Today
we are going to learn about Christmastime in Sweden! The main holiday
celebrated in December there is called St. Lucia's Day which is held
on December 13th. This is a very old celebration which
started with stories told by monks to the children. St. Lucia was a
very good, young Christian girl but she was martyred in 304.
The
story most known is about her bringing food to the persecuted
Christians in Rome, who were hiding under the catacombs to stay
alive. She wore candles on her head so she could carry the food and
things with both hands. Her saint name actually means light. The day
of December 13th is the shortest day of the year, the
Winter Solstice. The former pagan festival of lights that was
practiced on the solstice has been turned into the new St. Lucia Day.
The
day is celebrated with all the girls dressing up in a white dress
with a red sash and a crown of candles upon her head. Children below
12 usually have electric candles on their heads, but many older wear
real candles on their head! Just thinking about that much danger on
my head makes me nervous! The crown they wear is made of Ligonberry
branches which are an evergreen plant and symbolize new life in
winter.
Aside
from there being a St. Lucia for each school and town and village, a
national St. Lucia is chosen. She is tasked with doing good deeds
such as visiting nursings homes and hospitals and singing a song
about St. Lucia while she hands out ginger snap biscuits called
Pepparkakor.
Some
small children, with the help of their parents, dress up as St. Lucia
as well. The young boys can dress up as Stjarngossar, which
translates to star boys and the girls may be tarnor, St. Lucia
without the candles. On St. Lucia Day, the most traditional food to
eat is called Lussekatts. These are buns made just for that day,
flavored with saffron and dotted with raisins. Lusskatts are eaten
for breakfast.
Christmas
Eve is also very important, when they have their main Christmas meal.
This meal is called a Julbord, which is a buffet eaten at lunchtime.
Cold fish is a big part of this, with herring , gravlax (salmon which
has been cured in sugar, salt and dill) or smoked salmon.
Other
foods that are included are cold meats like turkey, roast beef and
julskinka, Christmas ham. They have cheeses, liver pate, salads,
pickles and many types of bread and butter. They also eat meatballs,
Prinskorv (sausages), kaldomar (meat stuffed cabbage rolls and
jellied pigs feet. Lutfisk is a dried cod served with a white sauce,
is a big part of the meal as well as revbenspjall (oven-roasted pork
ribs).
They
also eat vegetables like potatoes, red cabbage or a dish called
Janssons Frestelse which is matchstick potatoes layered with cream,
onion and anchovies that is baked to be golden brown. There's also
dopp I grytan, meaning bread dipped in broth and juices left from the
ham. The desert could be a selection of sweet pastries, pepparkakor
or home made sweets! They have something called glogg to wash
everything down with and it is a sweet mulled wine. They might also
have risgryngrot (rice porridge), that is covered with Hallonsylt
(raspberry jam) or sprinkled with some cinnamon. I don't think I have
enough family to share that much food! The Swedes must be very hungry
people.
When
they are done with the big feast, presents get exchanged on Chirstmas
Eve and early in the morning of Christmas Day, they go to church. A
very interesting tradition on Christmas Eve afternoon is for everyone
to watch Donald Duck cartoons! From it's start in 1959 at 3:00pm on
Christmas Eve until now, the television station TV1 shows the Disney
special From All of Us to You. The title in Swedish is Kalle Ank Och
Hans Vanner Onskar God Jul, the meaning of the Swedish title is
Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas. Almost half
of the population watches it every year!
Another
tradition I personally find quite interesting is the practice of
making straw goats outside their houses to guard the Christmas Tree!
Straw is also used in the homes as a decoration, to remind everyone
that Jesus was born in a manger. A city called Galve has a giant
straw goat built every year at the start of Advent. It's stand 43
feet tall and takes two days to erect! It is made with a metal
structure for support and straw on the outside. This tradition has
been in practice since 1966. The firs Gavle Yule Goat was burned down
on New Year's Eve 1966 and ever since, it's been a target for
vandals. In the 51 years it's been erected, it's only survived
throughout Christmas and to New Year's 12 times. Last year it was
only standing for two days before it was burnt!
The
Santa Claus of Sweden is called Jultomten or Tomten, this means the
Christmas Gnome. He is helped by fellow gnomes or elves called Nissar
or Nissor depending on the gender. The end of Christmastime is
January 13th and is called Tjugondag Knut (Twentieth Day
Knut) and is named after a Danish Prince Canute Lavard. On this day,
the people take their Christmas Tree down and all leftover cookies
and sweets are eaten. God Jul!
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