NSA Events Programme 2025-26
Meetings, unless otherwise stated, are held in the Royal
Norwegian Consulate, 12 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BB.
Generally, a charge of £3 will be made at the door.
Tuesday 4 November 2025 at 7 for 7:30pm
THE HOUSES OF BRUCE AND SVERRE – CONNECTIONS, ROLES
& RELATIONSHIPS DURING THE FIRST WARS OF SCOTTISH
INDEPENDENCE 1286-1328
Norway-based Scottish author Lynda Kristiansen talks about the relationships
between the royal houses of Scotland and Norway and the family connections
which produced alliances for both nations when threatened by more powerful
neighbours such as the English and Danish kings. Kristiansen’s historical fiction
books suggest solutions when the historical records are silent and weave some
fictional possibilities to explain events. Find out how in this rare chance to
meet the author!
Tuesday 13 January 2026 at 6:30 for 7pm
FOOD & FILM NIGHT
Join us at the Golf Tavern, Bruntsfield, for a screening of the 2018 film Sonja
– The White Swan. The film is about one of the world’s greatest athletes and
the inventor of modern figure skating, Sonja Henie, who decides to go to
Hollywood in 1936 to become a movie star. And she does, but everything has
a price. The film is directed by Anne Sewitksy and stars Mette M. Bølstad and
Andreas Markusson. Booking essential. (contact us).
Tuesday 3 February 2026 at 7 for 7:30pm
AASMUND OLAVSSON VINJE IN EDINBURGH – WITH DR GUY PUZEY
In 1862, Norwegian writer AO Vinje arrived in London, before then heading
north to Edinburgh, where he would spend the best part of a year. His state-
funded journalistic expedition resulted in the book A Norseman’s Views of
Britain and the British (1863). The book has been described as one of the
first Norwegian works of sociology, and it took quite a critical view of British
society. Vinje was one of the very first proponents of Nynorsk, the lesser-
used written standard of Norwegian. In revisiting the purpose of Vinje’s stay
in Edinburgh, the contents of his book, and its reception, Dr Guy Puzey will
show the role this chapter of Vinje’s life played in the elaboration of the
Nynorsk movement’s distinct world view. The talk will also contrast Vinje’s
observational methods with those of another contemporary Scandinavian
writer, Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote of his own travels in England and
Scotland fifteen years before Vinje set forth across the North Sea.
Tuesday 3 March 2026 at 7 for 7:30pm
NORWAY’S SCHOOLS WITH NO EXAMS? – THE IDEAS AND
NORWEGIAN INTERESTS OF DANISH PASTOR NFS GRUNDTVIG,
‘FATHER’ OF THE NORDIC FOLK HIGH SCHOOL MOVEMENT
Dr Jack Dyce, Emeritus Professor of Nordic Theology at the Scottish
College (Congregational & United Reformed), Glasgow, discusses the life,
transformative educational ideas and Norwegian interests of nineteenth-
century Danish pastor NFS Grundtvig ‘father’ of the Nordic ‘folk high school’
movement. With around 80 folk high schools offering an exam-free education
to students between 18 and 25 years old on a wide range of subjects of their
own choosing, Norway, today, still follows Grundtvig’s inspiration, fostering
in its ‘folkehøyskole’ students the chief ideals of personal growth and social
skills for life. But how did it all start and what can we learn from Grundtvig’s
ideas today?
Tuesday 7 April 2026 at 7 for 7:30pm
THE FLOURISHING OF SÁMI FILM – AUDIOVISUAL SOVEREIGNTY AND
EFFLORESCENCE
Emma Dussouchaud-Esclamadon is a PhD Scholar in Film Studies at the
University of Edinburgh, researching Indigenous languages and their
maintenance and revitalisation in film. During her 2024 visit at the Sámi
University of Applied Sciences in Guovdageaidnu, Sápmi, northern Norway,
she focused her investigation on Sámi films and what, intriguingly, she terms
the ‘audiovisual sovereignty and efflorescence’ of the Sámi film industry. This
talk will be an opportunity to learn about Sámi culture and its portrayal in the
imaginative world of Sámi cinematography today. (Followed by a short AGM).
Sunday 17 May 2026
CELEBRATING NORWAY DAY & 60 YEARS OF NSA!
Join our National Day celebrations on the special occasion of our Norwegian
Scottish Association 60th anniversary – details to follow