Writer: Helena Bergström
Christmas is certainly a Christian holiday, but the traditions surrounding Christmas also include a wild mix of folk beliefs and pre-Christian winter rituals. Throughout Europe, Christmas stories are populated by witches, goats, demons and various mythical animals. Join us on a journey through Europe’s darker, stranger and sometimes terrifying Christmas traditions…
When Christmas was a little wilder
What the Christmas spirit in Europe has in common is that they remember a time when winter was perceived as dangerous and the supernatural was present in people’s stories. We’ve delved into six magical plants that populate Europe during the Christmas season.
1. Norden: The Christmas goat
Long before Santa Claus became a popular figure, he ruled the Christmas time in the Scandinavian countries. The goat already has roots in the pre-Christian asatron, where the chariot of the thunder god Thor pulled two goats.
The goat has long been associated with Christmas. As early as the early 18th century, young people would walk around the farms and perform plays or sing songs – and one of the troupes would be dressed as a goat.
In Sweden and Finland, the tradition of a Christmas goat walking between farms at Christmas, sometimes to hand out presents, continued for quite some time. Nowadays the Christmas goat is mainly an ornament, often made of straw. Perhaps the most famous Goatthat is built up every year, and burns down just as often.
2. Italy: Julhäxan De Befana
In Italy, Christmas presents are not always brought with Santa Claus, but they can also be handed out by the witch The Befanawho flies over the roofs on his broom on the night of Epiphany.
According to legend, La Befana was the woman who refused when the three wise men asked for directions to the baby Jesus. Contrite, she later went in search of the child, laden with gifts – and still does so.
Today, La Befana is celebrated throughout Italy, especially in Rome, where Piazza Navona is filled with market stalls, sweets and figures decorated with brooms. Kind children receive presents, naughty children receive coal – albeit usually in the form of sugar.
3. Island: The Christmas cat
You don’t want to encounter the Icelandic Christmas cat in the dark of winter. The Christmas cat is a huge black cat, which, according to legend, eats children (and adults) who did not get new clothes for Christmas.
The story has its origins in Iceland’s harsh farming society, where new clothing was a sign of diligent work with the autumn wool before Christmas. If you worked hard all year round, you got something new to wear for the winter.
Today, the Christmas cat lives on in culture: in children’s books, songs and as a gigantic statue in Reykjavik. Threatening, but also loved – from a safe distance.
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4. The Alps: Krampus
Diving in Austria, Bavaria and parts of Northern Italy Krampus up in Advent. With horns, fur, chains and scary masks, he represents the dark opposite of Christmas compared to Sinterklaas.
Krampus punishes disobedient children, at least symbolically, and his origins can be traced to pre-Christian rituals related to winter’s chaos and forces of nature.
Today the tradition lives on strongly Krampuslaufwhere hundreds of masked participants run in loud, often quite wild processions through various cities.
5. France: Father Fouettard
In the north and east of France, but also in the French-speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland, Sinterklaas is not accompanied by Krampus, but by Father Fouettard – “The Whipping Father”.
This slightly unpleasant figure may be dressed in dark leather and seen holding a rice, symbolizing monitoring the children’s behavior. The figure is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages, possibly based on older terror figures used to maintain order.
6. Wales: Gray Mari
In Wales a strange figure wanders through the villages around Christmas: Gray Mari – a horse skull on a stick, covered with white fabric. The tradition is that Mari Lwyd, together with a group of companions, goes from house to house singing different verses in a kind of song duel. If they win the match, they are allowed in for food and drinks.
It remains a living tradition to this day, especially in South Wales – a mix of celebration, folklore and collective improvisation.
What is your relationship with The Christmas spirit of Europe?
What is your relationship with the magical Christmas atmosphere of Europe? Which ones do you know and which ones have you heard stories about? Are there any other magical figures you’ve heard about?
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