N RTHERN

LIGHTS
ISSUE 3//2018

IMPORTANT DATES
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
SEPTEMBER
27th – Fireside Chat & Dinner
with Mr Kjetil Stormark
15 25 28
OCTOBER
18th – Aquavit & Wealth
Management Evening

NOVEMBER Ole Brude – The inventor Beautiful Borneo Nordisk Books –

24th – Klubben’s Julebord that made us safe at sea Interview with CEO &
Founder Duncan Lewis
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 1
 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
05 Message from
Your Board

07 New Board
Members

September 19th In&Out

Octoberfest 08 The DNK-Nora
Salon
7th Fredagspils 25th In&Out Trafalgar
13th In&Out Grouse Dinner
Dinner A little piece

19th In&Out Gin Tasting November 11 of Scandinavia

in the UK
26th In&Out Latin 2nd Fredagspils
American Wine
Dinner 23-25th Sjømannskirkens NORWEGIANS
Julebasar IN FOCUS
27th Fireside Chat &
Dinner with Mr 24th Klubben’s
Tradisjonelle
15 Ole Brude – The
inventor that made
Kjetil Stormark
Norske Julebord us safe at sea
28th The Art Series:
October A guided tour
of SEBs Art Alt for Norge
4-7th Frieze London
Collection 21 – Signatures
celebrating VE day
5th The Art Series:
The Art Investor 30th In&Out Scotch
Breakfast with SEB Whiskey Tasting

5th Fredagspils
December 30 Den Norske Klub
Merchandise
6th The Art Series:
Frieze London 7th Fredagspils
Excursion
11th In&Out Pol Roger
14th In&Out End of
Term Lunch
25 DISCOVERY
Beautiful Borneo
Dinner
18th Aquavit Tasting Nordisk Books
2019
& Wealth
Management January 28 – Interview with
CEO & Founder
Evening with Duncan Lewis
Danske Bank 4th Fredagspils

Although every effort has been made

HOW TO BOOK
Please e-mail: secretary@dennorskeklub.co.uk
EVENT CANCELLATION
Please note that cancellation of events made less than
seven days before the event will not be refunded.
Front cover photo Cecilia Luras
2 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
to ensure accuracy, neither Den Norske
Klub in London nor the authors can
accept liability for errors or emissions.
Views expressed in this newsletter
are not necessarily those of Den
Norske Klub. No responsibility can be
accepted for unsolicited submissions,
transparencies or photographs. All
prices and information contained in
event advertisements are correct at the
time of going to press.
LEISURE
LEISURE PLEASURE
PLEASURE BUSINESS
BUSINESS

Norwegian
Norwegian
Private
Private
Members
Members
Club
Club
n London
in London
since
since
17th17th
of May
of May
18871887
JoinJoin
us! us!
secretary@dennorskeklub.co.uk
secretary@dennorskeklub.co.uk
dennorskeklub.co.uk
dennorskeklub.co.uk
Don’t just hope
for a better future.
Plan for one.
What does the future look like for you and your loved ones?
We are all about helping you achieve your aspirations,
and we acknowledge that everyone has a unique set
of challenges. That is why we are genuinely committed to
understanding you and your ambitions for the future.

To find out what we can do for you, contact

Helena Whitmore or Daniel Wikehult
on +44 (0) 20 7246 4225
or privatebanking@seb.co.uk

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB

sebgroup.com/privatebanking

This publication is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute a financial promotion.
Our London contacts are available to introduce you to the Private Banking network in SEB, but Private
Banking services such as asset management are not provided from the UK and therefore any contractual
relationship will be with the SEB entity actually providing such services.

Please be aware that the value of investments can go down as well as up. Past performance is not
necessarily a reliable indicator of future performance. Future returns are not guaranteed and a loss of
principal may occur.
Message from YOUR BOARD
Dear Members
Welcome back to London and to the Klub
to those of you who have been away for
the summer. I hope you have all thoroughly
enjoyed your summer holidays, both in
the UK, back in Norway and elsewhere
in Europe and further afar. The autumn
edition of the Klub’s newsletter Northern
Lights not only features memories from
the first DNK-Nora Salon in June and
Scandikitchen’s very own recipe for
lovely kanelboller, but also our regular
columns, Norwegians in Focus, profiling
Norwegian’s around the world, Discovery,
featuring travel, culture and food reviews,
and Investor’s Corner, with the latest
investment recommendations from a panel
of Nordic industry experts. In the latest
issue, Northern Lights new Chief Editor,
Ken Skaarbrevik writes about the inventor
Ole Brude, Chair Cecilia Luras interviews
nordisk books publisher Duncan Lewis,
and Board Member Constanse Bowes-Lyon
continues to share with us her memories
and photos from her exciting “around-the-
world” travels. In this edition, it’s all about
Borneo.
We thoroughly enjoyed welcoming you to
the Klub’s first Salon in cooperation with
Nora Nettverksklub in June. Inspired by the
Salons of the 17th and 18th centuries, our
first guest of honour was Professor Kristin
Bakke. Professor Bakke is professor of
Political Science and International Relations
at University College in London and
Associate Research Professor at the Peace
Research Institute in Oslo. You can enjoy
memories from the debate in this issue and
we are looking forward to welcoming you
to the next one.
At the AGM I gave you an update of the
new initiatives the current Board have put
in place in the past year, including our
move to become 100% cashless, a new
and re-looked newsletter, reworking the
Klub’s fixed cost base and securing future
revenue streams for the Klub. Whilst your
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
Board continues to deliver on its promises
to take the Klub into the 21st century and to
create a more sustainable, more transparent
and more open Klub for its members,
the Board’s main focus in the next few
months will be to conclude a new and more
permanent agreement with The In&Out. We
aim to have something finalised to present
to the members at the June 2019 AGM.
With an additional 3 new board members
(you can see their profiles on page 7),
we will continue to follow up on your
suggestions of introducing more new
events and we are proud to announce our
first joint event with The In&Out, a fireside
chat and dinner with Security Expert and
Journalist Kjetil Stormark (27th September).
Led by the Klub’s new Chief Editor and
Board Member, Ken Skaarbrevik, the talk
and ensuing dinner debate should prove
very interesting indeed! Going into the
autumn season, we have many more fun
and interesting events planned for you.
In addition to the fireside chat and dinner
with Security Expert and Journalist Kjetil
Stormark, we will be hosting the annual
Wealth Management & Aquavit Tasting
with Danske Bank International on the
18th October. The (in)famous Den Norske
Klub Julebord will take place Saturday
24th November (tickets are already on
sale via the secretary!). And within the Art
Series, we are planning a visit to Frieze
Art courtesy of Bernard Jacobson Gallery,
and a guided visit of SEBs Private Art
Collection with networking drinks on the
28th November. And last but not least, let’s
not forget, the Klub’s excellent Fredagspils
gathering. It’s every first Friday of the
month and an excellent opportunity to
meet fellow Norwegians!
Going into next year, without giving away
too much of the surprise, we will be hosting
a series of Salons in cooperation with
leading business schools and universities, a
dinner to celebrate the annual emergence
Continued overleaf
5
 of the famous Norwegian cod-fish skrei
with the Norwegian Seafood Council and Your Board
in the darkness of the winter months, a Cecilia Luras
film-evening… And of course more fun Chair
Fredagspils! Christian Hvamstad
Board Member and COO
We hope you continue to enjoy the club
and look forward to seeing you all in the Maria Efimova
months ahead! Board Member and Secretary

Warm regards, Ken Skaarbrevik

Chair Cecilia Luras Board Member and Chief Editor
on behalf of the DNK Board. Constanse Bowes-Lyon
Board Member and Editor
P.S. Don’t miss the chance to become Hege Nordahl
a full Den Norske Klub member – you Board Member and Treasurer
can find your application form on www.
dennorskeklub.co.uk/membership. Irene Garland
Board Member
Pauline Houpillart
Board Member
Christopher Eckhoff
New Members Board Member
• Rolf Kjaernsli Patrick Jonassen
• Terje Turnes IT Counsel
• Angela Balteskard Patrick Moe
Legal Counsel and Company Secretary

Den Norske Klub Corporate Patron

Nordea Private Banking International Luxembourg.

6 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
We are pleased to announce the addition of 3 new board members to
Den Norske Klub’s Board. In addition to Cecilia Luras, who continues
as Chair, and Christian Hvamstad, Hege Nordahl, Irene Garland, Pauline
Houpillart and Constanse Bowes-Lyon, all continuing board members, Maria
Efimova, Ken Skaarbrevik and Christopher Eckhoff will join the board, each
for a 3 year term. Please meet them here:

Maria Efimova
While Maria was doing her degree in Software Engineering at the university
of Southampton she spent her summers in Oslo studying Norwegian at the
University of Oslo. Although she is living in the UK, it is very important for her
to stay connected to Norway: she was a member of the Nordic Society at the
university and then joined DNK after graduation. Now Maria does technology
for an asset management company in London and a part time PhD in Data
Science. This leaves her with just enough free time to do travelling (mostly in Norway) and
participate in the club’s life.
As well as being our GDPR point person, Maria will be responsible for the secretary
function at the club.

Ken Skaarbrevik
Ken has over thirty years experience in the field of TV production, as
Operational manager, Executive Producer and CEO of several media
companies, including a local commercial broadcaster in Sunnmøre,
western Norway. Ken’s career has spanned over news, documentaries and
also children’s programs. Most of his work though has been running live
sports productions mainly covering football; as host broadcaster of UEFA
Champions League games in Norway, onsite Premier League productions for the Nordics
and covering Team Norway at a number of European and World Cup events. Educated
at London Film School and National Film & TV School, he has worked most of the career
in London mainly for UK based Scandinavian broadcasters like TV1000, TV3, Viasat, and
Disney Scandinavia. Ken lives in North London with his British/Israeli wife, their two
grown-up children living with their partners in the same area. He enjoys reading historical
and military literature, writing screenplays and visiting the English countryside and the
amazing fjord country of western Norway.
Ken will be responsible for the production of the club’s newsletter Northern Lights.

Christopher Eckhoff
Christopher is a freelance consultant who has worked with security,
insurance, communication and hospitality. When he’s not working, he can be
found reading, writing, pontificating history and geopolitical events, travelling
and sailing.
Christopher will join Pauline Houpillart as events coordinator.

www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 7
 The First
DEN NORSKE KLUB –
NORA SALON, June 2018
Inspired by the Salons of the
17th and 18th centuries*,
Den Norske Klub in cooperation
with Nora Nettverksklub hosted
the first Salon Tuesday 12th
June. Hugely successful with
more than 35 attendees, the
first DNK-Nora Salon featured
Professor Kristin Bakke.
8 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
Text and photos by Cecilia Luras
D
r. Bakke is Professor of Political Science and
International Relations at University College
London (UCL) and Associate Research
Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo
(PRIO). She is also an associate editor at the
PRIO-based Journal of Peace Research. Focusing
on political violence, Kristin’s research explores
how states respond to opposition within their
borders, the dynamics of violence in self-
determination struggles, and post-war state-
building. She is part of the Conflict & Change
research cluster at UCL and her publications draw
on cross-national data, public opinion surveys,
and fieldwork—in Russia, Northern Ireland, India,
Guatemala, Canada, and several post-Soviet de
facto states. Please see here for more about
Professor Bakke @ https://kristinbakke.com
* The Salons of the Enlightenment, were central, social meeting places in which individuals engaged in
the art of conversation in pursuit of knowledge and fellowship. The Salon debates typically touched on a
variety of subjects ranging from science, philosophy and politics, to literature and art.

www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 9
 metrobranding.no
Invester i en
lykkelig alderdom
Villa Mokollen
er Norges første
unike eldrehjem
i sin klasse

Et eldrehjem der individuell frihet, kvalitet og trygghet står i fokus

Med praktfull beliggenhet i Sandefjord, omgitt av et idyllisk parkanlegg og frodig natur, byr
Villa Mokollen på en lykkelig og verdig alderdom. Med 18 nye, individuelle aldersboliger,
restaurant og en kompetent stab av sykepleiere og hjelpepleiere, vil du få et godt fellesskap
og den pleien og omsorgen du fortjener.

Ta kontakt: Thomas H. Eriksen

M: +47 970 95 285
E: thomas@villamokollen.no
www.villamokollen.no
 ScandiKitchen opened its doors
back in 2007 when Jonas and
Bronte were suffering serious

A little piece kaviar and salty liquorice

withdrawal symptoms; ‘no one
should ever have to through that’,
of Scandinavia they thought. ScandiKitchen
started as a café serving breakfast,

in the UK
good coffee and a smorgasbord
of lunch items; from smoked
salmon and egg to roastbeef and

JOIN
remoulade and everything in
between – from everyday classics
to treats for the big occasions

US THIS
AUTUMN

N
ordic food has been increasingly
popular over the past decade –
we, of course, are not surprised
– and like to remind people that there’s
so much more to Nordic food than
pickled herring and meatballs. There
are several distinctly Nordic cheeses,
for example – Norway’s brown cheese
is amongst the more famous ones
– and one that is gaining popularity
faster than you can say waffle iron.
Brown cheese topped with a dollop of
jam or perhaps a little honey is a real
Norwegian treat!
Brown cheese aside, several dishes
and ingredients link all the countries
of Scandinavia together, bringing
a uniquely Nordic cuisine together.
Stretching from the midnight sun of
Continued overleaf
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 11
 northern Norway to the flat, fertile fields
of Denmark, Scandinavian food culture is Bronte Aurell’s
vast and varied, but at the core there are
more similarities than differences, formed by
Cinnamon Bun
thousands of years of shared culture (and
a bit of good old Viking pillaging) which
has turned into our shared Scandinavian
heritage.
In essence, Scandinavian food is simple.
We call it husmannskost – farmer’s fare.
It’s natural and honest, made with the
staple produce found on the land. For
ScandiKitchen, trying to turn traditional
dishes into fancy and fussy affairs isn’t
true to who we are. When you work with
the very best produce, there’s no need to
overcomplicate it. Just pick (or pickle),
serve and eat. Our topless sandwiches
are offered alongside seasonal, hearty
salads, homemade baked goods and
nostalgic favourites like hotdogs – because
sometimes, a proper pølse is all you need.
In addition to our breakfast, lunch and
coffee & cake offering, we also stock BUN DOUGH:
hundreds Norwegian food and drink items •5
 0 g fresh compressed yeast (or 26g
– from brown cheese and Norvegia to active dried yeast granules).
crispbreads, coffees, jams and chocolates •5
 00 ml whole milk heated to 36–37°C
(yes, including Kvikk Lunsj for your hikes!). (97–99°F) – no more or the yeast will
Pop by or visit our online shop - we ship die
across the UK and EU, aiming to cure any • 150 g butter melted and cooled slightly
degree of homesickness. • 80 g caster/granulated sugar
Cafe & Shop: • 900-1000 g white strong bread flour
61 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PP •3
 generous teaspoons ground
Online shop: www.scandikitchen.co.uk/dnk cardamom – I like it strong – and use
Twitter & Facebook: @scandikitchen freshly ground
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg beaten

FILLING:
• 200 g butter soft
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 2-3 tbsp ground cinnamon (25g)
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar or extract
• 100 g caster sugar
• 100 g soft brown light sugar
• 1 Egg for brushing.
• Pearl sugar to decorate.
•G
 olden Syrup and Date syrup equal
measures (100ml of each)

12 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
 INSTRUCTIONS
Make the fillings:
1.Cream all the ingredients for filling
together until smooth and set aside.
Make the dough:
1. If using fresh yeast, add the lukewarm
milk to your mixing bowl in a stand mixer
and add the yeast; stir until dissolved.
2. ( If using active dry yeast (granules), pour
the warm milk into a bowl, sprinkle in the
yeast and whisk together. Cover with
cling film and leave in a warm place for
about 15 minutes to become bubbly. Pour
into the bowl of a food mixer fitted with
a dough hook).
3. S
 tart the machine and add the cooled,
melted butter. Allow to combine with
the yeast for 1 minute or so, then add the
sugar and mix for a minute.
4. In a separate bowl, weigh out 800g of
flour, add the cardamom and salt and
mix together. Start adding the flour and
spices into the milk mixture, bit by bit.
Add the beaten egg. Keep kneading for
5 minutes.
5. Y
 ou may need to add more flour – you
want the mixture to end up a bit sticky,
but not so much that it sticks to your
finger if you poke it. It is better not to
add too much flour as this will result in
dry buns – and you can always add more
later. The mixture has enough flour when
it starts to let go of the sides of the bowl.
6. O
 nce mixed, leave the dough in a bowl
and cover with a clingfilm. Allow to
rise for around 30 minutes – or until it
has doubled in size (this time can vary
depending on the temperature in your
kitchen).
7. D
 ust a table top with flour and turn out
the dough. Using your hands, knead the
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
dough and work in more flour if needed.
Cut the dough into two equal pieces
and using a rolling pin, roll out one lump
of dough to a 40 x 50 cm/16 x 20 in.
rectangle.
8. U
 sing a spatula, spread the filling across
the dough in an event, thin layer.
9. T
 o make traditional swirls, roll the dough
lengthways into a long roll and cut into
15-16 pieces with a sharp knife. Place on
a lined baking tray, and leave – covered
– to rise for another 20 minutes. Repeat
with the remaining dough.
Bake:
1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius
(fan). Brush the buns lightly with beaten
egg, then bake for 7-9 minutes or until
golden and done. Watch it, they can
burn easily and different ovens vary in
temperature: My oven bakes these on
180C fan in 8 minutes.
2. W
 hile they are baking, heat the golden
syrup and date syrup in a pan until warm
and liquid. If you can’t get hold of date
syrup, just use golden –but Date syrup
does add a lovely flavour to the buns.
3. When the buns come out of the oven,
immediately brush lightly with the syrup,
then add pearl sugar (nibbed sugar) on
top of the buns and cover with a quite
damp tea towel. The tea towel stops
the buns from going dry and forming a
crust – leave it on there for at least five
minutes.
4. If you cannot get hold of nib sugar (pearl
sugar), you can use chopped hazelnuts
etc instead as an alternative – or just
leave it off.
5. T
 he buns last only for 24-36 hours – as
with all fresh bread – so freeze as soon as
they have cooled down if you can’t eat
36 buns in one go.
13
NEW!
Fly directly from
Liverpool to Bergen
FROM

£69
Book at wideroe.co.uk
*

Flight will operate

Mondays and Fridays
from 10 August.
* One -way incl . t a xe s. Ter m s
and condit ion s w il l apply.
A long summer season of cruise ships
visiting the Norwegian fjords and coastal
towns is coming to an end, as summer
turns to autumn. One of these towns
situated on the northwest coast, is
Ålesund, a sure stop on the cruise tours
in Norwegian waters. In its harbour
134 cruise ship arrivals have taken place
during this busy summer season. As the
cruise ship tourists disembark to enjoy
the visit, little do they know that their
own safety on these huge ships is secured
thanks to a young man who lived here
over a century ago.

NORWEGIANS IN FOCUS

OLE BRUDE
The inventor that made
us safe at sea Text and photos by Ken Skaarbrevik
Original b/w photos Ålesund Museum

O
le Brude was a student at the local
naval collage and he joined the
Norwegian merchant navy after
graduating and quickly rose in its ranks.
By the age of twenty-four in 1904 he had
become First Mate. Brude had for some time
been thinking of how one could improve
the safety of lifeboats onboard ships. These
were at the time still open boats made of
wood and had changed very little since
the time of sail. He had an idea for a new
design – a fully covered lifeboat - offering
shelter from the open air and the sea. In
addition he felt it should be build of steel, to
be more sturdy and safe. He drew up early
designs, managed to source some funds and
engaged a boatbuilding company to make
a first model. By the late spring of 1904 the
covered lifeboat of steel was finished and
Continued overleaf
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 15
 Brude (left) with crew

Brude egg on
shore in USA

Brude with egg

visiting London

Alesund

16 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
 Alesund harbour
with warehouses
Alesund centre with
art nouveau buildings
promptly called rather mockingly
“The Brude Egg” by the local press.
However the enormous tragedy of the
Norwegian steamer “Norge”, which sank
later that year changed things. Many of
the over six hundred dead has perished
even though they had managed to get
onboard the lifeboats. But the high seas
and exposure to the elements had been
too much. The nation asked for something
to be done. Ole Brude saw his chance and
announced to the press that he intended
to sail his revolutionary lifeboat from his
hometown all the way across the North
Atlantic to New York, to prove its safety.
He planned then to exhibited the boat at
the World Fair in St. Louis. This event, which
Brude saw as a giant sales opportunity, had
opened earlier that year and would carry
on until the first week of December. This
impossible sounding challenge excited the
Norwegian newspapers and nation.
On the 7th of August 1904 the 18 foot long
and 8 feet wide ‘egg’ sailed out of Ålesund
harbour. Onboard were twenty-four year old
Ole Brude and three colleagues and fellow
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
Art nouveau
decorations
Art nouveau house
merchant navy officers; Iver Thoresen, Lars
Madsen and Carl Thomas Hagevik Johnsen.
The North Atlantic lay ahead and Brude,
clearly full of youthful bravado, had given
his lifeboat the name “Uræd”, or Fearless.
What followed was a desperate drawn out
five-month journey in the North Atlantic,
where storms, cold and generally rough
conditions onboard pushed the four men to
their absolute limit. Having to huddle inside
the 18 foot steel egg most of the journey
due to the very rough sea, the four men
endured extremely cramped conditions.
Storm after storm broke over them in a
seemingly unending manner. By the start
of November it was clear to them that they
were not going to make it to New York in
time to attend the World Fair. Battered by
another storm and with their steel mast
bent and rudder broken, on the 6th of
January 1905, they were finally swept up on
the shore by the small town of Gloucester,
40 miles north of Boston. Here they were
received as heros and Ole Brude and his
egg-shaped steel lifeboat was a sensation
in the American and international press.
Continued overleaf
17
 Alesund museum Brude egg interior

Brude egg interior

In the end Ole Brude was ahead of his time.

His new company made 20-25 lifeboats
of his new design, but could barely sell
them. Ole Brude and his revolutionary
lifeboat design that had kept himself and
his colleagues safe during one of the worst
winters in the North Atlantic was in the main
ignored during his lifetime. Only many years
later was his design rediscovered. Based
on this covered lifeboats are today the
standard on most large ships at sea, like the
cruise ships visiting Alesund each summer.
The Museum in Ålesund has since 2004
a permanent exhibition about Ole Brude
and his trip across the Atlantic displaying a
replica mock up of the “Eggs” interior and
a full size modern copy of Uræd outside.
So as the tourists return from their trip
around Ålesund and embark back on their
cruise ships they should take a look at all
the lifeboats onboard and send a thought to
Ole Brude, born in Ålesund, who made their
safety at sea possible.
For more information:
https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/
aalesunds-museum/1109/

18 www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
 DEN NORSKE KLUB
MERCHANDISE
Den Norske Klub TIE
We are delighted
to announce
the generation
of a new Den
Norske Klub
tie, which has
been approved
by the Board
and launched
at the recent
17th May dinner.
The members of DNK can now wear their
very own tie. Loosely designed around the
colours of the Flag of Norway, the tie also
features the DNK emblem and is ideal for
all occasions. It is made in the UK from pure
silk and the special label on the reverse
sports the date of the Klub’s foundation,
with images of those cornerstones of
Norwegian culture: a kransekake and a
bottle of aquavit!

Den Norske Klub CUFFLINKS

We are also delighted to announce
that we have a new, limited, batch
of DNK cufflinks in stock. It’s been a
number of years since they’ve been
available and a number of members
have asked
whether they
were scheduled
to make a
return. In time
for DNK’s 130
year anniversary,
they’re back!

Den Norske Klub ties, cufflinks and tie-pins can now

be bought directly from the Babmaes reception.

www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 19

Leif J. Olestad
The Rauma Railway
– The most beautiful train journey
Åndalsnes - Dombås
A trip on the Rauma Railway is a unique
opportunity to experience one of the most
spectacular scenic areas in Norway.
Once aboard the train, just sit back and gaze
out of the train’s large windows and enjoy
the journey through contrasting, wild and
magnificent scenery.
From 24th May to 24th August the train has
an electronic guiding system that provides
Foto: Ole Walter Jacobsen
information on the scenic sights along the
route. Past famous attractions such
as Trollveggen and Kylling brigde, the
train will run at reduced speed.
For more information and to book
tickets, see nsb.no/raumarailway,
call +47 815 00 888 or contact a
specialist on Scandinavia.
Europe’s most
spectacular
train journeys
ALT FOR
NORGE
Mr Philip Walker

Signatures celebrating VE day

Text by Ken Skaarbrevik

In an unassuming cardboard box

found at an auction house in
Cambridge, Mr Philip Walker
made an extraordinary discovery
recently. Among a few things
that clearly were part of a house
clearance he found an astonishing
book. It had a brown cover with
a golden embossed print of an
H and a 7 and a scrawled black
title across in a language he
recognised as Norwegian. A quick
check confirmed that it had been
printed in London in 1942 and
its title page and especially the
front free endpaper were covered
in signatures. For most people
the book would have been of
little interest. Luckily Mr Walker
realised, being an historian and
author, the book’s importance.
He bought it together with a few
other related items that were also
found in the cardboard box. Front cover of the book, ‘ Alt for Norge’

Continued overleaf
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 21
 Title page with dedication
T
he title of the book and its embossed
gold letters will be well known to
all Norwegians, with the motto and
symbol of King Haakon VII of Norway, “Alt
for Norge” (Everything for Norway). The title
page confirms that the book was printed
and published in London during the Second
World War, to commemorate King Haakon’s
70th birthday. Over two years earlier the royal
family headed by the king and together with
the Norwegian government, had avoided
capture by the Germans during the invasion
of Norway and relocated to England.
Mr Walker, realising the connection to
Norway and the stamp of ‘High Command
Royal Norwegian Forces’ on one of its pages,
contacted the Norwegian Resistance Museum
in Oslo. He also contacted Asgeir Ueland, the
leading expert on Norway Special Operations
Executive (SOE). Another contact in Oslo
put him in touch with retired lecturer at the
Krigsskolen and military historian Lt. Col.
(Ret.) Knut Werner Hagen. The book was
22
The following page full with signatures of many
involved
found to have over fifty original autographs of
key members of ‘Forsvarets Overkommando’
department II, the intelligence section of the
Norwegian High Command in London during
the Second World War. The signatures include
Crown Prince Olaf (on a separate piece of
paper laid on to the front pastedown, opposite
the main signatures page), Rangvald Alfred
Roscher Lund (head of FOII), Knut Alming
of the XU organisation, Kristian Gleditsch,
Finn Nagell (intelligence officer), Special
Operations Executive operatives, and many
more. It is an astonishing book, signifying a
very special occasion, as the signatures on the
front free endpaper were all made in the book
on VE Day, the 8th of May 1945, the end of the
war in Europe. The book (which has earlier
dedications from 1943 on its title page and on
the page opposite) was clearly found to be a
the perfect object to sign on such a day.
Mr Walker got in touch with Den Norske Klub,
hoping to get more help to trace the original
owner of this extraordinary book. Together
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
Picture page from the book. The top left picture shows delegates having lunch at Den Norske Klub, at the
time based in Norway House, Trafalgar Square.

with the book came a family photograph comments on specific men and women who
album, put together by Eline Jacobena Wiese signed the book would be welcome.”
(born Dahl), who was the married daughter of Should you have any information, please get
the artist Hans Dahl. The photos include many in touch: ken@dennorskeklub.co.uk
fine views of Dahl in his garden with his friend
Mr Philip Walker is the author of the book
and patron, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
Behind the Lawrence Legend: the Forgotten
over many summers before WW1. In addition Few who Shaped the Arab Revolt, published
a 4-page handwritten letter signed by Hans by Oxford University Press in February 2018.
Dahl was also found.
Mr Walker surmises after some research:
“A probable link between all three of the items
I bought is the name Wiese. Eva Wiese (born in
Bergen, 1917), who worked for the Norwegian
Foreign Office in London and liaised with
Nortraship, is one of the signatures in the
book, and was probably related to the Dahl/
Wiese family of the photo album.  If any of
DNK’s members have forebears who were in
or associated with the Norwegian government
in exile in London, or have a particular interest
in SOE and related intelligence issues, I would The stand alone signature of the (at the time)
be very grateful to hear from them. Any Crown Prince of Norway Olav

www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 23
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D I S COV E RY

BEAUTIFUL
BORNEO Text and photos by
Constanse Bowes-Lyon

Borneo is also one of two places in the

world where rhinos, tigers, orangutans
and elephants live together. The
world’s third largest island and an
adventures tropical paradise, Borneo
offers something for everyone; jungle
treks, paleolithic era caves, diving,
pygmy elephants and turtle watching,
but perhaps most thrilling of all, it’s
one of two places in the world to see
orangutans in the wild.

Continued overleaf
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 25
 Kuching
Flying into Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, BWN or
Sepinggan International Airport, there are
several way to reach this island depending
on whether you want to explore the
Malaysian, Indonesian or Bruneian part of
the island. We flew into Kuching which was
about an hour’s flight from Singapore.
Landing at Kuching airport, the city itself
is about a 20 minutes from the airport.
Kuching is the capital and most populous
city in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and
has been a trading post in the region. The
city became the capital of the kingdom
of Sarawak after the area was ceded to
James Brooke for his efforts in defeating
a rebellion. During the leadership of
Charles Brooke the area continued to see
the construction of a sanitation system,
hospital, fort and prison, most of which
can be seen today. After the formation of
Malaysia in 1963, Kuching remained the
state capital. As the gateway to the jungle
and sea, Kuching is a great starting point
for any traveller looking to explore the
region. The city offers enough sites to keep
26
a traveller happy and entertained, from the
ethnology museum to the Chinese history
museum, Astana and the Indian mosque,
most of which are best seen on a boat
traveling up and down the river.
The Person from the Forest
Known as the person from the forest,
this gentle and highly intelligent creature
is only found in the rainforests across
Borneo and Sumatra. Although critically
endangered with a population decline of
60% in the last 60 years it’s still possible
to encounter them on a walk through the
rainforest. Orangutans live in tropical and
subtropical broadleaf forest in both the
Bornean lowlands and mountains. Fruit
makes up the majority of their diet and due
to habitat destruction as a result of logging
and burning these wonderful creatures have
become rarer and are currently critically
endangered. There are however several
conservations centres dotted across the
island including Semenggoh Wildlife Centre
and Matang Wildlife Centre both in Sarawak
as well as Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary in
Sabah. It has been a lifelong dream to see
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
orangutans in the wild so I was ecstatic to from the forest are Danum Valley, Tanjung
finally get the chance. Putting National Park, Tabin Wildlife
Reserve and in the forest stretching
The closest conservation centre to Kuching
alongside the Kinabatangan river. These
and about a thirty minute drive from the
majestic animals are every bit as amazing in
city, is Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. The
real life as we expected and we were lucky
centre has been training and rehabilitating to encounter several on our trek through
orangutans for more than twenty years. the forest. Borneo has so much to offer and
Most of the orangutans there spend their we only just scratched the surface.
days roaming the jungle but returning to
the centre for their twice daily meals. The
extrovert and confident alpha male will eat
first followed by old matriarchs moving
slowly through the tree tops and stop to
inspect who and what is around them. The
young mothers and their whimsical babies
eat last and mostly the scraps left by the
older generation.
The best experience however, is
undoubtedly seeing them on a rainforest
trek. The rainforests are some of the most
varied and last intact in Southeast Asia.
With more than 15000 known plants and
with more than 400 species identified
on the island, the orangutans are one of
several wonders awaiting in the rainforest.
Some of the best places to see the people

www.dennorskeklub.co.uk 27
 Nordisk Books is an independent
publishing house founded in London
in 2016 with a focus on modern and
contemporary Scandinavian literature.
Northern Lights had the pleasure of
meeting Duncan Lewis, the CEO &
founder of Nordisk Books recently.
NORDISK
BOOKS
Interview with CEO & Founder
Duncan Lewis Text by Cecilia Luras
F DNK: What inspired you to set up
ollowing a stint (between high school
and university) at Disneyland Paris,
where he made a number of friends
from Denmark, Duncan moved to Århus in
Denmark. After six enjoyable years living
and working in Århus, and discovering much
of the Nordic countries through extensive
travel, including the acquisition of a cottage
on the island of Eysturøy in the Faroe
Islands, Duncan moved back to London
via Paris in 2014. Having fallen in love with
Nordic non-crime fiction, he set up Nordisk
Books in 2016 in his spare time and has so
far published four books from Norwegian,
Danish and Swedish authors, with two more
on the way in the next six months.
28
Nordisk Books?
Duncan: There are lots of small publishers
that are doing great things with interesting
literature that inspire me – from a Nordic
perspective, Iperborea in Italy is a name
that always comes to mind. But the genesis
of the whole project was actually a line
in the ‘My Struggle’ opus by Karl Ove
Knausgård, where he mentions setting
up Pelikanen, the publishing house in
Stavanger that he co-founded, whose
original goal was to publish foreign,
overlooked literature in Norwegian. I
thought someone should be doing the same
thing, but the other way round!
DNK: What sparked your interest in
literature?
Duncan: I read non-stop when I was a child.
I was absolutely absorbed with the world
of Terry Pratchett for the best part of ten
years. Then, when I went to university in
Paris, I was force-fed Stendahl, which pretty
much killed off my love of books! But then,
I moved to Aarhus in 2005 where I rented
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
a room that was full of books by Philip
Roth. Reading ‘American Pastoral’ really
reminded me what I loved about literature
and that has never gone away! I believe
Carsten Jensen’s ‘Vi, de drunknede’ (‘We,
The Drowned’) was the first proper book
that I read in a Scandinavian language and it
has really stuck with me to this day.
DNK: Why the emphasis on Nordic
non-crime fiction?  in Finland) début novel ‘Inlandet’ about a
Duncan: I think there are some amazing
young authors doing brilliant things with
literary form in the Nordic countries
and that’s really exciting to me as a
publisher. In the UK, there is an enormous
choice of crime thrillers from the Nordic
countries available in bookshops, but a
notable absence of much from the more
linguistically adventurous end of the
spectrum, aside from the now ubiquitous
Knausgårds and, if you’re lucky, a bit of
Dorthe Nors, Halldór Laxness etc. This
seemed to me to be a little odd, as there is
clearly far more to the Nordic literary canon
than crime writing.
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
DNK: If you were to choose three
authors, who would be your top three
picks amongst contemporary and/or
up-and-coming authors?
Duncan: Tine Høeg, from Denmark, has
a strong career ahead of her I think. Her
first novel, ‘Nye rejsende’ has been really
successful in Denmark and has just been
adapted to the stage. I was absolutely
captivated by Elin Willows’ (Swedish, lives
young woman moving to a tiny village in
the far north of Sweden to live with her
boyfriend, and stubbornly remaining even
after he quickly breaks up with her. And of
course the Norwegian author, Gine Cornelia
Pedersen, whose first book we have just
published (‘Zero’) and whose third novel
has just come out in Norway (‘Vår i det
hinsidige’). She has plenty more up her
sleeves!
Amongst the more traditional authors, and
aside from the timeless classical Norwegian
authors Ibsen and Hamsun, I love Halldór
Laxness for his unusual twists of language,
Arto Paasilinna just because ‘Year of the
Continued overleaf
29

Hare’ is such a wonderful book and Tove
Ditlevsen because few authors are as
capable of capturing despair like she was.
DNK: On a more personal level, what
sparked your interest in the Nordics?
Duncan: Believe it or not, about 20 years
ago, there was a TV show on Channel 4
on – I think – Sunday mornings, about
monster truck racing in Iceland. It was
fantastic, combining genuine details of
the sport and the league tables with short
pieces on the folklore and geography of
the country, which was nowhere near as
visited at the time as it is today. It really
set my imagination going, to the extent
that I applied to study Icelandic at UCL
– fortunately I didn’t have the grades to
pursue that but will at some stage embark
upon learning Faroese. Duncan speaks
Danish fluently and reads both Norwegian
and Swedish.
DNK: And what is your most
memorable moment?
Duncan: Seeing blocks of ice flow past
30
the outside of my tent in Svalbard in the
midnight sun in July about ten years ago.
Oh, and driving from Tromsø to Åre last
year and realising how easy it is to maintain
a frictionless EU border… Ahem.
DNK: What is your vision for Nordisk
Books and next projects?
Duncan: I’ve deliberately avoided as much
as I can using the adjective ‘Scandinavian’
rather than ‘Nordic’ as I would like to have
a full array of titles translated from not just
Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, but also
Finnish, Faroese and Icelandic – and, why
not, Greenlandic or Sami? Beyond that,
I’m just excited to keep expanding the list
of authors whose work is available to an
English speaking audience. The next two
books we will be publishing at Nordisk
Books, will be by Norwegian author and
Nordic Council Literature Prize nominee,
Henrik Nor-Hansen’s ‘Termin’ and the
Danish author, Maria Gerhardt’s, final novel
‘Transfer Window’. After that, it gets less
clear. I’m currently looking for new titles to
follow on from there.
DNK: Where do you see yourself in
5 and 20 years?
Duncan: With a catalogue of 20 books to
Nordisk’s name; spending at least three
months of the year in my armchair in my
cottage in the Faroe Islands.
Duncan will be donating a copy of each
of Nordisk Books publications to Den
Norske Klub and these will be available for
your to enjoy in the library at 4 St James’s
Square. Separately, if you’d like to offer
one of Nordisk Books publications to
friends
and family, they can be purchased here
http://www.nordiskbooks.com and in
various bookshops across the country.
@nordiskbooks
nordisk_books
www.nordiskbooks.com
www.dennorskeklub.co.uk
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 Nordic.
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