Category: people

The Swedish Hour of the Wolf

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

In Swedish, there is a term ‘vargtimmen’, which translates as hour of the wolf. It is used to specifically describe the time between 03.00-04.00

Although it sounds like an ancient concept, it was actually coined by Swedish film director Ingemar Bergman in his 1968 film of the same name. Or so he claimed. He describes the ‘vargtimmen’ in the following way:

‘The hour of the wolf is the hour between night and dawn. It is the hour when most people die, when sleep is the deepest and nightmares the most vivid. It is the hour when insomniacs are hunted by their worst anxieties, when ghosts and demons are at their most powerful. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most babies are born’.

Other academics believe the concept existed earlier than Bergman’s time, and that it refers to the fact that farmers would get up in the night to protect their wild stock from hunting wolves.

Whatever the origin, the ‘hour of the wolf’ has a definite mystical and almost terrifying implication. When was the last time you lay awake at 03.00 am and chased your demons?

April, April! You stupid herring!

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

april-fools-day-2015

Playing April Fool’s jokes on each other on the first of April is a tradition in many countries – Sweden included. In fact it is an old tradition – the oldest written reference being in 1392 in Chaucer’s ‘The Cantebury Tales’.

In Sweden, when someone is tricked, the tradition is to say ‘April, April din dumma sill!‘. This translates as ‘April, April you stupid herring!’. This is however not as weird as it might sound. In many countries, such as Italy, France and Holland, April 1st is known as “April fish”. On this day, people try to attach paper fish onto the backs of their victims.

April Fool’s pranks are common in newspapers, with classics such as:

  • IKEA is getting into the airline business. Furnishing all the flights with Ikea furniture, the name of the airline is FLYKEA.
  • Swedish supermarket chain ICA introduced toothpaste with the taste of chocolate. It might be brown, but it makes your teeth white.
  • Burger King introduced a new burger for left-handed people where ingredients were rotated 180 degrees.

I had a look this morning to see if I could identify any April Fools tricks and I found one! The tower of Stockholm’s City Hall was apparently flown in from the far east under a blimp. This is a nod to the new Golden Bridge in Stockholm that was manufactured and shipped in one huge piece from China.

If you manage to find another one, please share here!

 

Sweden crowns their melody Queen

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Last night, the final of Sweden’s ‘Melodifestivalen’ took place. The winner gets sent to the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool in May. Many Swedes take this competition very seriously – the process of selection takes 6 weeks!

But finally, last night, the victor was crowned. The winner this year was Loreen – again. Loreen won Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 for Sweden with the fantastic song Euphoria.

After two failed attempts, she finally gets to once again represent Sweden 2023 with the song Tattoo. The song, along with her performance and the tv production is a very strong contender to take home the victory. Many Swedes are already feeling triumphant. But Eurovision is often an unpredictable animal – since musical taste levels between the competing countries vary drastically. What is popular in the Nordic countries is usually not as popular in, for example, the Balkans.

So the question remains, will Loreen deliver Sweden’s 7th victory and thereby equal the record for most victories currently held by Ireland?

On May 13, we will find out.

You can catch the song and her performance below:

Sweden’s vagina debate

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

In Sweden recently, a man accused of rape was acquitted by a panel of judges over a word. The victim, a 10-year old girl, accused the 50-year old man of putting a finger inside her ‘snippa’.

Reportedly, the judges were unfamiliar with the word and looked it up in a dictionary. In the dictionary, ‘snippa’ is defined as ‘the outside part of female genitalia’. Because if this, the judges freed the 50-year old man, as the Swedish definition of rape requires a physical penetration.

This has caused an enormous outcry in Sweden. A viral hashtag has appeared called #jagvetvadensnippär or ’I know what a snippa is’. The debate is inflamed in main stream and social media.

Although defined in one way in the dictionary, the word ‘snippa’ is taught and commonly used to mean vagina, and not only vulva. A 10-year old girl would definitely use this word to describe her vagina – and in this case she also clearly used the preposition ‘inside’. It is unlikely she would use the Latin word vagina, or the significantly more adult word ‘slida’.

This case casts a light on what can happen when a board of judges is out of touch with reality, or when the legal system does not use the same language as the general population.

It is a huge concern that a group of middle-aged men are incapable of equating the word ‘snippa’ and the proposition ‘inside’ – especially when expressed by a child. It seriously feels like they all need some education in female anatomy as well as in linguistics.

This case shows us, yet again, how the legal system places the responsibility to prove guilt on the victim of the crime and not the perpetrator – ‘she didn’t express herself clearly’, ‘she wore provocative clothes’, ‘she used the wrong word’, ‘she’d been drinking’, ‘she didn’t say no’.

We will see what the long-reaching consequences of this decision are. Hopefully an appeal will come, and hopefully a modernisation of the legal system. As they say, watch this space….

Sweden’s 3 wisest men

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today is Twelfth Night, called ‘Trettondagsafton’ in Swedish. Tomorrow is Epiphany and in Sweden, like many places around the world, it is a National Holiday – ‘Trettondagen’. (6 January)

In Sweden, not a lot happens on this day. Unlike the southern parts of Europe where it is the beginning of the carnival season, in the frozen north it is just another day off.

The day celebrates the arrival of the three wise men to Bethlehem to visit the savior in his cradle. These three wise men are said to represent the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia.

This got me thinking about Sweden’s three wisest living men. Here is my triad – a highly subjective list of names! Who would you add to this list?

Wise man number 1 – Jan Eliasson. A Swedish diplomat who has been Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Sweden’s Foreign Minister and the Chairman of the International Peace Research Institute. He has worked to resolve conflict in Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Kongo, Sudan, Israel – amongst others. Since 2017, there is a Global Leadership Prize named after him.

Wise man number 2 – Anders Hansen. A Swedish psychiatrist, doctor and brain expert. He has written numerous books on how our brain works and led several tv programs on the subject. He has been given several awards, amongst them the Mensa Prize. He is an ambassador for Generation Pep – a non profit organisation that focuses on the mental health and well-being of young people.

Wise man number 3 – Micael Dahlen. A Swedish economist, and Professor at Stockholm School of Economics. His most popular books are Kaosologi, Nextopia and Monster. Kaosologi is about how to change habits, Nextopia is about what he calls ‘expectation society’ and Monster is about his research and interviews with 5 serial killers. He is the only Swede to have interviewed Charles Manson. He is on the board of numerous organisations and has won many awards. He is a popular lecturer, and advisor.

While these three wise men wouldn’t bring gold, frankincense and myrrh, they would bring peace-keeping, mental health and mind-boggling theories.

The Swedish Armed Forces at Pride

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Several advertisements appeared in today’s newspapers in Sweden. The ads, from the Swedish Armed Forces, show how they support equal rights and will be participating in Stockholm Pride which starts tomorrow. This is one of the reasons I am proud to have Swedish citizenship.

The advert reads:

”MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER. Uncertain times do not mean we stop defending human rights, everyone’s equal value and your right to live as who you are. That’s why we’re participating in Pride, this year again.”

Songs about Sweden 7: Stockholm

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

There is an iconic song in Swedish about the capital city of Stockholm. The reason it is iconic is that everybody has heard it once a week for almost 30 years, throughout the summer. It is the opening song of the unceasingly popular 8-episode summer TV show Allsång på Skansen.

The song is called ’Stockholm i mitt hjärta’ and translates as ’Stockholm in my heart’. It was released by singer Lasse Berghagen in 1992, and written to celebrate the inauguration of Stockholm’s mayor that year.

The program Allsång på Skansen has had many hosts. Lasse Berhagen hosted the show between 1994-2003. He is one of Sweden’s most loved national treasures. The program is currently hosted by popular singer Sanna Nielsen.

The program is a live stage show with various artists singing and performing. The crucial element is the audience sing-a-long, the ‘allsång’, where even the viewers at home are encouraged to join in and sing the lyrics that are published on the tv screen.

The whole show is broadcast from a hilltop overlooking the city’s harbour. With Stockholm as a majestic backdrop, it is easy to see why the city is ‘in everybody’s heart.’

Songs about Sweden 6: Gothenburg

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

‘Don’t feel sorry for me, Gothenburg’ is a very popular song by Swedish artist Håkan Hellström. In Swedish, the track is called ’Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg’. It was released in 2000 on his solo debut album of the same name, selling platinum in Sweden.

Håkan Hellström is one of the Swedish artists who can sell out concerts in venues that hold 75,000 people. Very few other singers epitomize Gothenburg quite as much as Håkan, and the song has become synonymous with the singer and Sweden’s second city.

What other songs do you know that are about Sweden or a Swedish town?

Songs about Sweden 5: Skåne

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Ok I might have had to dig deep to find a song about the southern-most county of Sweden – Skåne. The classic song, from 1970, was a hit for legendary singer Siw Malmqvist, who is currently 85 years old.

The song called ‘Ingenting går upp mot gamla Skåne’ translates as ‘Nothing compares to good old Skåne’ and talks about how we love the place where we born. In the case of this song, Siw Malmqvist sings specifically about her home town of Landskrona.

Songs about Sweden 5: Skåne

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Ok I might have had to dig deep to find a song about the southern-most county of Sweden – Skåne. The classic song, from 1970, was a hit for legendary singer Siw Malmqvist, who is currently 85 years old.

The song called ‘Ingenting går upp mot gamla Skåne’ translates as ‘Nothing compares to good old Skåne’ and talks about how we love the place where we born. In the case of this song, Siw Malmqvist sings specifically about her home town of Landskrona.