Language & culture
Norway – Christmas trees to UK by Mark Elliott A seasonal reflection, rather than a presidential message, from me this time. Norway’s generosity to Britain in this respect, by way of gratitude for the support we were able to give during the 1939-45 war, is various and longstanding. Although the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree presented annually by the city of Oslo is perhaps best known, many other cities receive a similar concrete expression of their links with Norwegian counterparts, and have done so for many years. Reading from north to south, Kirkwall and Orkney generally have received a tree from Hordaland, Aberdeen from their twin city of Stavanger, Edinburgh from Hordaland, Newcastle from Bergen, Sunderland from Stavanger, Grimsby originally from Trondheim and later from Sortland, and at one time Cardiff also from Hordaland. The pattern has not been entirely continuous, and at the time of writing it is a little difficult to ascertain exactly what is happening in 2021, given the pandemic uncertainties from which we are all still suffering. But the continued warmth of our relations with Norway, and the genuineness of Norwegian enthusiasm for the British connection, are beyond question. For Londoners, the Trafalgar Square tree is one of the essential highlights of Christmas. Its felling in the forests of Oslo is also quite an event for the British Embassy to Norway. One of
the Ambassador’s perks is the annual opportunity to wield a two-man cross-cut saw with the Mayor of Oslo at the other end, and the Lord Mayor of Westminster getting a look-in as well. The redoubtable lady who was Mayor of Oslo in my first year as Ambassador had a particularly expert touch, remarkably so as her hands had been disabled by thalidomide. I seem to recall that everything was made as 21
