In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish surveys Denmark’s shift from a historic empire with overseas colonies to a modern realm consisting of mainland Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. He outlines the former Danish empire’s reach—Norway, Iceland, parts of Sweden and Germany, the U.S. Virgin Islands, African and Indian trading posts—and explains how those territories were lost through wars and independence movements. The episode then focuses on the current Danish realm, describing royal symbolism (costumes, the queen’s sarcophagus made of stone from each region) and recent political gestures (updated coat of arms, new dogsled patrols). Mellish delves into the heated debate over Greenland’s possible independence, noting Greenland’s heavy reliance on Danish subsidies (over half of its public budget), the growing Greenlandic independence movement, and the United States’ renewed strategic interest in the island. He captures mixed Danish public sentiment—pride, hurt, anger, and pragmatic arguments for letting Greenland go. Finally, Mellish argues that Denmark’s empire now lives on through cultural and commercial influence: Danish design, sustainable architecture, Maersk’s global shipping share, Novo Nordisk’s pharmaceutical reach, and LEGO’s worldwide presence. The episode ends with promotional plugs for his books and speaking services.
Chapters
Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. Denmark, as Danes like to tell you, is a little country. But it used to be a much bigger country, a bit of an empire. Norway was once part of Denmark. Iceland was once part of Denmark. The southern half of Sweden and a bit of the northern part of Germany, used to be part of Denmark. What is now called the U.S. Virgin Islands used to be part of Denmark, full of sugar plantations. And Denmark had colonies in Africa and India, which is why when you go into many Danish supermarkets, even online supermarkets, you'll see a section called Colonial. It features long-life products like spices and nuts. that used to come from trading posts in the faraway Danish colonies. Over time, through war losses and independence movements, the Danish Empire shrank. And today we're going to talk about how it might shrink further. Today's Danish realm is made up of mainland Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. Denmark takes this realm seriously. The only time you'll see Danish royals photographed in traditional folk costumes is on their regular trips to the Faroe Islands or Greenland. The Faroese costumes are beautiful— a bit like a fantasy book or movie. Lots of corsets and capes. In Greenland, the Danish royals wear Inuit clothing and sealskin boots— at least for the photo session. Denmark's greatest living royal, the previous Queen Margrethe, had Greenland and the Faroes in mind When she designed her own sarcophagus, where she will spend eternity in Roskilde Cathedral, along with all the other Danish kings and queens. The 84-year-old queen chose Greenlandic marble and volcanic stone from the Faroe Islands, alongside sandstone from the Danish mainland. So she will lie in state supported by stone from every part of the current Danish realm. But there's been talk in recent weeks that the Danish realm may be losing a bit of that territory. A new leader in the U.S. thinks Greenland should perhaps be part of his country for commercial and military security reasons. Meanwhile, the political head of Greenland says the country is ready for independence, or at least to leave Denmark behind. And that perhaps a referendum should be held on the topic. Now, personally, I do not know Greenland well. I have never been there, even though the Greenlanders have been working hard to develop their tourism industry. Right now, they mostly live from fishing and from heavy, heavy subsidies from Denmark, which make up more than half of their public budget. What would replace those subsidies if Greenland were independent? Isn't clear. The Danes I talked to have mixed feelings about the potential loss of Greenland. I will say there's a bit of anger and hurt pride in Denmark that a part of the Danish realm is being eyed up by a 500-pound gorilla of a country, which is supposedly an ally, led by a man most Danes don't like at all. The new Danish king, King Frederik X, said in his televised New Year's speech that Denmark and Greenland belong together. Then he paused and looked meaningfully into the camera. I saw a lot of applause for that online. In addition, the royal coat of arms, which hasn't been changed in 50 years, was updated last month. to emphasize Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Meanwhile, Denmark's political leadership sent extra military resources to Greenland, including 2 new dogsled patrols, which are very practical there. In his younger days, the king himself drove a dogsled across Greenland. Some Danes point out that Greenland has been Danish or Norwegian for centuries, And that the Norwegian Erik the Red had a settlement there long before the arrival of Inuits, who currently make up most of Greenland's population. But I also hear from Danes who are ready to let go of Greenland. Some complain that the Greenlanders are ungrateful about all Denmark has done for them. All that money. All the schools and hospitals and airports Denmark has built in Greenland. Some Danes feel the Greenlanders don't like them. And a Greenlandic representative who insisted on speaking Greenlandic in the Danish Parliament caused a lot of bad feelings recently. Some Danes say, hey, the Greenlanders have been saying they want independence for quite some time, so why not give it to them? It'll save us some money. Whether or not 58,000 people, which is the total population of Greenland, can maintain full independence on that very big island is another story. I'm not a politician, but I am a citizen of both Denmark and the USA, and I can tell you the Americans are serious about getting a hold of Greenland. It's not a joke. Each new US president sends an ambassador to Denmark, and this is usually an afterthought. They focus on ambassadors to the big countries like Russia and India, and then usually get to Denmark after 9 or 10 months. In the Biden administration, it took a full year to send an ambassador to Denmark. Not this time. This time, the ambassador from Denmark was chosen before the ambassador to Russia or India, and they selected a man who could be confirmed quickly because he has already been ambassador to Sweden. This fellow is clearly being sent to pry Greenland away from Denmark's grasp. Will he succeed? I don't know. I can't see the future. But I do know that Denmark still does have an empire, but it is commercial and cultural, not territorial. Danish-designed furniture and interior design influences what is considered good taste all over the world. And Denmark is a leader in sustainable urban design and architecture. Danish merchant ships carry goods all over the world. Maersk has 15% of the global container ship fleet. That's pretty impressive for a country that's not yet 6 million people. Novo Nordisk, Denmark's largest company, distributes diabetes and weight loss medicines like Ozempic far beyond Denmark's borders. And children all over the world play with Legos. Denmark has an empire of influence, not spice trading posts or sugar plantations thousands of miles away. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. Check out our books on bookshowtoliveindenmark.com or on Amazon, Google Books, or Apple Books. And you can book me, Kay Xander Mellish, for a speech to your group or organization at eventshowtoliveindenmark.com. HowToLiveInDenmark.com. See you next time.
