Battle of Kringen

The Norwegian Town "Kringen"

A few years prior to 1983. my brother Robert James Cringan (1922-2000) of Meaford, Ontario, Canada, met a Norwegian who became excited upon hearing the name "Cringan". He knew a Norwegian village called "Kringen". Although few atlas maps of Norway show Kringen, it can be located on the map of the Scandinavian countries in "The Times Concise Atlas of the World" (1980). Kringen is in the Gudbrandsdalen some 130 air miles north of Oslo, and perhaps 150 miles northeast of the coastal city of Bergen. It is a short distance from Kringen to Otta on the north, and to Kvam to the south. This is said to be one of the most scenic areas of Norway. It is in the Peer Gynt country. of which Enrik Ibsen wrote and Edvard Grieg composed. It is near Lilliehammer, which is to be the site of the 1992 winter Olympics. Our father. John Waugh CRINGAN (1882-1949) had told Bob that he thought our ancestors were Vikings, who had emigrated from Norway to Scotland around the 10th century (or more likely, post-Viking Norwegians who had emigrated at a later date). Also, Grandfather Cringan had chosen "Kringla", a quintessentially Scandinavian name, for the summer cottage that he built in Muskoka. The existence of the village of Kringen in scenic southwestern Norway may lend some credence to this possibility. Bob's Norwegian acquaintance went on to relate to him a tale of a battle alleged to have occurred at Kringen during the Middle Ages. Kringen was being attacked by a superior force along a line across the Gudbrandsdalen. The natives of Kringen formed a position high above the road through the valley, and then set up stones and boulders within a trap-like arrangement. They could not see the road through the valley below, so a lone girl took up a safe position below, from which she could see the enemy advancing. When the invaders reached the right position, she blew a horn, and the warriors from Kringen cut loose the rocks, bombarding the enemy below. Evidently Vaga, Otta, and Lom figured in the story too. Otta is just north of Kringen. Vagi (Vagamo) and 10m are in the Ottar River Valley west of Ottar. Lesje is in the Gudbrandsdalen north of Otta. Bob commented that this was probably the earliest recorded account of our family's connection with the music business! (by Alex Cringan)