Norwegian word of the day: Kristi Himmelfartsdag
It always falls 40 days after Easter, which also means that it's always on a Thursday. Like Easter, the date is decided based on the cycle of the moon, so the date varies each year.
The etymology behind the name of the holiday is interesting, as the word
Kristi
is actually a unique genitive form of the Norwegian word for Christ,
Kristus.
Speakers of German and most Slavic languages will know that the genitive case is used when talking about possession.
In English and in Norwegian, this is expressed by adding an -s to the end of the person or thing to who the object belongs to (e.g. the man's house or
mannens hus
) – So Kristi Himmelfartsdag should be written literally as Christ's journey to heaven day or
Kristus
Himmelfartsdag
.
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However, in Latin, the genitive form of Christus is Christi. In religious contexts, Norwegian has imported this form of the word as
Kristi.
Himmel
, the second bit of the word, is the Norwegian word for heaven, and
fart
means speed or motion. Finally,
dag
is the word for day.
The day is a red day, or
rød dag,
and has remained so even after Norway split the church from the state in 2017. Ascension Day, therefore, means a day of work and school for most people in Norway.
As the holiday always falls on a Thursday, Friday is an
inneklemt dag
, meaning it is squeezed between a public holiday and a weekend. This means many who have planned ahead will have also booked the Friday off to enjoy four days off.
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