Skirting the Trondheim Fjord as one returns to the southern third of Norway, a more agricultural atmosphere pervades. Fields near Trondheim lie across mildly undulating terrain and look luxuriously spacious compared with farm plots elsewhere.

Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, dating from the fourteenth century, is the largest church building in Scandinavia.  Seven kings and three queens have been crowned here, the last being King Haakon VII who became king in 1905.  A decision of Parliament altered the tradition, so when Olav V succeeded his father in 1957, he was not crowned, but was blessed in a religious ceremony.

Trondheim is the northern gateway to the largest inland section of the country, and area of mountains, viddas, and rolling agricultural land. Although so much of Norway is near the sea, half of its area is more than one thousand feet above sea level, and one-fourth is more than two thousand feet in elevation. The proximity of the sea and the fact that at this latitude the timberline is approximately three thousand feet make even a seemingly modest mountain elevation truly impressive.

The mountain ranges run generally from north to south, with the highest of them toward the west. Great, rolling plateaus are broken by thrusting peaks and long, deep valleys. Dovrefjell, the mountain area just south of Trondheim, is a non-glacial formation, which is one of the country's driest areas. Snøhetta, its highest peak at seventy-two hundred feet, keeps its majestic watch over the main north-south highway, which bisects a wind-swept, barren plateau.

Traditionally, the girls of a farm family would take cattle, sheep, or goats to a highland pasture each summer. One of Ole Bull's most evocative compositions describes such a girl, homesick on a Sunday morning as she hears church bells in the valley.  Such a place is Elveseter, in the uplands between Dovrefjell and Jotunheimen.  Its name tells the story, for elve means river, and seter means highland pasture.

South and west of Dovrefjell lie the three great highland plateaus that give the southern third of Norway much of its special character. Toward the sea lies Jotunheimen, or "land of the giants", the largest massif in Europe north of the Alps. It boasts the highest peaks on the Scandinavian Peninsula, the king of which is Galdhøpiggen at 8,087 feet. Jotunheimen is a skier and hiker's paradise and through the years has been the inspiration for folklore about giants and trolls inhabiting its far mountain reaches. On its seaward side, it drops through deep valleys aroar with cascades, on the fjords and the sea yet four to five feet of snow often remain along the roads, even in the summer. Near Trollstigveien-a spectacular, steep highway of switchbacks-it is quite common in June to see skiers negotiating the slopes in swimsuits.
Jostedalsbreen attains a height of seven thousand feet in some places and is the largest glacier in Europe. While this 340-square-mile ice field is the largest, it is simply one of many that dot the upper elevations, for glaciers make up 1 ½ percent of the total land area of the country.

This pastoral scene at Grindheimsdal near the Hardanger Fjord illustrates the variety of Norway's terrain.  Almost two-thirds of the country is mountains and moors.  In addition to the many fjords, fresh-water lakes and rivers make up nearly 5 percent of the total area.  Some of the glacial lakes---long, narrow, and fjordlike in appearance---are called fjords even though they are actually bodies of fresh water.

East of the mountain plateaus lies the most densely populated part of Norway. Foothills and valleys, thick with evergreens, are bisected by a maze of streams and dotted with lakes. In contrast to the cook, wet summers and relatively mild winters along the coast, here the weather contrasts are more extreme. Nesbyen in Hallingdal holds Norway's heat record of 97 degrees Fahrenheit. With true inland extreme, its record low is minus 37 degrees Fahrenheit.
Both summer and winter vacationers cherish these inland areas, since they are more quickly accessible for mountains sports than are the higher massifs. Cabins dot the landscape, reflecting rich opportunities for hiking, skiing, fishing, or hunting. In summer, Norwegians come here in search of the elusive and much-coveted wild multer, or cloudberries. Tradition says that if a patch of multer is found, one never tells where it is.

The more than 60 percent of Norway which is devoted to mountains and viddas makes way for fertile valleys, which broaden toward the border of Sweden on the east and the shores of the Skagerrak on the south. Yet despite these rolling vistas, only 3 percent of Norway is tillable, with another 25 percent being productive forestland.