The great Norwegian artist Alf Prøysen

Alf Prøysen is a Norwegian musician, writer, and playwright who had his prime during the 50's and 60's in Norway. He is regarded as a national treasure to Norwegian people who are learning a lot about him in schools while his songs are played frequently on the television and radio today. He is regarded as the major cultural personality of Norway. Norway knows a lot about Alf Prøysen while outside of Norway he is quite unknown.

A few hours away is the national park Jotunheimen, the hiking paradise Hardangervidda, and our capital city Oslo.

His hometown

His hometown is in Ringsaker in Hedmark and you'll notice the dialect in his work and even in the writings he did! Sometimes he wanted to write in Swedish. He said it was for the reason that it sounded nice. The dialect where he comes from has a thick ''L'' and the ''æi'' sound. They also use ''lj'' which might remind you of a Slavic language.

Ringsaker

Ringsaker, Norway

Rudshøgda

Rudshøgda, Norway

His museum

The part of Ringsaker he lived in was Rudshøgda. Because he is a sweetheart, a museum was made in the honour of Prøysen. The name of the place is ''Prøysenhuset''. The children stories of Mrs Pepperpot are told in the museum as well as the process throughout his career as an artist. Mrs Pepperpot is a series of books and actually an animated series about a woman who was like every other woman except that she sometimes shrank and became as small as a teaspoon. When you visit the house you can check out the music part, the Prøysen souvenir shop, the place to eat and have coffee and hang around the playground. It's worth noting is that famous musicians of Norway sometimes play a salute to Prøysen in the museum!

Prøysenhuset museum

Prestvegen 1, 2360 Rudshøgda, Norway

A musician for the children

The kids know Prøysen for his songs during Christmas time and from the 'children's hour' on the television and also the radio from the past. His songs are played a lot as transition music on the radio these days. If the interviewer asks someone about Christmas on the street they might just put in a little bit of ''Julekveldsvisa'' to set the mood. He also made works of writing aimed at adults. He had a play for grown-ups called ''Trost i taklampa'' or ''Philomelos in the ceiling lamp'' which was a theatre hit!

A very productive man with a lot of material. This is also why he is relevant today because there is a lot of material of his to analyze and consume. He wrote for adults as well, however, the children work of his caught on the most. Probably because of his wordplay and wonder in his work that appeals to the imagination of kids.