Halloween

by Po Tidholm

The celebration of a particular custom often has lengthy roots. Some customs are traditional, with the emphasis on their religious origins, while others are of a contemporary, more commercial nature. When a custom is exported, however, the roots are usually cut. So Halloween pumpkins in Sweden are made of plastic and the children's fancy-dress costumes were bought at the supermarket round the corner.

A young tradition in the gathering dark
Halloween has only been celebrated in Sweden over the past decade, and has rapidly become established here — not least as a result of smart commercial marketing. By the beginning of November, Sweden is enveloped in darkness and the long working weeks stretch away endlessly.

Swedes only recently began celebrating Halloween.
Photo: Sören Andersson/Scanpix

There are no public holidays or extended weekends in the calendar between the summer holiday and All Saints’ Day. Halloween heralds the schools’ autumn break and represents a welcome diversion in the gathering dark.

Dress parties and pumpkins
The occasion is mainly celebrated by children and teenagers. They go to fancy-dress parties and ghost parties, light lanterns and venture forth into the streets to scare the life out of the neighbourhood. Many pubs and restaurants stage Halloween parties and decorate their premises with fearsome attributes. Halloween has come to stay.

On the island of Öland in the southern Baltic, the arrival of Halloween has led to an upswing in pumpkin growing, and the giant fruits are now quite readily available.

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Po Tidholm is a freelance journalist and a critic with the Stockholm daily, Dagens Nyheter. Po Tidholm wrote the main sections about how we celebrate in Sweden today.

Agneta Lilja is a lecturer in ethnology at Södertörn University College, Stockholm. Agneta Lilja wrote the sections about the history of Swedish traditions and festivities.

The authors alone are responsible for the opinions expressed on this web page.

Translation: Stephen Croall/Lingon

Copyright: 2004 Agneta Lilja, Po Tidholm and the Swedish Institute. This text is published by the Swedish Institute on www.sweden.se.

Halloween

by Agneta Lilja, Södertörn University College

With the rise of Christianity, the heathen Samhain came to be called Hallowmas, or All Saints’ Day, to commemorate the souls of the dead who had been canonised that year, so the night before became popularly known as Halloween, All Hallows Eve. Samhain was a Celtic harvest festival marking the end of summer and the beginning of winter labours. That night was regarded as a magical time of transition, when the dead called on the living and various supernatural creatures were afoot. People lit fires, dressed up and went round begging from door to door (trick-or-treat). They carved faces in turnips and lit them inside with candles. These glowing vegetables were supposed to represent the wandering soul of Jack the Blacksmith and were called Jack O’Lanterns.

Halloween was imported into the US by Irish immigrants in the 1840s and became a popular festivity there. The pumpkin replaced the turnip and the occasion was celebrated with trick-or-treat and special parades. In the 1990s, Halloween became established in Sweden, where it is mainly celebrated in macabre fashion by children and young people.

SWEDEN.SE - the official gateway to Sweden

SWEDEN.SE - the official gateway to Sweden

Halloween

Halloween