Yesterday, December 21, was the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere. As the days continue to shorten through December, the winter solstice is the apogee - when the shortest period of sunlight is followed by the longest night of the year. People around the world have marked the period of the winter solstice with local customs and practices, which are often centuries old. Over time, the influence of the Western, Christian world over the rest of the planet has resulted in a number of these local rituals being co-opted as part of Christmas celebrations, leading to, well, interesting results.
With the solstice just past and Christmas merrily looming on the horizon, there could hardly be a better time for stories about such strange wintry traditions, right? Right.
Gävle Goat: Gävle, in central Sweden, is a picturesque and unremarkable Scandinavian city that may have remained a footnote in the pages of human history - but for the Gävle Goat. In 1966, inspired by the Scandinavian practice (believed to have roots in Norse and Slavic mythology) of making straw ‘Yule Goats’, an advertising consultant came up with the idea of building a massive monument of a straw goat, in the Gävle town square to attract shoppers. If you ever entertained doubts about the ability of a giant goat effigy to be an effective marketing strategy, you may lay them to rest. The Goat-zilla was a huge success and became an annual feature in Gävle. In fact, the Gävle Goat has made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records twice, measuring almost 50 feet on one occasion.
A quaint Scandinavian city with an obsession for humongous goats is an oddball tale in its own right, but the international notoriety it has gained is owed to something more sinister: the unwavering zeal of Gävle’s citizenry to kill the Goat. Every year the good people of Gävle find ways to destroy the installation, most commonly by putting it on fire. Unlike the Raavan effigies that are gleefully torched during Dussehra, the Gävle Goat is not intended to be set aflame and it is forbidden to harm the structure. Over the years, a variety of measures, from surveillance cameras to security guards, have been adopted to protect the installation. The Swedish courts have also imposed fines and punished arsonists in a bid to dissuade attacks. Yet, the anti-Goat zeitgeist has prevailed and it is reported that since its first appearance in 1966, the Gävle Goat has been destroyed 38 times (a remarkable hit rate of nearly 70%). The Wikipedia page on the Gävle Goat (bless them) has a timeline detailing its fate every year and apparently, in 1978, the Goat was “kicked to pieces”1. Truth be told, Odysseus was extremely fortunate that nobody from Gävle was visiting Troy when he tried his little stunt.
After a brief respite between 2017 to 2020, the Gävle Goat of 2021 was yet again set on fire, thus ensuring that this fiery legacy continues to blaze. There is much that is uncertain as we enter a new year, but in one thing we can repose our trust: the people of Gävle will never tire of roasting their Goat.
Crappy Christmas2: Most people would be hard-pressed to think of a Christmas tradition connected to defecation. Ask any average person this question, and you will probably find their eyes widening in alarm as they slowly back away from you and never speak to you again. Not so the Catalonians. They are made of sterner stuff. They would nod knowingly, with a been-there-done-that kind of smile. Then they would tell you about ‘Caga Tió’ (“Shit Log”) and ‘El Caganer’ (“The Pooper”), both beloved Christmas motifs in their corner of the world.
Caga Tió (or Tió de Nadal) could be described as a somewhat puerile variation of the Santa Claus legend. In the days leading up to Christmas, a hollow wooden log (the Tió) is decorated with accessories, ‘fed’ (i.e., stuffed with) candies and nuts, and taken care of by the household as an honoured guest. Then, on Christmas eve, the Tió is mercilessly beaten till it ‘poops out’ the candies and goodies stored in its bowels. After all, what is a wholesome Christmas tradition without a healthy dose of violence and sadism? While the practice of venerating a wooden log is believed to have roots in pagan customs connected to the winter solstice, nobody seems to know just why someone thought it’d be fun to thrash a lifeless log filled with sweets. I suppose it is a matter of perspective. If Donald Trump could hold office as ‘Leader Of The Free World’ for four years, we can hardly find fault with some folks roughing up logs.
Speaking of Donald Trump, Catalonia (and other regions in Western Europe) has another Christmas connection to excreta. El Caganer is a common feature in nativity scenes in these places; tastefully depicted as the bare-bottomed figurine of a person engaged in the act of defecating. Often, the figurines are modelled after (in)famous and (un)popular personalities.
There are many reasons given to explain the presence of the Caganer in an otherwise beatific setting featuring baby Jesus. Some believe the Caganer, and his ‘output’, to be symbols of fertility. Others say that his presence is meant to remind people of their imperfections and encourage them to embrace the outliers in society. Whatever the motivation, the Caganer has become an integral part of Catalonian culture - its exclusion from a nativity scene commissioned by the Barcelona city council in 2005 led to widespread protests and complaints. The city council soon realised that the shit had hit the roof and the residents of Barcelona were in no mood to take crap from anyone. The following year the Caganer was re-introduced in the nativity scene.
Setting aside the scatological traditions for a moment, there are many other bizarre Christmas customs and characters whose origins often lie in pre-Christian folklore. There is Krampus, the horned, goat-legged, frightful creature (pictured below) who lurks in the snowy streets of Alpine towns, tormenting mischief-makers3.
In Italy, a broomstick-riding witch, Befana, holds sway as the benevolent deliverer of gifts during Christmas. Closer home, in the final days of December, the streets of Bandra become home to the ‘Old Man’ - a spooky, scarecrow strawman tied to light posts, which is burnt to supposedly mark the year’s end.
These are just a handful of the many, many local legends, customs and practices that have become a part of the ever-burgeoning festivities surrounding Christmas. So this year, don’t just wear your Santa hat and eat plum cake on Christmas eve. Go out and discover the local stories and folktales that have become part of Christmas lore - that is what truly endures.
I was unable to verify this accusation as the Swedish website cited as the source, stated (upon translation) that in 1978 “the buck was broken again.” But the Wikipedia version sounds more dramatic so we should probably believe that.
I am sorry but it would take someone far more mature than me to refrain from punning at this opportunity.
Becca Lee’s newsletter (The Haunted Librarian) has a fantastic piece on Krampus that I cannot recommend highly enough. Do check it out.