Norway

Medieval battles on skis, children sledding Norwegian gold past Nazi guards, enemies being forced to collaborate to survive in the glacial wilderness, a snowman that appears at every murder scene – Norway is full of snowy adventure, often with a dark twist. Before we get to those movies and books however, Norway’s Constitution Day was this week. I would have liked to make it to the Norwegian Seamen's Church in San Pedro for their festivities on May 17, but since I missed it, maybe I’ll make it to the Scandinavian Festival at Cal Lutheran on June 4 and 5: https://scandinavianfest.org/

In the meantime, two weeks ago I drove to Los Angeles with my one quarter Norwegian friend Anne to meet Cathy at Gravlax, a Scandinavian and Turkish restaurant that serves cured salmon, called gravlax. The tacos, which surprised us, might have been inspired by Cinco de Mayo, but we soon discovered that tacos are authentic to Norway (see https://www.sofn.com/blog/in-norway-its-taco-friday/). These tacos contained gravlax, mustard, and cucumbers. From the description and from seeing the fermented salmon in the Norway episode of Gordon Ramsey Uncharted on DisneyPlus, I was expecting a more unpleasant taste. I was surprised with how delicious gravlax is. For more Norwegian cooking, see here: https://www.sofn.com/norwegian_culture/recipe_box/

I asked Anne why there are so many mysteries and thrillers from Norway and she says they mirror the dark side of the Nordic personality. I went deep by reading Black Seconds by Karen Fossem and Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo. Then I both read the book and watched the movie The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. There are beautiful landscapes in the movie, but it is creepy.

Other Norwegian books and movies I have enjoyed are:

· The most exciting story I read as a child, where children smuggled Norwegian gold in their sleds to keep it from being captured by the Nazis. I devoured Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan repeatedly and am thrilled to find the complete book available online: https://archive.org/details/snowtreasure00mari_0/mode/2up

· My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts, a short animated film for kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LfJrv1_sZI

· The Last King, a movie recommended by my Norwegian friend Kevin. The story comes from Norwegian history and has some mind bending medieval fight scenes on skis: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/34ec7bf022765049be3d7b7426858340

· The Norwegian film Into the White, which tells the story of British and German fighter pilots and crew shot down in Norway and forced to work together to survive: https://tubitv.com/movies/439505/into-the-white

If you are looking for more to read, check:

· Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/598

· A Doll’s House by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2542

· The current list for the Sons of Norway book club in Palm Desert: https://solskinn.sofn6.org/site/bookclub/

Music from Norway ranges from composer Edvard Grieg to Subwoolfer and I love them both:

· Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 by Edvard Grieg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyM2AnA96yE

· “Give That Wolf A Banana” by Subwoolfer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJjo8s3fKUM

Norwegian Edvard Munch painted one of the most famous artworks of all time, The Scream. I enjoyed the article by The Khan Academy giving some background and the video on another work by Munch, The Storm:

· The Scream: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/symbolism-artnouveau/norway/a/munch-the-scream

· The Storm: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/symbolism-artnouveau/norway/v/munch-the-storm-1893

There is plenty to see and do in Norway as illustrated by the Rick Steves videos:

· Oslo: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/oslo

· Olso, Bergin, and the Fjords: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/norways-west-fjords-mountains-and-bergen

And for the snapshot of the best places in Norway, see The Crazy Tourist: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-norway/

I’ve been wanting to go to Norway ever since my childhood classmate Minda (also Norwegian) said she was going on a cruise of the fjords to honor her heritage. I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Norway and throughout the world.

Photo credit: John O’Nolan https://unsplash.com/photos/6f_ANCcbj3o