You gave me what?!?
Bokmål and nynorsk are the two main variants of Norwegian. Before I took a job there (on a dairy farm in a northern province) I learned bokmål, which is what most people in the south speak. However, nynorsk was spoken in my village and is only slightly different in most cases. Sort of like growing up in Mayfair in 1880 then moving to the East End. Or Jamaica. Confusing sometimes, but doable.

Anyway, one afternoon I was completely knacked after unloading a semi (articulated lorry?) full of strawberry plants. I told my boss I couldn't lift my arms over my head and was sacking out on the grass.

After a bit, Uldrik re-appeared with a big steaming platter of pancakes and urged me to eat them, saying they would give me strength. OK, fine. His wife Hjørdis had prepared them especially for me. They were an odd blackish colour and I asked what they were. "Bløtekage" (white cake) Hmm, ok. Not bad. Not chocolate, but not bad.

I did feel better but wanted to know what the hell was in those pancakes and asked again. "Bløtekage, bløtekage!" he said, tapping the inside of his elbow. He saw my bepuzzled face and walked over to one of the cows and slapped her on the neck, "BLØTE. KAGE!"

I almost barfed. He wasn't saying "bløtekage", white cake, he was saying "bludekage", blood cake! (the words really do sound identical) They had opened a vein on one of the cows, bled her then made a little Viking snack for me with the resultant blood.

I did feel much better, though.
(TDub Nunc id vides, nunc ne vides on, Fri 18 May 2007, 16:30, Reply)