– That’s because Norway has a birthday! said profile NRK Fantorangen (known from “Barne-TV” and “Maskorama”) to presenter Nadia Hasnaoui during this year’s May 17 broadcast on the country channel – when asked if she knew why we were celebrating May 17.

But it turns out that not everyone agrees with the popular point of flannel.

In a video congratulation published on social media Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) had the following to say about National Day:

– Today is a day of celebration. Some call it the birthday of the state, but it’s actually the birthday of the constitution.

Dagbladet soon glimpsed the contours of a debate with far-reaching ramifications for a true understanding of the origins of royalty.

Is May 17th really “Norway’s birthday”?

Who is right – Prime Minister or Fantorange?

– They’re both kinda right. That’s a boring answer. May 17th is the constitution date. The text of the constitution was finished on May 16, and many of those who signed it did not complete it until May 18. But they chose one date, namely May 17th. It says on the last page of the constitution: “Eidsvoll works, 17 May 1814”.

– Must choose a date

That’s what Bård Frydenlund, historian and director at the museum says Eid al-Fitr 1814to Dagbladet.

– May 17th is the birthday of modern Norway, at least one might say. This is not to belittle medieval Norway and the Viking era as well as the 8th century, but “the birthday of modern Norway” – that is absolutely true.

– But is it correct to say that May 17 is the “birthday of the constitution” if the constitution was finalized the day before?

– No, some believe that in fact May 16 is the birthday of the constitution. But then there’s this thing about dating. They had to choose a date, and the 17th was left. That is what is written in the signed document it is the date accepted by the selected people. That makes it legit.

– So Fantorangen and the prime minister are both basically right – but both slightly wrong?

– Yes. You can say that. The prime minister might cut something off from the larger national dimension by saying it was “just” Constitution Day – while Fantorangen might hit it too hard by calling it “Norway’s birthday”, said Frydenlund.

– But on holidays like May 17, both are allowed, he added.

The widest suffrage in Europe

The constitution was radical and “surprisingly modern” by 1814 standards, Frydenlund insisted.

– Contemporary time is taken into account, and it is reckoned that we are, after all, in a corner of Europe. We have lived in a dictatorship that says one thing: That only the king in Copenhagen rules, everyone bows down, he says.

Political freedoms in Denmark-Norway are limited to absolute necessities such as property rights, emphasized Frydenlund.

– Freedom of speech, for example, must be related to what the king said at any given time. The major breakthrough came in 1814, with its own radical constitution, says the historian.

The constitution gives the right to vote to all male citizens over the age of 25 – with certain reservations. In cities it applies to civil servants, merchants and those who own property of a certain value, according The Storting website.

In rural areas, it applies to all men who own or lease a registered farm, and thus pay state taxes, according UiO Norwegian History website.

The right to vote applies to all government officials – and not to women. Equally, it was the widest in Europe in 1814.

The school flag line is cut

The old Royal See of Norway

Despite the fact that they all functioned as midwives in modern Norwegian birth, the Eidsvollmen were also consciously related to the Norway that existed prior to the union with Denmark.

Frydenlund quotes professors and politicians Georg Sverdrup – who is a member of the Constitutional Committee and acted as president on 17 May.

– After the Norwegian king was elected, he said: “In other words, before the Norwegian Enemærks, the throne of the old kingdom of Norway had been established, which was covered by the Lords and Sverrers, and from there they ruled ancient Norway with wisdom and power.” He said in a way: “The restoration of the old Norway is now complete”.

Frydenlund emphasizes that there are many notions of What Norway is, and there are many opinions as to how the country’s origins should be dated.

– Battle of Hafrsfjord, battle of Stiklestad. There are many who want to say: “That Then! He That i.e. Norway”. It’s hard to say – this is medieval Norway, ancient Norway. But it’s not the Norway we have today. It didn’t come until the 1814 constitution.

Given the understanding of the nation of Norway (where Jonas Gahr Støre and Fantorangen live) that most people operate today, one has to get away with “constitutional days” and “Norwegian birthdays”, Frydenlund believes.

– You need to be able to convey it to a wide audience, and then I think you also need to be able to write pocket letters. The deepest is if you want to go down to the kindergarten level, he said.