Norway’s path to gaining its own written languages, Bokmal and Nynorsk, truly began in the mid 1840s, when multiple intellectuals, including poet Henrik Wergeland, argued in favor of Norwegian abandonment of Danish as the official language and instead the creation of a new Norwegian language based off of local dialects, Ivar Asen’s “Landsmal,” which would become “Nynorsk.” The project of the Norwegian language was furthered by storytellers P.C. Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe who retold Norwegian fairy tales much in the same manner that the Brothers Grimm retold German fairy tales.
Well, my long focus on Northern Lights might finally be wrapping itself up (though there may be a few more posts). The focus of this project has changed a lot, I think for the better, and I’m excited to start focusing on the final project, whatever form that may take.