Norway Christmas

Following is one of the videos of Musevisa:

These Norwegian Stamps were published in the year 2008 on the occasion of Christmas. These two stamps picture Norwegian Nisse overlooking farmhouses and cost NOK 7 each. Around 14 million copies of these stamps were printed on the occasion of Christmas 2008. The first time Nisse were portrayed on a stamp in Norway was in the year 1992.

This is another stamp of the same series as mentioned above.

The ‘Church of Norway’, or Den Norske Kirke in Norwegian, is the state church of Norway and its origins date back to 1537 AD. The church has over 3.9 million members & confesses to the Lutheran Christian faith and has the Christian Bible, the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, Luther’s Small Catechism & the Augsburg Confession as its foundation. The Churh Of Norway can be classified as Protestant and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. It has also signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church and is associated with the Lutheran World Federation.

The constitutional head of the church is the King of Norway & its administrative functions are carried out by the Royal Ministry of Culture & Church Affairs.

These stamps were released in the year 2007 by the Norwegian Department of Posts in 8,000,000 copies each costing around 7 Kroner. This stamp shows the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings from the East, visiting the little Jesus Christ bearing gifts after his birth. These are traditionally known as Magi and are known to have worshipped Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.

This stamp pictures the Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, which revealed the birth of Jesus Christ to the Three Wise Men. According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Three Wise Men were from East and the star inspired them to travel to Jerusalem.

‘Eggnog Kringla‘ is the shape of a cookie and is primarily cooked in Norway during Christmas. The following recipe for cooking Eggnog Kringla cookies makes around 60 cookies and takes around 6-8 hours depending upon the cooking experience. The ingredients required are:

• All purpose flour – 4 cups
• Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
• Baking soda – Half teaspoon
• Butter – Three quarters of a cup
• Eggs – 1 piece
• Eggnog (dairy or nondairy) – 1 cup
• Ground Nutmeg – Half teaspoon
• Sifted powder sugar – 1 to 1.5 teaspoon
• Sugar – 1 to 1.5 cups

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The talk of Christmas in Norway doesn’t get complete if one doesn’t talk of Musevisa. This song/ story is so popular in Norwegian kids that an animated movie had been released apart from a book on the same topic. Find below the image of the Musevisa animated movie, may be in future we may post a part of the movie for kids:

Musevisa Animation Movie DVD/ CD

‘Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart’ is a famous song by Wham. Here are its lyrics:

Chorus:
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
But the very next day, You gave it away
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to someone special

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Here are the lyrics of the Musevisa song by Alf Prøysen. You can find the english translation of Musevisa here.

1. Når nettene blir lange
og kulda setter inn,
så sier vesle musemor
til ungeflokken sin:
“Hvis ingen går i fella,
men passer set for den,
skal allesammen snart
få feire jul igjen!”

Refrain
Heisan og hopsan og fallerallera!
Om julkvelden da
skal allesammen være glad!
Heisen og hopsan og fallerallera!
Om julekvelden da
skal allesammen være glad!

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Musevisa (The Mouse Song in English) is a Christmas Carol in Norwegian language written by Alf Prøysen in the year 1946. Alf was himself a singer & songwriter and wrote the carol to a traditional Norwegian tune. This carol embarks the preparation of Christmas by a family of anthropomorphic mice where the mother is warning its children against the dangers of the mousetrap.

When Alf wrote the carol he was a bit worried over the use of mice in his carol which were considered to be a pest. But his friend Amljot Høyland convinced him to not worry and that his song would be accepted. Alf is known to have written an alternative ending for the carol but Musevisa became a huge success within a few days of presentation and became an instant classic.

Here are the lyrics of Musevisa in English. If someone has a nice translation of the song please send over to me at philiprae555 [at] gmail [dot] com.

1. When the nights are long
and the cold sets in,
so says the small musemor
to young people their flocks:
“If no one goes in the trap,
but suitable for the set,
to be all together soon
get to celebrate in July again!”

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