My publisher tells me we got a glowing review for West Oversea from the Norwegian-American Weekly. I was nonplussed for a moment, having never heard of this publication.

It turns out it’s the last man standing among all the Norwegian-American newspapers.

At one time there were more than 50 papers published in Norwegian in this country. Around these parts, Decorah Posten was the big player, but I think the Nordisk Tidende in New York was bigger. There was also Washington Posten out in Seattle.

A few years ago, it was down to Nordisk Tidende (which became the Norway Times) and Western Viking, which was a consolidated paper.

Apparently they merged Norway Times and Western Viking recently, and thoughtlessly failed to inform me.

All in all, I think our Norwegian conspiracy to undermine the republic isn’t going very well.

I’ve been listening to talk radio most of the day. At one point somebody (I think it may have been on Mike Gallagher’s show) referred to Thomas Paine’s words in “The American Crisis,” “These are the times that try men’s souls.” And it occurred to me that, like so many statements written in the past, it’s misunderstood today.

We speak of “trying times,” and for us that just means hard times. Times we need to persevere to get through.

That’s true. But there’s an underlying imagery here.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the use of the “touchstone,” a whetstone against which you would rub a coin or a piece of jewelry, to see if it was “true” gold or silver. The word “try” is (I believe) related etymologically to the word “true.” “True” refers to an objective standard, something that is, and is known to be, honest and right. When you “try” a thing, you measure it against what is true, to see how it compares.

When we say “tried by fire,” we’re using the image of putting a piece of yellow metal in fire, to see how it reacts. Genuine gold will react in different ways from mere brass or an alloy. If there are impurities, and if the fire is hot enough, the fire will burn the dross out, making the metal more true.

That’s what Paine meant by “These are the times that try men’s souls.” To borrow a more modern cliché, he was saying, “These are the times that separate the men from the boys.” This is where we learn what kind of character and loyalty our neighbors—and we ourselves—possess.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen more perilous times in my country, in all my life. Not in the chaotic ’60s. Not during the malaise of the ’70s. Not just after the World Trade Center attacks.

The very nature of “times that try men’s souls” is that we don’t know what the outcome will be. Paine didn’t know how the revolution would go. He didn’t know whether he and the other revolutionaries would end up on English gallows.

It’s the uncertainty that makes the trial.

I’m a historical reenactor. But the kind of reenactment I do with the Viking Age Club & Society is just play.

The real reenactment is done when we reenact in real life the fears and doubts and challenges of crises past.

Happy Independence Day.