Snohomish County WA Archives Biographies.....Bendickson (sjaheim), Knut January 14, 1849 - September 7, 1908 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: linda houlroyd houlroyd@oakharbor.net February 27, 2012, 3:05 am Source: "Reprinted from the Sound Post, journal of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America" Author: Carl Narvestad Sjaheim Brothers Bring Fiddling to the Midwest Two brothers with similar names and similar fiddling ability came from Norway to the midwest. They were Knut Bendikson and Knudt Bendickson, half- brothers. The former was also known as Knut Bendikson Sjaheim, better known as Sjaheimguten. Sjaheimguten was an outstanding fiddler in his day. Ole Bull referred to him as, "One of the best fiddlers I have ever heard." The assessment made by the famous Telemark fiddler, Lars Fykerud, was equally high. Fykerud was so critical of fiddlers that he sometimes proclaimed, "It is only Lars Fykerud who can play?" But on a tour to America he met one he thought praiseworthy, "I have met only one Norse fiddler I have taken my hat off to. There was a Valdres in the northwest named Knut Sjaheim. He could play-Oh, how he could play!" Knut was born out of wedlock on January 14, 1849. He was a son of Bendik Knutson Milo, of the Kolstad area of East Slidre, and Ingrid Jakupsdatter of West Slidre. The father was of a musical family and was related to Ole Bendicson in Grobakken and likewise to Ola Bendikson of Bendikplassen. The former was a fine fiddler, the latter both a fiddler and fiddle maker. This musical talent was all that Knut inherited from his father. Ingrid married Tore Sjaheim when Knut was two or three years old. Tore was from a small farm, Sjaheim, in the Fauske community, near Ron, West Slidre. He died a few years after his marriage to Ingrid. Young Knut had lived much with his mother's relatives on Mosaplassen but when she became a widow she reclaimed her son. It wasn't long afterward that they went to East Slidre. One writer speculated perhaps this was in effort to meet the lad's father. No one knows how young Knut acquired a fiddle and learned to play, but he became an accomplished fiddler at an early age. This was in an era when many considered fiddling a grave sin and some complained to pastor Winsnes about Knut's fiddling. When Knut was to be examined before being confirmed the pastor told him, "They complain that you fiddle but next time you come you bring your fiddle." He did so and played. The pastor thought well of the confirmant and of his fiddling as well, and when Knut was confirmed he stood first in line in his class-a spot commonly reserved for the one who was of the wealthiest family and brought the pastor the biggest gift. He was just a young lad when his talent became appreciated. He was asked to play at festive occasions though he was so small he was often carried from place to place on another's back. He would be set on a table with a bench in front so his foot could 'tro takten' (keep time). Perhaps the one who influenced Knut's fiddling most was Bendik i No'n, who had learned from Jorn Hilme, for Knut's fiddling bore many of the marks of Hilme music. Bjerndal and Alva, in their authoritative book, "o fela ho let", wrote, "In Valdres fiddlers continued to preserve Hilme music. This indicates in full the kind of composer Hilme was, for the Valdres did not lack knowledge of either Vestland or Telemark music. Bendik i No'n (b. 1827) had been a pupil of Hilme and spread Hilme music further. He was also the first to use the long bow. He went to America never to return. The same is true of one of his pupils, Knut B. Sjaheim, one of the best fiddlers Valdres has produced. In his youth he had been in Voss and Hardanger, too." But while Knut played Hilme music he was a musician who added a bit of his own touch. Like so many other fiddlers, SJaheimguten also composed. The historian, Geir Bletrusten, credits him with composing a tune called "Bendik i No'n" named for his teacher. Two tunes readily available for listening are the springar, " Kari i Haga" played on the cassette, "Varflaumen" by Andris A. Dahle (as well as on Bernt Balchen's teaching cassette), and "Sjaheimen", played by Torleiv Bolstad on the album, "Feletona oppunde Bitihod'n". Another Sjaheim tune was "Draumen" (the dream). This is a tune that came to Knut in a dream. When he awoke it was still in his mind. He rose, picked up his fiddle, and played it to "fasten" it in his memory. Knut Sjaheim emigrated to Valders, Wisconsin in 1870. There he married Barbra Nilsdatter Saelid on June 21, 1871. She had come from East Slidre. They settled on a farm in Door county, Wisconsin but later lived in Bemidji, Minnesota where Knut died in 1905 and his wife in 1911. Sjaheimen never became a muscular man so he continued fiddling, for the most part. Even if he worked with a threshing crew Sjaheimen was usually put to fiddling to keep up the morale of the other workers-but he received the same pay. He was much in demand to play for private parties, gave concerts in small prairie school houses and sometimes in larger towns. Olav Moe wrote that in Chicago he played for Ole Bull, for which Bull paid him one hundred dollars--a lot of money in those days. Additional Comments: Knut Bendickson/Sjaheim was born in Vestre Slidre, Oppland, Norway. According to his obituary he died September 7, 1908 in Bryant, Snohomish Co., Washington and is buried in the Arlington Municipal Cemetery, Arlington, Snohomish Co., Washington, next to his daughter, Ida Bendickson Norgar. His grave stone reads Knut B. Shaartem. 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