Easter in Sweden: The symbols, the food, the traditions...
February 03, 2010
Easter in Swedish is called “påsk” and comes from the Hebrew word “pesah” meaning passing. Easter in Sweden is decidedly yellow READ MORE »
Viidát - The Sami national day
February 02, 2010
The national day of the Sami is the 6th of February and has been celebrated since 1992. It’s then that the memory of the first Sami congress is celebrated, which happened in Trondheim in 1917. The decision to have a national day was made at the 15th Sami conference in Helsinki. READ MORE »
These Brave Women
February 01, 2010
International Women’s Day will soon celebrate its 101st birthday. It is celebrated on March 8 all over the world, paying special attention to women’s achievements. READ MORE »
Swedish Food; gravlax, herring and the smorgasbord...
January 30, 2010
You have a love of Swedish traditions. You're smart, curious, at ease with yourself, and interested in learning. And learning about the origins of traditional Swedish food is what this story is about. READ MORE »
The Swedish Christmas
December 02, 2009
Christmas in Sweden, as in other countries, is a mixture of old and new, religious and secular, native and foreign, according to the Swedish professor of folklore Jan-Öjvind Swahn. READ MORE »
God Jul - Hyvää Joulua - Gledelig Jól
September 18, 2009
Jultomten (Swedish) - Santa Claus - Julemanden (Danish), Joulupukki (Finnish), Jólasveinn (Icelandic), Julenissen (Norwegian). Christmas is and was for a long time one of the most important Holidays of the year in all of Scandinavia.
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Våffeldagen
September 10, 2009
March 25: 'Våffeldagen' - The Waffle Day, 'Our Lady's Day' which traditionally celebrates Archangel Gabriel's announcement of the birth of Jesus. READ MORE »
Lucia Songs
September 07, 2009
Usually the strongest memory of every Nobel Prize winner from his visit in Stockholm besides the prize itself, is the early morning visit by Sweden's Lucia and her maidens. READ MORE »
Lucia, the Queen of Light
September 07, 2009
The Lucia celebration is something that Swedes themselves, and also the rest of the world consider as perhaps the most typical Swedish tradition there is. But once you look closer it is both recent and is really international. READ MORE »
'Kräftskivan' - An Ode to the Crayfish (Slurp!)
August 03, 2009
Foreign tourists visiting in August say that crayfish parties are the closest a Swede gets to really letting loose. Nowhere is the crayfish so ardently worshipped as in Sweden and September offers opportunities to sample the delicacy in the US. READ MORE »
'Surströmmingsskivan'
August 02, 2009
Travelers visiting the north of Sweden two hundred years ago, particularly foreigners with sensitive noses, spoke from time to time of the extraordinary stink that blanketed the countryside. A stink, for reason. READ MORE »
Ålagillet.
August 01, 2009
When the moon is on the wane and the nights have grown darker in the fall, people in the south of Sweden speak of 'ålamörkret' the “eel darkness” READ MORE »
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6:e Juni, 'Nationaldagen' - Sweden's National Day
June 06, 2009
June 6 – only since the early twentieth century considered the Day of the Swedish Flag and made National Holiday as late as 2004. READ MORE »
..wherever you are, happy Midsummer!
May 17, 2009
'Svensk Midsommar' ..music, dance and the long hours of sunlight and joy. Is there anything prettier than Swedish Midsummer? Is there anything more Swedish than a maypole? READ MORE »
'Majblomman'
May 04, 2009
Hundreds of thousands of children are selling May flowers every year in Sweden. While the children are selling the pins to collect money for charity, select cities carry “intelligent posters” where people can vote for next year’s May flower. READ MORE »
Early Swedish wedding traditions
April 14, 2009
"Brudkronan," the Swedish wedding crown—in olden days a mandatory part of the bridal outfit in Sweden. READ MORE »
Spice up your snaps!
March 07, 2009
Most, if not all of the Swedish traditional festivities include the consumption of aquavit shots accompanied by a large amount of singing—every occasion has its own traditional songs. (Aquavit is spiced vodka and hard liquor, please drink responsibly.) READ MORE »
Öden och äventyr..
December 25, 2008
En julhälsning år 2008 från vår publisher och editor, Ulf Mårtensson. READ MORE »
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Gravlax, the recipe
December 24, 2008
A staple for the Swedish 'smörgåsbord' READ MORE »
'Advent'
November 21, 2008
As important as Lucia is the season of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. READ MORE »
Hunting: Sweden's living heritage
October 07, 2008
Swedes gear up for hunting season. As the summer comes to an end, fall inevitably draws nearer, and with fall comes the hunting season.
The moose hunt is usually front-page news in Sweden when it begins in different parts of the country in September and early October. Almost 300,000 camouflaged Swedes – including the Swedish king! – migrate to the forests.
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The Gun, the dog and the thermos
October 06, 2008
Culture and hunting in Sweden and the United States READ MORE »
Our 'Namnsdagar'
July 10, 2008
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‘Nu är det Jul igen...’
December 25, 2007
The same old story. We invade the stores and the streets, on the lookout for just the right gifts for those special people in our lives... READ MORE »
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