May 17th

Hooray for May 17th!!! :-)

Too right Marius ! - Montreal founded May 17, 1642 - HOORAY !!!

I know it's Sittende Mai from my wife's heritage, but remind us of its origin.

It's *syttende* ("sittende" means "sitting") :-D and it's the day the Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814.

> It’s syttende (“sittende” means “sitting”) :-D and it’s the day the
> Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814.

Did Napoleon have anything to do with it?

Ingo.

I just found some photos with Norwegian girls from yesterday:
Click here

Ingo.

> Did Napoleon have anything to do with it?

That would be new to me, but what do I know.

> I just found some photos with Norwegian girls from yesterday

Well there's nothing quite like the combination of board games and young women.

> Did Napoleon have anything to do with it?

> That would be new to me, but what do I know.

I just found it: Norway was dependent of Denmark for several centuries.
Denmark had supported Napoleon, and after the Nations Battle near Leipzig
(October 1813) where Napoleons ost decisively the "Peace of Kiel" (Kielfreden,
from January 1814) decided that Norway would become a part of Sweden.
However, for a short time Norway was independent, before Sweden's administration
took over. It took until 1905 until Norway really became independent.

Ingo.

Napoleon DID have something to do with "it", as Ingo discovered. But not with our May 17th celebration as such, since May 17th was the day our constitution was signed in 1814. But we were not independent until 1905, since we were "given away" to Sweeden after the Napoleonic wars.

These days May 17th is celebrated by children parading in the streets, waving flags and singing songs, while school bands march along and play. In Oslo, 110 children schools participated in the parade this year. The route always passes by the royal castle, where the royal family stands on the balcony and greets all the children. Also, we eat tons of hot dogs and ice cream :-)

"Drunkenness, and public disturbances are regularly linked to the celebration."

Why was I not invited? Even I'd be prepared to look at a chessboard if promised behaviour like that!

Hipp hipp hurra!

Happy May 17th to Norwegians everywhere, on this very special day :-)