Fukta din aska

I'm starting to read a historical novel that takes place in 17th-century Stockholm: Fukta din aska by Ernst Brunner. Written in the first-person, it's a hypothesized autobiography of Carl Michael Bellman, Sweden's national poet and skald. The title, taken from one of Bellman's many drinking songs, translates roughly as "Wet Your Whistle," but with the added connoctation of ash (aska) and cinder. Bellman's work centered on drinking and revelry in the face of death; the drunkards and prostitutes in his songs, taken directly from people he knew in Stockholm, lived out a kind of Nordic bacchanalia from dusk 'till dawn.

Despite this, his songs are sung by young and old alike: I myself once performed Bellman songs in a choir that sang in a Lutheran Church. The patina of time and cultural importance has dulled the shock of his songs' message, which during his lifetime nearly led to his arrest for blasphemy. He did not take very many pains to avoid such charges; one of his more famous pieces focuses on the Biblical Noah:

Gubben Noach, Gubben Noach
Var en hedersman,
När han gick ur arken
Plantera han på marken
Mycket vin, ja mycket vin, ja
Detta gjorde han.

Old Man Noah, Old Man Noah
Was an honorable man,
When he got off the ark
He planted at that mark
Many grapevines, many grapevines
Yes, that he surely did.

Fukta din aska is being translated into English by Paul Norlén, an affiliate adjunct professor of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington.