A quick guide on how to Easter like a Scandi
After the long, dark nights of winter, Easter and the arrival of spring are truly celebrated in Scandinavia. Whether spent in the south welcoming the return of the spring flowers or spent escaping to the mountains in the North, getting in a few last runs on the slopes, Easter is a time of renewal for Scandinavians, celebrated with good food and good company (and perhaps the odd shot of aquavit or two). Peek into the history of the Viking north and you’ll find plenty of magic things that add to the richness of Scandinavian Easter celebrations.
Here’s a guide on how we celebrate across Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The lingo
Easter in Scandinavia is called
- Påsk (Sweden)
- Påske (Denmark, Norway)
- Pääsiäinen (Finland)
An Easter egg is known as a Påskägg / påskeæg / påskeegg – and is gifted on Easter morning.
Our Easter Eggs
Of course, like everyone else, we eat a lot of chocolate at Easter -but we also eat a lot of sweets. Many favour cardboard eggshells instead of the traditional chocolate egg – and we fill these with all the recipient’s favourite sweets. For the littler kids, maybe fewer sweets and a few fruits too – and for the grown-ups, maybe even add liquorice.
Fill your eggs online with pick’n’mix of your choosing – don’t forget a few small chocolate bars, too.
We stock 3 sizes of egg shells – and over 80 kinds of pick’n’mix – and the rest.
BBQ time
When in the mountains, the Swedes and Norwegians especially love to stop at various points to enjoy a bit of a snow BBQ. Across the ski resorts you will find lots of open grills, ready for people to bring out their frozen buns and sausages for a bit of a pitstop. Yes, it’s really a thing.
Easter Smörgåsbord
We are not that adventurous when it comes to easter food – it’s much like the smorgasbord food of other seasons, except with more eggs and probably some lamb as well.
A good selection for an Easter table would be: Pickled herring, egg with filling, smoked salmon, prawns… Meatballs, sliced meats and some sides such as beetroot salad. Lots of rye bread and crispbread on the side – and a few shots of aquavit. Some Swedes add Jansssons Temptation for Easter, too – slightly controversial, but it’s so nice.
Easter trees
During Easter in the Nordics, many decorate twigs with colourful feathers or painted hollow egg shells. The custom of bringing birch or willow twigs into the house at Easter dates back to the 1880s.
How to: paint egg shells in bright colours or motifs and hang from twigs (mostly done in Denmark – or for a simpler version, just decorate with bright coloured feathers (Sweden).
The feathered twigs are also known as Påskris – Easter Twigs – and they signify Christ’s suffering – originally used to lash out and whip people as a tease – and in some areas, get people out of bed on Good Friday morning. Nowadays, used mainly as decorations.
Easter letters
The Danish tradition of writing teaser letters (gækkebreve) is a wonderful one, an old tradition since early 1800’s. Cut out a pretty pattern in paper, write a rhyme and add your name in dots and enclose a snowdrop flower from your garden (the symbol of Easter in Denmark). If the receiver guesses who it is from, you have to buy them an Easter Egg – and vice versa. Magically, no grandparents ever guess who their letters are from, and thus a great source for getting LOADS of sweets.
The rhyme goes: I write my name with dots, careful they don’t sting you (Mit navn det star med prikker, pas på de ikke stikker”.
It’s still all about Vikings
Our forefathers celebrated something called Ostara, the spring Goddess, around spring Equinox 20-21 March. Freya and Thor were often celebrated, too. This was all about gathering and giving of eggs.
Easter celebrations in Sweden are also rooted in the old Christian witch-hunt times. The celebrations last from Maundy Thursday until Easter Monday. In the olden days it was thought that on Maundy Thursday, all the Witches would fly off on their broomsticks to the Blue Mountains in Germany to have a weekend of fun and dancing with Satan.
Easter witches
Kids dress up as Easter witches in Sweden and Finland – and go door to door, asking for sweets. These little Easter witches are known as Påskkärring in Sweden. You may also see little ornaments in houses of Easter witches at Easter time.
This isn’t something the Danes and the Norwegians do at all. This tradition is said to come from the old belief that witches would fly to a German mountain the Thursday before Easter to dance with the devil (funnily enough, the Danes celebrate this witch-flying in June, just a few months later – and the dressing us at Mardi Gras a few months earlier – it’s not unlikely these used to be linked).
In Finland, the mini witches sing the rhyme: Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuodeks; vitsa sulle, palkka mulle! (I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat for me!) and offer fresh willow twigs in exchange for sweets.
Criminal Easter
During Easter in Norway, the sales of crime novels spike six-fold as everyone stocks up before going to their cabins (Hytte) to ski and read about gory Nordic noir style murders. These are known as Påskekrimmen (Easter crime novels). It is peak season for whodunnits books – even milk cartons have little Easter crime stories printed on the side of them during this time.
(all done whilst eating waffles, fresh oranges and Kvikklunsj chocolates).
Easter skiing
The last chance to do a bit of skiing so many Scandies head north for the snow. Most will stay at their little hytte cottages, too – for a relaxing few days away from work.
This is also the time to do lots of hiking – especially for Norwegians, for whom hiking is an essential part of what it means to be Norwegian. If you were to check their backpack on a hike, you’d likely find Kvikklunsj chocolate bar, an orange and maybe a thermo flask full of hotdog sausages.
Goodbye, lovely buns
Easter is the absolute last time you will see Semlor buns anywhere in Scandinavia. Most of these lovely luscious Lent buns are already gone at this time of the year, but for those still clinging on, Easter marks the final hurrah, signalising the end of the season. No more semlor until next year. Sad face.
