Swedish Olaus Magnus, the brother of the last archbishop in Sweden to be confirmed by the pope, lived in exile in Italy where he compiled the first detailed map of Scandinavia, Carta marina (1539) in a comparatively accurate manner.

As a young man Magnus traveled around in Norway and Sweden in order to sell indulgences. Believers could in this way pay for forgiveness. The trade was one of Martin Luther’s most powerful accusations against the papacy. After the Swedish Reformation in 1527 Olav Magnus fled south and ended up in Venice.

From the late-14th century, Denmark, Norway and Sweden had been united in a personal union. This so-called Kalmar Union continued to exist until 1523. Only a small number of copies of the Carta Marina were made and the map was forgotten about until a copy was discovered in the Hof- und Staatsbibliothek in Munich in the 19th century.

Even if Olaus Magnus (1490-1557) made his early career in Sweden he kept his Swedish identification during his many years in exile.

After he had drawn Carta Marina he started with his literary valiantly Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (History of the Nordic Peoples). It was published in Latin in 1555, comprises 22 volumes and was translated into Italian, English, Dutch, French and German. It was however not translated into Swedish until the first years of the 20^th Century. ”History of the Nordic Peoples” was the first edited major work about the Nordic countries and its inhabitants.

Olaus Magnus (Swedish Olaf Mansson)
was born in Linköping, Sweden 1490 and died in Rome, Italy 1557. He studied theology, became a parish priest in Stockholm and cathedral dean in Strängnäs. He had in the beginning a good relation with King Gustav Wasa, but when the king began to introduce the Lutheran faith, Olaus Magnus remained a Catholic. He settled permanently in Italy 1539. There he started a new career as a historic researcher, cartographer and writer.

After 1549 he was also director of St. Brigitta’s, a religious house in Rome.

Olaf Magnus also depicted one of the most famous of the many influential sea monsters, the terrifying Great Norway Serpent, or Sea Worm, which author Joseph Nigg explores in his book Sea Monsters.

The Longing for Scandinavia, written by Tor Kjolberg

Stringent laws on the purchase of alcohol in Norway and Sweden have been somewhat at odds with the figure these countries have wanted to cut in the modern world.

The time-honored yarning for drink can be blamed on long winter nights, but ancient Scandinavians also drank like fish because their food was preserved with lashings of salt.

King Sverre of Norway experimented with prohibition as early as the 12^th century. In 1775, however, King Gustav III of Sweden turned the distillation and sale of spirits into a royal monopoly and encouraged his subjects to drink because he needed the money.

Against this backdrop, 20^th-century prohibitions had problems. The conundrum in Norway was that France, Spain and Portugal, major consumers of Norwegian fish, had always bartered with wine or brandy. The issue of prohibition led to the downfall of three successive governments in th 20^th century.

Sweden, however, put its faith in the “Bratt Liquor Control System”, a certain Dr. Ivan Bratt having worked out exactly how much an individual could consume according to age, physique and other considerations, with the result that it was almost impossible for a married woman to qualify for a single drink in any circumstances.

Today, as in Gustav III’s time, the sale of wines and spirits in both countries, is a state monopoly.

But there was a time when Norwegian by law was forced to brew beer
Strong drinks have been regulated in Norway since early medieval time. While the Gulating law had commanded how much beer should be brewed, when slaves were to be released or an illegitimate son could be annexed to a family, prohibitions characterized the last two centuries.

In the Middle Ages beer was the dominant beverage for every occasion, and the farmer who did not comply with the injunction to brew, had to pay a fine equivalent to half a cow to the bishop. If the injunction was broken several years in a row, the punishment was grueling: Expulsion or loss of his estate.

At the end of the 1500s liquor got proper foothold in Norway, and then it became more and more common that festivities could degenerate. Decrees were eventually replaced by prohibition. To prevent people from coming drunk to services on Sundays, sales of alcohol were banned in the cities before church time.

By 1629 drinking had degenerated to such a degree that the priest had an adjunct appointed, who would ensure that church members remained in the glow. If not, the priest could refuse the boozer Communion, or in serious cases excommunicate him or banish him from the congregation.

Skål
(Pronouced sc-all)

Skål is the first thing we hear on a Scandinavian party or a dinner. Skål is a toast to goodwill and friendship. By saying this at a moment of rising glasses, the Scandinavians wish you a good fortune and a good health.

Historically skål is connected with the Vikings’ epoch in Scandinavia. According to legends, as a tribute to their gods, Vikings were drinking wine from bowls made of sculls (Anglo-Saxon “skalle”) of prostrated foes. Therefore, while doing skål, don’t forget to look at each other eyes and say skål back.

The Scandinavian Demon Drink, written by Tor Kjolberg

Last summer architect Tron Meyer (31) launched his spiral stair Risa Meyer, made from Norwegian wood and produced in Norway.

The design has made it possible to replace steel and concrete with a more sustainable alternative, high quality wood.

In a time where most stairs are made from standard materials like steel and concrete produced outside Norway, a Norwegian spiral stair is indeed very uncommon.

The Rita Meyer stair is beautiful, made from sustainably harvested wood and certainly elegant.

“We looked at conventions like the narrow part of the step along the core, and asked ourselves how we could make it into a valuable part of our design,” explains Tron Mayer. “The staircase has become a balanced dialogue between absolute needs of function and an optimal construction using wood,” he adds.

The stair is offered in two wooden materials, spruce or oak, produced at Massiv Lust in Luster at the West coast of Norway, who won the 2014 Nordic Wood Award. The Nordic Wood Prize was created in 2014 and awarded by the Association of Nordic Wooden Towns, a Nordic cooperation between Nordic cities to promote modern urban development with wooden houses.

The Nordic Wooden Towns project – a success story and a kick off for further regional co-operation The Nordic countries including Iceland and Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands and Greenland) were very much involved in the Nordic Wooden Towns project carried out in 1970-1972. The common concern was the rapid economic change in the 1960s and 70s and the planners’ visions of the modern urban environment. The small wooden towns very typical of the Nordic countries were threatened. Only a few historic areas had attained conservation area status such as Kyrkbacken in Västerås, Sweden, Old Stavanger in Norway and Old Århus in Denmark.

Massive Lust AS is a Norwegian start-up solid wood manufacturer, producing cross-glued solid wood. In 2013 the company moved into a new production hall at Granden in Gaupne in Luster Municipality, built in solid wood.

Photo:
From left: Project Manager Hans Andrén in association Nordic cities, laureate Jørgen Tycho in Massive Lust, Johanna Kairi, Holzindustrie Schweighofer GmbH and Chairman Vesa Juntilla in association Nordic cities. Photo: Knut Werner Lindeberg Alsén, Byggeindustrien.

Whether you want to call the stair a sculpture or anything else, it’s very functional and will be even more beautiful after years of use.

Sleek Norwegian Spiral Stair, written by Tor Kjolberg

Experience the Tverrfjellet Pavillion in Dovre Municipality, designed by the prestigious architectural firm Snøhetta.

The Tverrfjellet Cabin was opened 2011, built on behalf of the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre North. The building is made as a box of steel, with a large glass surface against the mountain Snøhetta in the north, and one organic and undulating form of solid wood to the south.

The building is open and accessible during the summer months, and is reached after 20 minutes’ walk from the parking lot at Tverrfjellet.

The car park is bounded by the front post rows inspired by the old fences that were used to capture wild reindeer in the mountains for more than 800 years ago. Follow the gravel path, which is also accessible to wheelchair users, 1500 meters up to the viewpoint.

On the way, a series of flagstones tell you the Dovre mountain’s history over the past 10 000 years. At the top you’ll reach Viewpoint Snøhetta with a spectacular view to the Dovre-Sunndalsfjella National Park and the abandoned Hjerkinn artillery range.

The building has won several international awards since it was built and was named the “World Building of the Year” in 2011.

During the past four years over 60,000 people have visited the building.

Hjerkinnhus is located 3 km from Snøhetta Viewpoint.

Snøhetta was long thought to be Norway’s highest peak, and plays a significant role in the romantic nationalism ideology of mountain Norway. “United and faithful until Dovre falls”, the famous quote from the Constitution fathers in Eidsvold, testifies to this.

When you come for the first time into this giant, isolated mountains, especially if you come from Snøheim, you understand why Snøhetta has obtained a special place in the picture of the mountain Norway. Head to Snøhetta and Dovre and see for yourself!

You can find accommodation here.

Elegance in the Norwegian Mountains, written by Admin