Russ - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Russ is a participant in the traditional Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

upper secondary high school (equivalent to high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

or the British equivalent to sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

) graduation ceremony known as russefeiring

Russefeiring

The russefeiring is the traditional Norwegian videregående skole graduation ceremony. Participants in this ceremony are known as russ. The russefeiring traditionally starts on the 1st of May and ends on the 17th of May, the Norwegian national day...

(russ celebration). Russ are easily recognized by their distinctive overall

Overall

An overall, coverall, over all, or dungarees, is a type of garment which is usually used as protective clothing when working...

s and caps (russeluer) resembling student cap

Student cap

In various European countries, student caps of different types are or have been worn, either as a marker of a common identity, as is the case in the Nordic countries, or to identify the bearer as member of a smaller corporation within the larger group of students, as is the case with the caps worn...

s. Tradition dictates that they wear the overall and the cap from the 1st to the 17th of May (in some places in Norway, they start as early as 16th of April) without interruption (except when sleeping), without washing any of them. Russ commonly drive cars, vans or buses painted in the same colour as their overalls and caps, often sporting large sound systems or lighting rigs.

Etymology

The word russ is inherited from the Danish word rus, which as an abbreviation of Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

rusticus ("rural"), in former times used to ridicule new students at a university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

. A more elaborate explanation claims the word comes from the Latin

Latin

phrase cornua depositurus, which means "bound to put aside one's horns". This phrase is the name of an old Danish university acceptance ceremony, the name of which was eventually simplified to just the last syllable.

In Norway, an extra s has been added in order to make the word compliant with modern Norwegian spelling rules, which dictate that a short vowel should be indicated by a following double consonant. It is also to conveniently separate it from "rus", which in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish also means "intoxication".

History

The tradition goes back to the 18th century, at a time when no universities

University

existed in Norway, and Norwegians would attend the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

to study alongside Danish students. Arriving at the university, students had to pass the Examen Artium
Examen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...

in order to be enrolled. After completing their examinations, horns were placed on their foreheads and they were ridiculed by older students. When the results from the exams were ready, the students would participate in a ceremony called Examen Depositiones, in which they were called up to the examiner; if they had passed the test, their horns would be removed, as a sign of wisdom and subjugation of the wild animal within. From that point, the young persons had the right to call themselves students.
Although all the children war red and white overalls and caps.

Russ attire

Tradition dictates that each russ wears an overall during the entire russefeiring

Russefeiring

(russ celebration period). The colour of the overall should match the graduate's line of study: Red for courses that are geared towards higher education (this is the most common colour), blue for courses in Business (also higher education in economics and management), black for Engineering (such as mechanics or electrics), and green for agricultural fields. The latter color is rarely seen due to the lower student numbers in such courses.

Overalls are unisex, and usually available in two versions, one full overall (with arms), and one resembling bib overalls. Which of the two versions are more popular varies from year to year. Currently, the bib version is most popular.

On the morning of the national day the attire is completed by the ceremonial addition of the russelue (russ cap), which evolved from the traditional student cap

Student cap

used for university acceptance and graduation ceremonies. The ceremony involves the christening of the graduate, in which the graduate is awarded a name by his or her fellow graduates which, in their opinion, either characterizes an aspect of the graduate's normal behaviour, or the one exhibited during the russefeiring

Russefeiring

. This name is written on the brim before the cap is handed over. The cap should match the overall in colour, and should be worn for the entire national day, which completes the russefeiring. This way, the russ' attire is complete before they join the local national day parade, which is the culmination of the russefeiring

Russefeiring

.

Other common russ paraphernalia is the whip and the whistle. The whip was originally a birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

twig, but is now often purchased and made from bamboo or plastic. It is used for banging things (such as the russ' car) rhythmically while chanting slogans in the 17th of May parade. The whistle resembles a common sports whistle, and is also used to make noise in the parade.

Over the years the russefeiring has become big business, and therefore there are a number of companies providing a plethora of optional paraphernalia for russ to purchase, such as t-shirts, sweaters, baseball caps, and so on.

Russ cards

Russ cards (russekort) are mock business card

Business card

Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company affiliation and contact information such as street addresses, telephone...

s that the russ will hand out to anyone that asks for them. They contain a picture, contact details, and a slogan. Usually the picture is either a funny picture of the graduate him or herself, or a drawing, picture of a celebrity, or other funny picture. The name and contact details are usually spoofs, and the slogan is a joke.

Russ will exchange such cards for fun and to remember other russ they are introduced to during the festivities. Having a large collection of other russ' cards is a status marker, as it is regarded as a sign of popularity, especially cards from members of the opposite sex. Since the extensive festivities of the russefeiring

Russefeiring

is an excellent opportunity to meet members of the opposite sex, it is common for the cards to sport lewd jokes or suggestive remarks.

However, such cards are also very attractive to preschoolers and primary school kids, who collect them and barter them. This has led some parents to speak out against lewd content on russ cards. As a consequence, a few russ carry two sets of cards: One designed for kids, and one designed for adults and other russ.

Russ knots

Russ knots (russeknuter) are items you earn by performing different tasks, such as sitting under your desk during class or kissing a police officer. The russ knots have been strongly criticized because many of the tasks can be considered illegal and dangerous. Examples are running through your school yard naked, abducting a freshman, and drinking a litre of wine in 20 minutes.

Here are some excerpts from the list of the russe knots (and the items you receive):

Answering every question the teacher asks by reading out loud from a porn magazine (pornographic picture)
Speak a language other than Norwegian for an entire day (a piece of a dictionary)
Drink a beer while having two tampons in your mouth (a tampon)
Order a meal from McDonalds or Burger King without using vowels (a letter from the alphabet)
Have safe sex outdoors (a pinecone)
Ask for sex tips from the mother of one of your fellow russ (a safety-pin)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Etymology

History

Russ attire

Russ cards

Russ knots

See also

External links