Mark Pentleton

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Today is St Lucia’s day and is a special day in Sweden, and indeed in other parts of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. St Lucia or St Lucy was sentenced to be burned, but the flames did not consume her. In Sweden a girl in each town is chosen to be Lucia and leads a procession. wearing candles in her hair which symbolise the fire that refused to burn her. The traditional Neapolitan song Santa Lucia is sung in Swedish, and the Swedish lyrics talk of the light which Lucia overcomes in the darkness. After this other Christmas carols are sung, so I’ve chosen to combine one of the most traditional Swedish carols, Nu tändas tusen juleljus (”Now let a thousand lights be lit”) with Natten går tunga fjät, or Santa Lucia.

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