The Cross Section

By Kourtney Juhl Minnesota State University, Mankato After finally gaining independence in 1905,[1] Norway had been a nation intent on building a national identity and relishing their freedom. The Norwegian Kingdom had successfully lived in peace, maintained neutrality through World War I, and hoped to remain neutral from the great conflict that was World War II (WWII). To the Norwegians’ utter shock, those hopes came to a shattering end during the early hours of April 9, 1940, when German forces…

By Jennifer Lien University of Wisconsin–Madison The immigration of the Viking pioneers to the North Atlantic islands was a period of expansive exploration, settlement, and colonization. Primary sources such as the King’s Mirror and Erik the Red’s Saga inform us about the lifestyles and the journeys of the Norse into the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean that led to the discovery of habitable islands such as the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. The Norse settlement at Greenland in…

By Ellen Robison University of Wisconsin–Madison Author and scholar Reza Aslan argues that “literature offers not just a window into the culture of diverse regions, but also the society, the politics; it’s the only place where we can keep track of ideas.”[1] Though Aslan lives and writes in the 21st century, this understanding of literature as reflective of society is by no means modern itself; it has long been understood that authors’ writing is situated by their social identities—their identifications…