Christmas in Norway

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As in the other Scandinavian countries, Christmas in Norway has retained its pre-Christian name, Jul. The main event for Norwegians is on Christmas Eve (December 24th), the evening when the main Christmas meal is served and gifts are exchanged.

1 Food
2 Nissen
3 Other customs
4 Julebukk, Nyttårsbukk, Drammebukk
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Food

There are several different traditions of Christmas main dishes, served on Christmas Eve, around Norway. In the past, there were sharp regional differences, but these have been progressively blurred as mobility has increased.

In Western Norway (Vestlandet), mutton ribs (Pinnekjøtt, lit. "pin meat") is a common dish, while near the town of Voss, mutton head (Smalahove) is eaten. Lutefisk is another common dish, but it's losing popularity because children and adults alike are skeptical of its strangeness. In Northern Norway, boiled cod is more common. In Eastern Norway, pork ribs (Svineribbe) is the most common dish. With all these dishes, mashed swede and boiled potatoes are usually served.

Of course, not everyone has a traditional dinner, reportedly a significant portion of the population prefers junk-food, such as Grandiosa pizza.

To some, Christmas Eve dinner begins with rice porridge which contains one almond that wins a prize. A bowl is traditionally put out for the unpredictable Nissen so that he will continue to watch over the animals and not turn mischievous.

Almost all Norwegian breweries produce traditional Christmas beer (juleøl), which is darker, stronger and has more flavour than the common Norwegian lagers. Breweries also produce a special Christmas soda (julebrus), which in some parts of the country is a red raspberry soda, with a Christmas label on the bottle. Akvavit is also common.

Christmas dishes are also served on julebord, where people from work gather in a restaurant around early December to eat Christmas food and drink alcoholic beverages.

Also, a large variety of Christmas cakes or cookies (julekaker) exist. Traditionally, the mother of the house is expected to bake 7 types of julekaker.

[edit] Nissen

The "Fjøsnisse" ("barn gnome") became an often used motif on Norwegian Christmas cards from right before the last century. Here is a Bergen motif from a known Norwegian fjøsnisse artist Nils Bergslien

Up until a few hundred years ago, many Norwegians believed that a gnome called the fjøsnisse (literally "Barn Santa", however the correct translation would be "barn gnome") helped around the farm, for example by taking care of the animals, especially if he was given good food and drink on Christmas Eve. He was a sort of household elf or gnome that lived in attics and barns. The fjøsnisse is somewhat similar to the British hobgoblin, the German kobold, and the Irish leprechaun.

Julenissen (Santa Claus), modern version

In modern Norway, however, the fjøsnisse has been gradually replaced by the more global Santa Claus (Julenisse). Apart from the name, the two have little in common. In most families with children, a member of the family dresses up as the Julenisse and brings gifts to the children.

[edit] Other customs

Some people visit the gravesites of departed family members and place candles on the graves. Christmas Eve is also the only day of the year that church services are well visited up in the largely secular Norway.

[edit] Julebukk, Nyttårsbukk, Drammebukk

It is common for children to pay visits to neighbours where they are given candy, nuts and clementines. Each area has a fixed tradition for this; it varies throughout the country. It's called Julebukk or Nyttårsbukk. In some places, kids may go out every day between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, and in other places, they may only go out on New Year's Eve. In most areas, the children dress up. This tradition is somewhat similar to the American Halloween tradition, but kids are not supposed to scare people, and they are not allowed to do bad things in order to get candy (as in Halloween "trick or treat"). They are instead expected to sing a Christmas carol or perform in some other way. Some or most are too shy to do this, and simply collect the candy.

In some areas, adults may dress up later in the evening and pay visits to neighbours in much the same way as the children (Drammebukk), but the main difference is that adults are given drinks instead of candy.