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Archiver > NORWAY > 2002-12 > 1038865724


From: "Joe Aasland" <>
Subject: Re: Norwegian Christmas Cookies
Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 14:54:28 -0700
References: <3.0.3.32.20021202151017.00dedea8@pop.dialmaine.com>


<< At our local SON meeting a discussion was started as to why do Norwegians
need to make 7 or 12 different kinds of cookies. I tried the Internet but
all I could find out is that is that the tradition came from medieval times.
Can anybody give me some info on the origins of the tradition. >>

This goes back much further than the medieval times. Or at least the basis
of it does. It has to do with the fact that 3 is a "magic number." This
has been known for a very long time and there is the old saying that "things
happen in 3's." My daughter found this out the hard way. When she was in
high school she played field hockey in the spring and was struck in the
mouth. She lost her two front teeth and some bone. In July she was on one
of the mid-way rides at the Stampede and was violently thrown forward
breaking her nose - laying it flat on her cheek. As we were leaving the
same operating room at emergency that she visited when she broke her teeth,
she said with some apprehension, "Dad, you always say that things happen in
3's." Well, dad was right. The plastic surgeon didn't get her nose back on
straight so she had to have it re-broken and re-set - number 3. A close
look at life, literature, and religion will show you that this "magic" usage
of 3 is very apparent.

Because we have 10 digits on our hands, our number system is base 10. Since
3 doesn't divide evenly into 10, we also have the duodecimal system that
counts to 12 in order to accommodate 3. In both English and Norwegian we
count uniquely to 12, then the uniqueness is gone - thirteen, fourteen, etc.
This probably why 13, the first number outside this magic ring, is
considered unlucky. It is also said that 7 is a lucky number. Seven is
within the circle of 12 so it has to be good. But we give it extra value
because it has a position similar to 13 in a smaller circle of 6. This
value is the opposite of 13 - lucky. Again we have the "magic" usage of 7
and 12 in life, literature, religion, and baking.

mvh,

Joe in Calgary

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