Nordic people are not like any other people in the world. Thomas Hylland Eriksen writes, "Foreign stereotypes g tend to depict Scandinavians as wealthy, enlightened, rational and bored Protestants with strong welfare states, lax rules of sexual morality and an institutionalised yearning for nature and simplicity." But there are significant differences, for those who can see them, between the nationalities. Eriksen quotes the following example:
A Swede, a Dane and a Norwegian are shipwrecked on the proverbial desert island. A genie appears out of thin air, informing them that they can each have a wish granted. The Swede immediately says, "I want to go home to my large and comfortable bungalow with the Volvo, video and slick IKEA furniture." So he vanishes. The Dane then says, "I want to go back to my cozy little flat in Copenhagen, to sit on my soft sofa, feet on the table, next to my sexy girlfriend, with a six-pack of lagers." Off he flies. The Norwegian, after giving the problem a bit of thought, then tells the genie,"Cor, I suddenly feel so terribly lonely here, so I guess I wish for my two friends to come back."
Denmark, of course, is where both Swedes and Norwegians go to enjoy themselves in the land of hygge. The Copenhagen Post reported, "No single aspect of Danish culture has baffled foreigners more. A near-untranslatable concept incorporating elements of English coziness, Norwegian koselighet, Finnish vilhtylisyys, French douillet, Dutch gezelligheid and Irish crack." Ah, that's clear now. And what exactly might hyggekrog (Itygge-nooks) be? Here we have to turn to some serious academic research, and Professor Judith Friedman Hansen has written just the study we need, The Proxemics of Danish Daily Life. She tells us, "familiarity is the key element, a closed-in state of stable predictableness associated with small-scale gatherings of people." This means creating a hyggekrog — a protective space characterized by low tables under a subdued light, with candles, flowers, food, and drink. Only certain folk will ever be invited into this space. Hansen adds, "one would not ordinarily speak of hygge with strangers or even acquaintances, it is a state most often linked with one's circle of close friends and family."
By the very nature of hygge it follows that the Swedes and Norwegians never get invited. To the Danish, the nearest foreigners can get is råhygge,"raw" hygge, a rough-edged version, and a mere copy of it.
The Finns, despite having an almost totally Arctic climate, have made a virtue of their perpetual cold by insulating themselves in saunas, and enjoy a custom known as loyly, that incredible heat wave that engulfs you when you throw water on the hot stove. Not only this, but they then go outside to beat themselves with vihta (or vasta, depending on what part of the country you live in), a leafy bundle of birch to slap against the body in order to go back inside and increase the löyly sensation. All very purifying and healthy for a nation whose language enjoys a surfeit of vowels.
What then unites these nations and cultures? Folkelighed or folklighet, depending on where you are, is a central concept throughout the fundamentally antiélitist Scandinavian culture. United, but in friendly tension, the Nordic countries represent a wonderland of untranslatable customs, beliefs, and nuances of social behavior.
