Stev


Stev is a form of Norwegian folk song consisting of four line lyric stanzas. The English version of the word is stave, meaning the stressed syllable in a metric verse.

Various types

There are various types of stev:

''Gamlestev''

Of the gamlestev that have been preserved, most of them are from Setesdal and øvre Telemark. This poetic form is equivalent to the metre of the medieval ballad, and is used over most of Northern Europe:
The metre in most old staves is free, and the rhyming is always on the second and fourth line.
Some gamlestev might be remnants of folk songs that have been split up, and thereby losing completeness.

''Nystev''

In Telemark, nystev have been replaced by rural folksongs, to a great extent.
By contrast, nystev in Setesdal have held much of their ground. Many folksongs are based on the form, which rhymes in pairs:

''Omkved''

Some researchers have presented theories about stev "relating to language and poetry rather than to slowed-down dance": Ivar Mortensson-Egnund, Idar Handagard, O.M. Sandvik, Eivind Groven, Jon Storm-Mathisen and Jacqueline Pattison Ekgren.
"Theories in the last century connecting nystev with dance" have been presented by Erik Eggen, Hallvard Lie, Otto Holzapfel, Ånon Egeland and Reimund Kvideland. These theories were started by Richard Steffen's claim in 1898 that "nystev were originally dance songs, even though he had never seen them danced."

Performers

A person who can perform a stev, is known as a kveder, in Norwegian.
Previously "A good
kvedar knew how to stevja", wrote Geirr Lystrup.."
A kveder from Setesdal, when performing stev, generally sings more slowly, than a kveder from Telemark. One reason for this, may be that Setesdal stev are often more meditative, in regard to the stev text.

Notable performances

In 1945, Aslak Brekke's performance at "liberation of Norway" concert that was held 1945, in the ceremonial hall at the University of Oslo.
In 1983, a member of Norway's national team of football, Åge Hareide, was honored with a stev related to Hareides receipt of the Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch. The stev was performed at the banquet in Yugoslavia following a football match of two national teams, and the performer held the head of the lamb that had been eaten at the banquet, while he performed from a tabletop.