The Origin of Danish

Danish is a language of the Indo-European family, and it belongs to the North Germanic Group together with Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian and Swedish. Historically speaking, Danish is a dialect of a common Scandinavian language which is known from AD 200. Only towards AD 1200 did a split become obvious, and many Viking Age loan words in English, law, window, ill, loose, die, etc. are Scandinavian rather than Danish.

Over the centuries Danish has adopted thousands of words from foreign languages, especially from Lower German in the Middle Ages. Since the 17th century a considerable number of loan words have been taken from French, and especially in the 20th century many English words have found their way into the Danish language.

The historical changes in vocabulary were to a large extent factors such as Christian missionaries in the Viking Age, trade links with Hanseatic merchants, immigration by north German artisans and noble families in the Middle Ages, the Lutheran Reformation in the 16th century, and since then a broad cultural contact with mainly English. The whole of this western European cultural milieu has constantly adopted words from the “dead “ languages, Latin and Greek. Under the same external influences, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish have in all essential aspects undergone a parallel development.

The History of “Fastelaven”

Fastelavn is the name for carnival in Denmark. Fastelavn evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but after Denmark became a Protestant nation, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday and is sometimes described as a Nordic Halloween with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time for children’s fun and family games.

Etymology

The term “Fastelavn” is a Low Saxon loanword imported from Northern Germany: Fastelavend, Fastelabend and Fastlaam (also spelled Fastlom), related to Low Saxon Vastelaovend in the eastern parts of the Netherlands and to Dutch Vastenavond.

Festivities

Some towns in Denmark are renowned for their large Fastelavn festivities and parades. Traditional events include slå katten af tønden (“hit the cat out of the barrel”), which is somewhat similar to a piñata, except that there is a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and has the image of a cat on it. Historically there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating it was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning (“queen of cats”), the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge (“king of cats”).