Scandinavian Christmas Legend: The Yule Goat (#145)

The Yule goat is a Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbol and tradition. The Yule goat's origins go back to ancient Pagan festivals. This event clearly marks the Sun's annual re-entry into the astrological sign of Capricornus, and a kid goat sacrifice was made in honour of the Norse god Njord or Saturn; the god of agriculture and plenitude who rules this particular sign. The 'cornus' element in Capricorn's name refers to the cornucopia or 'horn of plenty' with its promise of a bountiful harvest to come. While its origins are unclear, a popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngnjóstr, or “teeth grinder” in Old Norse; and “teeth bearer,” or Tanngrisnir. 

This connects to ancient proto-Slavic beliefs where the Koliada (Yule) festival honours the god of the fertile sun and the harvest. This god, Devac (also known as Dazbog or Dažbog), was represented by a white goat, consequently the Koliada festivals always had a person dressed as a goat, often demanding offerings in the form of presents. A man-sized goat figure is known from 11th-century remembrances of Childermas, where it was led by a man dressed as Saint Nicholas, symbolising his control over the Devil. 

Another theory is that this practice is based in Indo-European harvest traditions, where the last sheaf of grain bundled during the harvest was thought to contain the spirit of the harvest and was saved for Yule celebrations. This was called among other things Yule goat (Julbocken) and as many early European customs also included harvest gods that looked like goats, farmers often referred to their bundles as goats because of the resemblance.

In Sweden, people regarded the Yule goat as an invisible spirit that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done right. Objects made out of straw or roughly-hewn wood could also be called the Yule goat, and in older Scandinavian society a popular Christmas prank was to place this Yule goat in a neighbour's house without them noticing; the family successfully pranked had to get rid of it in the same way.

The function of the Yule goat has differed throughout the ages. In a Scandinavian custom similar to the English tradition of wassailing, held at either Christmas or Epiphany, young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays and performing pranks. This tradition is known from the 17th century and still continue in certain areas. The group of Christmas characters would often include the Yule goat, a rowdy and sometimes scary creature demanding gifts.

During the 19th century the Yule goat's role all over Scandinavia shifted towards becoming the Christmas gift-bringer, with one of the men in the family dressing up as the Yule goat. In this, there might be a relation to Santa Claus and the Yule goat's origin in the medieval celebrations of Saint Nicholas. The goat was then replaced by the jultomte (Father Christmas/Santa Claus) or julenisse during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, although he is still called the Joulupukki (Yule goat) in Finland, and the tradition of the man-sized goat disappeared.

The Modern Yule Goat

The Yule goat in Nordic countries today is best known as a Christmas ornament. This modern version of the Yule goat figure is a decorative goat made out of straw and bound with red ribbons, a popular Christmas ornament often found under or on the Christmas tree. Large versions of this ornament are frequently erected in towns and cities around Christmas time – a tradition started in the Swedish town Gävle (pronounced: yeah-vleh) with the Gävle goat in the 1960s.

In 1966, the tradition got a whole new life after someone came up with the idea to design a giant version of the traditional Swedish Christmas straw goat. now referred to as the Gävle Goat. The objective was to attract customers to the shops and restaurants in the southern part of the city. On the first Sunday of Advent 1966, the huge goat was placed at the Castle Square. Since then, the Gävle Goat has been a Christmas symbol placed in the same spot every year. Today he is world famous. According to the official website, the goat is more than 42 feet high, 23 feet wide, and weighs 3.6 tons. 

Each year, the massive goat is constructed in the same spot, and fans can even watch a livestream via webcam placed at Castle Square from the first Sunday of Advent until after the New Year when it's taken down. The goat is the world’s largest straw goat and made it to the Guinness Book of Records for the first time in 1985. 

Facts About the Yule Goat

• It takes a whole truck full of straw from the local village of Mackmyra to create the goat.
• 1,600 metres of rope is used.
• 12,000 knots are tied.
• 56 five metre straw mats form the straw coat.
• 1,200 metres of Swedish pine create the wooden skeleton.
• 1,000 man-hours of work are needed to build the Gävle Goat.
• The Gävle Goat is inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent every year, in conjunction with the “skyltsöndagen”.
• The Gävle Goat has friends in more than 120 countries around the world who follow him on social media.
• In 2015, 420,000 people visited the Gävle Goat, dressed in a flower coat, when he was on tour in the Chinese twin town of Zhuhai.
• The Gävle Goat has been hit by a cruising car and been subjected to fire and sabotage over the years.
• Staged hacker attacks and kidnappings have also been planned.

Every year, cities and towns throughout Sweden build large statues of Yule goats (called Julbock in Swedish). The goat is built on the first day of Advent in late November or early December and intended to stand for the holiday season as a part of Yule celebrations. Yule is a celebration of the winter solstice and it takes place over ten days starting December 21st or 22nd.

Almost every year, pranksters damage or burn down the Gävle goat before celebrations can even start! The town doesn’t give up though and keeps trying to find ways to protect the goat, including guards, fencing, making it flame resistant, and even spraying it with water so it would freeze and be more difficult to light! Since 1966, the goat has been damaged 37 times as of December 2019.

The Gavle Goat likes to communicate and he is a big fan of social media. During his stay in Gävle each year, he uses Twitter and Instagram.
You can also send him an email at gavlebocken@gavle.se.