York Anglo-Scan

Volume 16, Issue 2/2010

Scandinavian News

A newsletter for York Anglo-Scandinavian Society

Denmark

Law back to Danes. The Jyske Lov (Codex Holmiensis), a codified document of law similar to Britain's Magna Carta, is to be returned to Denmark by Sweden. It was signed by King Valdemar II in 1241 but has been in Stockholm's Royal Library for the last 300 years, after being taken as war booty. Denmark has kept asking for the Jyske Lov to be returned, but war booty is a controversial topic for European museums. Therefore, the agreement is likely to be some kind of exchange deal.
The Jyske Lov gave Danes the basic rights to own private property and use the law to protect it from raiders. It stated: 'With law shall land [i.e. the nation] be built. And if all men would keep what is theirs, and let others enjoy the same rights, there would be no need of law. [...] If the land had no law, then he would have the most who could grab the most.'
The Copenhagen Post 23.4.10

Role played by bridge. The operators of the Øresund bridge & tunnel report that energy consumption has been reduced by 14% in the last five years, while wildlife on the artificial island of Peberholm is blossoming. Peberholm was deliberately left unsown and unplanted as an experiment to observe natural colonisation processes. The island is part of Natura 2000, which comprises a number of wildlife sanctuaries throughout the EU. After 10 years, no less than 490 plant species can been found there, together with 345 different kinds of beetle and 421 kinds of butterfly, as well as large colonies of sea birds including avocets.
http://www.denmark.dk 28.4.10

Danish cuisine the best. Gourmet Copenhagen restaurant Noma has been crowned the best restaurant in the world by the acclaimed publication Restaurant Magazine. At the award ceremony in London, this Michelin-starred restaurant jumped from bronze position to take the top spot ahead of the Spanish elBulli and the English restaurant Fat Duck.
The Copenhagen Post 27.4.10

Finland

Finnish genes. The Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) has, together with collaborators, compiled the Finnish Gene Atlas, having investigated more than 40,000 Finns.
1. Finns are unique on the genetic map of Europe and differ considerably both from Central Europeans and from the neighbours to the east.
2. Genetically, Finns have more in common with, for example, the Dutch or Russians living in the area of Murom (to the east of Moscow), than with the linguistic relations, the Hungarians.
3. Owing to the settlement history, the genetic differences among Finns are great on both the east/west and north/south axes; the greater the geographic distance is, the greater the genetic differences are. The greatest genetic differences are found between Finns of Southwest Finland and inhabitants of Kuusamo in Northeast Finland.
4. The linguistic link between Swedish-speaking Finns living in coastal areas and Swedes is also reflected in the greater genetic closeness of these two groups in comparison with Finnish speakers.
Dagens Nyheter 17.3.10, http://www.fimm.fi

Moomin not retired. 2010 is the 65th anniversary of the release of The Moomins and the Great Flood, the first of the world famous Moomin books. To celebrate this, Oy Moomin Characters and Bulls Press have created a website, in close cooperation with WWF. The site hosts Scandinavia's biggest drawing competi-tion for children and the Moomin Sea School.
http://www.moomin.com/eng/index.htmlwww.moomin.com

Iceland

Problems in proportion. We may have been affected by the Icelandic ash, but surely not as badly as for example Páll Eggert Ólafsson, whose farm is being covered by ash from the volcano Eyjafjallajökull.
VG Nett 17.4.10

Summer all the time. When we changed the clocks for Daylight Saving in March, Iceland didn't. The reason is that this country has 'summer time' all the year around.
Dagens Nyheter 29.3.10, www.webexhibits.org/daylights

Norway

Norwegian design. A ski helmet, a voting booth and a deep-water sensor, all Norwegian designs, have been nominated to the Brit Insurance Design Awards in 2010 and currently exhibited at the Design Museum in London. The ski helmet for girls was designed to make more girls wear helmets in the slopes. It has room for a pony tail and has removable ear flaps, and is also lighter and smaller than other helmets. Kadabra's Blanke Ark Norway is a system for governmental elections including voting booth, ballot box, signage, ballot and graphic profile. The third Norwegian design which is nominated, the CASE Abyss, is an autonomous sensor for deep-water geophysical exploration and has proved to be revolutionary in the industry.

The exhibition of all
shortlisted entries
has been extended to 31 October 2010.
http://www.norway.org.uk/News_and_events/culture 17.2.10

Sweden

Monopoly no more. The first private pharmacy in Sweden since 1971 has opened for business in Stockholm . The state-owned Apoteket chain of pharmacies was until January this year the sole provider of prescription medication in Sweden, and until November 2009 also the only provider of non-prescription drugs such as headache tablets. From 1 November 2009, Swedes wanting to buy non-prescription drugs could do so at selected stores, including some gas stations and grocery shops. The Swedish state has now sold 465 of its estimated 900 state-owned Apoteket stores to four firms, all of them Swedish companies established for the sole purpose of running the pharmacies.
Dagens Nyheter 10.11.09, 10 and 11.1.10, www.thelocal..se

Fighting the ice. A year ago Vera Simonsson headed out on a 1200 kilometre, 80-days adventure on skies across Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. For this, she won the title '2009 Female Adventurer of the Year' in Sweden.
The award for the Male Adventurer in 2009 went to Ola Skinnarmo who last summer completed a voyage through the Northeast Passage 'in the footsteps of Erik Adolf Nordenskiöld'. One of Sweden's most famous explorers (the first Swede and youngest person to reach the South Pole in 1998; two years later, he reached the North Pole in record time), Skinnarmo also got the award 'Adventurer of the decade' in Sweden.
Dagens Nyheter, http://www.polar-quest.com

Malmö Modern. A new branch of the Swedish Museum of Modern Art opened in Malmö.
on Boxing Day 2009; it is the first branch of the main museum in Stockholm.
The former Electricity Station dating from 1900 and once the Rooseum gallery, has been refurbished to meet international museum standards - with a new extension marking the arrival of the new museum. The perforated orange metal façade both connects to the existing brick architecture and introduces a contemporary element to the neighbourhood.
Dagens Nyheter 20 and 28.12.09, http://www.electronicbeats.ne 21.4.10, http://www.tvark.se

Top cockerel. A gilded aluminium weather-cock on a chapel in Oskarshamn won the 32nd church cockerel competi-tion. Second was the collegue from Steninge church, Halland.
Svt.se 31.3.10