Happy midsummer!

In Sweden the midsummer weekend and especially midsummer’s eve is a big thing and so also for me, I’ll take a few days off and come back after the weekend.

The celebration of midsummer is old and though there are no written sources to support it, it is probable that it has prehistoric roots. Even so a possible midsummer eve in the Stone- Bronze- or Iron age most probably wouldn’t have much in common with the traditions of today.

The oldest written source concerning midsummer in Scandinavia can be found in the Norse sagas from the middle ages (ca 13th century) where Olav Trygvarsson; “He abolished the ceremonial beer and did instead participate in the people’s festival beer at Christmas, Easter, Midsummer and Mikaeli (translation by myself)”. It seems beer was an important part of the midsummer celebration then and still is it today, so there are some similarities after all.

Have a happy midsummer!

Magnus Reuterdahl