Iceland (a Norwegian dependency) had its own system of serfdom, while a somewhat similar institution, the stavnsbånd, existed in Denmark proper.
In the eastern parts of the country, and to some extent the mountain municipalities, the smaller homesteads still belonged to the main farm, and the lesser farmers were obliged to work the fields on the main farm as well as their own, in exchange for living there.
The difference from serfs elsewhere was that the farmer did not directly own the life and property of the homesteader (Husmann), but in most cases, he practically did.
So did also the main stock of Norwegian workers, as the land got crowded and the splitting of farms came to an end about 1860.
As neighbouring fields in the western parts of Norway were often equally barren, all farmers had to struggle in the same way.
Many of the traditional folk musicians of Norway, and the greater part of singers and storytellers, seem to have belonged to this social layer, if not lower.
Fiddlers are as a rule to be found both on lesser and bigger farms, and the hardanger fiddle tradition was common in all social layers.
In Norwegian fairy tales, the heroes and heroines often represent people from this group.