A History of Norway

COLUMNIST LLOYD OMDAHL : Syttende Mai celebrates sovereignty-less sovereignty


Even though it was intellectually dishonest, I flew my Norwegian flag May 17. I knew better. May 17 is meaningless in Norwegian history but I couldn't stand up to the peer pressure. As that great Norwegian philosopher, Ole Swensted, once said: "100,000 lemmings can't be wrong." But, in this case, they are.

Being half Norwegian, I will half admit that Norwegians have a difficult time muddling through. It is not only genetic but also is historical. Norway struggled with its self-esteem and identity for centuries, primarily because Denmark and Sweden took turns owning and running Norway. It was a game they played and, occasionally, they couldn't remember who was in charge - sort of an early Abu Ghraib prison deal.

Norwegians were easy to conquer because they were not fighters. With good fishing and successful field tests of rommegrot, they mellowed after the Viking era and became a very peaceful people. Besides, gammelost made them really mean and they lost the gammelost recipe. Noting this, in 1536 Denmark declared Norway a Danish province, a pretty bold claim for a country one-fifth the size of North Dakota.

Even more gutsy, Denmark decreed that the state religion in Norway would be Lutheranism. Other options were not even considered. Because of this official edict, 96 percent of the Norwegians still are Lutherans today - although many are not aware of it. In Norway, paying taxes is more a demonstration of religious commitment than a civic mandate.

In the very early 1800s, Denmark made the mistake of getting into a rhubarb with Sweden, England, Russia and other assorted neighbors. As a result, Sweden once again became the owner of Norway. Norwegians hoped that this transition would be a good time for a breakout.

In May 1814, they called a "national assembly" to meet in the village of Eidsvoll. Who called it and who attended is unknown, but it was held in Eidsvoll because the Swedes were busy guarding Oslo against insurgencies.

On May 17, the assembly adopted a constitution declaring Norway to be a sovereign, free and independent nation. But Sweden said: "No deal - you can be sovereign if you want, but we're still running the place."

Historically, that was the first time sovereignty was separated from sovereignty. Ole Oleson said at the time that it would set a bad precedent and he was right for once. We now have state governments and tribal councils believing they are sovereign when the federal government still bosses everybody around. Soon, Iraq will join this list of sovereigntyless sovereignties.

Well, the Norwegians not only are peaceful but also patient. So they went back to their fishing and feasting, waiting for another opportunity to cast off the heel of the Swedes.

It came 91 years later - June 7, 1905, to be exact - when Norway mustered the courage to assert its claim to the rest of its sovereignty.

Sweden must have been suffering an outbreak of dyspepsia from lefse imported from Ireland, because it did not muster serious objections. Anyway, they did not seem to notice that Norway was gone for several years - they probably thought it was playing hide and seek with Denmark again - and by the time they objected, the statute of limitations for robbery took effect, denying them opportunity for legal recovery. They probably thought "easy come, easy go" and "happy fjords to you."

So, Norwegian independence did not occur on Syttende Mai 1814, but 91 years later on a June day in 1905. Hoping to start a new Norwegian holiday, I am going to fly my flag on June 7. Good Norwegians will join me in celebrating both days - May 17 as the day of sovereignty and June 7 as the day of sovereignty. If that's confusing to non-Norwegians, let them go have a fillet of lutefisk. It makes sense to us.

These two dates should keep us going until July 29, when we celebrate St. Olav Day. St. Olav was a saintly Viking king we honor with celebrations at Stiklestad near the old capitol of Trondheim. It wasn't that he was such a good guy, but he was only half as bad as the rest of the Vikings and that made him look saintly. (That was the beginning of situation ethics.)

May all of your fjords be deep and your rommegrot hot.

Omdahl is a former North Dakota lieutenant governor and professor of political science at UND.