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Joiks

July 1, 2017 by Israel Nebeker Leave a Comment

There are quite a few distinctions between a joik and a song, but my professor focused on one difference: a song, in our culture, is meant to be representative and evocative of its subject. Joiking, to the Sami, is meant to embody the very nature and spirit of who or what it is singing.
[Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Song and Dance, Spirit Tagged With: Blind Pilot, Israel Nebeker, Joik, Sami

Legacy

June 21, 2017 by Katja Biesanz Leave a Comment

In 1914, they built the sauna first
It sheltered the families
of the immigrants
as they proved their claim.
[Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Poetry Tagged With: Finland, Finnish-America, Sauna

In Defense of Hygge

June 18, 2017 by Lotte Greaver Leave a Comment

This Danish notion of coziness or comfort comes from long evolved experience in how to live in and truly care for your surroundings, be that your living room or your country. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Food

Icelandic Sojourn

June 18, 2017 by Judson Moore Leave a Comment

As my wife Suzy and I make our way across the brightly polished wood floors past towering glass windows it feels more like we are visiting a modern art gallery or an Ikea store than arriving at an airport on a remote Nordic island in the middle of winter. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Politics

Saft

June 18, 2017 by Nicole Poole Leave a Comment

Saft is a delicious berry concentrate that is enjoyed throughout Scandinavia. It is generally non-alcoholic but is enjoyed mixed with spirits or in the bottom of a glass of champagne as much as it is enjoyed as a refreshment served simply with sparkling water. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Food

Not Angels But Angles: Anglo-Saxon Studies and the Specter of White Supremacy

June 18, 2017 by Margaret Hammitt-McDonald Leave a Comment

Anglo-Saxon “angels” became ideals of Germanic warrior manhood: loyal to their brotherly bands, stoic in fighting and loving, and noble in death. They were recruited posthumously into the army of white supremacy, incorporated into a mythology that canonized “Nordic” peoples as the angels and supermen ordained to dominate the earth. [Read More]

Filed Under: Books, Culture, Featured Writing, Politics

Democracy in Concert: the northern tour

June 17, 2017 by Watt Childress Leave a Comment

A deep human drive for freedom will always resist rule by the few — whether those few are feudal monarchs, communist dictators, fascist oligarchs, or mob capitalists who rise through the ranks of business as usual. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Politics Tagged With: Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, Nordic social democracy, Singing Revolution

Swedish Spirit

June 16, 2017 by Deborah Boone Leave a Comment

House Tomtes are in every house in Sweden. These little spirits can be good or bad and can cause a great deal of grief for the home’s people when they want to be naughty. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing

Drinking From the Stream of Time

June 16, 2017 by Gwendolyn Endicott Leave a Comment

Whereas the Viking ships sought adventure in conquest of outer seas, Odin leads us on an inner adventure in the deep Sea of Self. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Spirit

Warm Norwegian Wood

June 15, 2017 by T H Savaht Leave a Comment

Winter used to begin in October and end very late in March … maybe. This year Christmas was without any snow, and no snow appeared remotely in the forecast. [Read More]

Filed Under: Culture, Featured Writing, Nature

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Additional Wisdom...

Readers’ Comments

  • R²
    January 7, 2026 at 7:19 am
    on Smart travel money helps care for places we love
    Couldn't agree with you more. We're dealing with that all right now trying to get the air museum in tillamook
  • Pam Wade
    December 6, 2025 at 8:29 am
    on Adventures with author Charles de Lint
    The first work I read by Charles de Lint was Greenmantle followed by Moonheart. Since then there has not been
  • Trudy
    October 8, 2025 at 2:42 pm
    on Hankering for Paradise: My Discovery of The Wave Crest Inn
    I stayed at the Wave Crest for a night in the late 70s. If I remember right, the cost was
  • K H
    September 24, 2025 at 8:09 am
    on The Genocide of the American Indian, and Their Refusal to Die
    This response is far from timely, I know. But in honor of the ancestors I thank you for helping us
  • Ronald Logan Buchansn
    September 22, 2025 at 12:35 am
    on Three Poems and a Mountain
    Logan, on my annual summer browsing at Jupitor's I read "Freewriting In A Parked Car" and instantly purchased your book.
More Comments...

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