h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Norway - A769908
Author: NAITA - U75717

I think this entry neatly sums up most things Norwegian, but feel free to make comments galore.

How could you leave out Grieg

I'm subscribing to this thread, just so you know it!
Ibsen, Grieg and Dimmur Borgir! Deathmetal is one of our biggest export in music!
I love the "Independence, occupation and the oil"-paragraph

A real nice entry this one I'm always impressed when someone manages to encompass such a wide-ranging subject as an entire country into a Guide Entry.

I agree that Grieg should be included, and I'd like to see mention of the Aurora Borealis too. Damn, I'd like to *see* the Aurora Borealis

One thing I'm curious about concerning Norway, and which may also be worthy of inclusion - do any of the Lapps inhabit parts of Norway?

Ok, I seem to have left out the arts.

*jots down "include Grieg, Ibsen and Dimmu Borgir"*

And there are in fact Laps all over Norway, most of them in Oslo, but also some living in the north, wearing fancy costumes and hearding reindeer with snowmobiles. (The lapps have snowmobiles, the reindeer don't.) Lapps probly isn't PC though, they are the Sami people. And they really deserve to have an entry of their own, not just a paragraph in "mine".

The aurora borealis is a generic northern northern hemisphere thing, I might mention we have it in Norway just to show off. It is really impressive though, when it's strong, but it's usually best when it's cold enough to freeze your ears off.

Two points that occurred to me.

Trolls. Norway has trolls, doesn't it?

The National Anthem. Has this changed in recent years? Last time I was in Norway the old king (Olaf?) was still alive and the National Anthem was all about some ancient King of Norway who led his troops into battle.

The national anthem hasn't changed. The text in the entry is the first verse and the one most often sung, but there are some kings and blood and battle in the other verses.
Norway _had_ trolls, they have all been wiped out by tunneling, mining, industrialisation and the arrivel of highpowered flashlights. And they deserve an entry all of their own.

Sami people... never heard that name before. You learn new things every day on h2g2 If you have it in mind to write an entry on them yourself at some time in the future, you could mention them here and then link to the new entry and vice versa when you do so.

This entry is Guide-bound for sure

Sorry to hear about the trolls.

In the tourist section, is it worth mentioning the Norway in a Nutshell experience?

I liked this a lot (why do these entries always appear just after I've done my picks for the time being).This is one of those entries that can be extended for ever, because there's always one more thing to say about a country in the way that their isn't about Tiddlywinks A178634 *hides from a barrage of futher things that can be said abou TIddlywinks* however if you are able to add futher comments that that would be great but don't fell that you have to incorperate everything suggested here.

For instance I have heard that hunting is a big part of the norwegin identity hence the reluctance to give up the ban on whaling, and would like to know if it's a myth or not.

The Norwegian position on the IWC's moratorium on whaling is that while protecting the species of whales brought to the brink of extinction by extensive whaling in the first half of the 20th centuries is necessary a complete ban on all whaling is excessive. The minke whale, which is the only species hunted today by Norway, was not commercially hunted earlier, and with less competetion from other species has increased in numbers. People who are pro-whaling think that the scientific methods used to estimate the whale population are accurate, and that harvesting natural resources is not bad whatever the bleeding heart environmentalists mean. The anti-whaling people are divided into those who think there aren't enough whales to cope with hunting and the ones who think it's wrong to shoot 'Flipper' with explosive harpoons no matter what.
Personally I feel that while a continued Norwegian opposition to a foolish moratorium from the IWC is correct, a subsidised Norwegian whale hunt is bad. The coastal community might benefit from it, but as long as no one actually want to eat whale we might as well not hunt them. Beef tastes much better anyway.

That was maybe not as coherent as I would have liked, but it's the best I can do this late on a Sunday.

This entry made me smile. It is written in a very droll way.

In no particular order, here are some comments.

One of the things that foreigners may recall about Norway is that it got no points at least twice in the Eurovision Song Contest.(sorry) (I actually quite liked one of the songs - the one with the big drum).

Am I right in thinking that Norway has three languages? (or is it two?) I was told this by a colleague at a conference some while ago.

Norway was occupied in the War - the word Quisling for a traitor originated from there from a Norwegian traitor?

No it made perfect sense to me I have to admit my own opinions are slightly strange and I don't want to get into a flame war so don't please

From what I've seen I don't think it's a terribly humane way of killing whales, but unless you are a vegan I don't think you can really object. I don't have much time for people who object to eating nice looking animals such as whales, cats and dogs, but go home and eat cow or sheep. As for the endangered argument, soon cod will become endangered if things continue the way they are.

(from my personal position was brought up oppossed to eating meat completly as my family are Hindu, but I'm now a bit of an atherist, but I still don't really want to eat meat I just don't object to other people doing so)

I'm not too happy about your translation of the national anthem . Here's my version:
Yes, we love this country, there where it rises forth. Furrowed, weatherbeaten, with it's thousand homes. Loves it, loves it while we think of out mother and father, and the Night of sagas that set dreams, the Night of Sagas that set dreams upon our land.

The Night of Sagas referres to the years we were under the Danes and Swedes.

And the answer to the query about the language(s) is ...?

The words I've given for the national anthem isn't a word by word, literal translation, it's a remake. I don't know who created it, but it's the one you'll find the most places on the web, and unlike a literal translation it can be sung in English.

The words I've given for the national anthem isn't a word by word, literal translation, it's a remake. I don't know who created it, but it's the one you'll find the most places on the web, and unlike a literal translation it can be sung in English.

But it doesn't make sense. It looks like it's translated by a translation-program. I really think you should change it.

First I'd like to apologise for the previous double posting, this stupid proxy is acting up.
Norway has two official written variations of Norwegian and all government material (official forms, reports and such) must exist in both forms. In addition there's the Sami languages of which I don't know much. I believe though that there is a Northern Sami language which is the most common and the one that is meant when someone refers to "the" language of the Sami. The Southern Sami language is, if I remember correctly, on the brink of extinction and was sufficiently different from the Northern for people speaking the two to be unable to understand each other.

I have to disagree with you there, to me it makes perfect sense.