Old Birch Tree at the Sognefjord

In former times, the enormous birch at Slinde Farm in the innermost part of the Sognefjord was considered to be on hallowed ground. The tree’s significance as a living artefact, its location on an ancient barrow, and the majestic nature surrounding it made it a perfect motif for Norwegian romantic painters in the nineteenth century. The tree itself was uprooted by a powerful storm in 1874, but the memory of the tree lives on.

Both Johannes Flintoe and Johan Christian Dahl had painted the tree before Thomas Fearnley, but Fearnley’s version is perhaps the most atmospheric depiction and has remained one of the principal works of Norwegian national romanticism. In the summer of 1838, Fearnley had once again visited Dresden to meet Dahl. Certain characteristics of Old Birch Tree at the Sognefjord, which he painted the following year, suggest that during this visit he received inspiration from Dahl’s German colleague and friend Caspar David Friedrich. The painting features intense, glowing colours that are not as prominent in Fearnley’s earlier works but that are in fact a hallmark of Friedrich’s art. Another commonality with Friedrich’s paintings is the two small figures who are placed with their backs turned to the viewer, surveying the landscape in quiet contemplation.

In 1844, the Norwegian author Johan Sebastian Welhaven wrote a poem about this ancient birch rising from the burial mound:

The Sanctified Tree
On the Sognefjord, on Slindre Farm,
Is where one finds the proudest birch.
Atop Hydnes Barrow, over the giant’s legs,
It stretches out its hearty branches,
Greeted with reverence and awe
As it rises toward the sky in age-old splendour.