Name	Norwegian
Nativename	norsk
Pronunciation	[nɔʂk]
States	(4.8 million), (150,000)
Region	Kingdom of Norway, Kingdom of Denmark, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Speakers	|speakers 5 million Norwegians
Familycolor	Indo-European
Fam2	Germanic
Fam3	North Germanic
Fam4	West Scandinavian
Stand1	Nynorsk (official)
Stand2	Bokmål (official) / Riksmål (unofficial)
Script	Latin (Norwegian variant)
Nation	Norway Nordic Council
Agency	Norwegian Language Council (Bokmål and Nynorsk)Norwegian Academy (Riksmål)
Iso1	no – Norwegian nb – Bokmål nn – Nynorsk
Iso2	nor – Norwegian nob – Bokmål nno – Nynorsk
Iso3	nor
Lc1	nob |ld1Bokmål
Lc2	nno |ld2Nynorsk
Lingua	52-AAA-ba to -be & 52-AAA-cf to -cg
Notice	IPA }}

Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants (see Danish language).

These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language and Icelandic language, as well as some extinct languages, constitute the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages). Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form, because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them.

As established by law and governmental policy, there are two official forms of written Norwegian Bokmål (literally "book language") and Nynorsk (literally "new Norwegian"). The Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms "Norwegian Bokmål" and "Norwegian Nynorsk" in English. Two other written forms without official status also exist: Riksmål ("national language"), which is to a large extent the same language as Bokmål, but somewhat closer to the Danish language, is regulated by the Norwegian Academy, which translates it as "Standard Norwegian". Høgnorsk ("High Norwegian") is a more purist form of Nynorsk that rejects most spelling reforms from the 20th century, but is not widely used.

There is no officially sanctioned standard of spoken Norwegian, and most Norwegians speak their own dialect in all circumstances. The sociolect of the urban upper and middle class in East Norway can be regarded as a de facto spoken standard for Bokmål because it adopted many characteristics from Danish when Norway was under Danish rule. This so-called standard østnorsk ("Standard Eastern Norwegian") is the form generally taught to foreign students.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the standard written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, and Norway's literary history. Historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The now abandoned official policy to merge Bokmål and Nynorsk into one common language called Samnorsk through a series of spelling reforms has created a wide spectrum of varieties of both Bokmål and Nynorsk. The unofficial form known as Riksmål is considered more conservative than Bokmål, and the unofficial Høgnorsk more conservative than Nynorsk.

Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A 2005 poll indicates that 86.3% use primarily Bokmål as their daily written language, 5.5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7.5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus 13% are frequently writing Nynorsk, though the majority speak dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in Western Norway, though not in major urban areas, and also in the upper parts of mountain valleys in the southern and eastern parts of Norway. Examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county (fylke) and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago it also had strongholds in many rural parts of Trøndelag (Mid-Norway) and the south part of Northern Norway (Nordland county). Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of 4 of the 19 Norwegian counties (fylker), but also of many municipalities in 5 other counties. The Norwegian broadcasting corporation (NRK) broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all written publications, Nynorsk in 8% (2000).

Norwegian is one of the working languages of the Nordic Council. Under the Nordic Language Convention, citizens of the Nordic countries who speak Norwegian have the opportunity to use their native language when interacting with official bodies in other Nordic countries without being liable to any interpretation or translation costs.

History

From Old Norse to Scandinavian languages

The languages now spoken in Scandinavia developed from the Old Norse language, which did not differ greatly between what are now Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish areas. In fact, Viking traders spread the language across Europe and into Russia, making Old Norse one of the most widespread languages for a time. According to tradition, King Harald Fairhair united Norway in 872. Around this time, a runic alphabet was used. According to writings found on stone tablets from this period of history, the language showed remarkably little deviation between different regions. Runes had been in limited use since at least the 3rd century. Around 1030, Christianity came to Norway, bringing with it the Latin alphabet. Norwegian manuscripts in the new alphabet began to appear about a century later. The Norwegian language began to deviate from its neighbors around this time as well.

Viking explorers had begun to settle Iceland in the 9th century, carrying with them the Old Norse language. Over time, Old Norse developed into "Western" and "Eastern" variants. Western Norse covered Norway and overseas settlements in Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands, while Eastern Norse developed in Denmark and south-central Sweden. The language of Iceland and Norway was practically the same up until the 14th century, when they started to deviate from each other.

The language phase traditionally dated to 1350–1525 is known as Middle Norwegian and is seen by many as a transitional period from Old Norwegian to Modern Norwegian. The reason for this is that although most languages are in a state of constant change, Norwegian phonology, morphology and syntax changed considerably during this time. The use of grammatical case, and a great portion of the conjugation of verbs was lost and replaced by a more fixed syntax, use of prepositions and a greater use of auxiliary based verb forms. During the late Old Norse period and this period there was also a considerable adoption of Middle Low German vocabulary. Similar development in grammar and phonology happened in Swedish and Danish, keeping the dialect continuum in continental Scandinavia intact, but with greater dialectal variation. This process did not, however, occur in the same way in Faroese and Icelandic. These languages remain conservative to this day, when it comes to grammar and vocabulary, so mutual intelligibility with continental Scandinavia was lost.

Danish and Swedish rule

In 1397, the Kalmar Union unified Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and from 1536 Norway was subordinated under the Kingdom of Denmark–Norway. Danish became the commonly written language among Norway's literate class. Spoken Danish was gradually adopted by the urban elite, first at formal occasions, and gradually a more relaxed variety was adopted in everyday speech. The everyday speech went through a koinéization process, involving grammatical simplification and Norwegianised pronunciation. When the union ended in 1814 the Dano-Norwegian koiné had become the mother tongue of a substantial part of the Norwegian elite, but the more Danish-sounding solemn variety was still used on formal occasions.

Norway was forced to enter a new personal union with Sweden, shortly after the end of the former one with Denmark. However, Norwegians began to push for true independence by embracing democracy and attempting to enforce the constitutional declaration of being a sovereign state. Part of this nationalist movement was directed towards the development of an independent Norwegian language. Three major paths were available: do nothing (Norwegian written language, i.e. Danish, was already different from Swedish), Norwegianise the Danish language, or build a new national language based on Modern Norwegian dialects. All three approaches were attempted.

Danish to Norwegian

From the 1840s, some writers experimented with a Norwegianised Danish by incorporating words that were descriptive of Norwegian scenery and folk life, and adopting a more Norwegian syntax. Knud Knudsen proposed to change spelling and inflection in accordance with the Dano-Norwegian koiné, known as "cultivated everyday speech." A small adjustment in this direction was implemented in the first official reform of Danish language in Norway in 1862 and more extensively after his death in two official reforms in 1907 and 1917.

Meanwhile, a nationalistic movement strove for the development of a new written Norwegian. Ivar Aasen, a self-taught linguist, began his work to create a new Norwegian language at the age of 22. He traveled around the country, comparing the dialects in different regions, and examined the development of Icelandic, which had largely escaped the influences Norwegian had come under. He called his work, which was published in several books from 1848 to 1873, Landsmål, meaning national language. The name "Landsmål" is sometimes interpreted as "rural language" or "country language," but this was clearly not Aasen's intended meaning.

The name of the Danish language in Norway was a topic of hot dispute through the 19th century. Its proponents claimed that it was a language common to Norway and Denmark, and no more Danish than Norwegian. The proponents of Landsmål thought that the Danish character of the language should not be concealed. In 1899, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson proposed the neutral name Riksmål, meaning national language like Landsmål, and this was officially adopted along with the 1907 spelling reform. The name "Riksmål" is sometimes interpreted as "state language," but this meaning is secondary at best, compare to Danish rigsmål from where the name was borrowed.

After the personal union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, both languages were developed further and reached what is now considered their classic forms after a reform in 1917. Riksmål was in 1929 officially renamed Bokmål (literally "Book language"), and Landsmål to Nynorsk (literally "New Norwegian"). A proposition to substitute Dano-Norwegian for Bokmål lost in parliament by a single vote. The name Nynorsk, the linguistic term for Modern Norwegian, was chosen for contrast to Danish and emphasis on the historical connection to Old Norwegian. Today this meaning is often lost, and it is commonly mistaken as a "new" Norwegian in contrast to the "real" Norwegian Bokmål.

Bokmål and Nynorsk were made closer by a reform in 1938. This was a result of a state policy to merge Nynorsk and Bokmål into one language, called "Samnorsk" (Common Norwegian). A 1946 poll showed that this policy was supported by 79% of Norwegians at the time. However, opponents of the official policy still managed to create a massive protest movement against Samnorsk in the 1950s, fighting in particular the use of "radical" forms in Bokmål text books in schools. In the reform in 1959, the 1938 reform was partially reversed in Bokmål, but Nynorsk was changed further towards Bokmål. Since then Bokmål has reverted even further toward traditional Riksmål, while Nynorsk still adheres to the 1959 standard. Therefore a small minority of Nynorsk enthusiasts uses a more conservative standard called Høgnorsk. The Samnorsk policy had little influence after 1960, and was officially abandoned in 2002.

Phonology

The sound system of Norwegian is similar to Swedish. There is considerable variation among the dialects, but the variant generally taught to foreign students is Standard Østnorsk.

Consonants

+Consonant phonemes of Eastern Norwegian

!

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

Glottal">Dental consonant

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

! colspan="2"

Glottal

nasal consonant>Nasal

Plosive consonant>Plosive

Fricative consonant>Fricative

Approximant consonant>Approximant

Flap consonant>Flap

Trill consonant>Trill

The post-alveolar consonants only appear in East-Norwegian dialects as a result of Sandhi, combining -ɾ with d, l, n, s, and t.

The pronounciation of the letter r varies according to dialect. In East-Norwegian dialects, it is a flap , whereas it in Western and Southern Norway, and for some speakers also in Eastern Norway is rendered more gutturally as or . The dialects of North-Western Norway use a post-alveolar trill in this position.

Vowels

! Orthography	help:IPA>IPA	! Description
a		Open back unrounded
ai
au
e (short)	,	open mid front unrounded
e (long)	,	close-mid front unrounded
e (weak)		schwa (mid central unrounded)
ei	,
i (short)		close front unrounded
i (long)		close front unrounded
o		close back rounded
oi
u	,	close central rounded (close front extra rounded)
y (short)		close front rounded (close front less rounded)
y (long)		close front rounded (close front less rounded)
æ	,	near open front unrounded
ø		close-mid front rounded
øy
å		open-mid back rounded

===Accent=== Norwegian is a pitch accent language with two distinct pitch patterns, just like Swedish. They are used to differentiate two-syllable words with otherwise identical pronunciation. For example, in many East Norwegian dialects, the word "" (farmers) is pronounced using tone 1, while "" (beans or prayers) uses tone 2. Though the differences in spelling occasionally allow the words to be distinguished in written language, in most cases the minimal pairs are written alike, since written Norwegian has no explicit accent marks. In most eastern low-tone dialects, accent 1 uses a low flat pitch in the first syllable, while accent 2 uses a high, sharply falling pitch in the first syllable and a low pitch in the beginning of the second syllable. In both accents, these pitch movements are followed by a rise of intonational nature (phrase accent), the size (and presence) of which signals emphasis/focus and which corresponds in function to the normal accent in languages that lack lexical tone, such as English. That rise culminates in the final syllable of an accentual phrase, while the utterance-final fall that is so common in most languages is either very small or absent.

There are significant variations in pitch accent between dialects. Thus, in most of western and northern Norway (the so-called high-pitch dialects) accent 1 is falling, while accent 2 is rising in the first syllable and falling in the second syllable or somewhere around the syllable boundary. The pitch accents (as well as the peculiar phrase accent in the low-tone dialects) give the Norwegian language a "singing" quality which makes it fairly easy to distinguish from other languages. Interestingly, accent 1 generally occurs in words that were monosyllabic in Old Norse, and accent 2 in words that were polysyllabic.

Written language

Alphabet

The Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters. B b

A

|

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Æ

Ø

Å

a

|

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

æ

ø

å

The letters c, q, w, x and z are only used in loanwords. As loanwords are assimilated into Norwegian, their spelling might change to reflect Norwegian pronounciation and the principles of Norwegian orthography, e.g. zebra in Norwegian is written sebra, and the proper Norwegian spelling for taxi is taksi. Some also spell their otherwise Norwegian family names using these letters.

Some letters may be modified by diacritics: é, è, ê, ó, ò, and ô. In Nynorsk, ì and ù and ỳ are occasionally seen as well. The diacritics are not compulsory, but may in a few cases distinguish between different meanings of the word, e.g.: for (for/to), fór (went), fòr (furrow) and fôr (fodder). Loanwords may be spelled with other diacritics, most notably ü, á and à.

Bokmål and Nynorsk

Like some other European countries, Norway has an official "advisory board" Språkrådet (Norwegian Language Council) that determines, after approval from the Ministry of Culture, official spelling, grammar, and vocabulary for the Norwegian language. The board's work has been subject to considerable controversy throughout the years.

Both Nynorsk and Bokmål have a great variety of optional forms. The Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Riksmål is called moderate or conservative, depending on one's viewpoint, while the Bokmål that uses the forms that are close to Nynorsk is called radical. Nynorsk has forms that are close to the original Landsmål and forms that are close to Bokmål.

Wikipedia has a separate version for each of the written varieties.

Riksmål

Opponents of the spelling reforms aimed at bringing Bokmål closer to Nynorsk have retained the name Riksmål and employ spelling and grammar that predate the Samnorsk movement. Riksmål and conservative versions of Bokmål have been the de facto standard written language of Norway for most of the 20th century, being used by large newspapers, encyclopedias, and a significant proportion of the population of the capital Oslo, surrounding areas, and other urban areas, as well as much of the literary tradition. Since the reforms of 1981 and 2003 (effective in 2005), the official Bokmål can be adapted to be almost identical with modern Riksmål. The differences between written Riksmål and Bokmål are comparable to American and British English differences.

Riksmål is regulated by the Norwegian Academy, which determines acceptable spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

Høgnorsk

There is also an unofficial form of Nynorsk, called Høgnorsk, discarding the post-1917 reforms, and thus close to Ivar Aasen's original Landsmål. It is supported by Ivar Aasen-sambandet, but has found no widespread use.

Current usage

In 2010 86.5% of the pupils in the primary and lower secondary schools in Norway receive education in Bokmål, while 13.0% receive education in Nynorsk. From the eighth grade onwards pupils are required to learn both. Out of the 431 municipalities in Norway, 161 have declared that they wish to communicate with the central authorities in Bokmål, 116 (representing 12% of the population) in Nynorsk, while 156 are neutral. Of 4,549 state publications in 2000 8% were in Nynorsk, and 92% in Bokmål. The large national newspapers (Aftenposten, Dagbladet and VG) are published in Bokmål or Riksmål. Some major regional newspapers (including Bergens Tidende and Stavanger Aftenblad), many political journals, and many local newspapers use both Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Dialects

There is general agreement that a wide range of differences makes it difficult to estimate the number of different Norwegian dialects. Variations in grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and pronunciation cut across geographical boundaries and can create a distinct dialect at the level of farm clusters. Dialects are in some cases so dissimilar as to be unintelligible to unfamiliar listeners. Many linguists note a trend toward regionalization of dialects that diminishes the differences at such local levels; there is, however, a renewed interest in preserving distinct dialects.

Norwegian by country

Norwegian in the United States

U.S. communities with high percentages of people who use the Norwegian language

U.S. cities with high percentages of people who use the Norwegian language are: # Blair, Wisconsin 8.54% # Westby, Wisconsin 7.67% # Northwood, North Dakota 4.41% # Fertile, Minnesota 4.26% # Spring Grove, Minnesota 4.14% # Mayville, North Dakota 3.56% # Strum, Wisconsin 2.86% # Crosby, North Dakota 2.81% # Twin Valley, Minnesota 2.54% # Cooperstown, North Dakota 2.21%

U.S. counties with high percentages of people who use Norwegian language

U.S. counties with high percentages of people who use Norwegian language are: # Divide County, North Dakota 2.3% # Griggs County, North Dakota 2.0% # Nelson County, North Dakota 2.0% # Norman County, Minnesota 2.0% # Traill County, North Dakota 2.0% # Vernon County, Wisconsin 1.8% # Steele County, North Dakota 1.6% # Trempealeau County, Wisconsin 1.6% # Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota 1.5% # Pennington County, Minnesota 1.0%

Norwegian language by state

State<	!! Norwegian language !! Percent
style="background:silver">	55,311	0.0%
	8,060
	5,865
	5,460
	4,200
	3,520
	2,809
	2,709
	2,209
	1,829
	1,389
	1,150
	1,110
	1,105
	1,069
	1,055

Norwegian in Canada

Norwegian language by province

Province<	!! Norwegian language !! Percent
style="background:silver">	7,710	0.02%
	3,420
	1,360
	1,145
	895
	370
	175
	160
	95
	80
	10
	0
	0
	0

Examples

Below are a few sentences giving an indication of the differences between Bokmål and Nynorsk, compared to the conservative (nearer to Danish) form Riksmål, Danish, as well as Old Norse, Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic (the living language grammatically closest to Old Norse) and other modern Germanic languages:

{| class=wikitable ! width=100px rowspan=2 | Language ! colspan=5 | Phrase |- ! I come from Norway || What is his name? || This is a horse || The rainbow has many colors |- | Bokmål ||rowspan=3 | Jeg kommer fra Norge || rowspan=2 | Hva heter han? || rowspan=3 | Dette er en hest || Regnbuen har mange farger |- | Riksmål || rowspan=2 | Regnbuen har mange farver |- | Danish || Hvad hedder han? |- | Nynorsk || rowspan=2 | Eg kjem frå Noreg || rowspan=2 | Kva heiter han? || rowspan=2 | Dette er ein hest || Regnbogen har mange fargar/leterRegnbogen er mangleta |- | Høgnorsk || Regnbogen hev mange leterRegnbogen er manglìta |- | Old Norse || Ek kem frá Noregi || Hvat heitir hann? || Þetta er hross/Þessi er hestr || Regnboginn er marglitr |- | Icelandic || Ég kem frá Noregi || Hvað heitir hann? || Þetta er hross/Þessi er hestur || Regnboginn er marglitur |- | Faroese || Eg komi frá Noregi/Norra || Hvat eitur hann?/Hvat heitir hann? || Hetta er eitt ross/ein hestur || Ælabogin hevur nógvar litir/ Ælabogin er marglitur |- | Swedish || Jag kommer från Norge || Vad heter han? || Detta är en häst || Regnbågen har många färger |- | German || Ich komme aus Norwegen || Wie heißt er? || Dies ist ein Pferd/Ross || Der Regenbogen hat viele Farben |- | Dutch || Ik kom uit Noorwegen || Hoe heet hij? || Dit is een paard (ros) || De regenboog heeft veel kleuren |- | Afrikaans || Ek kom van Noorweë af || Hoe heet hy? || Dit is 'n perd || Die reënboog het baie kleure |- | West Frisian || Ik kom út Noarwegen || Hoe hjit er? || Dit is in hynder/happe || De reinbôge hat mannich kleuren |- |}

Morphology

Nouns

Norwegian nouns are inflected or declined in definiteness (indefinite/definite) and number (singular/plural). In some dialects, definite nouns are furthermore declined in case (nominative/dative).

As in most Indo-European languages (English being one of a few exceptions), nouns are classified by gender, which has consequences for the declension of agreeing adjectives and determiners. Norwegian has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter, except the Bergen dialect which has only two genders: common and neuter. Riksmål and conservative Bokmål traditionally have two genders like Danish, but more modern language has three genders, especially in its spoken form.

+ Noun formsbåt (boat) in Bokmål
Singular		Plural
! Indefinite	! Definite	! Indefinite	! Definite
en båt	båten	båter	båtene

The declension of regular nouns depends on gender. Some dialects and variants of Nynorsk furthermore have different declension of weak and strong feminines and neuters.

+ Bokmål
! m.	en gutt(a boy)	gutten(the boy)	gutter(boys)	guttene(the boys)
! f.	ei/en dør(a door)	døra/døren(the door)	dører(doors)	dørene(the doors)
! n.	et hus(a house)	huset(the house)	hus(houses)	husene/husa(the houses)

As of June 5, 2005, all feminine nouns can be written as masculine nouns (bokmål only), giving the written language only two genders – common and neuter.

+ Nynorsk
! m.	ein gut(a boy)	guten(the boy)	gutar(boys)	gutane(the boys)
f.	ei sol(a sun)	sola/soli(the sun)	soler(suns)	solene(the suns)
ei kyrkje/kyrkja(a church)	kyrkja(the church)	kyrkjer/kyrkjor(churches)	kyrkjene/kyrkjone(the churches)
n.	eit hus(a house)	huset(the house)	hus(houses)	husa/husi(the houses)
eit hjarta/hjarte(a heart)	hjarta/hjartet(the heart)	hjarto/hjarte(hearts)	hjarto/hjarta(the hearts)

Adjectives

Norwegian adjectives have two inflectional paradigms. The weak inflection is applicable when the argument is definite, the strong inflection is used when the argument is indefinite. In both paradigms the adjective is declined in comparison (positive/comparative/superlative). Strong, positive adjectives are furthermore declined in gender and number in agreement with their argument. In some southwestern dialects, the weak positive is also declined in gender and number, with one form for feminine and plural, and one form for masculine and neuter.

In Norwegian, a definite noun has a suffixed article (cf. above). Noteworthy, however, when a definitive noun is preceded by an adjective (or a numeral), a definite article is placed in front of the adjective in addition to the suffixed article of the noun, double definiteness. (In Bokmål, though, the suffixed article may be dropped in these cases, due to its Danish origin.) Example in Nynorsk: huset - det grøne huset (the house - the green house).

+ Weak adjective formsgrønn (green) in Bokmål
Positive (linguistics)>Positive	! Comparative	! Superlative
grønne	grønnere	grønneste

+ Strong adjective forms(grønn (green) in Bokmål)
! colspan="4"	Comparative	Superlative
! Masculine			! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
grønn	grønn	grønt	grønne	grønnere	grønnest

+ Weak adjective formsgrøn (green) in Nynorsk
Positive (linguistics)>Positive	! Comparative	! Superlative
grøne	grønare	grønaste

+ Strong adjective forms(grøn (green) in Nynorsk)
! colspan="4"	Comparative	Superlative
! Masculine			! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
grøn	grøn	grønt	grøne	grønare	grønast

Verbs

Norwegian finite verbs are inflected or conjugated in mood: indicative/imperative/subjunctive. The subjunctive mood is constrained to a handful of verbs. The indicative verbs are conjugated in tense, present / past. In Bokmål and Standard Østnorsk, the infinitive and present tense also has a passive form, whilst Nynorsk only has a passive infinitive (which is used less frequently than its Bokmål counterpart). In a few dialects, indicative verbs are also conjugated in number. Conjugation in person is lost in Norwegian.

There are four non-finite verb forms: infinitive, passive infinitive, and the two participles perfective/past participle and imperfective/present participle.

The participles are verbal adjectives. The imperfective participle has no further declension, but the perfective participle is declined in gender (not in Bokmål and Standard Østnorsk) and number like strong, positive adjectives. The definite form of the participle is identical to the plural form.

As with other Germanic languages, Norwegian verbs can be either weak or strong.

+ Verb forms in Nynorskleva (to live)
! colspan="4"	! colspan="7"
! colspan="2"	! rowspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	Verbal nouns		Verbal adjectives (Participles)
! rowspan="2"	! rowspan="2"	Infinitive		Imperfective	Perfective
Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive	! Masculine	! Feminine		! Neuter	! Plural/Def
lever	levde	leve	lev	leva	levast	levande	levd	levd	levt	levde

+ Verb forms in Bokmålleve (to live)
! colspan="5"	! colspan="5"
! colspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	! rowspan="3"	Verbal nouns		Verbal adjectives (Participles)
! colspan="2"	! rowspan="2"	Infinitive		Imperfective	Perfective
Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive	Active voice>Active	Passive voice>Passive		! Singular	! Plural/Def
lever	leves	levde/ levet	leve	lev	leve	leves	levende	levd	levde/ levet

Pronouns

Norwegian personal pronouns are declined in case, nominative / accusative. Some of the dialects that have preserved the dative in nouns, also have a dative case instead of the accusative case in personal pronouns, while others have accusative in pronouns and dative in nouns, effectively giving these dialects three distinct cases.

In the most comprehensive Norwegian grammar, Norsk referansegrammatikk, the categorization of personal pronouns by person, gender, and number is not regarded as inflection. As with nouns, adjectives must agree with the gender and number of pronoun arguments.

Other pronouns have no inflection.

The so called possessive, demonstrative and relative pronouns are no longer regarded to be pronouns.

Pronouns are a closed class.

+ Examples of pronouns in Bokmål
Nominative case>Nominative	Accusative case>Accusative	English language>English equivalent
jeg	meg	I, me
du	deg	you (singular)
han	ham/han	he, him
hun	henne	she, her
den	den	it (masculine/feminine)
det	det	it (neuter)
vi	oss	we, us
dere	dere	you (plural)
de	dem	they, them

+ Examples of pronouns in Nynorsk
Nominative case>Nominative	Accusative case>Accusative	English language>English equivalent
eg	meg	I, me
du	deg	you (singular)
han	han/honom	he, him or it (masculine)
ho	ho/henne	she, her or it (feminine)
det	det	it (neuter)
me/vi	oss	we, us
de	dykk	you (plural)
dei	dei	they, them

Bokmål, like English, has two sets of 3rd person pronouns. Han and hun refer to male and female individuals respectively, den and det refer to impersonal or inanimate nouns, of masculine/feminine or neutral gender respectively. In contrast, Nynorsk and most dialects use the same set of pronouns (han (m.), ho (f.) and det (n.)) for both personal and impersonal references. Det also has expletive and cataphoric uses like in the English examples it rains and it was known by everyone (that) he had travelled the world.

Determiners

The closed class of Norwegian determiners are declined in gender and number in agreement with their argument. Not all determiners are inflected.

+ Determiner formsegen (own) in Bokmål
! Masculine	! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
egen	egen	eget	egne

+ Determiner formseigen (own) in Nynorsk
! Masculine	! Feminine	! Neuter	! Plural
eigen	eiga/eigi	eige/eigi	eigne

Particle classes

Norwegian has five closed classes without inflection, i.e. lexical categories with grammatical function and a finite number of members that may not be distinguished by morphological criteria. These are interjections, conjunctions, subjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs. The inclusion of adverbs here requires that traditional adverbs that are inflected in comparison be classified as adjectives, as is sometimes done.

Compound words

In Norwegian compound words, the head, i.e. the part determining the compound's class, is the last part. Only the first part has primary stress. For instance, the compound tenketank (think tank) has primary stress on the first syllable and is a noun (some sort of tank).

Compound words are written together in Norwegian, which can cause words to become very long, for example sannsynlighetsmaksimeringsestimator (maximum likelihood estimator) and menneskerettighetsorganisasjoner (human rights organisations). Another example is the title høyesterettsjustitiarius (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, originally a combination of supreme court and the actual title, justiciar). Note also the translation En midtsommernattsdrøm (A Midsummer Night's Dream).

If they are not written together, each part will naturally be read with primary stress, and the meaning of the compound is lost. This is sometimes forgotten, occasionally with humorous results. Instead of writing, for example, lammekoteletter (lamb chops), people make the mistake of writing lamme koteletter (lame, or paralyzed, chops). The original message can even be reversed, as when røykfritt (no smoking, lit. "smoke free") becomes røyk fritt (smoke freely).

Other examples include:

Terrasse dør ("Terrace dies") instead of Terrassedør ("Terrace door")

Tunfisk biter ("Tuna bites", verb) instead of Tunfiskbiter ("Tuna bits", noun)

Smult ringer ("Lard is calling", verb) instead of Smultringer ("Doughnuts")

Tyveri sikret ("Theft guaranteed") instead of Tyverisikret ("Theft proof")

Stekt kylling lever ("Fried chicken lives", verb) instead of Stekt kyllinglever ("Fried chicken liver", noun)

Smør brød ("Butter bread", verb) instead of Smørbrød ("Sandwich")

Klipp fisk ("Cut fish", verb) instead of Klippfisk ("Clipfish")

På hytte taket ("On cottage roof") instead of På hyttetaket ("On the cottage roof")

Altfor Norge ("Too much Norway") instead of Alt for Norge ("All for Norway", the royal motto of Norway)

Forsiktig hetstradisjon ("Careful tradition of abuse") instead of Forsiktighetstradisjon ("Tradition of carefulness").

These misunderstandings occur because most nouns can be interpreted as verbs or other types of words. Similar misunderstandings can be achieved in English too. The following are examples of phrases that both in Norwegian and English mean one thing as a compound word, and something different when regarded as separate words:

stavekontroll (spellchecker) or stave kontroll (spell checker)

kokebok (cookbook) or koke bok (cook book)

ekte håndlagde vafler (real handmade waffles) or ekte hånd lagde vafler (real hand made waffles)

Vocabulary

By far the largest part of the modern vocabulary of Norwegian dates back to Old Norse. The largest source of loanwords is Middle Low German, which had a huge influence on Norwegian vocabulary from the late Middle Ages onwards partially even influencing grammatical structures, such as genitive constructions. At present, the main source of new loanwords is English e.g. rapper, e-mail, catering, juice, bag (originally a loan word to English from Old Norse). However, Norwegian is considered to be less influenced by English than, for instance, Swedish, or particularly, Danish.

Some loanwords have their spelling changed to reflect Norwegian pronunciation rules, but in general Norwegianised spellings of these words tend to take a long time to sink in: e.g. sjåfør (from French chauffeur) and revansj (from French revanche) are now the common Norwegian spellings, but juice is more often used than the Norwegianised form jus, catering more often than keitering, service more often than sørvis, etc.

See also

Differences between the Norwegian and Danish languages

Norse

Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur

Noregs Mållag

Norsk Ordbok

Riksmålsforbundet

Russenorsk

List of Indo-European languages

Numbers in various languages

Norwegianism

References

Bibliography

Olav T. Beito, Nynorsk grammatikk. Lyd- og ordlære, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1986, ISBN 82-521-2801-7

Jan Terje Faarlund, Svein Lie, Kjell Ivar Vannebo, Norsk referansegrammatikk, Universitetsforlaget, Oslo 1997, 2002 (3rd edition), ISBN 82-00-22569-0 (Bokmål and Nynorsk)

Rolf Theil Endresen, Hanne Gram Simonsen, Andreas Sveen, Innføring i lingvistikk (2002), ISBN 82-00-45273-5

Arne Torp, Lars S. Vikør (1993), Hovuddrag i norsk språkhistorie (3.utgåve), Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS 2003

External links

Norwegian Phrasebook at Wikitravel

Norwegian-English Dictionary (2)

Apertium Translation of words, text or websites (URL) between Norwegian Nynorsk and Norwegian Bokmål.

EasyTrans.org Easily translate words between English, Norwegian and Spanish.

Learn Norwegian! - rated list of online Norwegian courses.

Category:Languages of Norway Category:North Germanic languages Category:Scandinavia Category:Stress-timed languages

af:Noors ang:Norðisc sprǣc ar:لغة نرويجية an:Idioma noruego az:Norveç dili bn:নরওয়েজীয় ভাষা zh-min-nan:Norge-gí be:Нарвежская мова be-x-old:Нарвэская мова bs:Norveški jezik br:Norvegeg bg:Нюношк ca:Noruec cv:Норвег чĕлхи cs:Norština cy:Norwyeg da:Norsk (sprog) de:Norwegische Sprache et:Norra keel el:Νορβηγική γλώσσα es:Idioma noruego eo:Norvega lingvo eu:Norvegiera ee:Norwegbe fa:زبان نروژی hif:Norwegian bhasa fo:Norskt mál fr:Norvégien fy:Noarsk gv:Norlynnish gd:Nirribhis gl:Lingua norueguesa ko:노르웨이어 hi:नॉर्वेजियन भाषा hr:Norveški jezik io:Norvegiana linguo id:Bahasa Norwegia os:Норвегиаг æвзаг is:Norska it:Lingua norvegese he:נורבגית krc:Норвег тил ka:ნორვეგიული ენა kw:Norgahek sw:Kinorwei ku:Zimanê norwêcî la:Lingua Norvegica lv:Norvēģu valoda lt:Norvegų kalba lij:Lengua norvegeise li:Noors lmo:Lengua nurvegesa hu:Norvég nyelv mk:Норвешки јазик mr:नॉर्वेजियन भाषा arz:نرويجى ms:Bahasa Norway mdf:Норвегонь кяль nl:Noors nds-nl:Noors ja:ノルウェー語 no:Norsk nn:Norsk nrm:Norvégien oc:Norvegian mhr:Норвег йылме tpi:Tok Nowe nds:Norweegsche Spraak pl:Język norweski pt:Língua norueguesa kbd:Норвегэбзэ ro:Limba norvegiană rm:Lingua norvegiaisa qu:Nurwiga simi ru:Норвежский язык se:Dárogiella sco:Norse leid stq:Norwegisk sq:Gjuha norvegjeze scn:Lingua norviggisa simple:Norwegian language sk:Nórčina sl:Norveščina szl:Norwesko godka sr:Norveški jezik sh:Norveški jezik fi:Norjan kieli sv:Norska ta:நோர்வே மொழி tt:Норвег теле th:ภาษานอร์เวย์ tg:Забони норвегӣ tr:Norveççe uk:Норвезька мова ug:نورۋېگىيە تىلى vi:Tiếng Na Uy zea:Nôors bat-smg:Nuorvegu kalba zh:挪威语

name	Monty Python
medium	Television, film, theatre, audio recordings, books
nationality	British
active	1969–1983
genre	Satire, Surreal humour, dark comedy
influences	The Goons, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook
influenced	Douglas Adams, Eddie Izzard, George Carlin, Vic and Bob, Matt Stone, Trey Parker
notable work	Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974)And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
current members	Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones Michael Palin
website	PythOnline
footnotes	}}

Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to Elvis Presley's influence on music.

The television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach (aided by Gilliam's animation), it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, they changed the way performers entertained audiences. The Pythons' creative control allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.

In a 2005 UK poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, three of the six Pythons members were voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at #2, Idle at #21, and Palin at #30.

Before Flying Circus

Palin and Jones met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Cleese and Chapman met at Cambridge. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Cleese and Chapman. Cleese met Gilliam in New York while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the Club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Idle and Cleese. They are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the college drama society's theatrical productions.

Python members appeared in and/or wrote the following shows before Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Frost Report is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles:

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973) [Cleese: cast member & writer] – [Idle and Chapman: writers]

The Frost Report (1966–1967) [Cleese: cast member and writer] – [Idle: writer of Frost's monologues] – [Chapman, Palin and Jones: writers]

At Last the 1948 Show (1967) [Chapman and Cleese: writers and cast members] – [Idle: writer]

Twice a Fortnight (1967) [Palin and Jones: cast members and writers]

Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969) [Idle, Jones, and Palin: cast members & writers] – [Gilliam: animation] — Bonzo Dog Band: musical interludes]

We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968) [Idle: cast member & writer] – [Gilliam: animation]

How to Irritate People (1968) [Cleese and Chapman: cast members & writers] – [Palin: cast member]

The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969) [Palin and Jones: cast members & writers]

Doctor in the House (1969) [Cleese & Chapman: writers]

Several featured other important British comedy writers or performers of the future, including Marty Feldman, Jonathan Lynn, David Jason and David Frost, as well as members of other future comedy teams, Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker (the Two Ronnies), and Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie (the Goodies).

Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, originally intended to be a children's programme, with adults, ITV offered Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam their own series together. At the same time Cleese and Chapman were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last The 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin and invited him to join the team. With the ITV series still in pre-production, Palin agreed and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn suggested that Gilliam could provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.

Monty Python's Flying Circus

Development of the series

The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe, and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, recording his groundbreaking series Q5 (1969). Not only was the programme more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, Milligan would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate.

After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called Beware of the Elephants, which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled Christmas Cards, and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, it was Jones, Palin and Gilliam who became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another).

Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join together with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a 'writer', rather than an actor desperate for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had carte blanche to decide how to bridge them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.

While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations, meanwhile, ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).

Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, Toad Elevating Moment, A Bucket, a Horse and a Spoon, Vaseline Review and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). "Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus" was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. "Baron Von Took's Flying Circus" was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded.

There are differing, somewhat confusing accounts of the origins of the Python name although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live At Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently-mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a legendary British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".

Style of the show

Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions the cold open lasted until mid show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion the credits ran directly after the opening titles. They also experimented with ending segments by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "Colonel" character, who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly." Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and make the formal and determined announcement, "And now for something completely different."

The Python theme music is The Liberty Bell, a march by John Philip Sousa, which was chosen, among other reasons, because the recording was in the public domain.

The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the series.

The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Generally speaking, female roles were played by a woman (usually Carol Cleveland) when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). In some episodes and later in Monty Python's Life of Brian they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men (in the stoning scene).

Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam", "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop" and "The Ministry of Silly Walks" are just a few examples.

End of Flying Circus

Having considered the possibility at the end of the second series, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese-and-Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom."

The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" series before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for series four, but in the end credits the show is listed as simply "Monty Python". Despite his official departure from the group, Cleese supposedly made a (non-speaking) cameo appearance in the fourth series, but never appeared in the credits as a performer. Several episodes credit him as a co-writer since some sketches were recycled from scenes cut from the Holy Grail script. While the first three series contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after six.

Time-Life Films had the right to distribute all BBC-TV programs in America, however they had decided that British comedy simply would not work in the U.S.A. Therefore, it was not worth the investment to convert the Python shows from the European PAL standard to the American NTSC standard, which meant PBS stations could not afford the programmes. Finally, in 1974, Greg Garrison, TV producer for Dean Martin, used a couple of Python sketches ("Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker") on the NBC series ComedyWorld, a summer replacement series for The Dean Martin Show. Payment for use of these segments was enough to pay for the conversion of the entire Python library to NTSC standard. At last, they could be sold to non-commercial TV stations, where officially they began airing in October 1974—exactly 5 years after their BBC debut. One PBS station had a program director (Ron Devillier) so eager that he 'jumped the gun' and started broadcasting the 'Flying Circus' episodes in that summer on the unlikely KERA in Dallas. The ratings shot through the roof—and was an encouraging sign to the other 100 stations that had signed up to air the shows. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the country, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy.

With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.

Life after the Flying Circus

Filmography

And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

The Pythons' first feature film (directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series). It was composed of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not To Be Seen" and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboy's UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK (this still being in the era before home video would make it much more accessible to view the material again). The group did not consider the film a success.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)

In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian Legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but it was Chapman who took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that the group were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin—and UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).

The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel) but it was eventually kept in the movie.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle once flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus nor his teachings directly. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah," but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.

The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love and tolerance. ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'")

Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. He had a cameo role as the 'owner of the Mount.'

Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)

Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

Python's final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of Python's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers. The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone."

Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch—The Crimson Permanent Assurance. Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) Crucially, this was the last project that all six Pythons would collaborate on, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This would be the last time Chapman appeared on-screen with the Pythons.

Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows

Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums and books. These benefit shows and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are U2, Bob Geldof, Pete Townshend and Sting. The shows are credited by Amnesty with helping the organisation develop public awareness in the USA where one of the spin-off films was a major success.

Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick)—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show they were collectively billed as Monty Python. (Peter Cook deputised for the errant Idle in one major sketch The Courtroom.) In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without variants of the iconic title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve such shows. The shows since 1987 have featured newer generations of British comedic performers, including many who have attributed their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. (Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.)

Going solo

Each member has pursued various film, television and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Palin and Idle respectively. Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Cleese and Palin alongside many of their English contemporaries, including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan and Marty Feldman.

Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a non-speaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking, also has Cleese playing a small part.

In 1996, Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaption of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river.

In terms of numbers of productions, Cleese has the most prolific solo career, having appeared in 59 theatrical films, 22 TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), 23 direct-to-video productions, six video games, and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his then-wife Connie Booth), is considered the greatest solo work by a Python since the sketch show finished. It is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll.

Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody The Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe post-Python. Written by Idle, it has proved an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and also Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), which repurposes The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.

Post-Python reunions

Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. The final reunion of all six members occurred during the Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python special. The death of Chapman in 1989 (on the eve of their 20th anniversary) put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. There have been several occasions since 1989 when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions.

In 1996, Jones, Idle, Cleese and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live At Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches.

On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event. The program appears, though omitting a few things, on the DVD The Life of Python. Though Idle's involvement in the special is limited, the final sketch marks the only time since 1989 that all surviving members of the troupe appear in one sketch, albeit not in the same room.

In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.

In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of business rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members “together” in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.

Idle has responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."

2003's The Pythons Autobiography By The Pythons, compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's permanent fission. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the original Grail and Brian films had been considered to be essential performance anchorage). Apparently Idle was angry with Cleese for refusing to do the film, which most of the remaining Pythons thought reasonably promising (the basic plot would have taken on a self-referential tone, featuring them in their main 'knight' guises from Holy Grail, mulling over the possibilities of reforming their posse). The book also reveals that a secondary option around this point was the possibility of revitalising the Python brand with a new stage tour, perhaps with the promise of new material. This idea had also hit the buffers at Cleese's refusal, this time with the backing of other members.

March 2005 saw a full, if non-performing, reunion of the surviving cast members at the premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004, it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. Cleese played the voice of God, played in the film by Chapman.

Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005, that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.

Eric Idle and John Cleese appeared on stage together singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" with the rest of the performers for the climax of Prince Charles 60th Birthday Show.

In 2009, to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films.

Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary Idle, Palin, Jones and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009 where the Team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In June 2011, it was announced that Monty Python have begun production on their first film project since the Meaning of Life in 1983. Their next film, A Liar's Autobiography, is an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of the late Python member, Graham Chapman, who died in 1989 at the age of 48. A Liar’s Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity and the toils of surreal comedy.

Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing . . . it’s all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie."

The film will use Chapman's own voice - from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer - and entertainment channel EPIX announced that the film will be released in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style.

John Cleese has recorded new dialogue which will be matched with Chapman’s voice and Michael Palin will voice Chapman’s mother and father. Terry Gilliam plays various roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle has not become involved, though Timlett said the filmmakers are “working on” him.

Python members

Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practice as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of spinal and throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the Dead Parrot sketch, which they had written.

John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Graham Chapman in Cambridge.

Terry Gilliam, an American, was the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the USA to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).

When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in his contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred), which was awarded five Razzies, including 'Worst Picture of the Year'. He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. He also wrote the Broadway musical Spamalot, based on the Holy Grail movie. He also wrote Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy), an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian.

Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the “heart” of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should you "speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often underrated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions.

Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first ten seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007.

Associate Pythons

Several people have been accorded unofficial "Associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 7th Python, in a style reminiscent of associates of The Beatles being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle." The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994. Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for the Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they re-created sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the "Seventh Python," it would certainly be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need is Cash (1978). By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that he and Innes go back "too far. And no further." Innes has remained silent on the dispute.

Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as the "Python Girl." Originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus, she went on to appear in approximately two-thirds of the episodes as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows as well. Her common portrayal as the stereotypical "blonde bimbo" eventually earned her the sobriquet "Carol Cleavage" from the other Pythons, but she felt that the variety of her roles should not be described in such a pejorative way.

Other contributors

Cleese's wife Connie Booth appeared in, amongst others "The Lumberjack Song" and as the "witch" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Cleese and Booth later co-wrote and co-starred in Fawlty Towers.

Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of the Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch, a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill out numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode The Light Entertainment War, Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of Mr. Neutron, Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (he taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted a history of the group entitled The Life of Python (1999) that was part of the Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen).

Cultural influence

By the time of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Monty Python in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Monty and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence" Matt Groening, creator and co-developer of animated series the Simpsons, names Monty Python as an influence and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six.

Space

In 2010 the commercial space company SpaceX, launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to the earth. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, claimed this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.

World records

On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" for the Guinness World Records attempt.

'Pythonesque'

Amongst the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language. The most obvious of these is the term 'pythonesque', which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorize and that "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".

The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g. the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th anniversary theme night).

Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Recent episodes even include Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.

Things named after Monty Python

Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.

The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot Sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Also, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote some spacecraft navigation software in Python, which they dubbed "Monty". There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair ( ), named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.

In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team. (Transliterated from Greek Μοντυπυθωνοειδής back to English, Montypythonoides means "like Monty Python".) In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the lineup "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavor. In 1999, Black Sheep Brewery released an ale named "Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale."

The band Toad the Wet Sprocket drew its name from the Eric Idle monologue "Rock Notes" on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album from 1980.

The band Boxhamsters, which is the German translation of Brook-Hamster, the winner of the Upper Class Twit of the Year. A philosophy lecture series entitled Themes in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy as Reflected in the Work of Monty Python. The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the programme's 1970 "Spam" sketch.

In the book The Reptile Room by "Lemony Snicket", the character Uncle Monty was named after Monty Python, in a joke referring to his obsession with snakes.

Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python .

The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.

Dead Parrot Society is the title of a comedy CD released in 1993 featuring sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus as well as Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, John Cleese, Dudley Moore, and The Portsmouth Sinfonia The title is also a play on the 1989 film Dead Poets Society.

Media

Television

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74)

:The show that started the Python phenomenon. See also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972)

: Two 45-minute specials made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.

Monty Python's Personal Best (2006)

:Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.

Films

There were five Monty Python productions released as theatrical films:

And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)

:A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus purposely re-enacted and shot for film.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)

:King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into standalone sketches.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

:Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)

:A videotape recording directed by Ian MacNaughton of a live performance of sketches. Originally intended for a TV/video special. Transferred to 35mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

:An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.

Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) (2009)

:This film features interviews with all the surviving Python members, along with archive representation for the late Graham Chapman.

A Liar's Autobiography: Volume IV (2012)

:This is an animated film which is based on the memoir of the late Monty Python member, Graham Chapman.

Albums

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)

Another Monty Python Record (1971)

Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)

The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)

Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)

The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)

The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

The Final Rip Off (1988)

Monty Python Sings (1989)

The Monty Python Instant Record Collection, Volume 2 (1991)

The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)

The Instant Monty Python CD Collection (1994)

Spamalot (Broadway version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Tim Curry as King Arthur) (2005)

The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)

Theatre

Monty Python's Flying Circus – Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980) the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.

Monty Python's Spamalot – Written by Idle directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, and starring Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce, Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tonys.

Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) – The Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle’s cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "It will be funnier than Handel, though not as good".

Books

Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) ISBN 0-413-29520-6.

The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) ISBN 0-7493-1170-3.

Monty Python and The Holy Grail (book) – Mønti Pythøn ik den Hølie Gräilen (Bøk) (1977) ISBN 0-413-38520-5.

MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK/ The Life of Brian (1979) ISBN 0-413-46550-0.

Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) ISBN 0-413-62540-0.

Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) ISBN 0-413-62550-8.

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Volumes 1 & 2

The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994) ISBN 0-413-69000-8

Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979

The Pythons: Autobiography by the Pythons

The Life of Brian/Jesus (2011) ISBN 978-184876-628-0.

Games

Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / DOS

Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level. It used footage and imagery from the film, as well as audio clips (some new) and featured an animated version of a scene never filmed entitled "King Brian The Wild".

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level. According to the jewel case description, it's based on the film by the same name, but it's really something completely similar yet entirely different.

Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc. Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs

Blazing Dragons

See also

Beyond the Fringe

List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes

List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus

Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time

Python (Monty) Pictures

Spamalot

The Goodies

The Goon Show

References

Further reading

The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)

Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity

The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)

External links

Pythonline.com – Monty Python's sort-of official site, actively maintained by Eric Idle

Monty Python – Official YouTube page

Monty Python Videos – Monty Python's best videos and movies

Python at ifilm.com

Pythonisms: Python quotes as figures of speech

The SOTCAA Monty Python Pages

Release of the 3-DVD Secret Policeman's Balls

40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine

Monty Python Reunion event, New York, 15 October 2009

Category:British comedy troupes Category:British television comedy Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Arista Records artists Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Charisma Records artists

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A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.

Methods

Their jobs require war correspondents to deliberately go to the most conflict-ridden parts of the world. Once there they attempt to get close enough to the action to provide written accounts, photos, or film footage. Thus, being a war correspondent is often considered the most dangerous form of journalism. On the other hand, war coverage is also one of the most successful branches of journalism. Newspaper sales increase greatly in wartime and television news ratings go up. News organizations have sometimes been accused of warmongering because of the advantages they gather from conflict. William Randolph Hearst is often said to have encouraged the Spanish-American War for this reason. (See Yellow journalism)

Only some conflicts receive extensive worldwide coverage, however. Among recent wars, the Kosovo War received a great deal of coverage, as did the Persian Gulf War. Many third-world wars, however, tend to receive less substantial coverage because corporate media are often less interested, the lack of infrastructure makes reporting more difficult and expensive, and the conflicts are also far more dangerous for war correspondents.

History

Written war correspondents have existed as long as journalism. Before modern journalism it was more common for longer histories to be written at the end of a conflict. The first known of these is Herodotus's account of the Persian Wars, however he did not himself participate in the events. Thucydides, who some years later wrote a history of the Peloponnesian Wars was an observer to the events he described.

The first modern war correspondent is said to be Dutch painter Willem van de Velde, who in 1653 took to sea in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English, of which he made many sketches on the spot, which he later developed into one big drawing that he added to a report he wrote to the States General. A further modernization came with the development of newspapers and magazines . One of the earliest war correspondents was Henry Crabb Robinson, who covered Napoleon's campaigns in Spain and Germany for The Times of London.

Crimean War

William Howard Russell, who covered the Crimean War, also for The Times, is often described as the first modern war correspondent. The stories from this era, which were almost as lengthy and analytical as early books on war, took numerous weeks from being written to being published.

Russo-Japanese War

It was not until the telegraph was developed that reports could be sent on a daily basis and events could be reported as they occurred that the short mainly descriptive stories of today became common. Press coverage of the Russo-Japanese War was affected by restrictions on the movement of reporters and strict censorship. In all military conflicts which followed this 1904-1905 war, close attention to more managed reporting was considered essential.

First World War

The First World War was the first modern mediated war in the sense that warfare becomes conflicts and controversies between parties who exchange information and arguments indirectly by the mass media and their special correspondents reporting from the front lines of warfare. The discourse in mediated conflicts is influenced by its public character. By forwarding information and arguments to the media, conflict parties attempt to gain support from their constituencies and persuade their opponents.

The continued progress of technology has allowed live coverage of events via satellite up-links. The rise of twenty-four hour news channels has led to a heightened demand for coverage.

Early film and television news rarely had war correspondents. Rather they would simply collect footage provided by other sources, often the government, and the news anchor would then add narration. This footage was often staged as cameras were large and bulky. This changed dramatically with the Vietnam War when networks from around the world sent cameramen with portable cameras and correspondents. This proved damaging to the United States as the full brutality of war became a daily feature on the nightly news.

Notable war correspondents

Some of them became authors of fiction drawing on their war experiences, including Davis, Crane and Hemingway.

19th century

Kit Coleman first female war correspondent

George Wingrove Cooke, Second Opium War, 1857-1858.

Thomas Bowlby, North China Campaign 1860.

Archibald Forbes

Stephen Crane (1871–1900); covered the 1897 Greco-Turkish War, where he contracted tuberculosis.

Howard C. Hillegas, covered Boer Wars

William Howard Russell

Frederic Villiers

Benjamin C. Truman

20th century

Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett (1881–1931); covered the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.

Bill Boss (1917–2007) Canadian war correspondent, for the Canadian Press, who covered World War II.

Alexandra Boulat

Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971); first female war correspondent, photographed Buchenwald concentration camp

Mary Marvin Breckinridge (1905–2002); covered World War II.

Wilfred Burchett (1911–1983); covered the Pacific War, Korean War and Vietnam War. He was known for covering news from the "other side" of the battlefield, and was often criticised of being a communist sympathiser.

Larry Burrows

Robert Capa (1913–1954); covered the Spanish Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War, the European Theatre of World War II and the First Indochina War (where he was killed by a landmine).

Dickey Chapelle (1918–1965); covered the Pacific War, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Vietnam War (where she was killed by a landmine). She was the first female US war correspondent to be killed in action.

Greg Clarke (1892–1977) Canadian war correspondent who covered World War I and II.

Basil Clarke (1879–1947); covered the fighting on the Western Front during WWI.

Alexander Clifford, covered World War II

Burton Crane (1901–1963); covered occupied Japan after World War II and the Korean War for the New York Times.

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009); covered the European Theater during World War II for United Press.

Neil Davis - Australian combat cameraman covered the Vietnam War, Cambodia and Laos and subsequently conflicts in Africa.

Albert K. Dawson (1885–1967); American photographer and film correspondent with the German, Austrian and Bulgarian army during the First World War

Luc Delahaye

Richard Dimbleby (1913–1965); covered World War II

David Douglas Duncan

Kurt Eggers (-1943) World War II SS correspondent, editor of the SS magazine Das Schwarze Korps, was killed while reporting on the Wiking's battles near Kharkov. The German SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was named in his honor.

Gloria Emerson (1929–2004); covered the Vietnam War.

Bernard B. Fall (1926–1967); covered the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War (where he was killed by a landmine).

Sylvana Foa, correspondent in Vietnam and Cambodia

J.C. Furnas; covered World War II.

Joseph L. Galloway (born November 13, 1941), UPI correspondent in Vietnam and co-author of We Were Soldiers Once...and Young.

Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998); covered the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Vietnam War, the Six-Day War and even the U.S. invasion of Panama.

Georgie Anne Geyer (born 1935); covered the Guatemalan Civil War and the Algerian Civil War.

Philip Gibbs; Official war Correspondent for Britain during the First World War.

Nakayama Gishu

Al Gore (born 1948); covered the Vietnam War.

Henry Tilton Gorrell (1911–1958); United Press correspondent. Covered the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Author of "Soldier of the Press, Covering the Front in Europe and North Africa, 1936-1943" published by the University of Missouri Press, 2009.

Cork Graham (born 1964); imprisoned in Vietnam for illegally entering the country while looking for treasure buried by Captain Kidd.

Louis Grondijs (1878–1961); covered Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Russian Civil War, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the Spanish Civil War.

Corra Harris early women correspondent in World War I.

David Halberstam

Macdonald Hastings

Max Hastings

Ron Haviv

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961); covered the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Michael Herr

Marguerite Higgins; paved the way for female war correspondents.

Clare Hollingworth covered World War II, Algerian War, Vietnam War

Philip Jones Griffiths

Gary Knight

Larry LeSueur, CBS radio correspondent, reported from rooftops during World War II London blitzes, went ashore in the first waves of the D-Day invasion, and broadcast to America the Allied liberation of Paris.

Jim G. Lucas, Scripps-Howard Newspapers, reported human interest stories from the front lines in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Alexander Gault MacGowan, (1894-1970), correspondent for The Sun (New York), reported from the front lines in World War II.

Anne O'Hare McCormick

Don McCullin

Alan Moorehead, covered World War II

Christopher Morris

Ralph Morse, (born 1917) covered World War II

Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) Covered the Blitz in London and the European Thearer during World War II.

James Nachtwey

George Sessions Perry (1910–1956) Covered WWII for Harper's Weekly and Saturday Evening Post. He accompanied troops on the invasions of Italy and France. Said after the war that his war experiences "de-fictionalized" him for life, and he never wrote fiction again.

Roy Pinney (1911–2010) covered World War II and was present at the Normandy landing on D-Day for the Normandy Invasion. He also covered the Yom Kippur War in the Gaza Strip and conflicts in Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Africa and Colombia.

Ernie Pyle, Scripps-Howard Newspapers, reported human interest stories from the front lines in World War II, Pulitzer Prize, 1944

Yvonne Ridley

Joe Rosenthal, received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima

John Sack

Sydney Schanberg, his experiences in Cambodia during the Vietnam War are dramatized in The Killing Fields

Sigrid Schultz

Robert Sherrod, WW II, Pacific theatre, Guadacanal and Tarawa/Saipan

William L. Shirer

Richard Tregaskis, author of Guadalcanal Diary, dramatized in movie of same name.

Osmar White

Eric Lloyd Williams

Chester Wilmot

21st century

Richard Engel; covered the Iraq War and the 2006 Lebanon War.

Lara Logan

Kevin Sites

Nir Rosen; covered the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan (2001-present).

Dexter Filikins covered the Iraq War.

Jason Feldman covered the Iraq War.

General

Kate Adie (born 1945); covered the Gulf War, Yugoslav Wars, Rwandan Genocide and the Sierra Leone Civil War.

Christiane Amanpour (born 1958); covered the Gulf War and the Bosnian War.

Peter Arnett (born 1934); covered the Vietnam War, 1991 Gulf War, the 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq War.

Martin Bell (born 1938); covered the Vietnam War, Biafra War, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Angolan Civil War and the Bosnian War.

Mile Cărpenişan (born August 23, 1975 – died March 22, 2010) covered the Iraq war and Kosovo war

Peter Cave (born 1952); covered the Gulf War, Yugoslav Wars, the Coconut War in the New Hebrides , Iraq War, Tiananmen Square , Lebanon , Egypt and Libya

Anderson Cooper, at age of 42, a renowned War correspondent serving CNN.

Winston Churchill (1874–1965); covered the Siege of Malakand, the Mahdist War and the Second Boer War.

Richard Harding Davis (1864–1916); covered the Spanish-American War, Second Boer War and the fighting on the Macedonian front during World War I.

Lady Florence Dixie (1855–1905); covered the First Boer War

Roy Pinney (born 1911) covered World War II and was present at the Normandy landing on D-Day for the Normandy Invasion. He also covered the Yom Kippur War in the Gaza Strip and conflicts in Afghanistan, the Philippines, South Africa and Colombia. Among the approximately 500 war correspondents covering the Normandy Invasion Roy Pinney is the oldest living survivor. Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes fame is also among the oldest survivors.

Robert Fisk (born 1946); covered the Lebanese Civil War, the Iranian Revolution, Iran–Iraq War, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Algerian Civil War, Kosovo War and the 2003 Iraq War.

Peggy Hull (1889–1967) covered Mexican-American War, World War I and World War II

Ryszard Kapuściński

Helen Kirkpatrick (1909–1997) covered World War II including The Blitz, Normandy Invasion and Liberation of France.

Rick Leventhal (born 1960) covered the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya

George Lewis NBC News Vietnam War 1970-1973

Terry Lloyd

Anthony Loyd

Karen Maron

Waldemar Milewicz

Kenji Nagai

Arturo Pérez-Reverte, worked for Pueblo newspaper and Spanish TVE. Covered the Bosnian War among others.

Robert Young Pelton Best known for his 1000+ page guide to warzones and survival, The World's Most Dangerous Places.

John Pilger

Dan Rather

Anna Politkovskaya

Joe Sacco comics artist who covered the Gulf War and Bosnian War

Morley Safer

Chris Hedges

Kurt Schork

Sylvester "Harry" Scovell influential yellow journalist in Spanish-American War

Giuliana Sgrena

John Simpson

Daniel Smith

Michael Ware (born 1969); ongoing coverage of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Reporting from the perspectives of all combatant groups.

Trevor Watson (born 1953, Sydney, Australia) the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Cambodia, military rebellion in Fiji, Tiananmen Square

Kate Webb

Rod Williams Hall of Fame broadcaster covered Vietnam War

Michael Yon (born 1964); Former Green Beret, turned journalist and author. Embedded with American, British and Lithuanian combat units in Iraq War and Afghanistan War.

Jacques Leslie, Vietnam and Cambodia War correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, 1972–1973, 1975. Leslie was the first American journalist to enter and return from Viet Cong (National Liberation Front) territory in South Vietnam, in January 1973.

Books by war correspondents

Witnesses to War Fay Anderson and Richard Trembath

The Secret Life of War by Peter Beaumont

"War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges

Anyone Here Been Raped and Speaks English by Edward Behr

The Face of War by Martha Gellhorn

"Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World" by Nir Rosen

Dispatches by Michael Herr

The Soccer War by Ryszard Kapuściński

"A Small Corner of Hell:Dispatches from Chechnya" by Anna Politkovskaya

"The Forever War" by Dexter Filkins

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

"My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and Its Aftermath" by Seymour Hersh

"The Massacre at El Mozote" by Mark Danner

"Seasons in Hell: Understanding Bosnia's War" by Ed Vulliamy

My War Gone By, I Miss It So by Anthony Loyd

Unreasonable Behaviour: An Autobiography by Don McCullin

Soldier of the Press: Covering the Front in Europe and North Africa, 1936-1943 by Henry T. Gorrell

''Dispatches from War, memoirs" by Anderson Cooper

"The Mark: A War Correspondent's Memoir of Vietnam and Cambodia" by Jacques Leslie

"We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" by Philip Gourevitch

See also

Breathing (memorial sculpture)

Embedded journalism

List of foreign correspondents in the Spanish Civil War

Military journalism

Press pool

War correspondents 1942–1943

:Category:War correspondents

Notes

References

Stephen D. Reese, Stephen D., Oscar H. Gandy and August E. Grant. (2001). Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World. Maywah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. 10-ISBN 0-805-83653-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-805-83653-0; OCLC 46383772

External links

War Correspondents: A Book Bibliography

A statistical analysis of journalists killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003

['Covering D-Day: An Allied Journalist's Perspective' – a report written by David J. Marcou for British Heritage magazine's website, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, dealing with media coverage of the Normandy Landings, on and/or around June 6, 1944.]

Biographical dictionary of 24,000+ British and Irish journalists who died between 1800 and 1960

Category:Reporting specialties Category:People associated with war *

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