Welcome to the Scottish Norwegian Society website. You can also find us by clicking here...Facebook...

 

We are a group of people in and around Glasgow and further afield with an interest in Norway.  We meet monthly at various social and cultural events.  From October to May we hold our meetings in the Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church's meeting rooms in the west-end of Glasgow.  This is about 5 minutes walk from Byres Road and the Hillhead Underground Station. 

 

Our meetings usually begin around 7:30 PM with the formal part of the evening starting 15-20 minutes later so there is always time for a quick chat to keep your Norwegian or English language up.  The new season begins in September with a social gathering for a chat or for a film night.  In October we have the first of our planned syllabus talks. The following month, November, we normally have two events, the first another talk from our syllabus followed quickly in the middle of the month by our very popular Christmas Fair or Julebasar.  This is the target for all our home arts and crafts members who knit, crochet and make things for the fair. In December we arrange a Christmas Tree Party (Juletrefest) for the children after the Church's Norwegian Service, during which normally concludes with the children taking part in a St Lucia procession.

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With the new year, we start off with a very enjoyable musical event. Our resident composer/conductor/pianist creates a musical ensemble from the members who sing and play instruments.  Occasionally we have a quest that enriches the whole event.  During February we have our annual lecture dedicated to Oddveig Røsegg who taught Norwegian at Glasgow University and was a very popular and active member of the society.  A planned syllabus event is  held in March, with April being our "ventures forth" event where we arrange a gathering someplace interesting with a Norwegian theme.  Earlier visits included The Govan Stones, Stirling Castle, Viking Hoard at the National Museum of Scotland, Glengoyne Whisky Distillery. 

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May is of course a big month for Norwegians. 17th May is their National Day celebrated by Norwegians all over the world. Personally, in my life time I have enjoyed celebrating the "17. mai" with my late Norwegian wife in Norway, Scotland, England, USA, Canada and France.

 

The last event of our season is our celebration of Sankthans (mid-summer celebration) - a BBQ close to the 21st of June.  This is held in and around Glasgow with our favourite spot being Mugdock Park, close to Milnegavie.

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To stay up-to-date with our events, do visit our Facebook and Website pages. 
Click on the links on the sidebar to see what our syllabus has in store for you this season...    

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A bit of history... the beginnings go back to 1941 when Norwegian exiles and refugees were hosted in and around Dumfries, Scotland.  There and elsewhere in the UK they trained as soldiers and saboteurs during the second world war.  

 

The Scottish Norwegian Society (Glasgow), formed in 1943, is the only surviving branch of that original Society that was formed in 1941 in Dumfries.  In 2016, we marked the 75th anniversary with a special dinner.  We also had a special service on the 18th October 2015 in St Michael's Church, Dumfries to celebrate 75 years of Friendship between the citizens of Dumfries and Norway.  Later that afternoon, a visit to Troqueer Cemetery was made where many of the Norwegians who died in Dumfries were laid to rest. 

 

A more recent group, formed in 2017 - Scottish Norwegian Connections - SNC - have a Facebook page Scottish Norwegian Connections that is kept up-to-date with many fascinating memories and tributes.  SNC have also published a book on these connections - in Norwegian - Hvalfangerbrigaden 1940-1941 (Whale Catcher's Brigade).  They are also working on Volume 2, 1942-43.