Gratulerer med vel overstått! (Congratulations with a ”well passed” [birthday]!) This belated greeting – a handy Norwegian lifeline for forgetful people – will have to do for all you fans of Norway in 2021. Due to technicalities, I was unable to wish you gratulerer med dagen (happy constitution day) on May 17th. Beklager tradisjonsbruddet! (Sorry for the break with tradition!)

Here at the end of May Norway is at its most beautiful. My phone is brimming with shared blinkskudd (perfect shots = photos) of sunkissed mountain slopes and blooming apple trees. Temperatures are high, and the bravest ”Vikings” have been taking a swim in the green fjords. Without corona restrictions, tourists would be flocking to Norway right now.

Som et lite plaster på såret (By way of consolation, literally ”as a small plaster on the wound”) I’d like to share a beautiful, short vise [veeceh] (ballad, song) with you. ”Vi skal ikkje sova bort sumarnatta” (We Shouldn’t Sleep Away the Summer Night) perfectly captures the feeling of a warm Norwegian summer, I think. The lyricist Aslaug Låstad Lygre wrote the original poem in Nynorsk Norwegian, but with a little help I’m sure you’ll understand the meaning. 🙂

Vi skal ikkje sova bort sumarnatta¹sommernatta,

ho²hun er for ljos³lys til det.

Då skal vi vandra i saman⁴i saman = sammen ute,

under dei lauvtunge tre⁵de løvtunge trær.

We shouldn’t sleep away the summer night,

she’s too bright for that.

Then we’ll wander together outside,

below the trees heavy with leaves.

Då skal vi vandra i saman ute,

der blomar⁶blomster i graset står.

Vi skal ikkje sova bort sumarnatta,

som kruser med dogg vårt hår.

Then we’ll wander together outside,

where flowers stand in the grass.

We shouldn’t sleep away the summer night

that frizzles our hair with dew.

Vi skal ikkje sova frå høysåteangen⁷høysåte = haycock; ange = fragrance

og grashoppespelet⁸gresshoppespillet i eng,

men vandra i lag under bleikblå himlen

til fuglane lyfter veng⁹vinge.

We shouldn’t sleep from the smell of fresh cut hay

and the grasshopper’s play in the meadow,

but we should wander together below the pale blue sky

until the birds will lift their wing(s).

Og kjenna at vi er i slekt med jorda,

med vinden og kvite¹⁰hvite sky,

og vita at vi skal vera¹¹være i saman

like til morgongry¹²morgengry.

And feel we are related to the earth,

to the wind and the white cloud,

and know that we’ll be together

all the way till daybreak.

• 1
  sommernatta
• 2
  hun
• 3
  lys
• 4
  i saman = sammen
• 5
  de løvtunge trær
• 6
  blomster
• 7
  høysåte = haycock; ange = fragrance
• 8
  gresshoppespillet
• 9
  vinge
• 10
  hvite
• 11
  være
• 12
  morgengry