Swedish Easter Traditions Posted by Transparent Language on Apr 7, 2009 in Culture, Vocabulary
So, as most of you probably know, this is the week of Easter, known in the Christian tradition as Holy Week. In Swedish, it’s Stilla veckan or Passionsveckan.
And this is how the days of the Holy Week are known in Swedish:
- Monday – blåmåndag or svarta måndag
- Tuesday – vita tisdag
- Wednesday – dymmelonsdag
- Thursday – skärtorsdag
- Friday – långfredag
- Saturday – påskafton
And of course Sunday is known as Påskdagen.
The Swedish word for Easter is Påsk, which comes from the Hebrew word “pesach”, which of course doesn’t mean “Easter” in the Jewish tradition, but Passover.
I have to admit, this is my favorite time of the year. Partly this is due to my wonderful neighbor who bakes up a storm during this week and brings over all sorts of yummy sweets and cakes that are traditionally served during Easter in her native country.
But, how does the Swedish Påsk traditions differ from what is common in other European lands? One difference is the kids who dress up as Easter witches and go door-to-door (at least they do in some neighborhoods) in a manner similar to trick-or-treating and get candy in exchange for Easter greetings. This custom is known as “påskkärring” and I think it’s particularly sweet. In some areas in my part of Sweden, in Västerbotten, the tradition got reversed and it’s the kids who bring candy to the homes they visit.
What else? There are of course Easter eggs – påskägg, which are decorated, as in other countries. But sometimes people refer to those big cardboard eggs filled with candy as “påskägg” as well. Personally, my favorite påskägg are those made of chocolate. Yum!
One tradition that I am not so fond of is “påskris”, simply because I am horribly allergic to most things with branches that sprout leaves or buds. Påskris are simply branches (mostly birch) decorated in a festive manner. It’s an Easter equivalent of Christmas tree.
This year, I’m missing all this wonderful stuff, because I’m abroad.
If you want to know more about Swedish Easter traditions, take a look at this article on the Nordiska museet website. It’s in Swedish, but well worth the effort to read it.
Glad Påsk everybody!!!
PS. The blog is still having some technical issues and I can’t post any photos. Bummer!!!
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Comments:
Kenia:
Glad Påsk till dig också Anna!
timan:
så nästa påsk vi hoppas att du kan smaka dina favorita godis
glädjepåsk
Minty:
Ok, didn’t understand those comments. English translation as well please? After all this is a blog for those still learning the language.
Anyway I wanted to tell you Anna about a book I found in my local library (Queensland, Australia). It is called “Culture Shock: Sweden” and what I’ve read so far has been really helpful in learning about swedish culture! I wanted to recommend it to other readers, and ask you if you know of any other good things to read when planning to head there?
Luke (Sydney):
G’day Minty, I found this site very handy and it’s good for reading aftonbladet too.
http://translate.google.com/translate_t#sv|en
glädjepåsk
James:
Minty, Beforehand?
“Culture Shock: Sweden” can do you more harm than good. To get the nuances and pick up on what you need to from a broader view read Swedish literature (Lagerlöf, Strindberg, Sara Lidman, Lars Gustavsson, Kerstin Ekman, P O Enqvist, Pär Lagerkvist, Eyvind Johnsson, Harry Martinsson, Hjalmar Söderberg…) and Swedish history. Spend time in Swedish webforums. Learn some Swedish before you arrive. Another good thing to read is travel writing by Swedes–sometimes national characteristics become more apparent when those characteristics are set up to deal with a foreign topic. Likewise, look at how Swedes view the rest of the world politically. Also, you can check out my blog (Notes from the North), I recently took away the old posts and began focusing only on writing about Swedish phenomena for an international crowd.
Minty:
Thanks James, I know culture shock is probably not the most reliable source material, but it is not the only thing I am using. I live with my Swedish boyfriend, so everything in that book becomes a point of discussion. Im also using Byki to learn the language. I will look into the other stuff you mentioned though.
Beatrix:
Hej Anna.
tack för din lilla artikel om Påsk, den var nyttig 🙂
Is påskris the branches decorated by feathers? I really like those.. will have them next year for sure 😀
Delishhh:
Great post. I just wrote about Swedish Easter Traditions as a kid on my blog too: http://delishhh.com/?p=772