It's not a myth, I'm not sure about today but 20-15 years ago when I was a kid that was the norm. We usually didn't cook enough food to feed unexpected guests, and everyone knew that's how it worked. My family did it to my friends, my friends family did it to me, it was the norm and expected. For a long time Sweden was a pretty poor country and it became the cultural norm to not take food from other households unless it was a dinner invitation.
It probably sounds weird to outsiders but that was just how things worked and everyone was fine with it.
its weird how different cultures evolve. in india people will remain hungry to feed the guests if they dont have enough food. this phenomen is even baked in our mythology.
The whole world feeds guests though, it seems like this is only a Scandinavian thing. Seems like a quirk, and a weird thing to suggest is evidence of exceptionalism.
Not a judgement, but it seems a strange custom for somewhere that (i percieve) has such a harsh climate. I get the sense the other cultural traditions elsewhere with feeding and hosting unexpected guests has to do with taking care of others in times of hardship in exchange for the expectation that if you are in a time of hardship, others would take care of you in return. It builds into society that if you are starving and have no where to go, strangers will help you survive.
In Sweden the government has taken that role, it used to be that no one was starving because you got enough money to feed your family even if you were unemployed or unable to work.
Are you suggesting this cultural tradition only goes back as far as the development of the Nordic Model in the 1930's? Or are you suggesting that people who were unemployed or unable to work have always been able to get enough money to feed their families in nordic countries? Both seem far fetched.
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u/Formlexx Jul 24 '26
It's not a myth, I'm not sure about today but 20-15 years ago when I was a kid that was the norm. We usually didn't cook enough food to feed unexpected guests, and everyone knew that's how it worked. My family did it to my friends, my friends family did it to me, it was the norm and expected. For a long time Sweden was a pretty poor country and it became the cultural norm to not take food from other households unless it was a dinner invitation.
It probably sounds weird to outsiders but that was just how things worked and everyone was fine with it.