Known more popularly around the world as Carnival, Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, this holiday involves decadent treats and vibrant festivities proceeding the somber season of Lent where some observe fasting and restraint until Easter Sunday. Though the Nordic countries are mostly secular nowadays, this Christian religious holiday has held fast with cultural practices dating back to the Middle Ages. Here are some modern traditions from Sweden and Denmark for the Nordic version of Carnival, Fastelavn, you can try at home.
Fastelavnsboller/ Semla
An indispensable part of this holiday is the food. Fastelavnsboller, or Fettisbullar/Semla as they are known in Sweden, are essential. They are sweet buns with almond filling and topped with whipped cream. Rich and indulgent, they are perfect for the holiday. If you would like to make them at home, here is a recipe for Swedish Semlor from our dear talented friend Anna Brones: https://blog.annabrones.com/tag/semlor/
Just remember to eat responsibly. In 1771, King Adolf Frederick of Sweden famously died of indigestion after consuming 12 portions of a version of this treat served in milk. I promise though you won’t regret trying these addictive buns, just maybe keep it to under a dozen in one sitting.
Birch Switches and Cats in Barrels
An old and somewhat odd tradition by today’s standards, flogging was an important part of the holiday. In the past, the act of flogging symbolized the pain of Christ and repentance and today it has been converted into a fun activity for children. Across Scandinavia, kids decorate birth twigs with colorful feathers, ribbon and/or paper. Known as fastelavnsris, these bundles of sticks are thankfully no longer used as switches, but bright decorations for the Lenten season. The bundles also symbolize abundance and new life.
In Denmark specifically there is another peculiar tradition- hitting a barrel with a cat inside of it. In the Middle Ages, it was thought that striking such a barrel would ward off evil during this holy time of the year. Again, thankfully, times have changed and now kids get to break open a paper mache barrel filled with candy as opposed to an actual cat in a barrel. Whoever succeeds in breaking the barrel is dubbed the Queen or King of the Cats. During Fastelavn, children also dress in costumes, like what we would see for Halloween in the US, and travel door to door singing in exchange for sweets and money. In Sweden there is a similar tradition closer to Easter Sunday where children dress as witches and visit their neighbors’ houses for treats.
Fastelavn in the Scandinavian countries has become a family friendly holiday filled with baked treats and colorful decorations, despite some of its darker origins. Though going door to door in costume is reserved for Halloween in the US, Nordic enthusiasts such as ourselves can still observe some of these traditions by indulging in cream buns and crafting bright decorations.
P.S. To learn more about Swedish Easter traditions, read our blog post: https://nordiskapboblog.wordpress.com/2022/04/10/glad-pask-celebrating-swedish-easter/
Bibliography
https://blog.annabrones.com/tag/semlor
https://sweden.se/culture/food/the-semla-a-swedish-delicacy
https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/fastelavn-traditions-in-scandinavia
https://www.nordicnorthwest.org/post/what-is-fastelavn-anyway
https://www.littlescandinavian.com/tag/fastelavnsris
*Beautiful Header Image of Semla by Kristin Klassert
Nordiska's Blog 
One can make the cream buns as a vegan also. This woman is a vegan chef. https://sunnygandara.com/norwegian-fastelavnsboller-with-a-swedish-twist/
Also I for one am enjoying the Sami Film Festival via zoom, sponsored by the Nordic Museum. https://nordicmuseum.org/sami-film-festival It fits well with this month’s book, and will be one after today for another year so hurry! The films are mostly documentary.
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Wonderful, thank you for sharing Mary Kay!
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