History. BERGEN. 10. Route. 69
an unpleasant stagnant smell in warm weather, especially at low
tide. They are both connected with the sea, and each is crossed
by a bridge at its outlet, the mouth of the latter being called
Stremmen. The older and more interesting part of the town, which
still bears traces of its antiquity, lies on the S. and E. sides of the
Vaag, a bay of the By fjord, and the chief harbour of the town.
The part of the town situated to the S.E. of the harbour,
having been burned down in 1855, has been rebuilt in a hand¬
some modern style, but the other quarters (Kvartaler) consist of
closely built wooden houses painted white. Many of the houses
are roofed with red tiles, which present a picturesque appearance.
The streets running parallel with the harbour are called 'Gader',
the lanes and passages 'Smuger' or 'Smitter', and these are inter¬
sected at right angles by wide open spaces called 'Almenningen',
destined chiefly to prevent the spreading of conflagrations. Not¬
withstanding this precaution, Bergen has been repeatedly de¬
stroyed by fire, as for example in 1702, the disaster of which year
is described by Peter Dass in two pleasing poems ('Samlede
Skrifter', i. 1874). It is from these open spaces only, and from
the Tydskebrygge, that a view of the harbour is obtained, the
greater part of its banks being occupied by ware-houses (Segaarde).
A conduit now supplies the town with water from Svartediket
(p. 75), affording much greater facilities for extinguishing fires
than formerly existed.
The inhabitants of Bergen, like the Horlsendinger andVossinger,
are more vivacious in temperament than those of other parts of
Norway, and are noted for their sociability and light-heartedness.
On holiday occasions their merry songs and lively chat testify to
the buoyancy of their spirits, while at the same time they are a
sober and frugal race. Waterproofs and umbrellas are quite as
much in vogue here as in England, and they are certainly far more
necessary. — Most of the better-educated inhabitants speak Eng¬
lish or German, or both these languages.
Bergen (from Bjergvin, 'pasture near the mountains') was founded by
King Olaf Kyrre in 1070-75 on the site of the old royal residence of Aal-
rekstad, at the E. end of the present harbour, which at that period ran
inland as far as the Cathedral. The town must soon have become an
important place, as the greatest battles in the civil wars of the sub¬
sequent centuries were fought in its neighbourhood. In 1135 Magnus
Sigurdss#n was taken prisoner here and deprived ■ of his sight by Ha¬
rald Gille, who in his turn was slain by Sigurd Slembe the following
year. In 1154 Harald's son Sigurd Mund was killed by the followers of
his brother Inge on the quay of Bergen. In 1181 a naval battle took
place near the Nordnees between kings Magnus and Sverre; and in 1188
the Kuvlunger and 0skjegger were defeated by Sverre at the naval battle
of Florvaag (near the Askjj). Ten years later, during the so-called 'Bergen
summer', the rival parties of the Birkebeiner and the Bagler fought against
each other in the town and neighbourhood. In 1223 a national diet was
held at Bergen, at which Haakon Haakonsen's title to the crown was
recognised (a scene dramatised in Ibsen's Kongsemnerne, Act. i). During
his reign Bergen was the largest and busiest town in Norway, and boasted
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