ünde et Waldemaro Danorumregi.noftris dichus regnantij quidam
epifcopus Norvegiae Afloenfis,. quod anno preterita probandi caufa
ab 'eodem; fiifeeperat, naturae jam retülit bipartite: parte eriim
media fonti impofita lapis erat, altera parte, 'qua extra jaquerat, in
fua permanente naUira.’b |
XII.
' from the many fprings iflhing j i t o f the mountains'in,,Norway"
SÊffih and from the vaft, gaffes o f fnow accumulated on the fummifs o f
'S st* “ tHem, . whence,_ a t times gently diffolving, they , f e |p ^ n great
quantities o f water, I have already taken occafion to obferve the
providence o f the wife and good; Creator, in thefe innumerable
luppliesjof water, - which dreaming, down the,mountains, wa^er
their parched fides, and in their further progtefs,, refreflr the valHes
and'the level country beneath. By thejunétion and confluence ó f
feveral o f thefe rivulets, are formed thofe l^ge^reams and rivers,
which in the old northern language» wère called by the general
name o f Elven, from whence.one o f t h e l a r g e f t Qer-
many, by w ay-of eminence, dmyes^ it name o f E ^ ^E lyen .)!
I lhall here fpeak ó f fome o f the moft noted pf.thefe Elven, ac-
. cording to the heft informations I could procure. <
T he Nied, is a river iffuing from Tydalen, on the Borders o f
Sweden," runs weft ward'into the la k e &lbóe, afterwards, winds
' to, the northward, paiTmg by the city o f Drontheim,. to which it
anciently gave the Latin, as well as a Norwegian, name o f Nideros,
oi; iNidroiia.
Sule-Elv, fo called from the mountain Sule' (Sülefield) from
whence, defcending m a rapid courfe, it runs through Nordale
into thé lea.
"Gaiilen, or Guleh, has its rife eaftward, near Skarsfield, a mountain
in the north, on this fide Rofaas, and after running about
' twent7 leagues,weftwafd, thróhgh Aaien, Hlotaaïen,, Storen, and
Mêlhuus, difcharges itfelf into the fea, about a 'league to’ the
weft o f Drontheim. In the year 1344, great damages, were done
a ftirprifing inundation o f this river," which,' to ' the aftonifli-
ifefgjj f e e m e d totally drained, but in the mean '
time had buried itfelf under-ground, from whence it again bur ft
. forth -with fuchwiölënce, that the earth andftohes thrown up by
H the
th©i eruption, 'filled the vajjgy, and made a kind o f dam, which,
, fel'^ev^r5 {VSf&s hrokej-through, and wafhed away by the force of the
watei-: On this ’n c|^p^Mefides fomq xhurches, ^forty-eight farm*-
joules were ^de^fqyed, pid two hundred and fiftyperlons drowned."
Gtteijoen-is the' largeft rivqf-ondhe fide o f Agde,, running thirty
;Jeggues from the.’n^pntain, through Ssetterdale and Efie, to the
j^tara<a,pfWilgnd, .%^0, which it eipptiestitfelf. k
!o .?7EeJ °/f^ ?w erJ> jfe, rifes neap «the mountain Lang, runs thro'
the,vale o f .Syre irifo',thtf lake o f Lunde, in; t f e ^ o ^ e .o f ch r i-
^ftianfand,1 aft^erwatd^ jt^difchargesj ^fglfpnto the fea, ;not through a
^broad ‘mputh, gentle fall,ngs.|ufua.l £0 othgr. dyers, but
(fhpqts iritp.,itplike an arrow,’ through a veryv qontradled ftrait - be-
tm y t yocks, wffh iuch anmmpetupfity ,as rfreates, even ih the
calmeft (^eathpr, a.great agitation;in the’water, for the lengtlyof
leagues, tand ’from my own experience, 1 -can fay,, that the
fe^mep.muft be tyeryTcarqful p f coming top near.it *.
,: T | | p | | which ;|lvesmamd h r the lprdihip- o f Nederi^,^n4 Skeen,
^rom whence,,^||oyim(is. fe> called, i h o tm llfe ^ p u t of Telemark j
atydj am;(equally ;krge< "'Great, quantki^? of |timher for faw-milS='
floated on yhem, the fall:; haye,. with infinite labour, been
diverted, by canals and paftages cut through the rocks.
The piver Tyrefiord, or Dramme, difcharges-it§;|£ into, the fea
near Bragnefs, whither dt^alfp brings timber pear Hqnpfplfe," it
Is. joined^ y j y po -large rivers, of which one comes from Oedale,
add thedthefftom Had’eland.
d Loven, Or Lavep, ri|e§ jn the- hlgheft part p f Nummedal, and
^ . ' ^ terinS Kongfterg, lofes itfelf in .the}fga.near Laurvyig,
which der'ives-its, name from it. -
Glaamen, or Glommen, is the largeft river in all Norway, and
a-s fuch diftinguifhed by the name o f Stor-Elven, the great; rjyprj
frpm .thejjiotpfthe^m ountain o f Dofre it runs a.lon g way thro1
Gefterdale and Soloe, '^afterwards joins j^e, Vqrme, ,apother,fergg
H Q which com%put o f Mioes and Guldbrandfdale • then tra-
^f^flug At? take Oeyeren, it haftens to Sarp,' Hear PWederichftadt,
whofe^ phief dependanc||^. the timber trade.
- - * It is*unqu$IM6n&bly frO* obhfih&neKt of a 'Kkrtow outlet,'that tfo
sRlione protrudes its waters info tHe Mke-oFGenfeyaj-with Inch rapidity', that to a
they retain their qatural 'feethnefi; without anf mixture of
B h . ' ' ' Among