Viking Magazine - May 2010 - 5

L E T T ER S F R O M R E A D ER S
International Offi cers
PRESIDENT DAN RUDE ..................................................406-543-3219
dbjrude@msn.com
VICE PRESIDENT MARIT KRISTIANSEN ................907-562-5172
marit@gci.net
SECRETARY AUDUN A. GYTHFELDT .......................570-646-3817
audun99@ptd.net
TREASURER GENE BRANDVOLD ............................952-831-4361
genegbrand@aol.com
International Directors
JOSTEIN O. BAKKEN ......................................................... 847-526-6486
jobakken@worldnet.att.net
BARBARA BERNTSEN .........................................................516-791-3983
bberntsen1@aol.com
ERIK D. BROCHMANN .....................................................604-473-9760
erik_brochmann@telus.net
WILLIAM E. FOSMOE .........................................................206-782-5175
gps005@aol.com
ERNST GRANLY .............................................................+47-63-95-10-66
ernst@egprodukter.no
ELAINE NELSON ..................................................................701-776-2213
enelcna@stellarnet.com
SHERRILL G. SWENSON .................................................562-861-4748
weirson@aol.com
JON TEHVEN ........................................................................ ...319-352-6094
tehven@msn.com
Headquarters Staff
EIVIND J. HEIBERG ...........................................Chief Executive Offi cer
eheiberg@sofn.com
LEN CARLSON ..........................................................Director of Agencies
lcarlson@sofn.com
LEE GORANSON ........................................................................... Controller
leeg@sofn.com
RACHELE HOCKERT..........................Director of Information Technology
rachele@sofn.com
LINDA NELSON ............................................Interim Fraternal Director
lnelson@sofn.com
CINDY OLSON ..........................................................Foundation Director
colson@sofn.com
DEAN P. STILLER .................................................................................Actuary
dstiller@sofn.com
PHILIP TSCHUMPERLIN .............................Director of Insurance Services
philt@sofn.com
Tubfrim Chairperson
KNUT KARLSEN ...................................................................360-420-2677
Morkulla@aol.com
Viking Staff
AMY BOXRUD ......................................................................................... Editor
aboxrud@mspcustomcontent.com
KARA ELIASON ...................................................................Assistant Editor
JILL ADLER ........................................................................................................Art Director
JOSH ALLEN ............................................................. Production Manager
SCOTT OSTWALD..........................................................Advertising Sales
sostwald@mspcustomcontent.com
PAUL MARIHART ........................................................... Advertising Artist
ROBB MITCHELL ........................................Digital Imaging Technician
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Editor's Note: Colin
Keith Thomsen's article
on Nynorsk in the March
issue of Viking was a
popular one with readers.
Here are two members'
comments.
on the Norwegian language, the first thing
you likely learned is that there are two
of them. At least that's how my first Norwegian
professor put it for the sake of simplicity.
An American
discovers Nynorsk
and its founder,
Ivar Aasen.
BY COLIN KEITH THOMSEN
M a r c h 2 010 V I K IN G 15
More Words of Change
I grew up in Norway and came to this
country in 1956. In the March issue of
Viking, I read with interest the article
about Bokmål and Nynorsk, since I had
to study both in gymnas [high school].
In regard to the section called " The
Words of Change, " I recall a " word
change " from the late 1940s: With
many Norwegians returning from
England, where they had served with
the Norwegian forces, the military
dress was referred to as " battle dress "
(and still is, I suppose). However,
there was one member of the Norwegian
armed forces who suggested that
we shouldn't call it battle dress when
we had such a good Norwegian name
as krigs suit! Yes, we always got a good
laugh at that one.
Svend Larsen
Polson, Mont.
Danish Infl uence
Thank you for the well-written article
on Nynorsk. You did not mention
an important condition that brought
the Dano-Norwegian language to
Norway: The Black Death. During
the plague, most Norwegian clergymen
died because of visiting sick
people. These priests were the best
at writing the old Norwegian language.
[Editor's note: Danish clergy
replaced them, bringing along their
written language.]
Gunnar A. Stuskin Kvelstad
Lillehammer, Norway
She explained: Norway was
a part of Denmark for a long
time, so most Norwegians
write a form of the language
that closely resembles Danish.
But Ivar Aasen, a self-educated
poet and linguist, traveled
around the country in the
1800s studying dialects, and
made up a new language based
on his research. Like most foreign
students of Norwegian,
we would be expected to learn
only one of these languages,
Bokmål, the Danish-based, majority
form, because, as a classmate
put it, " only farmers and
fishermen " use Nynorsk, Aasen's
language. Since some of those
farmers and fishermen were
my relatives, I took it upon
myself to learn everything I
could about Aasen, Nynorsk,
and how Norway, a country of
only 4.8 million people, came
to have two languages instead
of just one.
A Bit of History
I
t all goes back to the Middle
Ages. In the late 1300s, Norway
entered into an unequal
" union " with Denmark that
would last until 1814. At the
time the union was instituted,
the Scandinavian languages
were still very similar, and written
standards were just developing.
Copenhagen became the
capital of the new kingdom and
Danish standards (and Danish
officials) came to dominate
Norwegian society at all levels.
Norwegians learned to write
their language according to
Danish rules, although spoken
Norwegian continued to evolve
relatively unaffected, especially
in the country's many isolated
villages, valleys and fjords.
After a few hundred years,
the Norwegian people began to
agitate for a break from Denmark.
As interest in political
independence began to rise, so
did interest in linguistic independence,
which is where Ivar
Aasen enters the picture.
Born in 1813 on a small farm
in Sunnmøre as one of nine
children, Ivar Aasen's origins
didn't presage a career as one
of Norway's leading intellectuals.
When Aasen was 3 years
old, his mother, on her death
bed, demanded that her son
CORRECTION from page 24
of our Feb. 2010 issue: Scandinavian
Fest will be held Sept. 5, 2010 in
Vasa Park in Budd Lake, N.J.
S
end your feedback and opinions to Viking, Letters to the Editor,
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M a y 2 010 V I K I N G 5

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Viking Magazine - May 2010

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