A Brief History and Lore of Swedish Christmas Traditions and the Swedish Tomte (Christmas Gnome)
Christmas in Sweden always begins with lighting the first candle of Advent. This year the first Sunday of Advent was the 30th of November. This is the day that many Scandinavians in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and maybe even in Iceland light the first candle in preparation for the Christmas holiday season to come. Christmas or "Christ mass" for Christians, whereas in the Jewish faith, the lighting of the Menorah begins December 15 on Hanukkah, the festival of lights. There are so many interesting holiday traditions across our glove, they are too numerous to mention here. We live in a very interesting and diverse world with many people celebrating the holidays in different ways.
*2025 is the year we need to make it festive in our homes, so lets light some candles and really celebrate the season!
Every year all of us Scandinavians have a little gnome that lurks around our homes, especially during the Christmas season and particularly associated with the winter solstice. In Sweden it is called tomte, in Norway and Denmark it is called nisse, in Finland it is tontuu, and in Iceland they are called Yule Lads. In Iceland they also have Yule Cat, but that's another story for another day.
In Sweden the tomte has it's origins in connection with the old farmsteads. There was always a tomte that helped the farmer and his family take care of the animals and to make sure that they were well taken care of. The tomte made sure that they were fed and not mistreated by their owners. The modern image of the tomte was first seen in Sweden in the 1860s, mostly on Christmas magazines and cards. In the 1880s a very famous artist by the name of Jenny Nyström began drawing and painting tomtar and really made the image popular in Sweden. It is so important to have a tomte or tomtar around your house, especially this time of the year. They are good helpers. Be sure to leave them a bowl of porridge during the Christmas season as a way of saying thanks for all their help throughout the year.
Sankta Lucia is celebrated on December 13th in Sweden. It is another warm up celebration prior to Christmas after it became popularized in Stockholm in 1927. The name Lucia comes from the Latin word lux which means light. Lucia is an Italian saint from Cicily, Italy. St. Lucia was a Christan who lived in the year 300AD during the Roman era. She attended to the sick and dying wearing a crown of candles so that her hands were free to carry food and drink to the needy. Her red sash symbolizes blood. Legend has it that she was beheaded with a sword in Syracuse, Cicly after an attempt to burn her alive failed to harm her. The legend of Santa Lucia was adopted by the Swedish culture as a symbol of light and hope in the darkest days of December and would become a beacon of hope and light for many during the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. In Sweden and other countries, many girls dress in white gowns as Santa Lucia and wear a brass crown of live candles and parade around in retirement homes, offices serving lussekatter or lucia cats (saffron buns) and coffee to many delighted people. There are now plastic Lucia crowns with electric candles that many girls wear instead which is usually safer and less cumbersome. Lucia's attendents include boys dressed as star boys in white robes and cone shaped hats with stars on them. Lucia's female attendants also wear white robes and wear crowns made of tinsel and carry candles.
Christmas Eve in Sweden is celebrated with a special array of foods called a smörgåsbord. In the old days the Christmas pig was slaughtered in the fall and almost every part of the pig was consumed with very little waste. The Christmas smärgåsbord includes lots of little dishes which include: Swedish meatballs, several varieties of pickled herring or sill, crisp bread or knäcke bröd, limpa bread, a variety of cheeses, lingonberry jam (utilized as a side dish to complement the meats and potatoes), brown beans, smoked sausages with mustard, lutefisk, salmon (either smoked or cured- rökt or gravlax), boiled potatoes with dill, Jansson's temptation with Swedish anchovies, gingersnap cookies or pepparkakor and cardamon coffee cake. No smorgasbord is complete without mulled wine or glögg. You can spice the vodka yourself or purchase a bottle of the spiced liquid and add inexpensive wine and/or spirits to it, or make non-alcoholic glögg.
The Gift Box-Scandinavian Imports carrys a lot of the products and foods mentioned above. Please look at our website for a sampling of the Scandinavian foods we carry this time of year.
GOD JUL and Gott Nytt År to all our wonderful customers and we thank you for your continued support. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season in 2025. Take time to enjoy the simple things in life.
Maria, Hans, Jeanne and Tessa
|
