- Forum >
- Topic: Swedish >
- "A river and an island"
"A river and an island"
Translation:En å och en ö
10 Comments
This reminds me of the time when Swedes and Finns had an argument which one had a more beautiful language. It was decided that the dispute would be but in front of an international jury. The jury made a sentence in English and then they would hear it in Finnish and Swedish.
The sentence was a poetic one: "Island, island, grassy island; grassy island's maiden."
The Finnish person stepped forward and said in a clear and proud voice: Saari, saari, heinäsaari; heinäsaaren morsian. (Google doesn't quite do it justice but you can listen to the sentence here: https://translate.google.com/#fi/en/Saari%20saari%20hein%C3%A4saari%3B%20hein%C3%A4saaren%20morsian.)
After that it was the Swede's turn. And the jury got to hear this: Ö ö, hö-ö; hö-öns mö. The result is not in yet because the jury has still not stopped laughing.