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DALECARLIA (Dalarne, " the Dales ")

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 764 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DALECARLIA (Dalarne, " the Dales ") , a See also:west midland region of See also:Sweden, virtually coincident with the See also:district (ldn) of Kopparberg, which extends from the mountains of the See also:Norwegian frontier to within 25 M. of See also:Gefle on the Baltic See also:coast. It is a region full of See also:historical associations, and possesses strong See also:local characteristics in respect of its products, and especially of its See also:people. The Dalecarlians or Dalesmen speak their own See also:peculiar See also:dialect, See also:wear their own peculiar costumes, and are famed for their brave spirit and sturdy love of See also:independence. In 1434, led by Engelbrecht, the miner, they See also:rose against the oppressive tyranny of the See also:officers of See also:Eric XIV. of See also:Denmark, and in 1519–1523 it was among them that Gustavus See also:Vasa found his staunchest supporters in his patriotic task of freeing Sweden from the yoke of the Danes. The districts around Lakes Runn and Siljan (" the See also:Eye of the Dales "), the See also:principal sheets of See also:water in the valleys of the Dal See also:rivers, are consequently classic ground. By the See also:banks of See also:Lake Runn, for example, is seen the See also:barn in which Vasa threshed See also:corn in disguise, when still a fugitive from the Danes. The people are for the most See also:part small See also:peasant proprietors. They eke out their scanty returns from tilling the See also:soil by a variety of See also:home See also:industries, such as making scythes, saws, bells, wooden wares, See also:hair goods, and so forth. About three quarters of the whole district is covered with See also:forest. Besides the See also:wealth of the forests, the Dales contain some of the largest and most prolific See also:iron mines in Sweden, notably those of Grangesberg. See also:Copper is See also:mined at See also:Falun (q.v.), the See also:chief See also:town of Kopparberg, and some See also:silver and See also:lead, See also:zinc and See also:sulphur is found. In consequence of this the district has numerous smelting furnaces, See also:blasting and See also:rolling See also:mills, iron and metallurgical See also:works, as well as saw-mills, See also:wood-pulp factories, and chemical works.

See G. H. Mellin, Skildringar of den Skandinaviska Nordens Folklif og Natur, vol. iii. (1865); and Frederika See also:

Bremer, I Dalarne (1845), of which there is an See also:English See also:translation by See also:William and See also:Mary Howitt (1852). For the dialect, see a See also:paper by A. Noreen, in De Svenska Landsmclen, vol. iv. (1881).

End of Article: DALECARLIA (Dalarne, " the Dales ")

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