Rike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rike is the Swedish and Norwegian word for "realm", in Danish spelled rige, of similar meaning as German Reich. The word is traditionally used for sovereign entities; a country with a King or Queen as head of state, such as the United Kingdom or Sweden itself, is a (kunga)rike, literally a "royal realm".
The word is used in "Svea rike", with the current spelling Sverige, the name of Sweden in Swedish. It is based on an analogy to Svealand and to Mother Svea, a symbolic representation of the nation. It is also present in the names of institutions such as the Riksdag, Sveriges Riksbank, Riksgäldskontoret, Riksåklagaren, Rikspolisstyrelsen, Riksteatern, riksdaler, etc. The word is often used synonymously to nation, as in rikstäckande, nationwide.
The Lord's Prayer uses the words in the Swedish version — Tillkomme ditt rike (Thy kingdom come).
Although etymologically connected with the German word Reich, it does not have any of the negative connotations that the German word has acquired in modern times due to the atrocities of the Third Reich.
For etymology and cognates, see the article on Reich.
