Fram, Fram, Free!

At opening convo today I was struck, as I have not been before, by the final line of the college hymn: "Fram, Fram, Free."  There it is, embedded in our corporate song.  Freedom as the goal toward which we march (or waltz).  A close look at the lyrics would be useful, for what we learn about St. Olaf College's quest for freedom and our notions of freedom and for what the song, as a dense fact, reveals about the context of its being written.  

Things I'd want to explore:

• the odd parallel that St. Olaf's battle in Norway is reenacted every July (really, I've seen it) and the Defeat of Jesse James is reenacted in Northfield every September.
• the use of the term "race" in this song--what did the term refer to in the 1920s when it could be applied to the Nordic race?  What did it mean to Oles of the 1920s, many of them immigrants or children of immigrants, to sing about their race?
• the appropriation of the native American term Manitou for so many things on our campus that it seems to be a Norwegian word--is this use more or less salutary in an era when "race" has a different meaning and we (Americans in general and Oles in particular) are more attuned to the difficulties inherent in borrowings from one religious tradition to another?
• the very notion that there should be a college hymn as an early 20th century practice; how does this one compare to others? 
• ritual use of this one: when do we sing it?  why?

And, now I show my agenda: who in this 2010-12 cohort of Am Con will fulfill my long held longing for an early 21st century college song to add to our repertoire!!!!!!!!