Traditions
Norway holds on to many of its cultural traditions and
it's not
uncommon to see elaborate folk costumes worn at weddings and other festive
events.
Traditional folk dancing, singing and storytelling (often featuring trolls)
are also popular.
Food
Norwegian dishes include laks (grilled or smoked salmon), reker
(boiled shrimp) and torsk (cod). Popular at Christmas time is lutefisk (dried cod made
near-gelatinous by soaking in
lye), which is definitely an acquired taste. A common sight on most breakfast
tables is
sweet brown goat cheese called geitost and pickled herring. Alcohol may be
hard to find in
some rural communities where virtual prohibition is the norm.
Music
Any account of popular music In Norway has to begin with a-ha, the only
Norwegian band which has achieved resounding international success and has
created songs of real quality.
But a-ha is not alone. Lene Marlin, a teenager from Tromsø in north Norway
is indisputably talented and the newcomers in the pop-band Briskeby show signs
of promise. Bel Canto has also received some degree of international
recognition and the rather more sombre rock group Madrugada is becoming known
both at home and abroad. In the field of jazz Norway has a shining star in
saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
Film
Polar bears do not stalk the streets of Norway, not even in films, despite
the country's far north location and its icy, stormy climate. In the context
of films, so little separates Norway from the rest of the world that had it
not been for the country's publishers, far fewer films would have been made.
More than half of new film projects spring from literature, which inspires and
entices filmmakers into creating new visual interpretations.
Language
Of Norway's population of a little more than four million, 95 per cent
speak Norwegian as their native language. Everyone who speaks Norwegian,
whether it be a local dialect or one of the two standard official languages
(Bokmål, Dano-Norwegian,
and Nynorsk, New Norwegian), can be understood by
other Norwegians. In Norway - as in other countries - not everyone understands
everyone equally well, and in particular people from the capital, Oslo, claim
that they have a tough time understanding their countrymen from rural areas,
while those from non-urban areas have no problem understanding the language of
Osloites. In the areas where Norwegian is spoken, there are no real language
barriers. However, the minority Sami language is not related to Norwegian, and
it is incomprehensible to Norwegian speakers who have not learned it.
Christmas
Like the other Scandinavian countries, Norway has its gift-bearing little
gnome or elf. Known as Julebukk or "Christmas buck," he appears as a goat-like
creature. Julebukk harkens back to Viking times when pagans worshipped Thor
and his goat. During pagan celebrations a person dressed in a goatskin,
carrying a goat head, would burst in upon the party and during the course of
evening would "die" and return to life.
During the early Christian era, the goat began to take the form of the devil,
and would appear during times of wild merry-making and jubilation. By the end
of the Middle Ages, the game was forbidden by the Church and the state. In
more recent times the goat has emerged in the tamer form of Julebukk.
National Anthem
To listen the national anthem click
here.
Norway