Oh, to live in Jönköping, Eva! I would miss the ocean, but have snowy winters instead. And the best thing about living this far north is not the fact that it is only dark for a few hours even in the south of Sweden in the summer, but the SLOW progression of dusk and dawn. Beautiful!
The original heathen main yule dish in Scandinavia (according to Snorri Sturlason's stories of the Norwegian kings) was simmered horse liver. Yule probably comes from jór-öl, meaning horse-feast. Pickled herring, lye-fish/lutfisk and rice porridge are remnants of the meieval advent-fast (= no meat for 4-6 weeks).
Personally, Eva, I don't think we have managed to keep anything but the names in an original state. Heathens were naturally religious, and I don't see that in our fellow countrymen, inspite of what is being said by some. Besides, the Christians never invaded Scandinavia. If you don't like the Faith, blame the political leaders of the day!
Again: "God jul och gott nytt år", everyone!
EF

Höstrusk och grå moln - köp en resa till solen på Yahoo! Resor