Law of Jante

Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose formulated the law as ten rules in his 1933 satirical novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks. The fictional town of Jante was modeled on his hometown of Nykøbing Mors in Denmark. Sandemose did not claim to have invented the attitudes — he was codifying social norms he believed had shaped the Scandinavian psyche for centuries. The term janteloven has since entered everyday language in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.