SV top wish to replace “Ja, vi elsker”

May 17th, 17 may-celebration of Karl Johan Street in Oslo17 may-celebration of Karl Johan Street in Oslo.Photo: Vegard Grøtt / NTB scanpix

SV top wish to replace “Ja, vi elsker”

Oddny Miljeteig (Socialist Party) believes that the Norwegian national anthem is outdated and gender-discriminatory and should be replaced. “I think we need a new anthem,” she says.

 

Miljeteig is the group leader for Socialist Party (SV) in the city council of Bergen, and for a short period, was party deputy chairwoman from March 2015, she resigned from her position last year due to illness.

She thinks the anthem is outdated and reacts, among other things, to the phrase “The Mothers Have Wept” (og mødrene har grett) and say it’s high time for a revised national anthem.

“It should put more emphasis on everyday life and on both women and men’s history. I also think it should be both in Nynorsk and Bokmål, half and half,” she told NRK.

The text of “Yes, we Love (cherish)” was written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, and the hymn was first published on the Norwegian national day on May 17, 1864.

“The text of our national anthem is a literary text that must be interpreted according to its time,” says Åse Wetås, Director of the Norwegian Language Council. She points out that the anthem after all is 150 years old.

– Here we find word choices and pathos that we would not have chosen today. It also applies to songs like “Between the Hills and Mountains” (Mellom bakkar og berg) and “God Bless Our beloved fatherland,” (Gud signe vårt fedreland) she says.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today