My experience on the night to 19 May 1893.
I was awakened around one in the night. My grandmother, Valeur, shouted that I had to get up at once, there were something terrible going on. But I lay still. Whether it was because of fear or laziness, I do not remember. But it was likely from fright. Once again I was warned, but also this time I stayed in my bed.
Now came a violent crash, and the whole building collapsed. The wall that stood by my bed, collapsed, so that I almost died. For wall was lying on my bed posts.
But now it was too late to get out of bed, I simply did not manage to. I lay there for a while too then, without making a sound. Then suddenly I heard cries for help. And I knew the voice. It was one of our maids. Who I never saw again.
Since then I heard more shouts, that eventually dwindled away in death's agony.
Then there was silence. Then I heard my father's voice just above me. I thought he was in the attic. But it turned out later that he was on the roof. The roof had in fact collapsed on attic.
I tried to answer him, but he did not listen.
Later the roof opened with a miracle, and I crawled out of my tight space through an opening in the ceiling. There a strange sight met me. Because there was my father and my siblings, except Tormod. All of them were almost naked. There was my grandmother Valeur, also nearly naked. Likewise, there were three maids there.
It was half dark and bitterly cold as if it was winter. After this roof piece, which was no more than a few feet in each direction had swayed back and forth for a while, and threatened to topple us off, was put in violent motion. Now it drifted with lightening speed to the Rosvoll farms. During the entire journey in this clay ocean, it threatened to topple, and when the clay waves came, we had to hang on as best we could.
But the worst we were exposed to were the frost. We froze and we had no feeling in our feet. They were most exposed to the cold, as the tiles were as cold as ice.
We feared all along that grandma would collapse with cold. And she had received a blow on the head, so she bled profusely.
When we stopped at Rosvoll, my father succeeded to get hold of some of the bedding from the bed where I had been. These were distributed to the most needy.
During the move we saw just mud as far as we could see. When we got down to Bjřrken we saw some horses and cows that ran as fast as they could to avoid the flooding. But in vain, for the clay flooded these areas so quickly that even the fastest horse would have been too slow. We heard how the poor animals roared pain and death. We also saw people being taken, hearing their screams.
When we got to Rosvoll, we saw a man stand up from the clay. He was covered in a thick layer over the entire body. He shouted at us and asked our names. And he told his own name. It was Odin Bjartnes, one of our neighbors.
We shouted for help at a few people who stood by Rosvoll but we were told that that were impossible before the water came, because the river was dammed further up. If we would have waited for it, we would have had to be there for many days. But then we heard a familiar voice, "Just wait, Rostad, I'll save you!"
It was Marius Iversen, a 16-year old servant who had been on another one of the plank flakes. And because he was lighter, he had the speed to come closer to shore than us.
Now he began his own plan. He took big sticks and planks as he put on the clay sea. He was thus able to bridge out a bit. But we were far from dry land, and if he had not encouraged the ones that stood by, there would apparently have been a long time for us to wait on the freezing roof.
When people came out to us, we asked them to take grandma first, then Odin Bjartnes, which was 21 steps away from us. Then each one of us was carried ashore on the backs of the people.
When I got half way, the man carrying me fell into the clay, so another man had to take me on the back for the rest of the bridge. After I came ashore, I started running like crazy. I jumped over a fence into, a yard and into the kitchen where people were trying to wash Odin Bjartnes.
We were well received and put in a well-heated room. All of us who were from Follo gathered. And finally Marius Iversen came. We had him to thank for our survival. For there were many of us who would not have survived that cold on that roof.
Marius told what had happened to him. He had been separated from the other servants, and had come to consciousness, and had managed to get himself up on the wreck of the room where the maids lived. He had brought his clothes with him, and got dressed. As he sat there, he saw a little puppy creep about among the logs. He took care of it and made sure it did not get hurt.
And that is why the writers who published the descriptions of the catastrophe has written; "A servant named Marius Iversen sat during the slide and played with a puppy."
No, he did just play. He did much more than many others. He had also got hold of a pocket watch that belonged to my father. He also told me that he had heard the two maids who died, crying for help. He tried everything he could to get them to help, but he could not.
From Rosvoll there was immediately sent messengers to Trones to my uncle and grandparents to tell what condition we were in. And grandfather came immediately with clothes for us. The folks at Rosvoll offered us food before we left, but no one could eat because of fear and grief. And because we knew nothing yet about our mother.
When we arrived at Trones were received with much love. The same day uncle Bernhard and father traveled up to the clay to ask on the surrounding farms about my mother. But it was in vain. The day after she was found dead in a wreck close by the wreck where we had spent the sad night.
Both Bergitte Rostad and her son Tormod was found, while the two maids Mette Olaus Daughter and Oline Gustava Martinsdatter were not found.
Here is a map showing his and his homes travel.
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Re: Verdal~ In the heart of Norway
Archivum Scriptorium
Originally Posted by LaMuerte
Since reading this I've been having these disturbing dreams about quick clay...
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