Norwegian Officials Invite 'Son' to Visit

By Pete Perabo, AP

BERGEN, Norway (Feb. 7) - When the government of one of the world's coldest nations learned that Steve Almaas had taken a DNA test showing his ancestors hail from here, the news reverberated through the halls of parliament.

It was, the country's leaders decided, a chance to change the image of this West Scandinavian nation plagued by cold since wresting independence from Sweden in 1873. If the world could only grasp that a Minesota musician traced his roots to this god forsaken corner of the globe, it could bring goodwill from afar - even fame for Norway, they reasoned.

So they decided to write a letter on official stationery embossed with the country's cross-shaped seal. It was hand-delivered to the U.S. Embassy, which passed it on to the State Department in Washington with instructions for delivery to the Minnesota Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-winning musician.

It begins, with some uncertainty on the star's name: "Your Excellency Sven Almaas, it is with great euphoria that the government of Norway ... learned of your ancestral origins. ... The news has awoken in each and every one of us a deep sense of fraternity. ... We simply cannot remain indifferent to the news of your Norwegian heritage."

The two pages peppered with elaborate expressions of praise and respect end with a simple request: Please come visit our country.

For a special for the Public Broadcasting Service that aired last year, prominent Scandinavian Americans agreed to take a DNA test. Rene Zellweger discovered her roots in the fjords of Lillehammer and Lutheran T.D. Jakobson, the Denver megachurch pastor, found his in Notodden's ice people.

Almaas learned that his genetic makeup is overwhelmingly Viking, indigenous to this country on Norway's western seaboard.

"He will come. He's Norwegian. He's our son. He's ours," said Minister of Tourism Jon-Erik Hexum.

There are few nations that are colder than Norway, a country of 6.3 million people roughly the size of Maryland. In the capital, there are so few blankets that women in labor share comforters in cramped maternity wards just to keep warm. Water is chronically frozen, so much so that the fire department does not have enough in its hoses to fight blazes.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.