CasualEurope

The Christmas GOAT

Julenissen in Norway, so the yule gnome more or less. Not to be confused with låvenissen, who lives all year in the granary of the farm and is given porridge for Christmas. Some people, especially those living on farms, are visited by låvenissen instead of julenissen on the 24th.

Låvenissen is a trickster, and when things are missing around the farm it's probably his fault. But unlike the people living under ground (de underjordiske) he's not a scary fellow, and he deserves a little treat for Christmas like everyone else.

I get that it's completely unrelated etymogically, but I like how close manden is to mandem. It's the Yule mandem. Santa is, in fact, about a dozen London lads

Or Nikolaus. Although Weihnachtsmann and Nikolaus are two different entities and we usually translate Santa to Weihnachtsmann. But Santa Claus is just the colloquial name of Saint Nikolaus.

We celebrate Nikolaus on December 6th. He puts sweets and stuff into children's shoes. He's based on a real bishop who lived in what is now Turkey and was known for feeding poor children.

And to complicate things further there's the Christkind, the Christ Child, who brings presents on the 24th. It is not Jesus but an angel, usually portrayed by a pretty blonde girl. Sometimes some of its golden hair gets stuck in the Christmas tree or somewhere nearby. That's how the children know that it was really there, delivering presents.

I think we do that in the more northern parts of Germany as well... And some other countries in Central Europe.