Norwegian Language Blog

One of the most obscure sports in the United States, biathlon is one of the most popular winter sports in Europe.  Many of you may never have even heard about it.  I wouldn’t have known about it had I not lived in Norway and seen it in aviser (newspapers) and på tv (on tv).  You just don’t really hear about it at all in the United States.  Biathlon, although it is a term that can be used for any event involving two disciplines, usually refers to a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.  It seems like an odd combination, doesn’t it?  You may wonder how and where the sport originated, as well as why. 

There are actually rock paintings in Norway (dated back to 3000 BC) that depict hunters with bows and arrows on wooden skis.  Norway’s topography made warfare and hunting during the winter quite challenging.  Hunters and warriors had to be creative and use the resources that mother earth provided for them.  Skis were the fastest mode of transport during the winter.  In addition to rock paintings dating back to the Neolithic Age, there are written descriptions of cross-country skiing and hunting dating back also to BC in Roman, Greek, and Chinese history. 

Norway was the first country to organize biathlon competitions.  In the same year that the United States Declaration of Independence was signed, 1776, Norwegians participated in the first recognizable organized biathlon competition.  The world’s first known ski club, the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defence on a local level.  Military patrol, as skiing and shooting is also referred as, is an alternative form of military training. 

Russia, Sweden, Germany, and Austria were the next countries to show interest in the sport.  Austria hosted the first World Championship in 1958.  In 1960, the sport was incorporated into the Olympic winter games.  There are major biathlon venues in the following countries:  Norway, Austria, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Belarus, France, Poland, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United States.  Norway has 3 major biathlon venues at Holmenkollen, in Lillehammer, and Beitostølen.

You can find detailed information about the rules of the sport, but the general idea is that the biathlete is required to ski a set distance around a track with his or her rifle to a shooting range, where a specified number of shots are required.  The penalty for missing targets is either a time penalty or penalty laps.  There are also rules about when to be in the standing pose to shoot and when to be in the prone stance (kneeling).

The most interesting characteristic of the sport to me is that it combines 2 extremely unlike activities-one that is very aerobic and requires strength, speed, and endurance and another that is not aerobic and requires a great deal of concentration and steadiness.  If I could hit a target, I think it would be really fun.  Another reason to take shooting lessons…

På norsk, the sport is often called skiskytting (ski shooting).

Norwegian Christmas trees.  I read an interesting story on the Norway Post website about norske juletrær.  Every year Norway exports Christmas trees to other countries in Europe, such as Germany, Britain, Switzerland, and Austria.  Just three years ago, Norway was exporting 2,400 juletrær to Europe, but over the past several years the number has grown significantly.  Around 140,000 norske juletrær are expected to be transported this year.  Austria is the top importer this year.

The Norwegian Agriculture Ministry has proclaimed that Norway will be the leading seller of juletrær on the European market.  Lars Peder Brekk, Minister of Agriculture and Food, explains that Norwegian juletre production is already even more valuable than Norwegian fruit production.  The juletre industry is very profitable and is a great opportunity for Norwegian agriculture and rural Norway.  Norsk Pyntegrønt, the industry organization, predicts a 50% planting increase annually.  They also predict that Norway could sell 2 or 3 million more trees than are sold currently.

There are many alleged origins of the juletre, but in Germany and Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, families would put an evergreen tree up inside their homes or right outside of ther doors to show their hope for the coming spring. 

Juletrær are evergreen coniferous trees and come in many varities, such as Silver Fir, Scots Pine, Norway Spruce, Swiss Pine, Nordmenn Fir, Guatamalan Fir, Noble Fir, etc.  While you might think the Norway Spruce grows exclusively in Norway, it is found from Norway and all over Europe. 

Norwegians pynter (decorate) the juletre with ornaments just as many other countries do.  Many people go in their backyard and cut one down. 

Har du et juletre ennå?  Do you have a Christmas tree yet?

Christmas songs.  Every year at St. Olaf students from the Norwegian Department put on a norsk julegudstjeneste (Christmas church service), where students will read passages from the Bible på norsk, synge sanger på norsk, and the native Norwegian students tell the congregation about their own familie tradisjoner i Norge.  The following are some of the most popular norske julesangene.  I have included only 1 verse per song so that they don’t take up too much room.  If you would like to see all of the verses, just type the name of the song into a search engine and you will be sure to find it them.

Musevisa (The Mouse Song), which was written in 1946 by Alf Prøysen and is about a family of mice getting ready for Christmas.  Mamma mus warns barna sine (their children) to stay away from the mouse traps.  Sangen (the song) was written to a traditional norsk folk tune.  I have only included the first verse, but there are 7 total, plus a hoax verse about a cat eating the mice (this verse was discovered by 2008-written by Ivar Kalleberg).

Another very popular norsk julesang, which is religious, is called “Jeg er så glad hver julekveld” (I am so glad each Christmas Eve).  It was written in 1859 by Peder Knudsen.  The following is the first of 7 verses.

Jeg er så glad hver julekveld,                               I am so glad each Christmas Eve
for da ble Jesus født,                                            the night of Jesus birth
da lyste stjernen som en sol,                               then like the sun the star shone forth
og engler sang så søtt.                                         and the angels sang so sweetly.

Another popular sang that many of you have probably heard is “Glade jul” or “Silent Night” (originally a German song)

Glade jul, hellige jul!                                                 Silent night, holy night
Engler daler ned i skjul.                                            Angels sink slowly out of sight
Hit de flyver med paradis grønt,                               They fly here to a green paradise
hvor de ser hva for Gud er skjønt.                             Where they see the beauty of God
Lønnlig i blant oss de går.                                         Secretly among us they go
Lønnlig i blant oss de går.

I have tried to translate the songs as they really translate from Norwegian, but of course they are loose translations from English to Norwegian.  And keep in mind there are several translations for every song and they are sometimes significantly different, so I gave you my versions, how I would translate them.  If you want to hear the songs, you could listen to them on You tube (like everything else, ikke sant?)