långt bort från gatorna där allting börjar om

"He's a grown ass man living in a minivan, and he watches the birds all day" Sideblogs @storsjoyran (Hetalia reblogs) and @0x17 (other reblogs)

[jamtland]

I can visually see the month I got into birding from my last.fm history LMAO. Earbuds are OUT listening for bird calls is IN

[crossedsnowflake]

Hi, i have NOT been posting my bad ^^" This is a semi recent thing i made just for studying folk dresses-suits because i think they're neat

I can't find a lot of motivation to post on multiple platforms often, but maybe i'll pop in every once in a while. Because i still do mostly nordic content

[ifindus]

Since Christmas is coming up 🎄 How does Norway like to spend his Christmas? Does he have any must-do traditions?

Norway spends a quiet Christmas at his home 🥰 Though he spends the Christmas period visiting family and friends, he likes to take a step back on the 24th to enjoy the day by himself 🎄

He has a lot of traditions he tries to stay on track with every December ✨ He burns the advent candles in order on the Sundays, he puts up food for the winter birds, and he watches a Christmas calendar on the TV. He cleans and decorates the house, bakes at least one kind of Christmas cake (he used to do seven before), enjoys Christmas soda and clementines. On the 23rd he makes porridge for dinner and puts one portion out for the nisse in the barn.

[garugui]

Sendlingur og Sandlóa

[jamtland]

I was working on answering asks but saw this meme and immediately got possessed to redraw it with Mathias because that's exactly him. This is the Mathias in my head and I need the world to know him

[jamtland]

Is the reason fandom feels so sterile right now because most people are operating under the principle of "It's better to do nothing at all than to do something wrong". Don't interact don't engage don't rock the boat put on the corporate social media manager persona so nobody gets upset. Like this place is LinkedIn. No thanks, I'd rather get to know people who are weird and off-putting but genuine and carry that same energy around.

[jormvngandrr]

yeah

[ifindus]

I have recently been made aware that Swedish people make up weird words and claim they are Norwegian or that we use them in Norway??

Gulebøy (Yellow bend) is supposedly the Norwegian word for banana. Panglys (Bang light) is the word for fireworks and Tallefjant (???) is squirrel.

Looking into it, it seems like it started as a joke the Swedes made about how Norway creates new words for new concepts instead of using a foreign word. An example is snøbrett instead of "snowboard" - though a lot of Norwegians will still use the foreign word in daily talk.

Still, it seems like a lot of Swedes are not aware that this is a joke and genuinely believes these are Norwegian words 😭 I know this is probably lost on people who don't speak Norwegian or Swedish, but these words just sound ridiculous

[jamtland]

It's not the directly translated foreign words to Norwegian that Swedes find funny because Swedish has plenty of those too, but the metaphorically translated ones. Like rusbrus (drunk fizz) for "highball", olebukser (average Joe pants) for "jeans", potetgull (potato gold) for "potato chips", lysepære (light pear) for "lightbulb" and rumpetroll (butt troll) for "tadpole". They sound cute and silly to Swedish ears, like fantasy universe object names, although I still don't know what's up with the last one.

[jamtland]

Female Nordics character notes

I used to have longer and detailed notes about them but lost all of it, so I'm writing some brief notes here. I have yet to do detailed historical research and corrections or improvements are greatly appreciated.

My concept is that the female Nordics are not genderbends. They exist in the same universe as the male Nordics and represent a different region or aspect of the nation, so there is no "primary and secondary personification" hierarchy between them. I make the male and female Nordics siblings because I think the idea is cute, but it's not a rule that every nation has only two opposite-sex personifications that are siblings. Nations with more than two distinct regional cultures and identities will also have more regional personifications.

♀Denmark Camilla represents Northwestern Denmark (North Jutland), while ♂Denmark Mathias represents Eastern Denmark (Zealand). Camilla is Mathias' older sister and raised him after their mother, an ancient extinct Scandinavian personification, passed. They have a close and friendly relationship, seeing eye to eye on many things, even though Mathias is slightly annoyed by how his sister always sees him as a baby. Camilla is connected to Danish industry, ecology and agriculture, and lives in Aalborg.

♀Sweden Linnea represents inland south-central Sweden (Svealand), while ♂Sweden Björn represents coastal northern Sweden (Norrland). Linnea is slightly younger than Björn and they used to have a rivalry as children, with Björn hating his sister for being the favorite child. They have made up in the modern day but still get into heated arguments about politics when drunk at family gatherings. Linnea is connected to Swedish culture, science and art, and lives in Strömstad (SUNOR REFERENCE) after moving from her hometown of Falun.

♀Norway Solveig represents central-northern Norway (Trøndelag and Nord-Norge), while ♂Norway Sigurd represents western Norway (Vestlandet). Solveig and Sigurd have the most distant sibling relationship of the Nordics, representing how their regions used to be separate independent kingdoms, and they only met each other for the first time as teenagers. Solveig is connected to Norwegian military, academia and exploration, and lives in Steinkjer.

♀Finland Tuulikki represents central-Eastern Finland (Savo and some surrounding regions), while ♂Finland Timo represents Western Finland (Varsinais-Suomi and surrounding regions). Their sibling relationship has experienced many ups and downs, from them growing distant during the era of Swedish rule, to Timo greatly admiring his sister for being a "true Finn" during the era of national romanticism, and finally to them being best friends with lots of common interests in the modern day. Tuulikki is connected to Finnish culture, forestry and sport, and lives in Jyväskylä (but she proudly considers Kuopio her hometown and speaks in a Savonian dialect).

♀Iceland Ásta represents the urban Reykjavík region (as 65% of Iceland's population lives there), while ♂Iceland Eiríkur represents the historical and rural regions of the nation. Ásta is Eiríkur's younger sister and was raised by him. Because of their geographical isolation from other personifications, they developed a very close and complicated relationship, with an unbreakable bond forged through the many hardships they endured through Iceland's history. Ásta is connected to Icelandic urbanization, economy and tourism, and lives in, well, Reykjavík.

[jamtland]

4, 9, 17, 19 for the blorbo ask, tell me your secrets

Thank you for the ask! (I'll answer this about Mathias)

Blorbo Ask Meme

4. What’s the thing you love the most about your Blorbo?

Hot and Danish, what more could you want 😋

Also the way he's effectively my OC at this point because that means he's protected from being ruined by canon or a fandom. They can do whatever to HWS Denmark and it wouldn't change Mathias. The only downside is that it's hard to find people to talk about Mathias with when he's so far removed from what "everyone else knows".

9. Describe your Blorbo in 3 words

BEAUTIFUL DANISH PERFECT <- I love Mathias and I'm bad with words

17. Do you like seeing your Blorbo suffer?

Honestly, no and that's another thing that makes it extremely difficult to find people to talk to about Mathias because the few people who don't make their HWS Denmark a one-dimensional clown or villain write him as a tortured soul dealing with his trauma poorly. I'm not saying "traumatized Denmark" is poor characterization but I don't imagine my Mathias as particularly disadvantaged or unlucky, he's in control of his life and effectively all of the suffering he endures is the consequence of his own actions. I'm definitely more of a slice of life fan than an angst/horror enjoyer when it comes to my Blorbos.

19. When it comes to Blorbos, do you have a type?

Try not to say Danish challenge: FAILED

(I have other non-Danish Blorbos like... the rest of the Nordics but I consider them more of interesting characters to explore and don't simp/hornypost for them like the Danish ones)

[jamtland]

blorbo ask: 2, 14, 21 :)

Thank you for the ask!

Blorbo Ask Meme

2. Who was your first ever Blorbo, who was your childhood Blorbo, and are they still your Blorbo?

Believe it or not, it's not Mathias. Before I discovering Hetalia I had created a "dream waifu" OC when I was 9 who was my Blorbo, and after discovering Hetalia I used her design for female Denmark. That's why she doesn't look like Himaruya's design (to be fair I also have a different idea of the female personifications as distinct characters and not just alternate universe genderbends).

I can't believe I have never drawn Camilla before so I made an attempt. Her design is based on meymey20140329's female Denmark design which I fell in love with the moment I saw it. My doodle does not do her justice because my lack of artistic skill makes her look like a WikiHow artist's attempt to draw Taylor Swift but I will redraw her for an official intro post in the future.

14. Have you ever distanced yourself from your Blorbo / have you ever left a fandom because people in the fandom were being too toxic?

I didn't do either of these individually but I definitely distanced myself from the fandom because I don't vibe with the way it treats HWS Denmark. I HATE it when people write HWS Denmark as an extremely stupid comedy relief character or a comically evil villain. I'm still detached from the fandom to this day because I cannot stand the one-dimensional canon and fanon Nordic characterizations.

21. If your Blorbo is from a live-action media, are you also a fan of the actor who plays them?

Mathias is not from a live-action media so the closest person would be his voice actor, and to that I say HELL NO because I also hate HWS Denmark's squeaky childish voice. No hate to the actor, but Hetalia voices are so damn grating. This clip from Danmarks Radio (the dark-haired presenter) is my voice claim for Mathias.

Thank you for the ask!

[questions-about-blorbos]

BLORBO ASKS GAME

reblog if you’d like people to send you asks about your Blorbo

who’s the Blorbo that you’ve never posted about on your blog?

who was your first ever Blorbo, who was your childhood Blorbo, and are they still your Blorbo?

was there any specific point / any specific moment that suddenly made this character your Blorbo, or did you slowly grow to love them more and more until they became a Blorbo to you?

what’s the thing you love the most about your Blorbo?

what’s the thing you dislike the most about your Blorbo?

if you could talk to your Blorbo, what would you say to them?

what’s the one thing the fandom gets wrong about your Blorbo?

is your Blorbo an introvert or extrovert?

describe your Blorbo in 3 words

if your Blorbo were real, would you trust them with your life?

have you ever written a fanfic about your Blorbo?

do you talk to your family or in-real-life friends about your Blorbo?

is there any crime, any wrongdoing your Blorbo could commit that would make you stop loving them and remove them from your hyperfixation entirely?

have you ever distanced yourself from your Blorbo / have you ever left a fandom because people in the fandom were being too toxic?

have you ever gotten involved in ship wars?

is your Blorbo canonically alive?

do you like seeing your Blorbo suffer?

do you ship your Blorbo with any character?

when it comes to Blorbos, do you have a type?

if you have more than one Blorbo, do you love them all equally?

if your Blorbo is from a live-action media, are you also a fan of the actor who plays them?

would you still love your Blorbo if they were real?

is your Blorbo a victim of badly written script / bad plot / character assassination in the hands of canon?

if you could change one canonical thing about your Blorbo, what would it be?

how did you first discover your Blorbo?

when you first discovered your Blorbo, did you realize from that moment that they would become your Blorbo?

do you gatekeep your Blorbo? / would you want more people to know about your Blorbo?

have you ever been attacked online just because you liked your Blorbo?

has a fanfic about your Blorbo ever made you cry?

do you think this character will still be your Blorbo three years from now on?

[jamtland]

What would the Nordics do for Halloween? Well… nothing, at least before the 90s! The American-style Halloween only arrived in the Nordic countries as a result of marketing campaigns during that era. But that doesn't mean Nordic children never got to dress up and walk around their neighborhood collecting treats! The Nordic countries have all had similar traditions to modern Halloween that go back for centuries.

Denmark: Denmark celebrates Fastelavn on Sunday seven weeks before Easter, shortly before the Christian period of Lent begins. Children dress up in costumes and ask their neighbors for treats with a chant about Fastelavnsboller (cream buns), which are the signature dessert of the festival. Children also play a piñata game of slå katten af tønden (beating the cat out of the barrel) with a candy-filled barrel. This originates from a Continental European ritual from the Middle Ages where a black cat, a vessel for evil spirits according to superstition, was placed into a barrel that was suspended in the air with ropes. The townspeople would then beat the barrel with sticks until it broke, and the cat would either be allowed to flee from the town or be killed, to symbolize evil being driven away. This was believed to protect the town's harvest for the coming year. The person who broke the barrel open was crowned Kattekongen (the Cat King) and historically given a reward such as a tax exemption for the year. No cats are harmed in the modern game, but a black cat is painted onto the barrel and the first person to break the barrel open is crowned the Cat King as a nod to its history.

Norway: The costumed walkabout in Norway traditionally takes place during the Christmas season. As early as the 16th century, an adult man would dress in a frightening goat costume, concealing his face and voice to become the Julebukk (Christmas Goat). Other masked adults and children would follow the Christmas Goat, going from door to door to ask for food. The scary Christmas Goat costume that gave the tradition its name was no longer used in the 19th century but the masks remained, and the tradition became a game of guessing the individuals behind the mask. The tradition eventually became entirely for children, and modern children typically dress as Christmas elves while caroling and asking for treats. Despite the absence of any goat in the modern day, the tradition is still called å gå julebukk (to go on a Christmas Goat walk). The connection between winter festivities and goats has a pre-Christian origin and is found across all of Scandinavia, with the Swedish Gävle goat being a famous example.

Sweden: Sweden has a strange Easter tradition where children dress up as witches and ask their neighbors for treats, usually in exchange for handwritten letters. This originates from a folk belief that witches, who lived undetected among humans, would fly on brooms to their homeland of Blåkulla (the Blue Mountain) the day before Good Friday for a feast with the devil, and return to the human world on Easter Sunday. The myth was used to justify the execution of 300 people during the Swedish witch trials of the 17th century. Records of teenagers and young adults dressing as a påskkärring (Easter Witch) as a comedic take on the witch trials were found going back to the early 19th century, but likely occurred even earlier. The pranksters also sent anonymous letters containing drawings and poems about witches to neighbors, resulting in the Swedish Church introducing a law fining those caught dressing as witches during the Easter season. By the 20th century, it had become a widespread children's tradition. The "witch" costume for girls is a stereotypical rural 19th century old woman's dress, reflecting the human disguise of witches. Boys would dress as an old man from the same era.

Finland: Finland's modern Easter dress-up tradition, Virvonta or Virpominen, is a combination of the Swedish Easter Witch from Western Finland and the Orthodox Christian Palm Sunday tradition from Eastern Finland. The Finnish church substituted a willow branch, considered to have healing properties in Finno-Ugric folklore, for the palm (which does not grow in Finland). Branches would traditionally be dipped in holy water at the church and given to friends and family a week before Easter as a blessing for the coming year. The combined tradition spread through Finnish schools during the post-war era of the 20th century. Children dress in "witch" costumes similar to the Swedish ones and give decorated willow branches to neighbors, chanting a poetic blessing in exchange for treats.

Iceland: Icelandic adults and children alike celebrate the three consecutive days leading to the start of Lent, although dressing up and asking for treats remains only for children. The Monday after Danish Fastelavn is Bolludagur (Bun Day), where Icelanders eat cream buns much like the Danish pastries. Tuesday is Sprengidagur (Explosion Day), where Icelanders are encouraged to eat so much salted meat and pea soup that they explode (an alternative etymology for the name of the day is that the word sprengi is a cognate with "sprinkle" as in sprinkling holy water). Wednesday is Öskudagur (Ash Day), but the connection to the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday has been lost in the modern day. Instead, children get a day off school and dress up in costumes, singing and asking for treats from neighbors and local businesses. Historically, children getting a day off and dressing up took place on Bun Day, but this was moved to Ash Day for unconfirmed reasons. A children's prank unique to Iceland was to make öskupokar (ash bags) and hang as many of them as possible on a person's back without the person noticing, but it has died out in the 21st century as the toughness of modern metal makes it too difficult to make bent hooks for the bags out of scrap metal without specialized tools.

The traditions in Sweden, Finland and Norway are declining rapidly as of 2025 because of the lack of commercial interest in them.

[floralcrematorium]

A couple months ago I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Always With You Nordics Zine hosted by @spicyicecube33!

Go check out the other artists and writers! Everyone did such fantastic work!!!

[nsfhetalia]

could you create a playlist based on your favourite character/ ship?

at least 5 songs

[jamtland]

Always had one.

(They're all pop songs, but you'll get it if you understand Danish)

[jamtland]

Finland is not Nordic 🥲 It's a Finno-Ugric nation related to Estonia, Hungary as well as Finno-Ugric minority nations in the European Northeast.

Anon, I think you got Nordic and Scandinavian mixed up. You're right that Finland isn't Scandinavian, as that refers to the native cultures and languages of continental Northern Europe that originate from Norse and belong to the Germanic family. Nordic on the other hand refers to the cultural sphere of Northern Europe with significant Scandinavian (as opposed to Slavic) influence, which Finland is a part of, thanks to being a Swedish territory for most of its modern history. If there's any doubt, you can refer to the list of nations that make up the Nordic Council.

Finland also has no connection with Hungary outside of the fact that both of their languages belong to the Uralic language family. Finns may disagree if they're culturally more Nordic or Baltic, but there's no common cultural identity that contains all Uralic language speakers.

[jamtland]

English accents of the Nordics

Denmark: Mathias speaks English with a newscaster British accent. He puts in the effort to practice his English accent to scrub out any traces of Danglish, which he thinks reflects poorly on himself. Sometimes, Danglish sounds slip out anyway, and he gets very embarrassed about it, hoping that his listeners didn't notice.

Sweden: Björn's English is Swenglish 💯. Speech that sounds like "Aj dånt tink så". He doesn't find it grating or embarrassing that he speaks this way and can actually get very talkative in English when he's giving a lecture about a topic of his interest that he mostly encounters in English, such as technology. His listeners just have to get used to the intense Swenglish.

Norway: Sigurd speaks English with a generally Midwestern American accent, but he doesn't consciously train his accent and pronounces words with a Norwegian sound and flow rather often. He's comfortable with it and thinks it makes his speech sound more unique. He's proud to announce that he's from Norway when people point out the quirks in his speech.

Finland: Timo's English has a noticeably strong Finnglish accent, like a slightly milder version of the "In Finland we homo in marriage for free" guy. He dislikes how he speaks, but finds it awkward to practice correcting his speech, so he avoids speaking English and can seem like a quiet person.

Iceland: Eiríkur speaks with a perfect East Coast American accent, because of his frequent interactions with American tourists and exposure to English media in the recent decades. People are always surprised to find out that he's from Iceland from the way he speaks.