{"id":2353,"date":"2017-06-23T14:50:05","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T14:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2353"},"modified":"2017-06-23T14:50:05","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T14:50:05","slug":"happy-sankthansaften","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/happy-sankthansaften\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Sankthansaften!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo courtesy of Signe Karin at Flickr<\/a>, CC License.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hvorfor m\u00e5 det alltid regne p\u00e5 sankthansaften? <\/b>(Why does it always have to rain on Midsummer\u2019s Eve?) That is the question many Norwegians ask themselves on June 23rd<\/sup><\/span>, and for lots of communities in Norge<\/b>, this year is no exception. Still, most people trosser v\u00e6ret<\/b> (disobey the weather), don their regnkl\u00e6r<\/b> (rainwear) and gather in the early evening to enjoy the warmth from the local sankthansb\u00e5l<\/b> (the Midsummer\u2019s Eve bonfire).<\/p>\n

Since Kari has already written about the origins<\/a> of Sankthans<\/b> \u2013 which literally means \u201dSaint John\u201d and is (in part) a leftover from the days when Norway was Catholic \u2013 I\u2019ll focus on the practical sides of this ancient Midsummer celebration, which some Norwegians know as Jonsok <\/b>[YONNsock].<\/p>\n

The big attraction of kvelden<\/b> (the evening) is b\u00e5let<\/b> (the bonfire). Bonfires are lit everywhere in Norway on this date, and a community has to be extremely small in order not to have one. The sight of flammene<\/b> (the flames) blazing against a mountain backdrop\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 and the immense varme<\/b> (warmth) from b\u00e5let<\/b> \u2013 can be an amazing experience, no matter the amount of regn<\/b> (rain).<\/p>\n

The fire is a remnant of a pre-Christian ritual which was undertaken to expell onde makter<\/b> (evil powers) \u2013 such as hekser <\/b>(witches) \u2013 from the community. In many places in Norway, people still burn a heksedukke<\/b> (witch doll) on this evening. It is a bit scary for barna<\/b> (the children), so the parents must always have a good explanation at hand. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

In some communities, the sankthansaften <\/b>event is organized by an idrettslag<\/b> (sport\u2019s organization) or charity who charges an entrance fee. They organize various fun games and konkurranser<\/b> (competitions). People chat and drink kaffe<\/b> (coffee) and brus<\/b> (\u2248 lemonade), while the kids are busy eating so many p\u00f8lser<\/b> (sausages) and is<\/b> (ice-creams) as they can stomach on this very special evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Hvorfor m\u00e5 det alltid regne p\u00e5 sankthansaften? (Why does it always have to rain on Midsummer\u2019s Eve?) That is the question many Norwegians ask themselves on June 23rd, and for lots of communities in Norge, this year is no exception. Still, most people trosser v\u00e6ret (disobey the weather), don their regnkl\u00e6r (rainwear) and gather in…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":2354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[7,913],"tags":[3124,27606,358393,503763,3301,503760,45353,503757,503756,169],"class_list":["post-2353","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","category-traditions","tag-bonfire","tag-catholic","tag-fire","tag-jonsok","tag-midsummer","tag-midsummers-eve","tag-plser","tag-sankthans","tag-sankthansaften","tag-weather"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t