Summer in the Nordics

Summer is in full swing right now and even if the wet Nordic weather can sometimes mean the season is a wash-out, the calendar at this time of year is nonetheless always packed with special days and memorable events. As the season marches on, let’s take a look at some of the most important traditions that mark the summertime in the Nordic region.

Midsommar

Midsommar is definitely the most well-known Nordic summer tradition. It has pre-Christian roots as a celebration of the summer solstice and it is also associated with the early Christian martyr, John the Baptist. Although most people link this holiday with Sweden, it is celebrated in one form or another across the Nordic region. In Denmark and Norway, it is called Sankt Hans Aften (meaning St. John’s Eve) while in Finland it is known as Juhannusp?iv?.

There are so many different traditions associated with Midsummer, so let’s take a look at some of the most important ones in brief:

-??????Bonfires are a big part of Midsummer celebrations across the Nordics. In Denmark and Norway, it is traditional to light bonfires on the beach or on hilltops. This creates a mesmerising spectacle against the backdrop of midnight sun.

-??????Dancing around the Maypole (Midsommarst?ngen) is traditional in Sweden. So too is singing traditional songs (visor) and drinking snaps. The most famous song is called Sm? Grodorna or Little Frogs.

-??????Floating wreaths on water is traditional in Denmark. These wreaths, made of flowers and greenery, are set adrift on lakes, rivers or the sea, symbolising good luck and a bountiful harvest.

-??????In Iceland, Midsummer is known as Jónsmessa and the holiday is associated with lots of supernatural beliefs. It is said that on this night, cows gain the powers of speech, seals become human, and it is healthy to roll naked in the dew-covered grass beneath the midnight sun!

Crayfish Parties

Summer in the Nordics is strongly associated with fish and seafood. Besides all the herring that features plentifully at Midsummer banquets and parties, another fruit of the sea that rightly gets a lot of attention at this time of year is the crayfish.

For most of the twentieth century, the crayfish harvest in Sweden was legally restricted to the late summer and so it became customary to celebrate the harvest with a so-called kr?ftskiva (kr?fta means crayfish in Sweden). The tradition soon spread to Finland due to the close linguistic and cultural links between these countries, and with time it caught on in Norway and Denmark, too.

Besides plentiful quantities of crayfish accompanied by bread, butter, cheese and other side dishes, crayfish parties also involve drinking snaps and singing traditional songs. They are often held outdoors around gaily decorated tables with bunting and lanterns, and you’ll often see that everyone wears over-sized bibs and funny little paper hats for the occasion.

Roskilde Music Festival

Each year in late June/early July, Denmark plays host to the largest music festival in the Nordic region and one of the largest in Europe. Held to the south of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand, the Roskilde festival has been going from strength to strength ever since it was first set up by two high-schoolers in 1971.

Visiting the festival is a rite-of-passage for young Danes and the festival’s iconic orange-coloured branding signals that summer is underway to Danish music fans. Some of the biggest acts to have graced the stages at Roskilde over the years have included the Rolling Stones, Radiohead, U2 and Coldplay.

Besides its infectious counter-culture spirit and big-name acts, the festival is known for its annual nude fun-run through the campsite, known in Danish as the N?genl?bet.

Norwegian Cabin Culture

In much of the Nordic region, and especially in Norway, no summer can be considered complete without an extended visit to the family cabin, or hytte. According to Statistics Norway, there are around 440,000 of these cute and distinctive wooden cabins across the country, located both high up in its mountains and low down by its coastlines.

Some cabins have all the mod-cons while others are more rudimentary. But no matter the type of cabin, they all have one thing in common – their proximity to nature. For Norwegians, summer holidays in a family cabin are a time to go out hiking and to reconnect with the natural world.

The Icelandic Sheep Round-Up

Just as Midsummer marks the arrival of high summer across the region, in Iceland the end of the season is signalled by the traditional sheep round-up, or the réttir. In early September each year, the island’s farmers head out on their horses and ATVs, with their trusty sheepdogs at their sides, to round up and bring in their free-roaming sheep for the winter.

The gruelling process requires lots of able bodies to help out and so naturally tends to be a communal affair, with extended families and villages coming together to lend a hand. Icelanders thus decided to make the most of this social convergence by playing music and picnicking together outdoors in between bouts of sheep marshalling.?

The name réttir itself refers to the special circular pens with radiating sections that the farmers use to gather and separate their sheep. Seen from above, they are really quite something.

God sommer!

So there you have it, from hytte and réttir to N?genl?bet, Jónsmessa, and Sm? Grodorna, there is no shortage of fun summer traditions in the Nordic region – and plenty of new words to go along with them! Can you think of any traditions that are missing from the list? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to mention your favourites!