Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisnaholic
[..]nthe idea that Great Britain and Europe are distinct is reinforced by the fact that (pre Channel Tunnel) the only way to get from one to the other was by boat or airplane.
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I get this, but England is not unique in this sense. You have Iceland, of course. Here, in south of Norway, there technically IS a land bridge if you travel way north and into Finland and down the east side of of the baltic sea - in other words a long ass way. The reasonable way to get to England or other countries southwards is by boat or plane, so it's not much different. The distance we have to cover by sea is also longer than Dover / Calais.
Through much of Norwegian history, people have had relatively little dealings with southern european nations since the viking age. Norway came under danish rule for about 400 years starting sometime after the black plague. Then it was under swedish rule for a while. For most of this time, royalty, nobility, eventually universities etc. existed in Denmark and Sweden, but not Norway which was more just a relatively isolated backwater of farmers, fishers, lumberers and the like.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisnaholic
I'd be very interested to know what they say in Norway if they want to refer quickly to the bits of Europe south of Scandanavia: do you have a word for that?
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The only one I can think of is "Syden" which is a bit like "the south", but which generally means popular tourist spots you go on vacation where it's warm, like around the mediterranean. Mallorca or Crete are good examples, but the term is not Europe specific.
There is no usage of the word/name Europe here in which it doesn't also include Norway and we don't talk about or consider Europe as something we're not part of. When we talk about other european nations, we tend to be specific. For example, we don't simply travel to Europe. We're going to Austria by way of Denmark and Germany.
Maybe there's something to England having had so many dealings with other European nations on the level of nobility, royalty, trade, politics, war, diplomacy, etc. while still being separated that somehow ironically adds to this feeling of or need for separation?