Here's some more info on Wergeland's shanties.

Paraphrasing some info from this site, http://www.wergeland2008.no/print.aspx?m=283&amid=619

Wergeland had heard shanties, thought they were coarse. His goal was to give the sailors more decent lyrics. At the same time he realized that the lyrics had to fulfill the work function. Also decided to preserve the traditional choruses. Almost all his shanties have the same refrain [Singsallijo!]. It must have been based on some song Wergeland heard, but it's unclear what that was.

Diderik Brochmann, in his shanty collections of the early 20th century, recommended Wergeland's solo verses be sung to the airs/choruses of other known shanties, like "Rio Grande."

It's unknown whether Wergelands shanties were ever really put to use on sailing ships. Despite that, Brochmann claimed in his 1908 text that Wergeland's shanties "wer well known enough in the country ... and is sung in schools and homes."

Here's about Brochmann -- rough translation off Norwegian Wiki page:

Diderik Brochmann (born May 20, 1879, died May 24, 1955) was a Norwegian sailor, shantyman, shanty collector and author.

He went to sea as a 15-year-old and sailed for six years before he went to the skipper school in Bergen. In 1908 he released Shantimanden, the first Norwegian collection of shanties. He is our biggest and most important collector of shanties used on Norwegian ships. In addition to shanty collections also gave him a number of books on sailors'?? and seamen's languages.

He is the father of the architect Odd Brochmann and author Zinken Hop.