Velle Espeland

Velle Espeland (6 July 1945 – 10 January 2024) was a Norwegian folklorist.

Velle Espeland
Born	(1945-07-06)6 July 1945 Sør-Fron, Norway
Died	10 January 2024(2024-01-10) (aged 78) Oslo, Norway
Alma mater	University of Oslo
Occupation	Folklorist

Personal life and education

Born in Sør-Fron on 6 July 1945, Espeland studied folkloristics at the University of Oslo. His cand.mag. thesis from 1974 was titled Folkesong i Bjerkreim.^[1]

Career

Espeland was assigned to Institutt for kulturstudier at the University of Oslo from 1974 to 2003. He also administrated the institution Norsk visearkiv [no] from its foundation in 1983.^[1]

Among his publications are two books about ghosts, the children's book Den store boka om spøkelser from 1999, and the factbook Spøkelse. Hvileløse gjengangere i tradisjon og historie from 2002. He also contributed text to the comic series Smørbukk and Tuss og Troll [nn], and translated the Belgian comic strips Spirou & Fantasio and Marsupilami into Norwegian language.^[1]

In 2014 he was awarded the Rff prize from Rådet for folkemusikk og folkedans [no],^[2] a subsidiary of Arts Council Norway,^[3] for his contributions to Norsk visearkiv.^[2]

Death

Espeland died in Oslo on 10 January 2024, at the age of 78.^[1][4]