In this episode, we take a look at what the women built. We meet again women from earlier episodes—Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter. Women whose strong and steady hands nurtured everyday life in the Norwegian-American communities – through spinning, baking, sewing, and song.
Through vivid stories, letters, and memories, we gain an intimate glimpse into the women’s communities that grew in homes, church halls, and women’s associations – spaces that embraced both daily life and faith. We hear how they passed on culture, language, and tradition – from hand to hand, from mother to daughter, from a cabin on the prairie to a church in the city.
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
In this final episode of Vågespel we ask: How can the stories of Norwegian emigrant women expand our understanding of migration in our own time? In the previous episodes we have heard about Norwegian women from the 19th century who dared to cross an ocean, borne by hope and the determination to forge new lives in a new land. Migrants today, in the 21st century, are also searching and hoping for a better life in a distant country and they face many of the same challenges: language barriers and cultures whose custums and norms can be difficult to comprehend and navigate.
The womens’ letters, diaries and stories in Vågespel have sometimes spanned decades, allowing us to see how the migrant’s identity takes shape in the tension between her roots and all the change she must adapt to. And we ask: Can history help us find greater understanding and empathy for those who today set out on their own journeys across borders?
Written by: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
In this episode we see how expectations, love and the freedom to make choices became determining factors in the lives of Norwegian immigrant women. For some the next step was suggested in a letter—a picture, a promise, a hope. We hear about Lina Svåi’s simple praerie wedding and Inga Brekke’s marriage to a prosperous Scottish shopkeeper in Sioux Falls.
Through the stories of these women we see how marriage could be both a shelter and a burden, and the difficulties they faced navigating the opposing pulls of Norwegian duty and America freedom. At the center stands Oline Muus—a woman who challenged both husband and church in court, paving the way for Norwegian women’s rights in America.
Written by: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
ound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
In this episode we follow young women who take the step from farm to city and who find a new beginning in a new land. They arrive with hands that know work and backs accustomed to responsibility and are handed a workday filled with scrub pails, crying children, sewing machines—and dreams. Through the letters and stories of Ingeborg Marie Brekke and Anna Slinde, we hear how the shift to urban life reshaped their daily life and their sense of what was possible. Some learned new languages, enrolled in night school and found new career paths. Others found themselves standing alone in a foreign country, but found strength in the fellowship of women and in making their own choices. This is the story of those who were not only looking for work, but for a place where they belonged.
Writers: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
In this episode, we meet the women who helped build a new country through physical labor, endurance, and warmth. Through powerful stories and letters from Lina Svåi, Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Anna Slinde, Margretha Nesheim, and Rakel Tonette Rannestad, we hear how these women carried the weight of daily life in their hands: cooking, cleaning, caring for children, and tending to livestock. They were also midwives, caregivers, and cultural bearers. In the absence of doctors, it was the neighbor woman who came when a child was about to be born. And when death knocked, it was those same hands that were there for the final farewell.
The fellowship of women became a lifeline. They shared labor and responsibility, supported each other through childbirth and grief, sang hymns, and told stories that strengthened their shared identity. They builtcommunities based not on material wealth, but rich in trust and compassion.
This is a story about work and solidarity. About women who held homes, farms, and communities together with strong hands and clear minds.
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
Sources here
After crossing the ocean, the true encounter with the new country awaited—a meeting that, for many, was brutal, lonely, and full of trials. In this episode, we follow women who arrived in the United States with hope and dreams, only to be met with coldness, cholera, unpaid labor, and a language they didn’t understand.
Through powerful stories from Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Anna Slinde, Guri Rosseland, and Margretha Nesheim, we learn what it was like to be new in a foreign society. They struggle through illness, rejection, the Civil War, and brutal Indigenous uprisings—yet also find warmth, community, and a new voice in American life.
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound Design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
In Episode 4, The Journey Westward Continues. After arriving in New York, a new and demanding journey unfolds—this time inland. It’s no longer about ships and coastlines, but trains, canals, and the endless prairies. We follow newly arrived women as they try to find their footing in a foreign land—navigating language barriers, deception, illness, and the harsh forces of nature.
Through powerful stories and letters, we are brought close to Gudrun Fagerlie, Linka Preus, Marta Larsen, Magreta Nesheim, and Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter. They show us what it was like being a woman on a journey into the unknown—with hope, anxiety, and loneliness packed in their suitcases.
From overcrowded train cars and beds that crawling with life, to lightning strikes in the fields and injustice in everyday life—this episode portrays the struggle to start over without any guarantees. Amidst the cold and betrayal, resilience, courage, and solidarity take root in these women.
Written by: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrated by: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
Sources here
In episode 2 we followed the brave women who took the big step – leaving Norway in search of a new life. In episode 3 they embark on their journey across the sea.
Crossing the Atlantic was more than just another leg af the journey – it was a turning point in life. Through letters, diaries, and vivid scenes, we meet Gjertrud Rumohr Haug, Lina Svåi, Anna Slinde, Rakel Tonette Atlaksdatter and Linka Preus. They take us from the west coast of Norway, through cramped quarters and stormy nights, to the harbor in New York, where a new world awaits.
Seasickness, filth, hymn singing and folk dancing, and warm glances shared between fellow passengers – this episode tells a story of community and survival at sea, and of everything that had to be left behind in order to move forward.
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Narrators: Reidun Horvei and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber Supported by: Fritt Ord
Kjeldeinformasjon her
In episode 1 we explored the historical background of Norwegian emigration—what drove people to leave and what did the world look like to those who made the great leap.
In this episode we take a closer look at the act of departure itself. Leaving Norway in the 19th century was not just a physical transition but also an emotional and social rupture. For most, home was a lifelong anchor, and breaking free from the security of family, kinship ties and the last itself was dramatic. Yet, many women chose to leave—hoping for freedom, new opportunities, and a chance to shape their own future.
In episode 3 we meet some of those who made this decision. We follow among others Martha Georgina Larsen, who left Ryfylke in 1825, and Linka Preus, who wrote thought-provoking reflections on women’s roles in society. We also hear Lina Svåi’s gripping account of her final day at home before setting off for America.
Through letters, diaries, and historical sources, we get closer to the thoughts and emotions of those who stood on the docks in Stavanger and Bergen, ready to say farewell to everything they knew. What were they giving up? What did they hope to find?
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine Jane Hanson
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
Sources can be found here
Episode 1: Vågespel
Welcome to the launch of Vågespel, a podcast that highlights the history of Norwegian women who emigrated from Norway to America between 1825 and 1925.
How much do you know about the women who embarked on this journey? How did they experience the voyage, what drove them, and what challenges did they face in their new country? We begin our journey back in time with historical sources and contemporary perspectives to shed new light on emigration and the human stories behind it.
Before we dive into the personal letters and diaries, we must understand the historical background: What fueled emigration, and what kind of world did those who left Norway encounter?
This episode provides you with the background knowledge you need so that you can better understand and place the personal stories in a broader context when we soon hear the powerful narratives from the women themselves. Starting with the next episode, which will be released on Sunday, March 23, you will hear the emigrant women directly through excerpts from their letters and diaries. We hope you will join us on this journey!
Listen to the episode here:
Script: Inger-Kristine Riber and Reidun Horvei
Co-editor: Katherine J. Hanson
Narrator: Reidun Horvei
Sound design: Inger-Kristine Riber
Supported by: Fritt Ord
Sources:
Semmingsen, I. (1941). Veien mot vest. [1]: Utvandringen fra Norge til Amerika 1825-1865 (2nd ed.). Oslo.
Semmingsen, I. (1950). Veien mot vest. [2]: Utvandringen fra Norge 1865-1915. Oslo: Aschehoug.
Blom, I. (1992). Cappelens kvinnehistorie. 2: Renessanse, reformasjon, revolusjon: Fra ca. 1500 til i dag. Oslo: Cappelen.
Bergland, B. A., & Lahlum, L. A. (Eds.). (2011). Norwegian American Women: Migration, Communities, and Identities(Illustrated ed.). Paperback.
Polgreen, L. (2025, January 31). Something extraordinary is happening all over the world. The New York Times.
