I don't know about you, but I LOVE any news story that starts out "In a scene reminiscent of the Viking age, two bearded men in fur robes and leather armor instructed children in swordplay."
Let's take a minute and break it down. Not one, but two full grown men dressed in leather armor are teaching kids to play with swords. What's the Norwegian word for "awesome"? Uh...how about...fryktinngytende! Yeah...I think that's right...yeah.
Anyhow, that's not the point. The point is that the link goes to a nice story about a Nordic festival that happened down in Kansas and involved folks from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark. I always like to hear about these kinds of festivals because they show how all the Nordic countries can come together in celebration of a shared heritage and common vision of the future.
There are lots of these kinds of Nordic events happening around the country. If you know of one, share it with us in the comments section below!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Fryktinngytende? Putting fear in people? Well, yeah, I guess two Vikings might do that! :)
It does not exactly translate as "awesome" in the sense that it's cool, but it does describe the awe some would feel!
While it is nice to come together like this I have to object to your comment "how all the Nordic countries can come together in celebration of a shared heritage and common vision of the future".
We Scandinavians embrace our neighbors in Finland, however they're not Scandinavian. There's a reason it's called the Nordic Council.
They don't share the same common heritage as us Scandinavians in terms of ethnicity, language, history or culture.
While we do share a common vision for the future!
Thanks for your comments, Andrew. However, I'd like to point out that I never said the Finns were Scandinavian. Rather I used to the term Nordic, which is a more general term that covers a wider segment of peoples.
You are right, that they don't share the same heritage in terms of language. I was merely trying to underscore the fact that there is a shared history, for example between Finland and Sweden, going back to the Kalmar Union, which I'm sure created some cross culture exchanges that may still exist.
Post a Comment