How do norway celebrate christmas

That honour goes to julenisse. A creation from Scandinavian folklore, a nisse tomte in Sweden is a short creature with a long white beard and a red hat.

Julenisse means the gift-bearing nisse at Christmas time. Sound familiar? The festivities tend to get going in the early part of December. That's when Christmas markets spring up in towns and cities across the city.

While snow is not guaranteed at this time of year in many places, you are pretty assured of chilly temperatures! Stalls typically offer a selection of products from local craftspeople and artists.

There's also a strong focus on food. This ranges from opportunities to buy local produce from farmers meats, cheeses and gifts to tucking into a reindeer burger in a tent by an open fire. Ah, the good old fashioned Christmas party! Partners are usually welcome. That means that most Norwegians will attend two or more of these events during December, or possibly even in late November. These communal gatherings are an important part of Norwegian culture.

Traditional food more on that later! Large amounts of alcohol are consumed and normally followed up with a late-night party with the exception of school julebords of course! Curiously enough, while Norwegians normally dress fairly casually, the julebord is one of the rare occasions when they dress up in formal attire. If you're about to attend your first julebord, don't show up in jeans! While the English eat turkey and Americans tend towards ham, roast beef, or goose, Norwegian Christmas food is based around totally different traditions.

But what's on the dinner table does vary. But it also varies. The food Norwegians eat at Christmas is largely defined along regional lines. Perhaps the most common Christmas dish is ribbe , which is simply seasoned pork belly. It's usually served with sauerkraut and redcurrant sauce.

But what about lutefisk, I hear all the Norwegian Americans ask! Well as far as I can see, lutefisk is eaten in the couple months prior to Christmas, but not necessarily at the main dinner.

If you're wondering what lutefisk is, head on over here for the full details. These are Christmas versions of their beers, most usually darker and spicier than their regular brews. For those who don't drink alcohol, most breweries also produce julebrus , It's a sweet soda loved by Norwegians young and old, and a great alternative for designated drivers or those who don't drink alcohol.

Sit back and watch the fireworks. The most popular sweet treat at this time of year is pepperkake , a crispy gingerbread. They are available in shops in small cookie form, typically in the shapes of stars or people, but are often home-made too. A common sight during the Christmas period are gingerbread houses, made from a thicker mixture and decorated with icing and other sweets. One of the biggest Norwegian traditions is actually n the British capital, London!

Each year, Norway fells a tree in the forests outside Oslo. This ceremony is usually attended by senior politicians and the British Ambassador, among others. Typically, a year-old Norway spruce at more than 20 metres tall is chosen. The tree is then sent to London to stand proudly in Trafalgar Square as a vital part of London's festive makeover. The reason for all this? But the Trafalgar Square tree is actually just one of several that Norway gifts to the UK at this time of year. Before we get going, if you want the full story you can check out Christmas in Norway , available now exclusively on Kindle!

Find out how Norwegians celebrate Jul in this short Kindle book, designed to inform and inspire your own Christmas celebrations, wherever you are in the world.

It's available now in all Amazon stores including Amazon. Full disclosure : This ebook was published several years ago and hasn't been updated since then.

However, traditions are slow to change so there should still be plenty of relevant information inside. He now works as a professional writer on all things Scandinavia. I enjoyed your posts. Most of our members were not born in Norway.

Their parents, grandparent or great grandparents are from Norway. I am a Norwegian living in Dublin atm and wow, did this give me a longing for home. I will go home for Christmas and I am looking tremendously forward to it. And aquevit, of course. In many ways it is connected to old beliefs of elves, gnomes etc.

Norwegians used to believe nisse families lived in barns etc. They believed the nisse families would help them with the farm during the spring and summer and sometimes did pranks. Because of this tradition a lot of Norwegians put out Christmas porridge on the porch at Christmas Eve for the nisse families to eat. So, I have put elf in quotation marks above, as there truly is no proper translation for the Norwegian Nisse.

Do you see why the translation is a little tricky? Basically, this particular Nisse is a small manlike creature living on an active farm, usually in the barn. He will hide in the hay, and you will rarely see him. It is very important that there is a blob of butter in the middle of the porridge, otherwise, the Nisse could get angry and the animals could get sick for Christmas. I kid you not.

Fun fact : in kindergarten they would take us to a local farm to meet their Nisse, who hid in the hay and jumped around so we could see him. It was absolutely terrifying and I was the only child who ran out of the barn.

The Norwegian Santa Claus is called Julenissen, and he is pretty much similar to most other Santas around the world. With the exception that we actually get to meet him. On Christmas Eve, he knocks on the door and enters the house with a sack full of presents. Since there are only a few countries in the world celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve, he has plenty of time to sit down to relax and be offered a shot of Aquavit.

Sometimes, the children of the house will sing him a song before he starts pulling presents out of his bag. When he has emptied his bag, he leaves. Through the door. Still looking for Christmas presents? My dad always told me that during Christmas we are obliged to feel sorry for everyone. Even the birds. The sight of these around the naked trees is definitely something that brings the Christmas spirit. In my family, we eat the latter, and it is the highlight of the month for many people.

Ribbe, is pretty much what it sounds like; ribs of pork. The ribs are roasted to perfection, and ideally, the top layer of it is so crunchy you can hardly chew it. Ribbe is served with potatoes, sausage, sourkraut, sauce and lingonberries. The meat is cured and salted over time and has quite a strong and salty taste. My absolute favourite part about the food for Christmas is the dessert.

Many families mine included will make a really yummy rice pudding out of the porridge eaten earlier read about it below , and it is basically cold rice porridge mixed with cream and sugar.

We then proceed to pour strawberry sauce over it, and it is absolute heaven. The porridge itself is quite simple, and there is no special recipe for it at all.

Except for one thing. When the porridge is all done and ready to be served, an almond is hidden in it. Whoever gets the almond, wins the game, and this is probably the strangest of all Norwegian Christmas games not that there are that many.

As I was writing the section above I realised how odd this actually is, and felt like it needed its own mention on the list. For Christmas in Norway, there are a lot of items made out of marzipan, such as Christmas decorations and pigs.

And now you know. The Norwegian Julebord literally translated to Christmas Table is heavily focused on food, in addition to the international tradition of getting drunk with your colleagues. Many of us will also take it to the next level, by arranging Christmas Parties with our friends, in addition to the mandatory one with work. Twice the fun, and twice the Christmas spirit. Every year, there is a huge Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square, London.

This tree is actually donated as a gift from the city of Oslo, and they have sent a tree over from Norway every year since ! The tree is decorated in a traditional, Norwegian style, and you can read more about it and find out when they light it every year by heading this way. Starting with the most important one, of course. According to tradition, they are present in farmhouses in which they act as guardians of those living there and even occasionally help with house chores.

Nisser are a typical character from Old Norse culture and are also associated with the winter solstice. Today, they have been assimilated into Christian culture in Scandinavia and appear in Christmas tales, decorations, and cards.

Santa Claus, known in Norwegian as Julenisse , is himself a sort of nisse. On December 23, Norwegians celebrate Lille Julaften, or Little Christmas Eve , a time when the family comes together to clean and decorate the house and tree. Ornaments include heart-shaped Christmas baskets filled with goodies, paper chains, and Norwegian flags. Family members also decorate their home with pepperkakehus , or gingerbread houses, which Norwegians refrain from eating before the end of the Christmas season.

The German television station Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR recorded an minute black-and-white performance of the show in , which eventually became the most repeated TV program of all time. The sketch depicts the 90th birthday of Miss Sophie, who hosts a yearly dinner for her friends.

Due to her old age, she has outlived them all, so her butler James impersonates and drinks instead of each of the guests. Norwegian national television NRK has been broadcasting the minute Swiss version of the sketch every December 23rd since Today, families still come together every year on Little Christmas Eve to watch this sketch.

Julaften , known as Christmas Eve in English, is the main day of celebration for Norwegians. After their traditional meal, people usually hold hands and dance around the Christmas tree while singing carols. The family and guests then play games, sing and open gifts the rest of the evening. Similar to Dinner for One , it has become a holiday classic in Norway although it is not a Christmas movie per se.

Many Norwegians have flagpoles in their gardens and raise the national flag for special occasions. On Christmas Day for instance, people typically raise the flag at sunrise and take it down again for sunset. They then go and visit family and friends for a traditional Scandinavian dinner. It is served with sugar and cinnamon and a dab of butter in the centre.