Mårtensgås
When and how is Mårtengås or St Martin’s Day celebrated? When is the goose dinner with black soup? And who is Mårten? The celebration of festivals and folk traditions among the people of the Nordic societies is one of Nordiska museet’s areas of expertise. Here you can find out more about St Martin’s Day celebrations based on the museum’s collections and expertise.
The origins of St Martin’s Day
St Martin’s Day, Mårtensafton, is celebrated in Sweden on 10 November, the evening before St Martin’s Day on 11 November. The tradition is named after Saint Martin of Tours, a bishop from France who was canonised in the Middle Ages. His symbol was a goose.
According to legend, Martin tried to avoid being appointed bishop of Tours by hiding in a goose shed, but the geese revealed him with their honking. Since geese are at their fattest in late autumn, this may also have contributed to their connection with the celebration.
St Martin’s Day has been celebrated in large parts of Europe since at least the Middle Ages and was one of the most important autumn festivals. In Sweden, the day was marked with a goose on runstavar, wooden perpetual calendars with carved runes and symbols used in the farming society.
From elite feast to Swedish tradition
The tradition of eating goose on 10 November is known in Sweden since the 16th century, mainly among the upper classes and wealthy urban families. The earliest written record of a St Martin’s goose meal in Sweden comes from the Stockholm area. In 1557, councillor Björn Persson Bååt from Fållnäs estate in Södermanland thanked his brother for the “sancte morthens gåsz” he had received.
During the 19th century, roast goose became more widespread socially, but it was not until the 20th-century welfare era that St Martin’s celebrations and goose as festive food became more common. In present-day Sweden, the tradition of eating roast goose and svartsoppa (black soup) is especially associated with Skåne, most southern region of Sweden.
The tradition of eating goose, like many other customs and celebrations, probably came to Sweden through Germany. Older evidence of goose as festive food exists in countries such as Germany, France and Denmark.
Mårtengås feast today
The St Martin’s goose feast is now strongly connected to Skåne. Goose arrived on the tables of Skåne farmers in the mid-19th century, mainly in the southwestern parts of the region. Around the same time, restaurants began serving roast goose on St Martin’s Day.
Goose farming declined in other parts of Sweden due to agricultural reforms, including the enclosure movement, which meant that geese could no longer graze on common village land. In southern Sweden, however, geese could still feed on stubble fields and wet meadows.
A traditional St Martin’s dinner includes roast goose and svartsoppa, a rich soup made from goose blood and today flavoured with spices such as cloves, cognac and fortified wine. The flavour resembles gingerbread. Apple slices with the roast goose or apple pie for dessert are also common. The modern version of svartsoppa is, however, very different from the soup eaten on farms in the past, as ingredients such as cognac, fortified wine and many spices were not available then.
Weather sayings are also connected to the celebration. One saying goes: “If Martin travels by sleigh, Anders rides.” This means that if there is snow on St Martin’s Day on 11 November, there will be bare ground on 30 November – or the opposite.
What do people in Nordics celebrate, and how?
As a museum of cultural history, Nordiska museet documents everyday life and festive occasions in the Nordic region. For example, we research: What do people celebrate, and how? What do the traditions and rituals of yesterday and today look like? And what role do they play in our social life?
We have been gathering knowledge about traditions since the late 19th century
Since the late 19th century, we have been documenting and gathering knowledge about traditions and rituals in people’s everyday lives and celebrations, which represent festivals and traditions. This knowledge takes the form of artefacts, photographs, folk memories and transcribed interviews featuring examples of rituals and traditions.
We have also collected and documented this material through fieldwork (that is, documenting celebrations on site), sending out questionnaires, interviewing people and, more recently, through digital collections.
Traditions change and are dynamic
Over the 150 years that the collections have been in existence, there have been enormous social changes in Sweden and the Nordic region. Traditions and social patterns are also dynamic and change: traditions are born, transformed and evolve in line with people, the times and the media. We continuously analyse the material in the light of both contemporary processes and historical circumstances.
Many factors shape and change celebrations
In short, it can be said that celebrations today reflect a multitude of influences from past social structures, from our own time, from migration, as well as social, economic and technological change.
Festivals and festive celebrations in the Nordic region are strongly influenced by the Christian faith, changes in society and values. Further factors include folk and supernatural- beliefs, folk religion and folk values that can be traced back to Nordic peasant society.
Over the 150 years that Nordiska museet has been gathering knowledge about traditions and rituals linked to festivals and special days of the year, there have been enormous social changes in Sweden and the Nordic region. Traditions are born, transformed and evolved in tandem with time and it’s people.
Ritual?
Over the past 150 years, research perspectives and concepts have also changed. A key fundamental concept is that of ritual. This refers to the practical observance – what people do in connection with a festival, tradition, specific day, time of year or event. Such as eating semlor, hiding Easter eggs, lighting candles in cemeteries or going ‘trick-or-treating’.
Rituals often involve symbols, such as the Christmas tree, the Midsummer maypole, waffles and semlor, or, for that matter, the crisps and dip enjoyed during Friday nights for the ultimate “fredagsmys”.
Tradition?
You could say that a ritual becomes a tradition when people attach particular value to the ritual and the celebration, without these necessarily having to be particularly old or widespread.
This definition, too, reflects the perspective of academic research. However, in everyday speech, the terms ‘ritual’, ‘tradition’, ‘festival’ and ‘custom’ are often used interchangeably. When we talk about traditions here, we are generally referring to rituals that are particularly valued; Christmas celebrations are one example.
Religious festivals
Another important term is ‘festival’ (högtid), which refers to rituals that are more closely linked to religious calendars. In the Nordic countries, the Christian calendar has dominated, but other religious calendars play an important role as well.
The boundary between religious calendar rituals and secular rituals appears to be becoming increasingly blurred, reflecting the secularisation of society. Most people in Sweden celebrate religious festivals without paying attention to their religious connection.
Annual festivals and life-cycle celebrations
In addition to the church calendar, festivals have historically been shaped by the rhythm of the farming year and agriculture. These are known as annual festivals or calendar rites.
Many festivals are linked to the human life cycle, where church rites have been, and remain, of great significance.
However, as society changes, so does the significance of these rituals. Although many people are still baptised today, it is not uncommon for this to take place through non-church naming ceremonies.
Ever-changing and dynamic
One of the most important insights into rituals and traditions to emerge from research is that they change. Certain particularly transformative social changes have left a clear mark on both everyday life and on rituals and festivals.
Perhaps the most significant from a cultural-historical perspective are the role of the church, as well as urbanisation, democratisation, the welfare state and the pursuit of social justice.
Contemporary life and tradition
As the Nordic countries became increasingly urbanised, economic conditions changed. People were no longer producing goods simply to provide for themselves. The family was transformed into a unit of consumption, able to purchase all the goods marketed in connection with festive occasions.
Traditions and festivals follow people’s movements between communities. Some are upheld, others fade away, and some take on a different meaning.
