"Räven raskar över isen" (Swedish), or "Reven rasker over isen" (Norwegian) or "Ræven rasker over isen" (Danish) ("The Fox Hurries Across the Ice") is an old Scandinavian

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has bee ...

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 o ...

when dancing around the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

and in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

also the midsummer pole. The opening verses are often "flickornas visa" ((in Swedish; 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, altho ...

) or "pojkarnas visa" ((in Swedish; the "boys' song"), where the participants bow). After that, the verses may vary. However, in Swedish the "songs" of ''Grin-Olle'' and ''Skratt-Olle'' ("crybaby Olle" and "laughing Olle") are common. According to the

Olaus Rudbeck Olaus Rudbeck (also known as Olof Rudbeck the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, and occasionally with the surname Latinized as ''Olaus Rudbeckius'') (13 September 1630 – 12 December 1702) was a Swedish scientist and writer, professor ...

's historical compilation '' Atlantica'' the song opens: "Hå, hå, Räfwen han låckar på isen". In the 1950 Carl-Herman Tillhagen 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 ''Barnens svenska sångbok'' ("Children's Swedish Song book") is a 1999 Swedish song book by Anders Palm and Johan Stenström. It follows the 1997 song book ''Den svenska sångboken'' and is followed by the 2009 song book ''Evert Taube – Sån ...

'', 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in May 1925; the record was released in January 1926. The song has also been recorded by

Anita Lindblom Anita Eleonora Lindblom (14 December 1937 – 6 September 2020) was a Swedish actress and singer. She appeared in thirteen films between 1957 and 1974. Lindblom also recorded music. Her single ''Sånt är livet'' (a cover of Roy Hamilton's '' Yo ...

on the 1975 Christmas album ''

Jul med tradition ''Jul med tradition'' is a 1975 Anita Lindblom Christmas album. Sven-Olof Walldoffs's choir and band contribute, and the album was later rerelased at the EMI label in 1985 to cassette tape and in 1985 to CD. Track listing # Betlehems stjärna #Ho ...

''.

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 wrote two new lyrics versions of the same versions. Both of them were traffic-related, and appeared in her '' Anita och Televinken'' 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 vehicle lighting, emergency lighting and Emergency vehicle equipment, vehicle equipment that allow emergency services to reach Ca ...

s like the

fire truck A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water t ...

during accidents not involving oneself, and "Hej, nu åker vi" ("Hey, let's ride") is a

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

time song arguing for the

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

side being the best place to ride the

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...

or the

pulk A pulk (from , via ; ; ; ) is a Nordic countries, Nordic short, low-slung small sled used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog or a skiing, skier, or in Sápmi pulled by reindeer.road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

, which is made for

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...

s like

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

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

Swedish Environmental Protection Agency The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (), formerly the National Swedish Environment Protection Board () is a Government agencies in Sweden, government agency in Sweden responsible for proposing and implementing environmental policies. It was ...

about the

greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in a planet's atmosphere insulate the planet from losing heat to space, raising its surface temperature. Surface heating can happen from an internal heat source (as in the case of Jupiter) or ...

and

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

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; pretending 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 Songs about foxes Anita Lindblom songs