found a heather-covered island named Litle FAErOy. Moe and his partners spent three year renovating the dilapidated farmhouse (abandoned in 1965) and building boathouses, an outhouse and other outbuildings.
A rustic beauty
Former students and visitors to the island speak fondly of it, often mentioning the pinkish hue of the rocks at sunset
They talk of the wildlife: fish, deer minx and eagles. From the high point on the island, you can watch steamers and freighters sailing north and south along the coast.
All the beauty doesn’t mean visitors sugarcoat how trying life on the Litle
FaerOy can be, though. It is isolated-the nearest village of Hardbakke has only 350 people and is a half-hour away by motorboat. The winders are dark and wet. Modern luxuries are few.
Douglas Hulmes, an environmental studies educator, says, “There is nothing comfortable about being out the island. I could never give my students a lecture on the strength, tenacity and acceptance of a hard life that epitomizes the West Coast peasant and fishing culture. We’ve experienced only a glimpse of it.
“But,” he adds, “I can’t wait to return.” Others agree. Jill Storlie, Moe’s old friend from Luther College, (who brought Moe to the Midwest last year to talk to Sons of Norway members (Nordmansforbundet in Decorah, Vesterheim Museum, University Club of St. Paul and Thomson Reuters employees about his work ) remembers the simple, day-to-day danger of being s solitary among such harsh seas and conditions. Yet, she is returning to Litle FAErOy for the second time this summer. Paul Hough, a friend, praises Moe’s mission: “I think it is important, because Roar is showing that it is possible to live in balance with nature, close to nature, simple in means but still rich. He provides challenges and exciting activities that are grounded in culture, not just nature.”
When asked of the challenges that he faces on the island-long winders, harsh seas, intense solitude and minimal luxuries-Moe acknowledges them simply: “I am a very social person. Wintertime can be kind of lonely.” “ He fights the loneliness with practical, interesting activities. He has a phone, a radio and newspapers to keep him in touch and entertained. Occasionally he makes the four-hour boat trip to Bergen, where he meets friends at the pub and sees films and theater. It is the social life and cultural activities of the city that he misses most, but he says three days of that is usually plenty. After a trip to the city, says Moe, “it is always good to come back to the island. It can be lonely here, but I can really feel the life, not only around me but inside me.”
Elizabeth Oliver is an avid outdoorswoman and freelance writer.
Roar Moe (above and left) shows his students that one is never too young to learn practical skills for the outdoors.
How to Get There
WHO: Young people: primary school, high school and college students.
WHATE: A few days to a few weeks of fishing, sailing Viking ships and living life as people on the Norwegian coast have done for centuries.
WHEN: Summer (April-
August/Sept)
WHERE: Litle Faeroy Island, Norway; about four hours north of Bergen by Express boat, bus and taxi boat.
Contact: www.roarmoe.com – E.O.
Litle FAErOy is a place to get away from the myths of history and find out how life on the Norwegian coast really was.
Students borrow techniques from the Vikings as they learn to sail a square-sailed ship.
Norwegian teacher and Nature Life Pathfinder Roar Moe enjoys sharing his experiences with colleagues, new audience participants and especially kids in the U.S. as well as in Norway.
www.sofn.com - "The mission of Sons of Norway is to promote and preserve the heritage and culture of Norway."