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The Sami | Who are they?

The Sami is the common name used for a set of ancient hunter-fisher-gatherer groups living in the historical and borderless territory of Sapmi. Sapmi stretches across sections of today’s Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

Historically, there have been at least 10 different Sami sub-languages and sub-cultures. Today, the Sami are particularly associated with the reindeer and reindeer hunting, and in more recent centuries, also reindeer herding. However, this is too narrow a description of Sami history and culture; hunter-fisher-gatherers, in the widest sense, is a more accurate starting point when exploring the fascinating history of the Sami peoples.

Today’s overall Sami population is estimated to be between 80,000 and 115,000: 50,000 to 65,000 in Norway, 20,000 to 40,000 in Sweden, 8,000 in Finland, and 2,000 in Russia. In Norway, around 3,000 people are currently actively working with the herding of semi-domesticated reindeer.

The traditional Sami way of life continued well into modern times and serves as a fascinating gateway into the ancient ways of the hunter-fisher-gatherers of Norway’s early history.

In 1988, the Norwegian national parliament added a new clause to the Norwegian constitution, specifically mentioning Sami rights: «The authorities of the state shall create conditions enabling the Sami people to preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life».

A Norwegian Sami Assembly was established in 1989.

NRO.A.8.01 | nrk.no | stortinget.no | Store Norske Leksikon snl.no.

Growth of the soil - Author Knut Hamsun - Translator Sverre Lyngstad. | © Penguin Classics - Amazon.com.

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James Arness | Western hero and Norwegian Viking

Are you hailing from Sykkylven in Møre og Romsdal, Norway? Well, then you might be related to the great film and television icon that was James Arness – and his younger brother, the TV and film actor Peter Graves.

James Arness got his first film role in the 1947 movie The farmer’s daughter, starring Loretta Young and Joseph Cotton; mainly because he knew how to speak English with a Scandinavian accent.

That James Arness identified as a Norwegian is clear from the very first paragraph of his autobiography: “When my grandfather landed at Ellis Island in 1887, his name was Peter Aursnes“.

James Arness was the grandson of Peder Andreas Olsen Aursnes, born in 1860 at Aursnes in Ørskog Sykkylven, Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

In America, grandfather Peder Aursnes simplified his surname from Aursnes to Aurness. On his way to Hollywood, James took it one step further, and Aurness became Arness.

NRO.A.15.01 | Arness, James – Wise jr, James E. James Arness – an autobiography. McFarland & Company Inc 2001.

Norwegian words | Illegitimate and legitimate | Uekte – ekte

In old Norwegian birth records, you normally find one of two words recorded next to the name of every newborn child: uekte – or – ekte.

In this context, uekte and ekte mean illegitimate and legitimate – as in a child born out of or in wedlock.

To rub it in, the registrar, often the local priest, usually underlined the word uekte.

NRO.A.14.01

Norwegian man killed in 1964 muskox attack

After several failed attempts – and without a Scandinavian presence since the Ice Ages – the endangered muskox species was successfully reintroduced into the Norwegian fauna around 1950. The animals came from Greenland – and the main Norwegian muskox habitat is the mountain area of Dovre.

On 22 July 1964, a stray muskox bull killed 73-year-old Ole P. Stølen from Oppdal, Trøndelag, Norway. Local authorities later shot the animal to prevent further attacks.

The muskox’s mating season begins in late June and peaks in mid-August. The dominant bull fights and drives away opponents from the herd. It was probably a stressed and evicted muskox bull that attacked Ole P. Stølen on that fatal day.

When a group of five curious locals approached the bull at close range, it made a furious attack. It first hit Stølen in the back.

Initially, Stølen seemed unharmed, stood up, grabbed a stone, and tried to shoo the animal away. That was his second and fatal mistake. The bull charged again. This time, it hit Stølen in the front, a blow that threw Stølen’s body several metres through the air and down a slope. The animal stood still for quite some time, preventing the shocked bystanders from getting to their neighbour.

The police and an ambulance were called and arrived shortly thereafter, but there was nothing to be done: Ole Stølen had lost his life.

The bull moved away from the spot and towards a more densely populated area. The police took no chances and ordered the animal shot.

Ole Pedersen Stølen was born on 13 May 1891 in Oppdal, and his final resting place is within the Oppdal cemetery.

NRO.A.13 | Adresseavisen. 1964.07.23 page 1. Nasjonalbiblioteket nb.no. | Glåmdalen. 1964.07.23 page 1. Nasjonalbiblioteket nb.no.

Norway – Oslo | Walk the pilgrim trail from Oslo to Trondheim

Norway’s capital city, Oslo, is one of many starting points for the pilgrim paths that lead to St Olav’s Cathedral – Nidarosdomen – in the mid-Norwegian city of Trondheim. From Oslo, you can walk through half of Norway’s long-stretched and beautiful landscape, passing through forests, valleys and mountainous scenery.

The patron saint of Oslo is Saint Hallvard. Hallvard was killed in AD 1043, during a failed attempt at saving a pregnant slave woman accused of theft.

The name Oslo is believed to mean either the flatland of the gods – or – the flatland under the hill.

NRO.A.12

Norwegian wood | The art of chopping, stacking, and drying firewood

In addition to writing bestseller historical novels and more, Norwegian writer Lars Mytting has penned a fascinating non-fiction book about the art of chopping, stacking, and drying firewood.

Norway has long, dark, and cold winters, and the historical Norwegian household needed large amounts of firewood to keep warm.

In his 1815 book about practical farming, Norwegian farmer and army officer Lorentz Diderich Klüwer wrote: “Firewood cut and prepared during January is the best, as it contains a minimum of sap. It gives off more heat – and burns longer.”

Lars Mytting expands on and details this valuable knowledge – passing on the torch from his Norwegian ancestors.

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NRO.A.11

Queen Maud of Norway | A young lady on the Isle of Wight

Once upon a time, when Queen Maud of Norway was still Princess Maud of Wales, she was visiting her grandmother at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

A charity bazaar was organised close by, and young Maud took part and oversaw one of the stands.

Before long, a young officer stopped by and bought a couple of the things that she had on offer. Then, he tried very hard to strike up a conversation.

‘I am certain that I know you,’ he said when all other attempts had failed. ‘Does your family live nearby?’

‘No, I am staying with my grandmother,’ the princess responded.

‘Ah, then I am sure to know her, as I know most people hereabouts,’ the officer continued reassuringly. ‘What is her name? I will visit her.’

First, a smile came over the princess’s face – then a crushing response: ‘Queen Victoria.’

The unfortunate and embarrassed young man turned around in a split second – and was gone like a shot.

NRO.A.10.01 | Cassell’s Saturday Journal – Gjengangeren – nb.no. 1909.08.26 page 1.

The Sami | Injustice and the king’s apology

In recent years, the Norwegian authorities have actively sought to address many of the past wrongs committed against the Sami peoples. Like many minorities around the world, the Sami suffered ridicule and forced assimilation.

In 1997, King Harald 5 of Norway stood before the Norwegian Sami Assembly to publicly apologise for the appalling behaviour of the Norwegian majority, particularly over the previous two centuries.

This is part of King Harald’s speech: «The Norwegian state is founded upon the territories of two peoples – the Norwegians and the Sami. Sami history is closely interwoven with Norwegian history. – Today, we must apologise for the injustice previously inflicted upon the Sami people by the Norwegian authorities – through a hard assimilation policy. – The Norwegian State, therefore, has a particular responsibility for facilitating the Sami people’s ability to build a strong and viable society. This is a historical right based on the Sami’s presence in their cultural regions, which stretches far back in time».

Today, the Sami sub-cultures and identities are experiencing a resurgence. However, for many, the wounds of the past remain difficult to heal.

NRO.A.9.01 | nrk.no | stortinget.no | Store Norske Leksikon snl.no.

Are Santa Claus’s reindeer all female?

Normally, both the female and the male reindeer grow and lose a new set of antlers every year.

The reindeer bull starts growing his antlers in March-April – and loses them after the mating season in late autumn.

The reindeer cow keeps her antlers throughout the winter – until after she has given birth in May-June. A new set is usually complete by late August.

The reindeer calves start growing antlers a month after they are born. In their first annual cycle, they keep them until early in the following year.

So yes, Santa Claus’s reindeer are probably all female – as they have antlers in December.

NRO.A.7.01

Growth of the soil | Homesteading in the Norwegian mountains

As a young person growing up in Norway, my dream was to emigrate and become a homesteader somewhere in the North American wilderness. The problem was that I was born 100 years too late. An alternative escape was to read books and continue dreaming.

One of the books I read was Knut Hamsun’s Growth of the Soil – Markens Grøde – the novel that earned him the 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature. In the novel, we meet Isak, who creates his homestead kingdom somewhere in the Norwegian mountains.

When nearly one million Norwegians emigrated in the 1800s and early 1900s – primarily to North America – their ancestors had already been homesteading across the Norwegian landscape for thousands of years.

Recently, I reread Hamsun’s momentous novel, this time in English, translated by Sverre Lyngstad, who has translated several of Knut Hamsun’s books into English. The book had lost none of its glow. It remains a vital part of the journey of my life.

– LA Dahlmann

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NRO.A.6.01

Norway – Oslo | Casey Kasem’s eternal resting place

Those of you familiar with the Scooby-Doo character Shaggy – and the radio program America’s Top 40 – will know the voice of the great voice artist and radio personality Casey Kasem (1932-2014).

In 2014, as fate would have it, Casey Kasem was laid to rest in Norwegian soil, at the peaceful and beautiful Vestre Gravlund cemetery in Oslo.

On 19 October 1985, it was Casey Kasem who announced the pop group A-ha, and their song “Take on me”, as the first Norwegian number 1 act in US chart history.

To Casey Kasem we would like to say: “You and your voice were and is a gift, even in a faraway land like Norway. We are proud to have you amongst us.

NRO.A.5

Norwegian to English dictionary | The best for genealogists

In North America and other parts of the world, there are millions of descendants of the nearly 1 million Norwegians who emigrated in the 1800s and early 1900s.

In family homes worldwide, there are diaries, letters, and postcards stashed away – historical documents written in a family language long since forgotten.

An old letter is like a time capsule, a direct link to the person who wrote it – and can often tell us much more than any old photo.

Whether you are studying old Norwegian documents or are interested in the Norwegian language, Einar Haugen’s Norwegian-English dictionary may be the tool for you.

Einar Haugen’s Norwegian-English dictionary was first published in 1965 by the Norwegian publishing house Universitetsforlaget, and it is still in print.

The dictionary includes older style and dialect words. Words like laup, tjuagutt, budrått, and eldhus will not appear in more contemporary dictionaries.

Here, at norwegianroots.no, we sometimes use the book when stumbling upon unfamiliar Norwegian dialect words in Norwegian texts; we are Norwegians using Einar Haugen’s dictionary to understand Norwegian – via English. How about that?

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NRO.A.4.01

The old Norwegian farm | Summer and winter

Today, the Norwegians think of the year in terms of 4 main seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. However, the old Norwegian working calendar divided the year into two equal halves: summer and winter.

The summer started on 14 April, on what the old Norwegians called sommermål, sommerdag, or sommernatt. The first day of winter was 14 October, called vintermål, vinterdag, or vinternatt.

Midsummer’s Eve fell on 13 July – and Midwinter’s Eve on 13 January (some sources say 12 January).

The Norwegian winters are dark and cold, with the ground often frozen solid and covered with snow. Therefore, the farmers had to sow, gather, and harvest enough food during an intense summer, to tide both people and farm-animals over the winter.

NRO.A.3.01

Norway – Oslo | The Monarch and the Royal Household

Oslo is home to the Norwegian monarch and the royal household. The Norwegian Royal House has three residences within the city borders: a palace, a farm, and a lodge – The Royal Palace, Bygdøy Royal Farm, and The Royal Lodge.

To understand this set-up, we must go back to Queen Consort Maud, wife of King Haakon 7, the first Norwegian king and queen after Norway’s full independence in 1905. Queen Maud was not one for stuffy palaces; she was an active outdoors person, enjoying gardening, riding, and skiing as often as her schedule permitted.

NRO.A.2.01

A Norwegian emigrant and his sweetheart | 1895

In 1868, a poor 22-year-old young man from a small cotter’s holding – husmannsplass – under a farm in Romerike, Norway, emigrated to America. The main reason for the boy’s departure, was his loving relationship with the farmer’s daughter – a girl his own age. Sadly, the girl’s father would not give his blessing to this socially unacceptable liaison.

No one had heard much from him until his unexpected return to Norway for a brief visit in 1895, 27 years later. He had done well for himself in America and had become a prosperous property owner.

Upon his return to Norway, both he and his beloved were still unmarried. The lovers rekindled their relationship and got married.

Soon after, they travelled across the Atlantic to live together as husband and wife in their new homeland.

NRO.A.1.01 | Moss Avis. 1895.07.13 page 3. Nasjonalbiblioteket nb.no.

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