Syttende Mai means May 17th in Norwegian. This day is also known as Norwegian Constitution Day.
The short version: on that day in 1814, Norway adopted its own constitution after living under Danish rule for 500 or so years.
The longer version: after the Napoleonic War, a humbled Denmark gave Norway to Sweden, but Norway didn't want to go to Sweden so Norway adopted a constitution and declared its independence, which Sweden rejected, so they went to war, but they eventually decided to live in peace as separate kingdoms under a common king (Sweden's, of course), with Norway gaining true independence only after many years (in 1905). Whew!
Anyway, the Norwegians still celebrate May 17, and as a half-blooded Norsk (my mother is all Norwegian), I felt obliged to take my family to the Syttende Mai Festival in Stoughton, Wisconsin (just south of Madison). May 17 fell on a Wednesday this year, so the party was moved to the weekend. We weren't able to stay long, but actually, it was sort of dull, so we were happy to leave. But we did manage to find some cheese at the festival (this is, after all, still Wisconsin).
And if you are wondering, they were squeaky. Just like they are supposed to be.
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