MR. PRESIDENT, I STAND CORRECTED

So, I'm watching A Closer Look and Seth Meyers was riffing on all the epic weirdness of this whole Nobel Prize bidness and then when he got to the part about who bestows the Nobel Prizes I thought: "...Ha, Ha!  and now he's going to say: '...and not only that, the f**king Nobel Prize is awarded by Sweden!"  HOLD FOR LAUGHTER.  But then he didn't, because I guess it's bestowed by Norway.  I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  You see, a couple of years ago I was writing about awards and I went on at some length about the Nobel Prize and Sweden.  And when Seth was talking about Norway, I thought: "Oh jeez!  Was I wrong about who gives the Nobel?" and I went running to my keyboard to print a retraction/correction.  But then I looked it up and found with a sigh of relief that I was mostly correct:

I do, as I think most people do (I could be totally wrong), tend to conflate the countries that comprise Scandinavia.  And I'm not exactly sure just which countries are part of it.  But let's find out.  First, however, let's do a fun little test.  I will itemize what I think those countries are and some bullet-points of their culture.  Here goes...

SWEDEN
Ikea
Volvo
Saab
Swedish meatballs
Lingonberries (sp.?)
Midsommar
May poles
fjords
Strindberg
Alfred Nobel
ABBA
Skaarsgaard acting family
Ingmar Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Hedy Lamarr?
Greta Garbo
Weird grammatical  marks
Massage by large women with blonde braids

NORWAY
Vikings
FJORDS
Ibsen
Cheese
Norwegian Airlines
Thor from Ghosts*
Hedy Lamarr?
Weird grammatical marks

DENMARK
Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid statue
Butter cookies
The word "DAANSK"
Weird grammatical marks
Copenhagen
Tivoli Gardens
REPTILICUS

This song from Reptilicus:

Great Dane dogs
Source of jokes for Thor from Ghosts
Eddie Redmayne in drag as The Danish Girl, which puts me in mind of his Actnesia during Jupiter Ascending (which I actually saw at the movies, let's take a look!):

Hilarious!
So, just what are those countries that comprise Scandinavia?

So I basically got the core countries right.  But how about...

FINLAND
I have no idea; but I have to assume strange grammatical marks
Oh, and I guess they're the "Happiest Country on Earth"!

Now, as for my other entries above...I'm not gonna check my work.  You can if you feel so inclined.  Thank you and sa lange (strange grammatical marks missing).

*Thor from Ghosts is played by the rather breathtaking (and absolutely charming and funny) actor, Devan Chandler Long(!).  May I suggest to the writing staff of Ghosts that we explore Thor's backstory a little more deeply(!)?  Particularly regarding his infrequent references to those "special nights" on the All-Male Viking ships?  In other words...get that sexy mutha outta his costume already!  He needs a Heated Rivalry with another ghost...maybe a hunky Danish ghost!

Maybe the hunky Danish ghost could be played by whoever this is with Mr. Long...

Works for me!
Ciao!

CFR   1/20/26

Oh, we need to see all of that  in motion, methinks...

I couldn't get the GIF to animate, so here's a link to the scene...which is even gayer than it looks!
www.reddit.com/r/GhostsCBS/comments/1n4exsd/devan_chandler_long_thor_had_a_much_better/

​Slutt (that's Norwegian for "end"(!)

ADDENDUM:
Here is a link to my blog about awards and/or Sweden if you're interested:
www.christopherfreidy.com/blog/awards-season

FURTHER ADDENDUM:
Here is an interview with Mr. Long showcasing his other charms...