CVC's Christmas in Scandinavia

Christmas in

SCANDINAVIA

Throughout Scandinavia:

What can we say? It gets cold in Scandinavia, very cold...and the days become very short due to the high longitude numbers. Therefore when the shortest day of winter comes, it is a time for celebration. Why? The next 364 days will have more daylight! In case you haven't heard of the greenhouse effect, it is the light that turns into warmth. That is a cause for celebration!

Yuletide means "the sun's turning", refering to the winter solstice at which point the sun starts its upward journey from 23.5 S latitude towards 23.5 N latitude. Scandinavian celebrations center around the coming of longer hours of daylight and rising temperatures. Yet festivities have their myths, also. One myth was that the dead would roam the earth on Christmas Eve. The extended families would sleep together for mutual protection.

The custom of a Yule log comes from scandinavia. The base of a large tree would be stuck into a fire place. As the bottom portion of the tree was consumed by fire, the tree would be pushed further in. Yes, the winter nights in this region are cold and long, but not that severe! Actually, the timing of the log's burn was carefully controled so that it would last the entire Yule season.

Sweden:

A millenia ago, Sweden's King Canute declared that Christmas would last an entire month! It would start on December 13 (Feast of St. Lucia) and last until January 13 (Tjugondag Knut = St. Canute's Day). Lucia, celebrated on the first day of the season is a 4th century Sicilian saint, but somehow she became revered in Sweden. The reason is unclear. One source says she was once a visitor to the country, yet another that stories of her life which were spread by missionaries entranced the Swedish people. The tale goes that during the early days of Christian persecution, she risked her life to bring food to fellow Christians in hiding. Since they were hiding in unlit tunnels, she would light the way with a wreath that she wore on her head containing lit candles. Eventually, Lusia was caught, arrested and martyd.

During the feast of St. Lucia, the eldest daughter of each household puts on a white dress with red sash and places a wreath with seven candles upon her head. She then very cautiously carries coffee and pasteries to each family member. Carols are often sung during the Lucia processionals which are sponsored by schools, communities, and businesses. Lucia, the "Queen of Light" brings hope during the season with the long nights.

Another interesting Swedish Christmas custom is the existance of a Christmas gnome, called tomte. Throughout the year, he stays hidden underneath the house, but at Christmas he emerges carrying a sack of presents over his shoulder. From the sack, he pulls gifts for all the household members.

An interesting note: There is a large swedish settlement just north of Visalia, CA where we are located.

Denmark:

The big event in Denmark, the Christmas feast, is celebrated at midnight on Christmas Eve. The big event of the dinner is the dessert: a specially made rice pudding within which a single almond is hidden. Whoever finds the almond will receive good luck for the year to come.

In America there is Santa Clause, but in Denmark there is Julemanden who arrives in a sleigh drawn by reindeer. Like Sweden's gnome, he has a sack over his back. Julemanden's assistants are elves called Juul Nisse, who inhabit attics. Kids leave out rice pudding or milk for them which they always consume to the children's delight.

Norway:

This was our first essay on Norway that has been kindly corrected by Lene Rustad. To understand Lene's essay, we include the original first:

When it comes to gift-giving gnomes, Norway falls in line with the other Scandinavian countries. Called Julebukk or "Christmas buck," he is goat-like creature. Julebukk goes back to Viking times when pagans worshipped Thor and his goat. During pagan celebrations a person carrying a goat head and dressed in a goatskin would make a surprize entrance into a party and during the course of evening and would "die" and return to life. During the early Christian era, the goat would transform into a devil-like critter, and would appear during times of wild merry-making. By the end of the Middle Ages, the Church and state had forbidden the game. In more recent times the goat has reformed and emerged as the tamer Julebukk.

From: Lene Rustad
To: 'cvchs@cvc.org'
Date: Thursday, November 19, 1998 5:54 AM
Subject: Christmas In Norway

Hi!
I just read how we celebrate Christmas in Norway according to your web-page and I feel I have to come with some corrections... We have a Santa Claus that comes with gifts on Christmas Eve (24th) that is a man with a white beard (much like the American version) and that is called "julenissen". We also have little versions of the this santa which is calles smånisser ("small santas)- this is in the countryside- (much like the Swedish "tomter") that eat the pouridge one usually put out when it's Christmas. Julebukken is a Christmas tradition but it is a little bit different than described on the web-page. Children dress up (like Santas little helpers sort of) and go around singing Christmas carols at other people's doors. In exchange for the singing one is given candy. We call it to go "julebukk" (a little bit like Halloween , only the children sing songs and dress up Christmas-like) This is done between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. I don't know anything about the origins of these traditions, but this is pretty much how we celebrate Christmas today. The traditions have probably become more commercialized and also americanized over the years as has society in general.

Best Regards
Lene Rustad

Finland:

Here is an email from Topi Tuomi telling how season's greetings are vocalized in Finland.

From: Topi Tuomi tktuomi@premierweb.net
To: Bill Drennon bdrennon@theworks.com
Date: Thursday, December 18, 1997 1:43 PM
Subject: Saying Merry Christmas in Finnish

Hi Bill,
I made two files with win95 Sound Recorder:
hjfin.wav says: "Hyvää Joulua" (Good Christmas) - ä is like a in cat -
hjoufin.wav says: "Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta" (Good Christmas and Happy New Year). Note that Finnish has the accent always on the first syllable of each word; sometimes there is almost no accent at all for some words in a sentence.

I'd like to add a link to your Finnish section, since Joulupukki (Santa) lives in Korvatunturi, Finnish Lappland. Page http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/joulueng.html is a very well written story of Christmas in Finland. At the end of the page there are some more links; you can even listen to Pukki speaking in Finnish (no accent) and English (heavy Finnish accent)! Joulupukki is clearly Finnish!

Hauskaa Joulua (Merry Christmas)!
Topi Tuomi

PS. Hyvää Joulua is 10 times more common than Hauskaa Joulua. Just before the New Year or right after it the Finns say Hyvää Uutta Vuotta to each other, but when they meet the first time in the new year (a few days after the New Years Day) they wish Hyvää Jatkoa (Good Continuation [of the just started year]) to each other.

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