I first heard about Ylvis-brødrene (the Ylvis brothers) during my study years in Bergen. Vegard (born 1979) and Bård Ylvisåker (1982) had some shows, both onstage and on television. The local media were praising the very young, very talented comedians. I thought it was funny that their name sounded like a Norwegian ”Elvis” – with the very clear and pouty Norwegian Y sound.

A couple of weeks ago, the news finally hit me: Ylvis is back, and this time they’re going for world domination! Posted on YouTube September 3rd, the music video for their song ”The fox” has already been viewed by nearly sixty million people. Let’s help them beat Gagnam style (last year’s viral craze by the Korean artist Psy):

Obviously, the text is in English, so there isn’t much for Norwegian-learners here. (But you do get a chance to see how nice the sky can be when Norwegians stage a summer party, as well as a glimpse into a nice and wild Norwegian wood!)

We can only imagine what a Norwegian version would have sounded like. Ylvis’ question would have been: Hva sier reven? [va SEAer REVen] (”What say the fox?”)

In Norge, hunder (dogs) say voff, katter (cats) say mjau, fugler [FOOLer] (birds) kvitrer (tweet [verb]) or say kvitre-kvitre, mus (mice) piper [verb] or say pip [peep], kuer (cows) say mø, frosker (frogs) say kvekk, ender (ducks) say kvakk.

I can’t recall ever having heard fisker (fishes) or seler (seals) saying anything – at least I don’t know what they say in Norwegian. Elefanter (elephants) certainly make a lot of noise, but as there are only a handful of them in Norwegian zoos and circuses, the language doesn’t seem to have a word for their trumpeting. So, Ylvis, in case you’re reading this, you’ve got some more videos to make! 🙂

What do YOU say after having watched this video? Is it just plain sprø (crazy), or are the Ylvis brothers really onto something?