Allemannsretten – the Freedom to Roam

or all the similarities between Norwegian and American culture, I am perpetually fascinated by the differences, sometimes small and sometimes gaping, that I occasionally stumble across. One of the most interesting to me is the Norwegian concept of allemannsretten (ALL-eh-mahns-ret-en). Literally meaning “everyman’s right,” allemannsretten is also called “the freedom to roam” in English.