Music City Vikings

SONS OF Lodge # 5-681 Nashville, Tennessee MUSIC CITY VIKINGS Lodge No. 5-681 Nashville, Tennessee

June, 2009 Vol. 1, No. 2

Letter from the President Greetings eller Hilsen,

What a wonderful time we had on Syttende Mai at Susan Collier’s home! Thank you Susan for inviting the Music City Vikings Lodge for the afternoon to view your beautiful gardens and let us have a nice meet and greet casual time. We will not meet in June as we stated in the May newsletter. Our next meeting will be on Sunday July 12 at my home and small horse farm. The time will be from 2:00–5:00 P.M. The day will be our first adventure in celebrating St. Hans, Midsummer’s Eve. Please bring the kids and grandchildren to this event. Plans are to have Fjord horses, a replica of a Viking long boat that sailed down the Yukon River a few years ago. Martha Felton has agreed to help us prepare and experience a Midsummer’s Eve like an authentic Norwegian day with games, food, and a bonfire. Would you like to have a good tasty bowl of Flotegrot or Rommegrot? Come and have a fun time! Please RSVP so we can prepare enough of the good stuff! Call 615-591-8656 or cell 615-804-5443.

Mange Takk , Ken Sersland, President

Music City Vikings Lodge #5-681 Lodge Officers 2009

President ...... Ken Sersland Vice President ...... TBD Secretary ...... TBD Treasurer ...... Margaret Kneer Financial Secretary ...... TBD Auditor ...... Don Pendlebury Publicity ...... Susan Collier Social Director ...... TBD Cultural Director ...... Sten Verlund Newsletter Editor ...... Julianne Eriksen Sunshine Coorespondant ...... Gloria Kleve Counselor ...... TBD

2 Welcome! Velkommen! This issue gives focus to Midsummer Eve, as we look forward to celebrating in July at Ken’s house (directions are on page 4). First, I want to recognize our lodge member, Gloria Kleve, who came up with the choice of name for our lodge. She has also been in touch with Arlene for some time about helping her getting the lodge started. And she has voluteered to be Sunshine Coordinator. Thanks also to Don Pendle - bury, who has volunteered to be Lodge Auditor. Tusen takk to Arlene, too, for all the work she has done to make our lodge a reality. Tennessee is the Volunteer State, so that must make Music City Vikings the Volunteer Sons of Norway Lodge! All you members, we need your volunteer spirit to be an officer before we get instituted. Just think, you won’t only be a Charter Member but you’ll also go down as the First Charter Officer. Positions available: Vice President; Secretary; Financial Secretary; Social Director; Trustees (3); Mar - shalls; Greeters; and Counselor. You will even receive on-the-job training if you wish. Now, don’t be shy —just give Ken or Arlene an enthusiastic JA! or YES! —Julianne Eriksen, Editor

Contents

Midsummer Fest ...... 4 Recipe of the Month ...... 5 June Birthdays ...... 6 Birthday Humor ...... 6 More Humor ...... 7 Summer Reading ...... 8 Rosemaling ...... 9

Sons of Norway Mission Statement The mission of Sons of Norway is to promote, preserve, and cherish a lasting appreciation of the heritage and culture of Norway and other Nordic countries while growing soundly as a fraternal benefit society and offering benefits to its members.

Music City Vikings Newsletter is published monthly to inform, inspire, and grow the membership of the Sons of Norway Music CIty Vikings Lodge 5-681. Please contribute to your newsletter by send - ing articles, recipes, stories, and photos to the editor ([email protected]). Your comments and suggestions are welcome! Deadline for the July 2009 newsletter is June 30.

3 Midsummer Fest

orwegians celebrate Midsummer Eve on June In our time, the bon - 23 or the Saturday closest to this date. The fires still flame all over midsummer fest originated in the ancient Norway on Midsum - Norse society long before Christianity was introduced mer Eve, but the cele - Nand has been observed ever since. bration has taken on a The old Norse honored the sun with pagan cer - new meaning. The su - emonies at summer solstice. The turning of the sun perstitious beliefs seen was believed to be a perious event. If the sun failed to in connection with the take the right course, mankind was doomed to perish. fest are half forgotten. At this critical time, the world of the living was open Instead, Midsummer, to the beings of the nether world. Trolls, ghosts and or St. Hans, is a cele - other creatures roamed the earth. bration of the Norwe - When Christianity was introduced, the ancient gian summer and of nature in general. sun festival was replaced by the celebration of the Along the coast, bonfires blaze on every islet birthday of John the Baptist. The church realized that and skerry. Boats filled with high-spirited and cheer - a mere ban on the pagan fest would not dispel the ful people gather together and form long processions deep-rooted folk beliefs connected with this day. So that parade along the coast to the accompaniment of while the celebrations were given a new purpose, the accordion music. There are evening picnics served in customs and superstition sourrounding Midsummer ever little cove and on every rock shelf along the Eve existed hand in hand with the Christian tradition. shoreline. Laughter and music drift through the sum - Fire has always played a significant role in the mer night. In some places, people meet for a commu - midsummer celebrations. The old Norse kept blazing nity celebration of midsummer, build a huge bonfires going to give renewed power to the sun. The communal bonfire and have grand festivities with en - bonfires were believed to drive away the supernatural tertainment programs, good food, and dancing. beings that threatened both man and beast at this time.

Directions to Ken’s house — 3949 New Hwy 96 West, Franklin

From Downtown From West Side Area

• Go I65 south to Old Hickory Blvd • Go out West End Avenue south • Turn right going West to Hillsboro Road, left • At the Hwy 100 and Hwy 70 split follow Hwy (south) 100 south • Turn right at Hwy 46/Old Hillsboro Road • Go all the way to Hwy 96 and go East to • Go all the way to first stop light, which is about Franklin 6-7 miles, Hwy 96 • When you go under the Natchez Trace Bridge • Turn right going Hwy 96 west to Fairview it is 1.2 miles to the driveway • Go 2.4 miles from intersection; the house is on • Turn right the left side of the road —a Norwegian wind sock will be above the mailbox

4 Recipe of the Month Rømmegrøt (Sour Cream Porridge) Submitted by Martha Felton

Ingredients

1 pint thick sour cream 12 tbsp flour 1 pint milk Salt

Preparation

1. Boil the sour cream, covered, for 2 minutes. Add half of the flour and stir carefully to bring the butter to the surface. Skim it off, reserve it and keep it warm. 2. Stir in the rest of the flour and add the milk. Simmer the por - ridge for 5-6 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

If one prefers a slightly tangy sour flavor, half of the milk added may be sour milk or kefir. Sour cream porridge is eaten sprinkled with sugar and cin - namon and with the reserved warm melted butter. Some people also like to add raisins on top, as pictured above. Red juice, such as raspberry or currant, is usually served with the porridge. Often served with cured meats and flatbrød (crisp bread). This recipe serves 4.

5 Gratulerer med dagen!

Earl Abrahamson Kenneth Kennedy Katherine Looney Pilar Vargas Julian Vermund

June Birthdays

Birthday Humor

Birthday Cake Faith

Protestantism — You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Taoism — The way to have cake is to eat cake. Catholicism — Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s cake. Judaism — Eat, eat already! Atheism — There is no such thing as cake. TV Evangelism —You can have all the cake you want, just send money. Buddhism — Cake is. Zen Buddhism — What is the sound of cake baking? Hinduism — Have your cake. Just don’t have a cow.

And, Lutheranism — Any ideas?

Birthdayism — Let them eat cake!!

6 More Humor

Modern Genealogy A modern mother is explaining to her little girl about picktures in the family photo album. “This is the geneticist with your surrogate mother and here’s your sperm donor and your father’s clone. This is me holding you when you were just a frozen embryo. The lady with the very troubled look on her face is your aunt. She’s the family genealogist.”

Family Tree A little girl asked her mother, “How did the human race appear?” The mother answered, “God made Adam and Eve and they had children and so was all mankind made.” Two days later, the girl asked her father the same question. The father answered, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved.” The confused girl returned to her mother and said, “Mom, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Dad said thery developed from monkeys?” The mother answered, “Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your father told you about his.”

Top 5 Not-So-Good Norwegian Subtitles in Foreign Films and TV Shows All of these are real subtitles appearing in popular movies and shows in Norway

Apollo 13 — “Go for Launch!” Norwegian translation: “Gå til lunsj!” which means “Go to lunch!”

Star Wars Episode 2 — “You’ll be invincible” Norwegian translation: “Du vil bli usynlig,” which means “You will be invisible”

The District — “I’ll be right behind you, watching your back” Norwegian translation: “Jeg står rett bak deg og kikker på ryggen din,” which means “I am standing directly behind you, and staring at your back.”

The Simpsons — “The cat needs medication” Norwegian translation: “Katten må meditere,” which means “The cat must meditate.”

Back to the Future 3 — “You must leave your iron outside” Norwegian translation: “Du må legge strykejernet ditt på utsiden,” which means “You must leave your knitting needles outside.”

7 Summer Reading

ant to curl up with a book? Join the Norwegians! According to the Encylopedia Britannica, Norwegians read more than any other population in the world. In fact, the main Norwegian past-time at home is reading. More than 2,000 new books are published every year in Norway. There is a public library for Wevery 2,500 –3,000 inhabitants, as well as mobile library services bringing books by bus and boat. There are also almost 4,000 school libraries. In Norway, a writer receives a royalty payment every time his or her book is borrowed from any library in the county. The sum, however small, is paid regularly. Every writer also has the possiblity of obtaining an an - nual salary guaranteed by the State, and every public library is obliged to buy at least one copy of every work published.

Out Stealing Horses Sophie’s World: A Novel About the Per Petterson Historyof Philosophy (Picador paperback edition , 2008) Jostein Gaardner Set in the easternmost region of Norway, (Berkeley, 1996) Out Stealing Horses begins with an end - One day fourteen-year-old Sophie ing. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has set - Amundsen comes home from school to tled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area find in her mailbox two notes with one to live the rest of his life with a quiet de - question on each: “Who are you? ” and “Where does the liberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, world come from? ” From that irresistible beginning, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer. Per Pet - Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her terson’s is one of Norway’s best fiction writers. Out far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Stealing Horses won the Norwegian Booksellers Prize, At the same time, she must unravel a mystery involving the Critics Award for best novel, and the Independent another young girl, Hilde, by using everything she ’s Foreign Fiction Prize . learning about philosophy. The truth is far more com - plicated than she could ever have imagined. The Redbreast Jo Nesbø Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the (Harper Paperbacks , 2008) Prairie A recovering alcoholic recently reas - O. E. Rölvaag signed to the Norwegian Security Service, (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, Insp. Harry Hole begins tracking Sverre 9th ed., 1999) Olsen, a vicious neo-Nazi who escaped This is a beautifully written book about prosecution on a technicality. But what starts as a quest the experiences of the early Norwegians to put Olsen behind bars soon explodes into a race to who settled in the vast prairie of the prevent an assassination. As Hole struggles to stay one Dakota Territory during the latter half of the nineteenth step ahead of Olsen and his gang of skinheads, Nesbø century. It speaks of their isolation and desolation, and takes the reader back to WWII, as Norwegians fighting the hardships inherent in pioneering so far West with for Hitler wage a losing battle on the Eastern front. little resources. Dependent solely upon their inner re - When the two story lines finally collide, it’s up to Hole sources, hard work, ingenuity, and whatever goods they to stop a man hell-bent on carrying out the deadly plan brought with them, these Norwegian settlers would be he hatched half a century ago in the trenches. the stuff of which this country was made.

You may want to dig deeper into reading books by Norwegians and Norwegian Americans by participation in the Norwegian Cultural Skills Program Unit 2 — Norwegian Literature. Log on to the SON website www.sofn.com ) and click on Member Resources (Cultural Skills). Happy reading!

8 Rosemaling (Rose Painting) osemaling, the decorative folk painting of Rosemaling experienced its revival in America in Norway, began in the low-land areas of east - the twentieth century when Norwegian-Americans ern Norway about A.D. 1750 when upper- gave attention to the painted trunks and other objects cRlass artistic styles such as Baroque, Regency and brought to America by their ancestors. Rococo were introduced to Norway’s rural culture. Today Norwegian rosemaling is taught in many At first, Norway’s painters followed these European areas of the United States . Rosemaling associations styles closely. After being trained within a “guild ” sponsor classes and competitions. The Vesterheim they would travel from county to county painting Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, churches and/or the homes of the wealthy for a com - known for its large mission of either money or merely room and board. collection of both Once farther away from the influence of the Norwegian and guilds, these artists tried new ideas and motifs. Soon American rosemaled strong regional styles developed. As time passed , the objects, offers rose - and valleys became known for maling classes their fine rosemaling. Norwegian rosemaling contin - throughout the year, ued its westward migration all the way to America. and holds a nation - Travelers packed beautifully rosemaled trunks to wide annual rosemal - make their journey across the Atlantic. ing competition.

Telemark —The Telemark style is asym - Os —Typically backgrounds are white or metrical with a root center from which a red. Designs include geometric shapes and scroll branches out with leaves and flowers architectural motifs. Flowers, symmetrical that are varied and irregular. and asymmetrical, are grouped on stems.

Hallingdal —Baroque scrolls and acanthus Gudbrandsdal —Gudbrandsdal style is leaves wrap around a central flower. The an imitation of carving. Acanthus scrolls designs are symmetrical, with background and leaves predominate in a C with an S colors of red, black-green, dark green, and extension. The flowers used are tulips and a lighter blue-green. six- or eight-petal roses.

Valdres —Flowers are grouped in a bou - Vest Agder —Symmetrical and somewhat quet or garland, gathered in an urn or hang - geometric, typified by light colors on a ing from a rope. Realistic flowers can be dark background. Opaque colors with red, identified and given a name. Leaves are black , and white overlays are typically slender, long, S-shapes. used. Oval flowers are split down the mid - dle with contrasting colors. Tulips, stylized roses, four- and Copyright © 2003 Illinois Norsk Rosemaling Association. Used by six-petal flowers, and the daisy pullout are permission. Visit their website at www.rosemaling.org. used. Designs are symmetrical with opaque colors on dark backgrounds.

Remember to register early for the Rosemaling classes offered by the Vikings of the Smokes Lodge in Knoxville on September 12 and 13. Contact Emilie Collins at (865) 670-3773 or cell (865) 386-0845. Email: [email protected]

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