According to the Norwegian poet, Henrik Wergeland (1808-1845), Norway was a secluded, ‘hyperborean corner of the world’, separate and protected from mainland Europe by nature itself through the ‘deep abyss’ of an ocean and ‘palisades of numerous cliffs’. This view of Norway as an entity somewhat separate from the rest of the world, which came to life during the romanticism of the 19th century, does not hold up to historical scrutiny. Rather, the history of Norway is one of widespread social, cultural and political interaction not only with its neighbouring countries, but also on a global scale, an interaction that is key to understand how modern Norway came about. From this starting point, the course will give an overview of Norwegian history from the Viking era (800-1050), through the Union with Denmark (1300s-1814) and the union with Sweden (1814-1905), as well as the history of the modern Norwegian state (1905-2000). The overarching topics will be the political-, cultural-, and social history of Norway in a broad sense, with underlying themes such as the state-citizen relationship, migration, trade and foreign policy, as well as societal and cultural developments, focusing on both long- and short term trends in Norwegian history.