Swedish word of the day: åska

In the other Scandinavian languages, Danish and Norwegian, the word for thunder – torden – looks similar to the English word, and has the same etymology: "Thor's din", as the sound was believed to be caused by the god of thunder, Thor.

The archaic Swedish term for thunder, tordön, had the same meaning. It came from the old Swedish þordyn, and the dialectal word dån is still used in Sweden to refer to a loud noise.

So, where does the modern Swedish term for thunder, åska, come from, and when did tordön fall out of usage?

According to the dictionary of the Swedish Academy, both åska and tordön were in use as early as 1693, while it appears that åska became the more common word for thunder around the end of the 1800s.

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Åska, like tordön, also has a connection with the Norse gods.

It originally comes from the Old Norse as-eykja. As here refers to the Asar, or Æsir in English, which is the term used to describe on of the three groups of Norse gods, with the others being the Vaner (Vanir) and the elves or alver.

Male Æsir were referred to as asar, while female Æsir were referred to as asynjor. There were thirteen male asar in total, among them the most well-known Norse gods, Thor, Odin and Loki.

Those interested in Norse mythology (or Marvel superhero films) may already know that the Norse gods lived in Asgard (Asgård in Swedish). Here, as refers to the asar and gård refers to a farm or enclosure, meaning Asgård roughly translates as "home/farm of the gods".

That explains the first half of åska, but what about the -ka part, from the Old Norse eykja? Eykja comes from the Old Norse eykr, meaning a draft animal used to pull a cart, sledge or similar, and is related to the English word "yoke", a wooden beam attached to oxen or other draft animals to enable them to pull a load.

Thor was believed to travel in a chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnir ("the teeth-grinder") and Tanngnjóstr ("the one with gaps between his teeth"), so essentially, åska refers to the noise made by these goats while they pulled Thor across the sky.

Example sentences

Jag har alltid varit rädd för åskan.

I've always been scared of thunder.

Det ska bli åskväder i helgen.

There's going to be thundery weather this weekend.