The drink of pale death

Ben Hammersley–whose blog in general is excellent–is apparently married to a Swedish woman, and has written up a great explanation of the ritualized form of drinking that takes place during a Swedish midsummer.

I’d never heard of the last drink of the evening being called Den Bleka Dödens Dryck (The Drink of Pale Death), but it does fit in with the general happy-go-lucky attitude of Swedes.

Still, who even remembers the last drink of Midsummer’s Eve, much less gives it a name? Most late-evening Midsummer’s Eve conversations this particular Swede can hazily recall go something like this:

“Uhhh.”“Mumble.”“Mumble. Burp.”“Uhhh.”(Stares at empty bottle with great consternation.) “Uhhh.”

Nevertheless, it looks like Midsummer’s Eve is going to be fairly low-key this year, what with the weather gods failing to cooperate: Chilly, overcast and rainy. Brrr.

[Image source: Weather.yahoo.com]