Skål is a Scandinavian toast for friendship and goodwill, often heard in regions with large Scandinavian populations. It implies a wish for good luck and good health and can be said individually or collectively. It has been used in Old Norse poems and is compared to “cheers” or “slainte”. It is also used in the names of some beer and spirits companies and organizations celebrating friendship and goodwill.
A skål is a Scandinavian toast of friendship and goodwill that can be offered while drinking, sitting down to eat, or at a formal event. Some fans of Scandinavian culture have popularized the toast beyond its home countries, and it can often be heard in many particular corners of the world, especially in regions with large Scandinavian populations. The word can also be spelled skal or skaal.
Like other toasts, a skål implies a wish for good luck and good health and has very friendly connotations. There are many different ways to say this, ranging from a series of individual toasts where everyone toasts everyone else, taking a sip of a drink with each toast, and a collective skål shouted by a group of drinkers or diners. As you can imagine, in a series of individual toasts where everyone greets each person individually, one tends to get quite drunk by the end.
Several Old Norse poems greeting famous people have included a ‘skål’ or two in the verses, as is the case with ‘Gustaf’s skål’, an 18th-century song which the king later adopted as his official anthem, because he was so fond of it. In poems such as this, the celebrant is usually highly praised, with lines such as “greatest king in the north”. At some parties, people may improvise their own extended speech or toast, especially at an event where people are celebrating a wedding or other important life event.
As a casual toast, “skål” can be compared to “cheers” or “slainte”, words that often appear in bars as people greet each other before each round of drinks. The word has become so associated with the drink that several beer and spirits companies have a drink that uses it as a name in their lines. In reference to the harsh Scandinavian winters, a skål is often a winter beer.
Several organizations also use the term in their names, referencing the idea that they were founded to celebrate friendship and goodwill.
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