"Räven raskar över isen" ("The Fox Hurries Across the Ice") is an old

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

folksong performed as a

singing game A singing game is an activity based on a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. As a collection, they have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists, and psychologists and are seen as important part of ...

when dancing around the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

and the

midsummer pole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at ...

. The opening verses are often "flickornas visa" (the "girls' song", where the participants

curtsey A curtsy (also spelled curtsey or incorrectly as courtsey) is a traditional gendered gesture of greeting, in which a girl or woman bends her knees while bowing her head. In Western culture it is the feminine equivalent of bowing by males. Miss Ma ...

) or "pojkarnas visa" (the "boys' song", where the participants bow). After that, the verses may vary. However, the "songs" of ''Grin-Olle'' and ''Skratt-Olle'' ("crybaby Olle" and "laughing Olle") are common. According to the Olaus Rudbeck's historical compilation '' Atlantica'' the song opens: "Hå, hå, Räfwen han låckar på isen". In the 1950

Carl-Herman Tillhagen Carl-Herman Tillhagen (17 December 1906 - 28 May 2002) was a Swedish folkloristhttp://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5422561/Spatial-representation-in-European-popular.html and ethnologist who did extensive research on Scandinavian folklore. ...

and Nils Deckers compilation '' Svenska folkvisor och danser'' is a version opening with the line "Räven raskar över riset".

Publication

*'' Lek med toner'', 1971 (as "Sånglek") *'' Julens önskesångbok'', 1997, under the heading "Nyare julsånger", also under "Tjugondag Knut dansas julen ut" *'' Barnens svenska sångbok'', 1999, under the heading "Sång med lek och dans"

Recordings

An early recording was made by Margareta Schömström in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in May 1925; the record was released in January 1926. The song has also been recorded by Anita Lindblom on the 1975 Christmas album '' Jul med tradition''.

Film music

The song was also used as film music for the 1987 film '' Mer om oss barn i Bullerbyn''.

Other versions

During the early 1970's,

Gullan Bornemark Elin Gunhild "Gullan" Bornemark, born ''Bohlin'' 28 November 1927 in Härnösand, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdo ...

wrote two new lyrics versions of the same versions. Both of them were traffic-related, and appeared in her ''

Anita och Televinken ''Anita och Televinken'' was a Swedish children's programme starting at Sveriges Radio-TV 1964. Televinken was a marionette operated by Ola Lundberg, also voicing the doll. Anita Lindman Lamm played Anita. In 1969, cooperation with Barnens tr ...

'' show. "Strunta i att gå i vägen" ("Ignore going in the way") deals with, for example, not following after

emergency vehicle An emergency vehicle is a vehicle used by emergency services. Emergency vehicles typically have specialized emergency lighting and vehicle equipment that allow emergency services to reach calls for service in a timely manner, transport equipment a ...

s like the fire truck during accidents not involving oneself, and "Hej, nu åker vi" ("Hey, let's ride") is a wintertime song arguing for the hillside being the best place to ride the

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill o ...

or the pulk, as opposed to the road, which is made for

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on Track (rail transport), rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of pe ...

s like cars and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es. Over the 2002–2003 Christmas and holiday season, a film from the

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency ( sv, Naturvårdsverket) is a government agency in Sweden responsible for proposing and implementing environmental policies. It was founded in 1967 and reports to the Swedish Ministry of the Environment ...

about the greenhouse effect and global warming was often shown as a television commercial. Depicting a fictional Knut's dance in the future, the participants were children, singing "Räven simmar över sjön" ("the fox swims across the lake") instead of "Räven raskar över isen" ("The fox runs across the ice") and crawling on the floor; pretentding to be foxes swimming through lake water, before throwing the

out in the rain. What was feared was a future Sweden, where children in an era of global warming would no longer be aware of ice and frozen waters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raven raskar over isen Swedish Christmas songs Fictional foxes Songs about foxes Anita Lindblom songs