Lynggaard Kathrine Højte - Hygge: the Danish art of happiness

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Michael Joseph is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published 2016

Copyright Marie Tourell Sderberg, 2016

The moral right of the author has been asserted

ISBN: 978-1-405-92813-7

Hyggelig to meet you.

And welcome to Hygge. Even though this word might be new to you, I am sure you already know it from your own life. In a nutshell, it is a Danish word for finding happiness in the little things in life.

Hygge is said to be closely related to the Danish national character. But in its essence it is not Danish, it is universal. Hygge is for everyone whoever you are, wherever you are.

My name is Marie Tourell Sderberg. I live in Copenhagen and work as an actress. As with most people these days, I sometimes feel caught up in my work. A rehearsal at the theatre is followed by a casting for a TV series, that is replaced by a session in the studio dubbing for a new Disney film and I forget to take time to let it all go and let myself just be.

At these times it is crucial for me to have hygge. Hygge time with family and friends, hygge moments with myself and a hyggelig home.

Hygge has many shapes and forms it looks different depending on who you ask. Over the course of the book you will meet a lot of Danes who explain how they hygge and what hygge is to them. You will also find inspiration on how to create a great basis for hygge to evolve in your everyday life.

For many Danes hygge is something you strive for. Its like a compass, steering us towards small moments that money cannot buy you, finding the magic in the ordinary.

To me, hygge is:

Meeting my sister for a walk in the park, chatting, laughing and clowning around, as if we were children again

Listening to the rain on the roof with a cup of tea and my boyfriend next to me

Drinking wine in my mums garden

Enjoying a cup of coffee with good friends, that becomes a dinner, that becomes a late-night drink, because no one wants the evening to end

When people from other countries talk about the Danish language they often say it is hard to learn. The grammar is very tricky and the pronunciation even trickier. Luckily, you dont have to learn Danish in order to speak hygge.

I speak Spanish with my boyfriend, but we always use the term hygge-out when we have plans to do something hyggelig. Or vamos a hygge-out. I find it difficult now not to use the term when I speak with non-Danish people. I use cosy to refer to all this, but I know it doesnt convey the full message of hyggelig. Its not that the concept of hygge doesnt exist in other cultures, but having a word for it makes you aware of it. All of a sudden you start to become aware of the many hyggelig parts of your everyday life.

Jlia Reig from Catalonia,
living with her boyfriend in Copenhagen

The Danish word hygge is a verb, an adjective and a noun: we are hygg-ing (verb); the house is hyggelig (adjective); it is time for hygge (noun).

Hygger Present tense of the verb to hygge, i.e. we are hygg-ing. Used to talk about doing a hyggelig activity or having a moment of hygge, e.g. What are you doing? We are hygg-ing.

Hyggliere/hyggeligste More/most hyggelig. That is the hyggeligste place Ive ever seen.

Hygge omHygge around or make hygge for someone, e.g. serving them tea or snacks, making them comfortable, wrapping them in blankets or chit-chatting with them.

Hygge sig To have a hyggelig time.

Hygge sig medHygg-ing oneself with something or having a hyggelig time doing something. Used to describe someone with a hobby, e.g. He is hygg-ing himself with playing the guitar; We are hygg-ing with this do-it-yourself project.

Kan du hygge dig/hyg dig A popular Danish greeting or informal way of saying goodbye (literally Can you hygge yourself/Hyg yourself).

There are also many compound words formed with hygge, for example family-hygge, hygge-beer and hygge-snack. At the back of the book you will find a dictionary with lots more hygge compound words.

Hygge is a state of being you experience if you are at peace with yourself, your spouse, the tax authorities and your inner organs.

Tove Ditlevsen, Danish writer and poet

Danes would be lost without the word hygge. They tell each other how much they are looking forward to hygge together, they point out how hyggelig a situation is while they are hygg-ing, and afterwards they like to talk about what a great hygge time they have had together.

The word originates from the proto-language Old Norse hyggja means thinking and feeling satisfied and is related to finding shelter, rest and safety, and regaining energy and courage.

Within the newer branch of psychology, called narrative therapy, we talk about our identity being created by the stories we tell about ourselves and each other. Therefore, the language and the words we use and have available to us are crucial to who we are and how we understand ourselves.