Norwegian culture should be understood in the context of Norwegian history as well as Norwegian geography. The unique Norwegian farm culture resulted not only from scarce resources and a harsh climate, but also from Norway's ancient property laws, which sustained a unique character still visible in Norway today. This unique character resulted in a strong romantic nationalistic movement in the 18th century which is visible to this day in the Norwegian language and media.

Norwegian culture is very egalitarian, and this has both positive and negative effects.

Celebrations

Norwegians celebrate their national day on May 17, dedicated to the Constitution of Norway. Many people wear bunad (traditional costumes) and most participate in or watch the Norwegian Constitution Day parade that day , consisting mostly of children, through the cities and towns. The national romanticist author Henrik Wergeland was the founder of the 17 May parade.

Common Christian holidays are also celebrated, the most important being Christmas (called Jul in Norway after the pagan and early Viking winter solstice) and Easter.

Jonsok (St. John's Passing), or St. Hans (St. John's Day), i.e. 24 June, is also a commonly revered holiday. It marks midsummer and the beginning of summer vacation, and is often celebrated by lighting bonfires the evening before.

Music of Norway

Music based on traditional Norwegian form usually includes minor or modal scales (sometimes mixed with major scales), making a sober and haunting sound. Pure major key dance music forms also exist. Prior to the 1700s, there is scant written record of what kind of music was played in Norway, but there is a large aural tradition. In 1380, Norway had come under Danish rule, and thus had no royal house or nobility of its own; as a result, for 450 years, Norway did not participate as much in the musical development which occurred in royal (or "cultured") circles throughout the rest of Europe. Religious and traditional (folk) music were dominant throughout this era in rural areas, though again scant records exist to document their nature. In the last half of the 20th century, Norway, like many other countries in the world, underwent a roots revival that saw indigenous music being revived.

Traditional (Folk) music

Folk music in Norway falls into two main categories based in the ethnic populations from which they spring: North Germanic and Sami.

Traditional Sami music is centered around a particular vocal style called joik. Originally, joik referred to only one of several Sami singing styles, but in English the word is often used to refer to all types of traditional Sami singing. Its sound is comparable to the traditional chanting of some American Indian cultures.

Traditional North Germanic Norwegian vocal music includes (kvad), ballads and short, often improvised songs (stev) are among the most common types of traditional music. Work songs, hymns, tralling vocals and old printed ballad stories, skillingsviser, have also been popular.

Norway shares a Nordic dance music tradition with its neighbouring countries of Sweden and Denmark, where the Hardanger fiddle (hardingfele), the most distinctive instrument in Norwegian folk music, is used along with other fiddles like the standard violin and Setesdals-fele. The hardingfele was part of kappleik musical contests from the late 19th century.

Traditional dances are normally referred to as bygdedans (village or regional dance) and include halling, pols, springleik, rull, gangar and springar. These dances, sometimes called "courting dances" were often connected to the important events of rural (farming) life: weddings, funerals and cyclical feasts like Christmas.

In the second half of the 19th century, some fiddlers, especially those from Voss and Telemark, significantly Lars Fykerud (who eventually moved to Stoughton, Wisconsin in the United States and then returned to Telemark late in life), began introducing more expressive ways of playing, turning the traditional slått music to concert music for the urban classes.

At the same time, new dances and tunes were imported from Europe, including the fandango, reinlender, waltz, polka and mazurka. Recent scholarship suggests that a number of these forms may have originally been brought to Norway by Romani (known in Norwegian by the pejorative term, "Tatters"), among them the fiddler Karl Fant. These forms are now known as runddans (round dances) or gammeldans (old dances).

Perhaps the most popular and controversial of modern Hardanger fiddle artists is Annbjørg Lien, who released her first album, Annbjørg in 1989. The album featured Helge Førde and Frode Fjellheim and was both praised for its innovative fusion work and expressive style, and criticized for its watering-down of traditional sounds and a lack of regional tradition.

Our national symbol of music is known as "The Æsop".

Other Norwegian traditional instruments include:

bukkehorn (goat horn)
harpeleik (chorded zither)
langeleik (box dulcimer)
lur (an older, trumpet-like instrument)
seljefløyte, a willow flute
tungehorn and Meråker (clarinets)
Norwegian harp


Literature

Several Norwegian authors have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, namely Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1903, Knut Hamsun in 1920 and Sigrid Undset in 1928 for Kristin Lavransdatter. Though he was not awarded a Nobel Prize for his plays, as the first of these were awarded after he published his last play in 1899, playwright Henrik Ibsen is probably the most famous figure in Norwegian literature. Ibsen wrote plays such as Peer Gynt, A Doll's House and The Lady from the Sea.

Also of importance to the Norwegian literary culture is the Norse literature, and in particular the works of Snorre Sturlason , as well as the more recent folk tales, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the 19th century.

Leisure

Physical culture is also important in one of the most prosperous nations in the world. In terms of the opportunities for enjoying leisure, few countries compare with Norway. With great forests and wide mountain plateaus for winter pleasure and extensive coastal areas and rivers for summer recreation, Norway provides a natural environment which encourages outdoor sports and to a large degree hiking. Many Norwegians own at least one pair of skis, and the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association stands strong.

Cooking

Norway's culinary traditions show the influence of long seafaring and farming traditions with salmon (fresh and cured), herring (pickled or marinated), trout, codfish and other seafood balanced by cheeses, dairy products and excellent breads (predominantly dark/darker). Lefse is a common Norwegian potato flatbread, common around Christmas. For renowned Norwegian dishes, see lutefisk, smalahove, pinnekjøtt, Krotekaker and fårikål.

National flower

Norway has two national flowers.

At an international congress for botanists held in Amsterdam in 1935, Saxifraga cotyledon was elected national flower of Norway. Later, in 1976, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation held a referendum on one of their programs which elected Calluna vulgaris, commonly known as heather, as national flower.

Both plants are accepted as national flowers.

Saxifraga:


Calluna: