The crumbling, fire-damaged ruins of Brunkeberg stavechurch came down in 1790. The parish had finally scraped together funds to rebuild. In the new cruciform church, with a cross-shaped floor plan, the altar stood at one end; at the other, a baptismal font.

Liv walked through  shortly  after completion, marveling at modern architecture. And pews! After lifetimes of standing during services, now all the congregation could sit in comfort. Hard wooden pews, what a luxury.

Within a year, Liv took one of those pews during a wedding. Her cousin Egeleiv's oldest grandson, Såmund Knutsson Dalen, married Aslaug Thimble, a young woman from Haugland farm, a neighbor of Fair Anne's and well known for her fine embroidery work.

The Dalen sawmill had provided planking for the church floors. Liv could hear Såmund's father, Knut Sawyer, still grumbling that they hadn't chosen his mill for wall planking as well.

She glanced at Halvor sitting beside her on that marvelous new pew. He dandled his newborn grandson from Åe, who had been named after him. The proud grandpa grinned, his teeth glimmering in the light of the candles on the altar.

Twenty-six-year-old Torjus played the fiddle to and from Brunkeberg, and for the dancing that evening at Dalen farm. At the barn dance, one of Såmund's sisters lingered close to Torjus, trying to catch his eye, but his gaze followed Tone from Byggland, the only daughter of his Uncle Tarald's farming partner.

Liv reminisced about the days when she wished for a second fiddler to free up her beloved for dancing. "Whatever happened to the fiddler from Høydalsmo?" she asked Halvor, who shouldered his little namesake again. "Does he still play for weddings?"

"See if Aslak and Åsne know." Two-year-old Sweet Anne clung to Halvor's leg, begging for another bounce on the horsey.

"They always speed past in the dance so their little angels won't see and howl for mama." Liv laughed. "How will I catch them?" She rose and worked her way through the throng.

"Mormor Liv!" cried Åsne's older two, ages five and six, who left their play in the corner, trailing her to the dance floor.

Liv couldn't catch up with her daughter, and instead ended up chatting with the young wife from Brekke. Three-year-old Olav clung to Guro's skirts while she rocked one-year-old Ingebjørg, named in memory of her older sister. Their chat cut short when Hard Knut punched the father of the bride. The kjøgemeister rallied a brawny troop to haul him out of the barn. Guro heaved a sigh and followed her hot-tempered husband.

A few months later the church bells tolled slow and solemn for the funerals of two of Liv's grandchildren: Fair Anne's firstborn, age twenty, and Margit's firstborn, sixteen, struck down by another wave of flu.

In 1792, the bells made a joyful clamoring for several christenings – for Såmund the Sawyer's firstborn son, and for two more of Liv's grandchildren. Fair Anne and Margit had given birth within days of each other, the fifth time for Anne, the sixth for Margit.

Sigrid and Åsne each had four children, as well, so Liv's tally of grandchildren came to nineteen. Not so long ago, it seemed, her cousin Egeleiv, with seven grandchildren at the time, had murmured, "You must do your best to pass me up."

Liv cuddled little Halvor, grandson to both herself and to Egeleiv. "I did, after all, cousin," she whispered to the memory. "I've surpassed you by three now. But what a delight to share four of them with you."

New readers: Sorry for the mind-boggling crowd of characters. This part will best be understood if read after preceding parts.

The cast of characters will soon diminish.

Speaking of church bells... Perhaps the next section will be the local folktale of two trolls and the bells ringing at Old Kviteseid church...

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BEHIND THE SCENES

Picture at top: Brunkeberg "new" church, photo taken 2006

I don't know whether the Dalen sawmill provided any lumber for the church, but it was in operation at that time. There were several other local mills in operation, too.

Mormor means mother's mother.

A kjøgemeister serves as both master of ceremonies and peacekeeper at social events.

We don't know cause of death for the teenage grandchildren who died in 1791.

The scene mentioned with cousin Egeleiv was in part 1768: starbridge.

Liv's final line here refers to the children of her daughter, Åsne, married to Egeleiv's son, Aslak.

Below: the stavechurch still standing in Lårdal parish, where Aslak and Åsne lived.