Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland: Three Crowns and a Republic - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 152

11. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland: Three Crowns and a Republic
Strictly speaking, Norway lies outside the Baltic Sea. [134] But its history and culture bind it
to Denmark and Sweden. All three countries share much the same genetic inheritance, but to
the casual observer, Swedes and Norwegians look most alike. All three countries have lan-
guages that evolved from Old Norse. Each country's readers can understand most of what
is written in the other two country's languages. Each of the three countries is predominantly
Lutheran. Each is a constitutional monarchy. Each has a history shaped by more than three
centuries of their Viking forebears' expeditions of war, plunder, and exploration. And each
shares a common descriptor: Scandinavian, a term bestowed by Pliny the Elder in the first
century CE.
The Danish monarchy is the oldest in Europe, and the Danish flag, the Dannebrog ,
is the oldest in the world. Legend has it that it floated from the sky in 1219 as a sign of
Christianity's oncoming victory for the Danish king (Valdemar) in his battle against pagan
Estonians. The flag's field is red, displaying a white cross. The vertical arm of the cross
is left of center (at the hoist side), and the horizontal arm is longer than the vertical. Nor-
way, Sweden, and Finland use the same design, each with its own color of field and color of
cross.
WHAT DEFINES NORWAY?
Geography, as the saying goes, is destiny. Norway is the westernmost Scandinavian country.
It thrusts into the North Sea, with a coastline of more than 1,200 miles, but when bays and
inlets are counted, the coastline runs to more than 13,000 miles. Norway (literally, the way
of the Norse) is glacier country. Some are still extant. Long-gone glaciers formed the land-
scape: deep valleys, swift rushing streams, waterfalls, and rocky soil (less than 3 percent
of the land is arable). And scenically most important, Norway's west coast is cut by fjords,
deep glacier-cut valleys into which sea waters have poured. The Sogndal Fjord runs inland
for 120 miles. With narrow defiles and depths reaching 4,260 feet, the Sogndal is one of the
world's deepest and longest fjords.
With its long north-south site, about one-third of Norway lies within the Arctic Circle.
Within that Circle, winter nights last six months, and summer sun shines continuously for
the other half of the year. Norway's climate is tempered by the Gulf Stream. Even so, the
weather for long periods of time can be damp and bone-chilling. A blackness descends on
the spirit (to use the words of a Norwegian writer), and health authorities are on guard to
prevent excess consumption of alcohol and lonely lives driven to suicide. Norway does well
in its watchfulness. Norwegians consume approximately 4.4 liters of alcohol per person per
year, compared to a U.S. figure of 6.7 liters and 8.1 liters in the United Kingdom. Death by