Written by Hey Everyone, It’s Carly.
I’ve noticed that my articles aren’t that popular anymore, I mean Kidznetters just care about the Animal stories, but I decided to do something by answering common misconceptions about Nordic Countries.
Please Read this.
1# – Åland: Swedish or Finnish?
Åland Islands is a region that is just a group of tiny islands. The islands have fewer than 30,000 people. However, Due to the islands being really close to both Finland and Sweden, people are confused on whether Åland is Finnish or Swedish. It is Finnish.
Even though Åland is Finnish in Government terms, the culture is closely related to Swedish culture. People in Åland speak Swedish, celebrate Swedish holidays and are genetically related to Swedes. The Finnish Government considers Swedes living in Finland as an minority group, and the Swedish government considers vise-versa. In fact, People who speak Swedish or have Swedish ancestry in Finland even have their own flag.
2# – Long Winters
If there is one thing that Nordic countries are usually associated with, it is their winters. Now, this is true. Some areas like Svalbard have polar nights. Basically, this means that there are long periods of time like Months where the sun does no show, Even at times like 12am there is no sun.
Now, Nordic countries aren’t always in the winter. Their winters are long, yes. But the Nordic countries also experience other types of weather.
Nordic people also embrace their weather. Most Nordic countries promote their travel industry by promoting winter sports, mountains and Christmas traditions. The Danish tradition of Hygge, aka being cozy during harsh weather is practiced. The other seasons are often in good weather, so summer isn’t that hot but instead is like your average April Day.
3# – Nordic History after the Viking age isn’t important
This isn’t really a misconception, but this is something that I have been told a lot, that Nordic History after the Viking age is not important.
Well… This is wrong. After the Viking Age, a lot of important things were happening. For example, in my opinion the most important years of Nordic History are the 1500s to 1700s due to the rise of The Swedish Empire, The Fall of the Kalmar Union, and many other important events (In my personal opinion, my Favorite years in Nordic History are the 1800s)
4# – All Nordic Languages are the same
I think people just refer to Norwegian, Swedish and Danish when talking about this misconception. All 3 languages are derived from Old Norse, the Language of the Vikings. However, They’re all different in their own ways.
Same thing for other Nordic languages like Finnish and Icelandic. Finnish isn’t even a Germanic language, it is Ulraic. Icelandic is also derived from Old Norse and it is more noticeable than in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.
This also applies to the Sámi Languages. A lot of people consider that all these languages are dialects. However, The Sámi Languages all have their own unique alphabet (one even uses the Cryllic Alphabet, which is used in languages like Russian and Ukrainian) and grammar.
