– The documents are unique in Norwegian history
Have been fighting for seven years
A resounding no from the University of Copenhagen puts a stop to a future exhibition at the National Library worth tens of millions of kroner. National Librarian Aslak Sira Myhre measures Danish turns.
Aslak Sira Myhre and the National Library plan to make an exhibition of, among other things, Norwegian medieval documents. The exhibition has a price tag of tens of millions, but it will still be a piece of work to get to the finish line.
– I have a hope that the Danes will turn around, Myhre says to Khrono.
For seven years, the national librarian has struggled to get long-term loans from a bunch of medieval documents from Denmark. The documents are some of the things that are missing before the work on the new exhibition can really start.
Essential for Norwegian history
Last autumn, Myhre succeeded in part when the Royal Library in Copenhagen finally agreed to lend five of the documents.
But there are still seven documents left, among others Sætargjerdenwhich in short are agreements on the division of power between the state and the church in Norway towards the end of the 13th century.
The agreement marks the end of a more than 100-year-long dispute, and according to Aslak Sira Myhre, the document has no relevance for Denmark.
– Sættarden is a good example of a document which is obviously important for understanding Norwegian history, and which we also need to be able to convey Norwegian history, says Myhre to Khrono.
The five documents that Myhre and the National Library borrowed last autumn are owned by the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
The seven remaining documents that Myhre wishes to borrow belong to the Arnamagnæan Collection, which is owned by the University of Copenhagen.
Has nothing like it
The reason why the documents are in Denmark is that Norway and Iceland were part of the Danish state for 400 years.
On behalf of the Danish king, Danish and Icelandic collectors collected medieval documents from all three countries, and stored them in Denmark, where they have been ever since.
We processed the request thoroughly. In the end, we concluded that we could lend the documents for exhibition use, but only for three to five months
Anne Mette Hansen, curator of the Arnamagnæan Collection
– We have already received five documents from Denmark. In addition, both the National Library and the National Archives have large collections of historical documents. But we have nothing similar to the seven documents that we want to get from Denmark. They will be unique in Norwegian history, says Myhre.
The National Librarian had to work for seven years to borrow the five documents from the Royal Library, but the University of Copenhagen continues to say so when it comes to the Arnamagnæan Collection.
rune bombs
Denmark rarely gives drum back to the same
Three to five months
Khrono has contacted the University of Copenhagen with questions about why they do not want to borrow from the seven current documents.
Curator of the Arnamagnæan Collection, Anne Mette Hansen, tells at the Arnamagnæan Commission in 2021 received a request from the Royal Ministry of Culture in Denmark which was about long-term lending or deposit of a total of eight Icelandic and Norwegian medieval documents.
The Ministry of Culture in Denmark had received a request from the National Library of Norway and Aslak Sira Myhre.
– We processed the request thoroughly. In the end, we concluded that we could lend the documents for exhibition use, but only for three to five months, says Anne Mette Hansen to Khrono.
– Why?
– This is for the sake of preserving the documents. Scientific studies have shown that even very low light effects have a negative effect on the documents. In our opinion, a permanent exhibition for the public is not compatible with having to preserve the documents for posterity as a cultural world heritage, Hansen answers, who points out that the practice is in line with international recommendations.
– It is important that the collection remains intact
Hansen also adds that it is not required to deposit manuscripts from the Arnamagnæan Collection to other institutions and collections.
– The collection was bequeathed to the University of Copenhagen in 1730, and has since then formed a significant part of a larger collection of materials used in research, education and dissemination within Norse philology and Nordic cultural heritage, says Hansen.
– That is precisely why it is so important that the collection remains intact and for researchers and students in Copenhagen, she adds, before making it available that if it is a short-term loan that extends over a period of between three and five months, then ask themselves differently.
– We are positive about that. But a long-term loan or deposit will not be relevant, says Hansen.
Short-term loans not applicable
Aslak Sira Myhre repeats that he has heard the explanation from Hansen and the University of Copenhagen before. Well, he’s planning a trip to Denmark to meet them face to face.
– The plan is to travel down during the spring. The Danes have clearly stated what they think, but I still want them to want to establish a collaboration rather than enter into a long-running dispute about this, says Myhre.
– Can it become relevant to short-term borrow the current documents, since it is apparently not possible to get them deposited?
– It will not help us anything. The reason why we want this document is the plans for the permanent exhibition of Norwegian medieval documents. Then it does not help to borrow these documents for three months, says national librarian Aslakra Myhre.
Denmark