The Yule goat is a

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n and

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

Yule Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

symbol and tradition. Its origin is from

Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological dating, chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the Bri ...

and has existed in many variants during Scandinavian history. Modern representations of the Yule goat are typically made of straw.

History

While its origins are unclear, a popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats,

Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr Tanngrisnir (Old Norse: , literal meaning "teeth grinder" or "one that grinds teeth") and Tanngnjóstr (, "teeth thin", or "one that has gaps between the teeth") are the goats who pull the chariot of the god Thor in Norse mythology. They are atte ...

; it goes back to common Indo-European beliefs. The last sheaf of grain bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule celebrations, called among other things Yule goat (''Julbocken'').Schager, Karin. ''Julbocken i folktro och jultradition'' (Yule goat in Folklore and Christmas tradition), Rabén & Sjögren, 1989. This connects to ancient proto-Slavic beliefs where the

Koliada Koliada or koleda (Cyrillic: коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, for Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Ch ...

(Yule) festival honors the god of the fertile sun and the harvest. This god, Devac (also known as Dazbog or ''

Dažbog Dazhbog (), alternatively Daždźboh (), Dazhboh (), Dažbog, Dazhdbog, Dajbog, Daybog, Dabog, Dazibogu, or Dadźbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and possibly a cultural hero. He is one of several a ...

''), was represented by a white goat, Kropej, Monika. Supernatural Beings From Slovenian Myth and Folktales, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2012. consequently the Koliada festivals always had a person dressed as a goat, often demanding offerings in the form of presents. Zguta, Russell. "Russian Minstrels", University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978. A man-sized goat figure is known from 11th-century remembrances of Childermas, where it was led by a man dressed as

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

, symbolizing his control over the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. Other traditions are possibly related to the sheaf of corn called the Yule goat. In Sweden, people regarded the Yule goat as an invisible spirit that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done right. Objects made out of straw or roughly-hewn wood could also be called the Yule goat, and in older Scandinavian society a popular Christmas prank was to place this Yule goat in a neighbour's house without them noticing; the family successfully pranked had to get rid of it in the same way. The function of the Yule goat has differed throughout the ages. In a Scandinavian custom similar to the English tradition of

wassailing The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail, which traditionally occurs on the twelfth day of Christmastide ...

, held at either Christmas or Epiphany, young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays and performing pranks. This tradition is known from the 17th century and still continues in certain areas. The group of Christmas characters would often include the Yule goat, a rowdy and sometimes scary creature demanding gifts. Nystrom God-Jul 11

During the 19th century the Yule goat's role all over Scandinavia shifted towards becoming the

Christmas gift-bringer A number of Midwinter or Christmas traditions in European folklore involve gift-bringers. Mostly involving the figure of a bearded old man, the traditions have mutually influenced one another, and have adopted aspects from Christian hagiography, ...

, with one of the men in the family dressing up as the Yule goat. In this, there might be a relation to

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

and the Yule goat's origin in the medieval celebrations of Saint Nicholas. The goat was then replaced by the ''jultomte'' (

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

) or ''julenisse'' during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, although he is still called the ''Joulupukki'' (Yule goat) in Finland, and the tradition of the man-sized goat disappeared.

The modern Yule goat

The Yule goat in Nordic countries today is best known as a

Christmas ornament Christmas ornaments, baubles, globes, "Christmas bulbs", or "Christmas bubbles" are decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be woven, blown (glass or plastic), molded (ceramic or metal), carved from woo ...

. This modern version of the Yule goat figure is a decorative goat made out of straw and bound with red ribbons, a popular Christmas ornament often found under or on the

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

. Large versions of this ornament are frequently erected in towns and cities around Christmas time; a tradition started with the

Gävle goat Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

in 1966. This tradition has been plagued by vandalism and arson. To prevent this the ornament is guarded. This has resulted in more creative attempts to burn it down.

Julebukking

Julebukking is a Christmas tradition of Scandinavian origin. Between Christmas and

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

, people wearing masks and costumes (''Julebukkers'') go door to door, where neighbors receiving them attempt to identify who is under the disguise. In one version of Julebukking, people go door to door singing Christmas songs. After they have sung, they are usually rewarded with candy. Another tradition requires that at least one person from the visited household join the band of Julebukkers and continue to the next household. In certain aspects, the custom resembled the modern-day tradition of

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

trick-or-treating. Julebukkers will often disguise their voices and body language to further the masquerade. Offering people holiday treats and something to drink is customary. Once identities are known and the food is eaten, the Julebukkers continue to the next home.''Julebukk'' (Juleleker)
Retrieved 14 November 2013

Popular culture

The Christmas goat is mentioned in many older Christmas songs dated back to the late 19th and early 20th century, when the Santa Claus tradition had not been fully established throughout Sweden. Among the songs are " Julbocken", " Julpolska" and " Raska fötter springa tripp, tripp, tripp".

Depictions

File:Little Straw Animals.jpg, Yule goat in Stockholm File:00599 Christbaumschmuck aus Stroh von Sanok 2012 12.JPG, Straw Christmas tree ornaments File:Adventkirmes in Sanok. 2014-21-21..JPG, Yule goat ornaments in Poland File:Rudawka Rymanowska 2014.JPG, Yule goat ornaments in Poland File:Julbockar 003.JPG, Swedish Yule goat ornaments File:John Bauer Julbock.jpg, ''Julbocken'' by John Bauer (1912) File:Julbock_gransmycke.jpg, Modern Yule goat ornaments File:02014 Strohbock aus Polen, Karpatenvorland, Sanok.JPG, Straw Yule goat ornament from Poland

References

Other sources

*Reade, Arthur (1919)
Finland and the Finns
' (Dodd, Mead and Company) *Rossel, Sven H.; Elbrönd-Bek, Bo (1996)
Christmas in Scandinavia
'. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) *Berg, Knut Anders (1993) ''Julen i norsk og utenlandsk tradisjon '' (Oslo: Gyldendal)

External links

Official page of the Gävle goat (English)
* {{Christmas Nordic Christmas traditions Christmas characters Scandinavian legendary creatures Scandinavian folklore Winter traditions Straw art Goats Christmas gift-bringers Yule Thor