History of Norway Trivia Quiz

Also known as Holy Island, Lindisfarne lies off the coast of England, in the north-east. In 634 AD a priory was established there by Saint Aidan and in 793 AD the monastery became the target of the Vikings. It probably wasn't the first raid, but its significance is that it attacked the home of British Christianity, and is generally accepted as the beginning of the Age of the Vikings.

England's northern areas were within relatively easy reach of Norway, but the Vikings also raided countries like France and Greenland. They also established a base in what is now Canada. Many Norse, which included people from Sweden and Denmark as well as Norway, settled in the countries they attacked. England and Ireland have many place names derived from the Norse language.

Harald I was born around 860 and died in or about 940. He is generally considered to be the first monarch of Norway, although his main area of control was the western coast. Other parts of the country were ruled by local chiefs, with Harald given credit for developing this system of provincial government.

His Norwegian name of Harald Hårfager is usually translated as Harald Fairhair, although Finehair is also sometimes given. Harald I was succeeded by his son, the wonderfully nicknamed Eric Bloodaxe.

As in most civil wars, Norway's was a battle for power and lasted over one hundred years, from 1130 until 1240. Sigurd Magnusson, nicknamed the 'Crusader', had ruled from 1103 until 1130 but left no legitimate sons. Various claimants came forward, some with more or less valid clams and others who saw an opportunity.

The throne was disputed for over a century with the conflict finally ended when Haakon IV, himself an illegitimate child of an earlier monarch, became king in 1217. He defeated his rival Skule, who had acted as regent in the early years of Haakon's reign, in 1240 bringing the civil unrest to an end.

The Kalmar Union was created in 1397 to unite the three Scandinavian countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with the latter country also at the time extending into what is now the independent country of Finland. Driven by Danish Queen Margaret I, the agreement allowed the monarch of the three countries to determine economic and foreign policy, while domestic matters were left to the individual country.

Sweden rebelled against the Kalmar Union and, after much bloodshed, established itself as an independent country under Gustav Vasa, King Gustav I, in 1523. Norway remained under Danish control and stayed there for nearly three hundred more years.

Oslo, then called Ánslo, dates from the first quarter of the eleventh century. A fire destroyed the city in 1624 and it was rebuilt in a slightly different location and given the name Christiania in honour of the then monarch, Christian IV. The spelling was changed to Kristiania in 1877 before the name Oslo was decided upon in 1925. By then, the city had expanded to include its original location.

Christian IV was the only Danish ruler ever to visit Norway, then Denmark's final frontier.

The Treaty of Kiel was agreed in 1814 towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark agreed to cede their control of Norway to Sweden, who had allied with Britain during the war, while being allowed to retain Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland.

Denmark paid a high price for having sided with Napoleon as Norway had been a source of timber and cannon-fodder for more than 400 years. Norway resisted being traded as a 'commodity' but were no match for the strength of the Swedish army, so ended up in an alliance with another Scandinavian country after years of being tied to Denmark.

Full independence for Norway was a long time coming and arrived later than you might have thought, in 1905. As the quiz has shown in earlier questions, Norway had been in a series of alliances with different neighbours, and 1814 saw Sweden lay claim to the country, partly to restore Sweden's pride following the loss of Finland to Russia. Eventually, a loose alliance of equals was formed although, as Orwell would say, some were more equal than others.

By 1905, Norway desire for independence had become overwhelming and a unilateral declaration was made by the Norwegian government, the Storting. A referendum of the people supported the decision by a 99.95% vote. Norway still wanted to remain a monarchy, though, and a Danish prince was invited to take the throne, which he did as King Haakon VII.

Norway once again found itself an occupied country in 1940 when Germany invaded during World War II. Narvik was a particular target as it was a port and also had good railway links to the rest of the country. Officially, Norway was neutral but both the Germans and British wanted to secure a foothold in the country. The German struck first, capturing Narvik on 9 April 1940 before the British responded a day later and defeated the German naval forces. A second battle, on 13th, completed the victory, which is remembered as Hitler's first defeat of the war.

Britain's commitments to fighting in France meant that holding Narvik was impossible, and Britain withdrew its forces. The port remained a lifeline between Norway and the UK for escaped prisoners and Norwegian resistance fighters to travel between the countries, with 'ordinary' Norwegians risking their lives to help defeat the Nazis.

Bruntland actually served as Prime Minister on three separate occasions, the first being a brief stint from February to October in 1981. The second period lasted from 1986 until 1989 and was notable for the high proportion of female politicians in her cabinet. Bruntland became Prime Minister again in 1990 and resigned in 1996, leaving politics completely.

From 1998 until 2003 Gro was the Director-General of the World Health Organisation.

Harald succeeded his father, Olav V, in 1991. He was born in 1937, and spent his early years in the USA with his mother and siblings due to the German invasion - his father and grandfather spent the war years in the UK. Harald V holds the distinction of being the first Norwegian monarch to have been born in Norway since 1387, when Olav IV died.

King Harald has overseen a period of modernisation of Norway's monarchy. He has two children, Crown Prince Haakon, the heir apparent, and Princess Martha Louise.