Riksmålsforbundet (; official translation: "The Riksmaal Society - The Society for the Preservation of Traditional Standard Norwegian") is the main organisation for

Riksmål (, also , ) is a written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish wri ...

, an unofficial variety of the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

, based on the official

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is the preferred written standard of Norwegian for 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. Unlike, for instance, the Italian language, there ...

standard as it was before 1938 (see

Norwegian language conflict The Norwegian language conflict ( no, målstriden, da, sprogstriden) is an ongoing controversy in Norwegian culture and politics related to the written versions of Norwegian. From 1536/1537 until 1814, Danish was the standard written language o ...

). The society was founded by subsequent Nobel laureate

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson ( , ; 8 December 1832 – 26 April 1910) was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguishe ...

on April 7, 1907.

History

Although ''Riksmålsforbundet'' was founded in 1907 by poet

, efforts to organize in support of riksmål date back to 1899. It served as opposition to efforts by Norwegians who were organized to promote

landsmål Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-Nor ...

as the single language for the country. Riksmålsforbundet works to preserve and promote

riksmål (, also , ) is a written Norwegian language form or spelling standard, meaning the ''National Language'', closely related and now almost identical to the dominant form of Bokmål, known as . Both Bokmål and Riksmål evolved from the Danish wri ...

, a conservative form of written Norwegian, based on the Danish-Norwegian written language tradition. It consistently opposed the government samnorsk (roughly translated "collective Norwegian" or "together Norwegian"; the ''sam-'' prefix is related to English ''same'') policy, a now-abandoned project to merge the two main standards of Norwegian (

and

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-N ...

) into one standard that would be used everywhere. Prominent members of the riksmål movement included the author

Jens Bjørneboe Jens Ingvald Bjørneboe (9 October 1920 – 9 May 1976) was a Norwegian writer whose work spanned a number of literary formats. He was also a painter and a Waldorf school teacher. Bjørneboe was a harsh and eloquent critic of Norwegian society a ...

, his cousin

André Bjerke Jarl André Bjerke (30 January 1918 – 10 January 1985) was a Norwegian writer and poet. He wrote a wide range of material: poems (both for children and adults), mystery novels (four of them under the pseudonym Bernhard Borge), essays, and arti ...

, Terje Stigen,

Carl Keilhau Carl Keilhau (25 July 1919 – 20 December 1957) was a Norwegian author, poet and journalist. Biography Carl Keilhau was born at Oslo, Norway. He was the son of librarian Wollert Keilhau and Anna Mathilde Østvold. He attended Fagerborg ...

Agnar Mykle Agnar Mykle (8 August 1915 – 15 January 1994) was a Norwegian author. He became one of the most controversial figures in Norwegian literature in the 20th century. Early life Born in Norway's third largest city, Trondheim, Mykle was often ...

Arnulf Øverland Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland (27 April 1889 – 25 March 1968) was a Norwegian poet and artist. He is principally known for his poetry which served to inspire the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway during Wor ...

, Sigurd Hoel,

Johan Bernhard Hjort Johan Bernhard Hjort (25 February 1895 – 24 February 1969) was a Norwegian supreme court lawyer. Having joined the law firm of Harald Nørregaard in 1932, he continued the firm after World War II as Advokatfirmaet Hjort, which today is one o ...

Knut Wigert Knut Kirsebom Wigert (3 October 1916 – 14 June 2006) was a Norwegian actor, known for his many Ibsen roles and the establishment of an Ibsen museum in Oslo. Personal life Knut Hansen was born in Skien as a son of Major Sigvald Hansen (188 ...

, Margrete Aamot Øverland, Sofie Helene Wigert and

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Burz ...

.«Greven» angrer ingenting
/ref> Among other spokespersons for the riksmål cause are authors such as

Claes Gill Claes Gill (13 October 1910 - 11 June 1973) was a Norwegian writer, poet and actor. Born in Odda, but spent his childhood years in Bergen, before moving to Oslo permanently. His most famous works were the poetry book ''Fragment av et magisk liv'' ...

, Nils Kjær,

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, Point of view ...

, Gabriel Scott and Henrik Ibsen. In recent years a series of language reforms, particularly those of 1981 and 2005, have shown that many of the Riksmålsforbundet goals have been achieved. The Samnorsk policy has been officially abandoned. Although not necessarily used by most people, most Riksmål spellings are now considered correct in Bokmål too, after being banned from schools and the government for several decades as a consequence of the Samnorsk policy. The reform of 2005 was not purely a partial reversal of previous reforms; some new spellings were introduced or excluded too, based on actual use. In addition, there is now a political majority in favor of discontinuing mandatory speech policy in Norway. Riksmålsforbundet publishes the magazine ''

Ordet ''Ordet'' (, meaning " The Word" and originally released as ''The Word'' in English), is a 1955 Danish drama film, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is based on a play by Kaj Munk, a Danish Lutheran priest, first performed in 1932. The film w ...

'' (“The Word”).

Leaders

* 1907–1910

* 1910–1911

Ragna Nielsen Ragna Vilhelmine Nielsen (née Ullmann) (17 July 1845 – 29 September 1924) was a Norwegian pedagogue, school headmistress, publicist, organizer, politician and feminist. Personal life Ragna Nielsen was born in Christiania (now Oslo) to Jø ...

* 1911–1916

Alfred Eriksen Alfred Eriksen (nicknamed "Karlsøypresten", 30 August 1864 – 4 May 1934) was a Norwegian priest, politician, newspaper editor and non-fiction writer. Personal life He was born as Alfred Eriksen in Christiania as the son of the watchm ...

* 1916–1918 I. M. Platou * 1918–1919 Jens Jørgen Mørland * 1919–1929 Gerhard Holm * 1929–1936 Ragnar Ullmann * 1936–1937 Alf Harbitz * 1939–1945 Harald Bakke * 1945–1947 Jonas Hestnes * 1947–1956

* 1956–1959 Sigurd Hoel * 1959–1961 Ernst Sørensen * 1961–1969

* 1969–1974 Aksel Lydersen * 1974–1983

* 1983–1988 Jan Willoch * 1988–1990 Erling Granholt * 1990– Trond Vernegg

External links

Riksmålsforbundet website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riksmal Society Language organisations of Norway