A Scandinavian Timeline

c.AD 400–800	Creation of the Gotland picture-stones, Sweden.
c.550–790	The era of Swedish culture known as the ‘Vendel Period’.
793	The attack on Lindisfarne, on England’s north-east coast, signals the start of the Viking Age.
813	The Carolingian Chronicles mention a punitive Danish raid on Norwegian Vestfold.
839	The Annals of St-Bertin contain the first written reference to Swedish Vikings known as ‘Rus’.
865	The largely Danish ‘Great Heathen Army’, as the Anglo-Saxons describe it, invades England, beginning 120 years of conquest.
870–930	Settlers from Western Norway arrive in Iceland.
c.880	Ottar, a trader from the north of Norway, visits Wessex and provides King Alfred's courtiers with a clear account of his own way of life, and of the distribution of power in Scandinavia between Danes, Swedes and Norwegians.
921	Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan witnesses a funeral ceremony on the banks of the Volga enacted by Swedish Rus travellers and leaves a memorable description.
930	The Icelandic assembly, the Alþingi (Althing), is established. There is no king; instead, a code of law known as Ulfljot's Law is adopted as the instrument of rule.
c.970	The Danes adopt Christianity, and Harald Bluetooth raises the Jelling Stone, in south-east Jutland, to mark the religious conversion.
986	Erik the Red leads the settlement of Greenland from Iceland. Two colonies are established.
999/1000	The Icelanders adopt Christianity.
c.1000–1020	Attempts made from Greenland to establish settlements in North America fail when they come under attack from Native Americans. The two Vinland Sagas give lightly fictionalized accounts of the venture.
1013	The Danish king Sven Forkbeard conquers England and establishes the Jelling dynasty. He dies a few weeks into his reign and is succeeded by his son, Cnut (Canute).
1018–1035	The North Sea empire of King Cnut I embraces England, Denmark and Norway; but the Jelling dynasty in England comes to an end with his death.
c.1024	Olav Haraldsson brings Christianity to Norway.
c.1100	After long opposition, the Swedes finally adopt Christianity.
1103/4	The first archbishopric in Scandinavia is established, at Lund, in Skåne, at that time part of Denmark.
1122-1132	The Icelandic priest Ari the Wise writes Íslendingabók, a history of the settlement of Iceland from 870.
c.1208–1218	Saxo Grammaticus compiles his Gesta Danorum, a history of the Danes.
Before 1241	The Icelandic chieftain, poet and historian Snorri Sturluson writes Heimskringla, chronicling the reigns of Norse kings.
1262–3	Dynastic feuding brings the Icelandic Commonwealth to an end and it becomes part of Norway.
1349	The Black Death reaches Scandinavia. As much as a third of the population perishes from its ravages in the following decades.
1397	Beginning of the Kalmar Union, in which Denmark, Sweden and Norway are united under one crown. Denmark remains the dominant power for the next 120 years.
1420s	Danish King Erik VII builds the first castle at Elsinore, which will become the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
c.1500	Final failure of the Greenland settlements.
1517	Martin Luther’s publicizing of his ‘Ninety-Five Theses’ heralds the beginning of the Reformation in Europe.
1520	Danish King Christian II invades Sweden to uphold the Kalmar Union in the face of popular opposition led by Sten Sture the Younger. More than eighty leading Swedish opponents, including some bishops, are executed for ‘heresy’ during a few days in November: the so-called ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’.
1523	Christian II is deposed, to be succeeded by his uncle, the pro-Lutheran Frederik I. Swedish independence from Denmark, under Gustav I Vasa, means the effective end of the Kalmar Union.
1536	The Danish Church passes into state control, adopting a Lutheran direction. The changes to doctrine and practice are applied also in Norway, which is downgraded to provincial status, beginning centuries of subservience to its Scandinavian neighbours.
1541	The ‘Gustav Vasa Bible’, translated into Swedish, appears.
1550	Christian III’s Bible, translated into Danish, is published.
1563–70	The Northern Seven Years’ War, waged between Denmark-Norway and Sweden, brings Swedish territorial expansion.
1611	Sweden’s ‘Great Power Era’ begins – the period of the Swedish Empire, which lasts until 1718, beginning with the reign of Gustavus Adolphus (1611–32).
1611 (contd.)	Denmark-Norway and Sweden fight the Kalmar War (until 1613).
1625	Denmark enters the conflagration of Europe’s Thirty Years’ War.
1627	In the so-called ‘Turkish Raid’, Barbary pirates make an attack on Iceland.
1628	The Swedish warship Vasa sinks on her maiden voyage.
1630	Sweden enters the Thirty Years’ War.
1644–54	Queen Kristina reigns in Sweden, until she abdicates and converts to Roman Catholicism.
1658	Karl X Gustav leads a Swedish army across the frozen Belts to Själland. With the Peace of Roskilde, Sweden gains Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and Bohuslän from Denmark-Norway, establishing the boundaries of modern Sweden.
1660	Denmark adopts an absolute monarchy.
1679	Olof Rudbeck begins publication of his magnum opus Atlantica, which situates the lost civilization of Atlantis in Sweden.
1682	In Sweden there is the effective adoption of absolute monarchy.
1700–21	In the Great Northern War, an alliance of states led by Russia (and often including Denmark-Norway) fights the Swedish Empire under Charles XII. Swedish defeat signals the end of empire and absolute monarchy.
1719–72	The Instrument of Government inaugurates Sweden’s ‘Age of Liberty’: power shifts from the monarchy to the Riksdag of the Estates and the competing ‘Hat’ and ‘Cap’ political groupings.
1770	The royal physician, effective regent and lover of the queen Dr Johann Heinrich Struensee, attempts to impose Enlightenment ideas in Denmark. He introduces freedom of speech – a first in Europe.
	The Danish navy undertakes its largest-ever action: the bombardment of Algiers, as part of an effort to combat North African piracy.
1772	In Denmark, Struensee is executed.
	In Sweden, King Gustav III (r.1771–92) restores monarchical authority in a royal coup.
1807	Fearing that Napoleon might appropriate the Danish fleet, British naval warships bombard Copenhagen and confiscate the Danish navy.
	A British blockade of Norway begins, lasting seven years and bringing famine in the south and east.
1809	Jørgen Jørgensen declares Iceland (briefly) independent from Denmark.
	Defeat in the Finnish War (1808–9) forces Sweden to cede Finland to Russia and produces a revolution: Sweden’s King Gustav IV Adolf abdicates, and a new Instrument of Government decisively restores power to the Riksdag.
1814	By the terms of the Treaty of Kiel, Sweden acquires a reluctant Norway from Denmark as compensation for the loss of Finland to Russia. Denmark retains Iceland as a dependency.
	Norwegian defeat at the Battle of Kjølberg Bridge confirms Swedish control; but Norway is granted its own constitution and national assembly.
	The enduring era of Swedish neutrality and avoidance of international pacts and alliances begins.
1818	The former French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte becomes King Karl Johan (Charles XIV) of Sweden-Norway, establishing the extant Bernadotte dynasty on the Swedish throne.
1837	Hans Christian Andersen publishes the first volume of his Fairy Tales, including ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’.
1843	Søren Kierkegaard’s Either/Or and Fear and Trembling are published, both under pseudonyms.
1844	Kierkegaard publishes The Concept of Anxiety.
1848–63	The Danish rule of the archaeologically inclined King Frederik VII.
1848–51	Denmark (and Sweden) fight with Prussia over entitlement to the ethnically and linguistically mixed Jutland duchies of Slesvig-Holsten (Schleswig-Holstein) and Saxe-Lauenburg.
1849	A new constitution signals the end of absolute monarchy in Denmark.
1864	In the Second Slesvig-Holsten War, Prussian and Austrian forces defeat the Danes at the Battle of Dybbøl, and acquire sovereignty over the Jutland provinces, drastically reducing Denmark’s size and extent. North Schleswig is eventually returned to Denmark following a plebiscite in 1920.
1865	Henrik Ibsen writes the verse-play Brand.
1867	Ibsen writes Peer Gynt, another verse-play.
1868	Edvard Grieg composes his Piano Concerto in A Minor.
1876	Denmark’s Social Democratic Party is founded.
	The first organized football club in Scandinavia is founded, as part of the Kjøbenhavn Boldklub.
	Ibsen writes A Doll’s House.
	The first performance of a version of Peer Gynt adapted for the stage takes place at the Christiania Theatre, Oslo. The incidental music by Edvard Grieg includes ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ and ‘Morning Mood’.
1880–1900	These two decades witness the most intense period of Scandinavian emigration to the United States.
1887	Norway’s Labour Party is founded.
	August Strindberg writes The Father.
1888	Strindberg writes Miss Julie.
1889	Sweden’s Social Democratic Party is founded.
1890	Knut Hamsun’s influential novel Hunger is published.
1891	Anna Månsdotter is executed in Sweden for the murder of her daughter-in-law; her co-accused was her son and lover. By 1910, all of Scandinavia has abandoned the death penalty (briefly revived in Norway and Denmark for Nazi collaborators).
1894	Edvard Munch paints Scream.
1897	The Swede Salomon August Andrée mounts an ill-fated attempt to fly a hydrogen balloon to the North Pole. His remains, and those of his companions, are discovered thirty-three years later.
1898	Strindberg’s quasi-autobiographical prose work Inferno is published.
1901	Dagny Juel, Norwegian writer, bohemian and muse to Munch (and others), is murdered in Tblisi, Georgia.
	Strindberg writes A Dreamplay, which is not performed until 1907.
	The first Nobel Prizes are awarded, the legacy of the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel (1833–96).
1903	Sigurd Ibsen, son of Henrik, is appointed Norway’s prime minister within the Swedish-Norwegian union.
1905	Norway, having already largely achieved autonomy in internal affairs, declares independence from Sweden. A referendum is overwhelmingly in favour of restoring the Norwegian monarchy. A Danish prince takes the throne as Håkon VII, the first Norwegian king in more than 500 years.
1911	Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
1913	Norwegian women win the right to vote. Denmark follows suit in 1915.
1914–18	The Scandinavian countries remain neutral during the First World War, but trade and communications are affected by the British naval blockade of Germany and by German sea mines. Germany’s telegrams to the Americas are routed through neutral Sweden (but are not secure: Britain is able to read them). Norway, especially, loses shipping when Germany institutes unrestricted submarine warfare. In 1916, the war’s largest sea battle, between the British and German navies, takes place in waters off the coast of Jutland.
1917	The Swede Viktor Sjöström, Ingmar Bergman's first cinematic idol, directs and stars in a film version of Ibsen’s Terje Vigen.
1921	Women in Sweden win the franchise.
1922	The Nobel Prize for Physics is awarded to the Dane Niels Bohr.
	First performance, in Copenhagen, of Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 5.
1925	The Norwegian capital, known as Kristiania since 1624, reverts to its former name of Oslo.
1929	The first Social Democratic government takes power in Denmark.
1932	Sweden experiences its first Social Democratic government; it is effectively in office for the next forty-four years.
	In the Hollywood film Grand Hotel, its star, Swedish screen goddess Greta Garbo, utters her memorable line: ‘I want to be alone.’
1935	Norway has its first Labour Party government.
1940	Forces of Nazi Germany invade both Norway and Denmark (9 April), beginning occupations of both countries. Norwegian guns manage to sink the German warship Blücher in the Oslo fjord, and Britain and its Allies attempt an intervention at Narvik, but to no avail. Norway’s king and government have time to escape, but occupation allows the rise of Vidkun Quisling and his collaborationist National Unity party.
	Sweden remains formally neutral during the war, at first geopolitically locked into trade with the Axis powers, but later providing a refuge for Danish Jews.
	British forces take control in Iceland.
1941	Norwegian union leaders Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickström are executed after strikes and civil disobedience. German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven declares a state of emergency.
1942	Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman stars opposite Humphrey Bogart in the Hollywood wartime classic Casablanca. She later stars in the Hitchcock films Spellbound (1945) and Notorious (1946).
1943	Quisling becomes Norway’s ‘Minister-President’, under Terboven.
	The Danish government resigns, and Germany takes direct control of the country. The vast majority of Denmark’s Jews escape transportation to Nazi camps by finding exile in Sweden, aided by the Danish populace.
1944	The Republic of Iceland is established, independent of Denmark.
	The efforts of Swede Raoul Wallenberg save the lives of around 120,000 Hungarian Jews, mainly by issuing them with Swedish passports.
1945	The Swedish ‘White Buses’ manage to extricate Danish, Norwegian and some European inmates from German concentration camps.
	Liberation from Nazi occupation for Denmark and Norway. Quisling and other leading Scandinavian Nazis and collaborators are executed.
1949	As the Cold War blocs take shape, Denmark and Norway join NATO. Sweden remains neutral.
1951	In Sweden, the first IKEA furniture catalogue is issued.
1957	Ingmar Bergman’s films The Seventh Seal, starring Max von Sydow, and Wild Strawberries, starring Victor Sjöström and Bibi Andersson, are released.
1958	Sweden reach the World Cup Final, losing 5–2 to Brazil.
1959	The Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson defeats Floyd Patterson to become World Heavyweight Champion.
1959	The European Free Trade Area (EFTA) Treaty is signed in Stockholm.
1961	Dag Hammarskjöld, the Swedish Secretary-General of the United Nations, dies in a mysterious plane crash over Africa during the crisis surrounding Congo’s independence.
1964	Jan Johansson releases the Jazz på Svenska LP, which gives birth to a uniquely Scandinavian form of jazz.
1966	Norway starts drilling for North Sea oil. The first strike is in 1969.
	Ingmar Bergman’s film Persona is released, starring the Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.
1967	The Dane Henning Carlsen’s film of Hunger is released. Its star Per Oscarsson wins Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
1969	Denmark legalizes all types of pornography but with a restriction on selling to minors. A decade later further restrictions are introduced concerning child pornography.
1971	Jan Troell’s film Utvandrarna (The Emigrants) appears, based on Vilhelm Moberg’s Utvandrarna quartet of novels. Its stars include Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann.
1972	Norwegian voters reject membership of Europe’s Common Market; but Danish voters choose to join.
1974	Abba’s song ‘Waterloo’ wins the Eurovision Song Contest, launching a durable international pop stardom for the four-member band.
1976	Iceland obtains an internationally recognized exclusive fishing zone in its territorial waters, and the intermittent Cod Wars with British trawlers and naval vessels come to an end.
	Swedish tennis player Björn Borg defeats his rival Ilie Nastase to win the first of five consecutive Men’s Singles titles at Wimbledon.
1978	Ingmar Bergman’s film Autumn Sonata is released, featuring Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman.
	In Paris, the Norwegian entry ‘Mil etter Mil’ (‘Mile after Mile’) sung by Jahn Teigen becomes the most famous Eurovision song to earn nul points during the judging – though it is by no means the first or the last to do so in Eurovision history.
1981	Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Norway’s first female prime minister. In her second Cabinet (1986–9) eight of her eighteen ministers are women, the highest proportion of women in any Cabinet in the world to that point.
	Norway’s national football team beats England 2–1. Norwegian commentator Bjørge Lillelien screams: ‘Maggie Thatcher… Your boys took a hell of a beating.’
1982	Ingmar Bergman’s epic family drama Fanny and Alexander is released.
1983	The Wild Market Place (Det vilda Torget), Tomas Tranströmer's ninth book of poetry, is published.
1986	Sweden’s former prime minister, Olof Palme, is assassinated in Stockholm.
1990	The Norwegian Oil Fund is established.
1991	Faceless Killers, the first crime novel by Swede Henning Mankell to feature Detective Inspector Kurt Wallander, is published.
1992	Denmark's football team beats Germany 2–0 in the final of the European Championship.
1993	There is an assassination attempt on William Nygaard, the Norwegian publisher of a translation of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses.
1994	Norway joins the European Economic Union and signs the Schengen Agreement, whereby member states allow travel without passports across their border. But Norwegian voters reject full membership of the European Union in a second referendum.
	Munch’s Scream is stolen from the National Gallery, Oslo. It is recovered two years later.
1995	Danish film directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg publish the ‘Dogme 95 Manifesto’ for filmmakers, advocating an emphasis on narrative, eschewal of special effects and other devices.
1998	In the Football World Cup, Norway beats Brazil 2–1.
1999	In a notorious incident at Malexander, Sweden, two police officers are murdered by a group of bank robbers, including the neo-Nazi prisoner-actor Tony Olsson.
2000	Formal separation between Church and state is introduced in Sweden.
2003	The Swedish foreign minister, Anna Lindh, is stabbed to death in a Stockholm shopping centre.
2005	The first of Swede Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy of crime novels, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is published, posthumously.
2007	The first series of the Danish police drama The Killing is aired, starring Sofie Gråbøl as Detective Inspector Sarah Lund.
2009	The first book of Karl Ove Knausgård’s multi-volume autobiographical novel My Struggle is published.
2011	In Norway, Anders Behring Breivik kills seventy-seven people in an attack on the ideals of multi-culturalism. Most are young people attending a Norwegian Labour Party summer camp. Breivik is sentenced to twenty-one years’ preventive detention.
2011	The Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.
2012	The Lutheran Church of Norway is formally separated from the state after 400 years. Operative from 2017.
	The first series of the Dano-Swedish television crime drama The Bridge is aired, starring Sofia Helin as Detective Saga Norén.
2016	Breivik wins a case against the Norwegian state for keeping him in solitary confinement for the first five years of his sentence.
	Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson wins the Open Championship at Royal Troon.