Sweden – Page 2 – a Polyglot illustrating Scandinavia

Sámi languages

The languages of the Sámi, indigenous people of Scandinavia

The Sámi people (Sámit/Sápmelaš in sami languages) are Northern Scandinavia’s indigenous people. I have talked about Sámi people and their National Day last year. This year I will focus on their languages.

Sámi languages speakers are approximately 30,000-40,000, out of around 100,000 people identifying as Sámi.

Sámi languages belong to the Uralic language family and are most closely related to the Baltic-Finnic languages (as Estonian, Finnish, and Karelian).

There are 10 distinct variations (of which 6 have standard written forms). They are not mutually intelligible to each other, although there is intelligibility among neighbor variants, which makes the Sámi languages a dialect continuum. According to the Store Norske Leksikon South and North Sami are as far as Norwegian and Icelandic.

Sámi language areas, picture from Store norske leksikon.

They can be divided into Eastern and Western language groups:

Western Sámi languages

North-Davvisámegiella: 15,000 speakers in Norway, Sweden, Finland, about 75% of all Sámi native speakers
Lule–Julevsámegiella: 2000 speakers in Norway and Sweden
South-Åarjelsaemien gïele: 500 speakers in Norway and Sweden
Pite–Bidumsámegiella: 20 speakers in Sweden
Ume–Ubmejensámien giella: 20 speakers in Sweden

Eastern Sámi languages

Inari-Anarâškielâ: 400 speakers in Finland
Skolt-Sää’mǩiõll/nuõrttsää’m: 400 speakers in Finland and Russia
Kildin–кӣллт са̄мь кӣлл: about 787 speakers in the Kola peninsula of Russia
Ter-Saa’mekiill: fewer than 10 speakers in Russia
Akkala-Ákkil sámegiella: considered extinct. Not standardized, but translations of the New Testament into it in 1755 and the bible in 1811 were major influences in the written language.

Sámi language features

Note: what follows refers mainly to North Sámi

like Finnish Sámi languages are agglutinative and highly inflected, nouns and adjectives change form according to their grammatical roles. Northern Sámi has 7 noun cases.
Sámi verbs have dual forms: other than three singular and plural persons the verb conjugations can indicate an action by two people (plural is more than two).
Sámi originally had no words beginning with two or more consonants (unlike in English: green, strong, bridge..): Spasibo (спасибо) became pass’bo in Kildin Sámi. Word-initial clusters were however taken into Sámi through Scandinavian lownwoards: Kraevies (gray) from protonorse *grawaR, grár in Protonorse, modern Scandinavian grå.
Sámi languages have a kind of vowel harmony, which for example makes the given name Knut become Knavhta, adding a third vowel.
Scandinavian varieties of Sámi languages use the Latin alphabets, with additional characters: The unique letter “Ŧ/ŧ”, similar to English th in “thin” and Thorn þ still used in Icelandic. “Đ/đ” is equivalent to Icelandic ð. Other letters occurring in Sámi languages are Áá Čč Ŋŋ Šš Žž.

Language Comparison

Similar words North Sámi – Finnish – Estonian

Nature: luondu – luonto – loodus
Forest: meahcci – metsä – mets
Shaman/witch: noaidi – noita – nõid
Brother: viellja – veli – vend
Day: beivi – päivä – päev
life: eallin – elämä – elu
love: ráhkisvuohta – rakkaus – armastus
mother: eadni – äiti – ema
Reindeer: boazu – poro – põhjapõdrad

As you might notice, historically related words in Finnish with p, t, k have b, d, g in Sámi.

N =North; L=Lule; S=South; U=Ume; P=Pite; I=Inari; SK=Skolt

The Sámi Land/Area – N: Sápmi – L: Sábme/Sámeednam – S: Saepmie – U: Sábmie – P: Sábme – I: Säämi
Traditional clothing/dress (swedish: kolt, norwegian: kofte) – N: Gákti – L: Gábdde/Gáppte – S: Gapta/Gaeptie/Gåptoe – U: Gápttie – P: Gáppte/Gåppto – I: Mááccuh – SK: määccaǩ
Sámi National Day: N: Sámi álbmotbeaivi – S: Saemiej åålmegebiejjie –I: Säämi aalmugpeivi – SK: Saaʹmi meersažpeiʹvv
Happy New Year! – N: Buorre Ođđa Jahki! – S: Buerie Orre Jaepie! – L: Buorre Ådå Jahke! – P: Buorre Årrå Jahke! – U: Buörrie Urra Jáhpie! – I: Pyeri uđđâ ihe! – SK: Šiõǥǥ ođđ eeʹjj!
Merry Christmas – N: Buorit Juovllat! – L: Buorre Javla! – S: Lahkoe Jåvlh! – P: Buorre Jåvvlå! – U: Buörrie Juvlla!

Language status and discrimination

All the Sámi languages are considered endangered, this is due in part to historic laws prohibiting the use of Sámi languages in schools and at home in Sweden and Norway. Sámi languages were illegal in Norway from 1773 until 1958. Special residential schools that would assimilate the Sámi into the dominant culture were established, and access to Sámi instruction as part of schooling was not available until 1988.

Samer.se underlines that in the 60s and 70s many Sámi parents did not speak Sámi to their children. This was a reaction to the negative experiences and the discrimination faced in Swedish schools, which however resulted in depriving children of their mother tongue, and many suffered from that as adults.

In the last decades of the past century this attitude started to change, granting the rights to have education in Sámi languages and esthablishing funds for the promotion of Sámi culture and languages.

In Norway Sámi languages have official status in 9 municipalities in the counties of Finnmark and Troms.
Since 2002 Sámi languages have been recognised as minority languages in Sweden and have official status in 4 municipalities. In these areas they can be used in government agencies, courts, pre-schools and nursing homes.
North Sami, Skolt Sami and Inari Saami are offically recognised in Finland and have official status in 4 municipalities, Sámi people have the right to use Sámi languages for all government services.
In Russia Sámi people are recognised as an indigenous people but their languages have no official status.

Municipalities where Saami is an official language, picture from Nordiskamuseet.se

Art and media in Sámi languages

The first two recorded Sámi poems are by Sámi priest and poet Olaus Sirma (1655-1719), included by Johannes Schefferus of Uppsala in his book Lapponia in 1673.

Parne miela Piägga miela,
Noara Jorda kockes Jorda.

A boy’s will is the wind’s will,
the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.
refrain of Moarsi favrrot/The Beloved One, translated in “a Lapland song” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) and included in the long poem “My Lost Youth”

The oldest Sámi language newspaper is Nuorttanaste (Eastern Star), a religious paper began in 1898 and still published in Norway. The Sámi-Swedish bilingual Newspaper Samefolket began in 1918, and Sapmelas, founded in 1934 and renamed in in 1993 Odda Sapmelas (The New Sámi) is published in Finland.

Various Sámi units of national broadcasting company exist: NRK Sápmi (Norway), Yle Sámi Radio (Finland), Sameradion (Sweden).

The 1970s saw a blossoming of Sámi language literature that has continued to the present, with Sámi artists focusing their work on Sámi language and Sámi traditional themes. Prominent figures include Nils-Aslak Velkeapää (writer, singer, multimedia artist); Paulus Utsi (poet); Vuokko Arvonen (feminist writer); Nils Gaup (filmmaker); Mari Boine and Sofia Jannok (singers). In Norway, the yearly Riddu Riđđu festival in Olmmáivaggi/Manndalen features music, art, theater from Sápmi, including Sámi rap music, yoik rock and dramas from Beaivváš Sámi Našunálateáhter, the Sámi national theatre.

Online Resources to learn Sámi languages

Find resources to learn Sami languages in my resources list page

Sources for this article:

Sanders, Ruth H. The languages of Scandinavia (2017) The University of Chicago Press
Samer.se
Den Store Norske Leksikon
Valokki and Talvatis on tumblr
Omniglot.com

Astrid Lindgren’s places in Småland and beyond

Astrid Lindgren’s homeland and locations of her movies

Astrid Lindgren’s birthday was on 14th November, to celebrate Scandinavia’s and the world’s favourite children author here’s an article about her homeland.

Astrid Lindgren came from Småland, a region in the south of Sweden full of idyllic villages, wild nature (51% of Småland is forests!) and old farms. There you can visit the places from her childhood that were sources of inspiration for books as Emil in Lönneberga, Bullerby/Noisy Village, Pippi Longstocking and so on around the town of Vimmerby.

There were two things that made our childhood what it was – security and freedom.
From the book Mitt Småland (“My Småland”) by Astrid Lindgren and Margareta Strömstedt

Vimmerby and surroundings

Where Astrid Lindgren grew up

Astrid Lindgren spent her happy childhood on the Näs farm. The hollow elm which was Pippi’s “lemonade tree” (Sockerdricksträdet) is still in the garden. Astrid and her siblings had named it Owl Tree (Uggleträdet).

The farm is still owned by the family and is part of the cultural center, which was opened in 2007 for Astrid Lindgren’s 100th birthday. You can find out more about Astrid Lindgren, her life and work in exhibitions there.

Vimmerby is the town were Astrid Lindgren grew up and went to school. The young Astrid played with her siblings and friends in the alleyways of this small town and in the surrounding woods. Her childhood provided the raw material for her stories. Here are some contained in Pippi Långstrump, her major success:

The game “Don’t touch the ground”, that Pippi plays one day with Tommy and Annika was also played Astrid Lindgren.
The message in a bottle in Pippi Longstocking Goes Aboard comes from a game Astrid played with her brother Gunnar and her two cousins.
Her brother Gunnar also invented the “things-finder” (sakletare) game.
Pippi’s freckles and red hair came from a friend of Lindgren’s daughter Karin.
in Furusund, where the summer house of the Ericsson family was, there was a girl who had a horse tied to the porch similar to Pippi’s Lilla Gubben.

She was also good at school to the point where she was called “Vimmerby’s Selma Lagerlöf” after her first essay was published in the local newspaper Vimmerby Tidning. She worked two years as a volounteer for it until she got pregnant at 18 and left the town.

Emil’s village and Bullerby

Around Mariannelund, just 20 km south of Vimmerby, is where the Emil of Lönneberga films were made from 1971 to 1874, in the Film village Filmbyn Småland. In this interactive museum you will be able to have a look behind the scenes and see classic film clips, sing along to tracks and check out original props. Emil´s home, Katthult, is actually called Gibberyd, located between Lönneberga and Mariannelund.

Astrid Lindgren found the inspiration for Emil from the stories her father told about his childhood, but the character of Emil came to life when she was taking care of her three-year-old grandson, who was screaming with all his might. Astrid Lindgren asked the boy if he knew what Emil had done one day. Since the boy wanted to know that, he started being quiet to listen. From that moment, she went on telling her grandson about Emil and later wrote the stories down.

The village of Sevedstorp became Bullerby (Noisy Village) in the films. This hamlet was the childhood home of Astrid Lindgren’s father, and the three farms in Pelarne, 10 km from Vimmerby, were in fact also the model for the Bullerby. Astrid Lindgren‘s father Samuel August Ericsson grew up there with his four brothers and two sisters. Astrid Lindgren’s grandfather was also the model for Bullerby’s grandfather. The farms are however private property now.

I am sorry for all who do not live in Bullerby
Anna in Bara roligt i Bullerbyn

Astrid Lindgren’s Amusement Park: Astrid Lindgrens värld

And if you want to see everything at once, you can visit astrid lindgren’s world. The author’s theatre park, few minutes walking away from Näs, is where the characters and settings from Astrid’s most famous books are brought to life. It lets you truly immerse yourself in the stories of Astrid Lindgren. leap across the Hell’s Gap chasm with Ronja the Robber’s Daughter, meet Katla the dragon with the Brothers Lionheart or watch That Emil hoist little Ida up the flagpole.

Outside Småland

Here you can read (in Swedish) about the locations of the movies. However, not all films inspired by Astrid Lindgren books are located in Småland, in some occasions even outside Sweden!

Pippi Longstocking was filmed in the town of Visby in Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic Sea. The shops were located in the St Hansgatan street in the centre. Villa Villekulla is a few kilometres outside Visby, later moved to the south of the town.
Brothers Lionheart: Tomelilla and in the hills Brösarps Backar in Österlen, south-east Skåne. The town of Törnosdalen in the movie is in Den Gamle By, an open-air museum in the Danish city of in Aarhus, in Jutland. Much was also in Iceland.
Madicken: Söderköping
Ronja: most scenes are near the mountain Sörknatten i Dalsland. most scenes by the lake in Jämtland (lake Blåsjön). Other scenes are in the cave Tykarpsgrottan in Ignaberga, Skåne; and in the ruins of the Haga castle in Solna, near Stockholm.
Vi på Saltkråkan/ Seacrow island: islands in the Stockholm northern archipelago: most in Norröra, some Söderöra. A lot of scenes were also in Eckerö, in the archipelago of Åland (Finland).

My visit to Nordic Christmas markets in Rotterdam

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!

by Chiara 24 December 202528 December 2025

Lucia concert (and a Lussekatt) in Den Haag

This year, I celebrated Lucia in the Hague by eating a Lussekatt at Scandinavian bakery Norvolk, and attending a Lucia church concert.

by Chiara 16 December 202516 December 2025

7 fun facts about Lucia, Sweden’s pagan saint

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.

by Chiara 10 December 202517 December 2025

Sámi people: who are they?

The indigenous people of North Scandinavia & 6th February

February 6th is, other than my birthday, Sámi people’s National Day.

The Sámi – also spelled Saami – are an indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Sámi have historically been known as Lapps or Laplanders, but these terms are usually regarded as offensive. There are about 100,000 Sámi people, divided by the borders of 4 states: Norway (ca. 60.000), Sweden (30.000), Finland (8.000) and Russia (2.000).

The Sami have their own history, languages, and maintain a strong cultural identity while being citizens of their countries.
One of the most typical traits of Sami culture is the central role of reindeers: around 10% of Sámi practice reindeer herding nowadays, which in some parts of the Nordic countries can be practiced only by Sámis.

Sami symbols and culture

The Sami traditional clothing, gákti/gapta/gábdde in Sami languages, kofte/kolt in Norwegian and Swedish, is well dinstinguished from Norwegian bunads and Swedish national dresses. It is worn at important occasions and varies depending on the gender, family, area one is from and status. Important parts of Sami culture are Sami handicrafts, known as duodji, which include accessories and clothing.

The colors found in Sami clothing inspired the Sámi flag – designed by Astrid Båhl, from Skibotn, Norway, and approved by the Nordic Sámi Council in 1986. The circle is a symbol for the sun (red) and the moon (blue), emphasizing Sami people’s connection to nature.

Another unique cultural element is the Yoik (or jojk), a traditional song-chant, with different functions, and can be about each other, places and animals. it is however inappropriate to sing a yoik about oneself, as this would be a form of self-flattery. Sami national jojk is Sámi eatnan duoddariid by Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, who modernised the yoik tradition. A famous example of yoik is Daniels jojk by Jon Henrik, a yoik tied to his late friend, which was sung at tv-show Sweden’s got talent.

What language do Sami people speak?

If you want to know in detail about various languages Sami people have spoken read my article about Sami languages . There is no single Sámi language, but a group of around 10 distinct Sámi languages which belong to the Ugro-Finnic language family (as Finnish and Estonian). Sami languages are relatively closely related, but not mutually intelligible to each other. North Sámi is the most widely used language and is spoken in all the four countries.

The majority of the Sámi now speak the majority languages of the countries they live in and all Sámi languages are at some degree of endangerment. Sámi languages had been illegal for centuries in Sweden and Norway, with assimilation policies and special residential schools (similarly to what happened in North America with indigenous people). This led to Sámi parents themselves to not speak Sámi to their children as a way to protect them. Since the late 20th century, the Sámi have the right to education in their own languages.

Sámi movie, book, music

the movie Sameblod, or Same Blood in English (2016), directed my Amanda Kernell. It is set in Sweden in the 1930s and concerns a 14-year-old girl who experiences prejudice at a nomad school for Sami children, and decides to escape her town and disavow her Sami heritage. Parts of the story are inspired by Kernell’s own grandmother.
books by Ann-Elen Laestadius: Stöld (stolen is the English title- with a Netflix adaption from 2021 as well), Straff (punished in English)
Sami singers: Jarnna (their Nilas jojk was my favourite song to calm down in an incredibl stressing period), Jon Henrik, Elin Oskal

History of Sámi people

11,000-5,000 b.C. -first traces of people in Sapmi, inner Norrland. 1,500 b.C – reindeer ski dating back to this time. sijda communities were formed, several families who work and hunt together.

Mentions of Sami people in ancient times:

98 a.D. – the Roman historian Tacitus talks about a people called Fenni in his Germania. Finns used to be a synonym for Sami. 550 a.D – the bizantine historian Procopius tells about various peoples in Scandinavia. the Scraerefenni went on skis, wore animal skins and give the babies marrow to suck on. Both men and women hunt. 900 a.D- Icelandic Viking tales tell about the skin trade with the Sami and how the Sami and other nordic peoples deal with each other.

1300-1600 religious missions and colonisation

Early 1300s – Swedish kings encourage colonisation of lands to the north of Hälsingland, Sami people are taxed. 1389 – The Archbishop of Uppsala is urged by Queen Margaret to serve a mission in Lapland, because she believes that the Sami need a Christian faith. 1606 – King Charles IX calls himself King of the Lapps. He decides that church and market places should be established in the Lapland. 1685-1693 – Charles XI of Sweden orders magistrates’ councils to examine the Sami idolatry. The Sami religion shall be destroyed. in 1700s the biologist Linnaeus travelled to Lapland, and mentioned that when a Sami refused to hand over religious objects such as magic drums to the missionaries, they would hold him down while they cut open the large artery in his arm, and made him bleed until he obeyed – a procedure that, according to Linnaeus, ‘often succeeded’.”

1700-1900 systematic discrimination

1723 och 1732 – it is prohibited for Sami people to enter territories to the south of Lappmarken in Sweden, with the policy Lapp skall vara Lapp (Lapp shall be lapp), 1860s – Systematic Norwegianization, Socialdarwinism, Sami people considered inferior. Measures against Sami languages. 1902 – Law in Finnmark that prevented from selling land to those who did not speak Norwegian.

20th century – Rights given to Sámi people

1917 – On 6th February the first Sami national congress took place in Trondheim, Norway. This was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together to solve common problems. On this day Sami national day is celebrated in all of Sami lands since 1992.
1977 -The Swedish Parliament confirms that the Sami are an indigenous people in Sweden.
Sami parliaments: 1989 Sametinget in Norway; 1992 Sametinget in Sweden. In Finland a Sami delegation had already been formed in 1971, turned into a parliament in 1996
2000 – The first Swedish Sami language law. Sami are given the right to use Sami languages in contact with authorities and courts, child and elderly care has to be accessible in Sami languages.

Sources :

Samiskeveivisere.no – Samer og nordmenn i Norge – Samiske Veivisere
Store Norske Leksikon – snl.no/samer
sametinget.no
samer.se
YLE’s Say it in Saami quick guide to Saami culture

Scandinavian Christmas: symbols, sweets and gift bringers

Nordic Christmas, or Yule, means among others flag tree decorations, a pinwheel-shaped pastry, and gnomes.

Nordic countries share quite a lot Christmas customs and symbols, whether it is Christmas tree decorations, gnomes and elves instead of Santa Claus, and of course spiced cookies. Let’s see what a Scandinavian Christmas looks like!

1. Scandinavian Santa Claus: Gnomes and pixies

In Sweden and Norway it is a Santa Claus-like gnome bringing presents: Jultomte in Sweden and Julenisse. According to the tradition it lives in farms and takes care of the household while the family is sleeping, Bringing presents if the family treated him and the farm animals well. In Norway, an adult disguises himself as Julenisse and gives out presents to children, often greeting them by saying Er det noen snille barn her? (“is there any good child here?”).

In Denmark Julemanden (literally Christmas man) arrives on a sleigh with reindeers and has elves as helpers, Julenisser or just Nisser, who are believed to live in barns and attics. Children leave rice pudding for the Nisser, who find it delicious accoring to popular belief. In the Faroe islands it is called Jólamaðurin.

Initially the gift bringer was the Julbocken/Julebukk goat mentioned above, so in Finnish Santa Claus is called Joulupukki…

2. Christmas Decorations: straw goats, pleated hearts and flags

Yule Goat: A common Christmas symbol and decoration is a straw goat, Julbocken/Julebukk, often put under the Christmas tree. It goes back to the Viking times and it was a household protector, representing Thor’s magical goats, who lead him in the night sky. Bigger versions can be found in town centres – this tradition started in the Swedish town of Gävle in the 60s, and every year this traditions is repeated with a Julbock as tall as around 10 metres.

Things to hang on the tree

Julehjerter are pleated hearts, very common and in Denmark and Norway (Norwegians call them Juletrekurv “Christmas tree baskets”), but also present in other Nordic countries as a typical Christmas symbol. Children make them with their family with paper of different colours, although they are often red and white.

Flag garlands: Decorating Christmas trees with flags originated in Denmark and it can be seen in all Nordic countries, although it was more common in the mid-20th Century. A survey showed that one in three Norwegians thinks flag garlands are suitable Christmas tree decorations, while only 3 % and 5 % is of the same opinion in Sweden and Finland. Nonetheless, I bought a Christmas tree flag ornament in Sweden…

3. Christmas treats: spiced cookies to rice porridge

Baking gingerbread cookies is a typical Christmas time family activity: Pepparkakor in Swedish, Pepperkaker in Norwegian and Peberkager in Danish, piparkakut in Finnish.
Hiding an almond in rice porridge with a prize for who finds it is a common things in Nordic countries. in Sweden the rice pudding is called risgrysgröt. In Denmark you have the Risalamande (from French ris à l’amande, just because French sounded fancy), It is served cold with a warm cherry sauce, kirsebærsovs. The lucky person who finds the entire almond in it wins a marzipan pig!
Lussekatter are Swedish saffron pastries, typically eaten for Lucia.
Joulutorttu, a Finnish pastry filled with plum or apple jam.
Æbleskiver are Danish fried snacks, round and often served with jam and powder sugar. The name literally means “apple slices”, although apples are usually not an ingredient!
Kransekake, Norwegian and Danish almond cookie rings, commonly eaten on festive occasions.

Mulled wine, glögg, is a classic, with spices as cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, but you can also drink Chistmas beer! It is darker and spicier than the usual ones.

God Jul!