Actually, it's more of an excuse to publish a photo I snapped a while back and rather like. It's of a statue of the legendary naval officer Tordenskjold (also spelled Tordenskiold, in english "Thundershield"), and there's an interesting idiom related to this guy (see below the photo):
I quite like the phrase Tordenskiolds soldater (the soldiers of Tordenskiold), meaning that it is the same people you see everywhere: in the media and as boardmembers of companies, associations etc.
The phrase comes from Tordenskiold's siege of Karlsten-Marstrand, when Tordenskiold invited the commander of the fortress to inspect his troops which were lined up in the city streets below the fortress. The commander went through all the streets in town and everywhere he saw soldiers lined up. He realised that he did not have a chance against Tordenskiold, so he decided to surrender under the condition that all his troops were allowed to leave the fortress unharmed. In reality, as soon as the Swedish commander had inspected them, Tordenskiold's soldiers ran around the corner and lined up in another street where the commander then inspected the same troop for the second or third time (I've heared several different versions of this story, but all relate how Tordenskiold tricked the Swedes by making them believe his troop was much bigger than what was the case).
He sounds like a clever man. It's a shame he didn't wear a pointier hat -- it might have kept birds from roosting on him.
(The only caption I can think of comes from an old joke and is heard from the bird's perspective: "Well doctor, it started as a small bump on my butt.")
Posted by: delmer | December 01, 2009 at 05:54 PM
Well, lucky at least that the top of his hat isn't broad enough to build a nest on;-) Seagulls are constantly trying to build nests on the roof of our family house, perched as it is on a high hill overlooking the sea in two directions (not that it is very posh, but the view is spectacular).
You've asked me before about the naval history of Stavern, after I posted a photo og the gates from the naval camp to the sea, and I've got so many photos I should've uploaded - but work gets in the way. Maybe next year I'll make my own calendar of Stavern in different seasons. I've got quite a few photos from town on Flickr, not so many related to naval history though recently I've been trying to get a decent shot of a tallship currently anchored up here (it's a Russian replica, but still...) http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristinelowe/sets/
Posted by: Kristine | December 01, 2009 at 11:11 PM