Atheistic Easter in the land of blondes

A few words about Easter

In Christian countries, Easter is one of the biggest and most important religious festivals, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus was condemned and crucified on Friday. Three days later, on Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.

Similar to the Lunar New Year in Vietnam and other countries using the lunar calendar, Easter doesn't follow a fixed date but varies each year, usually falling in March or April. Coincidentally, this is also when spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere, so Easter is sometimes considered an event marking the arrival of spring.

In countries that highly value Christianity, such as Spain, Italy, or South America, Easter is an occasion for believers to show their devotion to God through many religious activities. However, in Northern Europe, especially Norway and Sweden—two countries where I spent the longest time studying and living—Easter takes on a completely different character. In devout families, the rituals and customs of Easter are maintained annually.

However, for the vast majority of the population who follow Lutheranism, atheism, or other religions (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.), Easter in Nordic countries is increasingly taking on more traditional and recreational aspects than its original religious significance. In the eyes of a Vietnamese expatriate (and atheist) like myself, I would venture to call it an atheistic Easter in the land of blonde hair. Except for the main days of Easter, the activities on other holidays are gradually becoming more traditional and repetitive rather than containing deeper meanings.

Swedes and Norwegians both enjoy the delicious semla (or fastelavenbolle in Norwegian), but not on Fat Tuesday; they can eat it any day they like. In Sweden, on this day, people also have the custom of riding on a sled and sliding down a slope, hoping that their luck will be inversely proportional to the steep climb they take in the new year!

On Holy Thursday (or sometimes called Holy Thursday), people refrain from cutting wood because they believe it will cause Jesus more pain. Swedish tradition holds that witches in the forest fly away to find their mates, the devil residing on Mount Blåkulla. Therefore, people draw crosses on their front doors and hide all their brooms and rakes inside so that witches cannot borrow them.

Easter bunny, Easter chicken, and Easter eggs

Rabbits are an ancient Celtic symbol for the goddess Ostera. In addition, in European culture, especially Central Europe, rabbits symbolize fertility and abundance. When Germans migrated to America, they brought with them both European culture and the image of the Easter bunny. In America, wild rabbits evolved into domestic rabbits, but the tradition of hiding their eggs in the garden for children to find remained.

Today, the image of the Easter bunny holding a basket of eggs, made from chocolate or real eggs and decorated in vibrant colors, is more of a commercial symbol than a cultural or religious one. However, Easter would probably never be complete without this iconic duo of Easter bunny and Easter eggs.

While the Easter bunny is a widespread symbol throughout Europe and even extends to America, the Easter chick is a purely Nordic symbol. One of the familiar Easter decorative motifs of the Viking descendants is the image of a fluffy, golden-yellow chick with a tiny, bright pink beak. These are also two common colors for Easter in the region. According to Nordic beliefs, the chicken and the egg symbolize new life. During Easter, the chicken also symbolizes resurrection. The image of the chick pecking its way out of its shell symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus.

In addition, chickens and chicken eggs are also harbingers of spring's arrival. The bright yellow feathers of chicks also symbolize the sun – one of the important symbols of the Northern Easter season.

Easter in the hytte and on the snow-capped mountains

According to Norway's vacation calculation system, Easter is one of the rare occasions when working people get five consecutive days off. If they're feeling adventurous, they can take three additional days of leave beforehand, combined with the weekend, to create a ten-day spring break.

If Christmas is a time for families to gather together after a long year of being scattered far and wide, then Easter is both a time for family reunions and a time for people to "escape together." Norwegians have two popular ways of celebrating Easter: in cozy hyttes (houses of worship), or in the mountains skiing.

The summer houses, which had remained closed and silent throughout the cold winter months, were now coming alive. The owners of the houses began sweeping and tidying, and building fires in the fireplaces. When the wood was burning brightly, the house was warm, and the gentle scent of smoke began to fill the air—that was the beginning of a peaceful Easter holiday.

In the hytte (house), the whole family gathers together to play group games like Uno, Monopoly, and especially Yatzi – a popular Easter game in Norway (I have no idea how it's played). In addition, one of the national pleasures of Norwegians during this time is… reading or watching detective stories. Easter is an opportunity for publishers to rake in money with Nordic Noir-style detective novels, and television stations to continuously broadcast thrilling crime dramas. Every year, around this time, my German language skills, honed over four years of university, are put to the test for a few days thanks to the famous German Detective Derrick series from the 1970s.

People also take advantage of the opportunity to go skiing, especially in the mountainous regions of eastern and northern Norway, where snow remains thick even though spring has arrived. And to easily combine skiing and hyttes, people often build hyttes near ski resorts, or if they don't have enough money to build several hyttes scattered throughout the area from the pine forests to the high mountains, the simplest way is to... rent a hytte right next to the ski resort.

The rental prices for such hyttes are usually quite high, and the hyttes are also built in a modern style, like a detached apartment, rather than the traditional hyttes built of rough wood. To have a truly Norwegian Easter holiday, people tend to splurge a bit, and after the holiday ends, they are back to the daily grind of making a living and... paying off bank loans for the extra expenses incurred during the holiday!

Freckled Witch or Easter-style Halloween

If Halloween is a highly commercialized American festival that has only been introduced to Europe in the last decade or so, then Swedish Easter, in my opinion, is the purest and most meaningful Halloween celebration for children.

On this day, children dress up in old clothes, wear colorful headscarves, and have their cheeks painted rosy red and dotted with black freckles. They transform into adorable little witches, going from house to house in the neighborhood in groups of two or three. At each house, the "little witches" show off their drawings in exchange for candy. This candy is usually contained in a giant cardboard Easter egg, beautifully decorated with colored paper and paint.

Upon returning home, the little wizards and witches continue their search for Easter eggs in the garden. They must solve puzzles and follow various clues to find the Easter eggs that the rabbit (or their parents, grandparents) have secretly placed somewhere in the lush, green garden.

Easter table in the land of blondes

Just like all special holidays in different cultures, each celebration brings different dishes, both symbolic of the occasion and in keeping with the seasons. The Easter feast in the land of blondes is no exception.

At the top of the list of most popular and widely consumed foods during the five days of Easter is… chicken eggs! Last year, an estimated 21 million eggs were consumed in Norway. With a population of around 5 million, that's an estimated four eggs per person, equivalent to one egg per day. On the first Sunday of Easter, everyone must have a soft-boiled egg for breakfast. Besides eggs, chicken and lamb are two other popular ingredients for Easter dishes. However, when it comes to Norwegian Easter cuisine, perhaps nothing is more unique than the "rabbit-like" dish!

"Rabbit-like" (forloren hare in Norwegian) is one of Norway's traditional dishes that is in danger of being forgotten. The name "rabbit-like" is quite literal; it means rabbit, but... not rabbit, but rather... "toads" of rabbit meat. The preparation is simple: ground beef or pork is stuffed with spices and potato starch, then shaped into loaves like bread and baked in the oven.

When almost done baking, a mixture of broth and fresh milk is added to the tray, and baking continues until the meat is golden brown and the broth thickens. "Rabbit frogs" are typically served with potatoes and stewed vegetables, along with sweet and sour lingonberry jam. Despite its simplicity, this dish has almost completely disappeared from Easter dinners in Norway and is rarely found in supermarkets. If you want to eat it, you'll have to prepare it yourself at home.

In Sweden, on the Friday of Jesus' crucifixion, it is traditional for people to wear black, eat salty food, and refrain from drinking water. This is to commemorate Jesus' suffering and sacrifice. Three days later – Sunday – is when the lavish feast begins. Similar to Christmas meals, Swedes seem unable to hold any meal without meatballs and sausages. Alongside these are salted herring, chilled salmon, potatoes, and roasted onions. The Easter dinner will also include roasted lamb and baked potatoes with cream. And of course, there will be plenty of drinks to help digest the large amount of creamy meat and dairy!

This Easter, my family and I have decided to take a road trip along the west coast of Norway to visit my in-laws. Perhaps I should also learn the best Easter "rabbit frog" recipe from my mother-in-law.

Ngoc Quyen