Sunt förnuft

 

Rubrik i Aftonbladet. Det som hände var förstås att läkaren rättkönade patienten... 

Framtiden är här

 

Apropå mitt tidigare blogginlägg "Framtiden är vår", där jag länkade till några inlägg på TH:s blogg. Vi kan väl hoppas att nedanstående är kraftigt överdrivet!  

"Tioåringar i raskrig på Älvdalsskolan"

Bråk skakar Älvdalsskolan

Swedish "No Go Zone"

 

Credit: Calle Eklund/V-wolf

Previously posted on January 29, 2022

"Riskområde: Tjärna Ängar" is a Swedish documentary recently aired on SVT, the Swedish public service TV network. It´s only available in Swedish. Tjärna Ängar is a neighborhood in Borlänge (in the county of Dalarna or Dalecarlia). Most of the inhabitants are immigrants, and half of those are from Somalia. Swedes have nicknamed the neighborhood "Little Mogadishu". Tjärna Ängar is officially on the Swedish government´s list of areas with dangerous social problems (really a euphemism for No Go Zones). These are heavily immigrant neighborhoods with high rates of crime, unemployment and welfare dependency. For some reason, Tjärna Ängar is often mentioned in Swedish media, perhaps because it´s the northernmost of the problem areas (it´s actually in central Sweden). There doesn´t seem to be anything particularly unusual with this particular barrio compared to all the others.

Officially, the population of Tjärna Ängar is 3,500. The houses are built for 5,000 people. However, many suspect that the actual population is around 10,000. The documentary doesn´t explain who these additional people might be. Illegal aliens? Unregistered children, or what? The camera crew is threatened by stone-throwing masked criminals who (bizarrely) demand that the TV documentary must "concentrate on the positive things" in the neighborhood. A local Somali association refuse to participate in the documentary after realizing that it will be critical. At one point, the reporters interview a group of young drug dealers who spout politically correct rhetoric, as if they were left-wing activists! Meanwhile, 49% of all elementary school children fail to qualify for senior high school. Kids in the area tell stories of shootings and other disturbances. 

The reporters interview Mursal Isa, a Somali immigrant who represents the Green Party on a regional government committee. Isa was threatened by criminal gangs from Tjärna Ängar for wanting to speak to SVT. He believes that the failure of integration in the neighborhood is to a large extent caused by the Somali community itself (hardly the official Green Party position). When new Somali immigrants arrive at Tjärna Ängar, the local ethnic networks tell them three things: it´s pointless to learn the Swedish language, it´s not worth the effort to seek employment, and everyone who reports local crime to the police risks being attacked by the criminals (hint hint nudge nudge). Isa believes that the immigrant associations in the neighborhood, which get enormous public grants, form a kind of elite group and do very little to actually solve the social problems. (One of the Somali associations teach Quran classes. I´m sure this aids the integration process.) 

Foreign students who study at the Dalarna University have been placed at Tjärna Ängar. Their house has been burglarized several times. When the students complained about the high rate of criminality to the student union, and the union supported them, the union was (surprise) accused of "racism" by the Somali associations. But who are these foreign students? They turn out to be...Black Africans! The irony is palpable. Perhaps the real racists are the politically correct bureaucrats who decided to place Third World students in a "Third World" barrio?

The documentary is concluded by an interview with Borlänge´s long-time mayor Jan Bohman (Social Democrat). He mentions all the programs the local government has initiated to help Tjärna Ängar. They aren´t working and Bohman has no real answers, except that the politicians simply have to stay the course. For instance, he promises an upgrade of the old houses in the neighborhood. I admit that I feel sorry for him - he looks like a typical Swedish local politician who is trying to administer the crisis as best as he can. Bohman at one point says that welfare payments should be the responsibility of the national government. He does have a certain point. And while the alcalde can´t say it, the problems are *created* at the national level, including the Social Democratic Party (which is currently in government). 

Here is a heretical thought: what if the overwhelming majority of Somalis *actually don´t want to be integrated into Swedish society*? Why *should they* want to be integrated? Isn´t this just a smug liberal myth, that everyone in the world wants to be like "us", meaning the modern-liberal Western middle class? 

Another thought: why was this "racist" program aired on Swedish public service TV? Managed dissent? 

With that, I leave you for now.  

Favorit i repris

 

Apropå Gustav Vasa, och så vidare. 

Jerusalem Madness

 

Nås, not Jerusalem 

“Jerusalem” is a Swedish drama series in four parts from 1997, directed by Bille August. Among the many actors, Max von Sydow and Sven-Bertil Taube are perhaps most well-known. Most of the dialogue is in Swedish. American actress Olympia Dukakis stars the Christian cult leader “Mother”. In real life, Dukakis was apparently a Goddess-worshipping pagan feminist! And yes, she only speaks English.

The TV series is based on famous Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf´s two-volume novel “Jerusalem”, originally published in 1901-1902. The novel is in turn based on real events in 1896, when 37 people from the small village of Nås in Dalarna (Dalecarlia) left Sweden and journeyed to Jerusalem, where they joined the so-called American Colony, really an authoritarian religious commune. This somewhat peculiar emigration has become part of the local folklore at Nås, where a theatre play based on Lagerlöf´s novel is still staged once a year.

In the novel and the TV series, the preacher who turns the heads of the Nås peasants is named Hellgum. At least in the TV series, Hellgum is depicted as a fiery charismatic who skillfully manipulates the villagers into joining his cult. (I don´t remember how he is depicted in the novel, since I only read it once, about 30 years ago!) In Jerusalem, the Hellgumites join forces with another cult, simply called the Colony, led by Miss Gordon (Mother). Both Hellgum and Gordon are based on real people. Hellgum´s real name was Olof Henrik Larsson, a returning Swedish expat from the United States. The Larssonites are sometimes dubbed “Sweden´s smallest revivalist movement”. Gordon´s real name was Anna Spafford, a Norwegian-American with a background in Christian pyramidology. An intriguing detail is that Spafford actually purged Larsson once the latter had joined her in the Holy Land with his Swedish faithful. Larsson was demoted to an insignificant position within the Colony, and died under wretched circumstances. In the TV series, Hellgum gets second thoughts about the move to Jerusalem and wants to travel back to Sweden with his flock, and then “purges” himself by simply absconding when his brain-washed followers prefer to stay in Mother´s authoritarian sect!

“Jerusalem” isn´t just a story about a revival gone dangerously wrong, but also contains a number of other plot elements. How much of these are true, I don´t know. The main characters aren´t really Hellgum and Miss Gordon, but the farmer and saw-mill owner Ingmar and his on-off love interest Gertrud. Ingmar´s sister Karin is also important. Both Gertrud and Karin joins the cult. As a counterpoint to the crazy revival and its contretemps in Jerusalem stands Ingmarsgården (the Ingmar Farm) back at Nås, presumably a symbol of stability and tradition, since the farm is said to have been in the possession of the Ingmar family since time immemorial, every male head of the family being named “Ingmar”. The Ingmars are depicted as the local strongmen in the community. For various reasons, the current Ingmar loses control of the family farm, and his attempts to regain possession forms a kind of intertwined parallel plot to Hellgum´s rabble-rousing. Perhaps the revival represents the “new” or “modern”, while Ingmar stands for the old way? In the novel, the various storylines are even more complex than in the TV series.

What strikes me most in the TV series is its negative depiction of religion, except – somewhat ironically – the Lutheranism of the Swedish establishment. Ingmar is depicted as a near-atheist skeptic and rationalist. The local priest and the schoolmaster represent common sense and civic virtue. All other religious types are dangerous firebrands (Hellgum), authoritarian cultists (Mother), gullible and emotional (Gertrud), fanatics (Karin) or easily led (Karin´s husband). Jerusalem turns out to be filled with eponymous madness. The increasingly delusional Gertrud mistakes a bizarre Dervish sect for Jesus and his disciples, and is attacked by fanaticized Russian pilgrims when she by mistake aborts one of their penances. Order is restored when Ingmar unexpectedly shows up in Jerusalem, deprograms Gertrud and forces Mother to let her return to Sweden. At the very end, the Lutheran priest baptizes skeptic Ingmar´s newly born son (of course also named Ingmar), while Karin remains behind at the Colony in Jerusalem, fervently thanking God for deliverance while surrounded by the graves of dead Swedish emigrants at a cemetery, including her husband and little daughter…

I would like to say that we are wiser today, 127 years later, but alas, we are not. We simply live out different delusions to those of the Nås Jerusalem-farers. Jerusalem Madness has been replaced by Clown World.

What hipsters do

 

YouTube ads are usually not funny. They are mostly annoying, actually. So it´s something of a surprise that the most funny YouTube ad is Swedish. I mean, Sweden isn´t known for funny ads. Or funny anything, really. Yet, here we are!

In the ad (linked above), the teacher asks some kids who the man on the portrait is (it´s 16th century Swedish king Gustav Vasa). The little girl answers "That´s a hipster, obviously". When the teacher tries to explain that Vasa fled from Mora to Sälen on skis, an event which inspired the modern cross-country ski race Vasaloppet, the girl answers "Yeah, but that´s what hipsters do (i.e. they go skiing). And then they bake bread". 

I admit I have no idea what the heck this is supposed to mean, LOL. Nor do I understand the connection between hipsters, skiing, king Gustav, and the "KPA". The KPA? Yes, that´s who made the ad. But what *is* the KPA? As far as I can make out, it´s a national pension plan for Swedish local government employees?!

Not sure why on earth they even *need* an ad (does anyone voluntarily say no to their pension plans?). Which just makes the whole thing even more crazy, somehow...

Veckans besvikelse

Credit: Narking

Trodde ett tag att Greider hade kvalat in till Veckans Strasser, men det verkar inte så. Hans lösning på etno-problematiken är att alla måste bli socialdemokratiska dalmasar! OK, Boomer.  

Uppdrag Granskning kan inte rädda Tjärna Ängar

Swedish "No Go Zone"

Dalarna University Campus
Credit: Edaen

"Riskområde: Tjärna Ängar" is a Swedish documentary recently aired on SVT, the Swedish public service TV network. It´s only available in Swedish. Tjärna Ängar is a neighborhood in Borlänge (in the county of Dalarna or Dalecarlia). Most of the inhabitants are immigrants, and half of those are from Somalia. Swedes have nicknamed the neighborhood "Little Mogadishu". Tjärna Ängar is officially on the Swedish government´s list of areas with dangerous social problems (really a euphemism for No Go Zones). These are heavily immigrant neighborhoods with high rates of crime, unemployment and welfare dependency. For some reason, Tjärna Ängar is often mentioned in Swedish media, perhaps because it´s the northernmost of the problem areas (it´s actually in central Sweden). There doesn´t seem to be anything particularly unusual with this particular barrio compared to all the others.

Officially, the population of Tjärna Ängar is 3,500. The houses are built for 5,000 people. However, many suspect that the actual population is around 10,000. The documentary doesn´t explain who these additional people might be. Illegal aliens? Unregistered children, or what? The camera crew is threatened by stone-throwing masked criminals who (bizarrely) demand that the TV documentary must "concentrate on the positive things" in the neighborhood. A local Somali association refuse to participate in the documentary after realizing that it will be critical. At one point, the reporters interview a group of young drug dealers who spout politically correct rhetoric, as if they were left-wing activists! Meanwhile, 49% of all elementary school children fail to qualify for senior high school. Kids in the area tell stories of shootings and other disturbances. 

The reporters interview Mursal Isa, a Somali immigrant who represents the Green Party on a regional government committee. Isa was threatened by criminal gangs from Tjärna Ängar for wanting to speak to SVT. He believes that the failure of integration in the neighborhood is to a large extent caused by the Somali community itself (hardly the official Green Party position). When new Somali immigrants arrive at Tjärna Ängar, the local ethnic networks tell them three things: it´s pointless to learn the Swedish language, it´s not worth the effort to seek employment, and everyone who reports local crime to the police risks being attacked by the criminals (hint hint nudge nudge). Isa believes that the immigrant associations in the neighborhood, which get enormous public grants, form a kind of elite group and do very little to actually solve the social problems. (One of the Somali associations teach Quran classes. I´m sure this aids the integration process.) 

Foreign students who study at the Dalarna University have been placed at Tjärna Ängar. Their house has been burglarized several times. When the students complained about the high rate of criminality to the student union, and the union supported them, the union was (surprise) accused of "racism" by the Somali associations. But who are these foreign students? They turn out to be...Black Africans! The irony is palpable. Perhaps the real racists are the politically correct bureaucrats who decided to place Third World students in a "Third World" barrio?

The documentary is concluded by an interview with Borlänge´s long-time mayor Jan Bohman (Social Democrat). He mentions all the programs the local government has initiated to help Tjärna Ängar. They aren´t working and Bohman has no real answers, except that the politicians simply have to stay the course. For instance, he promises an upgrade of the old houses in the neighborhood. I admit that I feel sorry for him - he looks like a typical Swedish local politician who is trying to administer the crisis as best as he can. Bohman at one point says that welfare payments should be the responsibility of the national government. He does have a certain point. And while the alcalde can´t say it, the problems are *created* at the national level, including the Social Democratic Party (which is currently in government). 

Here is a heretical thought: what if the overwhelming majority of Somalis *actually don´t want to be integrated into Swedish society*? Why *should they* want to be integrated? Isn´t this just a smug liberal myth, that everyone in the world wants to be like "us", meaning the modern-liberal Western middle class? 

Another thought: why was this "racist" program aired on Swedish public service TV? Managed dissent? 

With that, I leave you for now.  

Du betalar

Gärna det, men bara om *du* betalar!

S-politiker: Spika igen de ovaccinerades dörrar

Ägd på älvdalska

Riksdagsmannen Peter Helander ÄGER talmannen i det här roliga klippet, tyvärr utlagt av knäppgökarna "Fria Tider". Språket i artikeln är förresten svenska. Jag har ju kommenterat älvdalsmålet tidigare, so here we go again!

Talar älvdalska i riksdagen, får tillsägelse

Come and take it

"Engelbrekt och bondeupproren" (Engelbrekt and the Peasant Uprisings) is a book by Swedish history professor Dick Harrison, unfortunately only available in Swedish. Harrison must *like* to write about the 15th century Swedish civil wars and unrests, since this is probably the third or fourth time he does so in book format. Or even more, if you count all his partially overlapping popularized books published by Historiska Media. 

1434 was the year when Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson started a rebellion of peasants and miners in the Swedish area known as Bergslagen. Engelbrekt acquired legendary status already during his lifetime, and became a virtual martyr after his death in 1436 at the hands of an assassin (ironically, there was no direct connection between the murder and the rebellion). He was worshipped as a saint by many Swedish peasants during the Middle Ages, and is still regarded as a national hero by virtually everyone in Sweden from left to right. The meeting at Arboga in 1435 where Engelbrekt was appointed supreme commander of all Swedish military forces was long regarded as "the first Swedish Parliament". Engelbrekt´s uprising was directed against the unpopular union king Erik of Pomerania, who ruled both Sweden, Norway and Denmark, usually promoting the interests of the latter, but above all his own family interests, at the expense of both the Swedish nobility, clergy and the common people. What began as a peasant uprising soon turned into a general war of liberation against Erik and his foreign bailiffs. The details need not preoccupy us here. 

More importantly, the success of the uprising (Erik of Pomerania de facto lost his Swedish throne) marks the beginning of a remarkable period in Swedish history, which would last for almost 100 years, during which the peasantry played a central role in Swedish politics. The peasants were well organized, armed, and quite conscious of their power to make or break kings and lords. Sweden was extremely politically unstable, with constant wars against Denmark and civil wars between different Swedish factions. Coups, counter-coups and shifting alliances were part and parcel of the political landscape. What makes the period interesting is that the various factions of the nobility were forced to appeal to the peasantry for military support. Some nobles could almost be described as "peasant-friendly", such as Erik Puke, the de facto successor of Engelbrekt as main rebel leader. But even nobles who would rather do without peasant support, such as the treacherous power-player and opportunist Karl Knutsson (Bonde), who was Swedish king three times, eventually realized the need for it. Indeed, even the Danish kings, who tried to take back control over Sweden, sometimes appealed to the peasantry to back their cause. 

The original reason behind the peasant unrest may have been high taxes and unpopular foreign bailiffs, but eventually the peasantry demanded de facto self-government in their respective communities, some kind of say in the appointments of regents, and general respect for their social class. (Harrison seems to regard the Västerås meeting of 1466 as the first Swedish Parliament, since the peasantry was heavily represented.) During some periods, taxation was virtually zero. No man could be drafted by force into the army, and in some regions, there was a lucrative cross-border trade with the territories still under Danish control. The peasants and burghers of the border regions had more in common with each other than with their respective rulers in far-away capitals. 

The beginning of the end of this "golden age" came in 1520, when the Danish king Kristian II decided to subdue Sweden once and for all, and treacherously executed about 100 nobles, burghers and others after a sham trial in Stockholm (the Stockholm bloodbath). He then turned his attention to Bergslagen, and issued a series of provocative demands, including royal control of the mines and the disarmament of the peasantry. In response to this and other outrages, the Swedish peasantry once again rose in rebellion, this time under the leadership of Gustav Eriksson (Vasa). Unfortunately, Gustav Vasa was no Engelbrekt or Puke. As regent and later king (1521-1560), he turned on his earstwhile allies and created a centralized monarchy financed by heavy taxation of the peasantry, state control of mining, and massive confiscations of Catholic church property (Sweden became Lutheran during this period). Attempts to unseat Gustav Vasa were met by hard repression. The last "medieval" peasant rising in Sweden was the Dacke War (Dackefejden) in 1542-43. This time, the peasants really did fight alone, with no noble faction supporting them. 

During the 17th century, Sweden became a heavily centralized, autocratic and militarized state, in which the peasants were expected to obey, pay their taxes and get their sons drafted. During the 100-year long "great power period" (circa 1618-1718), Sweden lost one third of its male population due to constant wars! Yet, there were no peasant rebellions anymore. This is remarkable, since constant peasant uprisings (and other civil wars) constantly plagued the rest of Europe. It´s also remarkable given the fighting traditions of the Swedish peasantry and certain other groups. What on earth happened? The explanation favored by the author is that the Swedish high nobility was pragmatically smarter than many other European elite groups. Even Gustav Vasa, no friend of seditious commoners, permitted the peasants to have a certain amount of representation in Parliament. Sweden´s "peasant estate" was almost unique in Europe, and gave the peasantry a certain amount of room to voice their grievances. On the local level, the organ of local self-government known as sockenstämma (a kind of parish council) was often dominated by the peasants. Both the peasant estate in the Diet and the parish councils functioned as a kind of safety valve. Somehow, they did manage to blow off sufficient steam to avoid active armed resistance against the regime. Of course, there was also a lot of passive resistance to the early modern state, including a wide-spread refusal to be drafted in eastern Finland (where escape into the woods was relatively simple). But no actual uprisings. The last large-scale peasant uprising in Sweden was "the Great Dala Dance" in 1743, at a time when the Swedish regime had become less repressive, and the nobility was split into warring factions. Yet, it too failed.

Dick Harrison ends the book by pointing out that the 19th century saw a transition from peasant violence to urban-worker violence. Weirdly, he mentions the Fersen murder of 1810 as an example of the generally unsafe and riotous conditions of the capital, Stockholm. Ahem, surely a history professor should at least suspect a conspiracy in this case? Axel von Fersen was a prominent noble who belonged to the "wrong" faction in an internal elite power struggle. I´m not the only one to suspect that the mob who killed Fersen was at somebody´s payroll (not to mention the "guards" who didn´t lift a finger to defend him). That being said, Harrison is of course right in a general way. The 19th century saw the dawn of new struggles. As the peasantry became increasingly more conservative, the fallen mantle of Engelbrekt was taken up by...the working class. 

Strangest Swedish dialect, now on YouTube

I´m fascinated by the YouTube channel "I Love Languages". 

As far as I can tell, this really is Elfdalian, the strangest Swedish dialect, still spoken by a few people in Älvdalen in Dalarna (Dalecarlia). 

I can hereby confirm that it´s almost *completely* incomprehensible to speakers of standard Swedish. Indeed, some believe it should be regarded as a separate language. 

And if you ever get tired of listening to Elfdalian, "I Love Languages" also offers samples of Old Saxon, Faroese, Mingrelian, Classical Latin, Circassian and - wait for it - standard Swedish! 

On the unreliability of folklore

“Kungar, krig och katastrofer” (Kings, wars and disasters) is a book by Swedish folklorist Ebbe Schön. As behooves an expert on folklore, yes, Ebbe Schön really does look like a cross between Santa Claus and a gnome! His book, only available in Swedish, deals with how Swedish history (principally kings and wars) is reflected in peasant folklore. Schön makes several interesting points. Thus, in most cases this kind of lore can only be traced back to the early 16^th century. That is, to the Reformation and the time of Gustav Vasa, the first king of “modern” Sweden. Little or no contemporary lore about Catholic or Viking kings seem to exist. The lore dealing with kings is often influenced by, or completely based on, written sources produced at government level. In other words, it reflects the diffusion of royal propaganda among the peasantry. While there is local lore about mythological kings (a kind of “pre-Viking” petty rulers), I wonder how ancient it really is? Perhaps it simply reflects the spread of national romanticism (17^th to 19^th century) among peasants?

It´s also interesting to note that the telling and retelling of folkloric stories was officially encouraged by the Swedish officer brass, being one of the few forms of entertainment available to soldiers at war. Since soldiers lucky enough to return home presumably shared the stories they heard in the military with their kin, this ensured the speedy diffusion of folklore between various parts of Sweden. I wonder whether it may also have made the folklore more uniform and standardized? How do we even know if a motif is truly local, or simply imported from outside? Homecoming soldiers were often employed as teachers…

It´s also interesting to note how selective folk memory is. Schön mentions several examples of military battles which have been completely forgotten in the local tradition, despite creating havoc in the immediate neighborhood, while “everyone” knows that of course a certain stone slab in a certain field is connected to a purely mythological battle taking place thousands of years ago! This raises a lot of awkward questions about the general reliability of folk tradition. Folk etymologies are another example of how recent much folklore must be – if it had been very ancient, it would have remembered the true etymology of various peculiar place-names.

After these methodological remarks, Schön plunges into a treasure-trove of more or less believable stories about heroic kings, brave soldiers, evil Danes and Russians, ordinary peasants who outsmart the enemy, and even “ancient” Swedish Amazons and giants. Magic is often part of the picture, more or less black in nature. Several famous generals were said to posses the ability to conjure up soldiers by magical means, and the good luck of enemy troops were often attributed to literal witches in their midst. Unsurprisingly, warrior-king Karl XII (Charles XII) is depicted as a virtual Übermensch with an almost paranormal strength. Also unsurprisingly, given the sexist prejudices at the time, Queen Kristina is said to have been an extremely loose woman with a sexual appetite above the usual (ironically, some historians suspect that she was lesbian – something completely missed in the folklore, which paints her as heterosexual). The most well-known stories are about Gustav Vasa´s daring escape from the clutches of Danish king Christian “the Tyrant”, and how he was hiding among the common folk in rural Dalecarlia. As already pointed out, these tales (or perhaps tall tales) are really literary fictions created by government propagandists. Yet, they seem to have been traduced as “local tradition” by many peasants in Dalecarlia and elsewhere. An interesting fact mentioned by Schön is that most lore about the Snapphanar in Scania are fiercely negative, despite the fact that Snapphanarna were a resistance movement against Swedish occupation (Scania was originally a Danish province). His interpretation is that Swedish nationalist indoctrination apparently succeeded, but also that peasants don´t like armed bands hiding in the forest regardless of their political persuasion, since such bands invariably demand food and shelter (and womenfolk?) from the locals. The last chapter of “Kungar, krig och katastrofer” deals with Gothicism, the idea that Sweden is the oldest kingdom in the world and that all Germanic peoples, most notably the Goths, come from its distant shores. Funny, I thought that was a true story…cough cough, Scandza, cough cough…

Schön´s book is well worth reading (if you understand Swedish, at least) and could almost be seen as an entertaining introduction to the actual history of Sweden.

The Moon is a harsh mistress

Tintin has indeed been translated to many languages, including Latin, Scottish English, Esperanto, Kernewek and Wallon de Liège. (They seem to have missed most Ural-Altaic languages, though.) If this trend continues, Tintin is soon going to be up there with the New Testament and the Collected Works of V I Lenin and J V Stalin. Make it so, young man! Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting an Elfdalian version of “The Crab with the Golden Claws”. And that's not even Ural-Altaic…

East of the river

This review is from: Liten alvdalsk-svensk och svensk-alvdalsk ordbok (Swedish Edition)

Lars Steensland is a Swedish expert on Slav languages who occasionally stints as an authority on a very different tongue: Elfdalian or Övdalian, the peculiar dialect of Swedish spoken in Älvdalen, a small area in northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia). Since many Swedish-Americans come from Dalarna, it's possible that some Elfdalian-Americans dwell somewhere in Minnesota, although I doubt they speak Elfdalian, known as övdalska, älvdalska or älvdalsmål in Älvdalen itself. The dialect is threatened even in its home region, both due to gradual convergence with standard Swedish and the fact that most speakers are old and rural. Steensland is a leading member of Ulum dalska, a group devoted to preserve this ancient language.

What makes Elfdalian unique is that it's virtually incomprehensible to outsiders. In some ways, the dialect resembles Old Norse and Old Icelandic more than modern Swedish, being more or less isolated since the Middle Ages. For a very long time, Elfdalian used runic letters – apparently, the last runic writing in this dialect is dated as late as 1900! Many people regard Elfdalian as a separate minority language, but the Swedish authorities have so far resisted giving its official recognition, although it does enjoy a kind of quasi-recognition locally, including bilingual street signs.

Steensland's Swedish-Elfdalian dictionary is a valiant attempt to bring some order into the Elfdalian chaos, the dialect being split into different sub-dialects. Different orthographies for the written language are also in use. The dictionary is supposed to represent a “neutral” form of Elfdalian, but naturally Steensland have his critics on this score. Apparently, words and expressions from “east of the river” are overrepresented in the vocabulary. The dictionary is also available from Ulum dalska, and a modified version can be accessed on the web. There, we learn that the Elfdalian word for dog-house is “rakkgard”, moose is “brinde” and gospel is “waundsila”. The Swedish words are “hundkoja”, “älg” and “evangelium”, so yes, the lingo is incomprehensible to tenderfeet visiting the old country. Somewhat disappointingly, the word for European blackbird is almost identical in the two languages, “kuoltrast” and “koltrast” respectively. It's interesting to note that Steensland also translated the gospels of Mark and John to Elfdalian.

Since this is a Swedish-Elfdalian (and Elfdalian-Swedish) dictionary, it's probably of little use to Swedish-Americans, unless they have a working knowledge of at least standard Swedish! That being said, I obviously have to give it five stars.

The Birch-Tree of Our Lord

This review is from: Alvdalska vaxtnamn: Forr och nu (Skrifter utgivna genom Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala) (Swedish Edition) (Hardcover)

This is definitely one of the most obscure publications on sale here. Lars Steensland is an expert on älvdalsmål or övdalska, a peculiar dialect of Swedish spoken in Älvdalens socken, a small area in northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia). In English, this dialect is called Elfdalian (sometimes Övdalian). It's so archaic and unusual, that many consider it a separate language rather than a Swedish dialect. It was written using runes (when it was written at all) as late as 1900. The book is the result of Steensland's ethnological research in Älvdalen. The work is in standard Swedish, and is of interest only to hardboiled language students or local patriots, being a long inventory of Elfdalian plant names. It's also available on the web.

When I was casually browsing the material, I noted that Elfdalians use the local word for pear to denote potatoes; that they didn't like geraniums, calling them by an expletive or comparing them to fat women; and that orchids (of course) have fanciful names such as uärrabyörk (The Birch-tree of Our Lord). We also learn that cows are often named Lilja, which means lily in both standard Swedish and standard Elfdalian…

Five stars, what else can I do?

Mere Övdalian

This review is from: Studies in Övdalian Morphology and Syntax: New research on a lesser-known Scandinavian language (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today) (Hardcover)

I haven't seen this volume, but since I live in Sweden and spent a few summers in Dalecarlia, I feel I have to promote it anyway. It's an English-language study of Dalecarlia's strangest dialect, here called Övdalian. Another common name is Elfdalian. In Sweden, it's usually called älvdalsmål. The dialect is spoken in Älvdalens socken by about 2,000 people, most of them elderly. Linguists are enthusiastic about Övdalian, since it resembles Old Norse and Icelandic in some ways, while being very different from modern Swedish and other Swedish dialects. Övdalian has developed in relative isolation since the 14th century and even today, it's so different from other Swedish dialects that many consider it a separate language.

Of course, whether or not a local lingo is a “language” or a “dialect” is, in my humble non-linguistic opinion, somewhat subjective. If mutual intelligibility is the criterion, Övdalian is definitely a separate language. I never visited Älvdalen itself, but judging by recorded interviews with Övdalian speakers, the dialect has essentially zero intelligibility to a speaker of standard modern Swedish. Had I not known it's supposed to be a Germanic language, I would have guessed that it's a very strange form of Finnish or Sami! In its written form, it's somewhat easier to see familiar words, but only if you pay attention…

If morphology and syntax of unusual Scandinavian languages is your cup of herb tea, don't let the price of this volume scare you, buy it today!

Sheer mercantilism

Bergslagen is a region in Sweden, historically associated with mining. It has no official status. Personally, I associate Bergslagen with southern Dalarna, but the region is larger and also comprises parts of Värmland and Västmanland. The name refers to the ancient mining guilds.

The flag of Bergslagen is unofficial and registered as a trademark by Björn Thärnström, the designer. Until recently, the association Stråssa By in the village of Stråssa in Västmanland had exclusive rights to market and sell the flag. It seems that guild-like limitation has been lifted (since Amazon sells it now)...

The blue field stands for hydro-electrical power (or the air), the orange field for fire, the green field for the forests and the black field for the mineral ore mined in the region.The yellow cross symbolizes agriculture. The flag of Sweden also has a yellow cross. I'm not sure how widespread this flag is, but it's not unknown in the target region.

The Christmas gospel

A review of "Julevangeliet på Älvdalsmål", a CD recording. 

This is an absolutely fascinating recording of the "Christmas gospel" (Luke, chapter 2) in älvdalsmål, the most archaic Swedish dialect. It still sounds a little bit like Old Norse and Old Icelandic, but is otherwise unique. Sometimes, it's considered a separate language. Älvdalsmål (known as Elfdalian in English) is still spoken in Älvdalen, an area in Dalarna (Dalecarlia). Weirdly, Elfdalian is not officially recognized as a minority language! This recording was made by a folk music band, Jul I Folktron, and is also available for free at Youtube. Enjoy!