Christmas comes but once a year, and this year – as ever – promises to be a wondrous time for one and all. But with money a little tighter this time, many of us will be falling back on tradition to keep our holidays full of cheer. That said, the traditions we follow in the UK are not representative of what Christmas means for many others, especially in Northern and Eastern Europe where many of them began!
So, since we’re all intimately familiar with the Christmas light displays of our neighbourhood, the nativity scenes of our primary schools, and the leaving-out of mince pies and carrots on Christmas eve – what are some lesser-known Christmas traditions from the other side of the North Sea?
Sweden’s Gavle Goat
Sweden is no stranger to oblique Christmas tradition, with its own take on the company Father Christmas keeps. Rather than a sleigh, there are those in Sweden that depict Santa as riding a Yuletide goat; indeed, goats have something of a mythic presence with regard to the festive season.
This is brought to its natural conclusion in the Swedish town of Gavle, where a large effigy of a goat is built each year to ring in the festivities. In recent years, though, it has attained international infamy owing to its unfortunate fate at the hands of arsonists…
Ukraine’s Spider Webs
Spiders are more commonly accepted as harbingers of Halloween than any other holiday in the UK – owing, in large part, to their undeniable and unavoidable creep factor. However, in Ukraine spiders take on a whole new festive meaning, with thanks to a popular folk tale that endures to this day.
In brief, the tale concerns a poor widow and her children. A pine tree grows outside their home, but the widow has no money to properly decorate it. In the hope of bringing some joy to her family, she decorates it with nuts and fruit – drawing the attention of local spiders, who take it upon themselves to weave beautiful webs around the tree in time for Christmas Day. Today, the tale endures in tradition, with spider and web decorations used in their trees.
Austria, and the Krampus
Creepy as spiders can be, Ukraine sees them in a benevolent light. But this doesn’t mean that the festive season can’t take a true turn for the creepy – as evidenced by the existence of horned nightmare-on-legs Krampus.
Krampus is an Austrian invention in chief, a creature of folklore said to assist Saint Nicholas in his judgement of young children. Where the famous inspiration for Father Christmas rewards good behaviour, Krampus punishes poor behaviour, typically with the administration of birch rods.
Krampus has since become more popular across the west, resulting in the widespread adoption of traditional events such as the Krampuslauf or Krampus run – in which people dress as the demonic character and stalk the streets of their town, scaring children and drinking schnapps as they go.
