Nordic on Tap - the podcast Eric Stavney

Nordic society seems to be governed by a set of unspoken rules on how to behave around others. These rules or ”laws” were first articulated by the Danish author, Aksel Sandemose in a novel that described life in a fictional town called Jante, ruled by a set of ten laws. Fiona McKinna of Living a Nordic Life blog and podcast discusses what Jante’s Laws (Janteloven) are and how they are strictures on Nordic society today.

Join us for a journey into Nordic crime fiction or noir with Dr. Jerry Holt as our guide. Fiction has the ability to transport us into worlds, cultures, geography, and the thoughts of heroes and villains that non-fiction just can't touch. And we are changed by those stories.  At a time when we are home-bound due to social distancing, catching up on your reading has never been better. In Norway, this is the time of påskekrim, that spate of dedicated crime fiction reading that occurs around Easter.  Really, it's a thing.
Dr. Holt is a professor at Purdue University NW who led a trip of Norwegian noir readers to Bergen, Norway, where they had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk the streets and visit the crime scenes with the authors who created private detective Varg Veum, and Inspector Konrad Sejer, among others. What would it be like to meet your favorite authors and pick their brain about what the characters were really thinking? What life experiences did these authors draw upon? What is special about certain parts of the city and surrounding areas?  For myself, I would love to visit Restaurant Schroder in Oslo, the favorite hangout of Jo Nesbø's famous police detective, Harry Hole.
To wrap up, we catch a "driveway concert" by a trio in a neighborhood of Mukilteo, Washington.  They decided to perform for the neighborhood at large during this time of quarantine, and they've cleverly named themselves Six Feet Back.  
We also have some Nordic noir reading recommendations for you, as does the April 3rd edition (2020) of the Norwegian-American News at norwegianamerican.com. Check them out!

Links

Nordic Noir: Scandinavian Crime Fiction website with bios on Gunnar Staalesen, Karin Fossum, Trude Teige, and Alex Dahl among many others (I'm a Jo Nesbø fan, myself).

"Crime time: Norwegian Easter equals brutal murders" (sounds grim, but it's tongue in cheek) the Visit Norway website's explanation for this extremely popular pastime.

The Noir Connection, article by Jerry Holt in the Norwegian American News, about Dr. Holt's class that travelled to Bergen to meet local authors. You may be invited to subscribe if you viewed other articles already.

Jerry Holt's Nordic Nordic noir picks for winter reading, in the Norwegian American News.You may be invited to subscribe if you viewed other articles already.

A Journey into Norwegian Noir, by Jerry Holt, (Norwegian American News) also describes Bergen's noir scene.
 





The Youtube channel of the Six Feet Back Band from Mukilteo, WA, with Nick Ericson, Jared McFarlane (at left) on toreador button accordion and fiddle, and with others on flute and bass. These are the great folks who played in this Nordic on Tap podcast.

An ocean-going ship has long been a metaphor for a journey, literal or spiritual, and model ships are still found in some Scandinavian Churches today. It was on a tall ship that immigrants from Scandinavia came to America, carrying their prized possessions in storage trunks, adorned with colorful flowers and vines - an art form called rosemaling.

In this episode (see website ) we trace the origins of rosemaling in Norway and then in the United States, and learn about a group of rosemalers and parishioners to renovate the Glendale Lutheran Church chapel with rosemaling paintings. But after 25 years, the congregation, largely of Scandinavian descent, moved away or passed away, leading eventually to the sale of the church property in Burien, Washington State (USA) in 2023. The rosemaled panels and decorations, which included a model ship, were given away or returned to their owners - one church received and hung up the ship in their building.

In this podcast, we talk to a handful of people who used to call Glendale Lutheran their spiritual home, and ask what that church life meant to them. We also meet someone from Prince of Peace Lutheran, who received the ship, and consider what "community" means in today's world. Given the reduction in membership of churches, synagogues, mosques, fraternal orders, and other groups where we traditionally found a place to belong, we consider where our spiritual ship will travel next in today's world to find "community".

In 1959, twenty-year-old Doug Warne and Ron Olsen agreed to produce the Scandinavian Hour, in order to keep this cherished radio program going. Olsen chose the music and Doug handled the guest list and sold the advertising. Thus began this remarkable story lasting for 48 years, and when Olsen passed away in 2008, Warne continued on himself. But in 2017, he solicited additional cohosts to share responsibility for the program.  No one would be paid, and to remain a co-host, you had to demonstrate you could sell commercials to area businesses. Yours truly, Eric Stavney, was a co-host for a couple years, and eventually Warne sought to retire after the program suffered through the dark years of COVID, when businesses withdrew their ads.  Now, in July 2023, the program continues with renewed vigor every weekend (as it has for the last 64 years) with host Seth Tufteland and Doug Warne as "co-host emeritus".  Tune in to hear this remarkable journey of the Scandinavian radio show in Seattle. Continue listening after the closing song to hear bonus content! Check out the links to a Norwegian TV broadcast and see images of the production crew at https://nordicontap.com/seattles-scandinavian-hour-radio-show/.

The Norwegian fjord horse or fjording is one of the oldest breeds of domesticated horses known from 4000 years ago. "Fjords" are masters the mountainous terrain on farms in Norway - surefooted, and pound for pound, the strongest breed of horse in the world. In this podcast, we meet Rory and Kristin Miller of Strawberry Hills Fjords in Chehalis, Washington, who train their horses in driving carriages or carts and in performing challenging routines in what's called "dressage" riding. Come along with us as we learn about these gentle and extremely intelligent horses, tour the Millers' stables, and discover how the humans relationship with a horse must become deeply personal to succeed in riding and driving. Finally, we investigate the poem Rida, Rida, Ranka, which some Nordic parents still use to take their young children for a horse ride, on their knee. Be sure to visit https://nordicontap.com/relating-to-fjord-horses-rory-and-kristin-miller/ to see images of Rory and Kristin's dressage, pictures of their stables, and various versions of Ride Ride Ranka, including a video.

Join us as we explore folktales about the mosekone and lygtemænd (bog woman and lantern men) of Danish marshes, the fearsome draug and sjøorm (sea spirit and sea serpent) of the northern coast of Norway, the musical fossegrim (water sprite) that inhabits Swedish waterfalls, and the treacherous horse-like nykur (nixie or nøkk) in the lakes of the Faroe Islands and Iceland.  We include a tale by Hans Christian Andersen along the way. These are common folktales in the Nordic tradition about water.