Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Sankta Lucia - Song Compilation [UPDATE]


Here's a listing of the songs in the songbook, with videos I & Krista made of the tunes and lyrics, followed by someone or other singing the actual song. Also added another version of Lusse lelle by adorable icelandic children (1st one in the list, thx Krista).

*HERE* is the link to the playlist of all the music & lyrics






Gläns över sjö och strand
Music/lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WpnMIYuQKQ
Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1SSYo3HcSk (skip to 1:15)



APPROXIMATE ENGLISH LYRICS cobbled together from various internet sources and dictionaries



SANKTA LUCIA
The night goes with weighty step
round yard and hearth
round earth, the sun departs
leave the woods brooding
There in our dark house,
appears with lighted candles
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

The night goes great and mute
now hear it swings
in every silent room
murmurs as if from wings.
Look at our threshold stands
white-clad with lights in her hair
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

LUSSE LELLE
Little Lucia, eleven nights before Christmas,
Now we are come, so soon before Christmas

NU TÄNDAS TUSEN JULELJUS
A thousand Christmas lights are being lit
On the Earths dark round
And thousands upon thousands also shine
In the sky's dark blue foundation.

And all over town and country tonight
The joyful message of Christmas sounds
That born is the Lord Jesus Christ
Our saviour and God.

Thou star above Betlehem
O, let your gentle light
Come shining in with hope and serenity
Into every home and house

In every heart, poor and dark
Send a gentle ray
A ray of God's love
In the sacred days of Christmas.

STAFFAN VAR EN STALLEDRÄNG
v1
Staffan was a stable boy.
We gladly give thanks.
He watered his five horses,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.
v2
Hastily he laid the saddle on,
We gladly give thanks.
Before the sun rose,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.
v3
The best colt was dapple-grey,
We gladly give thanks.
Staffan himself rode upon it,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.
v4
Before anyone had woken,
We gladly give thanks.
He arrived at the forest,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.
v5
Now the fire was in the hearth,
We gladly give thanks.
Christmas porridge and Christmas pork,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.
v6
Now joy was in the house,
We gladly give thanks.
Christmas tree and Christmas candles,
All for the bright star.
No dawn can be seen yet,
The stars in the sky twinkle.

DET ÄR EN ROS UTSPRUNGEN
There is a rose blooming
Of Jesse's root and stem
Of the father's pure song
It was set ahead
And bears a flower mild
In the middle of the cold winter,
In midnight's dark time.

"Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" (19th century hymn)
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When halfspent was the night.

GLÄNS ÖVER SJÖ OCH STRAND
Shine over sea and shore, star, from afar,
You, who was lighted in the Orient by the Lord.
The star from Bethlehem does not lead you away, but home,
The children and the shepherds follow you gladly.

Night over the land of Juda, night over Zion.
At the western horizon, Orion is dying out.
The shepherd who sleeps, tired; the child who slumbers sweetly,
Wake up to a wondrous chorus of voices,
Behold a gloriously bright star in the East.

GODER AFTON
Good evening, good evening, both gentleman and lady!
We wish you all a joyful Christmas!

Good evening, good evening, welcome to every guest!
We wish you all a joyful feast!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Memories of Höstbal 2011

Finally made a youtube clip of the autumn ball last year in Uppsala.
Here is the youtube video...
And here is a link to my post talking about the ball, back in November 2011.

Bästa bullar!

Here is my recipe for buns! I found this recipe in a Swedish cooking periodical, and translated it. Some measurements/ingredients/instructions might not be what you are used to, so I have adapted/paraphrased them... except for white syrup (vit sirap), I haven't figured out a good replacement for that yet.


"Baka bästa bullen" (from Matglädje)

Ingredients:

Dough:

  • 50g fresh yeast (or 25g dry yeast… about 2 tbsp)
  • 5 dl lukewarm milk (500mL)
  • 100g butter (just under ½ cup) 
  •  1 ½  dl white syrup (might want to do some googling to find a substitute… I haven’t found anything except *this* and I haven't tried it)
  • 1 ½  tbsp cardamom
  • 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon (adjust these to your preference) 
  •  2 pinches salt
  • 12 dl flour (5 cups)

Filling:

  • 50 -100 g of melted butter (¼ to ½ cup) 
  • ½  dl sugar (50mL or just under ¼ cup) 
  • 2-3 tbsp vanilla sugar (or, icing sugar and a pinch of vanilla extract)

Brushing:

  • 1 egg 
  • Pearl sugar

Tools:

  • Small bowl
  • Whisk 
  • Spatula
  • Spoon 
  • Large bowl 
  • Rolling pin 
  • Knife 
  • Greased baking sheets 
  • Pastry brush

Bring butter to room temperature.

Stir in yeast to warm milk until dissolved (5min or so). 

Mix milk, yeast, butter, syrup, spices, salt, and flour.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
Leave to rise for approximately 1 hour.
Punch down the dough once, about halfway through. Longer leavening gives more flavour.
While waiting, mix together filling (it’s easier to spread when butter begins to solidify again).

Put the dough on a floured surface and knead gently.
Divide in half (if you like… easier to work with a smaller piece at once).
Roll out into a large rectangle.
Spread the filling evenly over dough using a spoon.
Fold over lengthwise, and cut the dough into about 2 cm wide strips.
Cut each strip into two legs (imagine V shape).
Twist each leg separately, and tie legs pressed together into a loose knot.
Place on greased baking sheet and leave covered at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 250 C. 

Gently press a finger into the dough … print should disappear quickly (then it’s ready to go).
Brush gently with beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar.
Bake in middle of oven 8-10 minutes until brown. 

VARIATIONS:
-          Mix 2 tbsp cardamom into the dough, and mix cinnamon into the filling. Instead of folding over and making legs etc, just roll the dough into a tube and cut off ‘slices’ (traditional swirly cinnamon bun style).
-          Or, don’t use any cinnamon, and top with sugar and chopped almonds.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Swedish Language Movies recommended by Fredrik


Arn: The Kingdom at Road's End (2008)
Arn: Riket vid vägens slut (original title)

Arn: The Knight Templar (2007)

Evil
Ondskan

Show Me Love

My Life as a Dog
Mitt liv som hund

Easy Money
Snabba Cash

The Emigrants
Utvandrarna

The New Land
Nybyggarna

Jägarna

Sällskapsresan eller Finns det svenskt kaffe på grisfesten

Behind Blue Skies
Himlen är oskyldigt blå

Useful words for Fiona!


How do you say ... in Swedish?
Hur säger man ... på svenska?
What's this/it called?
Vad heter det?

To have, I have, I had
ha, har, hade

To need, I need, I needed
behöva, behöver, behövde

To use, I use, I used
använda, använder, använde

To make, I make, I made
göra, gör, gjort

To go, I go, I went (by car, bus, train...)
åka, åker, åkte

To walk/go, I walk/go, I walked/went
gå, går, gick

I will, I was going to
ska, skulle

Boil
koka, kokar, kokade

Bake
baka, bakar, bakade

Cook
laga, lagar, lagade

Always
alltid

Often
ofta

Almost
nästan

Next
nästa

Last
sista

Before
före

After
efter

During
under

Yesterday
igår

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Some höst ord!

http://blogs.transparent.com/swedish/autumn-vocab-list-swedish/

Maybe you want to talk about fall in Swedish! If so (or if not :P) here is a wordlist stolen from the lovely people at Transparent language!

Svenska
Engelska
höst autumn
ett träd a tree
ett löv a leaf
att falla to fall
kall cold
att regna to rain
en temperatur a temperature
färgrik colorful
färgglad colorful
röd red
gul yellow
orange orange
grön green
ställ klockan tillbaka en timme turn the clock back one hour
en jacka a jacket
en gummistövel a rubber boot
en dag a day
kortare shorter
en natt a night
längre longer
ett äpple an apple
en kantarell a chanterelle
en paj a pie
en gryta a stew
en soppa a soup

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Svensk musik - current Swedish (language) music I love

Here is some of my favourite recent Swedish music... mostly top 40 stuff. I recommend grabbing the lyrics and google-translating... listen to the song while looking at both svensk and english lyrics!

Den svenska björnstammen
Vart jag mig i världen vänder
Svalkar vinden

Veronica Maggio
Jag kommer

Melissa Horn
Jag saknar dig mindre och mindre
Hur ska det gå

Daniel Adams Ray
Gubben i lådan

Ansiktet
Äckligt

Norlie & KKV
Tröjan du hatar
När jag går ner 
Där jag hänger min hatt 

Petter & September
Baksmälla

Maskinen
Liv och död

Laleh
Ängeln i rummet
Vårens första dag

Medina
Där palmerna bor 

Kapten Röd (I bet you didn't know Sweden had skinny white reggae artists)
1.000.000 nollor
In kommer ting

And I never heard of these guys before, but discovered this song all about Uppsala 

DANCE

BYZ
Tjena tjena tjena

Eric Amarillo
Om sanningen ska fram

Supermarketz ft Medina
Du säger du älskar mig
 

and don't forget these guys- Movits
their song that was on Colbert's show is an 'oldie' but it's great, Fel del av grden

also I hope you're acquainted with these other quality svensk artists... who don't sing in Swedish :P but de är toppen !
Robyn, September, Tove Styrke, Swedish House Mafia, Dada Life, Avicii, Loreen, Nause, Icona Pop, Rebecca & Fiona, Lykke Li, Alesso!!!

Swedish language learning resources


  • Photos with words written and recordings, opportunity for review

  • Free download of 'express' version
  • "flashcards" with 1. Both languages, 2. Swedish phrase/word, 3. English phrase/word with opportunity to test yourself % wise
  • They also have a word of the day webpage with easy words 

  • from the Byki company, it's a blog with some funny/helpful articles about Swedish and Sweden

Youtube!!
  • Listening practice... aka, stupid/funny videos in Swedish
  • "Teaching" videos
    • Swedish with Steve! A bit cheesy... but still good practice. From the Transparent language guys again (like Byki and the Learn Swedish blog)

Sankta Lucia - Song compilation


Here's a listing of the songs in the songbook, to give you an idea of tune and pronounciation!

Sankta Lucia

Lusse lelle

Nu tändas tusen juleljus

Staffan var en stalledräng

Det är en ros utsprungen

Gläns Över Sjö Och Strand

Goder afton