Lotta Svärd (poem)

"Lotta Svärd" – Swedish: svärd means a sword – is the fourth poem in the second part of Johan Ludvig Runeberg's epic poem The Tales of Ensign Stål from 1860.

The "Lotta Svärd" poem is about a woman who manned a field kitchen during the Finnish War. The name was later used for several Lotta movements (women's auxiliary movements) in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway).[1][2][3][4]

"Lottas" refers to the volunteer women who participated in the national defence in a variety of roles.[5]

German playwright Bertolt Brecht modelled his character of Mother Courage partially on Lotta Svärd in his 1939 play Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children), written while he was in exile from Nazi Germany in Sweden.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Perälä, Reijo (22 November 2019). "Lotta Svärd antoi nimensä Suomen maanpuolustusnaisille". Yle. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. ^ "13. Mistä nimi Lotta Svärd tulee?". Lotta Svärd. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. ^ Esteri (5 February 2019). "Runeberg, Lotta ja Svärd". Nostalgiset Naiset. Archived from the original on 10 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Järjestön historiallinen tausta". Koulukino. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  5. ^ Tara (21 April 2021). "April stamps celebrate Lotta Svärd and the postcard". Helsinki Times. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  6. ^ Remshardt, Ralf (2023). "Mother Courage and Her Children on stage and screen" (PDF). Retrieved 9 September 2025.
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