CULTURE AND TRADITIONS
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The North Sea area is a region characterised by travelling cultural drivers and close commercial ties. The northern part of this region belonged to the Norse areas during the early Middle Ages and language as well as cultural traditions bear evidence of the close affinity between the British Isles and Western Norway in historic times. |
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Similarly, there were many trade links across the North Sea through the Middle Ages and up to more recent centuries between England, Scotland, Friesland, northern Germany, Jutland and Western Norway. The Hanseatic trade empire of the late Middle Ages, controlled from the towns of northern Germany, has in particular left many cultural imprints on the landscapes and towns on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. The folk art and folk music bear obvious evidence of the many cultural connections between the countries Norwegian rose painting and Swedish bonad painting (wall tapestries) spring from the same Renaissance sources and the folk songs and dances have many common traits, but also interesting regional differences. |
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| The great circle dances that still thrive on the Shetland Isles have their parallel on the Faeroe Islands, but in Western Norway and in the southern North Sea countries such traditions are more or less gone. However, the traditions of native costumes are still a vital part of present day society in all countries on the North Sea, and the Scottish kilt is without a doubt the most special tradition in that respect. The Scottish bagpipe and the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle are cultural traditions which have become national icons. |
