I grew up in a very old fashioned Norwegian family of ten. (Eleven, if you count Gramma Olga, matriarch of our household.) I remember Olga pedaling away on the old Singer sewing machine, singing ancient songs and rhymes; as a young boy, I was more interested in how the sewing machine worked than those soon-to-be-forgotten words. How I wish now that I had taken the time to learn them!
On the other hand, the Norwegian Table Prayer will never be forgotten, as we children had to recite it, in unison, in Norske, before every meal. It goes like this:
I Jesu navn gar vi til bords
Og spiser, drikker pa ditt ord
Deg, Gud, til aere, oss til gavn
Sa fa vi mat i Jesu navn.
Amen.
Translation:
In Jesus name, we go to the table
To eat and drink according to his word
To God, the honor, to us the gain
So we have food in Jesus name.
Amen
Yea, Olga was old-country stern. I always thought she was just being mean by not letting me rest while churning butter; turns out she was only being firm with me because she wanted firm butter!
Art by Yamata
michaeljordahl 