History UsefulNotes / Norway

Once [[{{UsefulNotes/Denmark}} one of]] [[{{UsefulNotes/Sweden}} the three]] lands of [[HornyVikings the Vikings]], now the land of petroleum. And the Nobel Peace Prize. Norway is also the go-to place for tourists interested in fjords, midnight sun, aurora borealis, cartoon moose, troll figurines, mountains and fish. There are also actual live elks/moose and reindeer. In fact, the road signs that warn against crossing elks (triangular with a black elk silhouette on white background with a red border) often get stolen by foreign tourists that for some reason are fascinated by the animals.

* Edvard Grieg, one of the Golden Age's most prominant composers, drawing his inspiration from Norwegian folk music - eventually he earnt himself the {{FanNickname}} "Chopin of the North". Some of his most famous pieces included ''[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Hall Of the Mountain King]]'', [[SweetDreamFuel ''Morning Mood'']] and his Piano Concerto (which is notable for British viewers due to a [[CrowningMomentOfFunny famous]] ''MorecambeAndWise'' Christmas sketch).

* Varg Vikernes, aka Count Grishnack, the infamous {{black metal}}ler serving a prison sentence for murdering another infamous black metaller. He and his pals, in addition to already-existing Germanic mythos, are responsible for Norway's reputation in metalhead society as some kind of GrimUpNorth metal heaven where setting churches on fire is still a fair game.
* RoaldDahl was Norwegian-British. Norway features in some of his books (such as ''TheWitches'') and he also wrote fondly about visiting the country in his autobiography.

* The country is the {{StraightMan}}/{{StraightGay}} voice of reason (sometimes) in the webcomic ''ScandinaviaAndTheWorld''.

* ''Pinchcliffe Grand Prix'' (''Flåklypa Grand Prix''), traditionally shown every year before Christmas, is a puppet film by Ivo Caprino that centers around the quiet life of Theodor Rimspoke, Ludwig and Sunny Ducksworth getting into a race with Theodor's former student turned racing champion, sponsored by an Arab oil sheik. {{Better Than It Sounds}}. In fact, it's popular enough that it has sold more tickets within Norway than the entire Norwegian population.

* Varg Vikernes, aka Count Grishnack, the infamous {{black metal}}ler serving a prison sentence for murdering another infamous black metaller. He and his pals, in addition to already-existing Germanic mythos, are responsible for Norway's reputation in metalhead society as some kind of GrimUpNorth metal heaven where setting churches on fire is still a fair game. {{YMMV}}.

Probably the most famous Norwegian is the realist/modernist playwright HenrikIbsen. Other Norwegians with at least some international recognition include:

* KnutHamsun: Neo-romantic novelist, the only Norwegian author besides Ibsen to achieve lasting international renown. Despised in his native country for supporting National Socialism during WWII and still a controversial figure because of this. 2009 sees the 150th anniversary of his birth, and this will apparently be celebrated in various fashions in several countries. Ernest Hemingway supposedly once said that Hamsun taught him to write.

'''[[ThoseTwoGuys Both]]:''' Dohohohohohohoh!
<<|UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}|>>

* Thor Heyerdahl, archeologist and ethnologist. Best known for the 1947 [[KonTikiPlot Kon-Tiki expedition]], where he and five others crossed the South Pacific from Peru to the Tuamotu Archipelago in a flimsy balsa raft in order to prove that it was possible for the South Pacific islands to have been originally populated by South American natives travelling in such a fashion. Apparently considered a hero by fans of tiki culture.

* The country is the {{StraightMan}}/{{StraightGay}} VoiceOfReason (sometimes) in the webcomic ''ScandinaviaAndTheWorld''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Norway-map_2526.png
->''"Norway! A long, cold country almost devoid of people."'' - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

* ''DeadSnow'' (''Dead Snow''), commonly known as "Norwegian Nazi Zombies", also set in the mountains.

* The first two ''Game/ClockTower'' games take place in Norway, the first near [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Romsdaaren]] (it should actually be Romsdalen) and the second in Oslo.

Probably the most famous Norwegian is the realist/modernist playwright HenrikIbsen. The [[RagsToRoyalty current Crown Princess]] is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff inexplicably popular in Germany]]. Other Norwegians with at least some international recognition include:

* ''Pinchcliffe Grand Prix'' (''Flåklypa Grand Prix''), traditionally shown every year before Christmas, is a puppet film by Ivo Caprino that centers around the quiet life of Theodor Rimspoke, Ludwig and Sunny Ducksworth getting into a race with Theodor's former student turned racing champion, sponsored by an Arab oil sheik. {{Better Than It Sounds}}

* The country is the StraightMan/StraightGay VoiceOfReason (sometimes) in the webcomic ''ScandinaviaAndTheWorld''.

* ''DeadSnow'' (''Død Snø''), commonly known as "Norwegian Nazi Zombies", also set in the mountains.

Norwegians display striking amounts of mostly harmless nationalism, which likely grew from the fact that Norway during the late middle ages and early modern period was governed by Denmark, then conquered by Sweden in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars despite having declared independence. Norway only became an independent nation in 1905, when it [[OtherRoyalFamilies adopted a Danish prince and his family]], gave them Norwegian names, and made them regents. Has one of the world's oldest active constitutions, dating to 1814, though it does not accurately reflect the workings of the parliamentary democracy in place since 1884, not having been rewritten or replaced to reflect the realities of the political situation.

Some unusual cultural exports of recent years include music in the genre known as Black Metal, the novel ''[[SophiesWorld Sophie's World]]'' by JosteinGaarder which became remarkably popular worldwide (published in 54 langugages and more than 30 million copies sold) and crime novels by authors like Karin Fossum translated into several languages as part of the vogue for Scandinavian detective fiction.

* A short story by Iain M. Banks set in the ''Culture'' universe: Members of the Culture visit Earth during the 1970s, one of them visits Oslo and walks around the Frogner sculpture park. In real life, this is a park full of bronze and stone sculptures by the artist Gustav Vigeland depicting anatomically correct naked people of various ages and statures. Supposedly, all the naked bodies are often disturbing to tourists from more puritanical countries.

--> "Lovely crinkly bits down the edge! I won an award for that, you know."
* In the ''{{X-Files}}'' episode "Dod Kalm" [[hottip:*:A totally nonsensical title, consisting of the Norwegian word for "dead" and the English word "calm" spelled funetikally - "blikkstille" would have been a correct translation of the phrase, but obviously someone didn't do their research]], Mulder and Scully visit the most heavily populated tourist spot in Northern Scandinavia and solve the mystery of why nobody dares to go there.
* The first two [[Game/ClockTower Clock Tower]] games take place in Norway, the first near [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Romsdaaren]] (it should actually be Romsdalen) and the second in Oslo.

[[AC: the norwegian flag]]

->'''[[StatlerAndWaldorf Waldorf]]''': You know what the worst thing about Norway is?\\
'''[[TheStinger Statler]]''': Yeah. It isn't Sweden!\\
'''[[ThoseTwoGuys Both]]''': Dohohohohohohoh!

* In the ''{{X-Files}}'' episode "Dod Kalm" (A totally nonsensical title, consisting of the Norwegian word for "dead" and the English word "calm" spelled funetikally - "blikkstille" would have been a correct translation of the phrase, but obviously someone didn't do their research), Mulder and Scully visit the most heavily populated tourist spot in Northern Scandinavia and solve the mystery of why nobody dares to go there.

* In the X-Files episode "Dod Kalm" (A totally nonsensical title, consisting of the Norwegian word for "dead" and the English word "calm" spelled funetikally - "blikkstille" would have been a correct translation of the phrase, but obviously someone didn't do their research), Mulder and Scully visit the most heavily populated tourist spot in Northern Scandinavia and solve the mystery of why nobody dares to go there.

''"Norway! A long, cold country almost devoid of people."'' - Thomas Hylland Eriksen

'''[[TheStinger Statler]]''': Yeah. It isn't Sweden!

'''[ThoseTwoGuys Both]]''': Dohohohohohohoh!

* In ''Metalocalypse'', death metal band ''Dethklok's'' rhythm guitarist ''Toki Wartooth'' is norwegian. The band visits Norway in the episode ''Dethdad''.