How similar/different is Finnish culture to Norwegian or Swedish culture? [Archive] - The Apricity Forum: A European Cultural Community

Motörhead Remember Me

07-21-2011, 06:32 PM

We are very similar culturally if put in a broader north European perspective, but all of us (Norwegians, Swedes and Finns) have our own little local oddities. Obviously the Finnish language is the big divider here but when it comes to our mindsets we are extremely close, we value and dislike basicallly the same things in life and we try to achieve same goals. There are differencies as well, but they are mostly subtle and not easily recognizable. I have lived in all three countries and the biggest differency is in the food. Often it's about serving the same dish but with different extras! Talking about traditional food the Norwegian food is more different from Swedish and Finnish foods. When it comes to traditional dresses, an ousider would have a hard time recognizing the different folk dresses. Traditional music is very much accordion and violin in all countries, but all of us have national instruments and tunes which are very different but also resemble each others very much!
All in all, we are pretty much the same on the surface but if you scratch on us, you'll find things that sets us apart. What else? Otherwise we'd be one country, right?

Kuu-Ukko

07-21-2011, 06:33 PM

forget it. edit

Kuu-Ukko

07-21-2011, 07:48 PM

Tah swedes'r gonna kill ya! :D

Jawohl! I'm really scared they're gonna bitchslap me to death. :eek:

Karl

07-21-2011, 08:05 PM

Scandinavians and Finnic people in general are quite similar to each other in all aspects, but there's a small difference between Scandinavians and Finnics that I have spotted.

Scandinavians and Finnic people can be grouped into the same cultural group.

Thraex

07-21-2011, 08:10 PM

Blossom

07-21-2011, 08:48 PM

Jawohl! I'm really scared they're gonna bitchslap me to death. :eek:

''Scream scream like a piiig'' , how convenient, this quote is from a swedish movie. :D

Getting serious.

I personally think that they might be similar for an outsider, usually they all are considered as Scandinavia, North, north people...followed by stereotypes (cold people, tall, blabla...) but once you get to know more about at least one of these countries, you get to know what they think about their neighbours, you'll see the real difference (or not) between them. :)
Its pretty interesting how they do relate, you can find similarities in their culture, folk,..own stories, they're somehow different but seemed at the same time. And no, its not just about the famous trolls, lol.
(and I wonder, do swedes have an Uuno Turhapuro? :D they cant beat that)..

About the gastronomy, I just know about finnish ones, I do know many swedish ones aswell but I never related them,...but you can see both use same ingredients as a base (yeah, milk..and cinnamon mm joke dont worry) rough speaking.

People? ... Swedes are more arrogant to me than finns. IMO. (there are more differences but I'm too sleepy to write them down, maybe tomorrow..)

And so on..

Kuu-Ukko

07-22-2011, 07:29 PM

[B]''Scream scream like a piiig'' , how convenient, this quote is from a swedish movie. :D

Hah, you must have had a sneak peak at my original reply before I edited it eh.;)

Getting serious.

People? ... Swedes are more arrogant to me than finns. IMO. (there are more differences but I'm too sleepy to write them down, maybe tomorrow..)

And so on..

Swedes are arrogant, Finns are jerks. Match made in heaven.

Eldritch

07-22-2011, 09:38 PM

A Finn will provide a grunt for an answer when asked, ask questions only when there is hardly any chance of getting an answer.

He goes through doors by pushing them, ignoring the clearly visible sign that says PULL.

During the 10-12 days per year when the temperature is above 25 Celcius here, his favourite topic of conversation is how it is unbearably hot. He will then excuse himself, to heat up his lakeside sauna to 100 Celcius.

A Finn values silence and solitude. That is why he designed the GSM network, so he can he reached anytime, anywhere.

For a Finn everything that is easy is cheap and worthless. If an achievement does not require blood, sweat and tears, it is not an achievement at all.

Finns like traveling. That is why we flock en masse to the Mediterranean in summer -- the only time of the year when it is warm and pleasant in Finland also.

Literary critics in the Anglosphere have been trying to make sense of the Transcendentalist classic Walden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden) by Henry David Thoreau ever since it was published, and debating what the author is trying to say. A Finn understands it immediately upon first reading.

Etc, etc. Hope this helps. :wink

Blossom

07-26-2011, 09:36 PM

Hah, you must have had a sneak peak at my original reply before I edited it eh.;)

Swedes are arrogant, Finns are jerks. Match made in heaven.

No shells! I swear to Odin I didnt! You said just the same thing? Haha.

Aw cmon, Finns arent that jerks, while swede ARE really arrogant. Finns are not that insistent as Swedes may get to be. ...that's just my opinion after more than 8 years spending summers there. :D

He goes through doors by pushing them, ignoring the clearly visible sign that says PULL.

:lol: Good one! Indeed I remember something like this....

Lahtari

07-26-2011, 10:49 PM

Well, for the start, Finns are all strictly heterosexual. A Finnish man kills at least a dozen communists daily, either with his trustworthy Suomi-machinegun, with an axe or a knife, or with simply by gazing at them and shouting "Perkele!!!". Usually while sitting on snow or a frozen lake, naked. Or in summer in an ants nets. Our cuisine consists entirely of raw polar bear flesh killed with bare hands, salted fish, pig innings and "mämmi", a national easter food that looks like pure extrement.

Swedes, on the other hand are all homosexual, except the female population. The Swedish manhood ritual consists of wearing a white sailor costume, drinking one cider and singing a happy Swedish song while dancing in a boat. Whenever there's a rainstorm coming from the Atlantic, it first goes to Norway, then completely skips Sweden and goes straight to Finland. There's no army in Sweden at all, since they couldn't ever find enough suitable recruits. The national foods are strawberries, ice cream and semen (which is strictly forbidden for women). Since they're all totally gay, they reproduce by artificial insemination.

The Norwegians are strange folks who live in the arctic coastline. They're all harsh, good sailors and fishermen, and their diet consists entirely of fish, mostly rotten cod. There are only two kinds of Norwegians: those who fish and build churches, and those who burn them.

So you see we're not that alike at all. I hope this answered your question. :)

esaima

07-26-2011, 11:51 PM

A lot has been discussed about physical comparisons but how about cultural ? (traditional music)
Maybe somebody disagrees with me Finnish music has certainly got some influences from Russian music: minor scale. Some time ago there was kinda Finnish day or Finland's partnership town's day in my town. A Finnish brass orchestra played their melancholic melodies on the town hall square during the whole day and sometimes that music was indistinguishable from Russian music.For some reason I don't think that they have very similar music in Sweden or Norway.
Estonian music, btw differs from Finnish music and there is major scale what predominates.

Also, reading through only a small amount of Eldritch's 7870 posts I can also add as a typical characteristic: self-irony, self-irony, self-irony.:p

The Ripper

07-27-2011, 04:29 PM

Simply put, looking at the big picture, we are all quite similar. When I move about in Sweden and Norway, I don't really feel I'm abroad, as such (of course, I speak Swedish and understand Norwegian for the most part, so that will influence my opinion). The way people behave in general is quite similar, the shops, the roads, the cities, everything seems somewhat familiar.

There are a lot of differences, of course, as well. I just can't think of that many. :D

Lahtari

07-28-2011, 12:09 AM

Oh, now I realize just how horribly chauvinist and male-oriented my response was. :(
So here's my addition for the womanfolk:

A true Finnish woman truly supports her husband in his daily communist slaying/wood chopping/bear killing business. Her main duty is to raise their fair haired, physically and militarily able next generation, and she spends most of her time in the kitchen, but in the meanwhile she can dive in the frozen lake openings and catch fish with her teeth. When a Russian or another kind of communist tries to enter her house while the husband is away, the woman of the house is more than able to take care of the problem: with the firearms which there are plenty of in every decent Finnish household, with the regular kitchen equipment, or if nothing else by screaming so loud that the commie's brain arteries will pop out and cause an explosion. She feeds her kids with "Kalamojakka" (Mulligan Stew made from fish), raw bear innings, or in the hardest of times, smoked communist stew. A Finnish woman is never thought to leave her kitchen, even in the second World War, when a division of Russian communists reported suffering heavy losses surrounded a Finnish country-house kitchen, the occupant armed with just a spoon and an iron kettle.

The Swedish women, as one might except, are bimboes due to their menfolk being totally and extremely gay. They seek the companionship of foreign film stars and hairy latin gigoloes. And of course of the few Finnish (and Norwegian) men who betray their womenfolk by going abroad finding mates. They're known abroad as amateur porn stars, expensive hookers and high quality, posh wives of Hollywood movie stars. The ones who are not dating with a movie star are ruling the country with their party called the Feminazi Union against Gay Men.

The Norwegian women are much like Finnish ones, except they don't have to deal with the communists all the time. They're even better at catching fish with their bare teeth under a frozen lake or sea, but their children suffer a constant risk of being annihilated by ravaging communists from their small eastern border, especially in the north of the country. Some communists are reported to constantly cross the Norwegian border and some even rarely passing throught the Finnish uninhabited woodlands, but the Norwegian women know how to react, and while their men are always fishing, the groups of angry women using raw cods as melee weapons have repeatedly driven the communist menace back to Eastern Siberia where they belong. The Norwegian woman, like her Finnish counterpart also feels at home in the kitchen, and makes the best salted and baked cod in the world.

Pallantides

07-28-2011, 12:21 AM

Lathari have given the best explanation so far... :D

Blossom

07-28-2011, 07:39 AM

Lahtari, you're too good...:lol: cracks me..the part where finnish women catch fish with their teeth...:lol:

Bonita

08-13-2011, 01:25 PM

A lot has been discussed about physical comparisons but how about cultural (food, dances, traditional music, mindset even)?

Food, dances, traditional music, mindset, all of these differ, more or less.

But the biggest difference is in the attitudes towards each other. Scandinavians usually have a benevolent attitude towards the Finns, while the Finns hate the guts of the Scandinavians.

Pallantides

08-13-2011, 01:30 PM

Bonita

08-13-2011, 01:48 PM

I have never met or talked to a Finn that hated Norwegians...

Well, I have. Quite a lot of Finns have been working some years in Norway (at least in the health care sector) and the stories about the horrible and disgusting Norwegians are quite common in the coffee rooms at the workplaces today. :p

and I'm sure that Finns "animosity" for Swedes is not so much greater or different from the Norwegians vs. Swedes rivalry.

I think we have to agree to disagee on this one.

Lahtari

08-14-2011, 02:21 AM

Well, I have. Quite a lot of Finns have been working some years in Norway (at least in the health care sector) and the stories about the horrible and disgusting Norwegians are quite common in the coffee rooms at the workplaces today. :p

"Horrible and disgusting Norwegians.." That made my day. :D

Scandinavians usually have a benevolent attitude towards the Finns, while the Finns hate the guts of the Scandinavians.

On the other hand, I've never met a Norwegian who hated Finns. While the Finnish-Swedish relationship might at times be filled with various historical animosity.

beaver

08-14-2011, 02:04 PM

We (Russians) have too great cultue for thesr fiinhs. what can we do now? Anothrer problem - - we dont fear nothing. Its a real problem.

Eldritch

08-14-2011, 09:27 PM

We (Russians) have too great cultue for thesr fiinhs. what can we do now? Anothrer problem - - we dont fear nothing. Its a real problem.

Best post of thread?

CAN THERE BE ANY DOUBT ?!?

http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/xComputers/Communicating/eSpeak/Media/y6/77.gif

Canute

08-14-2011, 09:42 PM

Eldritch

08-14-2011, 09:46 PM

Food. Both Norwegian and Finnish cuisine have a lot of dishes with fish. Whitefish and roe show up in both. I also see a lot of sweet flavored grains in both cultures, like pulla, lefse, and krumkake.

All true, but the Swedes eat lots of fish, too.

The infamous surströmming, overlooked by the BWC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/219790558_7845d1eda4.jpg

Canute

08-14-2011, 09:51 PM

All true, but the Swedes eat lots of fish, too.

The infamous surströmming, overlooked by the BWC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/219790558_7845d1eda4.jpg

All of a sudden, lutefisk doesn't seem so bad. Perhaps I've underestimated the Swedes?

Matritensis

08-14-2011, 10:25 PM

Motörhead Remember Me

08-15-2011, 05:26 PM

Pallantides

08-15-2011, 05:43 PM

Like in all countries, there are some Norwegians that make bad colleagues...

Tell me about it , There is a fair share of my fellow countrymen who can be assholes in certain circumstances, there are some Norwegians who act very condescending, who think they are superior and can't take any form of criticism, if I was a Finn and had to work with such Norwegians I'd dislike them too...

Argyll

10-14-2011, 03:59 PM

I don't know how much they are different, but they are pretty much the same people, no?

Waidewut

10-14-2011, 04:10 PM

I don't know how much they are different, but they are pretty much the same people, no?

Finno-Ugric Finns being the same people as Indo-European Norwegians and Swedes? I think not.

Argyll

10-14-2011, 04:11 PM

Finno-Ugric Finns being the same people as Indo-European Norwegians and Swedes? I think not.

Same ethnic group/sub race, I meant. Nordics, basically.

Karl

10-14-2011, 07:15 PM

Same ethnic group/sub race, I meant. Nordics, basically.

Finns are ethnically Finnic, just like the Estonians, not Scandinavian. But yes, the Estonians and the Finns belong into the same cultural group with the Scandinavians and are called Nordic.

Hevneren

10-14-2011, 09:54 PM

This question has multiple layers. I think the level of similarity depends on what you define as culture.

I think that in terms of general social behaviour, Finns are quite similar to Norwegians and Swedes. I think all three cultures have a rather reserved population, at least when compared to Southern Europe. My impression is that Finns seem to value privacy and personal space just as much as - if not more than - us Norwegians.

I have the impression that Finns are also quite stubborn and tough people, much like us Norwegians. I think that based on history and attitudes, I might actually feel more in tune with a Finn than with a Swede, but culturally and ethnically I'm closer to a Swede. The differences are small though.

Like us Norwegians, and like the Swedes, Finns also have a fondness for alcohol. I think Finns have a similar drinking culture to Norwegians, and vice versa. We Norwegians are known for having some very strong alcohol, as do the Finns, and Norwegians have traditionally (and even today) distilled moonshine in their homes. You can still find moonshine apparatus in Norwegian villages, and I'd bet you could find them in Finnish villages too. In Norway people even risk going blind for some moonshine. :cool:

lZcu9gKA1dE

I'm not very knowledgeable about Finnish folk songs or dances, nor do I know much about their cooking, but from what I know there are some differences in food culture between Norway and Finland. That being said, I think the Finns have similar types of bread and flat bread that are found in Norway and Sweden. Maybe this tells us something about the arrival of agriculture in the Nordic region?

As someone mentioned, folk costumes tend to look rather similar, even between Finland, Sweden and Norway. This might be because these folk costumes are more modern inventions (although they build upon more ancient traditions) than other aspects of our cultures.

ikki

10-14-2011, 09:57 PM

most here wont be able to tell the difference anyhow. For those that can, the answer ir mostly known anyway and thus irrelevant for all parties.

Laudanum

10-14-2011, 10:01 PM

Motörhead Remember Me

10-18-2011, 05:56 PM

most here wont be able to tell the difference anyhow. For those that can, the answer ir mostly known anyway and thus irrelevant for all parties.

Oh, there are plenty of "experts" here who can tell the Finns from other Nordics...

Motörhead Remember Me

10-18-2011, 05:59 PM

Tell me about it , There is a fair share of my fellow countrymen who can be assholes in certain circumstances, there are some Norwegians who act very condescending, who think they are superior and can't take any form of criticism, if I was a Finn and had to work with such Norwegians I'd dislike them too...

We all know those assholes, from Tahiti to Timbuktu.

The Ripper

10-18-2011, 06:07 PM

Finns are ethnically Finnic, just like the Estonians, not Scandinavian. But yes, the Estonians and the Finns belong into the same cultural group with the Scandinavians and are called Nordic.

'Cept for 'Stonians.

Hevneren

10-19-2011, 05:28 AM

As far as I know there are both similarities as well as differences between Finns and Norwegians and Swedes. They are obviously different people, but their culture has always been rather close and therefore they share quite a lot of things.

Historically, there's been a separation between traditional Finnish culture and Swedish and Norwegian cultures. Religion, for instance, has been very different between Finland and its Scandinavian neighbours. They had the stories of the Kalevala while we had our Eddas and sagas.

Motörhead Remember Me

10-19-2011, 11:33 AM

Historically, there's been a separation between traditional Finnish culture and Swedish and Norwegian cultures. Religion, for instance, has been very different between Finland and its Scandinavian neighbours. They had the stories of the Kalevala while we had our Eddas and sagas.

Mythology and pagan religions of Baltic Finnish and Norse have similar / shared elements, even same characters and sagas but with different names and adaptions.

Argyll

10-24-2011, 05:27 PM

Are the Sagas soley Norwegian/Icelandic/Northern Isles or do they come from all over Scandinavia?

Karl

10-24-2011, 05:32 PM

'Cept for 'Stonians.

This random thing I found on the net, it's pretty funny:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/world/1161931-why-isnt-finland-considered-baltic-state.html

"After all, its closest cousin, Estonia is, right? Also, genetically speaking, Estonians, Finns, Latvians and Lithuanians are all very close. Why not consider Finland a Baltic state instead of Scandinavian? I think Finland has a lot more in common with Estonia than it does with say Denmark."

Either Finns are Baltic or Estonians are Nordic. ;)

Argyll

10-24-2011, 05:39 PM

What's the difference between Finnish, Latvian, and Estonians with Scandinavians? Aren't they the same people?

The Ripper

10-25-2011, 11:53 AM

This random thing I found on the net, it's pretty funny:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/world/1161931-why-isnt-finland-considered-baltic-state.html

"After all, its closest cousin, Estonia is, right? Also, genetically speaking, Estonians, Finns, Latvians and Lithuanians are all very close. Why not consider Finland a Baltic state instead of Scandinavian? I think Finland has a lot more in common with Estonia than it does with say Denmark."

Either Finns are Baltic or Estonians are Nordic. ;)

Sorry Karl, but Estonia being something doesn't mean Finland has to be it too, or vice versa. Finland is considered Nordic, Estonia isn't. Deal with it. :)

That is a new low for you, using some random American's post in a random internet forum as some kind of crutch for your argument? Weak, dude.

And if we compare societies, Finnish society is more similar to Danish society than Estonian society. Both Danish and Finnish society are built on the "Nordic model" of social democracy, while Estonia has a very different socio-economic model. Not to mention that while Estonia experiences far more emigration than immigration, Finland and Denmark are the opposite.

Eldritch

10-25-2011, 12:17 PM

U9GRkQoagYE

That's about it.

Waidewut

10-25-2011, 12:50 PM

This random thing I found on the net, it's pretty funny:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/world/1161931-why-isnt-finland-considered-baltic-state.html

"After all, its closest cousin, Estonia is, right? Also, genetically speaking, Estonians, Finns, Latvians and Lithuanians are all very close. Why not consider Finland a Baltic state instead of Scandinavian? I think Finland has a lot more in common with Estonia than it does with say Denmark."

Either Finns are Baltic or Estonians are Nordic. ;)

If the Estonians don't want to be called culturally Baltic, you should create the Finnic cultural group, together with the Finns. That would make far more sense than lumping the Estonians together with North Germanics/Scandinavians. Nobody could argue about Estonians being culturally Finnic or not, because they are Finno-Ugric, Baltic Finns.

Karl

10-25-2011, 01:01 PM

Sorry Karl, but Estonia being something doesn't mean Finland has to be it too, or vice versa. Finland is considered Nordic, Estonia isn't. Deal with it. :)

That is a new low for you, using some random American's post in a random internet forum as some kind of crutch for your argument? Weak, dude.

That's called humor.

The Ripper

10-25-2011, 01:20 PM

That's called humor.

Whatever. We know your obsession well enough. ;)

Karl

10-25-2011, 01:26 PM

Whatever. We know your obsession well enough. ;)

A Finn is at a zoo, sees a lion and thinks: "I wonder what does the lion think about me?"

The Ripper

10-25-2011, 01:35 PM

A Finn is at a zoo, sees a lion and thinks: "I wonder what does the lion think about me?"

Karl is at a zoo, sees a giraffe and thinks "How do I convince that giraffe to consider Estonians Nordic?"

Karl

10-25-2011, 01:41 PM

Karl is at a zoo, sees a giraffe and thinks "How do I convince that giraffe to consider Estonians Nordic?"

Karl is Estonian, not Finnish.

The Ripper

10-25-2011, 02:03 PM

Karl is Estonian, not Finnish.

Still. He's the one hellbent on making people think a certain way about his country. ;)

Pallantides

10-26-2011, 10:18 AM

What's the difference between Finnish, Latvian, and Estonians with Scandinavians? Aren't they the same people?

No, Finns and Balts are gaunt Hyperboreans with pale blonde hair and light eyes ruled by evil sorcerers.

Karl

10-26-2011, 12:39 PM

No, Finns and Balts are gaunt Hyperboreans with pale blonde hair and light eyes ruled by evil sorcerers.

What about the Estonians? Living between the Finns and the Balts.

Or for heaven's sake, did you just call us Indo-European? :eek:

Stars Down To Earth

10-26-2011, 12:52 PM

What's the difference between Finnish, Latvian, and Estonians with Scandinavians? Aren't they the same people?
Scandinavians are the North Germanic nationalities - the Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians. Iceland is counted into this group as well, even though they're not situated on the Scandinavian landmass.

Finns are sometimes counted as Scandinavian, because of their cultural and geographical closeness to Sweden. Even though they're not Germanic at all, or even Indo-European, but a Finno-Ugric people.

Latvians are a Baltic people, a cultural group different from both Germanics and Finno-Ugrics. The only surviving Baltic nations are Latvia and Lithuania. Balts are the most archaic Indo-European group, and are pretty much the only Indo-Europeans who never expanded and conquered new lands. So they've remained in their damp corner of the Baltic Sea forever.

Estonians are a sub-species of Russians. ;)

The Ripper

10-26-2011, 01:24 PM

What about the Estonians? Living between the Finns and the Balts.

Or for heaven's sake, did you just call us Indo-European? :eek:

No, he didn't mention Estonians at all. :rolleyes:

Waidewut

10-26-2011, 02:29 PM

Balts are the most archaic Indo-European group, and are pretty much the only Indo-Europeans who never expanded and conquered new lands. So they've remained in their damp corner of the Baltic Sea forever.

Balts were the ones who participated in fierce battles with the Finno-Ugrics at the time they migrated from the Dnieper river basin to the coasts of the Baltic sea. One can consider this migration to the North as a conquest of Finno-Ugric lands. Also the Lithuanians made a great expansion to the East, forming the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was the biggest European country at that time.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Lithuanian_state_in_13-15th_centuries.png

Motörhead Remember Me

10-27-2011, 07:10 AM

The only surviving Baltic nations are Latvia and Lithuania. Balts are the most archaic Indo-European group, and are pretty much the only Indo-Europeans who never expanded and conquered new lands. So they've remained in their damp corner of the Baltic Sea forever.

Lithuania was once the largest empire in Europe. Lithuanian led forces beat the Khaganate and stopped their advance into Europe.

Laudanum

10-28-2011, 12:28 PM

I like this thread.

Motörhead Remember Me

10-29-2011, 03:53 PM

Lithuania was once the largest empire in Europe. Lithuanian led forces beat the Khaganate and stopped their advance into Europe.

:lightbul: Which for me proves the only logical; it's always the small stubborn people loaded with N1c men that defends Northern Europe from the Eastern yoke, the Mongols and the Russians.

The Ripper

11-14-2011, 08:29 AM

Tero Lehterä explains the differences between Swedish and Finnish hockey culture. ;)

aL-Nd9xOU2s

Stars Down To Earth

11-17-2011, 11:43 AM

:lightbul: Which for me proves the only logical; it's always the small stubborn people loaded with N1c men that defends Northern Europe from the Eastern yoke, the Mongols and the Russians.
Actually, if you actually read your history, you'd see that the Russians fought off the Mongol-Tartars while the Lithuanian-Polish kingdom was prone to allying with them...

Jerry

11-19-2011, 06:25 PM

Food, dances, traditional music, mindset, all of these differ, more or less.

But the biggest difference is in the attitudes towards each other. Scandinavians usually have a benevolent attitude towards the Finns, while the Finns hate the guts of the Scandinavians.

This is a load of BS. Finns don't hate Scandinavians at all! On the contrary, and I've never met a Finn who doesn't like Norwegians, and the Norwegians I've met have usually been fans of Finland as well..

Sweden relationship is a trickier one, but it's more of brotherly love which has its ups and downs :) It's more of just making fun of Swedes but not really meaning it, there is no real animosity. It's very different for example towards Russia, our other neigbours with who we don't really have a feeling of brotherhood at all and we don't even make fun of them because we are too scared! (or were scared).

This being said, fortunately the relationship with Russia is getting better and better. I have close Russian friends, and modern Finns don't usually have anything against Russians. But for example my grandfather had a deep hate against Russians, it wasn't really personal anything but for an America-admiring man like him the communists weren't favourites especially after the Soviets bombed our country when he was a kid, of course that had an influence.
And there is this other aspect that he was very "white" and there was still then in Finland a clear distance between whites and reds i.e. communists, after the Civil War and the victory by whites, so everything communist/socialist related was a curseword.

So Russians don't get angry about my post, we like you more and more! It's just what war does to different countries but it's all in the past now.

I just had to bring Russia here to describe the different relationship against Finland to Sweden vs. Russia. Sweden is not real dislike, but to Russia it used to be very cold relationship with fear and dislike.