There are a clutter of memories for people coming away from this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Schoolchildren holding torches and waving to the Great Men on the balcony of Oslo's Grand Hotel. The high good humour of John Hume, who often carries the weight of the world on his shoulders but was clearly in his element as he led the revellers, both unionist and nationalist, in a singsong after the awards. The dignity of the Nobel ceremony itself. How the event reflected a society that has achieved a greater measure of prosperity, freedom and social justice than many other places yet feels obliged to give something back by helping others less fortunate.
There was another remarkable and moving event in Stockholm at the weekend. David Trimble and John Hume were guest speakers at a peace seminar organised by the Olof Palme Centre, named after the murdered Swedish Social Democratic leader and prime minister. It has become a tradition to invite the peace prize-winner or winners to this event. The other Nobel prizes, including the award for literature, are presented in Stockholm and the seminar is considered a suitable acknowledgement of the "Swedish dimension" to the peace award.
The discussions took place in a chamber of the Swedish parliament. The usual issues got an airing, but in a more relaxed way than is perhaps the norm. Near the end, singing could be heard and the chairman, political writer Sten Andersson, dimmed the lights. Seven "angels" came in, the leader wearing a crown of lighted candles, and they sang hymns in heavenly voices.
It happens every year, when the Nobel winners come to Sweden. And not once but several times, including early in the morning, which may not have been fully appreciated by the now-exhausted laureates! It happens, of course, all over Sweden, as a gentle, spiritual introduction to the Christmas season.
But even these ethereal voices could not totally muffle the sound of the drums of war that beat, however faintly, back home. News of the IRA's hardline comments on decommissioning broke in Oslo as the Nobel laureates and their camp-followers were at a reception hosted by the Irish Ambassador, Mr James Sharkey. The media pressed both sides for a comment.
Mr Hume, ever cautious in these matters, refrained on the basis that he needed time to study the reported remarks. Mr Trimble, also conscious that he was acting on limited information, made a brief comment to the effect that the IRA briefing was deliberately timed to coincide with the peace awards and appeared to be "a repudiation of peace". The measured response of the British Prime Minister was noted and there was speculation that perhaps he "knew more than his prayers" about other possible developments that the wider world had not yet been told about.
There were lighter moments: on Friday night 2,000 people, including the laureates and their families, attended a peace prize concert. While it began with a rendition of God Save the Queen by a local choir, the cultural flavour was more Irish and international than British. Carrickfergus was played against a short documentary on the Troubles and Irish stout was served at the interval.
The previous evening around the piano the repertoire was like a re-run of the old Walton's music programme on RTE radio. So it was a long way from Come Back Paddy Reilly to the high-pitched vocals of the Canadian pop diva Alanis Morissette at the concert, but you didn't need to be a genius to figure out which was more likely to appeal to Mr Trimble's children and Mr Hume's grandchildren.
The laureates still had to wend their way to the Swedish capital for a discussion of the Northern situation. One of the other panellists, Prof Peter Wallensteen from Uppsala University, pointed out that 28 peace agreements had been concluded in trouble spots in last 10 or 11 years, compared with virtually none the 10 years before.
Inevitably, decommissioning reared its head. Mr Trimble reiterated his well-known opposition to Sinn Fein membership of an executive without a gesture on arms. He said this must take place in front of television cameras, a condition reporters had not heard him spell out before although the First Minister insisted he had articulated it, if not in such blunt terms.
He dwelt at length on the episode of Donegal Celtic's aborted soccer fixture with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, which he again cited as evidence that Sinn Fein's commitment to democracy was only "skin deep".
Mr Hume , who is becoming more and more concerned that the decommissioning issue could derail the entire process, pointed out to his listeners that there was a "no surrender" mentality back home. He recalled that Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Workers' Party and Democratic Left had all emerged originally from the barrel of a gun but they had never decommissioned their weapons.
One of the better jokes going around during the week had it that the next winners of the Nobel Peace Prize from Northern Ireland would be the spokesman for a certain nationalist residents' group and a leading militant Orangeman. As well as being amusing, it implicitly acknowledged how far the process has to go and what a long way the North still is from the peace, stability and cohesion of those Scandinavian countries which combined to make last week's gesture of solidarity. It is too soon yet for the angels of peace to sing in Northern Ireland.