From the department of strange yet heart-warming

[tree_and_leaf]

Edinburgh penguin receives Norwegian knighthood.

Comments

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

The admission that this is not the original Nils Olav recruited to the regiment in 1972 seems to dampen the story somewhat.

[tree_and_leaf]

True. Possibly 'Nils Olaf' is itself a title rather than a name?

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely story, though I'm a bit surprised that the Norwegians couldn't find a penguin slightly closer to home. Perhaps (like all right-thinking people) they just like Scotland?

[zoepaleologa.livejournal.com]

I'm totally fangirling Nils Olav. The photo of him inspecting the troops is lovely.

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

They have/had a close relationship with the north-east of England as well. King Olav V of Norway opened Newcastle Civic Centre in the late 1960s, perhaps to honour his remote predecessor as king of Norway, the last king of Northumbria, Erik Bloodaxe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Bloodaxe), though Newcastle would have been in the territory of the Anglo-Saxon earl Osulf.

[tree_and_leaf]

though I'm a bit surprised that the Norwegians couldn't find a penguin slightly closer to home. Perhaps (like all right-thinking people) they just like Scotland?

I wondered if it was something to do with the war; the Christmas tree on the Mound is a gift from Norway as thanks for Scottish assistance in WWII. But possibly the regimental chiefs just fancied an excuse for a holiday in Edinburgh (and who could blame them?)

[tree_and_leaf]

Brilliant, ins't it? I haven't been to Edinburgh Zoo since I was a kid, but I'm wondering about going and saying hello to Sir Nils when I'm at home...

[tree_and_leaf]

Actually, I've just found the story on the Norwegian embassy site, and it seems to have been the bright idea of a Lt in the Royal Guard who were there for the Tattoo.

http://www.norway.org.uk/norwayuk/news/sir-nilsolav.htm

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I think it's a fairly ordinary Norwegian double-barrelled forename; though it threatens to become a title if there is a third Nils-Olav.