Nordic Research

Professor Fredrik Skott: Masks and Mumming in Contemporary Scandinavia

Professor Fredrik Skott delivered a lecture on 'Masks and Mumming in Contemporary Scandinavia' on 19 November 2009.

Event details

Lecture title: Masks And Mumming In Contemporary Scandinavia: Easter Witches - A Case Study From Sweden

Date: 19 November 2009, 5.15pm

Venue: Conference Room, 27 George Square, Edinburgh

Lecture abstract

There are several kinds of mumming traditions in contemporary Scandinavia. Some of them are specific to a particular area in one of the Scandinavian countries, others are spread over most of Europe. Some have their roots back hundreds of years while others, such as Halloween, are new traditions in the Scandinavian countries. The most famous of the Swedish mumming traditions is probably Lucia, the woman dressed in white with candles in her hair that appears on the morning of December 13. Star Boys (in Swedish "Stjärngossar") and Knut men ("Knutgubbar") are other examples of older disguise customs that also exist in contemporary Sweden.

One of the most widespread mumming traditions in today's Sweden is Easter witches ("påskkäringar"). Nowadays, the Easter witches are children, particularly girls, who on Maundy Thursday or Easter Saturday visit houses in most Swedish communities. They are dressed up as cute witches, with headscarves, coffee pots and brooms. In some areas, they ask for candy; elsewhere they are distributing special Easter letters ("påskbrev"), drawings of witches or other things connected with Easter.

At the end of the nineteenth century the tradition was different. Then it was youths or even adults who disguised themselves as witches. They were far from being as "cute" and harmless as the Easter witches are today; instead they tried to look as frightening as possible. Also, by acting the role of the "real" witches known about in contemporary legends, the costumed Easter witches of the nineteenth century were trying to frighten the inhabitants of the houses they visited. The tradition probably originated in the eighteenth century. Thus, the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as witches existed at a time when the belief in witches and witchcraft was common among a large part of the Swedish population.

I will discuss the background of the disguise tradition, the connections between the belief in witches and the custom of dressing up as witches. How have the tradition changed from the eighteenth until today? Can we say anything about the future for the Easter witches and other Scandinavian mumming traditions?"