nordstjernan The Swedish Newspaper of America
Published by Swedish News. Volume 144 No. 12, June 30, 2016. Price per copy $2.50
More royal celebrations than usual in June.
A traditional Swedish Midsummer celebration isn’t complete without authentic folk music on the fiddle (and, of course, in ethnic costume). Even in the U.S., Swedish Americans have been singing and dancing around the maypole to the accompaniment of live Swedish folk music. / Page 6, 16
Photo from the Lindsborg Kansas Midsummer celebration
Sweden, Page 2, 3
Scandinavian Airlines pilots get a raise / Swedish government agencies agree on energy plans / Inflation slowed more than expected / New Swedish citizens celebrate National Day / ABBA performs together for the first time in 30 years / Better trend for babies with Down syndrome.
Feature, Page 4
Swedish nuns attend Swedish Saint Elizabeth Hasselblad’s canonization in Vatican City.
Feature, Page 7
Seven Swedish drängar (guys, lit. farmhands) celebrate 20 years of singing together
Nordic rowing goes Hollywood
Page 4
by Göran R Buckhorn guest@nordstjernan.com
In the mid-1950s there was a renewed interest in Vikings in both Great Britain and the United States. One reason was likely due to the Swedish author Frans G. Bengtsson’s novel about Röde Orm we wrote about in issue 9/2016. Bengtsson’s highly acclaimed, two-volume Viking novel published in 1941 and 1945 in Sweden was marvelously translated into English by the English scholar Michael Meyer, who later became wellknown for translations of works by Strindberg and Ibsen. The novel about Röde Orm, published under the title The Long Ships, hit British and American bookshelves in 1954. As a tremendous success on both sides of the pond, there was also immediate interest from Hollywood to make a movie based on Bengtsson’s Viking. Unfortunately, with the
Continued on page 8
Dashboard, Page 10, 11
Women-only swim hours / Swedish archaeologist works to uncover ancient mystery / June 30 in Swedish history / Royal anniversaries / rent a longboat to row in Stockholm.
Food, Page 14
A dish so good every season of the year! Page 2
No, no fierceful Vikings are present in this image from Sognefjord where The Vikings filmed.
Travel the rails to Seattle
Many of the personal stories in our collective Swedish American history are often similar in some ways — and always irresistible, perhaps in part for that reason. Ted Olsson, a third generation Swede in America, has taken us along trips down memory lane a few times, sharing stories of his immigrant grandparents, and especially his farfar (father’s father), Alexander Olsson. Ted’s farfar was a writer himself, the editor of Vestkusten in San Francisco. And like him, Ted has written about his travel experiences — this time a train trip on the same route Farfar once took a century ago. The story of the first part of that trip appeared in the previous issue / Page 12, 13 of Nordstjernan, and here is the second part.
Perspectives, Page 11
Living between Russia and the USA...
Photo: Anna Lena Ahlström/Kungahuset.se
This Week, Page 11