OSLO: Noen av Skogfjordens ledere var tilstede da utenriksminister Jonas Gahr Støre la ned krans og holdt tale ved Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons grav om morgenen den 17. mai. Seremonien var en del av programmet ved Vår Frelsers Gravlund, der nasjonaldagen ble startet med å hedre flere personer som har vært viktige for Norge.

Støre snakket om hvordan Bjørnson var inkluderende og bidro til å samle: ”For det er ikke jeg, men vi som elsker dette landet”.

Fra Bjørnson sine verker pekte utenriksministeren på flere temaer som er like aktuelle i dag: ” Menneskerettigheter. Ytringsfrihet. Fredssak. Internasjonalt samarbeid. Minoritetenes rett til eget språk. De små staters integritet opp mot store staters hang til å ta seg til rette.”

Inspirert av Bjørnson vil Støre sier vi må ”[…] våge å tro at de gode gjerninger redder verden. Tro at det gode i menneskene redder verden”.

Du kan lese hele talen her.

OSLO:  Some Skogfjorden councelors were present as Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre placed a wreath and held a speech at Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s grave the morning of May 17th. The ceremony was part of the program at Vår Frelsers Gravlund (“Our Saviour’s Graveyard”), where the May 17th celebration was launched by honoring several significant Norwegians.

Støre talked about how inclusive Bjørnson was and how he helped unify the nation: “For it is not I, but we who love this country”

Quoting the works of Bjørnson, the Foreign Minister pointed at several of his themes still valid today: “Human rights. Freedom of speech. Peace. International cooperation. Minority rights to one’s own language. The small nation’s sovereignity vs. the large nation’s  inclination to abuse their superior strength”.

Inspired by Bjørnson, Støre urges us to “[…] dare to have faith in that the good deeds will save the world. Believe that the good in mankind will save the world”.

You can practice your Norwegian by reading the whole speech here.

Bjørnson (8 desember 1832 – 26 april 1910) is best known for writing the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker.  He was born about 60 miles south of Trondheim and lived his childhood outside of Molde.  He was sent to Christiania to study at the age of 17 where he decided to pursue his talent for poetry.  Bjørnson graduated from the University of Oslo in 1852 and began his career as a journalist.

Bjørnson began his publishing career soon after graduating and focused his works on bonde-fortellinger (peasant tales).  He wrote several novels, plays, and poems during this period from 1857-1862.

In early 1865 he undertook the management of the Christiania theatre where he produced several plays.  In 1870 he also published Poems and Songs which contains the ode to Bergliot (one of Bjørnson’s finest contributions to lyrical poetry).

After this period, Bjørnson spent several years traveling throughout Europe and honing his skills as a dramatic author.  He began to write with more social commentary in his works than in his early pieces.  Some of his works even sparked violent controversy.

Bjørnson became an outspoken advocate of the Norwegian left-wing movement.  He supported Ivar Aasen and admired Henrik Wergeland.  His political opinions even brought about a charge of high treason and he had to take refuge in Germany for some time.  He returned to Norway in 1882 and turned his focus back to novel and short story writing.

In his last years Bjørnson was one of the original members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (1901-1906) and he himself was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.  Bjørnson had done a lot to rouse Norwegian nationalism, but in 1905 when Norway was attempting to dissolve the forced union with Sweden, Bjørnson sent a telegram to the Norwegian Prime minister stating, “Now is the time to maintain a united front.” The minister replied, “Now is the time to keep our mouths shut.

His last work, Når den ny vin blomstrer (When the New Wine Blooms), was finished in 1909 with the closing line: “When the new vintage blooms, the old one ferments.”

Read some of Bjørnson’s work…

Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Landet

Answer from Norway to the Speeches in the Swedish House of Lords

Bergen

Landfall

To Molde

Norway, Norway

May Seventeenth

Our Language

Norse mythology in a nutshell:

There are several different types of beings…humans, dwarves, giants, elves, and gods and

image from mythinglinks.com

these beings live in nine different worlds.

Midgard is the world of humans (where we all live*).  Midgard is surrounded by a world of water which is impassable and is inhabited by Jǫrmungandr.

Then there is Álfheimr and Svartálfaheim.  These are the worlds of the elves.  Álfheimr is the home of the light elves.  J.R.R. Tolkein anglicized Álfheimr as Elvenhome/Eldamar in his Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Svartálfaheim is then, of course, the world of the dark elves.

Vanaheimr is the home of the Vanir, the gods associated with fertility, wisdom, and the ability to see the future.

Muspellheim and Niflheim are the worlds of fire and ice.  In the beginning, these two worlds existed and then combined in Ginnungagap to create Ymir, the frost giant.  It is from Ymir that creation began.  Niflheim is also the place where people who do not die a heroic death go.

Jötunheimr is the world of the jotuner (giants).  The giants are able to menace the humans in Midgard and the gods in Asgard from their home in Jötunheimr, which is seperated from these other worlds by the river Ifing.  Jotunheimen is now the name of a large mountain range in Norway that contains the peak Galdhøpiggen, which is the highest peak in Scandinavia.

Hel or Niflhel is located under one of the three roots of the tree Yggdrasil.  There are varying accounts of who goes to Hel after death.  Both evil men and people who die of disease or old age are said to make Hel their final resting place.  The god Baldr ends up in Hel after he is killed by a trick of Loki’s.

image from wikipedia.com

The final world is Asgard which is the home of the Æsir (gods).  The Æsir are made up of several gods, the most well known being Odin, Thor, Frigg, Freyja, and Tyr.  Valhalla is also located within Asgard.

All of these people and places come in to play during Ragnarok, which is the end when the world submerses into five.  After Ragnarok, it is said that there will be two human survivors who repopulate the world after it is raised out of the fire anew.

One of the clearest places to see the influence of Norse mythology in the modern world is in our days of the week.  Tuesday (Tyr’s day), Wednesday (Odin’s day), and Thursday (Thor’s day) can all trace their roots back to Norse mythology.

Lots of modern pop culture has been influenced by Norse mythology as well.  From the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to heavy metal bands such as Tyr, to video games such as World of Warcraft and Viking: Battle for Asgard.  Norse influence can be seen all around us.

For more information check out pantheon.org or timelessmyths.com.  Also there are several good books on the subject such as The Norse Myths and Norse Mythology: A guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs.  Of course you can always pick up a copy of the Prose Edda or the Poetic Edda and read it for yourself.