Swedish has several ways to say that someone is in a bad mood. You can be a little irriterad because someone is chewing too loudly. Sur because the coffee has run out. Arg because the train has been cancelled. And förbannad when the train has been cancelled, the coffee has run out and someone is still chewing too loudly. The words are related, but they do not feel the same. They sit at different points on the mood scale, from a slight crease between the eyebrows to the

To someone seeing Swedish Midsummer from the outside, the whole thing may seem fairly sensible at first. It is summer. The days are long. People gather outdoors, eat together and put flowers in their hair. Then fully grown adults begin hopping around a leafy pole while singing about frogs with no ears and no tails. That is roughly where Midsummer becomes more interesting. Midsummer is one of Sweden’s biggest celebrations. It takes place in June, close to the longest day o