| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 113.1 | Church-boat Rowing | TLE::SAVAGE | Neil, @Spit Brook | Tue Jun 17 1986 11:36 | 28 |
| Also associated with the celebration of Midsummer in Sweden is the
sight of boatloads of costumed worshipers rowing to church across the
lake. The best known (and photographed) event is at R�ttvik where the
church boats are rowed every Sunday, from 21 June to 24 August, in
1986. Church Boats also come in at Byrviken, Siljansn�s on June 21, at
T�llberg on June 24, at Mora on June 28, at Nusn�s on June 29, at
Soller�n on July 3, and at Leksand on July 6. The Nordic Viking Race,
the world's longest church-boat rowing race, starts from Leksand on
July 26, 1986.
Herewith, a quote from Sydney Clark's book, "All the Best in
Scandinavia" (1957).
At ten in the morning on June 24 I stood on the pebbly beach of
R�ttvik, near the church, waiting for the boatloads of costumed
worshipers to appear from around a wooded promontory. Presently two
long boats, each holding thirty or more persons, came into view. The
boats, copiously decorated with birch boughs [once a symbol of
fecundity], were rowed by some twenty rowers, men and girls. At a
signal the oars were raised in two rows like so many Viking spears and
there came over the water the harmony of the Crusaders' Hymn, "Fairest
Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature," sung in Swedish.
The effect was electrifying. Until that moment a veritable mob of
tourists, cameras clicking, had been milling on the beach. I had heard
more than one of them say, "What a racket. Brings in the money of
course," but the old hymn silenced them - us - as if taps had been
sounded on a trumpet.
|
| 113.2 | Norwegian Style | MLOKAI::BEST | | Fri Sep 26 1986 13:43 | 13 |
|
I don't remember the date, but when I was in Troms�, Norway
for midsummer's night, I went with a family to a beach on the mainland
(Troms� is a group of islands) and we had a bonfire and a picnic
meal. This is done close to midnight, but being over 200 miles
north of the arctic circle, it was as if it was midday. The idea
was that the bonfires would keep away the evil spirits for the rest
of the year. There were several other bonfires along the shore
to be seen.
It may have something to do with the non-spherical shape of
the earth. I always thought that the solstices were always on the
21st of their respective months, but in Troms�, the sun stopped
rising on November 27th, and didn't rise again until January 27th.
|
| 113.3 | Pigeon Hill? | SWSNOD::RPGDOC | Dennis (the Menace) Ahern 223-5882 | Tue May 19 1987 10:36 | 5 |
| Does anyone have any information on the Midsummer fest on Pigeon
Hill in Rockport (MA) next month? I would like to know what they
have scheduled.
|
| 113.4 | Majst�ng (Maypole) design | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Apr 26 1993 12:46 | 46 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: [email protected] (Linus Tolke Y)
Subject: Re: Majst�ng design
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: Lysator Computer Society, Link|ping University, Sweden
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 04:22:26 GMT
The design varies a lot depending on what region of Sweden you come
from. The one you suggested is mostly used in the southern parts (I
think), Sm�land, Sk�ne, Blekinge.
The other popular design is with one or up to three flowercovered ring
horizontally and with the pole as the center. Suspended in three
colourful pieces of rope.
Somewhat like:
!
+
/!\
/ ! \
/ ooo \
oo ! oo
ooooo
!
!
!
!
!
This can also be combined with the two rings like:
!
+
/!\
/ ! \
/ ooo \
oo ! oo
ooooo
!
-----+-----
/\ ! /\
\/ ! \/
!
!
|
| 113.5 | Midnight ghost procession? | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon May 16 1994 12:20 | 29 |
| Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Midsummer
From: [email protected] (Ruth M. Sylte)
Date: Fri, 13 May 1994 12:28:20
Organization: University of California, Irvine
One of my cultural resources shares the story of an old Norwegian
tradition. I can find no indication of where or when this was done.
In some areas of Norway, Norwegians had a very serious matter to attend
to on Midsummer Night. They had to meet departed friends and relatives
who left their graves to go into the church at the stroke of midnight.
Norwegians would stand close to the church with a hymn book pressed to
their hearts and a piece of sod on their heads (representing the shared
burden of the dead). While the procession of the dead went by, no word
could be spoken, no movement made. At sunrise, the living were
permitted to single out the departed from their family and exchange a
few words before bidding good-bye. The living, however, were not
allowed to reveal any of the conversation to anyone.
Personally, I just howled when I heard this one....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruth M. Sylte [email protected] |
International Opportunities Program | "If you think education is
Center for International Education | expensive, try ignorance."
University of California, Irvine | - William Bennett
Irvine, CA 92717-2476 USA |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| 113.6 | More on Midsummer traditions | TLE::SAVAGE | | Fri Jun 10 1994 16:33 | 113 |
| From: "Jonas E. Anderson" <[email protected]>
Organization: Central Michigan University
Subject: Midsummer traditions
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<[email protected]>
...copied from the pamphlet: "Traditional Festivities in Sweden",
written by Ingemar Liman, and published by The Swedish Institute in
Stockholm.
Midsummer (Midsommar) is the occasion of much festivity in Sweden. This
is when the day are longest; in the north it is the time of the
Midnight Sun. Taken literally Midsummer is something of a misnamer
since, given Sweden's northerly climate summer is just only beginning.
On the ecclestiastical clendar the 24th of June is dedicated to St.
John the Baptist, and in many countries Midsummer is celebrated as the
Feast of St. John. In Sweden it was decided in the 1950s that Midsummer
should always be clebrated on the weekend nearest the 24th with
Midsummer Day on Saturday.
Many folk traditions are associated with this holiday, most of them
relating to Midsumer Eve. In some parts of the country people continue
to observe these customs on the 23rd of June, calendar reform or no.
On the morning of Midsummer Eve Swedes decorate their homes, cars,
churches, dancing pavilions and auditoria with garlands of flowers and
leafy branches. (Generally from pine.) Then in the afternoon they
gather around the the maypole. Practically every town and village,
however small, has a maypole, a tall cross clad with leaves and
flowers. The pole is raised in the mid-after noon in the centre of the
village or playground or field. Once the pole is raised the dance
begins. First in a ring around the pole, then, later, in the evening, a
dance in, say, a barn or on a jetty or outdoor pavilion.
Most city-dwellers flee the city for the countryside at Midsummer,
somtimes travelling some distances. Some regions and provinces are
widely renowned for their celebrations: tens of thousands of tourist
flock, for example to Dalarna in central Sweden. Many Stockholmers seek
out a favorite island in the archipelago, while others stroll to
Skansen, the oldest open-air museum in the world. Apart from all its
historical buildings, Skansen is also a vital center for national
festivities(e.g. The National Day etc). The festivities at the various
rural iron mills in Uppland, north of Stockholm, are also popular.
Typical Midsummer menus feature different kinds of pickled herring and
boiled new potatoes with fresh dill and a desert of garden fresh
strawberries.
As in the case of many other Swedish "eves". Midsummer Eve is also
believed to be a night of super natural happenings and magical powers.
The dew this night is believed to have special properties. He or she
who manages to collect a small flask of Midsummer dew can use it to
cure illness. Certain plants are also collected for this purpose. With
luck, you might see the ferns bloom (!), for in olden days people
believed they bloomed on this night.
The best way to find out whom you will marry is to pick a bouqet of
seven or nine differen varities of flowers from as many meadows or
ditches and place it under your pillow. Then, you will dream of your
bride or groom-to-be. Another way to learn of future events is to eat
"dream-herring" or "dream porridge" with plenty of salt in it.
xx
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx xxx xxxx
xx xx xxx xx xx
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xxxx xxx xxxx
xxx
xxx
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xxx
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xxxxx
xxxxxxx
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Torkel Franzen <[email protected]>
It is absolutely essential, if you are to dance around the maypole, to
sing and dance "Sm} grodorna". The words are simple enough:
Sm} grodorna, sm} grodorna, {r lustiga att se
Sm} grodorna, sm} grodorna, {r lustiga att se
Ej |ron, ej |ron, ej svansar hava de
Ej |ron, ej |ron, ej svansar hava de
O ack ack ack, O ack ack ack, O ack ack ack ack ack
O ack ack ack, O ack ack ack, O ack ack ack ack ack!
(Repeat ad libitum.)
An English version might go
The little frogs, the little frogs, how droll their funny ways
The little frogs, the little frogs, how droll their funny ways
They have no ears, they have no ears, they don't have any tail
They have no ears, they have no ears, they don't have any tail
Oo-ack ack ack, Oo-ack ack ack, Oo-ack ack ack ack ack,
Oo-ack ack ack, Oo-ack ack ack, Oo-ack ack ack ack ack!
The tricky part is the dancing. This involves squatting close to the
ground and jumping in a frog-like way. As you sing "they have no ears",
you put your hands behind your ears and flap them, and the line "they
don't have any tail" is accompanied by a flapping of the hands behind
your back as though wagging the non-existent tail.
|
| 113.7 | Poem | TLE::SAVAGE | | Mon Jun 13 1994 11:28 | 38 |
| From: [email protected] (Z. M. Evensen)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: something for the soul ....
Date: 11 Jun 1994 23:57:17 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
midnattsolensland
tonight, we celebrate a nightless day
a never-setting sun ... no stars, no moonlight
sit with me by the blue fjord's edge
and watch the light shifting water colors
on this granite northern land
shall we weave buttercups and queen anne's lace
into garlands for poem-songs to swing from
let us have time for sweet concentration
dream-weaving in opal midnight
listening to almost-silent meadows
perfumed by ripening wild strawberries
do you see amethyst thistles white clover
lapiz blueberries jade deer-moss
crimson lingonberries under sentinels of white birch
come, hold my hand ... let us walk in this sunlit midnight
till we hear summer's morning song
***
zita maria evensen
(c) 11 juni 1993
--
|
| 113.8 | More Midsummer traditions | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jun 15 1994 11:16 | 31 |
| To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<[email protected]>
From: [email protected]
Subj: More Midsummer traditions
Hi Everybody,
A tradition which...is still carried on is that girls (of all ages!)
make a "crown" of greens and flowers which they wear for the
festivities. Also, Midsummer is one of the most popular dates for
weddings and engagements in Sweden.
Midsummer celebrations are also one of the few occasions when women
like to wear their traditional costumes (and some men, too). As you
know, every little village has its own costume design, so you can
always tell where a person comes from by "translating" the
patterns/fabrics/colors of their traditional costumes.
A noteworthy thing is that since the present Queen was not born in
Sweden, a special "national" costume was created. This way, she did not
have to choose an existing costume, discriminating all others.
The National costume is basically blue with white daisies and some
additional embroideries. It's much less elaborate than some of the old
traditional costumes, but nonetheless very pretty.
Don't forget that Midsummer is a "flagging" day when one is supposed to
fly the Swedish flag from sunrise to sunset.
Blagula halsningar, Yael Tagerud.
[email protected]
|
| 113.9 | Another children's song | TLE::SAVAGE | | Wed Jun 22 1994 16:58 | 56 |
| From: "James W. Hammerstrand" <[email protected]>
To: International Swedish Interest discussion list
<[email protected]>
Subj: Moster Ingeborg
Here are the words to another children's song. Hold onto your hat!
Moster Ingeborg
Jag hade en gammal moster, som hette Ingeborg.
Vi henne nu skall haerma naer vi gaar paa stadens torg.
Saa haer vajar hatten, och hatten vajar saa,
och saa vajar hatten, och hatten vajar saa.
(During the last two lines above, put your hands over your
head, and wave them back and forth, as a hat would in the wind.)
Repeat the stanza, substituting for "hatten" and using approp-
riate hand gestures:
plymen (one hand over head)
muffen
scholen
moster (wave entire body)
After introducing each new element, you must also repeat the
previous ones. Thus, the last verse goes like this:
Jag hade en gammal moster, som hette Ingeborg.
Vi henne nu skall haerma naer vi gaar paa stadens torg.
Saa haer vajar moster, och moster vajar saa,
och saa vajar moster, och moster vajar saa.
Saa haer vajar scholen, och scholen vajar saa,
och saa vajar scholen, och scholen vajar saa.
Saa haer vajar muffen, och muffen vajar saa,
och saa vajar muffen, och muffen vajar saa.
Saa haer vajar plymen, och plymen vajar saa,
och saa vajar plymen, och plymen vajar saa.
Saa haer vajar hatten, och hatten vajar saa,
och saa vajar hatten, och hatten vajar saa.
Jag hade en gammal moster, som hette Ingeborg.
Vi henne nu skall haerma naer vi gaar paa stadens torg.
Glad Johannes!
Jim
___________________________
James W. Hammarstrand
University of Illinois
Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
4080 Foreign Languages Building
707 South Mathews
Urbana, IL 61801
[email protected]
___________________________
|