Norway has at least since 1814 existed as a separate entity
- kingdom of course; 1814-1905 we shared king with the Swedes (In 1536
the King of Denmark declared the Kingdom of Norway, founded in
872, included into Denmark); Denmark and Sweden since prehistory times.
Before the 9th century it is not known any inter-Norse kingdom or statehood.
Until 1814 Iceland was belonging to Norway, thereafter de facto to Denmark
as an own kingdom, until 1944 when it declared itself a republic - the only
Scandinavian country not being ruled by
a monarch.
> The Bornholmers feel very much
Danish, even though their dialect is related
> to Swedish.
I
was under the impression that the Nordic languages form a continuum on the
dialect level, and only the standard languages are really separate.
This is how you see it. I may agree very much with this statement.
Most native Danes, Norwegians and Swedes (and Swedish-speaking Finns)
understand each other, but not the Icelandics, even if all these languages
descend from a more or less common Norse language which until
Middle Ages (1350-1540) practically was identical to the present
Icelandic language which has changed very little during the last 1000
years!
Jan