Four generations before Hermann Sjugurdson Bøen-Klemmetsrud (1790), who purchased Nørdre Klemmetsrud, there was another Hermann Sjugurdson born on the Søvde farm in 1668. Søvde is along a fjord in Luster where he lived with his father Sjur Ørjensson Søvde. Hermann had two brothers, Johannes and Arne, and a sister named Kari. His mother is unknown. As the raven flies, Søvde is about 80 miles to the northwest from where Hermann would end up in Valdres. Hermann’s grandfather was named Ørjen.
Click on the tree to see how this lineage
connects with other branches of the family.
The innermost arm of the Sognefjord, the longest fjord in Norway, is called Lustrafjorden. This area is the municipality of Luster. There is also a village called Luster and Skjolden at the end of the fjord is a gateway to Norway’s National Parks.
Lustrafjorden is also home to the Urnes Stave Church,
the oldest wooden church in Norway!
The church was built around 1130. Archaeological excavations show that there were at least three buildings previously at this location. The Viking wood carvings on the north side are older than the rest of the building. The artistic style of intertwined dragons and snakes or serpents is called “Urnes” named after this church.
A little further up the fjord, Søvde once was the site of a church. This would have been before Sjur Ørjensson Søvde lived there in the 1600s. He had a position of authority as the caretaker and manager on what may have been the largest farm in the area at the time.
This 1948 photo shows the location of Sjur Ørjensson Søvde’s farm. The oldest remaining building at Søvde was built in the late 1700s, 100+ years after his time.
Søvde 2024
Søvde is now called Saude and it’s near the Luster village. It shouldn’t be confused with another Saude farm to the NE in Fortun.
Location near Luster village: 61°24’53.7″N 7°25’35.3″E
In 1847, a gold ring from the Middle Ages was found at Søvde! It was likey worn by a priest when a church was at this location perhaps hundreds of years before Sjur and family were here.
In 1909, near the end of the fjord in Fortun, some items were found in a grave including a sword, an axe-head, a shield boss, six arrowheads, a sickle, part of a knife, and small pieces of iron with burnt bones and coal. The items were dated to be from before 850 CE, early in the Viking Age! The shield boss is the center of a shield. The image on the right is an internet pic showing the basic design.
Travelers would take ships from Bergen to Lustrafjorden. Sometimes people would go from Valdres to the fjord to get supplies. In 1695 Hermann may have taken that route to Valdres.
