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The cousins who composed the Norwegian national song may have been forest finns, but they likely didn't mention it at the time. The Finnemantallet census reveals that finns were spread across Norway, with half living in Finnskogen. Mats Mikkelsen, who wrote the national anthem, was born in Sweden and had a good reputation. His descendants continued to live in different areas of Norway. The information about the family becomes less clear after 1700. Mats Mikkelsen was a trader and had a son named Bjørn Sterne Bjørnson. Overall, the forest finns played a significant role in Norway's history. Ja, vi elsker finskogene av Bo Hansson. We will never probably know what the cousins Bjørn Stjernebjørnsson and Richard Gjeldnøydrok knew about their forefathers. If these men who composed and wrote the Norwegian national song had knew that they were forest finn, they would probably have not said anything about it. At this time it was not so popular to say that you are a forest finn, especially not in their circles where they were. On the contrary, it was more important to build the new and poor nation as well as spiritual and with big honor of historical view. In a time where the Norwegian occasion of all inside this kingdom was at its hardest and worst. Maybe that's why the professor Francis Bull said that Bjørn Stjernebjørnsson and Gjeldnøydrok had Danish blood in their veins. That could also have been true. Finnemantallet i 1686. The best original source about forest finns in Norway is the so-called Finnemantallet, a census for finns. Here it is obvious that the finns was spread over huge areas in Norway. Half of the about 1200 registered lived in what today calls Finnskogen, and the other half lived on other places further west, all the way in to Telemark. In and around Hadlam there was at least 175 forest finns. In the place Fluberg on Søndreland we find the source for the man who wrote the national anthem on the western side of Randfjorden. Amongst the one who was called in to the parliament was Mats Mikkelsen, he was born in Sweden. Mats says to be about 47 years old and therefore he must have been born around 1639. The family was workers on Flatvinn, it's a homestead under the farm Flatvinn, under the captain Peder Jensen on Nöjderåk. The main farm is documented since 1592. In the tax census in 1666 the farm was said to be a half-farm with a depth of one and a half pound tonge and one skin. I don't know what is in value but I am just trying to translate. Mats family was his Norwegian wife and two children, the son Mikael and one daughter. Of the census it says that he cared for himself as a working man and he doesn't deal with hunt or slash and burn and he had a good reputation in the society. So the family did not disturb any neighbors who was one of the questions and they were going to investigate on this thing or this gathering. From the 1700 there is no information about this for the twins. Three generations later Mikael Matsen and his wife Marit Mikkelstadter are wrote down in the census for 1801. They are workers on a small farm and when he in 1805 was making the inheritance after his first wife we can see that on the homestead Odden who was under Nordrock had a netto on 71 Rikstavli. Five grown up children was wrote down when Mikael died in 1880 had the value of the farm went down to 24 Rikstavli. In the census of 1865 there is no traces of the family on Odden under Nordrock. But Mats took the main farm's name with him and moved to Kraugrød in the south of Norway and his grandchildren did the family known but not as a foreseen family. His line of family Mats Mikkelsen born around 1639 was in 1664 husman or worker under English King Lynn in 1686 under Nordrock. Mikkel Matsen born 1674 to 1747 worker under Nordrock married to Mari Larsstadter born 1668 to 1740. Mats Mikkelsen born 1703 to 1766 born married to Ingeborg Andrestadter Flueberg around 1720 to 1802. They both lived in 1743 on Flatlyen in 1755 Nordrock's eget Mikkel Matsen born about 1746 died in 1818 married to Marit Mikkelstadter born in 1775 about 1746 to 1840 they lived at Odden Nordrock. Mats Mikkelsen Nordrock born in 1776 died in 1840 married to Elisabeth Cathrine Baum from Kraugrød in 1784 to 1821. He was a kjøpmann or a trader or sold groceries and stuff I guess and they had a daughter Georgine Marie this was also Mats Mikkelsen Nordrock and a daughter Inge Lise and a son Bjørn Sterne Bjørnson. His son again Georg Markus born in 1811 died in 1891 married to Fredrik Carinetang 1809 to 1863 and they got their son Richard Nordrock. I hope this made sense and I wish all Norwegian Americans a happy Søtendammermai I don't know if you celebrate this but I know at least in Minnesota there are some diehard Norwegian fans there who celebrate Søtendammermai so for my part hooray hooray have a nice day.