Systerpolskan – “Älvdalens Brudmarsch” (Bridal March From Älvdalen).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I have an interesting tune from Sweden for you all. As its title says, it’s a  bridal march from Älvdalen – a locality in Dalarna in central Sweden. – What’s so interesting about this song is the language that it’s sung in, because no, it’s not Swedish. This song is written in Elvdalian, a little language spoken in the area of Älvdalen, which from what I’ve heard is recognised as a dialect of Swedish, yet I, as a Swedish learner, can barely understand a word of this song, and the little bits I think I do understand I’m not even sure if they mean what I think they do, and I’ve heard Swedes say that they can understand Norwegian better than Elvdalian. Sadly it is not recognised officially as a minority language of Sweden, so it’s not protected as well as it could be, and so it’s in danger of death. It’s a peculiar little language ‘cause to me it doesn’t really sound much like Swedish. Some of the sounds remind me a lot more of Icelandic, and it’s kind of odd that it uses w where Swedish uses v, so it also sounds a little like English. Plus it’s curiously nasal and even has the letter ą in its alphabet like Polish. 

   Systerpolskan is a folk female group, consisting of folk artists from Uppland and Dalarna. It was established by Benny Andersson together with some group members, including Lena Willemark who I think is the most well-known out of these ladies. Benny Andersson is also their producer. Their name literally means the sister polska, but, unlike what Polish people are often inclined to think when they see the word polska in relation to Swedish folk, it has nothing to do with Poland. 😀 Polska is just a type of Swedish dance, which could have possibly been brought there from Poland. 

   The tune to this song is traditional, and the lyrics are written by Severin Solders. 

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