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In my column History Stories today, I shall speak about Northern Norway (Nord-Norge). That`s also my own home region, which ensure this article to be complete objective 🙂


An image from my homeplace, in fact one of the buildings is my boathouse



This is perhaps the most contrasting region at all in Norway. The region is there where the summer collection can be either bikini and bathing on Mondays, and thick winter clothes and skiing on Tuesday, or contrary. Contrastful of light and darkness, from the summer's midnight sun to the Aurora Borealis darkness in winter.


Aurora Borealis in Lofoten Islands

Does this place on earth do have an history, of course it has, here too, there is a long line. One theory (among others) is that the first inhabitants of Norway, the first “Northerners”, in fact was coming east from the Kola peninsula, even before the ice age began to drop in southern parts about 12,000 years ago. The outermost coast in Finnmark has some of the oldest traces of humans. Probably these people followed reindeers and other preys.


The northeners do "it" before marriage.....

During the next 10 000 years or so, these peolpe lived peacefully together, ate their reindeers and polarbears, did their rock carvings and clubbed down their fiancèes until an late Wednesday summer-evening around 325 BC. Then a Greek explorer, Pytheas, arrived to the country where "the sun never goes Down!" They still dicuss whether it may have been Iceland, but he met people on this journey, and probably there were no people in Iceland at this time. But Good knows why this greek explorer did take this trip to the edge of world, did`nt he have sun enough where he came from?


May be I understand why Pytheas took his trip.....!


Later on the Viking age and national unification processes began. In History Stories, about the Sami, I told about Ottar from Nord-Norge, the merchant viking who visited king Alfred the Great in England. At that time, north-norwegian goods were very sought after in Europe. It could be leather and fur and it could be ivory of walrus. Later when Christianity spread around, and it was forbidden to eat meat during fasting, dried stockfish became an important exporting article. When king Harold Fairhair (around 900 BC) unified Norway, it was not really the whole country he picked up. In reality, he had to do this in political understanding with rich earldoms in the north. In fact, it was more a federation, between power centers, both in south and north. Later on, as the central kingdom strengthened their power throughout the Medieval Ages, the power (and unfortunally the money too) disappeared from the region. Perhaps one of the reasons why the Norhterners are sceptical toward nice-talking politicians and salesmens from the south?


Stockfish, the medieval oil...

After the loss of Norwegian independence in 1536, Nord-Norge was so peripheral that it could well have belonged to Sweden or Russia today. But an stubborn Danish (and Norwegian) king, Christian IV, fought a war in 1612 (the Kalmar war) against Sweden, where the main Casus Belli was control on Nord-Norge. The cause of war was, of course, too far away for the Danes and Swedes, so they took their battles on their own territory instead. A very good solution, asking me! The Swedes lost the war, they withdraw their claims on Nord-Norge and they lost the acces to the Barents Sea. Some years later the borders between Norway and Sweden was settled, and as late as 1826, the last boundary treaty was settled between Norway and Russia.

But still, we were a little bit outside the center. England sent her suspicious individuals and rebels to Australia and New Zealand. Denmark sent them to Nord-Norge, and the Swedes had to keep their suspicious ones at home. Which explains a lot!


"Maybe I should put it in a different way, speaking about the King...?"

Today the region, with its half million inhabitants, is a region in progress, with optimism and increased population. The tourist industry is increasing (the joke is; today we take Beijing, because they are all here), fish is exported like never before. Oil and gas, albeit controversial, also contribute economically. Unlike the very Christian southlandians, we may be the most sinful and foul-mouthed people in the nation. We use our salaries the first evening, and we have most children born outside of marriage. And we enjoy it!

Speaking of enjoying! Our most famous delicasy?
Its Lutefisk of course (cod, dried and saturated with lye and with a finish condition around pH 11-12). Heaven knows (or maybe it was the opposite place) how that was invented?


Enjoy the reading, and enjoy the life, like us Northerners!


The northerners are always prepared for summer, last year it occured from five to six o`clock PM.

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