Interesting Scandinavian Proverbs

A proverb is saying, based upon common sense or practical experience, which is passed down brutally from generation to generation throughout a society. You may be familiar with some of the old proper that were taught to you as a child. These proverbs come from an area in Europe, known as Scandinavia, which includes the countries of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

• The headless army can be in for a hard time.
• It is no shame to look into the warm spring sun and regretting lost limb.
• The lame man runs if he has to.
• On the gallows, the first night is the worst.
• War does not determine who is right, only who is remaining.
• Don't mistake the bone for meat, nor a sheep’s head for a roasted turnip.
• Don't go to the sauna if you're not itching.
• The frost drives the pig home.
• Poverty is no joy, although sometimes it makes you laugh.
• If tar, hard liquor, and the sauna do not cure, the disease is fatal.
• Don't let your sorrow come higher than your knees.
• Advice should be viewed from behind.
• A head is not to be cut off because it is scabby.
• What you cannot briefly you do not know.
• A little dog, a cow without horns, and a short man, are generally proud.
• A woman may be ever so old, but if you set her on fire, she will jump.
• Children and drunken men speak the truth.
• Every little fish expects to become a whale.
• Everything has an end, except a sausage, which has two.
• It is a bold mouse that makes her nest in a cat’s ear.
• The best manure is under the farmers shoe.
• The dog kennel is not likely to keep sausage.
• You must walk a long while behind a wild goose before you find an ostrich feather.
• You cannot drink and whistle at the same time.
• It’s bad to get ashamed over a thing well grasped.
• Heroism consists of hanging on one minute longer.
• It is better to feed one cat than many mice.
• Life is uncertain so eat your dessert first.
• Love came in a paper bag, said the maiden when she got a letter from her sweetheart.
• Time for the mouse to yawn when it’s half inside the cat.
• The box chooses its lid.
• Laughter from long joy, a fart from laughing long.
• If a blind man leads another, they both fall down together.
• After three days, both fish and guests begin to smell.

It is interesting to think about these little snippets of knowledge that come from other areas of the world, and think about where this knowledge came from. What experiences led them to develop these sayings? And furthermore, how they have been passed down long enough to still be recorded today?