I grew up in a very old fashioned Norwegian family of ten. (Eleven, if you count Gramma Olga, matriarch of our household.) I remember Olga pedaling away on the old Singer sewing machine, singing ancient songs and rhymes; as a young boy, I was more interested in how the sewing machine worked than those soon-to-be-forgotten words. How I wish now that I had taken the time to learn them!
On the other hand, the Norwegian Table Prayer will never be forgotten, as we children had to recite it, in unison, in Norske, before every meal. It goes like this:
I Jesu navn gar vi til bords
Og spiser, drikker pa ditt ord
Deg, Gud, til aere, oss til gavn
Sa fa vi mat i Jesu navn.
Amen.
Translation:
In Jesus name, we go to the table
To eat and drink according to his word
To God, the honor, to us the gain
So we have food in Jesus name.
Amen
Yea, Olga was old-country stern. I always thought she was just being mean by not letting me rest while churning butter; turns out she was only being firm with me because she wanted firm butter!
Art by Yamata
michaeljordahl 
Amazing memories. It’s always the way that what we don’t value at all as kids, we wish later that we had. 😦 I listened to an interview with a Greek Australian guy (now a TV personality here). He said his parents made him go to Greek School on weekends and he hated it. But later, when he could go to Greece and speak the language, he was suddenly so glad for all the hours he’d spent in Greek school. So he was saved from his own child preferences.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was embarrassing to me as a child, but I cherish the fond memories of those times now.
,
LikeLike
Are you remembering your sister who wants firm buttee😊
LikeLike
Lol!!
LikeLike
Wonderful Post Michael! I also regret not recording the colourful and often humorous stories of the pioneer days in the Kirkland Lake Gold Camp that my Mother’s Mother shared with me as a child. I also recall some years ago asking a city librarian where to find Viking Poetry and was told it didn’t exist (as had others told me before this) so I did some exploring in the central library myself and found the skold literature. I had a strong feeling guiding me to the poetry. Most of it was paid for praise of conquests of course. I identified with sometimes having to do that back then. Hype. Lol
LikeLike
Thank you, Shelly! They sure are wonderful memories now, an era gone by.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this. Feeling just a little more that part-Norwegian after reading it…
LikeLike
Thank you!!
LikeLike
A nice prayer. I haven’t met any Norwegian family reciting similar table prayer now a days.
LikeLike
Thank you, no cell phones have done away with much of traditional family customs!
LikeLiked by 1 person