Semla

A semla (most common name in Sweden) or fastlagsbulle (Southern Sweden and Swedish speaking Finland), laskiaispulla (Finnish), vastlakukkel (Estonian) or fastelavnsbolle (Danish and Norwegian) is a traditional sweet roll made in various forms in Sweden,Finland, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania associated with Lent and especially Shrove Tuesday in most countries, or Shrove Monday in Denmark and Iceland.

Etymology, cognates

The name semla (plural, semlor) is a loan word from German Semmel, originally deriving from the Latin semilia, which was the name used for the finest quality wheat flour or semolina. In the southernmost part of Sweden (Scania) and by the Swedish-speaking population in Finland, they are known as fastlagsbulle, in Denmark and Norway they are known as fastelavnsbolle (fastlagen and fastelavn being the equivalent of Shrove Tuesday). In Scania, originally an Eastern Danish dialect, the feast is also called fastelann. In Finnish they are known as laskiaispulla, in Latvian as vēja kūkas, and in Estonian as vastlakukkel.

Semla (mythology)

Semla is the Etruscan equivalent for the Greek goddess Semele, daughter of the Boeotian hero Cadmus and mother of the Greek god of wine Dionysus by Zeus. Her name also is sometimes spelled Semia.

Depictions

An Etruscan bronze mirror from the 4th century BCE depicts a woman, labeled as Semla, holding a thyrsus and kissing the young Puphluns as he embraces her. The god Aplu (Apollo) stands by holding a laurel branch. A boy-silenus with a small horsetail plays an ancient Greek wind instrument, often depicted in art, known as an aulos.

See also

References