Norway
Valerie Borey
Latest Articles
With Spanish, French, and German taking a strong lead in foreign language popularity, I find myself increasingly in a position of advocacy when it comes to the Norwegian language. As a less commonly taught language (LCTL), Norwegian is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when people are looking ...
Sons of Norway in The Bingo Palace
Although I have a tendency to talk about Norwegian culture as it if were some distinctly bounded thing, this is more an accident of rhetoric than actual division. In fact, while recently reading Louise Erdrich’s novel The Bingo Palace,I was reminded of this fact when I ran headfirst into a passage ...
The Chateu Neuf Spelemannslag (CNS), which emerged in 1994 at the University of Oslo, is a group that goes beyond this simple classificatory system. Featuring some nineteen odd instrumental players and vocalists, the group manages to infuse traditional Norwegian folk tunes with modern sentiments from genres such as jazz, swing, classical, ...
H7 Escapes the Nazis (Part II of II)
For five years, King Håkon, or H7 as loyal Norwegians would come to call him in their hastily scrawled grafitti, led the resistance from Britain. In radio messages and through the press, he urged Norwegians to remain above all, Norwegian in mind and spirit, and too keep fighting for their country. ...
Announcing Norway's Centennial Anniversary Poetry Competition Winners
This year, Norway celebrates a remarkable 100 years of independence. In honor of this grand occasion, readers have been sending in their own original poetry for Norwegian Culture’s Centennial Anniversary Poetry Competition. After a difficult deliberation, three winners (Susi Lyback-Dahl, Karen Pollard, and David Moe) were selected for their expressive nature ...
H7 Escapes the Nazis (Part I of II)
It was 2:30 in the morning on April 9, 1940 that Norway’s King Håkon VII received a message regarding the deployment of Norwegian naval defenses in the Oslofjord. The message confirmed that German forces were attacking Norway, drawing the reluctant country into what would become WWII.
King Haakon VII of Norway (1872-1957)
Born in Charlottenlund, Denmark on August 3, 1872, King Haakon VII of Norway became a potent symbol for Norwegian nationalism through to present day. He led the re-constituted Norwegian monarchy from the nation’s dissolution with Sweden in 1905, through the troubling times of WWII, until his death in Oslo, Sept 21 ...
Nothing can be like it was: Merete Morken Andersen and Oceans of Time
Oceans have a way of closing in behind you. For a moment, you are there, bobbing in the briny water with the sun glancing off your skin. Then you are under, gone without a trace as those you’ve left behind search for answers to your disappearance. In much the same way, ...
Preschool Portal: The Preschooler’s Guide To Norwegian Websites
There are lots of great Norwegian websites out there for young children who have a taste for popular culture and an interest in learning something new. One of my daughter’s favorite activities is sitting in my lap as we explore the games, stories, and animated creatures that populate these sites. It’s ...
At noon on January 5th, Norwegians joined other European countries in observing three minutes of silence in honor of those whose lives were cut short by the tsunami that devastated Asia last month. While silence marked the expansive void following the deaths of so many members of the international community, at ...