idioms in Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Danish with berries
Berries are a big thing in Nordic countries, and you can hear that in their languages as well! So I have collected a few sayings and idioms involving them in Swedish, Norwegian Finnish and Danish.
Swedish
Smultronstället – Place of wild strawberries – a special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness
Blott Sverige svenska krusbär har – Only Sweden has Swedish gooseberries – There’s no place like home… Originally a quote by writer Carl Jonas Love Almqvist (1793-1866)
Hej hopp i blåbärsskogen! / Hej svejs i lingonskogen tjosan hoppsan hej! – hey hey in the blueberry/lingonberry wood hey hey: a funny surprised expression Swedes may use in a joking way
Norwegian
Det er bare blåbær – It’s just blueberries: it’s not a big deal/it’s a piece of cake
Være på bærtur – To be picking berries: being completely lost/wrong.
Finnish
Oma maa mansikka, muu maa mustikka – our land strawberry, other land blueberry: No place like home, here too 🙂
he ovat kuin kaksi marjaa – they are like two berries: they look very much alike
se maksaa mansikoita – it costs strawberries: very expensive
and last but not least paskanmarjat – sh*t berries: bullsh*t
Danish
stikkelsbærben – gooseberry legs: pale, skinny, and hairy legs
et surt ribs – a sour redcurrant: a grumpy person
at give (eller få) en på bærret: to give (or get) one on the berry: to hit or get hit on the face
Estonian is a Finnic language, sharing many similarities with its ‘bigger’ sister Finnish, while being unrelated to all their bigger language neighbours
Cream buns are enjoyed in Nordic and Baltic countries during shrovetide, between January and February. Sweden’s classic semla has almond paste, while other countries variations include jam, vanilla cream, and chocolate icing top.
Sámi people, indigenous people of North Scandinavia, have a distinct culture, symbolised by its unique flag and traditional clothing, and part of it are Duodji handicrafts and unique musical expression through yoik.
I joined the polyglot gathering in Prague, an event for language lovers with lectures and activities
First of all, to be updated about language events you can follow me on instagram at @ chiaraspeaksnordic
In May 2024 i went to the Polyglot Gathering – an event I had been dreaming about for a while, but did not know if I would never manage to join. However, after stumbling upon its existence not too long before it would take place, In the course of a few days I figured out I could actually make it! Here is my experience at it.
Sign-up, info Pre-gathering and visiting Prague
After checking out programs of past editions, info and such on the Polyglot Gathering website, I signed up a couple weeks before the event would take place. By signing up early on you would get discounts, so next time I’ll try to do this asap. The main thing to be sure about was getting there, and turns out there is a European Sleeper train to Prague.
I attempted at studying Czech before leaving..Saxonian Switzerland from the train
I arrived there around 11am and had planned to just walk around on Saturday as it would have been a pity to just stay inside a building (and pay for an entire day of activities) while I had a brand new city and country to explore. I also tried the most touristy street food, the Trdelník (chimney). BUT of course, without ice cream, unlike everybody. I had lunch at the Havelska Koruna, budget authentic Czech food restaurant.
A challenge related to the Gathering was learning Czech. Having to start from scratch, I tried to focus on practical stuff as food vocabulary in the little time I had, and didn’t manage to go much further than memorizing words for apples and potatoes.
having to look up stuff slowed down my deciding process… That was frustrating! This was my first time in a country with a language I do not understand at all, last time I was 13… One thing I really look forward to if next year’s gathering will still be in Czechia, will be improving my Czech skills, if anything to navigate these things more efficiently.
Sunday: The Gathering
Anyway, I was ready to join the Gathering on Sunday, the last day of it. I met two Italian girls walking just outside the University building where the event took place, so I didn’t have to figure out myself how to exactly come in, as it was not super clear. As I registered I was given a tote bag with a notebook, a pen, few pins, a bottle of water and of course my language tag that I had filled in while signing up for the Polyglot Gathering! And, a t-shirt, that I had added to my registration.
tote bag, notebook, pin and tshirtA few people were actually curious about the Lombard and Frisian flags
I announced on social media I’d go, and found out a (Swedish-speaking) friend would be there. So I ended up speaking a lot of Swedish which on its turn attracted fellow Scandinavians hearing us..
I could already see the program (see below for the last day) shortly before the Gathering started, so i knew more or less what lectures I wanted to join.
Besides lectures there were also activities as language practice rooms (and a “no English Zone”), talent shows, quizzes, workshops, tasting international snacks.. But that will be for another time …I eventually picked these lectures:
How Kinship systems shape your worldview and reality: cross-cultural anecdotes, by Israel Lai
Polish crash course (1/2 of it) by Zuzanna Yevtushyk
Characteristics of major language families (mainly Romance, Germanic, Slavic and facts about further ones), by Adam Raelson
Brain computer interfaces are coming- Why we now need to aim to C3 level
Esperanto and the other languages (slides in French and lecture in Esperanto)- by Michael Boris Mandirola
The Power of the Hour – Swedish in 6 months by Krisztina Féher
one time slot had multiple interesting courses, others not as much, but most lectures were definitely interesting! I would have gone to a Chinese lecture instead of another one about competing with AI intelligence if I had to do this again, but for the rest I was satisfied with my choices. It was also a pity I had to leave the Polish Crash Course halfway through to go to the Languages Families lecture. Although I must say my brain cells were getting tired, the Czech I had learned wasn’t helpful beyond the first three sentences.
I’d say my favourites were the one about language families and hearing about the strategies used to learn Swedish one hour a day – the way she tracked it was quite inspiring and gave me good insights. Learning about different ways different languages name family members was also pretty cool! See some slides below.
Breaks
Between each lecture there was a break, and you could get coffee or tea. and there were stands selling books, gadgets and stuff.
One was mostly just about Esperanto though – seems to be pretty big at language nerds events. I got a book explaining German idioms, and a tiny tourist phrasebook for Czech. Might be handy for another time!
The main break was of course lunch, a couple hours. You had the option to get lunch either everyday or not at all at the canteen, and it was available in 3 versions: meaty, vegetarian and vegan. Here too, you had to choose one and stick to it for all the days you’d stay there.
The best thing would be having the menu to begin with and freely deciding which version to pick, but I understand that’s for organisational reasons.
I was there only one day so I did not have to stick to only meat or only vegan dishes for 5 days. And I knew I would eat typical Czech food with meat outside anyway, so it was okay. On Sunday the vegetarian version was curry rice, the vegan couscous, the meaty schnitzel. And of course I got soup as side dish, typical Czech.
Closing ceremony & Final Evening
As it was the last day, the final ceremony took place at the end of the lectures, and it was a sum up of the event, organisational effort of the team behind it, Slovakian Edukácia@Internet as main party, thanking all partners and sponsors. and insights about where the Gathering will be next here. Which might be Prague again. Or somewhere in central Europe. Sorry, non-Europeans…
Once the Gathering was over, we still had the possibility to meetup with other polyglots at the beer garden in the evening. As I had only been there that day, I had not had the chance to really chat a lot with others yet. It was quite fun and got to talk to quite a few people – notably a person I am a mutual follower of on tiktok, it was quite amazing to see her in real life – unexpectedly!! I also got Polish chocolates :). Afterwards some people went to pubs – I had a bit trouble switching from Swedish to norwegian after a drink, I must say.
Though English stayed in most contexts as the lingua franca, I still got to speak quite a few languages. I look forward to the next time I will be able to join it, hopefully for longer than just one day!
Discover Greenland, home to the Inuit Kalaallit, and its most iconic aspects as its flag, language and folk costumes. The biggest island of the world has a rich history of indigenous culture intertwined with Norse colonization and later Danish rule.
Identical words with different meanings that Finnish, Japanese, Italian share.
Homonyms are words with the same sound (homophones) or spelling (homographs), but differ in meaning.
Finnish is totally unrelated to Japanese and Italian, but it has quite a few curious homonyms with them because of featured they share:
Consonant/vowel alternation
Words frequently ending in a vowel
A common trait is also double consonants (alternated by vowels)
This results in completely unrelated words being identical! What is a noun in one language, can be an adjective or a verb in another though. Other times it’s surprisigly words in the same domain (see me/te in Finnish and Italian!)
te: plural you (Finnish), you (complement pronoun, Italian), hand (Japanese)
Finnish and Japanese both use (or Japanese is transcripted with) a K for the esact same sound Italian uses C for:
kani/cani: bunny (Finnish), dogs (Italian), crab(s) (Japanese) – here surprisingly all animal names!
kasa/casa: pile (Finnish), house (Italian), umbrella (Japanese)
Sometimes the same word is actually very similar in other languages, but the way Finnish, Japanese and Italian adapt it is very similar or ends up looking identical to other words:
poro: reindeer (Finnish), pore (Italian), the polo game (Japanese)
shokki:shock (Finnish), tableware (Japanese)
kokki:cook (Finnish), national flag (Japanese)
Finnish – Japanese
ase: weapon (Finnish) – sweat (Japanese:汗)
haka: hook (Finnish) – grave (Japanese)
hana: tap/faucet (Finnish) – flower, nose (Japanese:花／鼻)
haku: search (Finnish), vomit (Japanese:吐く)
himo: lust (Finnish) – ribbon (Japanese:綬)
kanki: wood/metal bar +slang for bon..r – ventilation (Japanese:換気)
I went on an interrail trip and had a stop in Denmark, back to Grenaa and Aarhus
Last summer I wanted a little holiday for myself, and as I already had to go home to Italy, I realized I could just do that by train and visit people on the way. My first idea was going to Sweden, and stop by in Denmark. However, I ended up not going to Sweden (I ended up doing that for my birthday in February..)
Starting from Eindhoven I went up through Germany: > Venlo (border NL-DE)> Wuppertal > Hamburg >(border DE-DK)> Fredericia > Aarhus > then the letbane (local train) till Grenaa: 5 trains! I took the first train at 7:40 and arrived at 20:50: 13 hours! Long journey, but I enjoyed it! Besides the initial delays in Germany, the train to Hamburg was 35 minutes late when I was supposed to have 39 minutes waiting time for my train into Denmark …. but I made it ..
DSB (Danish state railways) uses many figurative expressions which would confuse non-experts: for example a ‘dog’ is a thing put under a wheel to prevent it from moving. Or an ‘Half English’ is a spor track which can only turn in one direction.Kolind
At Aarhus station I saw the entrance into the letbane platform, which I had not found in 2021… It was cool to be riding it again! I hopped off in Trustrup where I was picked up, the air was cool but going through the Danish countryside was so nice. I ate fish and couscous for dinner +the Dutch stroopwafels I brought as gift! The house was super cozy – I kind of miss its smell 🙂
22 August: Grenaa centre
The following day I got my wish granted – seeing the centre of Grenaa I had totally missed back in 2021!! And we got food for the dinner – chicken with sweet potato fries and carrots with rasins 🙂 Then a discount version of Champagne Brus ice lollies – eating one again was my second wish!
and here my journal of the first day:
23 August: Aarhus and Den Gamle By Museum
On 23rd August I went to Aarhus according to my plan! Main reason was meeting another friend 2 years later :). It started kind of bad, I could use my friend’s bike, but the saddle was way too high for me, so I first went on foot, which meant walking 1,5 hours. But I enjoyed the place and for once it was okay. Then I realized I should have taken the phone charger, and went all the way back. At that point walking again would take too long.. So I took the bike. Well, that wasn’t the most hyggelig thing. But despite falling once (I had to bike with the tip of my feet) I got to the letbane stop 30 secs before the train arrived!! Just in time to lock the bike..
So once in Aarhus I went to my friend’s place, her dad arrived in the meantime and we chatted a little. They convinced me to go to Den Gamle By, even though there wasn’t soo much time left before the closing time.
I walked headed there, and on the way I entered a second hand shop (genbrug) where I found a nice green-white striped tshirt, for just 20 DKK (3€), the brand was Finnish Marimekko, so a bonus point.
I reached Den Gamle By and went through it very fast, though I didn’t have the time to read most signs.. oh well. It did cost me 25€ but I wouldn’t be there soon again..
I took a lotta pics, so will make an additional post just for Den Gamle By…Here is a taste of it, bakery and home, from the 1800s and in the 70s:
Once i got out I decided to head to AroS, the art museum.
Though I didn’t enter the museum, had nor energies nor time nor will to spend more money on the ticket (Although one day I should walk in the rainbow circle) . What I did was going up the stairs and then straight to the museum shop! I got my first books in Danish, written by Aarhus university professors, from a series of booklets called Tænke Pauser (Breaks to think(?): one about Dreams (Om Drøm) and one about Europe (simply ‘Europa’). Fast forward 1 month I finished and really enjoyed them! The museum sold also quite a lot of Moomin and Pippi Longstocking (in Danish Pippi Langstrømpe) things… But i resisted..
Then, super hungry and a bit tired after an intense day, I wanted to eat something. I got into a 7-Eleven and had to get some Wienerbrød (‘Viennese bread’, Danish pastries that the Danes took from Vienna apparently), I picked a Tebirkes and also bought an ice lolly I had wanted to try for a while, Solbær, which used to be called Kæmpe Eskimo (changed the historic name for politically-correctness reasons, whether it was right or wrong to do that is not up to me to judge). I quickly ate up the lolly and got into a Netto, getting a Studenterbrød!!
So I had the exact same things my friend got as a welcome thing to Denmark on my very first day 2 years before, and I sat at the same place to eat them, Dokk1! God I loved that so much. So Calming. Would be there every summer evening if only I could! I then got the Letbane home and biked again home, really enojoyed that even though the bike comfiness was what it was!
24 August: Grenaa Beach
On my last full day in Denmark we went to Grenaa’s beach, another thing I longed to do again. Later we went into the town and in another second hand shop I found a 1936(!!) figurine album about all European countries, so cool! Besides Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and all that it even had Gdansk/Danzig …
I had to get food for the journey of the following day. We went to a Lidl (I guess cheaper than Kvickly?) and of course I got Rygbrød , cheese and a Spandauer, I guess the most iconic Wienerbrød? My friend told me I had to try the Dagmartærte too. I also bought a cronut. Not really Danish but I had yet to try that…We ate one by one all the rolls of the Dagmartærte while sitting in the garden…
On the evening we watched a Danish horror-ish series called Equinotium, Not my thing, but watching stuff in other languages is always a good idea. Also some random tv-reality shows. I had a lot of trouble understanding my friend’s sarcastic comments in Danish though, gotta improve.
25 August: farvel.. for now
Trustrup letbane stop, on the rainy morning of the day I left Denmark..took the train to Federicia in Aarhus, and there I got a kærnemælkhorn at the 7/11 because why not…
So I am glad I got to fulfill some wishes I have had for a while – Seeing the centre of Grenaa, Eating Danish Ice lollies again and Wienerbrød and getting books in Danish! My journey then continued south to Germany, but I hope I will get to see new parts of Denmark soon! Hej hej!
Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Swedish Christmas markets in Rotterdam. Christmas decorations, imported typical Nordic products for sale, a cafe with lunch and cakes in each of them!
Lucia brings light in the darkest night of the year and is a mix of pagan and christian traditions. It is celebrated in Scandinavia with processions, saffron buns and church concerts.
Sami traditional costumes: hats and dresses from Lapland
My birthday falls on Sami national day, and to honour the sami people (who used to be called Lapps), I decided to write an an article about their traditional clothing, after Swedish and Norwegian costumes.
The main part of the Sami traditional costume is called gapta/gåptoe, in southern Sami, gábdde in Lule Sami, gákti in Northern Sami. In Swedish and Norwegian repectively kolt and kofte. Sami costumes include hats, belts, jewellery as brooches, mittens, shoelaces. There are traditional superstitions tied to the costumes, for example, if the shoelace came loose, someone was thinking about that person or was about to joke about them.
Sami handicrafts, Duodji, also include making your own clothing, and that is still the case for some families. Natural resources determined the material to produce clothing, which consisted in just skin and fur until the middle ages and the introduction of fabric.
In 1940 the archeologist Gutorm Gjessing and his wife Gertrjud were the first to write about Sami clothing, in their book Lapdrakten.
Sami costume variations
Sami Costumes vary depending on the geographical area and gender, with bright colors that are also present in the Sami flag: red, white, yellow and Green. The base color of dresses is most often blue, especially since the post-war period, with edges and details in red, yellow and green. In the 1960s, Sami women started sewing summer costumes with floral-patterned cotton, as you can see in this music video of Sami singer Elin Oskal..
Generally, variations in Sami costumes follow Sami languages and ethnical groups within Samis. However, because of nomadic life depending on reindeers, designs from different groups ended up influencing each other.
Although Sami costumes vary district by district, there is a marked difference between North and South Sami variations. The most notable is the neck style and length: long dress and v-neck with intricated decorations on the the breastplate for women costumes to the south of Jokkmokk, with a shawl on top and a more “curled up” end in the North Sámi versions.
Other variations depend on gender or status: Skolte-sami women hats change for girls, married and single women; Lule and South Sami dresses have red breastplates for women and blue for men.
Sami iconic hats
An important part of Sami costumes is the hat, which also strongly differ depending on gender, area and status. Various types of hats exist (see picture), different for men and women. Among others:
men hats: Four Winds Hat, čiehgahpir or Šávka, with summer and winter variations (also stjernelue in Norwegian “star hat”), used in East Finnmark, Karasjok, Kautokeino, North-East Norway; ćuipi, a kind of poofball hat with a big red pom pom, used in Karesuando, Swedish Lapland.
Women hats: Jorbat, the hat with the big ‘ears’; Ládju/ladjo, also called čoarvegahpir (čoarvi – horn, gahpir – hat), which stopped being used a hundred years ago, but still exists in eastern Sami areas now under Russia.
Costumes as a symbol of Sámi identity
Some Sami grow up wearing it, others only use it for their confirmation ceremony, others got it as adults, taking pride in their ethnic identity, which was repressed and discouraged due to discrimination and forced assimilation in the past. A revival lead to reconstruct costumes also in areas where they were disappeared, similarly to what happened with Norwegian bunads.
In the 1970s, Sami movements made it an important symbol for Sami identity, leading many young Sami to sew their own costumes. Wearing Sami costumes became a new tradition in some contexts, as during Sami national parliament assemblies in Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Is it easier to learn Icelandic if you speak a Scandinavian language? My experience of studying it while knowing Swedish, Danish, Nowegian and German
A while ago a follower of my langstagram asked: Hi Chiara, I was thinking about starting Icelandic, what are your thoughts on the difficulty of the language? I already know swedish on B1 level, is that helpful?
Generally speaking, good knowledge of Scandinavian languages will certainly help, but Icelandic is to be taken as a very distinct language, for which you’ll need to spend quite a lot of time for both grammar and vocabulary, even if many things will look familiar.
As follows my impressions and experience with my prior knowledge of Scandinavian languages:
Learning grammar
Needless to say now, the trickiest part is the grammar and the inflections, it’s something you have to practice with and get used to. For that aspect knowing some German might help you more than knowing Swedish honestly. Just like they told me Latin would help me understand how German works. And I think it did, even if it was just to understand what cases are at all. German and Icelandic belong however to the same language family, and as fellow Germanic languages there are still some endings they vaguely share. They also use the same 4 cases: Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive. This is clear by looking at the personal pronouns: while you only have I-me in the rest of Germanic languages, from Swedish to Dutch, Icelandic and German have the dative version: ich-mich-mir and ég-mig-mér.
Icelandic
Scandinavian
German
English
case inflections
4 cases used in nouns, adjectives
– only personal pronouns (I-me, he-him.. forms)
4 cases used in articles, adjectives, personal pronouns
-only personal pronouns (2 forms)
verb conjugations (examples with present tense)
a couple conjugations with similar endings: -/a,-(u)r/-(s)t/ð, -(u)r/-; -um, -ið, -a/u
always same ending for all people (-a/er)
always same endings (with some irregularities in root vowels): -e,-st,-t;-en,-t, -en
no ending except for third person -s
word order
as in English +verb in 2nd position rule
as in English +verb in 2nd position rule
verb in 2nd position, conjugated verb at the end after given connectors
To put it simply, I could say Icelandic is like an overcomplicated version of something you might be familiar with. Of course there are unique features Icelandic shares with its cousin languages, like:
definite article at the end of the word: (a) boy, strákur, becomes strákurinn when you want to say the boy. the ending is -n for the feminine and ,-ið for the neuter, and gets a bit more complicated in the plural. But once you got how it works that’s it.
passive/reflexive verb form made with the Middle Voice, formed by the addition of the ending -st to the Active verb, in any tense: við sjáumst, vi ses = we see each other; Hann kallast – han kallas = he is called.
Learning vocabulary
Scandinavian languages might come in handy for vocabulary. There are a lot of cognates and things which will remind you of something you already know, although not used in the same way. However, generally speaking I would say knowing any other Germanic language is often as helpful, maybe just slightly less similar, but to a smaller extent for English, which has a significant higher share of romance vocabulary due to its history.
Icelandic
Scandinavian
English
German
Dutch
blóm
blomma/blomst
flower
Blume
bloem
maður, kona
man, kvinna/kvinde *kone in Danish=wife
man, woman
Mann, Frau
man, vrouw
jarðarber
jordgubbe, jordbær..
strawberry
Erdbeer
aardbei
höfuðborg
huvud/hovedstad
capital city
Hauptstadt
hoofdstad
eða
eller
or
oder
of
But still, quite often you will encounter obscure words, for which most other languages use the same word, for instance háskoli for university (literally ‘high school’, just higher than high school in Icelandic 😉 , or tölva for computer. You can check out many others in an article with a comparison between Icelandic and Finnish.
Sometimes you won’t recognize some related words instantly but once you’ve realized the connections with Swedish/Danish/Norwegian they will be much easier to remember (I had this some time ago with keyra (to drive), köra/køre in Swedish/Danish).
Icelandic
Scandinavian
English
German
hvað heitir þu?
(h)va(d) heter/hedder du?
What’s your name
wie heißt du?
ég tala ekki ensku
jag/jeg pratar/snakker inte/ikke engelsk(a)
I don’t speak English
ich spreche kein Englisch
hvað ert þú gamall?
hur/hvor gammal/el är/er du?
how old are you?
wie alt bist du?
English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Scandinavian: Alla/e människor/mennesker är födda/født fria/e och lika/lige i värde och rättigheter/værdighed og rettigheder.
Icelandic: Hver maður er borinn frjáls og jafn öðrum að virðingu og réttindum.
German: Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren.
As follows the plot of the movie Nói Albinói. words in bold are similar in Scandinavian languages, underlined ones in other Germanic languages as well, meaning that knowing the given language(s) spared me from the pain of looking them up. Words in italic are unique to Icelandic, and I had to copy-paste them somewhere…:
Myndingerist um vetur í smábæ úti á landi. Nói er ungur strákurí menntaskóla. Hann býr hjá ömmu sinni. Pabbi Nóa býr einn, hann er þunglyndur og drekkur mikið. Nói er sérstök persóna, hann er gáfaður en hann er ekki duglegur í skóla. Hann er oft einn og hann er ekki félagslyndur. En ung stúlka, Íris, flytur í bæinn. Hún er úr Reykjavík. Nói kynnisthenni og þau verðavinir. (text from IcelandicOnline)
Is it useful to learn a Scandinavian language before starting Icelandic?
Of course speaking a Scandinavian language will make your journey with icelandic a bit easier, but definitely not as much as Norwegian/Swedish/Danish with each other. So learn a Scandinavian language before or after Icelandic to have fun, but do not think Icelandic will be easy after it. On the other hand, Learning them simultaneously might confuse you a little bit but in my opinion they are different enough to not mess up too much.
Learning Icelanding before a Scandinavian language will make the latter feel a lot easier. Similarly to what it is like to first learn German and then Dutch, when finding yourself with a simplified version of a known grammar, instead of the opposite.
Icelanders learn Danish in school but the chances that that will make it any more convenient to speak Danish in Iceland are probably very low.
Some dialects of Norwegian have more in common with Icelandic though, mostly in the pronounciation, with hva being pronounced as ka, similarly to Icelandic hv-words. But that’s more a language geek thing than something actually helping you learn Icelandic I guess?
My experience
Although learning it not too consistently and keeping it as an “extra”, I started picking it up a couple years ago. I already spoke Swedish and more casually learned Danish and Norwegian, and Icelandic was my missing puzzle, the living ancestor of these three, with its unique þ and ð and the obscure grammar. I was first mainly interested in just understanding its grammar, the same I had with Finnish, and my current goal is becoming conversional. In the meantime, I gained a good insight on how the language works and challenges it gives.
I am currently using Icelandic Online and reading Short Stories to keep up with Icelandic (not consistently enough, unfortunately), and I do often find cognates which help me recognizing words, but that’s mostly due to having studied all the main Germanic languages than just Scandinavian ones. Probably also because of this my experience learning Icelandic goes more smoothly than Finnish, which belongs to a separate language family.
Last June I’ve been on a very short trip to Kristiansand, my first time visiting Norway! Lasted one day but felt satisfaying to have added one more country to my visited ones..!
The Cruise was offered by Holland-Norway lines, and was first supposed to happen in February – but due to bad weather and various issues it got postponed, ending up in the best season for it!! The ship left from Emden, in Germany’s Ostfriesland region, so we also managed to see a piece of Germany. Pretty funny that I had a (Dutch) Friesland hat!
We then boarded, ate and assisted to a cover band, the ship also had a shop with Nordic chocolate/candy and souvenirs (read further to see what I got).
The following morning we were in Norway, welcomed by lots of rocky islets and perfect weather in the Kristiansand harbour.
Although the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, Kristiansand was founded by the Dano-Norwegian King King Christian IV in 1641, with -sand referring to the sandy headland.
Quick rundown of everything seen in Kristiansand, and skolekorps flags! Also the Danish restaurant chain Skagen..
We first got to the square with Kristiansand’s cathedral, from 1885 and one of the largest cathedrals in Norway. there were a few people selling thrift stuff.
Then we proceeded turing around town, seeing all the lovely white wooden houses in Posebyen, the old town – the only part of Kristiansand surviving a great fire in 1892
We then crossed the bridge and got to another part of the town. At some point one man cycling by said ‘du mistet papiret!’ (you missed a paper piece). My first Norwegian interaction..
Then we happened to run into a skolekorps event! Kind like marching bands?
On the way, I saw some funny signs:
beware of (hungry) seagulls, bikes LOVE to stay together and just an invite to throw rubbish in the bin written in (I assume) Kristiansand dialect (dæ instead of deg)
We got into various supermarkets: Rema, Kiwi, Xtra.
Norwegian Supermarket, souvenirs and a small hike
Of course, I had a few things to get from Norwegian supermarkets and bring home. Among these were Brunost, the beloved Norwegian brown goat cheese, and the iconic hiking chocolate Kvikk Lunsj, the latter mostly to be able to say I had tried it (Spoiler, it is basically the same as a kitkat with tips for a safe hike, sorry Norwegians).
I had already tried brunost during my Denmark workaway trip, knowing it was delicious, and was looking forward to eating more. I am sweet tooth and got a skolebrød as well.
Typical Nordic bulk candy section at the supermarket, smågodt in Norwegian
Besides supermarkets, I of course did some souvenir shopping: a skiing/moose keychain and a flag, with a long stick, like those people wave in their hands on 17 Mai!
At a bookshop i got a postcard of Sørlandet and an art card depicting women in bunads.
The shop was also selling of characters with bunads of given areas by Garbeez, didn’t get any but the idea is really cute!!
You can read about Norwegian bunads, Norway’s national dresses and how each district in the country has its own costume
Doesn’t really count as souvenir but I had to get a couple of these lovely Moomin cards!
They say ‘have a nice journey’ and ‘I’m rooting for you!’
One thing I’ve been low-key obsessed about is checking out other countries ‘custom’ Mcdonald-s things – in Norway i found the sour apple milkshake, absolutely delicious! Also got sweet potato fries and their apple pie (which is more like a strudel). Nothing very Norwegian but I had not tried them before.
Then walked up finding another cute neighbourhood, from which you could enter the forest.
We took a path in the forest, and found a nice lake with people bathing as well, great place!
I also purchased a few things on the ship on the way back: Finnish chocolate Geisha, Norwegian Sørlands chips, Swedish gifflar (sort of mini cinnamon buns), and moomin candy.
That was all for my first Norwegian adventure, Ha det!
The Fjallkona is the personification of Iceland and has a big role in the Icelandic national day, between poetry and parades
June, 17th, is Iceland’s national day, Þjóðhátíðardagurinn. The day was established after Iceland’s independence from Denmark in 1944, on the independentist Jón Sigurðsson’s birthday.
The day is marked by parades, with marching bands and flag-bearing troops from the national scout movement. After the parades, it’s time for the town’s elected ‘lady of the mountain’ to recite a poem. Her identity is however secret until the ceremony. Before that, authorities and freshman students in Reykjavík have laid wreaths to honour Jón Sigurðsson. You can see the program for 17 júní in Reykjavík.
The woman representing the fjallkona, literally ‘lady/maid of the Mountain’, wears the skautbúningur, dark dress with golden embroidery and a sort of horn-shaped headgear, inspired by the ancient krókfaldur with a veil. The first time a woman represented the fjallkona with a skautbúningur was actually in Winnipeg, Canada in 1924, where many Icelanders migrated in the 1870s.
skautbúningur and kyrtill dresses are worn by the fjallkona, both designed by Sigurður Guðmundsson in the 19th century
Icelanders are encouraged to wear a folk costume on the national day, Þjóðbúningur. There are officially several types among which the Upphlutur for women and Hátíðarbúningur for men, not too different from other Nordic folk costumes as Norwegian Bunads and Swedish Folkdräkter, often black but also in colours as red or blue. part of the outfit is a tail cap.
Icelandic national day feels to me kind of a mix between Norway’s 17 (!) mai, with national dresses, parades and marching bands, and Lucia, with its elected Lucia/Fjallkona!
Where does the Fjallkona come from?
the Fjallkona is the female personification of Iceland. She represents Iceland’s spirit and its nature. Its name appears in the poem Eldgamla Ísafolda.k.a. Íslands minni by Bjarni Thorarensen in the early 19th century. Its most popular depiction is the painting by German painter Johann Baptist Zwecker in 1866.
Eldgamla Ísafold/ ástkæra fósturmold/ fjallkonan fríð!/ mögum þín muntu kær/ meðan lönd gyrðir sær og gumar girnast mær/ gljár sól á hlíð.
(Ancient land of ice / beloved nurturing soil / fair mountain woman. /May you love your sons, while countries barricade their waters / and men yearn for maidens / the sun glistens on a hillside.)
In Zwecker’s painting, made for the last volume of a collection of Icelandic folk tales, Icelandic Legends, the fjallkona has a crown of ice from which fires erupt, representing Icelandic nature with its glaciers and geysers. On her shoulder is a raven, symbol for the god Odin and norse mythology, and runes on a parchment, representing Icelandic culture.
It then gained popularity as symbol for the motherland, sometimes opposed to theDanish King as father under the Danish rule.
Icelandic patriotic poems
On the occasion of the institution of the Republic in 1944, a poem contest was held. Hver á sér fegra föðurland (who has a lovelier fatherland) and Land Míns Föður (My father’s land) were the winning poems. An extract from the two follows:
Hver á sér fegra föðurland / með fjöll og dal og bláan sand / með norðurljósa bjarmaband / Og björk og lind í hlíð? […]
Við heita brunna, hreinan blæ / og hátign jökla, bláan sæ / hún uni grandvör, farsæl, fróð / Og frjáls – við ysta haf.
Hulda (Unnur Bedediktsdóttir Bjarklind), ‘Hver á sér fegra föðurland’
Who has a lovelier fatherland / with fells and dales and bluest sand, with northern lights up aloft, and birch and lime on hilltops? […] With hot springs of a pure hue / majestic glaciers, a sea of blue / she remains thoughtful, peaceful, sage / and free, in the farthest sea.
Hvíslað var um hulduland / hinst í vestanblænum / hvítan jökul, svartan sand / söng í hlíðum grænum. / Ýttu þá á unnarslóð / Austmenn, vermdir frelsisglóð / fundu ey og urðu þjóð / úti´í gullnum sænum. […]
Hvort sem krýnist þessi þjóð / þyrnum eða rósum / hennar sögur, hennar ljóð / hennar líf vér kjósum. / Ein á hörpu íss og báls / aldaslag síns guðamáls / æ hún leiki,ung og frjáls / undir norðurljósum.
Jóhannes úr Kötlum, ‘Land Míns Föður’
There were whispers of a hidden land / hinst in the western blues / white glacier, black sand / singing on green slopes. / Push them on a path of success / Men of the East, warmed by the embers of freedom / found an island and became a nation / out in the golden seas. […] Whether this nation is crowned / with thorns or roses / its stories, its poetry / its life we choose. / Alone on the land of ice and fire / the eternal sound of her divine language / forever she moves, young and free / under the northern lights.
The Norwegian national costume, to be seen in all its glory on 17 may, and its old but not so old tradition
A bunad (plural bunader) is the Norwegian national costume. Bunads are among the most beloved folk costumes in the world, and the most worn in Europe. Other Nordic countries have their own folk costumes as well, but they are much less common and strictly connected to folk traditions as folk dances. Read about Swedish folkdräkter.
In Norwegian there’s a distinction between a Bunad and a folkedrakt (“folk costume”) , with the latter specifically used for costumes from the past. The word bunad, from Old Norse búnaðr began to be used in the 20th century, as the national costumes gained popularity with the rise of the National romantic movement in the 19th century, with artists as Adolph Tidemand and Hans Dahl depicting them.
Why bunads are so popular in Norway
After national romanticism, the use of bunads increased in the 1920s, but it was after the war that the national dress became even more popular, as a symbol of free and indepent Norway. First and foremost on the national day, and then for any festive occasions – as christenings and weddings. It is now officially seen as a gala attire, which can be for instance worn at the opening of the Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament. The best day to admire Bunads remains 17th May (Norway’s National day).
Young adults traditionally receive their bunad on their confirmation, as 15-year-olds, and it will last their entire lifetime. Crown princess Alexandra had hers sewn by her grandmother the Queen for this occasion. Purchasing a bunad costs thousands of euros/dollars, although lately low cost “China bunad” emerged.
Around 80% of Norwegian women owns a bunad. It is less common for men to wear it, with 20% having one, but the number is rising. In 1999, Pakistani-born Stortingen member Rubina Rana wore a bunad as the first person with migration background doing so in a 17 mai parade.
The diverse bunad designs
Norway’s fylker (counties) with some bunads from them
There are around 450 bunads in Norway, with each district having its own designs. They can be grouped into 5 categories of Bunads depending on how they were created, from traditionally in use to entirely recounstructed.
At the beginning of the 20th century Norway had just become fully independent and many were trying to promote Norwegian traditions and make the national identity stronger. In these years Bunads were being redesigned from old costumes with Hilda Garborg as leading figure for the movement. She published a very successful book called Norsk Klædebunad in 1917.
Bunads with the oldest tradition
The Hardanger bunad, was established in its use and is retained as the most Norwegian, depicted in art and easily recognisable. Setesdal, Hallingdal and Telemark are the other districts with the oldest and most established bunad tradition.
More recent bunads
Flower embroideries are very common. Present among others in the Nordland bunad (considered by many Norwegians the prettiest bunad) and Gudbrandsdalen bunad. The same design can also come in different colours, with the Nordland bunad existing both in green and blue and the Trøndelag and Romerike bunads in blue, red and green.
Left to right: my flower-themed original character with by Gudbrandsdal and Nordland bunads. Romerike (South-East Norway, near Oslo), Trøndelag (North Norway)
Accessories of the Bunad outfit
Part of the bunad outfit is Sølje, hand-made silver or gold jewellery, which is very important and gets bigger with older one gets. Silver was believed to have magical powers!
Headdresses, as bonnets, used to be important as they indicated an individual’s social or marital status, but big ones as the hardanger bonnet are now scarcely used.
An elaborate with bridal crown can be used for a traditional Norwegian wedding, it was a sign of virginity in connection to the Holy Virgin. The bridal crown tradition goes as far back as the Middle Ages. Like bunads, there are many regional variations, which you can see on Whigofwhimsy.
The silver crown, present in many regional variations, Hardanger perlekrune, Voss, Setesdal
Days on which the Finnish language, suomenkieli, and culture is celebrated in Finland, on birthdays of Finnish poets and artists
Finland celebrates its language and culture during special days chosen for birthdays of Poets and artists. Most are flag days in the country, on which the Finnish flag Siniristilippu(“blue cross flag”) shall fly.
Runeberg day – 5 February
In Finnish Runebergin päivä, it is the birthday of the national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877). The highlight of the celebration is eating Runeberg’s torte (Finnish: Runebergintorttu; Swedish: Runebergstårta).
Runeberg lived in Porvoo/Borgå and although he is considered the national poet of Finland, he only wrote in Swedish! His Vårt land (“Our Land”, Maamme in Finnish) became an unofficial Finnish national anthem.
Runeberg ate the torte now carrying his name everyday, baked by his wife Fredrika. it is an almond and rum flavoured pastry with raspberry jam, and a ring of icing on top. You can find it in shops from the beginning of January until 5 February. The exception to this is Runeberg’s hometown Porvoo, where you can enjoy the torte the whole year round!
Kalevala day – 28 February
InFinnish Kalevalan päivä, it also known as Finnish Culture Day because of the central role Kalevala has as the national epic of Finland and Karelia. EliasLönnrot (1802 – 1884), a Finnish physician and philologist, compiled it in the 19th century by collecting traditional Finnic oral folklore in Finland, Karelia, the Kola Peninsula and the Baltic countries.
Kalevala means land of Kaleva, and its main character is Väinämöinen, a sort of godlike shaman with a magical voice, and it tells about the hero’s search for a wife.
As a symbol of Finnish culture and history, Kalevala has inspired many Finnish artists, among others the classical composer Jean Sibelius and the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela.
A. Gallen Kallela, Aino Myth, Triptych, 1891
Something as old and quintessentially Finnish can be described as kalevalainen “Kalevala-esque”!
Finnish Language day – 9 April
On 9 April Mikael Agricola, the “father of literary Finnish” died, and Elias Lönnrot was born. For this reason it is celebrated as Finnish language day, suomen kielen päivä.
While the previously mentioned Elias Lönnrot compiled the Kalevala, Mikael Agricola was a Bishop and scholar who created Finnish as a written language in the 1500s, with all its lovely double vowels.
Agricola’s role for the Finnish language was similar to that of Luther for German. Both translated the bible into their people’s language. He did that with other Finns while living in Wittenberg, Luther’s town. Agricola also wrote theAbckiria (ABC Book), the first piece of literature in Finnish.
Other important days for Finnish culture
3 February – Day of Finnish architecture and design, Arkkitehtuurin ja muotoilun päiviä. It is the birthday of Alvar Aalto
12 may – Day of Finnish Identity, suomalaisuuden päivä, birthday of the statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman
9 August – Tove Jansson day, Since 2020 this day, Tove Jansson’s birthday, is a flag day in Finland, celebrating Finnish art. Tove Jansson was a painter and illustrator, most known as the creator of Moomintrolls. Her novels and other written work have been translated into more than 50 languages
8 December – John Sibeliusday, Birthday Jean Sibeliuksen päivä/ also day of Finnish music
a Polyglot illustrating Scandinavia 