Rock and Roll Saved My Soul

Constitution Day is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai ("Seventeenth May"), Nasjonaldagen ("National Day") or Grunnlovsdagen ("Constitution Day"), although the latter is less frequent. Historical Background: The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent kingdom in an attempt to avoid being ceded to Sweden after Denmark–Norway's devastating defeat in the Napoleonic Wars. The celebration of this day began spontaneously among students and others from early on. However, Norway was at that time in a union with Sweden (following the Convention of Moss in August 1814) and for some years the King of Sweden and Norway was reluctant to allow the celebrations. For a few years during the 1820s, King Karl Johan actually banned it, believing that celebrations like...

Fastelavn is a Carnival tradition in the Northern European, and historically Lutheran, nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The related word Fastelovend [ksh] is used for Carnival in Germany in Köln and Bonn with the same meaning. It is celebrated on either the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. Fastelavn is related to Roman Catholic tradition of Carnival in the days before Lent, but after Denmark became a Protestant nation, the festival adopted certain distinctives. The holiday occurs the week before the Christian penitential season of Lent, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The Swedish counterpart is Fettisdagen, the Icelandic is Öskudagur, and in Finland they celebrate Laskiainen. In Iceland, Ísafjörður is the only town that celebrates Fastelavn on the same day as the other Nordic countries. The day is known as Maskadagur (mask-day). The traditions of Fastelavn varies somewhat between the c...