The month of June in Sweden

The Swedish summer is at its greenest, the nights are at their shortest and the land comes alive with a throbbing energy as the summer solstice approaches.  

  • Swedish Midsummer ..Svensk Midsommar—flowers, singing and dancing into the never-ending night. Bildbyrån photo.

  • As emphasized in our most recent issue of Nordstjernan, Midsummer is the most magical time of the year and it’s not just about the partying; it’s about recognizing the gifts of nature, embracing the passage of time and celebrating Sweden’s cultural heritage. For many, it is a symbolic day of spending time together, a day of renewal and hope.
    All of June is a special time in Sweden, full of light, hope and new beginnings. Nature is at its peak, nights are long, life seems without end. Swedish author Harry Martinson may have said it best in his poem “Juninatten.” Published in the 1953 work Cikada and a dedication of the author’s love of natural science it was voted the favorite summer poem by Dagens Nyheter readers in 2020. Martinson later released the epic science fiction poem Aniara: en revy om människan i tid och rum, his international claim to fame. The work depicts the tragedy that occurs when a spaceship of Mars-bound colonists is set off course. This existentialist weaving of space and humanity was a key contributor for him to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974, “for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos.” Criticism for his selection as a Nobel Laureate allegedly led to Martinson dying by suicide in 1978.
    Ulf Barslund Martensson

  • With seven flowers in her hair... Bildbyrån photo.

  • Juninatten
    av Harry Martinson

  • First call for Midsummer! Photo courtesy of Andrew Janzen (Lindsborg, KS)

  • Nu går solen knappast ner,
    bländar bara av sitt sken.
    Skymningsbård blir gryningstimme
    varken tidig eller sen.

  • Subscribe to Nordstjernan, everything of relevance to Swedish Americans and Swedes in the U.S. <a href="http://www.nordstjernan.com/subscribe" target="_blank">Subscribe to Nordstjernan</a> and Make Life Sweder! In English, digital or in print.

  • Insjön håller kvällens ljus
    glidande på vattenspegeln
    eller vacklande på vågor
    som långt innan de ha mörknat
    spegla morgonsolens lågor.

  • The Arboretum Lassa’s Hagar on Svartlöga, in the northern, outer Stockholm archipelago. Photography: Bosse Lind

  • Juninatt blir aldrig av,
    liknar mest en daggig dag.
    Slöjlikt lyfter sig dess skymning
    och bärs bort på ljusa hav.

  • This is where Sten Ridderlöf created a unique world consisting of vast rolling meadows and plants that were collected during long journeys around the entire world. Photography: Bosse Lind

  • The June Night
    by Harry Martinson

  • A bountiful garden with a touch of the exotic. Photography: Bosse Lind

  • Just now the sun will barely set
    only dims its glow.
    Twilight turns to hour of dawn
    neither early nor late.

  • Lassa’s Hagar on Svartlöga. Photography: Bosse Lind

  • The inland sea holds the evening’s light
    gliding on the water’s surface
    or stumbling on the waves which
    long before they darken,
    reflect the flames of morning sun.

  • The June night never comes around
    mainly feels like a dewy day.
    Like a veil, its twilight rises
    to be carried away on shining seas.