In 1803 Denmark-Norway became the first European country to ban the slave trade.

Frederik VI decreed, in the name of his father King Christian VII, a ban on the trade, but not the ownership, of slaves in 1792 which came into full effect in 1803. Slavery itself was not abolished until 1848. 

At this time Iceland was a part of Denmark-Norway. Slavery had been banned in Iceland in 1117 and the practice never resumed despite its legality while a part of Denmark-Norway. France was the first European country to abolish slavery in 1794, but Napoleon made it legal again in 1802.

[Image: Drawing of Fort Christianborg, now called Osu Castle, in Ghana, a center of the Danish slave trade.]

It is well known that Viking explorers used the sun and stars to navigate across open seas, but what did they do when the sun and stars weren’t visible? For centuries legends have told of various tools that Vikings used to help navigate, among them the fabled Sunstone. Now, researchers believe they have finally found one of these stones. 

Until recently, nothing was found among Viking artifacts that matched descriptions from the sagas. However, researchers now believe the mythical sunstone was a calcite-like crystal known as Iceland spar. After extensive tests, researchers now believe that this crystal can be used as an incredibly accurate navigational aid.

Fragments of Iceland spar were first found, or first recognized, in Icelandic Viking settlements only last year.

(Source: independent.co.uk)

Ja, Vi Elsker Dette Landet (“Yes, we love this land”) is currently considered Norway’s de facto national anthem. 

The lyrics were written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and the melody by his cousin Rikard Nordraak some time in the 1860s. The song was first performed on 17 May 1864, the 50th anniversary of Norway’s constitution. 

The song holds no official standing as a national anthem, and for a long time was used alongside Sønner av Norge at official functions. However, the 1994 song Mitt Lille Land by Ole Paus has been gaining popularity since 2011, with some calling it a “new national anthem”.

Stave churches were built throughout Scandinavia in the middle ages. Stave churches are unique for being constructed entirely of wood. So far, 1300 stave churches have been indexed, but only about thirty remain today, all but one in Norway.

Of the few remaining, Urnes Stave Church is considered one of the finest examples. Built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this church was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

On 18 January 1997 Norwegian explorer Børge Ousland became the first person to cross the Antarctic alone and unaided. He has ventured to both the South and North poles in 2007 and 2008, and completed the first circumnavigation of the North Pole without an icebreaker in 2010 aboard the ship “The Northern Passage”. 

In 2012 Ousland had “20 or 30 people” helicoptered in to the North Pole for his wedding.

You can learn more about Ousland and his expeditions at his website ousland.no

Vikings made some of the most impressive sea voyages of their era, and all without the aid of compasses, charts, maps or any other navigational tool. Instead, Viking explorers used landmarks, stars, sea animals and their own memories to navigate.

Vikings were incredibly familiar with weather patterns and the migration paths of various animals, such as sea birds and whales. Explorers sometimes waited weeks for the perfect weather to set out on an expedition. For all their skills, however, Viking navigation was far from accurate, and several discoveries were made entirely on accident. The discovery of North America, for example. 

Bouvet Island is considered the most remote island in the world, lying at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. A dependency of Norway, the island is only 49 square kilometers (19 square miles) and 93% is covered by glacier. 

The island was first discovered in 1739 by Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, who recorded the wrong coordinates, so the island remained unseen again until 1809. The first Norwegian expedition and landing was in 1927, and it became a Norwegian dependency in 1930. It was later named a nature reserve in 1971, and hosts a small weather station.

[Picture: 1898 photograph of Bouvet Island, hand colored.]

The Norns of Norse Mythology are female spirits that dictate the fate of men and gods alike.

Three chief norns are listed in the sagas, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who dwell in Asgard close to Yggdrasil. However, the sagas also describe that additional norns come to each child when it is born and shape their future. The norns are described at least once as weaving “the web of fate”, and it is believed by some that the name “norn” comes from the verb “to twine”.

The idea of three women who weave fate is paralleled in Greek, Roman, and Slavic mythologies.

[Picture: Three norns seated beneath Yggdrasil. Ludwig Burger, 1882]

It has been said that during the time of the Kalmar Union the true power around the Baltic Sea was not held by the King of the Union or local nobles, but by the Hanseatic League, or Hansa.

The Hansa was a confederation of powerful merchants founded in Lubeck, Germany that controlled all trade to and from the Baltic. Previous to the league’s rise to power Scandinavia controlled trade around the Baltic, and this lead to much competition between the league and the Kalmar Union. 

The league held such power that it functioned almost as an independent country. Between 1361-1370 league cities waged war against Denmark, sacking Copenhagen and Helsingborg and ultimately forcing the kings of Denmark and Norway to grant the league 15% of their trade profits. 

As the league began to lose power in the 16th century it opened up the Baltic and gave Denmark and Sweden greater significance in Northern European politics as control of Baltic trade fell back into the hands of Denmark-Norway and the quickly growing Swedish Empire.

Hymir is a giant from Norse mythology who features in the eddic poems Hymiskvida and Gylfaginning. 

According to Hymiskvida, it is from Hymir that Thor obtains the great cauldron used by the Aesir to brew beer. Hymir and Thor also go on a fishing expedition during which Thor fishes up the Midgard Serpent using an ox head as bait. 

Hymir is also said to be the father of Tyr.

[Picture: Thor and Hymir fishing from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript.]

Norway’s first, and to date only, female prime minister was Gro Harlem Bruntland.  Bruntland served as prime minister from February-October 1981 and a later two terms between 1986-1996.

After her second term Brundtland retired from Norwegian politics and became director-general of the World Health Organization in 1998, where she served until 2003. During this time she made the WHO one of the first major employers to require that employees be free of tobacco addiction. She was also named Policy Maker of the Year for 2003 by Scientific American for coordinating worldwide response to the SARS epidemic. Brundtland was also awarded the Charlemagne Prize in 1994.

You can read more about Brundtland’s political career in her husband’s two biographies Married to Gro and Still Married to Gro.

Berserks, or Berserkers, originated in Norse mythology. These were warriors who dressed in bear skins and were known for working themselves up into a frenzy before battle. They are also described in the sagas as being fantastically ugly.

Berserkers often went unarmored into battle, save the bear and wolf skins that so feared their enemies. From those skins and their ruthless fighting style they gained a reputation as shapeshifters. Berserkers were also closely associated with Odin, the Allfather, who was also reputed to have shapeshifting abilities and was equally fierce in battle.

It is possible that Berserkers were members of the cult of Odin, whose practices were secretive, but which is associated with rituals that involved the wearing of animal skins. Some theorize that the source of the famed “berserker rage” is the ingestion of mind altering substances, namely the Amanita muscaria mushroom. Other theories include mental illness and self-induced hysteria.

Norway celebrates their national day on 17 May, sometimes called Constitution Day. On this day in 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was signed in Eidsvoll. Even though independence was not achieved until 1905 this day is celebrated. 

The first 17 May celebrations were held in 1836. In 1870 the first children’s parade was held, and has since become a yearly tradition. 

On 7 June 1905 the Norwegian parliament broke the nation’s personal union with with Sweden after years of tension between the two countries. For the most part the Swedish government took this well, and negotiations for the official dissolution of the union went peacefully.

On 13 August a vote was held among Norwegian citizens in which nearly 100% stated they approved of the dissolution. However, King Oscar II of Sweden refused to allow any member of his house to take up the throne of Norway. Instead, Prince Carl of Denmark was approached and overwhelmingly the people of Norway voted in favor of establishing a monarchy rather than a republic. On 25 November 1905 Carl took the throne as Haakon VII.

[Picture: A postcard from 1905 reading ‘Yes, we love this land’.]

During WWI Norway, along with Denmark and Sweden, issued a declaration of neutrality. However, at the time the newly independent Norway was highly dependent on foreign trade, and was pressured by the allied powers to break off trade with Germany and hand over an increasingly large portion of their merchant fleet to the UK. 

Norwegian ships with Norwegian crews sailed under the British flag, and Norway lost about 50% of their total merchant fleet, including nearly 2000 sailors, to German submarine attacks. But overall the war brought a boom to Norway’s economy through shipping, mining, and fish exports.

[Picture: WWI propaganda poster]