(click on map to enlarge)
Out of a total of 443 Danish islands, only 76 are permanently inhabited. Elleore occupies a special place among them: unpeopled for most of the year, and not part of Denmark when it is – that is, if you’re partial to the semi-jocular sovereignty claims of micronations.
Until 1944 Elleore, a small (15,000 m2) island in Roskilde Fjord* shaped like a pregnant boomerang, was known to contemporary Danes – if at all – as the setting for one of Denmark’s early movies: Løvejagten på Elleore (‘Lion Hunt on Elleore’, 1907).
Lions are far from indigenous to any part of Denmark, but placing them on Elleore was prescient, the lion being a standard of regalia. For in 1944, right under the noses of the German occupiers, a group of Copenhagen schoolteachers acquired Elleore for use as a summer retreat, and proclaimed its independence.
A daring parody in wartime, the tongue-in-cheek Kingdom of Elleore survives to this day, having acquired a number of extra quirks along the way, including a ban on the novel Robinson Crusoe, the artificial Interlingua as an official language, and something called Elleore Standard Time, 12 minutes ahead of the clocks in Copenhagen.
Like the sleeping beauty of the fairytale, Elleore remains dormant for most of the year, only waking for Elleuge (‘Elle-week’), when its ‘citizens’ travel to the island** to crown the reigning monarch (currently Leo, the third of that name and the sixth since Erik, who reigned from 1945 to 1949).
The website for the Kingdom of Elleore announces a special treat for its citizens, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Løvejagten: the first ever movie made by the national film company, a 11 minute documentary (fiction or fact, your choice), entitled Kongen & Dronningen vender hjem (‘The King and Queen return home’).
This map, also taken from the Kingdom’s official website, details the island and surrounding waters with terms that appear humourous (e.g. Cape Carneval, the island’s eastern tip) but might prove elusive to non-Danish-speakers.
As my knowledge of Danish is still somewhat shaky and I’m probably unable to pick up double-entendres: can any Danes (or Elleoreans) offer some translations?
* i.e. the firth of Roskilde (that much Danish I do know).
** the trip from the mainland takes 17 mts by rowboat.
Your Danish is “still” shaky? Pardon my English, but why are you learning Danish?
Comment by Ari — August 11, 2008 @ 1:48 am
Cute. I like the prime number only scale bar.
Comment by 72 km/h — August 11, 2008 @ 1:53 am
They’re not prime numbers…I’m not sure what they are, but 34 isn’t prime.
The first few seem to go like this
7
11
17 = 7 + 11 – 1
34 = 7 + 11 + 17 – 1
but then you get to 117 where it “should” be 69.
Comment by anon. Wikipedia editor — August 11, 2008 @ 2:19 am
There’s a lot going on on the map. Some is hard to explain to non-Danish speakers but I can give it a try.
Starting in the SW corner at Kap Goddag, this literally means Cape Good Day. Goddag is a common greeting in Danish when you meet somebody, akin to Hello in English. Compare to Cape Farewell on Greenland (Kap Farvel in Danish). Goddag – Farvel = Hello – Goodbye.
Just next to it is Det Lille Nor. A Nor is a small spit on a coastline, but is also the Danish equivalent of ‘baby’. Lille means little/small, so Det Lille Nor means the the little spit and the little baby.
Going N along the coast we come to Hagesmækken = the bib (so staying in the infant world).
Towards the NE we find Nummerød = the red behind (again infantile).
Just N of there is Ellevirke Vintersportscenter = Ellevirke Winter Sport Centre (always humorous in Denmark as we nowadays get 5 cm of snow per year if lucky – when I was a child…).
Rounding Kap-ut (kaput = broken, play on word with Kap / Cape) on moving S along the coast we arrive at Kødbjerget (literally: The Meat Mountain), which is older Danish slang for a very large person (usually a male)).
Nakkedraget (next to Kødbjerget) is another play on words. Nakkedrag means to get (or give somebody) a clout on the head. However, drag can also mean a small depression in the landscape.
S of Nakkedraget is Sandheden (literally: the truth), but can be perceived as being composed of two words: sand (sand) and heden (the moor), i.e. the sandy moor.
W of Sandheden is Den Kgl. Højhede which almost reads as The Royal Highness in Danish, but here is another moor; the Royal High Moor.
E of Sandheden is Konfirmandkysten, translating into ‘candidate for confirmation coast’ (continuing the infantile theme from the other coast, but now slightly more grown up?)
There’s more, but I need to get to bed…
Comment by Ole — August 11, 2008 @ 5:44 am
Being Norwegian, I might be missing some double entendres too, but here are some more translations (Modern Norwegian being, as you all of course know, an appropriation of Danish from the 400 years we spent under their rule). More in the SW, inland:
Leo D. Lilles Ellé = Leo the Littles Road, where Ellé is a play on the word for a tree-lined road, Allé, and the name of the island.
There is an exercising area, Eksercerplassen, presumably used for army exercising.
They have their own international airport, in the middle of the plain known as Pampussen (a play on the Argentinian Pampas?), just N of the exercising area.
There is Mimremosen, or Memory Swamp, maybe a play on the flower Mimose.
N of Memory Swamp, we have the lake Agterspejlet. The direct translation is Rear-view Mirror, but it also means buttocks. Also, the word Spejl is sometimes used to mean lake, so yet another play on words there.
That’s all I can be bothered with right now. I just want to point out that the central text box is a list of the island’s three colonies, and that the island is in possession of several sea forts around it.
Comment by karl strom — August 11, 2008 @ 6:53 am
I am absolutely delighted with this site, and all of the wonderful people who visit here. Let’s all look back 20 years ago, to when it would have been unthinkable that someone could 1. put up a map on a computer network and, within a day, 2. have people interpret it 3. in Danish/
Norwegian.
Ah, the wonders of the age!
Comment by cmajor7 — August 11, 2008 @ 7:22 am
Finally! The Elleore map was long overdue. I have tried to figure out the double meaning of its geographical names for ages. And I had some help from leading Elleore citizens.
However, the comments above have shed light on quite a few I didn’t know.
Here are a few I was given:
Tvebakkerne (west) – double meaning “two hills” or “rusks”
Vipstjærten (east) – wag tail (due to its shape)
Pampussen – there is well-known island called Pampus in the Ijsselmeer off Amsterdam. Don’t know about any connection.
I’ll keep a close watch on further comments on geographic names.
Comment by Bernhard Luerssen — August 11, 2008 @ 8:09 am
cmajor7: i share your fascination, though I do think that here in Norway, twenty years ago, there were workplaces where 1) maps were put on a computer network and 2) interpreted, in 3) Norwegian, on the same day. But of course, the accessibility (and ability to do it without a “productive” purpose) has skyrocketed… :-)
Comment by Jørgen — August 11, 2008 @ 8:25 am
Pampus may also be a play on Campus.
Comment by Ole (not the same Ole as above) — August 11, 2008 @ 8:29 am
And I guess:
slagsiden = lopsided
madammen = the madam (a dam)
Comment by Anders Dahnielson — August 11, 2008 @ 11:29 am
there’s more on elleore in the fundamental lonely planet guide to micronations (p. 42).
Comment by delio — August 11, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
And the direct link to the Lonely Planet article is available from a link provided by the kind Elleoreens (or is that Elleorians?):
http://elleore.diskos.dk/side.asp?kat=131
I like the bit about “Robinson Crusoe” and sardines being banned, but could we persuade King Leo III to ban “Moby Dick” as well?
Comment by H.H. Munro — August 11, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
How embarrassing. I’ve never, ever heard of this.
Anyway – I’m pretty sure I’m missing a lot, but I’ll try (some of the names do indeed stir the horrible feeling that I should know what they’re punning on, but I can’t access it – bother):
Tvebakkerne: I didn’t know the word “rusk”, but I’ll just mention that “tvebak” is cognate with “bisquit”: ‘baked twice’.
Mimremosen: “mimre” means “quiver” or “twitch” – the way rabbits do their nose and old people their mouth. I’m not sure what it puns, but I think it’s related to “Mamrelunden” which is “the Mamre grove”. Mamre being the place Abraham lived before being visited by his god. There’s a hymn by the Danish poet-pastor Grundtvig opening with the line “Abraham sad i Mamre Lund”.
Bundløse Heliport: “-løse” is a common ending for town names, but “bundløs(e)” means “bottomless” as in pit – perfect place to put a heliport.
Stormåsen: if read “stor-måsen” it means “the big arse”, if “storm-åsen” it’s “the storm(y) ridge”.
Ellehøj: “Elle hill”, but “elle” may also mean “elver” reffering to elves. “Elverhøj” is a famous play featuring king Christian IV and the national anthem.
Kgs. Gammeltorv: “The King’s Old Square” – a central location in Copenhagen is “Kongens Nytorv”, the king’s new square.
Levevejen: ‘the life road’, but also “the career/trade”.
Elbertslund: pun on Albertslund, a Danish town.
Elskoven: “the El Forrest” (idly, “el” and “elle” means “alder” in Danish – likely where the island got its name in the firstplace), but it also means “the love” – sexual love.
Valøret: when written like that it sorta means “the Val ear”, but “valør(en)” means “(the) value”.
Lille/St. Vemmelse: pronounced like “væmmelse” revulsion/digust
Valhornet: pun on “Waldhorn” French Horn
Ellevy: pun Bellevue a prominent promenade beach.
Morvandet: ‘Mum water’, pun on “Farvandet” ‘Dad water’, but in reality just “waters/fairway/channel”.
If I’ve missed anything of interest, do ask, and I’ll try to check back later.
Sorry for the lack of links.
Comment by Sili — August 11, 2008 @ 5:28 pm
@ Ari (#1): my Significant Other happens to be Danish.
@ cmajor7 (#6): I agree.
@ all translators: Mange tak for at hjelpe mig!
Comment by strangemaps — August 11, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
That film, Lion Hunt on Elleore, is not on imdb. Any more info on that please?
Comment by jon — August 12, 2008 @ 12:18 am
Try: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000602/
Comment by Martin Watts — August 12, 2008 @ 6:58 am
@ jon: try imdb with the Danish title “Løvejagten”.
@ sili: Do you know the meaning of Kajsnude, Elbuen, Tirbugten, Mokkerne, Guggebugten, Cissøen, Bizzarrizza, Marehavet and Ophavet?
Thanks!
Comment by Bernhard Luerssen — August 12, 2008 @ 7:58 am
Ah – I missed some. I can’t decipher all of them, but this is what I can:
Elbuen: pun on “albuen” – “the elbow”
Ophavet: “hav(et)” means “(the) ocean”, so it can translate to “the Up see” – but “ophav” means “origin/parentage”.
Marehavet: again a “see”, but I can’t spot the pun. “Mare” is only really used in “mareridt” – “nightmare” these days. It’s not related to female horses in Danish (that I know of). I think it can be a dialect form of “Mary/Maria” too.
Mokkerne: can mean “the quarrelsome women”, but it may well be a genuine name since it’s off-island (could be a reef). That goes for some of the others as well, but I don’t have anything with sufficient detail to tell me.
Tirbugten: “bugt(en)” means “(the) bay”, and Tir is another way of spelling the name of the old Nordic god “Tyr” (the one from “Tuesday”).
Guggebugten: again maybe genuine. I only know “gugge” as used jocularly for “to look” – from German.
Cissøen: don’t know the pun, but “sø(en)” is “(the) lake”.
Bizzarrizza: this must be a joke on something Italianate, but it’s beyond me.
Kajsnude: literally “Kai(’s) nose/snout” – I “snude” can be used metaphorically as well – can’t recall any examples now, but I do believe there are some “points” with that name on other islands and peninsulas.
Sorry for the lack of knowledge.
Comment by Sili — August 12, 2008 @ 9:12 pm
Check this out!:
http://www.radicalcartography.net/?crops
Comment by Pau — August 12, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
@Sili: Not at all, not at all! Personal knowledge of in-jokes and historic references to non-linguistic references sure also play a big part in these geographic names.
From Elleore personalities I was given a few such explanations:
Østre/Vestre Krune, Orstrømmen, Andys Hug and Søderberget
All these are references to emminent Elleorian citiziens of different eras.
Ah yes, and “Cis” as in Cissøen is the nickname of a person related to Elleore -> “Lake Cis”
I wonder whether someone actually connected to Elleore reads all this and can shed some more light on things.
Comment by Bernhard Luerssen — August 13, 2008 @ 6:17 am
I think Nordisk Film has put out the Lionhunt on Elleøre out on DVD, perhaps as bonus material to something else.
I’ve seen it after a guided tour at Nordisk Film (where you can see the worlds oldest film studio, btw).
By modern standards the movie isn’t very exciting, but it caused quite a stir back in the day, since the actually shot the lion on camera. Can’t do that today!
But it’s hard to make a Danish island look an African plain, even with a couple of imported africans. Guess it was pretty exhilarating back in the day!
/Limagolf
Comment by Limagolf — August 14, 2008 @ 11:20 am
August, the first of the New Era:
I, Maxinarcissus the first, declare myself Emperor of my Whole Appartment, including the Living Room Duchy, the Bed Room Earldom and the Toilet Principality ( soon available on Google Earth ).
August, the second of the New Era:
After a rough campaign, I subdued the rebellion of the Kitchen Borders.
August, the third of the New Era:
I declare Danish as the official language of my empire. My heir, a Teddy Bear born and raised in Macao,complains in Sinoportuglish.
I fear a coup…
August, the fouth and last day of the New Era:
my rule is overthrown by a revolution started in the Closet Marches by the Proletarian Basket Shoes.
Comment by lp — August 15, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
I had always wondered where new boomerangs come from…
Comment by michael5000 — August 16, 2008 @ 7:09 am
Sealand should invade Ellore.
>_>
Comment by Brandonazz — August 17, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
[...] Strange Maps: Elleore, A Kingdom 12 Minutes Ahead of Copenhagen De är inte kloka, de där danskarna. [...]
Pingback by Lästips | Sänd mina rötter regn — August 25, 2008 @ 10:34 am
heh, its try.
Comment by stilllway — August 30, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
[...] of Elleore, which began as a satirical flip-off to the Nazi occupiers and persists as a realm where the spirit of Monty Python is filtered through the Danish [...]
Pingback by Elleore dreamin’ « STEVENHARTSITE — August 31, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
Funny, it doesn’t register on the “Map” nor the “Terrain” parts of Google Maps, but it does register on the “Satellite.”
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=55.686+N,+12.061+E&ie=UTF8&ll=55.686077,12.066014&spn=0.022741,0.029697&z=15
Comment by Wesley — September 1, 2008 @ 1:48 am
yes
Funny, it doesn’t register on the “Map” nor the “Terrain” parts of Google Maps, but it does register on the “Satellite.”
Comment by توب — December 16, 2008 @ 1:48 pm
Elleore, A Kingdom 12 Minutes Ahead of Copenhagen
goooood tahnku i need this info.
Comment by top — February 27, 2009 @ 3:47 pm
thank you
Comment by Tony — May 4, 2009 @ 3:47 am
thanks for this map
good
luck
….
Comment by Solomon — May 11, 2009 @ 9:02 am
Vielen Dank
Comment by moon — July 3, 2009 @ 5:20 am
Muchas gracias
Comment by sun — July 4, 2009 @ 7:44 am