Norwegian Culture Trivia Quiz

Answer: "The Scream" by Edvard Munch

"The Scream" was painted by Edvard Munch between 1893-1910. There are actually four individual versions - two paintings and two pastels. The paintings are both located in Oslo, one in the Munch Museum and the other at the National Gallery. One of the pastels is also in the Munch Museum.

The other pastel is in the private collection of financier Leon Black who paid almost $120 million U.S. dollars for it in 2012. "The Scream" has a reputation for being stolen. The one in the National Gallery was stolen in 1994 on the day the Winter Olympics opened in Lillehammer.

It was recovered a few months later with no damage. In 2004, the painting housed in the Munch Museum was stolen along with the "Madonna" painting. They were both recovered in 2006 with some minor damage done.

Answer: Peer Gynt

Henrik Ibsen is one of Norway's most famous playwrights and Edvard Grieg is one of the country's most prominent composers. "Peer Gynt" is an 1876 play, like many of Ibsen's works, that was largely a satire of Norwegian and Danish society of the time. Its reception was mixed, with many prominent Norwegians finding it distasteful while others appreciated the jest.

"In the Hall of the Mountain King" was part of the stage production. The Norwegian title of the piece is "I Dovregubbens hall", which loosely translates to "In the Troll Mountain King's Hall". It plays after Peer falls and hits his head after stealing a bride from her wedding. The piece has been used frequently in popular culture across the world including in the 1915 film "Birth of A Nation".

Answer: Salmon

Gravlax is a thinly sliced piece of raw salmon. It is usually salty in taste as it would typically be cured in salt. Gravlax has its origins in the Middle Ages when Norwegian fishermen would ferment pieces of salmon by burying them in the sand. In fact, the word gravlax comes from the Norwegian word for "to dig".

Answer: Rosemaling

Rosemaling is a traditional Scandinavian art form that largely consists of ornately painting wood. Traditionally, the designs used are flowers or a variety of geometric shapes. It is a popular method for painting and decorating boxes, chests, vases and wood panels. During World War II, Norwegians would hide messages in works of rosemaling or display rosemaling pieces as a sign of resistance since flying the Norwegian flag was illegal.

Answer: Life in war zones

Seierstad has written a number of best selling books about people living in war zones. Among them are "One Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal" and "Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya". Her 2002 book "The Bookseller of Kabul" led to some controversy, and she was sued by the book's subject, Shah Muhammad Rais, for defamation. Seierstad lived with Rais and his family in Kabul where she documented their lives.

However, after the book was published, Rais sued the author after claiming the book misrepresented his views on women's rights. Rais claimed to be a champion of women in Afghanistan but Seierstad portrayed him as just as hostile as most other Afghani men she met. Rais also claimed the book generated negative publicity in Afghanistan and he was forced to flee as a result. Seierstad lost the original trial but won on appeal.

Answer: Mixed relay biathlon

The mixed relay biathlon was a relay race with four team-mates; two men and two women. The Norwegian team won the gold medal defeating the Czech Republic by over thirty seconds. Biathlon is a sporting event that has its origins in Norway. The combination of crossing country skiing and skeet shooting was developed first as a training exercise by the Norwegian military before it became a sport.

At the same Olympics in 2014, biathlete, Ole Einar-Bjorndalen became the most decorated winter Olympian ever with 13 medals won in his career.

He is nicknamed the "King of Biathlon".

Answer: He directed Norway's first feature length film

Tancred Ibsen directed the 1931 film "The Great Christening" which in Norwegian is called "Den store barnedapen". For the next decade, Ibsen had a near monopoly on the Norwegian film industry, which essentially produced original Norwegian language films based on popular Hollywood movies.

The only other prominent Norwegian film director or producer during this time was Leif Sinding, who directed mostly silent films.

Answer: Midsummer

Jonsok is what the Norwegians call Midsummer, which celebrates the summer solstice. In Norway and other Christian places, it celebrates St. John the Baptist. This is an important holiday to Norwegian Catholics, but is mostly celebrated nowadays as a secular holiday (since most Norwegians are Lutherans). Traditionally, Norwegians go to church or springs on this day. One characteristic of Jonsok is the building of large bonfires.

It was also once a day popular for Norwegians to get married on.

Answer: Whaling

Some Norwegians, particularly in the frigid northern part of the country, still hunt whales for food and blubber. Despite global efforts to curtail the practice, whale hunting is still practised in Norway. Though Norway does belong to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, it is exempt from the moratorium on whaling.

Answer: J.C. Dahl

J.C. Dahl was known for his landscape paintings including "Watzmann" and Holmestrand". He began work as a painter in Bergen, Norway but painted his most famous works in Dresden, Germany, where he died in 1857. His full name was Johan Christian Dahl, but he was better known as J.C. Dahl.

In addition to his own works, Dahl served as a mentor to dozens, if not hundreds, of young painters, some of whom would see success in the field including Knud Baade and Peder Balke.