"Mormors lilla kråka"

...is a children's song/game played in Sweden. According to what I read, "It can be played as a Lap Rhyme or a Circle Game. It's also sung while going around the Christmas tree or Maypole. At the end, everyone crouches down."

I don't know about you, but I don't go around the Christmas tree. I know what a Maypole is but I don't think I have ever seen one in person. Everyone crouching down sounds like our "Ring Around The Rosy". The song and accompanying movements for the Lap Rhyme version that my children enjoyed were taught to me in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1969 by Swedish couple Conny and Yvonne Evborn. Conny is a man's name in Sweden; he and Yvonne were husband and wife. I met them earlier that year when IBM sent me to Stockholm for the whole month of February to learn about the IBM 1130 computer. IBM Sweden sent Conny to Boca Raton for several months and he brought Yvonne with him. In December we invited them over for dinner around Christmas and after dinner we sang "Silent Night" together, Mrs. RWP and I in English, Conny and Yvonne in Swedish. Then Conny taught us the game to play with our children. Around the time of the great Y2K brouhaha I also played it with my grandchildren. I am waiting for our great-grandchildren to get a little older so I can play it with them. Anyway, here are the words to the song they taught me:

"Mormors lilla kråka"

Mormors lilla kråka
skulle ut och åka,
men ingen hade hon som körde.

Mormors lilla kråka
skulle ut och åka,
men ingen hade hon som körde.

Än slank hon hit,
Och än slank hon dit,
Och än slank hon ner i diket.

Än slank hon hit,
Och än slank hon dit,
Och än slank hon ner i diket.

Here is an English translation:

"Grandma's Little Crow"

Grandma's little crow
Wanted to go for a ride,
But she had no one who drove.

Grandma's little crow
Wanted to go for a ride,
But she had no one who drove.

Then she slipped here,
And then she slipped there,
And then she slipped into the ditch.

Then she slipped here,
And then she slipped there,
And then she slipped into the ditch.

The Swedish language has three extra letters after z, namely å, ä, and ö. The å is pronounced oh, the ä is pronounced eh, and the ö is pronounced like the oo in book.

Furthermore, k is sometimes pronounced like sh and sometimes not, and sj is sometimes pronounced like kw and sometims not, at least it sounds that way to my ears. For example, the word körde in the song above is pronounced sherda, and the number 777 which spelled out is sju hundra sjuttio sju sounds an awful lot like kwer hoondra kwerty kwer, especially when older Swedes say it. Younger Swedes say shoo hoondra shooty shoo instead, go figure. I find esoteric details about language fascinating and I'm sure you could not possibly live one minute longer without knowing what you learned in this post.

You are most welcome!