Solveig-Karin Erdal traces her Quaker heritage back to the first Norwegian Friends, who converted as prisoners of war in England and brought their faith back with them after Napoleon’s defeat. The meetinghouse where her ancestors worshipped was also the place where Lars Hertervig, nineteenth-century Norway’s most famous painter, was introduced to Quaker faith and practice.
Solveig-Karin shares a passage from Melancolia, a novel by the Nobel laureate Jon Fosse, in which the young Hertervig’s father takes him to his first Quaker meeting. “It describes meeting for worship in almost childlike words,” she says of Fosse’s prose, “in a very touching way, in a very poetic way.”
After reading Fosse, Solveig-Karin says, “it’s so clear how the light [in Hertervig’s paintings] is not just the sunshine, it’s also the inner light.” She is also humbled to recognize that Hertervig and her ancestors would have worshipped together in the same small building.
As the sun shines on everyone, so too the inner light resides in everyone. A wonderful talk.
Lovely description of the indescribable.
A beautiful, heartfelt story that brings us back to the light, reminding us of what matters.
Thank you.
Great to hear from other countries!
It was good to learn about a tiny corner of Quaker history involving prision visitation too!
my first meeting was in the summer of 82. i felt an atmosphere of peace softness.
i left the meeting knowing that i had found was i was looking for.
Lovely intervirw, and very interesting. The clerk of my meeting in Iowa was descended from those early Norwegian Friends. I’d love to see a video about the Quaker Artist she references.
This Quaker Speak is one of the finest you have ever produced. Solveig-Karin Erdal projects a sense of the True Light, in a ministry that arises in understanding and Experience. Tell her this Friend is very grateful for her and for her Guide.
So interesting to hear this from our dear Friend Solveig Karin
I’m very moved to hear you tell this story Solveig . I remember you from the parents group that Emily Provance started. You always had such thoughtful things to share, and this certainly reflects my memory of you. Blessings to you and your lovely family dear Friend.
Gladys Tiffany, Fayetteville Friends Meeting, Arkansas US
As Jane Cutting said, “As the sun shines on everyone, so too the inner light resides in everyone. A wonderful talk.” When I go to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, one of my favorite exhibits is of the Scandinavian and Dutch and Flemish artists. In every landscape painting where there is a sky, I feel the presence of God through the light on the canvas, I am consummed by God’s warmth and love. I know all is well.