SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

​​Swedish word of the day: tandfe

How the fee for a warrior's good luck charm became a fairy.

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Tandfe means ‘tooth fairy’ in modern Swedish. Why mention the ‘modern’ bit? Well, because it didn’t always mean this. 

In the folklore of various countries, the tooth fairy is a winged creature that replaces a lost milk tooth (usually placed under a pillow or in a glass of water) for a gift, most often a coin or a bill. 

But this fairy is not even a fake fairy, it is a double fake, nothing but a mistranslation. Going back to pre-Christian times in Scandinavia, among the Norse peoples, a tannfé was a gift given to children when they lost their first tooth.

The Old Norse word tannfé, is made up of the two words tann, meaning ‘tooth’, and , which has the same root as the modern day Swedish , meaning animals that are kept for financial return, such as cattle. comes from the older or , meaning ‘property; wealth’. Often used to denote what was given to pay for something. In other words a ‘fee’.

So tandfe really means “tooth money” or a “tooth fee”. The confusion is of course with the French word fée or English ‘fay’.

Manual widget for ML (class=”ml-manual-widget-container”)

This tradition of giving gifts for teeth is so old it even appears in Norse mythology, more specifically in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse narrative poems. There it is written that Álfheimr, home of the light elves and the god Frey (whose sister Freyja might be the reason why the fifth day of the week is called Friday), was gifted to the infant Frey as a tooth gift. 

Alfhęim Fręy

gǫ́fu í árdaga

tívar at tannféi.

Meaning: 

Alvheim fick Frej

av de andra gudarna

i tandgåva arla i tiden.

As translated by Björn Collinder. Notice, arla, in Collinder’s translation, like the milk company, means ‘early’ or ‘ere’ and has the same root. This is also where ‘yearly’ comes from, but the word in Old Norse is árdaga, meaning ‘in days of yore’. Let us attempt a translation in English:

Alfheimr, Frey

was gifted in old days

by the Gods as a tooth fee.

This tradition itself is said to have come from the belief that children’s teeth offered protection or luck in battle, and that many Norse warriors wore them on necklaces.

Perhaps when your kids are old enough to not believe in the tooth fairy anymore, you can finally tell them the truth about this double fake fairy, and give them a piece of real mythology and history to replace it with.

Example sentences:

Mamma, tror du tandfen kommer om jag lägger min tand under kudden?

Mommy, do you think the tooth fairy will come if I put my tooth under the pillow?

Det finns ingen tandfe!

There is no tooth fairy!

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is now available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: påskris

Here's a seasonal Swedish word that probably doesn't mean what you think it does.

Swedish word of the day: påskris
Image: nito103/Depositphotos

Påskris is a term that many initially mistranslate as “Easter rice”, but it actually means “Easter branches/twigs”. 

The first part of the word is the easiest to trace through history: påsk means “Easter”. It is etymologically linked to Jewish Passover, both sharing roots in the Hebrew word pesaḥ which meant “to pass over”, which became pascha in Latin and páskar in Old Norse before transforming into påsk in modern Swedish.

You can use it on its own in expressions like glad påsk (Happy Easter) and vid påsk (at Easter time), but just like the word jul (Christmas), it is also used in plenty of festive compound words, and påskris is one of the most important.

If you’ve learned Swedish food vocabulary, you’ll probably know that ris often means “rice”, but it can also be used to mean “rod”. In this sense, it can literally refer to a stick used as a rod, or be used figuratively: similar to the English phrase “carrot and stick” referring to encouragement through both rewards and punishment, the Swedish phrase ris och ros (literally “rod and rose”) means “criticism and praise”. In the word påskris, ris means “rod” in the literal sense. 

  • Don’t miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button

Back in the 1600s, Swedes used to beat each other with sticks and rods on Good Friday, as a way of remembering Jesus’ suffering and experiencing suffering themselves. If you’re from an eastern European country such as the Czech Republic, you might recognize this tradition. The rods were called fastlagsris (literally “Lent rods”).

Luckily for those of us in Sweden, this is no longer the typical way of marking Easter, and these days sticks are used as pretty decorations rather than whips. This tradition started around the Stockholm area in the late 1800s, and became common across the whole country by the 1930s.

So påskris are twigs, often from birch, which are used to decorate inside and outside the home during the Easter celebrations, almost like a springtime variant on the Christmas tree.

In the religious context, it might symbolize the palm leaves said to have been scattered in front of Jesus when he entered Jerusalem on the Sunday before Easter. But in secular Sweden, they’re also just a way of adding colour and greenery to homes around March and April. 

You’ll see the twigs, topped with colourful feathers, on sale at markets and other shops in the lead-up to Easter, although in recent years, the use of real feathers has declined, partly due to concerns for animal welfare.

You can also add extra decorations to your twigs, such as hanging eggs or animal-themed ornaments.

However you display them, påskris are an important and beautiful part of the Easter festivities in Sweden. 

Examples

Jag vill skapa ett påskris utan fjädrar

I want to make Easter branches without feathers

Påskriset ser underbart ut!

The Easter branches look wonderful!

Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local’s Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local’s journalists, is available to order. Head to lysforlag.com/vvv to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon USAmazon UKBokus or Adlibris.

SHOW COMMENTS