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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: jultomte

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Swedish-learners were wondering, 'where does the word jultomte come from, anyway?'

Published: 24 December 2018 08:59 CET
Updated: 24 December 2023 08:35 CET
the word jultomte on a black background beside a swedish flag
Do you believe in the jultomte? Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

In Sweden, it’s the jultomte who is the traditional bringer of gifts on Christmas Eve (not Christmas Day).

You can read more about how this mythological figure forged a firm place in Swedish festive folklore here, but if you’re curious about the linguistic history of the jultomte, read on.

The word tomte comes from the term en tomt (a plot of land). In fact, these words are both written the same way in the definite form, so tomten can mean either “the gnome” or “the plot of land” depending on how you stress the two syllables – and on context, of course.

In Nordic folklore, each tomt had a small gnome-like creature to look after the area and use its special powers to ensure good luck for those who lived there, and this creature was called a tomte.

According to some traditions, the tomte was the spirit of the very first owner of the plot of farmland, and they were generally described as resembling an elderly human man, usually with a long white beard, but smaller than a person.

You need to watch out for the tomte though, as they are believed to have a short fuse and can be vindictive, so farmers would often leave out porridge for the creature around Christmas, in order to pacify them.

And tomte is also used in several different ways in Swedish. You might jokily refer to someone with a long beard, or who performs many different practical tasks, as a tomte, and the phrase ha tomtar på loftet (to have tomtar in the attic) means to be slightly crazy.

Around Christmas time, the traditional figure of the tomte has become slightly conflated with the Father Christmas or Santa Claus of other countries to become the jultomte (Christmas tomte) who brings presents to well-behaved children. And in homes and shops across the country you’ll find small toys and models depicting the festive bearded tomte. This popularisation happened thanks to a series of poems and stories, described in more detail here.

Example sentences:

Tror du på jultomten?

Do you believe in Santa?

Jultomten är en sammanblandning av Sankt Nikolaus, Santa Claus och julbocken

The Swedish jultomte is a mix of St Nicholas, Santa Claus and the Christmas goat

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 US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY

Swedish word of the day: själv

Today's Swedish word can help you talk about independence, solitude... and swearwords.

Published: 11 April 2024 09:31 CEST
Swedish word of the day: själv

The word själv means “self”, as in han gjorde det själv (he did it himself), jag tycker själv bäst om våren (I personally prefer spring), vad tycker du själv (what do you yourself think?) or as parents of Swedish-speaking two-year-olds will know too well, kan själv (“can self!” or “I can do it myself!”).

Själv can also mean “alone” – not necessarily implying that the speaker is feeling lonely – such as jag var hemma själv (“I was home alone”) or jag gick på bio själv (“I went to the cinema on my own”). If you’re feeling lonely, you should instead say jag känner mig ensam.

It appears in several compound words, such as självisk (selfish) or osjälvisk (unselfish/selfless), självbehärskad (restrained, or more literally in control of oneself) or självförtroende (confidence).

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A trickier word to explain is självaste.

Självaste can also mean him or herself, but think of it as a more extreme version, implying that the speaker has some sort of reaction to the person in question, perhaps they’re impressed or shocked. Other translations can be “in the flesh” or “none other than”.

For example: jag vände mig om och då stod självaste drottningen där (“I turned around and the Queen herself was standing there”) or de vann mot självaste Barcelona (“They won against none other than Barcelona”).

You also often hear it when Swedes swear. Det var då självaste fan (“It was the devil… in the flesh”) may be said by someone who is annoyed that something went wrong or isn’t working, although more often than not they’ll leave the last word unspoken: det var då självaste… (similarly to how an English-speaker may say “what the…” leaving out the cruder word “hell”).

Examples:

Själv är bästa dräng

If you want to get something done you’d best do it yourself

I själva verket

In actual fact (in fact, actually)

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 US, Amazon UK, Bokus or Adlibris.

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