Etymology and Early History
– Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk.
– The English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg, meaning northern way or way leading to the north.
– The Anglo-Saxons of Britain referred to the kingdom of Norway as Norðmanna land.
– The native name of Norway may have originally had the same etymology as the English form, with the first component being norðr.
– The full name of Norway was Norðr vegr, referring to the sailing route along the Norwegian coast.
– The earliest traces of human occupation in Norway date back to 11,000-8,000 BC.
– Stone tools dating from 9,500-6,000 BC have been discovered in Finnmark and Rogaland.
– Between 3000 and 2500 BC, new settlers arrived in eastern Norway, replacing the hunting-fishing population of the west coast.
– The new settlers were Indo-European farmers who grew grain and kept livestock.
– Bronze was gradually introduced in Norway from about 1500 BC.
– Burial cairns and stone ships were characteristic of this period.
– There is little archaeological evidence dating to the early Iron Age.
– The people of Norway were in contact with Roman-occupied Gaul during the first four centuries AD.
– Knowledge of runes was brought to Norway through contact with countries farther south.
Viking Age
– Vikings were most active in the northern and western British Isles and eastern North American isles.
– The Gjermundbu helmet found in Buskerud is the only known reconstructable Viking Age helmet.
– Harald Fairhair unified Norway in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord, becoming the first king of a united Norway.
– Many Norwegians left the country to live in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and parts of Britain and Ireland.
– Norse traditions were replaced by Christian ones in the late 10th and early 11th centuries.
Feudalism, Hanseatic League, and High Middle Ages
– Feudalism did not develop in Norway or Sweden, but the administration of government had a conservative feudal character.
– The Hanseatic League gained control over Norwegian trade during the 14th century.
– The League’s monopolistic control put pressure on all classes, especially the peasantry.
– The Hanseatic merchants formed a state within a state in Bergen.
– From the 1040s to 1130, Norway was at peace.
– The civil war era broke out in 1130 due to unclear succession laws.
– The Archdiocese of Nidaros was created in 1152 and attempted to control the appointment of kings.
– Håkon Håkonsson was appointed king in 1217, introducing clear laws of succession.
– The population increased from 150,000 to 400,000 from 1000 to 1300, leading to the subdivision of farms.
Kalmar Union and Early Modern Period
– In 1380, Olaf Haakonsson inherited both the Norwegian and Danish thrones, creating a union between the two countries.
– The Kalmar Union was created in 1397 between Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
– Margaret I pursued a centralizing policy that favored Denmark.
– Norway remained in a union with Denmark until 1814 after Sweden broke out of the Kalmar Union.
– This period was referred to as the ‘400-Year Night’ due to the centralized power in Copenhagen.
– Protestantism was introduced in 1536, leading to the dissolution of the archbishopric in Trondheim.
– Norway became a colony of Denmark, losing independence.
– The intellectual and administrative power of the kingdom was centered in Copenhagen.
Dissolution of the Union, World Wars, and Recent Developments
– Norway ceded to Sweden in 1814 after being on the losing side in a war.
– Norway separates from Sweden in 1905.
– Prince Carl of Denmark elected as king, taking the name Haakon VII.
– Norway remains neutral during the First World War.
– Germany occupies Norway during the Second World War.
– Norway separates from Sweden in 1905.
– Jens Stoltenberg served as Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013.
– Oil was discovered at the Balder field in 1967, with production beginning in 1999.
– The Norwegian government founded the State oil company, Statoil (now Equinor), in 1973.
– Norway twice declined membership in the European Union through referendums in 1972 and 1994.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway