Mein Skol,

Dein Skol,

Alle Vakkera Flikka Skol.

(Translated: My health,

your health,

all beautiful ladies’ health.)

This is an old viking toast that a friend of mine from Minnesota hears at family dinners sometimes when he goes home for the holidays.  Having come from Scandinavian blood myself, I found myself immediately attracted to the simplicity of the toast.  My informant is not learned in any of the Scandinavian language (and he is not even sure whether he is Norwegian or Swedish), but he says that every time he hears this toast, it makes him proud of his Scandinavian background.  When he said that, it resonated with me because my family tries to bring out our Swedish heritage whenever we get the chance.  My family strings up mini Swedish flags on our Christmas tree every year, and we often have traditional Swedish fare at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (lingonberries, glug, Swedish meatballs).  The fact that I have now collected a toast that I can introduce to my family makes me even more proud of my family’s heritage.  My guess for why my friend still hears this toast at his family dinners is that a number of his family members feel the same way.