Nordic Brothers

Sweden and Denmark have fought each other for as long as anyone can remember and holds the record for most wars fought between them. Yes, we even beat the two big enemies of Europe, England and France.
So is it any wonder we make fun of each other today? Heck, it’s a miracle we even refer to each other as “Nordic brothers”.

And what did we fight over? Well, mainly Norway, occasionally Scania, and every now an then Denmark tried to take over Sweden. Fun times, fun times.

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Good Service

This may seem rather random, but it’s actually a commentary on how differently Norwegians and Swedes are treated in Denmark.

I was told a story by a Finn who had heard that Danish and Swedish sounded alike, so he spoke Swedish at a bar when trying to order something to drink. But the bartender just kept ignoring him, and it was only when the Finn said he wasn’t Swedish that he got a beer.

Another story I was told was from a Norwegian. He too was mistaken for a Swede and nobody wanted to give him a beer. When he then explained that he was from Norway he got a beer for free.

Even some Norwegian tourist guides to Denmark says, “A lot of Danes can’t hear the difference between Swedish and Norwegian, so remember to tell people that you’re from Norway. You will get a lot better service”

Behaviour like that is luckily far from the norm, and rather embarrassing when it happens, but it illustrates how Denmark feels about it’s neighbours quite well.

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Christmas Traditions

The boys are here dressed as a horrifying mix of various Scandinavian Christmas traditions.

The goat costumes are from the Christmas billy-goat. It’s the oldest Christmas tradition in Scandinavia, and most likely predates Christianity, and is therefore a heathen tradition that was simply absorbed by the new religion in these parts of the world. Usually it’s made of straw http://baeklund-design.dk/julebukke-i-straa but in some families people even dress up as it.

The candles are from Santa Lucia procession http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2-Q_ObdE-4&feature A Swedish tradition that has spread to the rest of Scandinavia, though it remains most popular in Sweden where girls from all over the country compete to become the Lucia of the year.

And finally the flags as decoration on the tree is a Danish tradition that started during the Nazi’s time in Denmark where the Danes weren’t allowed to use their flag, and therefore used it as a Christmas decoration. This later spread to the rest of Scandinavia.

In the December calendar picture on http://humoncomics.com/shop/supporter the traditions are separated, with Denmark showing of his beloved Christmas beer, and added Finland as Santa because in Finland they take Santa very seriously, and Iceland with a baby doll in his mouth because in Iceland they have 13 Santas and they don’t just give naughty kids coal, their mother eats them! (The picture isn’t up yet, but will be tomorrow).

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World in Trouble

Things are tensing up between North and South Korea. USA have joined in. Nukes are involved.

...And in Denmark the news are mostly about the snow. Because you know, it’s weird when it snows in a Nordic country.

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Ungodly Surprise

You can all blame the Faroe Islander Boyishy for this one. All I can say is, you have to watch your mouth when you talk with me.

Originally Sweden and Åland were involved too, but I decided to break the idea into two comics.

Anyway, the Faroe Islands is the most religious part of the Nordics and the one with fewest gay rights (Gay sex is allowed, but not gay marriages and adoptions, and registered partnerships are not recognized)

Not all straight Faroe Islanders are of course religious and/or against homosexuality, and it’s nowhere near as bad as some of the middle eastern countries, so don’t get the wrong picture. Unfortunately some politicians with very religious views are in charge (One wouldn’t go to a dinner with Iceland’s lesbian prime minister who had brought her wife with her).

But no one is that homophobic without being in the closet... ;)

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METAL

Originally it was just about music and Sweden was dressed up for pop, but it then turned into a comic about the famous Scandinavian metal scene.

Norway, Sweden and Finland are known for metal, while Denmark is better known for rock.

Iceland is of course dressed up as Björk.

Oh, and Finland has that weird reddish skin-colour because a lot of the Finnish metal and rock bands I’ve seen are painted in some way.

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Exotic Food

A little joke on what the food in the different Nordic countries is like.

The Swedes are said to mix weird things. I once tasted smörgåstårta and it isn’t half bad. It just looks and sounds disgusting when it’s put in front of you. It’s not a real cake, but more like a sandwich that have been turned inside out and dolled up to look like a cake.

The Norwegians are said to make really boring and plain food, without many spices or accompaniments. That have of course changed now, but most of the old traditional food is still rather plain.

Danish food is said to be well tasting but extremely fattening, or sweet. Sometimes both. However, unlike fast food it will satisfy your hunger.

Icelandic traditional food is just plain weird.

Finland is mainly known for their many different kinds of bread. I just thought it would be fun to have King Europe still refusing to taste mämmi.

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I spy with my little eye

The big story around here these days is that America have been spying on civilians in European countries without informing the government. It all started when Norway found out about it, and then other countries started looking into it and found that Americans had indeed been spying on civilians in their country.

But there was one thing America didn’t count on: A nation just as terror-paranoid as them. Denmark to be exact. There the government found out about the spying and sent out Danish agents to spy on the American agents.

For those who forgot, the woman with the hat is Estonia. And it is of course Sister Denmark spying on America.

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Mixed Feelings

Some different relationships between the Scandinavian countries. I tried to pick three that each would have a different country in centrum.

The first is how things goes whenever talks of a united Scandinavia comes up. Sweden and Norway starts fighting, while Denmark cries in the middle.

The second is about how Swedes and Danes seem to be fighting over who the Norwegians like best.

And the last is the result of history because the last wars to be fought within Scandinavia was Denmark vs. Sweden and Norway vs. Sweden. Sweden won both and thus became very unpopular, which can still be felt.

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Child's Play

I’m always surprised by how young the main characters are supposed to be in animes and managas. Naruto is 13? Ash (from Pokemon) is 10? What?

It leads to some funny discussions on the internet when people who are usually into anime tries to figure out how old characters from western animations/games/whatever are. Too many seem to think that Sniper from TF2 http://www.teamfortress.com/sniper.htm is in his 20’s.

As a wise Japanese man once said, “If you haven’t saved the world at the age of 14, you’re just not trying”

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