The Best of The Norwegian Heritage Volume II

I am of Norwegian ancestry, four generations removed from my immigrant forbears. We had lefse on holidays, and occasionally choked down some lutefisk and pretended to like it, but overall as I grew up I learned little about the culture from which our family descended. I bought this book (along with its companion volume 1,) during a visit to the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Volumes 1 and 2 are a good "fast primer" on essential nuggets of Norse heritage, from Viking times through the immigrant period to the present day. Culled from the author's previous works, the entries are all only about 1-3 pages long and give a summary account of most of the significant people, places, events, and lore from Norway and from Norwegian-American experience through the past century. I found it to be a great resource to understand the significance of history and names that I heard about in childhood but never learned much about, things like bunads, "Syttende Mai," St. Olaf, stave churches, Haugeanism, the origins of skiing, Norway's rule by Sweden and Denmark, or Norway's role in preventing the Nazis from developing the atomic bomb during WWII. In addition the books provide information about modern day organizations (such as the Sons of Norway, or "bygdelag" based on the locality in Norway from which one's ancestors came) and festivals (such as the Norsk Hostfest in Minot) through which one can connect with one's Norwegian heritage. If you are of Norwegian ancestry, but don't know much about your heritage beyond a few stories, this book is a great place to start.