Cultural and natural heritage protection (Kulturminnevern og kulturlandskapsvern)

Worldwide, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) promotes the protection of cultural and natural heritage. There are five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Norway: the Urnes Stave Church, the Bryggen buildings in Bergen, the mining town of Røros, the rock pictographs at Alta and the Vega Archipelago at Vegaøyan. For descriptions of these and other sites round the world, contact the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, place de Fontenoy, F-75352 Paris, France, Tel: +33 145681571, Fax: +33 145685570, www.unesco.org, wh-info@unesco.org. For information on protection in the Nordic countries, contact the Nordic World Heritage Foundation (NWHO) at the offices of the Directorate of Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren) in Oslo, PO Box 8196 Dep, 0034 Oslo, Tel: 22940580, Fax: 22940581, www.nwhf.no, nwho@ra.dep.no.

Most cities have departments of cultural heritage; look under Byantikvaren in the Pink Pages. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren) is responsible at the national level. At either the local or the national level, a building or site may be listed (fredet) as being historically or culturally important and thereby be protected against major alterations or demolition.

The Directorate for Nature Management (Direktoratet for naturforvaltning) is responsible for natural heritage throughout the country and accordingly lists landscapes to be protected. For information, contact its head office, Tungsletta 2, 7485 Trondheim, Tel: 73580500, Fax: 73580501, www.naturforvaltning.no, postmottak@dirnat.no.

Two associations are concerned with cultural and natural heritage protection. The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments (Fortidsminneforening) was founded in 1844 and arguably is the world’s oldest cultural heritage society. It owns historic sites throughout the country, publishes a magazine and a yearbook and arranges historical site activities. Moreover, the benefits of membership include free admission to the Urnes stave church listed by UNESCO and other sites owned by the association, and rental of a flat in Røros. It has affiliated groups throughout the country, and a head office in Oslo, Dronningensgt 11, 0152 Oslo, Tel: 22422732, Fax: 22421984, www.fortidsminneforeningen.no, hovedadm@fortidsminneforeningen.no. Norwegian Cultural Heritage (Norsk Kulturarv) focuses on preservation through active use (verngjennom bruk), Klones, 2680 Vågå, Tel: 61232033, Fax: 61232089, www.kulturarv.no, post@kulturarv.no.

Drinking bout (Utdrikningslag)

By tradition, friends hold a drinking party for a bride or groom on the eve of the wedding, to signify the end of single status. The party usually starts at a favoured restaurant or at the home of a friend, suitably decorated for the occasion, as with old photos, the more embarrassing the better. Dress is seldom formal and often outlandish; the evening’s entertainment usually includes songs and the giving of ridiculous gifts; and the high point of the evening is a practical joke on the guest of honour. Throughout the evening, alcoholic drink is liberally served. Hence the name utdrikningslag, literally “drinking-out party”.

Drunkenness (Fyll)

Compared with other countries, alcohol consumption is low. In the statistical measure of equivalent litres of pure alcohol consumed per year per capita, Norway’s figure of around 6 litres per year per capita ranks below the top 20 in the world as well as below the top 20 in Europe. Even when that figure is increased to account for smuggling, home brewing and tourist import, alcohol consumption is about half that in Luxembourg, Hungary, Ireland and the Czech Republic, the leading consumers in Europe as well as the world.

Nonetheless, drunkenness is a conspicuous aspect of national behaviour that has long been recognised and questioned. Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), the outstanding Scandinavian author of his time, claimed both by Norway (where he was born) and Denmark (where he died), commented upon it in Jeppe of the Hill (Jeppe paa Berget), a parody play on Norwegian character first performed in 1722. In it a character remarks that “the people of the township say that Jeppe drinks, but they don’t say why Jeppe drinks”.

There are many speculations as to “why Jeppe drinks”. One holds that there is no tradition of daily consumption, as of wine in France, so drinking is done in sporadic binges. But that is changing, in step with the country becoming more cosmopolitan. Wine accounts for an increasingly greater part of the overall consumption of alcoholic drink. In equivalent litres of pure alcohol, in 1990 wine accounted for a fifth of all sales, while it now accounts for about a third of all sales.

The economy (Økonomien)

Norway’s economy is a mix of free market capitalism and government intervention. The government controls key sectors, including oil (Chapter 8), through State enterprises and subsidises otherwise unprofitable sectors, such as farming and fishing. In several sectors, such as railways and telecommunications, government monopolies have been disbanded and privatised and markets have been deregulated. The country has the world’s second highest GDP per head, but also the world’s second highest cost of living.

An extensive National Insurance Scheme (Chapter 21) and other welfare measures contribute to public sector expenditure being about half the GDP, which in turn results in one of the world’s highest levels of taxation. The country has long depended on international trade and in addition to oil, is a major exporter of raw materials and semiprocessed goods and an importer of more than half its food. It has a maritime tradition that dates back to the time of the Vikings and now ranks among the leading shipping nations of the world. It is rich in natural resources, including oil, fish, forest, minerals and hydroelectric power.

Unemployment is about 4%, slightly more than half the 7% average for OECD countries. Inflation hovers just below 2%, which is slightly less than the OECD average of just above 2%.

Energy (Energi)

Despite its relatively small size, Norway is the world’s twelfth largest producer of energy in all its forms. Oil (Chapter 8) accounts for the bulk of the energy produced and exported, but the country also is a leading producer of electric power, almost all of it hydroelectric.

There are electric power generating plants in all 19 counties, and together they produce nearly 118 TWh (thousand million kilowatt-hours) a year, nearly all of it consumed within the country. Norway has a power sharing agreement with its Nordic neighbours, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Plans now call for an additional 7 TWh of electric power generation from wind power and other alternative sources, by the year 2010.

For comprehensive information on the energy sector, see The Energy Sector and Water Resources report published annually by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy; you can download the online edition from the Ministry’s website at www.odin.dep.no/oed or order the printed edition from Norway.no (Chapter 31).

Flag (Flagg)

The design of the flag is based on the Christian cross, as are the designs of the flags of all Nordic countries, and has a blue on white cross on a red background. The national flag (handelsflagg) is rectangular, of proportions 16 to 22 in height to width. The colour fields also have set proportions, in height 6 red, 1 white, 2 blue, 1 white and 6 red, and in length 6 red, 1 white, 2 blue, 1 white and 12 red. The state flag (statsflagg) has the same design but has a swallow-tail and tongue. It is flown only by public agencies and only on flag days (Public holidays and flag-flying days, Chapter 23).

Folk costumes (Bunad)

Like most folk costumes, the Norwegian bunad is a throwback to the everyday clothing of the past. But bunads have not retained their original utilitarian simplicity, but have evolved to a wide range of costumes, varying in style, cut, colouring and accessories, according to locale and the skills and tastes of their makers, and almost every area of the country had its own styles. But in the 19th century, manufactured cloth and garments replaced home-made products. The growing cities weakened bonds to rural roots. Emigration took its toll. The bunad seemed doomed to extinction, when it was single-handedly rescued by author Hulda Garborg (1862–1934). In her fellow city dwellers, Garborg saw a need for preserving the traditions slowly smothering in cities. In the late 1890s, she started a leikarring, or folk dance group, in Oslo. Folk dances should, of course, be done in folk costumes, which led Garborg to compile the first anthology on bunads, published in 1903. It was a best-seller. Garborg and one of her leikarring dancers, Klara Semb, started the folk dance movement that sparked the bunad renaissance. Today the result is that there are more known types and varieties of bunads than ever before. Some, like those from Setersdal, until recently one of the more isolated valleys, date back 300 years or more. Others, like the bunad from Baerum, a suburban township south-west of Oslo, were first designed in the late 1940s. Women’s bunads characteristically have skirts or dresses of double-shuttle weave wool, bodices or jackets of contrasting material over blouses and scarves. Sashes, purses, ornamental silver and traditional shoes and stockings complete the costume. Men’s bunads are three-piece knickerbocker suits, with matching or contrasting vests, knee-socks and traditional shoes. Fewer men than women own or wear bunads on the festive occasions for which they are now used. While the dark suit remains the standard formal attire for men, women still face the dilemma of what to wear for formal occasions; in Norway, a bunad is always correct. The widespread appeal of the bunad is matched by the ranging opinions on it. Traditionalists maintain that bunads from a particular district are properly owned and worn only by persons born and bred there: a bunad should match the dialect of its wearer. Moderates maintain that correct bunad style outweighs the circumstances of the wearer’s birth and upbringing: anyone can wear a bunad, provided that its style is correct. Radicals view the bunad as a style to be copied piecemeal into modern garments. Whether or not you are concerned with wearer identity, you may see and buy the real thing at home crafts and specialist clothing shops; look under Husflid or Bunader in the Yellow Pages.

Formal speeches and songs (Festtaler og sanger)

Foreigners and even many native-born Norwegians are perplexed by the penchant for formal speeches and songs, arguably the oddest aspect of socialising in the country. At any dinner party honouring one or more persons, such as a wedding, confirmation or birthday party, some of the guests, and often the hosts, give formal speeches, and often sing songs. At a dinner party, there are two warning signs of imminent speech-making and song-singing. If the table is long with place cards, you can expect speeches that will start sometime during the meal, when someone taps their glass with a knife and stands up to deliver their speech. If there is a party programme with songs at each place, you will be expected to sing. The speeches aren’t just a few laudatory words, as is the tradition in other countries, but usually are long-winded. The songs are words for the occasion, sung to popular melodies. The origin of the tradition is unknown, but it thrives and has even become a business, as there are books and websites on formal speeches and songs.

The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Norway is one of the few countries named in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (HHGTTG), the late 1970s BBC Radio science fiction series that has a cult following round the world and now is available in print, on CDs and on DVDs.

In the third and fourth of the first series of six programmes, called Fit the Third and Fit the Fourth, the galactic travellers visit the ancient world of Magrathea, a planet famed in legend for its trade in manufacturing other planets. There they meet Slartibartfast, the Magrathean coastline designer who won an award for his work on Norway.*

Slartibartfast describes his fascinating trade: “...doing the coastlines was always my favourite, used to heave endless fun doing all the little fiddly bits in fjords...Oh yes...did you ever go to a place...I think it’s called Norway? ... Pity...that was one of mine. Won an award you know, lovely crinkly edges”.

Indeed, Norway is known for its fjords, as on the cover of this book, and for its crinkly coastline, the remnant traces of the death throes of the last ice age. The scenery remains undeniably splendid, but, just as the Alps don’t tell the story of modern Switzerland, the fjords don’t tell the story of modern Norway. That story is what this book is about.

Homelessness (Bostedsløshet)

According to surveys conducted by the Norwegian Building Research Institute (Building information, Chapter 25), out of a population of about 4.6 million, there are about 5,200 homeless people. Three-quarters of the homeless are men and a quarter are women, and some 400 children live with homeless parents. These figures are based on the number of persons registered with social welfare organisations; the actual numbers may be higher. Most of the homeless are in the country’s seven largest cities of Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Tromsø and Drammen; many have moved in from rural districts and many have arrived as immigrants.

Legally, the social welfare organisations should provide lodgings for the homeless, but not all manage to within their budgets. Particularly in the cities, this is because housing has become extremely expensive and because only 4% of housing is rental. A person who cannot afford to buy a home probably cannot afford or find one to rent.

Fortunately, there is a safety net in that most homeless people qualify for and receive some social support or a pension, which is one reason why there seem to be few beggars.

Honesty and lawfulness (Ærlighet og lovlydighet)

Norwegians are traditionally viewed as honest, law-abiding folk. One of the classic travelogues, Norway,* expresses the favourable opinion that “the points about them [the Norwegians] that impressed me the most were their absolute honesty and the complete absence of servility.” This characteristic can still be found. In 1998, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik took sick leave due to the psychological stress of the pressures of his post, and admitted so publicly. He was praised at home and abroad for his forthright honesty.

Unfortunately, recent statistics and studies indicate that the old honesty and lawfulness are declining, notwithstanding the PM’s recent example. In 1975, there were some 30,000 crimes registered in Oslo; in 2002, the last year fully reported, the total was more than 105,000. Moreover, dishonesty has become more acceptable. In 1997, some 900 business administration students in Norway, Spain, the Czech Republic and the USA were asked if they would sacrifice ethics to attain or maintain success. Slightly more than a tenth of the women students answered “yes”. Of the men students, the Norwegians were the least bound by ethics: fully 42% answered “yes”, compared with 25% of the Americans, 22% of the Spanish and 18% of the Czech men.

Human Development Index

In 1995 and from 2001 to 2004, Norway was ranked the best country in which to live, according to the annual United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR), that in addition to GDP per head takes education, literacy, life expectancy, poverty and other factors into account. The HDR is published in seven editions – in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. You can order printed editions of the HDR and other UNDP reports from the Government Publications (Chapter 31) or download them from www.undp.org.

Humour (Humor)

The sense of humour of the country is continental European with a Nordic flavour. Since the time of dramatist and humorist Ludvig Holberg (1684–1754), humour has built on parody, particularly of insular habits and, more recently, of bureaucratic entanglements. The penchant for public debate of just about anything is second only to ridicule of it, and there are humorous songs about all professions, from bus drivers to the clergy.

Yet, by far, the country’s longest-running comedy is at once British and not British. Since 1980, Dinner for One, an aged British comedy sketch, has been shown on prime-time TV on the day before Christmas Eve. In it, a lonely upper-class Englishwoman, Miss Sophie (played by May Warden) holds a dinner every New Year’s Eve for four long-dead admirers. Her butler, James (played by Freddy Frinton) makes his way round the table, playing the four guests in turn. At each place, he drinks the guest’s share of the wine, becomes inebriated and repeatedly trips over a tiger skin on the floor. The black-and-white sketch, just 11 minutes long, was first recorded and broadcast in 1963 by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), the Hamburg-based German TV channel.

In Germany, it has become a cult show, shown up to five times on New Year’s Eve. In Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia and Norway, it also tops rankings. Though the actors are British, the soundtrack English and the scenario a parody of a British happening, Dinner for One is almost unknown in Great Britain.

But in Norway, it’s the most watched of all regular TV broadcasts. The affection for it is ubiquitous: the key exchange of its dialogue – “The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?” – “The same procedure as every year, James!” – has become part of everyday language, a synonym for routine that may surprise. And the public wants to keep it as it is, in black-and-white and in English: in 2001, a proposal to switch to a colour-enhanced version was soundly voted down by TV viewers. In 1992, when a programming error resulted in it being broadcast 15 minutes before its scheduled time, the Norwegian Broadcasting switchboard was so swamped by calls from annoyed viewers who had missed it that it was broadcast a second time, after the evening news.

Inventions (Oppfinnelser)

Through the years, many Norwegian inventions have gained world use. Many are specialised, perhaps out of necessity. Nautical historians recognise the styrboard (”steering-board”) at the aft right of a Viking ship as one of the first practical rudders as well as the origin of the word “starboard” for the right side of a ship. Chemists may know that the first commercially feasible fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in 1906 employed the process developed by physicist Kristian Birkeland and engineer Sam Eyde and spawned the modern fertiliser industry. Ski historians know that in 1923, ski racer Peter Østbye invented the first practical cross-country ski wax. But what of the common, everyday things that we all use? Ask almost any Norwegian, and you will learn of two, the cheese plane (ostehøvel) and the paper clip (binders). Indeed, in January 1999 Norway Post confirmed that belief by issuing two commemorative postage stamps, one for each of these great inventions; the cheese plane outlined on a blue background, the paper clip on a red background. Regrettably, as historians soon pointed out, the public and Norway Post were only half right. The cheese plane rightfully was invented in 1927 by Thor Bjørklund at his carpentry shop in Lillehammer, as he sought a better way to thinly slice the goat cheese in his daily packed lunch. Even the Dutch, who now produce and export as many cheese planes as do the Norwegians, admit that Norway was first. The paper clip is another matter. An invention commonly cited as first is that of Norwegian Johan Vaaler, who took out a patent in 1899 in Germany and in 1901 in the USA. The design was impractical; it was never manufactured. Its technical flaw was that the wire did not complete two full loops as in most of today’s paper clips and in the clip on the commemorative stamp, which is the feature that enables them to hold papers together. The earliest patent depicting the modern paper clip was issued in 1899 to William

Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. But this patent was not for the clip itself but rather for a machine to make it, which indicates that the design was widely known at that time. Although never patented, the design may have been introduced as early as 1883 by the Gem Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of England. Hence the trade name Gem, which persists to this day.

Jante Law (Janteloven)

Restraint in fear of recrimination lies deep, as persuasively argued in the works of Axel Sandemose (1899–1965), a Danish-born Norwegian experimental novelist. He went to sea in his youth, jumped ship in Newfoundland, and worked in a lumber camp before returning to Denmark to take up writing. He settled in Norway in 1929. Published in 1933, En flyktning krysser sitt spor (”A fugitive crosses his tracks”) contains the “Jante Law” that regulates the citizenry of Jante, the fictional small town symbolic of the conventional society of his childhood: “You who have grown up elsewhere can never fully appreciate the inevitability of the Jante Law. You will find it funny and will never know its deadly oppression of a working-class youth in Jante. With the 10 Jante Rules of the Jante Law, Jante holds its people down.” Here they are (author’s italics retained in translation):

• 1You shall not believe that you are something.
• 2You shall not believe that you are equal to us.
• 3You shall not believe that you are wiser than us.
• 4You shall not imagine yourself better than us.
• 5You shall not believe that you know more than us.
• 6You shall not believe that you can rise above us.
• 7You shall not believe that you are capable.
• 8You shall not laugh at us.
• 9You shall not believe that anyone cares about you.
• 10You shall not believe that you can teach us anything.

The Jante Law has become part of everyday lore as well as language: “to jante” is to be so overbearing as to impose the Law on others. Scandinavian social psychologists and management theorists now quote the Jante Law as an example of self-imposed restraints on human progress. The applicability of its 10 rules is perhaps more widespread.