Finland: Is it really Nordic?

By Eli Mrozek

Today we think of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland as Nordic Europe, the northernmost regions of Europe. Out of these nations one stands apart as a completely unique and separate culture with a completely different heritage, being influenced by their own unique folk culture and their Russian neighbors who have ruled Finland in the past and wield considerable influence over the Finnish people and state. These differences lead us to the questions, is Finland a Nordic nation, and what does it mean to be a Nordic nation?

To the first question I would say the answer lies in Finnish culture and history. In its earliest days, Finland has been constantly fought over by Sweden and Russia, both greatly influencing the native Finnish culture. At first it was conquered by the Swedes, who brought Catholicism to the country, with Russian cultures also spreading orthodoxy farther West towards Finland, which eventually clashed. As Sweden incorporated Finland into its empire, Swedes began to move to Finland, who is now Finland’s largest minority. The Finnish people resented them as they saw the Swedes as aristocratic oppressors. This Swedish rule however brought Lutheranism to Finland and brought about the translation of the bible in Finnish, spreading literacy. This rule also made Finland a very poor country. Later in after the Great Northern War, Russia conquered Finland and made it an autonomous duchy, this being the first form of an independent Finland. This rule brought Russification, in other words the spread of Russian culture, ordered by the Grand Duke, Tsar Alexander I of Russia. This brought the Russian language to Finland, becoming the official language of the country. The orthodoxy grew and became official, and continues to receive special treatment and preference from the Finnish government along with Lutheranism. This Russian dominance further solidified Finnish identity and helped define what the Finnish nation was, gaining independence in 1917 as a result.

Flashing forward to today, we still see this Finnish separation from the rest of Nordic Europe in politics and in the populous culture. Finland is separated from the rest of Nordic Europe largely by language, whereas all other Nordic languages are Germanic and closely related. The Finnish language is part of the Finno-Ugric language family, originating in the Ural Mountains of Russia. To further show its distance linguistically from Nordic Europe, I’d like to note that the closest related languages to Finnish are Estonian and Hungarian. They all share similar sentence structure and all lack gender in speech. For example:

Finnish:            Elävä kala ui veden alla.

Estonian:         Elav kala ujub vee all.

Hungarian:      Eleven hal úszkál a víz alatt.

All of these sentences mean “the living fish swims underwater”

We can also see the separation of Finland in politics and society. Finland tends to be more socially conservative than the rest of Nordic Europe, with baby boxes (an alternative option to abortion in which a baby is left anonymously in a safe place to be cared for, with the mother being able to take it back in an 8 week period before adoption) being the norm instead of abortion, which is difficult to receive, and much more conservative in terms of sexuality as well. Finland has also recently become very Eurosceptic (distrust in the Eurozone and the European Union), with the True Finns party, a socially conservative party, making huge gains in recent months. Finland’s prime minister has also stated that Finland is prepared to leave the Eurozone due to damage upon the Finnish economy. Finland now mainly trades with Russia and in recent years has built stronger economic ties in business with Russians, this larger exchange being successful due also to the large number of Finns who speak Russian, on par with Eastern bloc countries.

Finland overall looks ready to take its own path, sharing links with both Nordic Europe and Russia, while being completely its own in culture and language. With many influences creating the modern Finnish state, I would not call Finland a Nordic nation, rather one in close association, like Estonia or Northern Germany. I find that Finland is impossible to group, like Romania of Hungary, because of its distance from its lingual relatives and its isolated culture that is highly individual. Due to these discrepancies between Finland and the rest of Nordic Europe, I see Nordic Europe as a natural region with cultures that affected each other greatly, not being a cultural link between all these nations, and following this rule, the region of Karelia in Russia is also Nordic, and many others for that matter. Due to this I would say a true definition of Nordic Europe is a loose one and I would generally say it always involves Scandinavia and occasionally the nations it has influenced greatly. So to all who read this, I want you to decide for yourselves, what does it mean to be Nordic?

What is Nordic Anyway?

Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland are all labeled as "Nordic" and are seen as one cultural unit. But why? Each nation, though similar, are as diverse as any neighboring countries. One way to point out the differences between these nations would be to simply take a look at the physical terrain of each country: Iceland is an island that mostly contains plateaus with a volcanic mountain range; Norway has high tundra and rugged mountains, the coast line cut by thousands of fjords; Denmark contains low rolling planes and endless swamps; Sweden is a heavily forested country that contains almost 100,000 lakes; and Finland is mostly made of plains with forests and massive tundra in the north. The area that I associate myself with most is the thistle fields and birch forests of southern Sweden. During the summer these fields and forests burst with color that is truly indescribable. I also have a special connection to this land (Skåne) because this is where my family originates from. Before a few generations back, this land has been home to my ancestors for as long as we have had our family name. My family has always been a part of the Geat tradition and location in the world. Just through the typography of each nation we can see that each nation is truly its own.

Lake in Borgsjö Ånge, Sweden
by Ola Berglund
http://www.fotopedia.com/ 

But what really divides the nations are the people that live in them and the languages that they speak. The dialects of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden are quite similar, though Finnish and Sami are more related to those spoken in western Russia (and let me tell you, that I have great difficulty speaking Icelandic most of the time). Along with language the people living in each nation are quite similar, but at the same time the diversity in culture, tradition, and customs is truly amazing. Each nation over time has also acquired a very diverse set of ethnicities that have become part of the population. Many of the same stories and customs cross the borders, but each region has altered these traditions to incorporate them into their own, creating a diverse similarity. An easy way to see this would be to look at the sagas of Iceland and other epics from around Scandinavia, because the similar religion that is shared amongst the people has been given different stories by the people living in their respected areas. Along with this, what has also changed the stories and views of people is what they have done within history: an example would be that the Vikings from the area of Sweden raided deep into Russia and even into the area around modern day Istanbul, which gave them the sights of such things as Islam and other aspects of the middle east. So even though each nation shares similar aspects and cultural backgrounds, each one has its own story to tell and in its own, unique way.

-Karl