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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
 Posted - 26/08/2005 : 23:55:34
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| Pardon my jumping in here but I'm just discovering the different threads available on this great site. On another thread I was asking about the translation of particular farm/family names. One of my family names was Hengesteg. I was told that it meant something like "hanging from a ladder". Anyone know if this might be close? Thanks. |
Edited by - das on 27/08/2005 00:02:05 |
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Aspmann
New on board
Norway
3 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2005 : 01:39:29
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Hello
"Henge" means "hang"
"steg" means "step"
I dont know more about your name, but I can tell you that one Norwegian still has that surname:
Agnes Hengesteg
Mjøstølen 10 A
N-5750 Odda +47 53 64 60 60
I found her by checking:
www.opplysningen.no - the norwegian telephone book online
And Hengesteg is a place in Sogn og Fjordane fylke on the west coast of Norway, acording to:
www.hvor.no - a database of all Norwegian places, areas and cities. With map! Srearch by writing the name of the place in the open space beneath "Søk på adresse/sted:"
According to:
http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/navn/ - the database of all Norwegian surnames and first names,
there are less than 3 withe the surname Hengesteg. |
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jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 27/08/2005 : 01:43:12
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Hi,
From the O. Rygh's books "Norske Gaardnavne" (Norwegian farmnames):
Henge- sigter her, som oftere i Stedsnavne, til høi Beliggenhed, i brat Skraaning, f. Ex. i Hængeræva, Fjeld i Bjørnør, Hengeto, Fjeld i Høiland, og maaske Hengebøl i Hof i Solør. Det staar i Forbindelse med hanga, at hænge (Bd. III S. 269) ligesom Stedsnavnet Heng, hvor an-gjældende Sted ligger i en brat Skraaning.
In English:
The prefix Henge- refers to (as often in place names) a high location, in a steep slope.
Stige means ladder, so it could be derived from that word... I'm not sure... 
"Hengestig", Farm number 51 in Dale Sogn in Lyster Herred in Nordre Bergenhus amt.
Today, the farm is called "Hengesteg", and are located in Luster muncipality in Sogn & Fjordane county.
Jan Peter |
Edited by - jwiborg on 27/08/2005 01:46:08 |
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kaare n
Medium member
Norway
114 Posts |
Posted - 28/08/2005 : 00:14:54
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To day\s Hengesteg in Luster.
Map
Click here to see the map
On some places on the west cost of Norway fore many years ago they lived up high and it is told that they had a "ladder” that they have to climb to get to the farms. And this was the only way to reach the place.
This name is maybe that they had a ladder that they hang down and then the people could clime up.
It is a old story that's told that is some places they had a ladder that they did not "lover" down if it was a tax man that stood under, but if it was a "nice” visitor the levered the ladder, so they could climb up.
Two persons in the phone book to day that have hensteg as adress
Anna Maria Kalstad
Hengesteg, 6872 Luster 57 68 53 32
Thomas Kalstad
Hengesteg, 6872 Luster 57 68 53 32
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Edited by - Borge on 28/08/2005 10:23:05 |
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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2005 : 15:10:11
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When I visted Norway and was traveling by ferry on the Sogn Fjord I looked up on the slopes and saw the terraced farms up on the mountains I thought to myself there is no way that people can farm those mountain sides! On top of that I saw the "cables" that were used to get up and down those steep faces and could not believe that this was the only way to get to the farms.
I now know why my family has one leg shorter than the other(that's a joke). Hadn't any Idea that I was so close to my ancestors home. "Hengesteg" now means so much more to me!
Takk skal du ha!
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jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 29/08/2005 : 21:32:50
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And imagine how it was those days, when the local "lensmann" (i.e. sheriff, police sergeant) should collect the taxes from the farms in the area. They had to use those ladders as well to get there, and some people just pulled up the ladder before he arrived, so the tax collector had to return with no money... 
Jan Peter |
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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 13/09/2005 : 22:18:12
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Hello all.
Jan, thank you for the insight to the "Lensmann".
I've a new question for ya'll. Would Hegesteg and Boyum (Boyum is another family/farm name in the same local) be considered "coastal"? And do you think that the primary source for food/income would have been farming or could my family have supplemented with fish(ing)? I'm trying hard to imagine their existance. Hard as it must have been I can only imagine the view from their home and how they must have loved to see the sun rise and set from there.
You know Jan I may have been mistaken on the fjord I was on. I could have been on the Hardanger fjord. I never thought I could forget. Young tourist! |
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jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 13/09/2005 : 23:52:59
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Hi,
please take a look at the maps below.
The Hengesteg farm in Luster, Sogn og Fjordane, is at the farther end of the Sognefjord.
(The Sognfjord is the fjord you see between Bergen and Florø on the upper map.)
On the bigger map of Sogn & Fjordane county, try to locate the name "LUSTER". You can find the farm location of Hengesteg if you go straight down from the "U" in Luster, down to the red road ("highway 55"), which goes along the northern side of the fjord arm. There you'll have your farm!
If you take a look at who lived there at the 1865-cenus, you'll see that the family had 3 big cattles, 14 sheep, 4 barrels of barley and 8 barrels of potatoes.
It's not a coastal farm, because the farm is far away from the coast..
But I would guess they had a fishing boat..
I actually think you might see the farm on the picture below!
The picture below must have been taken from the "Heltne" area, see map and camera above...
Jan Peter |
Edited by - jwiborg on 14/09/2005 01:23:27 |
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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 14/09/2005 : 14:34:29
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The Hegesteg farm is quite a bit "inland". Not as close as I might have thought to the coast. Breathtaking view!!! I was in Norway in 1973 and was just a lad. My father swears it was the Sogn Fjord that we were on near Bergen. I remember a very quaint Inn were I met a former nazi officer and his wife that have been vacationing there since the end of the war. He said that it was just to beautiful a place to destroy. Thank God for his appreciation of beauty. Right outside of this Inn I fished on a fjord. I wonder, does the Sogn Fjord reach that far south or is my memory failing me? Thanks for the info Jan.  |
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jwiborg
Norway Heritage Veteran
Norway
4961 Posts |
Posted - 14/09/2005 : 20:40:18
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quote:
Originally posted by das
... I wonder, does the Sogn Fjord reach that far south or is my memory failing me?
Hmmm... I'm not following you there. You mean you're not sure where the Fjord is?
As I said in the beinning of my last posting; "The Sogn fjord is the fjord you see between Bergen and Florø on the upper map."
Jan Peter |
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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 14/09/2005 : 22:12:37
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Jan, you were quite clear on the local of Sogn Fjord. Without me getting "rabbit" trailed here I was just trying to figure out what body of water I was fishing on and wondered if a finger of the Sogn Fjord turned south to Bergen. After reviewing maps it could be any body of water. Thank you for your patience!
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loya
New on board
Norway
1 Posts |
Posted - 15/09/2005 : 03:07:07
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Several Hengesteg families emigrated from Luster Co., Norway to the US. I have traced most of them as part of my work writing the Luster County History Book series, but there are a few branches fhat are still unknown to me! Maybe you belong to one of them? Please let me know how you descend from the Hengesteg farm! Thanks a million!
Sincerely yours,
Lars E. Oyane |
Lars E. Oyane |
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das
Starting member
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 15/09/2005 : 16:28:14
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Hello Lars,
If you'll go to the "Miscellaneous" forum on this board and then go to the "Small Talk" topic and find the "Dark Norwegians" thread you will find some postings of mine that contain the information you've requested. I have some of your research. THANK YOU! I would love to find out anything more on the Hengesteg farm and possibly my ancestors. Keep up the great work! |
Edited by - das on 15/09/2005 16:29:22 |
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Halle
New on board
Sweden
1 Posts |
Posted - 20/01/2006 : 20:16:08
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| Hello, everybody. Strange how you have tracked down my grandma!! I was born in 1973 and got the name "Hengesteg" from my father. Nowadays we are only five left with the name (parents, brother and my aunt). Unfortunatley my grandma passed away last year, so there are only us left in Sweden and Norway. But I have seen there are many with the name in USA, so it would be nice to get contacted to you! |
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gunnar
Starting member
Norway
7 Posts |
Posted - 21/01/2006 : 14:19:42
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If you think living on those farms was hard, then think of "the last journey" which is the title of this painting. Note the ladder!
Gunnar
[URL=http://imageshack.us] [/URL]
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Gunnar |
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NancyC
Medium member
Norway
198 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2006 : 13:31:46
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| I just discovered this discussion on the place name Hengesteg. The interpretation of the first part, "henge", does refer to a place high up in the terrain, and it may also refer to a cliff formation, an overhang in the landscape. The second part, "-steg", does not refer to a ladder, however, even though the Norwegian word for ladder comes from the same word. Old Norse "stigr" means "path" or "trail" in a steep terrain where it might be neccessary to make steps out of stone in order to access it. In the recent publication (2003, Patrick Hanks, editor), Dictionary of American Family Names, vol. 3, p.411, you will find an explanation of the name "Stigen". This place name comes from the same origin as -steg in Hengesteg. |
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How did the names originate?
