History Main / NorseByNorsewest

[[caption-width-right:350:Some very pretty [[ArtisticLicenseGeography Danish]] girls.[[note]]They're actually Swedish[[/note]]]]

A sort of generic northern blend of UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}, UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Greenland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}. [[note]]In a few truly horrible examples, Sweden and ''UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}'' are conflated, even though Switzerland is Alpine, not even vaguely Scandinavian. The same thing occasionally happens to Denmark and UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands (due to the words "Danish" and "Dutch" sounding vaguely similar. And let's not even get into Austria and Australia...)[[/note]] [[PlanetofHats Everyone is]] liberal, [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blond]] and [[SexyScandinavian absolutely gorgeous]]. The streets are clean, the people are intelligent and creative, it always snows, they have Ikea and saunas, and the area pumps out an amazing amount of hot foreign exchange students (both male and female) with cute accents to tempt American high school students. The chances of meeting a pair of beautiful, buxom, blonde twins who won't rule out a {{Twincest}}uous [[TwinThreesomeFantasy threesome]] with any given tourist is [[EuropeansAreKinky uncannily high]]. Everything is ridiculously expensive by the standards of anywhere else (including the rest of Europe), but that's OK, because higher education is free and so is healthcare.

Everyone either skis or snowboards, and eats a lot of chocolate. About the only other thing anyone remembers is that {{Lego}} was invented there.

Technically Icelanders are not "Scandinavian" either, as the strict definition of Scandinavia is only Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The preferred term is "Nordic" which also includes Greenland, Svalbard and the Faroe Islands. Icelanders and Faroe Islanders speak Scandinavian (AKA North Germanic) languages, however.

* In ''Film/EarthGirlsAreEasy'', it's Finland that seems to be confused with Switzerland. The movie features a TV ad where two bikini-clad blonde woman invite the viewer to come Finland, whilst showing scenes of Alpine skiing and yodeling. While skiing is indeed quite popular in Finland, yodeling most certainly isn't. (Though ''Yoiks'', traditional songs/singing techniques of the Samish, are often confused with yodeling by outsiders.) The aliens watching the ad ask if they're in Finland; host Valerie doesn't help matters by telling them "Finland is the capital of Norway!"

* The ultimate subversion of this trope is probably Ingmar Bergman's ''Film/TheSeventhSeal'', which violates just about everything we associate with modern Scandinavia. Here, Sweden is a (literally) stuck-in-the-Dark-Ages theocracy with bleeding penitents and plague victims roaming around and a knight returned from the Crusades who's constantly brooding about death (understandable, since Death is literally stalking him).

* The ''Literature/{{Backstrom}}'' novels about a useless and unappealing inept copper in Sweden, are set largely in Stockholm and via the appallingly racist and cloddish Ewart Bäckström, shed light on Swedish prejudices about everybody else -- including a cast of immigrants and other Scandinavians from neighbouring countries.

* Many reviewers outside of Scandinavia have stated that the reason ''Series/NeverWipeTearsWithoutGloves'' struck such a chord with them was that it took place in Sweden. The story, which is based on experiences of the author Jonas Gardell, follows a group of gay men in the eighties when AIDS begins to spread and depicts society's fear of gay men in general and AIDS victims in particular, as well as the prejudice and harsh mistreatments and injustices that took place. According to many of the reviewers this was all the more effective and moving because it took place in a country that is thought to be so liberal, open-minded and loving, because "''If it was like that in Sweden, what was it like in our country''?"

* Parodied in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow1'', when an radio show spoofing {{Creator/NPR}} has a couple of guys talking about illegal immigrants to the US... from Norway, and their stereotypes of them are deliberately ridiculous.
* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' 2. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Iceland all have the norse culture in the early start dates, but split up into swedish, norwegian and danish in their coresponding de jure kingdoms from 950 onward, subverting this trope. However, if you happen to unite all these kingdoms in a united scandinavian empire, they will stay norse for ever, thus playing this trope straight.
* The Nords of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games are all fantasy Scandinavians; tall, muscular, fair-haired, pale-skinned, tend to have names like Sigurd, Jurgen and Hroki followed by [[AwesomeMcCoolName awesome sobriquets like Windcaller, Ice-Fast and Fire-Beard]]. Also naturally tough against freezing weather and magical frost, and tend to be really badass fighters as their homeland, Skyrim, is a wild place full of all manner of monsters and dangerous animals.

* ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'' manages to [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzag]] this trope. The comic shows the Nordic countries' stereotypes of ''each other'' rather than the Hollywood stereotype of them, and goes out the way to show that the countries have their own distinct cultures.

* ''Film/{{Beowulf2007}}''. More trolls, fewer Ikeas. The 2007 film even has Grendel speak Old English, and one or two references to "sea raiders".

* It's possible that the now mostly-forgotten TropeMaker for the portrayal of Sweden (and by extension the rest of the Norselands) as "sexy" was the MondoMovie ''Sweden: Heaven And Hell''. Now much more infamous for being the original source of ''Series/TheMuppets''' "Mah Na Mah Na".

* ''Film/{{Beowulf}}''. More trolls, fewer Ikeas. The 2007 film even has Grendel speak Old English, and one or two references to "sea raiders".

* The ''Series/{{Backstrom}}'' novels about a useless and unappealing inept copper in Sweden, remade and recast in Portland for US television. The original novels are set largely in Stockholm and via the appallingly racist and cloddish Ewart Bäckström, shed light on Swedish prejudices about everybody else - including a cast of immigrants and other Scandinavians from neighbouring countries.

* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' 2. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Iceland all have the norse culture in the early start dates, but split up into swedish, norwegian and danish in their coresponding de jure kingdoms from 950 onward, subverting this trope. However, if you happen to unite all these kingdoms in a united scandinavian empire for ever, they will stay norse for ever, thus playing this trope straight.

* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings2''. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Iceland all have the norse culture in the early start dates, but split up into swedish, norwegian and danish in their coresponding de jure kingdoms from 950 onward, subverting this trope. However, if you happen to unite all these kingdoms in a united scandinavian empire for ever, they will stay norse for ever, thus playing this trope straight

* The EnsembleDarkHorse Nordics in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' are rather attractive, both purposely by the creator and in countless fanarts.
** Subverted with Sweden and Denmark. While both are handsome, tall and blond, Sweden is [[TheStoic reserved]] and [[FaceOfAThug sort of]] [[DeathGlare terrifying]], while Denmark is an alcoholic that may or may not be a [[AxCrazy crazy]] StepfordSmiler.

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', the fairy tale kingdom of Arendelle appears to be on a Norwegian fjord. We have character names like "Anna", "Elsa", "Sven", etc. Kristoff is conspicuously dressed in Sami-style clothing, and even has a reindeer as a best friend. Anna and Elsa also have a rather nordic ethnic look to them.

* ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible''

On the rare occasions when negative stereotypes of Scandinavians are shown, the stereotype of choice is to portray them as painfully naive. Finns (who, by the way, are ''not'' genuinely Scandinavian, but more of a North Eurasian (Uralic) people related to Scandinavians, but also the Sámi (= the "Lapps"), the [[UsefulNotes/{{Estonia}} Estonians]] and the [[UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} Hungarians]]) are known to be [[KnifeNut violent]] when their BerserkButton is pressed.

* ''WesternAnimation/VickyTheViking''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The EnsembleDarkHorse Nordics in ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' are rather attractive, both purposely by the creator and in countless fanarts.
** Subverted with Sweden and Denmark. While both are handsome, tall and blond, Sweden is [[TheStoic reserved]] and [[FaceOfAThug sort of]] [[DeathGlare terrifying]], while Denmark is an alcoholic that may or may not be a [[AxCrazy crazy]] StepfordSmiler.

[[folder:Commercials]]
* The Swedish Bikini Team, who first appeared in Old Milwaukee beer commercials and became something of a pop-culture phenomenon in the early '90s.
* Creator/JohnCleese made a commercial for the Norwegian Tourist Board. It's rife with stereotypes; the "everyone skiing" one is rather prominent.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', the fairy tale kingdom of Arendelle appears to be on a Norwegian fjord. We have character names like "Anna", "Elsa", "Sven", etc. Kristoff is conspicuously dressed in Sami-style clothing, and even has a reindeer as a best friend. Anna and Elsa also have a rather nordic ethnic look to them.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

-->'''Ophelia''' ''(In disguise)'': Hello I am Inga, from Sweden!
-->'''Coleman''' ''(Disguised, more accurately, as a priest)'': But you're wearing...[[{{Oktoberfest}} Lederhosen..?]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''HagarTheHorrible''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

A sort of generic northern blend of UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}, UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Greenland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}. [[note]]In a few truly horrible examples, Sweden and ''UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}'' are conflated, even though Switzerland is Alpine, not even vaguely Scandinavian. The same thing occasionally happens to Denmark and UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands (due to the words "Danish" and "Dutch" sounding vaguely similar).[[/note]] [[PlanetofHats Everyone is]] liberal, [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blond]] and [[SexyScandinavian absolutely gorgeous]]. The streets are clean, the people are intelligent and creative, it always snows, they have Ikea and saunas, and the area pumps out an amazing amount of hot foreign exchange students (both male and female) with cute accents to tempt American high school students. The chances of meeting a pair of beautiful, buxom, blonde twins who won't rule out a {{Twincest}}uous [[TwinThreesomeFantasy threesome]] with any given tourist is [[EuropeansAreKinky uncannily high]]. Everything is ridiculously expensive by the standards of anywhere else (including the rest of Europe), but that's OK, because higher education is free and so is healthcare.

Going back a little farther in time, one might have seen the region crawling with [[NorseMythology Valkyries]], [[HornyVikings Vikings]] and [[AllTrollsAreDifferent trolls]].

->''My name is Inga, and I'm from Sweden,\\

I can show you how to party too!''
-->--Inga From Sweden, "My Name is Inga"

* ''VickyTheViking''

* ''{{Metalocalypse}}'' does this too, having both Sweden and Norway appear like this in their respective episodes. With Skwisgaar and Toki hailing from said countries, it makes for several related jokes. Especially when Skwisgaar's mother appears. They also burn down Finland and kill the Queen of Denmark (whom Skwisgaar thinks is Dutch).

[[/fodler]]

-->''My name is Inga, and I'm from Sweden,\\

[[folder:Film]]

* ''TradingPlaces'', the Sweden[=/=]Switzerland confusion is {{lampshaded}} in this conversation on the train on New Years Eve:

* In ''EarthGirlsAreEasy'', it's Finland that seems to be confused with Switzerland. The movie features a TV ad where two bikini-clad blonde woman invite the viewer to come Finland, whilst showing scenes of Alpine skiing and yodeling. While skiing is indeed quite popular in Finland, yodeling most certainly isn't. (Though ''Yoiks'', traditional songs/singing techniques of the Samish, are often confused with yodeling by outsiders.) The aliens watching the ad ask if they're in Finland; host Valerie doesn't help matters by telling them "Finland is the capital of Norway!"

* It's possible that the now mostly-forgotten TropeMaker for the portrayal of Sweden (and by extension the rest of the Norselands) as "sexy" was the MondoMovie ''Sweden: Heaven And Hell''. Now much more infamous for being the original source of ''TheMuppets''' "Mah Na Mah Na".
* ''KingRalph'' features the King and Queen of Finland as minor characters. Unlike Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Finland is not (and has never been, though there was a near miss in 1918) a monarchy. When questioned about it by the Finnish media, the film-makers claimed this was supposed to be an intentional [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] of HollywoodAtlas.
* The ultimate subversion of this trope is probably Ingmar Bergman's ''TheSeventhSeal'', which violates just about everything we associate with modern Scandinavia. Here, Sweden is a (literally) stuck-in-the-Dark-Ages theocracy with bleeding penitents and plague victims roaming around and a knight returned from the Crusades who's constantly brooding about death (understandable, since Death is literally stalking him).
* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', the fairy tale kingdom of Arendelle appears to be on a Norwegian fjord. We have character names like "Anna", "Elsa", "Sven", etc. Kristoff is conspicuously dressed in Sami-style clothing, and even has a reindeer as a best friend. Anna and Elsa also have a rather nordic ethnic look to them.

* The EnsembleDarkHorse Nordics in ''AxisPowersHetalia'' are rather attractive, both purposely by the creator and in countless fanarts.

* Many reviewers outside of Scandinavia have stated that the reason "[[NeverWipeTearsWithoutGloves Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves]]" struck such a chord with them was that it took place in Sweden. The story, which is based on experiences of the author Jonas Gardell, follows a group of gay men in the eighties when AIDS begins to spread and depicts society's fear of gay men in general and AIDS victims in particular, as well as the prejudice and harsh mistreatments and injustices that took place. According to many of the reviewers this was all the more effective and moving because it took place in a country that is thought to be so liberal, open-minded and loving, because "''If it was like that in Sweden, what was it like in our country''?"

The NordicNoir genre can be said to deconstruct this trope.

A sort of generic northern blend of UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}, UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Greenland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}. [[note]]In a few truly horrible examples, Sweden and ''UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}'' are conflated, even though Switzerland is Alpine, not even vaguely Scandinavian. The same thing occasionally happens to Denmark and UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands (due to the words "Danish" and "Dutch" sounding vaguely similar).[[/note]] [[PlanetofHats Everyone is]] liberal, [[EveryoneLovesBlondes blond and absolutely gorgeous]]. The streets are clean, the people are intelligent and creative, it always snows, they have Ikea and saunas, and the area pumps out an amazing amount of hot foreign exchange students (both male and female) with cute accents to tempt American high school students. The chances of meeting a pair of beautiful, buxom, blonde twins who won't rule out a {{Twincest}}uous [[TwinThreesomeFantasy threesome]] with any given tourist is [[EuropeansAreKinky uncannily high]]. Everything is ridiculously expensive by the standards of anywhere else (including the rest of Europe), but that's OK, because higher education is free and so is healthcare.

* {{Frozen}} The country where Arendelle, Weselton, and the Southern Isles are located.