August 27, 2018

It was said that Harald Blåtand, a Danish ruler who lived in the A.D. 900’s, possessed great skill in bringing people together through words and communication. He united the Danes, helped to spread Christianity among them, and became the first king of a united Denmark. He also brought part of Norway under his rule.

Click to view larger image
Scandinavia includes the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

About 1,000 years later, in the 1990’s, a man who had recently read about Harald in a book on Scandinavian history was part of a group trying to develop a uniform standard for the short-range wireless communication technology that enables computers and other devices to work together. The group needed a name for their project. Since Harald had united people and they were trying to unite technologies, the man suggested temporarily naming it after Harald. The name stuck. The English translation of the old Scandinavian word blåtand, and the name of the modern wireless technology standard, is Bluetooth. The Bluetooth logo combines medieval Scandinavian runes (alphabet letters) for H and B.

The flag of Denmark flies over millions of speakers of Danish, a Scandinavian language. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

Danish is one of several closely related languages known as Scandinavian languages. Scandinavia is a large geographic region in northern Europe. It includes the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. These three countries have interwoven histories and cultures. Each of their languages—Danish, Swedish, and two forms of Norwegian—has its own vocabulary and forms of pronunciation. However, the languages are similar enough so that Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes can often communicate without translating into each other’s languages.

The flag of Norway flies over speakers of Norwegian, a Scandinavian language related to Danish and Swedish. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

The Scandinavian languages make up the north Germanic branch of the large Indo-European language family. Their closest language cousins are the west Germanic languages of that family. The west Germanic languages include Dutch, English, and German. A large Swedish-speaking minority lives in Finland, which lies just east of Sweden, and Sweden has a large Finnish-speaking minority. The Finnish and Swedish cultures have much in common. However, the distinctive Finnish language belongs to the entirely different Uralic family, and it is not considered part of the Scandinavian language group. The Uralic family also includes the languages of the Sami—also known as Lapps—who live in far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and northeastern Russia.

The flag of Sweden resembles those of its fellow Scandinavian countries Denmark and Norway. The Swedish language is closely related to Danish and Norwegian. Credit: © T. Lesia, Shutterstock

Around 1,000 years ago, Scandinavian languages spread to a number of regions beyond Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. At that time, Scandinavians were the best shipbuilders in Europe. From the late 700’s through the late 1000’s, skilled Scandinavian sailors traveled up and down the rivers of Europe and across the rough waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Other Europeans called the sailors Norsemen, and later Vikings. Some Vikings were raiders. Some were explorers, traders, or settlers. Norsemen who settled in the British Isles introduced a number of words, including sky and they, into the English language.

During the 800’s, Scandinavians sailing east across the North Atlantic reached and settled the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Modern Faroese and Icelandic are both Scandinavian languages. Of all the modern Scandinavian languages, Icelandic is the closest to the speech of the Viking era. Present-day Icelanders usually can read medieval Icelandic literature and historical records without too much difficulty. Iceland experienced a golden age of literature in the 1100’s and 1200’s. Poets wrote down legends about the ancient northern European gods, such as Odin and Thor. They also wrote heroic sagas about people from Icelandic and Scandinavian history. Snorri Sturluson, a poet and historian who lived from 1179 to 1240, is the most famous medieval Icelandic writer. His Heimskringla (Circle of the World) describes the history of the kings of Norway from their origins until his own day. One of the royal rulers that he wrote about was the Danish king Harald Bluetooth.

March 31, 2017

Today, March 31, people in the U.S. Virgin Islands celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Transfer Day—the day the territory became part of the United States. On March 31, 1917, the United States paid Denmark $25 million (equal to about $475 million today) for the Caribbean Island group, which was then known as the Danish West Indies. The U.S. Virgin Islands lie east of Puerto Rico and west of the British Virgin Islands. St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas islands, as well as many nearby islets, make up the U.S. Virgin Islands. In Charlotte Amalie, the territory’s capital and largest city, a number of events—including concerts, cultural exhibitions, festivals, and parades—began marking the centenary earlier in 2017. Transfer Day is an annual holiday in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The city of Charlotte Amalie, on St. Thomas, is the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ocean liners, like the one shown in the distance, transport many tourists to the islands each year. Credit: © Steve Simonsen

The explorer Christopher Columbus sighted the Virgin Islands in 1493. Their fresh beauty and untouched appearance charmed him. Columbus named them the Virgin Islands in honor of Saint Ursula, a Christian martyr of the A.D. 300′s or 400′s. Columbus claimed the islands for Spain, but the Spanish did not settle there. About 1672, Denmark established a permanent settlement on St. Thomas. The Danes took possession of St. John in 1717 and bought St. Croix from France in 1733. Danish colonists developed a profitable sugar industry that supported the islands’ growth.

Click to view larger image
The U.S. Virgin Islands flag, at left, adopted in 1917, has a golden eagle with an olive branch in one claw and three arrows in the right claw on a white background. A yellow breast, the official bird of the islands, perched on the branch of a yellow cedar, the official tree, appears on the seal, at right, adopted in 1991. The three major islands of the U.S. Virgin Islands—St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas—are also represented on the seal. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustrations

The United States, wanting to secure a deepwater port in the Caribbean Sea, first tried to buy the Danish West Indies in 1867. U.S. Secretary of State William Seward—famous for the purchase of Alaska—led the effort to acquire the island group, but a number of events delayed the territorial transfer. Finally, in 1917, as the United States was about to enter World War I (1914-1918), the importance of purchasing the Danish West Indies outweighed other concerns. U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing concluded the $25-million deal with Danish Minister Constantin Brun. After the formal transfer at 4 o’clock in the afternoon on March 31, the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today, the warm climate, beautiful scenery, and vibrant Caribbean culture make the islands a popular travel destination.

Click to view larger image
This $25-million dollar check was used to purchase the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark on March 31, 1917. Credit: National Archives

Like their neighbors in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islanders are U.S. citizens, but they cannot vote in presidential elections. Unlike in Puerto Rico (or anywhere else in the United States), however, cars in the Virgin Islands drive on the left side of the road—a fairly common thing in the Caribbean but a source of confusion to some visitors from the U.S. mainland. The Virgin Islands are home to a variety of wildlife, including native bats and a rare tree boa (an endangered species of snake). Lizards live throughout the islands, as do a variety of amphibians, birds, crustaceans, and insects. Speedy mongooses (brought to the islands to control rats and other pests) are a fairly common sight, as are wild deer, donkeys, and goats.

February 27, 2017

Beowulf is one of the great mythic heroes of medieval literature. His legend is described in the Anglo Saxon epic poem Beowulf. The poem describes the adventures of a mighty warrior who has the qualities the ancient Anglo-Saxons most admired—strength, courage, generosity, loyalty to chief and tribe, and vengeance toward enemies. Beowulf did not take the attentions of monsters lightly, and twice he freed kingdoms of unwanted visitors.

An aging Beowulf scowls disapprovingly at the fire-breathing dragon. Credit: WORLD BOOK illustration

The character of Beowulf and the poem that celebrates him are based on Norse legends blended with historical events of the early 500’s in Denmark. The story was carried to England by Danish invaders in the mid-500’s. There, a single unknown poet wrote the story down, probably about 700.

The poem is written in two parts. The first part takes place in Denmark and matches Beowulf against the cave-dwelling monster Grendel. For years, Grendel has been assaulting Heorot, the hall of the Danish King Hrothgar. Jealous of the merry-making of Hrothgar’s warriors, the lonely Grendel attacks the hall as the warriors sleep, carrying off some of them to his cave where he devours them.

Beowulf, a prince from southern Sweden, offers his services to Hrothgar to rid Heorot of the evil Grendel. With Beowulf and his soldiers lying in wait, Grendel once more attacks the king’s hall. He enters the hall and quickly kills one of Beowulf’s men. An angry Beowulf then seizes Grendel and locks him in a powerful grip. In desperation, Grendel wrenches himself free, but he tears away his arm in the struggle. Grendel staggers away and dies from his wounds. Grendel’s outraged mother—also a fearsome monster—then attacks Heorot to avenge her son’s death. The next day, Beowulf leads a group of warriors to the mother’s lair, where, after a mighty struggle, Beowulf kills her. He then returns to his home in Sweden, loaded with honors and gifts from the grateful king.

The second part of Beowulf moves forward several decades. The mythic hero is now King Beowulf, ruling over his peaceful native land. Then, a fire-breathing dragon—angry that a man has stolen a treasured goblet—spreads destruction throughout the kingdom. With an audible sigh, the aging king grabs his sword and returns to battle. Leading a small group of warriors, Beowulf fights the dragon and manages to kill it, but Beowulf is badly wounded in the struggle and soon dies. The warriors then honor the mythic hero with a warrior’s funeral, burning Beowulf’s body atop a funeral pyre.