Opposition (15)
101-586: The Løgting (pronounced [ˈlœktɪŋɡ] ; Danish : Lagtinget ) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands , an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm . The name literally means " Law Thing "—that is, a law assembly —and derives from Old Norse lǫgþing , which was a name given to ancient assemblies. A ting or þing has existed on the Faroe Islands for over
202-610: A B-sector . Matters regarding defence and foreign policy are outside the scope of Home Rule. The Danish Folketing has legislative power in all areas except those which have been taken over by the Løgting. The Faroese have two seats in the Danish Folketing. Within the framework of Home Rule the Løgting provides for constitutional affairs and for the order of business. According to the Faroese Home Rule Act
303-429: A "difficult language to learn, acquire and understand", and some evidence shows that children are slower to acquire the phonological distinctions of Danish compared with other languages. The grammar is moderately inflective with strong (irregular) and weak (regular) conjugations and inflections. Nouns, adjectives, and demonstrative pronouns distinguish common and neutral gender. Like English, Danish only has remnants of
404-645: A claim by Cnut's nephew Sweyn Estridsen , whom Harthacnut had left in control of Denmark when he went to England, and who had some support. As part of consolidating his control, Magnus destroyed the Jomsborg , headquarters of the Jomsvikings . Sweyn fled east and returned as one of the leaders of an invasion by the Wends in 1043, which Magnus decisively defeated at the Battle of Lyrskov Heath , near Hedeby . In
505-577: A former case system , particularly in the pronouns. Unlike English, it has lost all person marking on verbs. Its word order is V2 , with the finite verb always occupying the second slot in the sentence. Danish is a Germanic language of the North Germanic branch . Other names for this group are the Nordic or Scandinavian languages. Along with Swedish, Danish descends from the Eastern dialects of
606-485: A great warrior, and most valorous." The line of Olaf II ended with Magnus' death. However, in 1280, Eric II of Norway , who was descended through his mother from Magnus' legitimate sister, Wulfhild , was crowned king of Norway. Magnus was not married, but had a daughter out of wedlock, Ragnhild Magnusdatter [ no ] , who married Haakon Ivarsson [ no ] , a Norwegian nobleman. Ragnhild and Haakon had daughters Sunniva and Ragnhild. Sunniva had
707-526: A literary language. Also in this period, Danish began to take on the linguistic traits that differentiate it from Swedish and Norwegian, such as the stød , the voicing of many stop consonants, and the weakening of many final vowels to /e/. The first printed book in Danish dates from 1495, the Rimkrøniken ( Rhyming Chronicle ), a history book told in rhymed verses. The first complete translation of
808-598: A millennium and the Løgting was the highest authority on the islands in the Viking era. From 1274 to 1816 it functioned primarily as a judicial body, whereas the modern Løgting established in 1852 is a parliamentary assembly, which gained legislative power when home rule was introduced in 1948. Together with the Manx Tynwald and the Icelandic Alþing , the Løgting is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in
909-707: A number of Danes remained as a minority within German territories . After the occupation of Denmark by Germany in World War II, the 1948 orthography reform dropped the German-influenced rule of capitalizing nouns, and introduced the letter ⟨å⟩ . Three 20th-century Danish authors have become Nobel Prize laureates in Literature : Karl Gjellerup and Henrik Pontoppidan (joint recipients in 1917) and Johannes V. Jensen (awarded 1944). With
1010-536: A resolve by the Faroese people for full Faroese independence from Denmark and started the process of secession as well as establishing proper governing bodies for an independent Faroese nation. The Government of Denmark contested the legality of this process, and on 25 September the King of Denmark signed a document dissolving the Faroese parliament and a new election was held a few months later. This election resulted in
1111-665: A settlement by which Sweyn became Earl of Denmark under Magnus. Magnus wanted to reunite Cnut the Great's entire North Sea Empire by also becoming king of England. When Harthacnut died, the English nobles had chosen as their king Æthelred the Unready 's son Edward (later known as Edward the Confessor ); Magnus wrote to him that he intended to attack England with combined Norwegian and Danish forces and "he will then govern it who wins
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#17327659528181212-521: A ship. He is said to have made Sweyn his heir in Denmark, and Harald in Norway; some say in a deathbed statement. Magnus was buried with his father in the cathedral at Nidaros , modern Trondheim . Heimskringla describes Magnus as "of middle height, with regular features and light complexion. He had light blond hair, was well spoken and quick to make up his mind, was of noble character, most generous,
1313-656: A ship. The party thereafter sailed through the Baltic Sea and into the Gulf of Finland , eventually landing in Kievan Rus' ( Garðaríki ). They made their first stop at Staraya Ladoga ( Aldeigjuborg ) to organise the further journey. From there they travelled southwards to Novgorod ( Holmgard ), where Olaf sought assistance from Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise . Yaroslav, however, did not want to become directly involved in
1414-519: A significant majority of 2,000 votes for the parties favoring a union with Denmark, and a new unionist coalition was formed. Based on their growth in votes they chose not to pass the secession, but as a compromise, the Home Rule Act was constituted and came into force on 1 April 1948. As it was then, this election is still shrouded in controversy today, and there exist two popular stances in this discussion. On one hand, some people argue that there
1515-429: A similarity in pronunciation, combined with the long tradition of having Danish as a written language, which has led to similarities in vocabulary. Among younger Danes, Copenhageners are worse at understanding Swedish than Danes from the provinces. In general, younger Danes are not as good at understanding the neighboring languages as the young in Norway and Sweden. The Danish philologist Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen divided
1616-463: A so-called multiethnolect in the urban areas, an immigrant Danish variety (also known as Perkerdansk ), combining elements of different immigrant languages such as Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish, as well as English and Danish. Within the Danish Realm , Danish is the national language of Denmark and one of two official languages of the Faroe Islands (alongside Faroese ). There is a Faroese variant of Danish known as Gøtudanskt . Until 2009, Danish
1717-625: A variant of Standard Danish, Southern Schleswig Danish , is spoken in the area. Since 2015, Schleswig-Holstein has officially recognized Danish as a regional language , just as German is north of the border. Furthermore, Danish is one of the official languages of the European Union and one of the working languages of the Nordic Council . Under the Nordic Language Convention , Danish-speaking citizens of
1818-407: A very large vowel inventory consisting of 27 phonemically distinctive vowels , and its prosody is characterized by the distinctive phenomenon stød , a kind of laryngeal phonation type . Due to the many pronunciation differences that set Danish apart from its neighboring languages, particularly the vowels, difficult prosody and "weakly" pronounced consonants, it is sometimes considered to be
1919-571: Is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark . Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland , the Faroe Islands , and the northern German region of Southern Schleswig , where it has minority language status. Minor Danish-speaking communities are also found in Norway , Sweden ,
2020-700: Is a West Germanic language descended from Old English. Old Norse exerted a strong influence on Old English in the early medieval period. The shared Germanic heritage of Danish and English is demonstrated with many common words that are very similar in the two languages. For example, when written, commonly used Danish verbs, nouns, and prepositions such as have , over , under , for , give , flag , salt , and arm are easily recognizable to English speakers. Similarly, some other words are almost identical to their Scots equivalents, e.g. kirke (Scots kirk , i.e., 'church') or barn (Scots and northern English bairn , i.e. 'child'). In addition,
2121-430: Is its closest relative. East Germanic languages West Germanic languages Icelandic Faroese Norwegian Danish Swedish Approximately 2,000 uncompounded Danish words are derived from Old Norse and ultimately from Proto Indo-European . Of these 2,000, 1,200 are nouns, 500 are verbs and 180 are adjectives. Danish has also absorbed many loanwords , most of which were borrowed from Low German of
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#17327659528182222-590: Is planned and underway. After Home Rule had come into force the parliamentary work of the Løgting changed fundamentally. Before Home Rule the Faroese Parliament had only been a consultative body, whereas now the Faroese Parliament has legislative power within all the branches taken over from the Danish Parliament ( Det danske Folketing ). According to the Home Rule Act the various branches of legislative power are divided into an A-sector and
2323-497: Is typically split into four main parties, each of which typically get around 20% in elections: the conservative Union Party , the Social Democratic Party , the liberal-independentist People's Party , and the democratic socialist Republic , who each take a unique position on left/right and independence/unionism axis. In addition, there are three smaller parties with representation: the classical liberal Progress ,
2424-606: Is why he became known as "good" or "noble". Another son of Cnut, Harthacnut , was on the throne of Denmark and wanted his country to reunite with Norway, while Magnus initiated a campaign against Denmark around 1040. However, the noblemen of both countries brought the two kings together at the Göta älv . They made peace and agreed that the first of them to die would be succeeded by the other. In 1042, Harthacnut died while in England, and Magnus also became King of Denmark , in spite of
2525-436: The skarre-R , the uvular R sound ( [ʁ] ), began spreading through Denmark, likely through influence from Parisian French and German. It affected all of the areas where Danish had been influential, including all of Denmark, Southern Sweden, and coastal southern Norway. In the 18th century, Danish philology was advanced by Rasmus Rask , who pioneered the disciplines of comparative and historical linguistics, and wrote
2626-568: The Bible in Danish, the Bible of Christian II translated by Christiern Pedersen , was published in 1550. Pedersen's orthographic choices set the de facto standard for subsequent writing in Danish. From around 1500, several printing presses were in operation in Denmark publishing in Danish and other languages. In the period after 1550, presses in Copenhagen dominated the publication of material in
2727-570: The Late Middle Ages . Out of the 500 most frequently used Danish words, 100 are loans from Middle Low German; this is because Low German was the second official language of Denmark–Norway. In the 17th and 18th centuries, standard German and French superseded Low German influence, and in the 20th century, English became the main supplier of loanwords, especially after World War II . Although many old Nordic words remain, some were replaced with borrowed synonyms, for example æde (to eat)
2828-581: The Løgmaður , was the presiding judge, and was, from then on, appointed by the king. Its members were called Løgrættumenn (approximately translating to "jurymen"), appointed by the King's Provost on the Faroes. On 24 June 1298 the Faroes gained its first form of constitution , the Seyðabrævið ("Sheep Letter", concerning sheep breeding): the earliest such document the islands know today. Around 1380,
2929-523: The Old Norse language ; Danish and Swedish are also classified as East Scandinavian or East Nordic languages. Scandinavian languages are often considered a dialect continuum , where no sharp dividing lines are seen between the different vernacular languages. Like Norwegian and Swedish, Danish was significantly influenced by Low German in the Middle Ages, and has been influenced by English since
3030-1091: The United States , Canada , Brazil , and Argentina . Along with the other North Germanic languages, Danish is a descendant of Old Norse , the common language of the Germanic peoples who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking Era . Danish, together with Swedish, derives from the East Norse dialect group , while the Middle Norwegian language (before the influence of Danish) and Norwegian Bokmål are classified as West Norse along with Faroese and Icelandic . A more recent classification based on mutual intelligibility separates modern spoken Danish, Norwegian , and Swedish as "mainland (or continental ) Scandinavian", while Icelandic and Faroese are classified as "insular Scandinavian". Although
3131-703: The Viking Age and the Middle Ages resembled the other Nordic populations in many ways. This was particularly true when it came to legislation. The most important body of law was the Gulatingslógin , an ancient Norwegian agricultural law which originated in the Gulating legislative area in Vestlandet in Norway. Originally, this law was preserved through oral tradition, but it was written down about
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3232-544: The Zealand dialect Introductio ad lingvam Danicam puta selandicam ; and in 1685 the first Danish grammar written in Danish, Den Danske Sprog-Kunst ("The Art of the Danish Language") by Peder Syv . Major authors from this period are Thomas Kingo , poet and psalmist, and Leonora Christina Ulfeldt , whose novel Jammersminde ( Remembered Woes ) is considered a literary masterpiece by scholars. Orthography
3333-402: The introduction of the printing press , a standard language was developed which was based on the educated dialect of Copenhagen and Malmö . It spread through use in the education system and administration, though German and Latin continued to be the most important written languages well into the 17th century. Following the loss of territory to Germany and Sweden, a nationalist movement adopted
3434-579: The 9th century with the younger futhark . Possibly as far back as the seventh century, the common Norse language began to undergo changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, resulting in the appearance of two dialect areas, Old West Norse ( Norway and Iceland ) and Old East Norse ( Denmark and Sweden ). Most of the changes separating East Norse from West Norse started as innovations in Denmark, that spread through Scania into Sweden and by maritime contact to southern Norway. A change that separated Old East Norse (Runic Swedish/Danish) from Old West Norse
3535-543: The Act of 23 March 1852 was passed it meant that the Faroese Løgting was to be reconstituted, although not as a legislative assembly, but as an advisory body, an amtsráð . The reconstituted Løgting held its first assembly on Ólavsøka in 1852, and thus revived the traditions of the former institution which had been abolished in 1816. Even though at that time the Løgting had only limited political authority and influence,
3636-529: The Danish courts. The Parliament is elected for a period of four years, and the maximum membership is 32 members who are elected in public, secret, and direct elections. The government consists of the Prime Minister ( løgmaður ) and not fewer than two ministers ( landsstýrismenn ). The Prime Minister is appointed indirectly by the Parliament. The Chairman of the Parliament after having had talks with
3737-594: The Danish language, and also started a period of homogenization, whereby the Copenhagen standard language gradually displaced the regional vernacular languages. Throughout the 19th century, Danes emigrated, establishing small expatriate communities in the Americas, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Argentina, where memory and some use of Danish remains today. After the Schleswig referendum in 1920 ,
3838-517: The Danish language. Herrer og Narre have frit Sprog . "Lords and jesters have free speech." Peder Syv , proverbs Following the first Bible translation, the development of Danish as a written language , as a language of religion, administration, and public discourse accelerated. In the second half of the 17th century, grammarians elaborated grammars of Danish, first among them Rasmus Bartholin 's 1657 Latin grammar De studio lingvæ danicæ ; then Laurids Olufsen Kock 's 1660 grammar of
3939-407: The Danish tongue." Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson By the eighth century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse , had undergone some changes and evolved into Old Norse . This language was generally called the "Danish tongue" ( Dǫnsk tunga ), or "Norse language" ( Norrœnt mál ). Norse was written in the runic alphabet , first with the elder futhark and from
4040-618: The Faroes remained a kind of self-governing society for the next 150 years. The status of the Faroes changed under king Magnus VI of Norway , who introduced the Norwegian Landslog ( Land's Law ) in 1274. By this time, The Faroese ting had become an assembly of representatives of the 6 local vártings, with only judicial authority. This was called lǫgþing in Old Norse, according to the High Courts of Norway. Its president,
4141-579: The Faroes were occupied by the United Kingdom on 12 April 1940 and relations with Denmark were interrupted, the Løgting actually functioned as a legislative assembly, and the Faroes had their own government consisting of the Amtmaður Carl Aage Hilbert and ministers appointed by the Løgting. In this period, the Faroese proved able to govern themselves. At the end of the war, the independence movement (mainly under influence of
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4242-453: The Faroes, together with Norway, came under the Danish throne , but the islands preserved their special status as former Norwegian territory. Regardless of these developments, the Løgting preserved a certain influence on the legislature and the administration of the islands until the introduction of the absolute monarchy in 1660 under Frederick III . From that date the influence and authority of
4343-481: The Good (Old Norse: Magnús góði ; Norwegian and Danish: Magnus den gode ), was King of Norway from 1035 and King of Denmark from 1042 until his death in 1047. Magnus was an illegitimate son of King Olaf II of Norway , and fled with his mother Alfhild when his father was dethroned in 1028. He returned to Norway in 1035 and was crowned king at the age of 11. In 1042, he was also crowned king of Denmark. Magnus ruled
4444-470: The High Commissioner of Denmark ( ríkisumboðsmaður ), and high officials walk in procession ( skrúðgonga ) from the Parliament building to the cathedral ( Havnar kirkja ). After the service the procession returns to Parliament House, and the Løgting is opened. At the first meeting the Prime Minister (Løgmaður) delivers his Saint Olaf's Day address, in which he gives a general description of
4545-425: The Home Rule Act, the Faroese Løgting is the legislative authority in special Faroese matters, defined as særanliggender , while other areas are administered by the Danish national authorities as common matters, fællesanliggender . With the passing of a new statute in 1995, parliamentarism was legally adopted and at the same time the structure and functions of the Løgting were modernised. A proper Faroese Constitution
4646-415: The Løgting had become again reduced, and the institution was finally abolished in 1816. At the same time, the judicial authority of the Løgting was transferred to other courts, such as the newly inaugurated Court of the Faroes. When Denmark received a free and, for that period, democratic constitution in 1849, this signalled the end of the special status the Faroes had held within the kingdom of Denmark. This
4747-575: The National Archive. The total archives of the Løgting contain the most important sources of Faroese history. Thus the Faroese Løgting is a parliament with an exceptionally well-documented history, where the archives in fact cover the period right from 1298 to the present. There are only a very few parliaments in Europe with archives preserved to the same extent where the records are continuous both through time and in their contents. Together with
4848-400: The Nordic countries have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable for any interpretation or translation costs. Magnus I of Norway Magnus Olafsson ( Old Norse : Magnús Óláfsson ; Norwegian and Danish : Magnus Olavsson ; c. 1024 – 25 October 1047), better known as Magnus
4949-653: The Old Norse word for "island". This monophthongization started in Jutland and spread eastward, having spread throughout Denmark and most of Sweden by 1100. Through Danish conquest, Old East Norse was once widely spoken in the northeast counties of England . Many words derived from Norse, such as "gate" ( gade ) for street, still survive in Yorkshire , the East Midlands and East Anglia, and parts of eastern England colonized by Danish Vikings . The city of York
5050-573: The Scandinavian power-struggles, and declined to help. After some time, in early 1030, Olaf learned that the Earl of Lade Håkon Eiriksson , Cnut's regent in Norway, had disappeared at sea, and gathered his men to make a swift return to Norway. Magnus was left to be fostered by Yaroslav and his wife Ingegerd . In early 1031, a party including Magnus's uncle Harald Sigurdsson (later also to be king and then known as Harald Hardrada) arrived to report
5151-600: The area, eventually outnumbering the Danish speakers. The political loss of territory sparked a period of intense nationalism in Denmark, coinciding with the so-called " Golden Age " of Danish culture. Authors such as N.F.S. Grundtvig emphasized the role of language in creating national belonging. Some of the most cherished Danish-language authors of this period are existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and prolific fairy tale author Hans Christian Andersen . The influence of popular literary role models, together with increased requirements of education did much to strengthen
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#17327659528185252-797: The battle, Magnus wielded Saint Olaf's battle-axe, named Hel after the goddess of death . He had dreamt of his father the night before, and the Norwegians swore that before the battle they could hear the bell that Saint Olaf had given to the Church of St. Clement in Kaupang, in Nidaros—a sign that the saint was watching over his son and the army. It was the greatest victory ever over the Wends, with up to 15,000 killed. Sweyn continued to oppose Magnus in Denmark, although according to Heimskringla , they reached
5353-773: The boy back to rule as the King of Norway . After receiving the approval of Ingegerd, they returned with Magnus to Sigtuna in early 1035, and received backing from the Swedish king, brother of Magnus's stepmother Astrid. Astrid immediately became an important supporter of Magnus, and an army was gathered in Sweden, headed by Einar and Kalf, to place Magnus on the Norwegian throne. Magnus was proclaimed king in 1035 at 11 years of age. At first, Magnus sought revenge against his father's enemies, but on Sigvatr's advice, he stopped doing so, which
5454-422: The eight general elections between 1978 and 2004 all resulted in 32 members. The Løgting is elected for a period of four years. Election of the Løgting can take place before the end of an election period if the Løgting agrees on dissolving itself. The Løgmaður (Prime Minister) issues a proclamation of the forthcoming election and appoints the day of election, which must take place, at the earliest, six weeks after
5555-508: The exclusive use of rigsdansk , the High Copenhagen Standard, in national broadcasting, the traditional dialects came under increased pressure. In the 20th century, they have all but disappeared, and the standard language has extended throughout the country. Minor regional pronunciation variation of the standard language, sometimes called regionssprog ("regional languages") remain, and are in some cases vital. Today,
5656-566: The exile of Eldjarn Kambhøttur, is recounted in detail. This early Faroese ting was also described as the assembly of the "Faroes' best men" who were a free assembly of the wealthier farmers, and the Faroes constituted a kind of republic with a population of about 4,000 people and 60,000 sheep. The president of the ting was the Løgsøgumaður , who had no voting rights. The Viking Age in the Faroes ended in 1035 when Tróndur í Gøtu died and Leivur Øssursson (the son-in-law of Sigmundur Brestisson) became liege lord under king Magnus I of Norway . Yet,
5757-451: The first English-language grammar of Danish. Literary Danish continued to develop with the works of Ludvig Holberg , whose plays and historical and scientific works laid the foundation for the Danish literary canon. With the Danish colonization of Greenland by Hans Egede , Danish became the administrative and religious language there, while Iceland and the Faroe Islands had the status of Danish colonies with Danish as an official language until
5858-450: The first few minutes, and he was probably not expected to survive. Olaf was not present at the child's birth, and his Icelandic skald Sigvatr Þórðarson became his godfather. In a hasty baptism, Sigvatr named Magnus after the greatest king he knew of, also Olaf's greatest role model, Karla Magnus , or Charlemagne . Against the odds, Magnus went on to grow strong and healthy, and he became of vital importance to Olaf as his only son. Olaf
5959-426: The history of Danish into a period from 800 AD to 1525 to be "Old Danish", which he subdivided into "Runic Danish" (800–1100), Early Middle Danish (1100–1350) and Late Middle Danish (1350–1525). Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu . " Dyggvi 's mother was Drott, the daughter of king Danp, Ríg 's son, who was the first to be called king in
6060-429: The institution gradually gained in significance as the representative of the Faroes to the Danish government and parliament (the rigsdag ) and as a political forum where politically conscious Faroese islanders could gain experience of politics. The Løgting became the political platform for the Faroese nationalist movement. One of the chief objectives behind the demand for political home rule which its supporters put forward
6161-438: The islands may have made it the most ideal location. Unlike the Icelandic Althing , the Løgting's foundation is not historically documented; however, it is implied to be a well-established institution when it is mentioned for the first time in the Færeyinga saga as the Straumseyarþing (" Streymoy thing "), in which a mid-10th century legal dispute at the thing between chieftains Havgrímur and Einar Suðuroyingur, resulting in
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#17327659528186262-424: The language as a token of Danish identity, and the language experienced a strong surge in use and popularity, with major works of literature produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, traditional Danish dialects have all but disappeared, though regional variants of the standard language exist. The main differences in language are between generations, with youth language being particularly innovative. Danish has
6363-414: The language of the courts. Since 1997, public authorities have been obliged to follow the official spelling system laid out in the Orthography Law. In the 21st century, discussions have been held with a view to create a law that would make Danish the official language of Denmark. In addition, a noticeable community of Danish speakers is in Southern Schleswig , the portion of Germany bordering Denmark, and
6464-410: The liberal New Self-Government , and the Christian conservative Centre party . At the elections each party has a certain letter, which is also used on posters for the campaigns. The last general elections were held in the Faroe Islands on 8 December 2022. The first meeting of the Løgting is on Saint Olaf's Day ( ólavsøka ). On 29 July the members of the Løgting, the ministers ( landsstýrismenn ),
6565-407: The major varieties of Standard Danish are High Copenhagen Standard, associated with elderly, well to-do, and well educated people of the capital, and low Copenhagen speech traditionally associated with the working class, but today adopted as the prestige variety of the younger generations. Also, in the 21st century, the influence of immigration has had linguistic consequences, such as the emergence of
6666-422: The mid-20th century. Moders navn er vort Hjertesprog, kun løs er al fremmed Tale. Det alene i mund og bog, kan vække et folk af dvale. "Mother's name is our hearts' tongue, only idle is all foreign speech It alone, in mouth or in book, can rouse a people from sleep." N.F.S. Grundtvig , "Modersmaalet" Following the loss of Schleswig to Germany, a sharp influx of German speakers moved into
6767-407: The new Fólkaflokkurin ) was so powerful that none of the political parties were willing to return to the pre-war situation where the status of the Faroes had practically been that of a Danish county ( Færøernes amt ). Long and laborious negotiations followed between the Danish government and the representatives of the Løgting. Finally a public vote was held on 14 September 1946 where the electorate
6868-574: The news of his father's death at the Battle of Stiklestad . For the next few years, Magnus was educated in Old Russian and some Greek and was trained as a warrior. In 1030, Cnut appointed his first wife Ælfgifu and their son Svein as regents, but the Norwegians found their rule oppressive and, by the time of Cnut's death in 1035, they had been driven out and Magnus was established as king. Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalf Arnesson , who had both sought to be appointed regents under Cnut after Olaf's death in 1030, had gone together to Kievan Rus' to bring
6969-435: The organization of internal affairs is solely within the province of the Faroese Parliament. An act concerning this matter was passed on 26 July 1994. According to section No. 1. of this act the division of legal power concerning matters taken over by the Home Rule is now shared jointly between the Faroese Parliament and the Prime Minister, executive power rests with the Government whereas judicial power in such matters rests with
7070-401: The other texts in the Kongsbókin , the Statute concerning sheep breeding on the Faroes ( Seyðabrævið ) contains information on conditions in society, the economy, the language, culture and cultural history. The Løgting's archives from 1615 to 1816 contain similar rich sources of material on all aspects of the history of the Faroes in that period. The Løgting's archives for the period from 1852 to
7171-405: The party leaders submits a proposal for a new Prime Minister, a vote is taken, and if a majority of the members reject the candidate then the proposal is rejected, otherwise the candidate is accepted. The Prime Minister appoints the ministers. Neither the Prime Minister nor a minister may hold their seats if a vote no confidence is put forward and 17 MPs are opposed. The Prime Minister has at any time
7272-399: The power to call an election. The Prime Minister and the ministers are not permitted to hold seats in the Parliament. The Løgting has 7 standing committees which in accordance with the order of business of the Faroese Parliament are elected for the duration of the election period unless the members of the Parliament agree on electing the committees anew. Standing Committees: The parliament
7373-573: The present also provide the most important source of information on the more recent and latest political history of the Faroes. The Faroese cultural heritage is founded on this abundance of source material, which is thus at the very heart of the Faroese identity and sense of history right from the landnam period to the present time. Danish language Nordic Council Danish ( / ˈ d eɪ n ɪ ʃ / , DAY -nish ; endonym : dansk pronounced [ˈtænˀsk] , dansk sprog [ˈtænˀsk ˈspʁɔwˀ] )
7474-534: The pressure on Magnus from his base in Scania , but by late 1046, Magnus had driven Sweyn out of Denmark. However, on 25 October 1047, Magnus suddenly died while in Denmark, either in Zealand or in Jutland , either in an accident or of a disease; accounts vary. Reports include falling overboard from one of the ships he was mustering to invade England and drowning, falling off a horse, and falling ill while on board
7575-572: The proclamation. The Faroese ting or assembly was originally a so-called alþing , with both legislative and judicial authority. During this time, there was no executive authority in the country. The Faroese society was a family society ( eitt ættarsamfelag ), where the families saw to it that the judgments and resolutions of the Løgting were put into practice. There is some evidence that the Faroes were already colonised as early as 650. The first inhabitants, who were of Celtic descent, were driven out by Norse landnamsmen in about 825. Faroese society in
7676-472: The shared written standard language remained). With the introduction of absolutism in 1660, the Danish state was further integrated, and the language of the Danish chancellery, a Zealandic variety with German and French influence, became the de facto official standard language , especially in writing—this was the original so-called rigsdansk ("Danish of the Realm"). Also, beginning in the mid-18th century,
7777-403: The state of the nation. The Løgting has one major parliamentary debate concerning the state of the nation. The debate is about Løgmaður's Saint Olaf's Address, and the budget. As a rule the Løgting debates between 100 and 150 various items in one session. This Ólavsøka tradition is very old and dates back to the time of the Norwegian rule. In these former times was the Løgting only held one time
7878-486: The three languages can often understand the others fairly well, though studies have shown that the mutual intelligibility is asymmetric: Norwegian speakers generally understand both Danish and Swedish far better than Swedes or Danes understand each other. Concomitantly, Swedes and Danes understand Norwegian better than they understand each other's languages. Norwegian occupies the middle position in terms of intelligibility because of its shared border with Sweden, resulting in
7979-445: The turn of the 20th century. Danish itself can be divided into three main dialect areas: Jutlandic (West Danish), Insular Danish (including the standard variety), and East Danish (including Bornholmian and Scanian ). According to the view that Scandinavian is a dialect continuum, East Danish can be considered intermediary between Danish and Swedish, while Scanian can be considered a Swedified East Danish dialect, and Bornholmian
8080-427: The two countries until 1047, when he died under unclear circumstances. After his death, his kingdom was split between Harald Hardrada in Norway and Sweyn Estridsson in Denmark. Magnus was an illegitimate son of King Olaf Haraldsson (later St. Olaf), by his English concubine Alfhild, originally a slave ( thrall ) of Olaf's queen Astrid Olofsdotter . Born prematurely, the child was weak and unable to breathe for
8181-411: The vernacular language to be accessible also to those who were not Latinate. The Jutlandic Law and Scanian Law were written in vernacular Danish in the early 13th century. Beginning in 1350, Danish began to be used as a language of administration, and new types of literature began to be written in the language, such as royal letters and testaments. The orthography in this period was not standardized nor
8282-469: The vernacular, such as the plural form of verbs, should be conserved in writing (i.e. han er "he is" vs. de ere "they are"). The East Danish provinces were lost to Sweden after the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) after which they were gradually Swedified; just as Norway was politically severed from Denmark, beginning also a gradual end of Danish influence on Norwegian (influence through
8383-544: The victory." The English were mostly hostile to Magnus; Sweyn was made welcome there, although Edward's mother, Emma , curiously favored Magnus and in 1043 the king confiscated her property, with which by one report she had promised to assist Magnus. Meanwhile, Magnus' uncle Harald Sigurdsson had returned to Norway from the east and contested his rule there, while Sweyn was still a threat in Denmark; Harald allied himself with Sweyn. Magnus chose to appease Harald, and made him his co-king in Norway in 1046. Sweyn increased
8484-516: The whore-bed with another man's wife and he comes away alive..." Jutlandic Law, 1241 In the medieval period, Danish emerged as a separate language from Swedish. The main written language was Latin, and the few Danish-language texts preserved from this period are written in the Latin alphabet, although the runic alphabet seems to have lingered in popular usage in some areas. The main text types written in this period are laws, which were formulated in
8585-492: The word by , meaning ‘village’ or ‘town’, occurs in many English place-names, such as Whitby and Selby , as remnants of the Viking occupation . During that period English adopted ‘are’, the third person plural form of the verb ‘to be’, as well as the personal pronouns ‘they’, ‘them’ and ‘their’ from contemporary Old Norse. Danish is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Swedish . A proficient speaker of any of
8686-532: The world, all three holding lineages to the old Norse assemblies of mainland Europe. Today, the Faroe Islands comprise one constituency, and the number of MPs is fixed at 33. The first election with this new system was held on 19 January 2008, after the Election law was changed in late 2007, prior to which the membership of the Løgting varied from 27 to 32. The 7 constituencies had 27 seats and up to 5 supplementary seats. That Election Act came into force in 1978, and
8787-489: The written languages are compatible, spoken Danish is distinctly different from Norwegian and Swedish and thus the degree of mutual intelligibility with either is variable between regions and speakers . Until the 16th century, Danish was a continuum of dialects spoken from Southern Jutland and Schleswig to Scania with no standard variety or spelling conventions. With the Protestant Reformation and
8888-512: The year 1100. The earliest historical sources locate the Løgting on the Tinganes a peninsula, today known as the oldest neighbourhood in Tórshavn . In the Viking age, it was a tradition to hold the ting at a neutral and uninhabited place, in order to prevent anyone from having an advantage. There were no settlements on Tinganes at the time, and its central location in relation to the rest of
8989-607: The year starting with Ólavsøka and sitting 8 days from 6 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, with church service each day, and all priests of the Faroes attendant. In the 17th century this was a bit modified - now only meeting with all priests at Ólavsøka day. The protocols of the Løgting assemblies and its other archives from 1852 up to the present are kept at the Faroese National Archive in Tórshavn. The Løgting's protocols from 1615 to 1816 are also preserved at
9090-418: Was a resolve in favor of independence, as there actually was a factual majority for secession, even if it was a small one. On the other hand, other people argue that the majority was far too small, as there were in fact only 161 more votes for independence, and this side specifically argues that only a qualified majority can be large enough grounds to pass a vote of such social and political consequence. Under
9191-492: Was a territory ruled by Denmark–Norway , one of whose official languages was Danish. Though Danish ceased to be an official language in Iceland in 1944, it is still widely used and is a mandatory subject in school, taught as a second foreign language after English. No law stipulates an official language for Denmark, making Danish the de facto official language only. The Code of Civil Procedure does, however, lay down Danish as
9292-457: Was also one of two official languages of Greenland (alongside Greenlandic ). Danish now acts as a lingua franca in Greenland, with a large percentage of native Greenlanders able to speak Danish as a second language (it was introduced into the education system as a compulsory language in 1928). About 10% of the population speaks Danish as their first language , due to immigration. Iceland
9393-488: Was dethroned by the Danish king Cnut the Great in 1028, and he went into exile with his family and court, including the young Magnus. They travelled over the mountains and through Eidskog during the winter, entered Värmland , and were given shelter by a chieftain called Sigtrygg in Närke . After a few months, they departed Närke, and by March went eastwards towards Sigtuna , where the Swedish king Anund Jacob had left them
9494-487: Was enacted without consulting the Faroese population. At that time many of them wished to see the Løgting reinstated, one reason being that they were not satisfied with the situation that the highest Danish government official, called the Amtmaður , was the sole advisory authority on the Faroes on matters of Faroese legislation. Among those who campaigned for political rights of the Faroes was Niels Winther (1822–1892). When
9595-488: Was mostly supplanted by the Low German spise . As well as loanwords, new words can be freely formed by compounding existing words. In standard texts of contemporary Danish, Middle Low German loans account for about 16–17% of the vocabulary, Graeco-Latin loans 4–8%, French 2–4% and English about 1%. Danish and English are both Germanic languages. Danish is a North Germanic language descended from Old Norse, and English
9696-574: Was once the Viking settlement of Jorvik. Several other English words derive from Old East Norse, for example "knife" ( kniv ), "husband" ( husbond ), and "egg" ( æg ). The suffix "-by" for 'town' is common in place names in Yorkshire and the east Midlands, for example Selby, Whitby, Derby, and Grimsby. The word "dale" meaning valley is common in Yorkshire and Derbyshire placenames. Fangær man saar i hor seng mæth annæns mansz kunæ. oc kumær han burt liuænd... . "If one catches someone in
9797-463: Was still not standardized and the principles for doing so were vigorously discussed among Danish philologists. The grammar of Jens Pedersen Høysgaard was the first to give a detailed analysis of Danish phonology and prosody, including a description of the stød . In this period, scholars were also discussing whether it was best to "write as one speaks" or to "speak as one writes", including whether archaic grammatical forms that had fallen out of use in
9898-566: Was that the Løgting should have legislative powers. In the assembly established in 1852, the Amtmaður, the highest Danish government official, was ex officio the president of the Løgting. However, this rule was amended in 1923, so that the president was, from then on, elected by the members of the Løgting. Since 1927, the Løgting protocols are written in Faroese , and in 1935 the Løgting was authorised to levy taxes. During World War II , when
9999-469: Was the change of the diphthong æi (Old West Norse ei ) to the monophthong e , as in stæin to sten . This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain and the later stin . Also, a change of au as in dauðr into ø as in døðr occurred. This change is shown in runic inscriptions as a change from tauþr into tuþr . Moreover, the øy (Old West Norse ey ) diphthong changed into ø , as well, as in
10100-474: Was the spoken language, and the regional laws demonstrate the dialectal differences between the regions in which they were written. Throughout this period, Danish was in contact with Low German , and many Low German loan words were introduced in this period. With the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Danish also became the language of religion, which sparked a new interest in using Danish as
10201-410: Was to choose between a Danish proposition of Home rule and full secession from Denmark. This election is not considered a referendum, as the parliament was not bound to follow the decision of the vote. The result was a marginal majority of 161 votes for secession from Denmark (48.7% in favour, 47.2% against, 4.1% blank or spoilt). The republican coalition majority in parliament interpreted the results as
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