Lost in Norway Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harald V

Harald V succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Olav V, by being the oldest male child even though he had two older sisters. His son, Haakon, became next in line in the succession despite, again, not being the oldest child. The Norwegian constitution was altered in 1990 to the principle of 'absolute primogeniture' which means that the oldest child succeeds to the throne irrespective of gender. Following this change, which was not made retrospective, the third person in line to the throne in 2011 is Princess Ingrid and not her younger brother.

The English kings were Harolds I and II, the latter of whom was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Answer: Trondheim

Trondheim is situated at 63°25' north and is the third largest city in Norway. It was founded in 997 and was the Viking capital. It lies at the coastal end of the Trondheimsfjord, the third longest in the country at 81 miles (130 km). Murmansk is 68°58' north and is in Russia, Oulo is 65°00' north in Finland and Reykjavik lies at 64°08' north in Iceland.

Answer: Morten Harket

Roald Amundsen was the leader of the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911, arriving there one month before the ill-fated attempt by Robert Falcon Scott's British team. Nansen was also a Polar explorer with his 'Fram' expedition laying down principles which helped later expeditions to the North Pole.

Heyerdahl was the leader of the 'Kon-Tiki' experiment in 1947 which proved that travel by a raft across the Pacific was achievable. Morten Harket was the lead singer of the group 'A-ha' who had hits with 'Take on Me' and 'The Sun Always Shines on TV' both in 1985.

Answer: Blue and white

The Scandinavian, or Nordic, Cross has the vertical nearer to the hoist side rather than central. The design has been adopted for all the flags in the region, including those of Finland, Sweden and Iceland. The Norwegian flag has a blue cross outlined in white on its red field and the current design was officially adopted in 1821.

Answer: Salmon

The literal translation of the name is 'buried salmon' as it was originally made by burying the salted fish in the ground to ferment. The current production method used is to cure the fish in a mixture of salt, sugar and dill. A form of dried, salted cod is known as tørrfisk and sursild is pickled herring.

Answer: Christiania

The name was also spelled as Kristiania between 1877 and 1924, and was based on the name of King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, who also founded Kristiansand. The name of Oslo is older and was in use in the Middle Ages, but when the original town was badly damaged by fire in 1624 it was rebuilt in a different location and renamed.

The other names also exist for other places in Norway.

Answer: Krone

Most of the Scandinavian currencies share a common history from their membership of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which lasted from 1873 until 1914. Iceland and Sweden use the krona and Denmark the kroner. The name translates as 'crown', which was also used for the British coin worth five shillings prior to decimalisation in 1971.

The Norwegian kroner was introduced in 1875 to replace the speciedaler. Norway is not a member of the European Union since the population has twice voted against joining in referendums held in 1972 and 1994.

Answer: Traitor

Quisling used the war as an opportunity to seize power for himself and his right wing Nasjonal Samling party. He became Minister-President between 1942 and 1945 in collaboration with the occupying Nazi forces. The Times newspaper published an editorial in 1940 referring to 'Quislings everywhere' and the term quickly became adopted as a byword for a treacherous collaborator. Churchill used the expression when addressing the US Congress in December 1941. Quisling himself was convicted of embezzlement, murder and high treason in 1945 and was executed by firing squad on 24 October 1945.

Answer: Sweden

Until 1814 Norway had been in a union with the kingdom of Denmark, but the Danish king, Frederick VI, ceded Norway to Sweden. The deal was struck to avoid an invasion of Jutland and ratified under the Treaty of Kiel. The Norwegians resisted this imposition which led to a short war, lasting less than three weeks, between Norway and Sweden.

This led to the personal union between the two countries with each having their own parliament but with foreign affairs handled by Sweden. After some sabre rattling, and an overwhelming public vote in favour of dissolution, agreement was reached for Norway to become independent.

Answer: Edvard Grieg

The play was first published in 1867 and it was staged for the first time in 1876. Grieg composed his accompanying music in 1875 and it was performed for the first time with the play's premiere. The music includes the well known pieces of 'In the Hall of the Mountain King', 'Morning Mood' and 'Solveig's Song'. Greig also wrote the 'Piano Concerto in A Minor' which remains a popular and often performed work. Of the other options I gave you, Sibelius was Finnish and Schönberg was Austrian. Mahler was born in Bohemia which was in Austria/Hungary at the time and is now part of the Czech Republic.