Norwegian endonym Norge / Norðrvegr, is similarly derived from cognate Old Norse norðr, referring to this same sailing route, in contrast to the Norsemen's suðrvegar = southern way (suðr = south) used to sail to (& raid) Germany, and austrvegr = eastern way (austr=east) for the route to the Baltics, (all through the Norwegian, North & Baltic seas surrounding the Scandinavian peninsula.)
Norway is home to dramatic fjords, rugged, mythical stone mountains, the ancient Sámi peoples and vibrant modern
cities with a rich Viking history.
@ a glance essentials:
.
Language:
Norwegian
-
Nearly all Locals can speak excellent English.
Norwgn Krona
Water safety
Safe to Drink - Among the Cleanest in the World
Currency:
NOK
Local Transport
Metro, Bus, Tram & Trains are sufficient for the cities. Remote areas require a car
................................................... Det er helt Texas ! Literally, it translates That’s completely Texas! Inspired by old Wild West films, it means That's crazy! (...you know your state's🔍 infamous when it becomes a pejorative for insanity on the otherside of the globe.)
Best Local Expression -
Inhabited since the end of the last Ice Age, Indo-Europeans settled in what would become southern Norway ~3000 BC. These tribes developed the strong maritime culture of future Norsemen.† By the 8c AD the region contained in 9 petty realms🔍, from which the Viking raiders expanded their influence into modern day Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, the British Isles and as far west as Vinland, (todays Newfoundland, in Canada)
Harald Fairhair unified the Viking tribes in 872 AD into the first Norway kingdom🔍 , (which included much of those conquered Isles.)
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
................... Once the widest 'empire' of the globe, with Viking settlements reaching to America, Norway may still have the widest stretch of territory of any nation: from the Arctic Svalbard, most northern inhabitant land in the world to (uninhabited) Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic the world's most remote island*- a nature reserve and weather station.
FUN FACT:
Norway experienced a Golden Age in the 14c (despite organized feudalism never really developing like it did elsewhere.) It was arguably the most powerful nation in Europe, culminating in the Kalmar Union of 1397, orchestrated by Denmark, when King Magnus of Norway was also crowned King of Sweden, and the three became a single political unity.
This empire lasted until 1521 when Sweden broke away. A new union followed in 1537 with the creation of Denmark-Norway, and the "400-Year Night" were Norway endured harsh Copenhagen rule lasting until the Napoleonic wars when Denmark was forced to cede Norway to the Swedish Empire in 1814. In 1905 a peaceful separation of Norway and Sweden was negotiated and the modern Kingdom of Norway formed.
† Stone carvings of ships have been found dating all the way back to 1500 BC
* 1.7 K km 🔎north of Antartica, 2.6 K km from the southern coast of Arica and 2K+ km from it's nearest inhabited island neighbor, British Tristan da Cunha
Must Try Local Cuisine:
Salmon & Cured Fishes like Lutefisk (dried in lye) & Stockfish (unsalted, dried by cold & wind †)
Vafler - traditional heart shaped waffles ∞ Fårikål - mutton & cabbage ∞ Finnbiff - reindeer stew
Brunost (Brown Cheese) - sweet, caramelized cheese†† ∞ Raspeball - potato dumplings**
Lettrøkt Hvalkjøtt - smoked whale ∞ Smalahove - Sheep’s Head (tongue & eye most prized)
Klemmeost - squeezable cheese in a tube, w/ bacon, ham, tomato or pepper
Kjøttkaker - ginger/ nutmeg meatballs ∞ Trollkrem (Troll Cream) - lingonberry whipped egg-whites
Tilslørte Bondepiker**- whip-cream, apple sauce & breadcrumbs in a glass bowl so layers are visible
➿➰➿
† Surprisingly, Norway's responsible for Japanese sake; salmon sushi, which didn't exist until the 1980's. And the oldest form of fermenting fish was by cold-adapted bacteria
†† Made from whey, milk & cream it's technically not a cheese [as traditionally formed by the coagulation of the milk protein casein after the addition of rennet or similar bacterial enzymes, with solid curds then separated from liquid whey pressed into cheese]
* Traditionally served only on Thursdays, also called Klubb, Potetball, Kompe or Komle
** Meaning Veiled Peasant Girls after an 18c Norwegian poet was supposedly served the dish by a peasant & fell in love w/ the girl instantly because it was so delicious
SEE
DO TRY
&
VISIT
What to Where to Why . . .
Surprising Finds:
📍 A literal train to Hell, NO - small village outside Trondheim with ~1k residents. (I can't comment on the speed of the
train.) Given the devil's reputation for fiddling, it's only appropriate the town is host of the Hell Blues Festival.
📍 Floating Saunas 📸 - tiny cedar saunas built on flotillas bobbing on the freezing Oslsofjord, with people alternating
between the hot steam box & cold plunging in the bay
📍 Tubakuba - "rabbit hole" in Bergen, an architecture challenge to get children interested
in the woods. It's a small rabbit hole-esque cabin in the forest, designed to mimic a
tuba horn, with a Scandinavian minimalist interior perched on the edge of a cliff
📍 King's Guard Colonel-in-Chief; Brigadier Sir Nils Olav (III) - is a Scottish penguin! A
tradition tracing back to 1913 when Norway gifted Edinburgh Zoo a king penguin on
it's opening. Since 1972 the regiment has adopted a zoo penguin as it's chief†
† Sir Nils is not alone in his animal military service: William “Billy” Windsor (a goat) served in the British Army &
a Syrian brown bear, Wojtek, was enlisted in the Polish army (1st as a private, but promoted to corporal)
My Favorite Spots:
📍 Deichman Library | Oslo 📸 - glass walls & amazing views over the fjord
📍 Stave Churches like Urnes | Ornes - among the oldest in Norway, dating to
the late 11c Borgund Stave Church - best-preserved of the staves, c. 1180
& St. Olaf's Church🔍 c. 1897 | Balestrand - a unique mix of stave & English style
📍 Bergen - known for fjords, glaciers & the medieval Fish Market of Bryggen c. 1200 AD
📍 Atlantic🔍 Road/ Atlanterhavsveien - 5mile scenic route connecting to the island of Averøya, snaking along skinny
land slips & over 8 bridges, for stunning ocean🔍 views; thought to be one of the world's best road trips†
📍 Reindeer - 25,000 live in Norway, Europe's biggest herd ( 7,000 wild 🦌 ) are in Hardangervidda National Park
(Europe's biggest mountain plateau.) Indigenous Sámi people in the North Cape (+ Lapland of Finland & Sweden)
have been herding them for thousands of years
📍 Ice Hotels - where everything's ice; building, beds, restaurant (even plates & glasses) with decorative ice sculptures
I stayed @ Sorrisniva 📸 in Arctic🔍, Tromsø and loved it! There are also Ice Domes in Trondheim
† FYI - Car headlights must be on at all times in Norway & cars must have winter tires Nov - Easter. (If renting a car, the agency should provide them)
Most Known For:
♦️ Fjords & Glaciers like Folgefonna with it's “blue-ice” hikes† & huge golden eagle. or
Jostedalsbreen National Park with the largest glacier in Europe. Lofoten is an amazing
place to see both, as well as the Northern Lights
🔸 Oslo - with Akerhus Fortress, Viking Ship Museum & Gol Stave Church, c. 1200
♦️ Lærdal Road Tunnel - world's longest @ 15 mls, so long it needs features to lower
strain on drivers; widened 'caves' to break the monotony & altering lights between
bright colors. (There're even cameras to count cars in & out to make sure no one's stranded inside)
🔸 Trolls 🧌 - mythical creatures in rock, caves or under bridges ( 3 Billy Goats Gruff is a Norwegian folktale.)
Many natural formations have trolls names, like Trolltunga (Troll’s Tongue) - there's a popular hike, 12-hrs
across narrow stone outcroppings, to the rock peak, jutting out high over the mountains like a tongue, that's
said to belong to an unfortunate troll who was turned to stone by the sunlight.
The sunlight legend was borrowed by Tolkien for THE HOBBIT... (click arrow for more..).
(Preikestolen - Preacher’s Pulpit - is a similar, but shorter, popular hike, only 2.5 m to a flat cliff top near Stavanger )
Other breathtaking Troll themed destination are:
🧌 Trollfoss - Troll Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Vestfold
🧌 Trollkyrkja - Troll Church, 3 marble & chalk caves with underground rivers; the lowest, S-shaped, 40-m long
has a 14m waterfall into pool of marble.
🧌 Trollveggen - Troll Wall, Europe’s highest vertical drop + the 🧌 Trolldalsvannene - Troll Valley Lakes both in...
🧌 Trolltindene/ (-dan) - Troll Peaks, | Romsdalen (featured in Netflix's TROLL) where the famous
Rauma Railway passes by the...
🧌 Trollstigen - Troll Ladder, a road, said to be built by trolls to connect their homes in the peaks to those below,
which snakes it's way through eleven hairpin bends up the troll mountains. (There are troll signs along the
road pointing out known troll hiding spots & warning to not wake them up from their slumber)
🧌 Trollpikken - Troll's Cock, a rock formation of an... excited Troll interrupted by the sun
🧌 Trollfjorden - Troll Fjord, where it's said Trolls used to wander, and
🧌 Trollheimen - Home of the Trolls, with dramatic mountain scenery, in a region inhabited since the Stone Age
👨🎨 Norwegian Troll painter Theodor Kittelsen's famous works are at The National Museum | Oslo & his house in
Lauvlia | Numedal is now a museum
+ Troll Museum | Tromsø, Troll Research Center | Rindal, Troll Dungeon maze | Valldal, Villa Fridheim - a Swiss
chalet fairytale museum, and Hunderfossen | Fåberg - a fairytale village park with a Troll Hall
♦️ Skiing - rock carvings at Rødøy show skis used to traverse the mountains ≈3,000 BC! And modern skiing was
born in Norway with the Telemark ski††. Even the words ski & slalom are Norwegian, and Finnmark | NO
is home to the oldest ski ever found (2,300 yrs old)
† Plan your trip timing carefully- many activities have only very short windows in which to enjoy them; Summer adventures like hiking
or rafting parks are only open June or July - August and even Winter sports can be limited due to harsh unpredictable weather
†† The cheese slicer is also a Norweigan invented c. 1925
👀 NOTABLE NORWEIGIANS:
🎨 Edvard Munch | Painter ✏️ Henrik Ibsen | Playwright 🎼 Edvard Grieg | Composer
⚔️ Erik the Red & son Leif Ericson | Vikings 🌎 Roald Amundsen | South Pole Explorer
👣
🌀 Northern Lights Festival (Jan 26 - Feb 2) inside the Arctic Circle, in Tromso on the best days for viewing
the lights with concerts and audiovisual art exhibitions
🌀 Saint Olaf Day/ Olosk (July 29th) - marking the patron & king of Norway for more than a 900-years,
celebrated with singing, dancing and costume performances
🌀 Rakfish Festival (November) – In tiny village of Fagernes in the valley of Valdres celebrating fish
particularly Rakfisk: salted trout specially stored in barrels
🌀 Peer Gynt Festivals - after the Ibsen poem about the 17c Gynt, it's festival of music & theatre
🌀 Riddu Riđđu (July) - meaning small storm by the coast in Sámi, a festival of Sámi culture & music
🌀 Ice Music Festival - annual festival with instruments, art & venue made entirely of ice and snow, and
Midnattsrocken (Lakselv) - world's most northernly outdoor music festival held @ night under the midnight sun
🌀 World Beard & Moustache Championships (May) - in Trondheim, international exhibition of facial hair
Site Key:
Five Star Recommend
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