Sweden’s traditional Christmas animal has horns, but it’s not the reindeer

Have you heard of the Yule goat?

Santa Claus has his famous reindeers that pull him across the night Christmas sky at a lightning speed so he can deliver the presents to all the good boys and girls. Given that these animals originate from the northern latitudes it would be normal to assume that it was Scandinavians who added them to the common treasure of symbols that is now Christmas. But surprisingly, Sweden’s traditional Christmas animal has always been the goat, so much so that it even predates Christmas itself.

Norse mythology tells us that the almighty god Thor rode across the sky in a chariot pulled by two goats Tanngnjóstr, or “teeth grinder” in Old Norse, and Tanngrisnir or “teeth bearer”. That starts to remind us an awful lot of someone else, doesn’t it?

Or is it a harvest tradition?

Others have proposed that the goat veneration in Sweden comes from ancient agricultural practices when the last sheaf of grain was saved as a bundle (which looked like a goat) for Yule midwinter celebrations.

The role of the Yule goat has changed over time. In Scandinavia, in the 18th century, young men in horned costumes would walk between houses singing songs and performing pranks. The group of Christmas characters would often include the Yule goat, a rowdy, sometimes scary, creature. The men actually demanded presents from the households, seemingly as a way to pacify the mean spirits.

But then things changed at some point, as they tend to do, and the Yule goat became a gift-giver rather than a gift-taker. And as such, it started joining Santa Claus in his duties.

A popular Christmas prank was to make a Yule goat out of straw or wood and then place it in a neighbour’s house without them noticing. The family that was pranked then had to get rid of it in the same way.

In modern Scandinavia, the Yule goat has become a popular Christmas ornament and decoration. These modern goats are usually made of straw and bound with a red ribbon. It is also a tradition to place them on the main squares of some towns, where things occasionally get even more bizarre.

But this is a story that we tell in our next article!