Midsommar: herring, little frogs and preparing for the weather

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 of the year, when the evenings are bright and Swedes are keen to be outside. Preferably in the countryside. Preferably near water. Preferably in sunshine.

The weather, however, does not always cooperate.

This makes Midsummer both a summer celebration and an advanced exercise in planning for every possible forecast.

Midsommarafton: the main event

Midsummer technically includes both midsommarafton (“Midsummer Eve”) and midsommardagen (“Midsummer Day”). But most of the celebrating happens on Midsummer Eve, which always falls on a Friday.

That is when people eat, dance, pick flowers and check the weather app with growing concern.

Midsummer Day is usually quieter. It is often spent eating leftovers, looking for missing items of clothing and discussing whether quite so many potatoes were really necessary.

Midsummer Eve is no ordinary Friday. Many shops close early, the roads fill with cars and people leave the cities carrying cool boxes, raincoats and industrial quantities of strawberries.

Anyone who has recently moved to Sweden may suddenly notice that the city feels unusually empty.

Nobody has disappeared.

They have simply gone to a summer cottage.

Midsommarstången: floral and difficult to explain

One of the main features of the celebration is midsommarstången (“the Midsummer pole”), also known as majstång (“the maypole”).

It is a tall wooden structure covered in leaves and flowers. It often has a crossbar and two large rings hanging from it.

Preparing it can take quite a while. People collect birch branches, pick flowers and tie greenery around the pole. Then it is raised, usually with the help of several people shouting different instructions at the same time.

Once the pole is standing, everyone dances around it.

This is one of those moments when an outsider may need to accept that not everything has to make complete sense.

Children dance. Adults dance. Grandad may dance too, even though five minutes earlier he said he was only going to watch.

Nobody needs to be good at it. The important thing is to move in roughly the same direction.

Små grodorna: the song nobody can really justify

The best-known Midsummer song is undoubtedly “Små grodorna” (“The Little Frogs”).

People sing about little frogs that are funny to look at. Then they hop around while making gestures beside their heads and behind their backs.

The lyrics explain that the frogs have neither ears nor tails.

This is scientifically accurate. It is also an unusual basis for a festive dance.

Nevertheless, people join in with impressive enthusiasm.

“Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.” (“The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to see.”)

For anyone learning Swedish, this is an excellent opportunity to discover that understanding the language does not always make the situation less confusing.

Your first thought may be:

“Jag måste ha missförstått texten.” (“I must have misunderstood the lyrics.”)

No.

That is exactly what they are singing.

Sill, potatoes and familiar festive food

A Midsummer table often includes sill (“pickled herring”), färskpotatis (“new potatoes”), gräddfil (“soured cream”), gräslök (“chives”), eggs and crispbread.

Sill is pickled fish and comes in several varieties. Senapssill (“mustard herring”), löksill (“onion herring”) and matjessill (“spiced matjes herring”) are common choices.

For the uninitiated, herring can be quite a surprise: salty, sweet, sharp and extremely sure of itself.

Färskpotatis are small potatoes from the year’s first harvest. They are often boiled with dill and, for many Swedes, they are nearly as important as the celebration itself.

Serving ordinary old winter potatoes at Midsummer might not start an argument, but somebody would notice.

Dessert often involves strawberries, sometimes served with cream or ice cream.

Swedish strawberries enjoy a special status. In the run-up to Midsummer, their price, quality and availability are discussed with roughly the same seriousness other countries reserve for energy supplies.

Snaps and a song before every sip

Some people drink snaps with the meal, meaning a small glass of strong alcohol.

And the snaps often comes with a song.

A snapsvisa (“drinking song”) is usually short, cheerful and fairly easy to sing. This is useful, as it may need to be repeated several times during the same meal.

Not everyone drinks snaps, of course, and alcohol is by no means necessary for joining in. It is perfectly fine to raise a glass of something else.

The toast itself is a small ritual. People lift their glasses, preferably make eye contact, say “skål” (“cheers”) and drink.

Anyone who does not know the song can use an old and reliable technique: smile, watch everyone else and move your mouth at roughly the right time.

Blomsterkransen: beautiful until it starts slipping sideways

Many people make a wreath from flowers and leaves and wear it on their head.

A really good midsommarkrans (“Midsummer flower crown”) can look as though it belongs in a romantic summer film.

A less successful one may look as though part of a hedge has landed sideways on your head.

Both are perfectly acceptable.

The wreath is often made from flowers growing nearby. This makes it personal, local and occasionally full of tiny insects that also wanted to join the party.

Both children and adults wear flower crowns. It is one of the few pieces of headwear that works equally well with a summer dress or with shorts, wellington boots and a raincoat that rustles every time you move.

Sju sorters blommor and future romance

An old Midsummer tradition says that you should pick sju olika sorters blommor (“seven different kinds of flowers”) and place them under your pillow.

You are then supposed to dream about the person you will marry.

In some versions, you must also climb over seven gärdesgårdar (“traditional wooden fences”) and remain completely silent while picking the flowers.

Why romance requires this much organisation is unclear.

Today, the tradition is mostly treated as romantic folklore. Many people know about it, but not everyone follows it. It is also difficult to sleep comfortably with a small flowerbed under your pillow.

Regnjackan: Midsummer’s unofficial national costume

Pictures of Midsummer often show sunshine, blue skies and people in light summer clothes.

Reality may involve twelve degrees, strong winds and a party tent slowly filling with water.

A Swedish Midsummer celebration is therefore often planned in two versions.

Plan A: lunch in the garden.

Plan B: lunch in the living room with nineteen people, wet coats and a bench someone has fetched from the garage.

Swedes talk a great deal about the Midsummer weather. The forecast is checked several days in advance, even though everyone knows it may change.

“Det ser faktiskt ganska bra ut.” (“It actually looks quite promising.”)

This often means that the chance of rain has dropped from 80 to 55 per cent.

When the rain eventually arrives, the celebrations usually carry on anyway. The dancing moves closer to the house. Parasols become makeshift shelters. Someone cooks under a roof while wearing an expression that says this was the plan all along.

The light that refuses to leave

One of the loveliest things about Midsummer is the light.

In much of Sweden, the nights remain very bright in June. In the far north, the sun does not set at all for part of the summer.

For anyone from a country where night actually becomes dark, this can feel rather strange. It is eleven o’clock in the evening, but the sky appears to have forgotten what it is supposed to do.

The light changes the mood. Dinner lasts longer. Conversations continue. Nobody quite feels that the evening is over.

Then someone checks the time and discovers that it is half past one.

The sun is still there.

The children are still awake.

And somebody has started serving strawberries again.

A celebration that does not have to be perfect

Midsummer can look like a celebration with a great many rules: the right food, the right flowers, the right songs and the right pole.

In reality, people celebrate in all sorts of ways.

Some have a large gathering with family and friends in the countryside. Others eat dinner at home, go to a public celebration or meet a few people in a park.

Some dance around the pole. Others stand nearby holding a cup of coffee.

There is no exam.

You do not need to know the songs, enjoy pickled herring or make a flower crown that survives the entire evening.

For anyone new to Sweden, the best approach is simple curiosity. Taste something. Join the dance. Ask what is going on.

Nobody else really knows why the frogs are there either.

Summer, herring and controlled chaos

Midsummer is a mixture of old traditions, summer celebration and practical problem-solving.

People decorate a pole with leaves.

They eat pickled fish and very small potatoes.

They sing before they drink.

They hop like frogs alongside colleagues, neighbours or in-laws.

And throughout it all, they keep one eye on the clouds.

To an outsider, the whole thing may seem strange. That is part of its charm.

Midsummer does not have to be perfect. The flower crown may sit crookedly. The herring may be an acquired taste. The rain may arrive at the exact moment the food is carried outside.

The party carries on anyway.

Someone moves the table.

Someone fetches more blankets.

And someone says:

“Det är ju ändå ganska varmt för att vara midsommar.” (“It is still quite warm for Midsummer, all things considered.”)