GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

n IN AD872, Viking king Harald Fairhair wins the Battle of Hafrsfjord and unites Norway. His exploits are brought to life by virtual reality in Stavanger’s Viking Museum. n FAST-FORWARD TO 1828: dramatist Henrik Ibsen is born in Telemark. Fifteen years later, the romantic composer Edvard Grieg is born in Bergen. n IN 1905, having effectively been part of first Denmark and then Sweden, Norway becomes a properly independent country. The EU wants them to join the club. But in both 1972 and 1994, the Norwegians vote ‘nei’. n IN 1981 Norway’s footballers beat England 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier. ‘Your boys took a hell of a beating’, says commentator Bjørge Lillelien. n IN 2017 Norway is named the happiest country in the world by a United Nations agency report.