Sweden, indeed all of Scandinavia, has fascinating traditions for celebrating Christmas. Many of their celebrations date back to pre-Christian pagan festivals. The darkness of the Scandinavian winter was the impetus for the Pagan festivals and traditions of light bringing. December 13, in the Julian calendar (this does not hold for the current Gregorian calendar), was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The Swedes feared the dark, after all, what if the light did not return? It is common in Sweden to have a home alight with candles during the holidays. The original holiday was the Yule, the bringing back of light, and it was celebrated with food, feasting, fire, and light.
When Christianity came to Sweden, the Winter Solstice Celebrations of Light were converted into the celebration of St. Lucia, or St. Lucy. Lucia means “light”. Strangely enough, St Lucia is Sicilian. She was seeking help for her mother’s long-term illness at the shrine of Saint Agnes when a Christian angel appeared. Lucy became a devout Christian and refused to marry, and was denounced to the Roman authorities by the man she would have wed. “They threatened to drag her off to a brothel if she did not renounce her Christian beliefs, but were unable to move her, even with a thousand men and fifty oxen pulling. So they stacked materials for a fire around her instead and set light to it, but she would not stop speaking, insisting that her death would lessen the fear of it for other Christians and bring grief to non-believers. One of the soldiers stuck a spear through her throat to stop these denouncements, but to no effect. St Lucia was able to die only when she was given the Christian sacrament.(Wiki). Another story is that Lucia was working to help Christians hiding in the catacombs during the terror under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and in order to bring with her as many supplies as possible, she needed to have both hands free. She solved this problem by attaching candles to a wreath on her head”. In Sweden, The National Festival of Lights and Renewal is held the night before the National holiday, to honor St Lucia. Girls and boys, and even adults, don white robes and set on their head a crown of lights. (To anyone who has seen the movie “The Ref” St Lucia is memorable!). A national Lucia is chosen, and Lucias visit hospitals and nursing homes bearing traditional ‘Pepparkakor’, ginger snap biscuits. It looks like a lovely holiday!
They have Christmas trees in Sweden, and families often make straw goats to protect the tree! Straw is used to remember that Jesus was born in a stable. Every year, since 1959, at 3p on Christmas Eve, the TV station shows Disney’s special “From all of Us to All of You”. Donald Duck! 40 to 50% of Swedes watch it!
Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve, and the Christmas Feast is served for lunch on Christmas Eve. From www.whychristmas.com:
This is often a ‘julbord’ which is a buffet, eaten at lunchtime. Cold fish is important on the julbord. There is often herring (served in many different ways), gravlax (salmon which has been cured in sugar, salt and dill) and smoked salmon.Other dishes on the julbord might include cold meats including turkey, roast beef and ‘julskinka’ (a Christmas ham); cheeses, liver pate, salads, pickles and different types of bread and butter (or mayonnaise). There will also be warm savoury foods including meatballs, ‘prinskorv’ (sausages), ‘koldomar’ (meat stuffed cabbage rolls), jellied pigs’ feet, lutfisk (a dried cod served with a thick white sauce) and ‘revbenspjäll’ (oven-roasted pork ribs). Vegetables such as potatoes and red cabbage will also be served. Another potato dish is ‘Janssons Frestelse’ (matchstick potatoes layered with cream, onion and anchovies that is baked to a golden brown. There’s also ‘dopp i grytan’ which is bread that is dipped in the broth and juices that are left over after boiling the ham. The desert of the julbord might be a selection of sweet pastries, some more pepparkakor biscuits and some home made sweets!
Christmas in Sweden sounds original and so different from ours in the US. I’d love to go over and see the Lucia’s on St Lucia’s Day.
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