Composed in 1896, this is a collection of 19 arrangements of Norwegian folk songs. It features simple melodies such as stev (a type of Norwegian folk poetry with a specific metrical pattern), lullabies, cattle calls, and folk ballads.

No. 1: Cattle Call

This piece is characterized by a bass pedal point and an inner-voice ostinato. The melody is occasionally adorned with pastoral embellishments.

No. 2: It Is a Terrible Folly

The original song originates from Valdres. The gist of its text is: “It is the most terrible folly in the world to fall in love with someone you cannot be united with and waste your love. What did you intend by holding me in your arms so many times? You must have intended to deceive and blind me.” This Andante espressivo piece is based on a four-voice texture, and the melody begins with an anacrusis. Augmented fourth intervals are scattered throughout.

No. 3: The King Ruled in the East

This piece is derived from a song from the Sogn region. The gist of its text is: “A king ruled in the East, his name was Haakon the Brave. Under Haakon, there were many fearsome warriors. But there was also a daughter, Ragnhild, whom everyone called beautiful.” This Andante piece is characterized by majestic stepwise motion.

No. 4: Song from the Siri Valley

This Allegretto con moto piece is in 6/8 time, begins with an anacrusis, and features a characteristic rhythm of alternating eighth notes and quarter notes.

No. 5: In My Youthful Days

This Andante piece is a somewhat large-scale ballad. It begins with quarter-note arpeggios.

No. 6: Cattle Call and Lullaby

In this piece, the tempo changes from Andante → Allegro → Più lento → Andante molto. It is primarily written polyphonically.

No. 7: Lullaby

This Allegretto con moto piece is written alla breve. It begins with a unison in both hands in the low register.

No. 8: Cattle Call

This Andante piece begins by repeating an almost identical two-measure melody. However, the accompanying harmony underneath changes chromatically upon repetition.

No. 9: The Little One Was a Boy

In this piece, the tempo changes from Andantino → Andante tranquillo → Adagio. The accompaniment is characterized by syncopated rhythms.

No. 10: Tomorrow Is Your Wedding Day

The original song was sung by Gjendine Slålien (1872–1972), a farmer's wife from Lom, who also provided the text herself. The gist of the text is: “Tomorrow is your wedding day. Bulls and bears will come. I will give a rifle, and a friend will get game with the rifle. Tambourines will sound, and the bull Tutta will cook.” This piece is characterized by unisons and parallel motion, and it is full of vitality.

No. 11: There Are Two Girls

This piece begins with a strict four-voice texture and continues to be written polyphonically thereafter. Occasional parallel motion can be observed between the voices.

No. 12: Ranveig

This relatively short piece is written in A minor, with a sustained tonic at the beginning. It concludes with a tonic chord of the parallel major sounding over a chromatically rich descending bass line.

No. 13: The Little Grey Man

The text of this piece is a lullaby, and the melody is sung in either the upper or lower voice. However, the music is an Allegretto scherzando, reminiscent of gangar (a walking dance), a type of Norwegian folk dance.

No. 14: In the Ola Valley, by the Ola Lake

This is a sad story of a mother and her son who spent the summer at a mountain farm by Lake Ola. The gist of the story is: “One day, the son drowned in the lake, and although the church bells were brought to the farm and rung, his body was never found.” The melody is first sung in the tenor voice, where it is marked “La melodia ben marcato”.

No. 15: Lullaby

The melody is first sung in the middle register, then in various registers including the low and high registers. It is accompanied by the same melodic figure.

No. 16: Little Astri

Also sometimes called “Little Kari”. In this piece, the time signature changes rather than the tempo. An ostinato can also be observed in the bass part midway through.

No. 17: Lullaby

This Andante tranquillo piece features pedal points at the beginning and end. The chromatic melodic movement observed in places is also characteristic. The middle section becomes Allegro con brio.

No. 18: I Ponder Deeply

The text of this piece is found in A. P. Berggreen's collection of Danish folk songs. The gist of the text is: “I ponder deeply. I love someone I cannot have. When he walks cheerfully on his way, I am sad. It is a great sorrow that I cannot have you, whom I love so much, because of many deceitful people.” This is a relatively large-scale piece.

No. 19: Gjendine's Lullaby

Gjendine is the name of a milkmaid Grieg met during his journey to the mountainous regions in 1891. Grieg is said to have written down the song she sang and harmonized it. When this simple melody is repeated, it is given a chromatic harmonization.