🇩🇰 Danish Ancient Wisdom 🧠

In Denmark, knocking on wood isn’t enough, you have to say “Syv, ni, tretten” (seven, nine, thirteen). 🇩🇰 But why? I asked 10 Danes and none of them knew. So now I do it too... just in case I’m avoiding some ancient Nordic curse. 😅

If you're visiting or moving to Denmark, this is one of those quirky Danish superstitions you’ll want to know.

#Denmark #DanishCulture #DanishSuperstitions #LivingInDenmark #MovingToDenmark #DanishTraditions #ScandinavianLife #CulturalDifferences #ExpatLife #HouseOfEl

[konzack]

In Denmark, the expression "7, 9, 13" (syv, ni, tretten) is a traditional good luck charm used to ward off misfortune, similar to "knock on wood" in English. People say it—often while knocking under a wooden table—after mentioning something they hope will go well or continue positively. The numbers themselves have symbolic meanings: 7 and 9 are considered lucky or magical in various cultures and Norse mythology, while 13, typically seen as unlucky, is used here apotropaically, as if invoking it prevents bad luck. The phrase likely became common in early 20th-century Danish culture, blending numerology and superstition into everyday speech.

[jhviid]

Those are the lucky numbers used in fairy tales. 7 dwarves. the 9 daughters. 13 wise women. It’s just a reference to luck. 🍀

[dikran]

Det ved jeg sgu da godt! Jeg er født og opvokset i Danmark!
🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰
7-9-13, du! 😎

[olerasmussen]

7 is a lucky number 9 In the Protestant church, the bell rings 3 times for 3 prayers when the bell rings for service. 13 is a about lucky numbers and as a number haunted by bad luck, partly because the traitor Judas was number 13, who sat at the table at the Holy Supper with Jesus and 11 other apostles.

[EFJoKeR]

"Seven, nine, thirteen" is something you used to say, when you said something bold, to ward of evil spirits. More specifically the Nemesis.
Something like "Well, at least i still have my good health", followed by saying "Seven, nine, thirteen", often accompanied by knocking on wood.

The three numbers, are also numbers that have been considdered "unlucky" or often used in story telling, back in the day.
"Friday the 13'th"
"The 7 dwarves"
"The cats 9 lives"

There's a ton of mythology behind it, but it would take hours to fill the gaps. If you find it interesting, i do recommend looking up the lore. It's quite fascinating...

[JKristofferNielsen]

I got that sequence as part of my phone number. Makes it easier for Danes to remember it! But do not use it as a PIN code, it is too commonly used for that purpose.

[MortenFAB]

“Bevingede Ord” af T. Vogel-Jørgensen fra 2001, s 598…

[dannykastrup]

7 9 13 is actualy an old taxi central nummer as In 3677 7 9 13 and thats why, denmark is not that big so everybody in copenhagen knew that nummer, its just some old joke

[poull.sivebaekjensen]

It's old superstition all coming as a "anti"-superstition towards the Biblical Word's... 7, 9 and 12 is considered Gods Number, while the last supper had 13 at the table and one went to the Cross - however the previous 1000 times nothing bad happened only good things... How this became a thing is kinda weird...