Exhibition opening “Is it law?”

30 May 2024

On Wednesday 29 May, there was an exhibition opening at Narvik Museum for the exhibition “Is it law?”. The exhibition is made on the occasion of the National Law Anniversary 2024.

This year we celebrate the 750th anniversary of Magnus Lagabøte’s National Law. Together with a professor and historian from Nord University and UiT The Arctic University of Norway, we have worked to develop Lagabøte exhibitions at several of our museums.

In 1274, King Magnus VI Håkonsson gathered the entire Norwegian kingdom under one law. The drafting of the National Act is considered to be groundbreaking political and legal work. After Magnus died, he was nicknamed Lagabøte – the law improver.

Ensemble Oscar set the mood with great music, including the Magnus Hymn from the Orkney Islands, a hymn to Magnus the Holy. The two-part hymn is found in a manuscript from around 1280, i.e. only six years after the Landslov was passed. The hymn is also the oldest example of polyphony in the Nordic countries. The Orkney Islands were populated by Norwegian settlers around the start of the Viking Age, and were Norwegian until King Magnus Lagabøte broke with his father’s expansionist policy and began peace negotiations with King Alexander III of Scotland. At the Treaty of Perth in 1266, King Magnus ceded Orkney to Scotland.

Department director in Ofoten, Jon Framnes, welcomed the exhibition opening, and former member of parliament Geir-Ketil Hanssen, gave a speech during the opening and cut the ribbon. A representative from the Police was also present during the opening.

The exhibition “Is it law?” is on display at Narvik Museum until mid-March 2025.