Step 1 on the road to Swedishness: Astrid Lindgren

[kattahj]

It's really a weird feeling to have half my friends list mourning and knowing I can't even remotely share that feeling. And I'll stop talking about that right now, because otherwise I'll end up saying something incredibly offensive

Comments

[vierran45]

Well, we are close neighbours, and Astrid Lindgren is also wildly popular in Finland. The nearest example of this is that the two children of my sister are named Ronja (after Ronja Rövarsdotter) and Eemeli (after Emil i Lönneberga)... We just had the christening ceremony for Eemeli last weekend. I just hope he'll not grow up to be like his namesake ;-).

[kattahj]

Well, Emil always *meant* to be good. He just never quite managed.

I know a woman who has a son called Emil, and when she became pregnant again, people kept telling her, "So, time for a little Ida, then?" (Emil's sister - I don't know if she's called the same thing in Finland.) She was very much against the idea. As she told me, "Ida is a sweet name, but not when you already have an Emil!"

I wholeheartedly agreed with her - it's just a bit *too* matching. Emil and Ronja, on the other hand, still gives the impression that the youngest kid would have been called that regardless of the oldest kid's name. If that makes any sense.

[isagel]

This is so true. It's frightening how true it is. I'll go contemplate our nations level of sanity now.

[kattahj]

Oh, all countries are insane. Personally, I think we're lucky to be cultish over someone so harmless as a children's book writer.