Friday, 10 April 2009

Easter Friday in Sweden

Easter Friday, in Sweden is called Long Friday or Långfredagen, and is not at all a pleasant affair. The most notable feature of popular customs for Long Friday is the påskris or Easter twigs. Birch twigs are brought indoors and decorated with coloured feathers.

Traditionally, the birch twigs were used to scourge children and servants to remind them of the sufferings of Christ.

The tradition of eating the Easter Salmon today is also still much observed, preserving the Catholic law of abstinence from red meat on this day.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous10 April 2009 at 09:51

    Thank you for this and your other interesting posts about Sweden, Anka. :)

    I have seen a similar custom in southern Germany where Birch twigs are brought in and hung with decorative eggs, though it seems to be from Passion Sunday onwards...

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  2. Virgo Potens14 July 2010 at 18:00

    This is an interesting post but do Swedish people do anything more on the day of Our Lord's Passion?

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