The use and misuse of skaldic poetry by Norwegian historians

An increasingly critical attitude to the historicity of the sagas developed from the second half of the 19th century, and skaldic poetry became correspondingly more important as a source. In spite of attempts to rely more exclusively on skaldic poetry in historical research, it has become evident that historians often lack the knowledge by which to interpret skaldic poems in a sensible manner. More often than not the prose context is still given a decisive emphasis. This paper highlights how such untenable use of skaldic poetry forms a backdrop to the genealogical construct the «Hárfagri dynasty». The author concludes that the majority of Norwegian historians have not succeded in detaching themselves from the saga prose narratives, and that skaldic poetry has still not been fully exploited as a source to the oldest periods of Norwegian history.

The name «Ballvollen» related to transnational transference of ideas

This article deals with cultural transference of ideas exemplified by the name Ballvollen (The Ball Ley) used in seventeenth-century court records of witchcraft trials from Vardø in Finnmark, Northern Norway. The village of Vardø was an important administrative centre in Finnmark, where Vardøhus Castle was located. Norway and Denmark were in a union at the time, with the king living in Copenhagen. The District Governor in Finnmark, the king’s man, was placed at Vardøhus Castle.

 The name Ballvollen appears for the first time in court records in 1621, and is mentioned several times until 1625. It always occurs in the same context, about a field where witches met for gatherings, and where the devil was present. It is not documented used in Vardø before or after this period of time. The article examines the name Ball Ley used in similar source material in Scotland and in the same context, namely a witches’ gathering on a field. Using information from various sources, it is argued that a direct transfer took place via a Scotsman, John Cunningham, who was installed as District Governor at Vardøhus Castle in 1619. He was active during interrogation of alleged witches brought before the court in Vardø. Cunningham knew about the notion of witches meeting in a field with the devil from the contents of Scottish witchcraft trials. He also knew Danish, having lived in Denmark since 1603. Due to his position, he was able to bring the name Ballvollen into the questioning of accused witches, and thereby into the court records.

Rabbi Aschkanaze and his 1904 Hebrew Translation of the Norwegian Constitution

In 1904, the first Jewish rabbi in Norway, Meyer Aschkanaze, published a Hebrew translation of the Norwegian Constitution, with a Preface in Hebrew, Norwegian and French. The present article presents his biography, gives a bibliographical account of the Hebrew translation, and discusses rhetorical and pragmatic aspects of the work. Aschkanaze’s translation is read as an expression of the willingness of Jewish immigrants to integrate into Norwegian society. A striking feature is the concealment of the last sentence in the original version of §2 from 1814, «Jews are furthermore excluded from the Kingdom», which was not abandoned until 1851. In its revised form, however, the Constitution could also inspire the continued work for Jewish emancipation and minority rights in other parts of the world. Finally, a controversial figure among Jews in Norway, the rabbi probably wanted to secure a position as a Jewish leader and spokesperson to the Norwegian public.

Fridtjof Nansen and the Aeroarctic Society, 1924–1930

In 1924, Fridtjof Nansen was appointed president of the newly established Aeroarctic Society – The International Society for the Study of the Arctic by Means of Airship. Aeroarctic was founded on the initiative of German engineers and natural scientists, its primary objective being organization of a transpolar zeppelin flight from Europe to America, while conducting a broad geophysical research programme. Moreover, the society was to establish a circumpolar network of meteorological stations that could serve as a platform for increased international cooperation in Arctic geophysical research. It had close links with the International Meteorological Committee and the first International Polar Year, and among its members had a number of leading scientists from Germany, Scandinavia, the USA and the Soviet Union. 

The history of the society has been given little attention by historians, probably because it failed to conduct the transpolar expedition planned for the summer of 1930. In Nansen’s biography, the 1920s are described as a decade when he let slip his scientific ambitions and concentrated instead on political and humanitarian issues. The Aeroarctic project has been dismissed as unrealistic and an airy dream, and Nansen’s role reduced to that of a minor figure talked into it by nationalistically minded Germans with commercial interests in the project, and used as a galleon figure. Nansen’s own Aeroarctic archive gives us a quite different story: During the last six years of his life, he used his international fame to draw leading geophysicists into the project. In the late 1920s, Aeroarctic had members in 21 countries, had organized two international scientific congresses, both chaired by Nansen, and published the first volumes of the journal Arktis. It is more than obvious that Nansen played a key role in the society, representing a driving force in efforts to realize the expedition.