Stories of creation

This article discusses the Norwegian media debate on surrogacy from 2010–2013. The debate was initiated by the ‘Volden-case’ where a Norwegian woman who had travelled to India to have surrogate twins could not return to Norway because the Norwegian authorities refused to give the children passports. At that time in 2010, surrogacy was not explicitly regulated by the existing Norwegian Biotechnology Act. According to the Norwegian Child and Parents Act of 1982, the woman who physically gives birth is the mother of the child. It soon became clear that, because this case existed in regulatory limbo, it required a legislative solution. At the time there was an intense and heated media debate. This was resolved when a temporary law was passed in 2013, pending a more permanent Biotechnology Act. During the process of revising the new Biotechnology Act in 2017–2018, we anticipated a continuation of the intense debate that occurred earlier. Surprisingly, this did not happen. In this article we aim to explain why. By analyzing the original 2010–2013 media debate using Hajer’s concepts of ‘discourse coalitions’ and ‘storylines’ (Hajer 2003), we identified three discourse coalitions which gathered around three storylines: the ‘storyline of biological parenthood’, the ‘storyline of equality’ and the ‘storyline on human trafficking’. The analysis demonstrated that the ‘storyline on human trafficking’ gained strength during the 2010–2013 debate, ultimately becoming hegemonic at the end of this period. Surprisingly, the other two discourse coalitions did not appear much in the media debate prior to the new law. This article discusses the lack of these discourse coalitions and concludes that the hegemonic nature of the ‘storyline on human trafficking’ may explain why the new Biotechnology Act did not spark heated debate.

Northern Norway in Viking age

The aim of this paper is to present some aspects of the image of Northern Norway in the Viking period. The article first sketches the Viking Age and its underlying causes, by also defining, in brief, the specificity of the Vikings. It continues with considerations on the creation of Norway, so as to finally outline the country’s image in the Viking Age. Aspects of navigation, language and trade are also presented in short. This entire portrayal of Northern Norway in Viking times is based on Ottar’s account about Northern Norway at the court of King Alfred. From a literary perspective, Harald Hårfagrets Saga (The Saga of Harald Fairhair) from about 850 was analysed. This saga tells the story of a Danish princess being transformed into a Norwegian woman. Thus, one encounters the myth of Northern women. All these aspects lead to a comprehensive image of Northern Norway in the Viking Age.

Kirsti Aasen: Alle mine kilder

Kirsti Aasen: A ll M y Springs. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Oslo 1986.Reviewed by Helge Baden NielsenThe title of the book are the first words of one of Grundtvig’s hymns. The reviewer sees this essay collection by a Norwegian woman minister first and foremost as an expression of the new interest in Grundtvig in Norway, as was proved by the establishment in 1983 of a special Norwegian branch of the Grundtvig Society. According to Kirsti Aasen this takes its origin in the liberation, under Grundtvig’s inspiration, from the pietistic view of Christianity in Norway. In her own case she discovered that Christianity could easily be combined with love of the Norwegian countryside and the life of the people. The author was born in .sterdalen, studied theology at Oslo University, and is now rector of a parish in Oslo.