The Swedish Academy, founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body that chooses the laureates for the annual Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in memory of the donor Alfred Nobel.
Headquarters
Dag Hammarskjöld's farm in Backåkra, used as a retreat for academy members
Image: Bo Ralph
Image: David Håkansson
Swedish is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countries overall.
The initial page of the first complete copy of Västgötalagen, the law code of Västergötland, from c. 1280. It is one of the earliest texts in Swedish written in the Latin script.
Front page of Gustav Vasa's Bible from 1541, using Fraktur. The title translated to English reads: "The Bible / That is / The Holy Scripture / in Swedish. Printed in Uppsala. 1541".
August Strindberg, one of the most influential writers in modern Swedish literature.
A sign on the wall of a Swedish hotel, using both the recommended dem and the colloquial dom for the word "them" on the same sign.
