Today is syttende mai, the day when people all over Norway put on their best clothes (and smil 🙂 ), pick a hand-held flagg and gather in the streets to celebrate the Norwegian constitution, which was signed on May 17th, 1814 (and formally ended the union with Denmark). As Kari wrote, ”the whole country of Norway is full of parades, music, food, and national costume”.

One of the most important parts of walking in a syttende mai-tog (May 17th parade) is – singing! As the tog proceed throughout the cities, towns and villages of Norway, there are few moments without music. Schoolchildren and other paraders form a marching chorus, singing songs about Norway and freedom while the local brass band plays along on trumpets, trombones, tubas and trommer (drums).

As you already know the Norwegian national anthem, I’ll give you the first verse of another popular song, Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått – ”Norway in red, white and blue”. Norwegian nature words are not always possible to translate directly (mo means something like ”a sandy plain at a brook or river”), but let’s try:

Hvor hen du går i li og fjell,

where(ever) you walk in slopes and mountains/highland,

en vinterdag, en sommerkveld,

a winter’s day, a summer’s day,

ved fjord og fossevell,                

at the fjord and (mighty) waterfall,

fra eng og mo med furutrær,

from meadow and plain with fir trees,

fra havets bryn med fiskervær

from the fringes of the ocean with fishermen’s villages

og til de hvite skjær,

and to the white reefs,

møter du landet i trefarvet drakt,

you meet the country in three-coloured dress,

svøpt i et gjenskinn av flaggets farveprakt.

wrapped in a reflection of the glowing colours of the flag.

Se, en hvitstammet bjerk oppi heien

Look, a white-trunked birch (up) in the moor

rammer striper av blåklokker inn

is framing stripes of harebells (blue flowers)

mot den rødmalte stuen ved veien;

against the red-painted cottage at the road;

det er flagget som vaier i vind!

that’s the flag flying in the wind!

Ja, så hvit som hvite er sneen,

Yes, as white as the white is the snow,

og det røde har kveldssolen fått,

and the red the evening sun has got,

og det blå gav sin farve til breen,

and the blue gave its colour to the glacier,

det er Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått.

that’s Norway in red, white and blue.

 

Here you can hear the song as performed by the Norwegian group Glittertind.