Norwegian can
be so many
things

by Martin Moe

From the telephone directory for Oslo and surroundings:

Norwegian Compost , Ltd
Norwegian Tie, Ltd
Norwegian Balalaikaorchestra
The norwegian Women - and Menfrisian
The norwegian Frogmanschool
Norwegian Rucksack Co
Norwegian Dogfood , Ltd
Norwegian Wheel of fortune service
Norwegian Sewing circle
Norwegian Vegetable glue , Ltd
Norwegian Underwearstore

A norwegian writer who managed to be as norwegian as it is possible to be , Henrik Wergeland, (he designed the national flag and wrote a lot of works nobody have read outside of Norway) said as a matter of case: ¨To make Norway as norwegian as possible, that is what it is all about.¨

An other wellknown/unknown norwegian, Aasmund Olavson Vinje, said about the norwegian character:¨It had to be put together and restored (note the metaphore) and if it doesn’t exist, it has to be invented.¨
- It seems they succeeded quite well.