Christmas in Scandinavia
Christmas is traditionally celebrated on the 24th of December in Scandinavia. But it starts way before that with preparations of food and shopping.
In ancient times, long before Christianity came to Scandinavia, “Jul” or “Yule” was an observation of the winter solstice. It was a mid-winter celebration of the transition from the dark winter to spring and the time to celebrate harvest, fertility and birth. December is the darkest month of the year but it is also when the sun turns and the days start to get longer again. So what used to be a pagan tradition slowly converted into a Christian custom celebrating the birth of Jesus.
In Scandinavia Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December rather than on the 25th like in most other English speaking countries. The reason is related to the fact that the Scandinavian countries practise a mainly Protestant Christianity. While most Scandinavians do not actively follow any religion, Christmas is still a religious celebration. Part of the tradition is to go to church on Christmas Day, light candles and lay wreaths on family graves.
Advent
The Christmas season traditionally starts with the first Advent, which falls on the first Sunday of December. This is followed by the second, third and fourth Advent on the following Sundays leading up to the 24th of December.
Adventus is a Latin term, which refers to the countdown to Christmas and the birth of Jesus.
Advent is officially the time to start decorating your house and garden with an abundance of tinsel, lights, Santas and anything that belongs to the season. Every window is lit up with an Advent candlestick; in the gardens you will often see trees and bushes decorated with thousands of little light bulbs, carefully placed to spread light even throughout the densest twigs and branches. And despite December being a very dark month every home, house or apartment, seems to spread a warm and welcoming light.
Advent is highlighted in different ways throughout Scandinavia. In Denmark for instance the Advent wreath plays a big part in the celebration. The wreath carries four candles, one of which is lit on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve on the 24th December. In Sweden the Advent candle holder serves the same purpose. On every Sunday a new candle is lit together with the ones from previous Sundays. Whether it is a wreath or a candle holder they are often decorated with spruce twigs, red berries, moss and ribbons.
Lucia night December 13
Lucia, or the Queen of Light, refers to St Lucia who was an Italian saint from the island of Syracuse. She brought food to the poor Christians who hid in the catacombs of Rome. To keep her hands free to hand out food she wore a wreath in her hair carrying candles to light her way in the darkness. Curiously, St Lucia is celebrated more enthusiastically in Scandinavia than anywhere else in the world, even Italy.
The Lucia festival falls on the night between the 12th and 13th of December and is celebrated mainly in Sweden and Denmark in churches, schools and work places. A Lucia is traditionally chosen in every village, town and school and you would often see her crowned with candles in the town square and then in procession with her followers, all dressed in white, singing traditional Christmas songs. They will tour the local community, often early in the morning, bringing warmth and light accompanied by the soothing sound of traditional Christmas carols. They often treat their audience to ginger snaps and saffron buns as well.
Christmas markets
Leading up to Christmas an abundance of Christmas markets will spring up in every town and city throughout Scandinavia. The air fills with scents of mulled wine and saffron buns, and stalls will be selling traditional handicrafts and local delicacies.
Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, hosts Scandinavia’s largest Christmas market, which is held in the popular amusement park Liseberg. The Liseberg Christmas market has a long history and has been an annual feast for over a century. The park turns into a fairytale setting with some five million lights brightening up the park from mid November up until Christmas. The restaurants serve traditional Christmas food and there are about 80 stalls selling traditional handicrafts, Christmas decorations and home made delicacies.
Why not try one of the merry-go-rounds or, for the less faint hearted, pay a visit to the haunted house Gasten.
The amazing Liseberg Ice Gallery & Bar is also well worth a visit. It’s made entirely out of ice; everything from drinking glasses to furnishing and decorations is shimmering ice blue.
Watch how ten contestants try their tree decorating skills in the Liseberg Grand Prix. The winning tree decorator is declared the Grand Champion!www.liseberg.se
The Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen first opened its doors in 1843 but it wasn’t until 1994 that the park hosted its first Christmas market. The great downtown location turned out to be a success as the market attracted some one million visitors in 2005. Admire the Grand Christmas tree; decorated with miles of fairy lights at the centre of the Tivoli Garden. It is the godfather of all Christmas trees. Open: 16 November – 30 Decemberhttp://www.tivoli.dk/composite-4983.htm
In Norwegian Halden, just on the southern border between Sweden and Norway, you can experience a quite amazing Christmas market at the Fredriksten Fortress. Dating back to the 1640s it has a dramatic history as an important defence on the border to Sweden. It stood strong in many battles between Sweden and Norway and one of the most famous attempts to conquer the fort took place in 1716 by Swedish king Karl XII. To force the Swedes to retreat the people of Halden set fire to their own town. For this sacrifice they been honoured with a stanza in the Norwegian national anthem.
Near the Christmas market you can pay a visit to the museum and learn more about the amazing history of Halden, buy bread from the old bakery and enjoy a demo at the old beer brewery. Open: 1-2 Decemberhttp://www.visithalden.com/indexeng.html
Smorgasbord
The traditional Scandinavian kitchen offers a wide variety of cold and warm traditional Christmas dishes. The cuisine varies slightly between the three countries and there are even regional differences on the Christmas smorgasbord.
Custom dictates that you should go around seven times to get food at a proper smorgasbord. That would be because of the wide range of cold and hot food, fish, meat and desserts that is served. Some of the fish dishes that should be included are herring & lutfisk. The herring is pickled and comes in many variations, tasting of garlic, tomato or mustard, just to mention a few. Lutfisk is another type of fish, or method of preparing the fish. It is first dried then washed in lye, after that it is steeped in water over night and then it is boiled. The whole procedure takes about two weeks. The first written mention of lutfisk was in the mid 1500s. Apart from the different kinds of fish there are also among other things meatballs, ham, duck, sausages and rise (rice??) pudding. And of course there is an abundance of salads and garnish to go with it.
And not to forget the must-have schnapps. Schnapps is a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the meal in small shot glasses. It is usually distilled from grain or potato and is, in its raw form, without fragrance. It will later be spiced with different herbs and spices such as aniseed, cumin, fennel and elderberry for instance. Schnapps is best served ice cold, and to get it really nice and cold you can put in the freezer for a little while. It is then served in shot glasses and it is widely accepted for men as well as women, young and old to have one or two with dinner.
Most breweries have a special Christmas beer which is presented every year and is of course one of the main items on the smorgasbord.
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is the most famous of all the figures associated with Christmas. The tradition of Santa Claus has always been strong in the Nordic region and in the evening of the 24th of December he visits homes throughout Scandinavia. Often it is the father of the family who goes to “buy the paper” and instead dresses up as Santa Claus.
Santa Claus (jultomten – Sweden, julenissen – Norway, julemanden – Denmark) is believed to be a cross between the garden gnome, who has a strong history in Scandinavia, and the Greek saint Nikolaus whose generosity has been the inspiration for today’s Santa Claus.
Exactly where he lives is also disputed. Some say the North Pole is his real home, but in Scandinavia it is almost common knowledge that he lives in Rovaniemi, Finland. Mind you if you ask a Dane, they might say he is from Greenland.
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