Christmas in Denmark
Let’s be honest, the only reason we’re celebrating Denmark is because Ben wanted to dress Miles and Edison up in gnome costumes. But that’s a pretty good reason The legacy of gnomes (aka: nisse, tomte) to Scandinavia has lasted for centuries. They were viewed as looking after the farms and providing good fortune. And it was easy to keep them happy with nothing more than an occasional bowl of porridge. In the 1840s, traditions shifted so that the tomte became the bearer of Christmas presents in Denmark and the bowl of porridge became a Christmas Eve staple. That tradition has largely held since then with a recent addition of the Yule goat being a frequent companion for them. And because tomte are known to be no more than three feet tall, this was the perfect year to cross Denmark off our list and dress Miles and Edison up in their tomte finest.
And because our family loves a good Yule goat too, this was the perfect day to tie in our Gavle Goat (Julbocken) tradition. The official Gavle Goat is a 40 foot tall straw goat that is erected in Gavle, Sweden every year. But it has a history of being burnt to the ground by vandals. It is completely illegal to do so, but it makes a great story for whether the goat will survive to Christmas. Since its beginning, 38 of 56 goats have been destroyed or damaged in some way (ie: arson, rammed by car, attempted theft by helicopter, flaming arrows shot by gingerbread men, etc…). We’ve been watching the live webcam from Gavle every day and this year’s goat has survived! It felt a shame to not have some form of continuation of the fiery traditions, so we took matters into our own hands, constructed our own Yule Goat once again, and burned it to the ground!
Throughout the day, we had a smorgasbord of Danish foods including ebelskevers, pickled herring, roast pork loin with vermouth gravy, pickled red cabbage, risengrod rice pudding, and glogg. That all was great, but one of the reasons why Denmark was perfect to place on Christmas Eve is that they really savor the celebration and keep it relaxed, which is just what we needed. From December 24th – 26th, offices and stores in Demark are closed and there is a virtual shutdown of the country. In fact, the city busses stop running for several hours on Christmas Eve so as to allow everyone to enjoy dinner with family. The electricity and gas utilities see a spike in use when people start their ovens for their roast duck or roast pork and their caramelized potatoes. There are no phones at the table, no computers in the mornings, and it’s three days of solid family time and relaxation. After the Christmas Eve feast has wrapped up, families join hands, sing Christmas hymns, and dance around the Christmas tree (which we tried our best to do with toddler twins). The tree is traditionally lit with actual lighted candles (which we absolutely did not try to do with toddler twins). And after those traditions, families open their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve.
And that is exactly how we spent our Christmas Eve with a day full of of gnome costumes, dancing around the Christmas tree, burning Yule Goats, glogg, and full hearts
MENU:
Pickled Herring
Caramelized Potatoes
Pickled Red Cabbage
Risengrod w/ Butter (Marzipan Pig & Good Fortune for Finder of Hidden Almond)
ACTIVITIES:
Tomte Costumes for Twins
“The Tomten” Kids Book
“Julekalendar” TV Series
Burning of the Gavle Goat
Family Presents After Dinner
Dancing Around Christmas Tree
INTERESTING READS & CONTEXT:
