On July 4, we received the painful news that Mary Hirsch, the author of the Ingebretsen’s blog posts, the Ole and Lena jokes on Facebook, and the person whose gift for puns started the HaikUff-Da! contest, had died suddenly. Mary was a lifelong friend of Julie and Molly Ingebretsen. But even those of us who… More In Memory of Mary Hirsch
This year the wonderful traditional Syttende Mai celebrations in Norway and here in the United States are cancelled due to the Corona Virus pandemic. But Syttende Mai is about the history of Norway and lack of celebration is part of that history. During World War II when the Germans occupied Norway from April 9, 1940… More Not Your Grandma’s Syttende Mai
Written by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe for their classic book Norske Folkeeventyr, Soria Moria Castle (Soria Moria slott) is perhaps one of the best known Norwegian folktales. (I can’t find the exact date of publication but Asbjørnsen and Moe were publishing folktales in the late 1830s and early 1840s.) It is the story… More Soria Moria Castle: The Eternal Search For Happiness