Manndalsaffæren – Nordlige folk

On 30 November 1925, forced sales were registered in the village of Manndalen, and the sheriff and his entourage turned up. They were met by angry people from Manndalen who asked them to leave the village. The sheriff replied that he would beat the heads off the villagers.

The auction was being held, and a cow ready for calving was to be sold. The owner pulled out his knife and said that if the cow was taken, they might as well kill him and his family, because then they would have nothing to live on. The sheriff replied that the municipality had plenty of coffins.

The sheriff must turn round

With the villagers in front, the sheriff's party continued up the valley. When the sheriff's party attempted to force their way through the crowd of Manndalings, they were beaten with fence posts. But the Manndalings claimed that they had not used violence and that the sheriff had fought his way through the crowd and shouted that he was going to «hit ten small Finns on each finger».

The sheriff's party had to turn back, and the crowd followed. A week later, the sheriff and his entourage returned, and fifteen men were arrested for questioning. Several were taken into custody, fined or charged with violence against public officials. In November 1926, the judgement in the case was handed down. Twelve were found guilty, one was sentenced to 90 days in prison, three were sentenced to five months in prison, while eight were sentenced to 30-60 days' suspended imprisonment. In the aftermath of the case, all the anger was directed at the sheriff. The people of Manndal believed that he used unnecessary violence and had racist attitudes towards the villagers.

Interview with Sheriff Rivertz

Author and journalist Idar Krstiansen interviews sheriff Ivar Rivertz at Lyngseidet, Vi menn 1975. Here, the sheriff talks about the Manndals affair:

40 years is a long time to serve as a sheriff. Especially in a district like Lyngen. Not just because it's wide and harsh, but also because it's where three tribes, three languages and three ethnicities meet. The Sami, the Kvens and descendants of, among others, the Eastern Danes. And they have not always had the same interests. It stands to reason that the old wise man must have a bit of everything to tell, if he wants to. And Rivertz, who was recently honoured with the King's gold medal for turning 295,000 spruce plants into a forest, is not one of those people you have to ask twice.
Have you heard about the Manndals affair?
The first began with the county treasurer, Mr Pedersen, being in there to take out a mortgage. Then the men had grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and the back of his trousers and thrown him aboard the boat he had arrived in!
Then auctions were scheduled, which was commonplace in those days, almost a formality. My father would hold the auction, and my sister Randi was there to keep the minutes. The auction went ahead.
But suddenly, like lightning from a clear sky, a knife is quivering in the table, right through the protocol.
The auction ended abruptly.
The auctioneer, secretary and treasurer came out. There were two boys from Manndal waiting to take them. One of them hit the old man over the shoulder with a fence tine. Luckily, it was so rotten that it came off.
Both the county treasurer and my father were strong men. You know there was a steep hill down to the school. That's where the men were supposed to knock them down. It didn't work. The auctioneer and his party made it back down to the sea and the boat.
Afterwards, a report was submitted and a trial was held.
As an officer, I was ordered to go into Manndalen with the subpoenas. But A-bakken's wife wouldn't accept it on her husband's behalf. - Do whatever the f- you want! I said, and threaded the summons onto a nail on the outside wall.
- At least there it is!!!
The 4-5 defendants were sentenced to 6 months in prison.