SCANDINAVIAN SAMPLER

Explore Scandinavian Languages and Culture

Portland State University – Cramer Hall

FRIDAY, March 17, 2006

“Ni Liv” (Nine Lives, in English sub-titles)

This 1957 Norwegian film classic recounts the experiences of wartime resistance hero, Jan Baalsrud. He was born in Oslo in 1917. After studying cartography in Germany, Jan returned to Norway in 1939. After the German Nazis invaded and occupied Norway, he joined the Resistance and was forced to flee to Sweden, which stayed neutral during World War II. Jan served as a clandestine courier between Stockholm and Oslo. The Norway Government operated in exile in London.

Jan was trained as a saboteur and attacked German installations via British boats disguised as Norwegian fishing boats. These missions were launch from the Shetland Islands in very rough seas. Jan had to get to London, to get started on sabotage operations, but had to be discrete about his route, so the Soviet ambassador in Stockholm arranged for a convoluted long trip: Stockholm, South Africa, United States, then London. The missions were very dangerous and unexpected perils and challenges were too common (e.g., long treks over the mountains during the bitterly cold Norwegian winters). Jan came very close to death several times. He always found strangers willing to help him, at great risk to themselves.

SATURDAY, March 18, 2006

MORNING LANGUAGE SECTION (9:45 am – noon):

Introduction to Danish, Inger M. Olsen, PSU

Introduction to Finnish, Marjo Northrup, PSU

Introduction to Norwegian, Thomas Birnie, PSU

Introduction to Swedish, Gunilla Wildey, PSU

MORNING CULTURE SECTION (9:45 am – noon):

Leaving an Indelible Mark: Oslo and Her Writers, Thomas Birnie, PSU

Fins, Finns, and Astorians, Greg Jacob, PSU

Negotiation, Mediation, and Arbitration in Njal’s Sage, Les Swanson, PSU

Edvard Munch’s Life as Shown in His Paintings, Johanna Fedde, PSU (retired)

(FYI…the note-taker did not attend the morning session as he was in Danish 'class' and that is the reason why he cannot comment on those talks).

AFTERNOON CULTURE SECTION (12:20 pm – 3:30 pm):

Against Norse Pessimism: Comedy in the Eddas, Katya Amato, PSU

Although scholars and mythographers have viewed Norse Mythology as pessimistic
and dark, a closer look at the Eddas will show a realistic view of the world
and many comic moments. The realism can be seen in creation stories where life is cold, dangerous, and full of death. For example, Evil is viewed as existing as part of the landscape since the start of time. Norse mythology focused on its gods (“Aesir”) and their war against the giants (unlike Greek mythology, where human affairs were common). The gods steal food and resources from the giants.

Another realism example comes from the story of Odin and his brothers killing all the Frost Giants, but one escaped. From Ymir’s (pronounced “Emir”), fallen body, came forth the Earth, rocks, water, and sky. “Yggdrasil” describes a “tree of life.” Odin hangs from this “tree” for nine days and nine nights in order to gain wisdom from the nine worlds. “Nidhogg” (or serpents) always gnawed at the roots of Yggdrasil. When Odin, Vili, and Ve give life to two pieces of driftwood and these become the first human beings, the gods do not give them anything else.

Another realism example is Ragnarok (or Judgement Day), which marked the end of the gods. The world, and the gods, would die with the sky in flames. The gods die a noble death in protecting the people. Then the Earth is reborn and green again. Hence, destruction was necessary for creation. More than one Ragnarok would occur. Hence, time exists beyond the known worlds.

The comic moments are many, including Thor's acting as a crossdresser-bride to get his hammer back. Another story is of Loki becoming a mare in heat to seduce a stallion and produce Sleipnir, the great eight-legged horse of Odin.

August Bournonville: King of the Danish Ballet, Inger M. Olsen, PSU

August was born in 1805 (same year as Hans Christian Andersen) to a French father and Swedish mother. He lived in Paris, Vienna, London, and Stockholm. En route to London, August’s father, Antoine, stopped in Copenhagen in 1792. He became the Dance Director at the Royal Theatre. Antoine eventually married his housekeeper, Lovisa. They had their only son, August, who became a dancer like his father. Father and son went to Paris for a six-month tour in 1820 with a grant provided by the King.

August’s major accomplishments included the establishment of a school for children who trained to become ballet dancers, the establishment of a pension system for dancers (as the job was physically demanding and any form of post-career compensation was absent), and increased the status of dancers in general and for women in particular (a dancer was considered a whore in the rest of Europe). August kept dancing until he was 43 years old. His father danced until he was 56 years old. On his deathbed, Antoine asked for his son, August, to dance for him.

“To Kill a Child”, Gunilla Wildey, PSU

This story was written in 1948 by Stig Dagerman on behalf of the Swedish National Society of Road Safety. The story involved a man and women driving to the coast and accidentally striking a 10 year-old boy who is killed. The story was adapted as a film in 1953 for distribution for the schools. A portion of an updated version of the film was shown to our audience.

In 1997, the “Vision Zero” policy set as a goal for no one killed or injured on Sweden’s roads. Since then, major fences were installed along major roads, and select rocks and trees removed to prevent or minimize the impact of head-on collisions. Drivers licenses are issued when people turn 18 years old, but not younger. As a result of these actions, the death rate from car accidents has fallen from 955 per year (1950) to 480 per year.

Arctic Interactions: My Experiences with the Sami, Grace Eagle Reed

The Sami (formerly called “Lap-Landers”) are nomadic indigenous people that follow reindeer herds as the core component of their culture, much like the buffalo was the core element of the Plains Indians or the salmon to the Pacific Northwest Indians. Grace followed the Sami and their reindeer.

The Sami now have their own flag, nation, and parliament, but still struggle to define themselves as a people and culture from the rest of Scandinavia. There are Fishing Samis, Farming Samis, and Reindeer Samis. Samples of Sami clothing, paintings, drawings, and books were passed around the room.

The plight of the Sami is very similar to the Native American tribes in the United States. The Sami culture underwent a transition from traditional ways, to assimilation by the Scandinavian countries and Russia, then re-emergence began in the 1960s and accelerated by 1992 (Olympic Games, in Lillehammer, Norway).

There was one tense instance, when Grace and company were stopped by Russian authorities, at the end of the Cold War. The Russians looked on with great suspicion with an American embedded with the Sami. Once Grace revealed that she was part Native American, the Russians treated her with great kindness and curiosity (the Russians asked “We’ve always wanted to visit Disneyworld, can you help us?” type questions).

Today, there are 70,000 Sami, with 17,000 in Sweden, 45,000 in Norway, 5,000 in Finland, and 2,000 in Russia. The Sami language (Euro-Finnish base) was strictly oral, until recently, and can be traced back over 5000 years. The Sami have multiple words for snow and reindeer. Other Sami talents include carved snow paintings. These paintings, like the Navajo sand paintings, take time but are destroyed with the next snow-storm.

Finland 1945-2000: Makeover from Poverty to Affluence, Christine Perala, WaterCycle

In 1947, “This is Finland” was published to chronicle Finland at the time and describe the Finnish experience in surviving World War II. Finland suffered through two war fronts at the same time: first, the Soviet Red Army pounded the Finns in 1942-1944, and then the German Nazi war machine, which destroyed 90% of Finland’s infrastructure as they retreated. Finland had effectively been bombed back into the Stone Age. Finnish-Americans sent many care packages after World War II to Finland.

The Soviet Union insisted that Finland pay $300 million to Russia for “war damages.” The Russians wanted goods more so than money, and ice-breaker ships in particular. There was no way that Finland could build such ships. So, the United States loaned $100 million to Finland so the Finns could build ice-breaker ships. The Soviets gave a $125,000 credit per completed ship, even though it cost the Finns $250,000 to produce each ship. In 1952, the last debt installment payment was made. The total cost to Finland to pay off this debt to the Russians came to $1 billion (2% of Finland’s GNP).

Finland, now debt-free, had economic and industrial capacity, so Finland pondered how it would market itself to the world. The Russians strictly forbad Finland to develop a military capability. That policy suited Finland, as they could then focus on their economic development. As a result, Finland was one of the few non-aligned nations during the Cold War—not aligned with NATO nor with the Warsaw Pact.

Finland’s emphasis during the 1950s through 1980s was on education and governance, and produced one of the highest rates of literacy in the world. Developments in recent years include high technology, ice-breaker hull design, medicine, bio-technology, health care, nano-technology, material and environmental engineering, and mobile communications (Nokia employs 3% of all Finnish workers). Since the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Finland has moved toward building a military. Trying to balance East-West values is still a struggle for contemporary Finnish society. For more info: http://www.virtualfinland.fi.

Note-taker: Kyle Dittmer, Danish Brotherhood-in-America, Lodge #167