• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Julebukking: Trick-Or-Treating Is Not Just For Halloween

December 15, 2022 by Deborah Bloomfield

In yet another edition of slightly terrifying Christmas traditions, it’s Julebukking – Norway’s marginally sweeter take on Krampus. Sharing roots in Norse mythology and paganism, both Krampus and Julebukking see a goatly entity visiting your house around Christmas, but the two have quite different intentions.

Similar to trick-or-treating on Halloween, the act of Julebukking sees a group of rapscallions in fancy-dress costumes turn up to your front door demanding treats – or, in the 20th-century versions, alcohol. Usually occurring between Christmas and New Year’s, variations of Julebukking from different communities has led to some rather different activities.

Advertisement

In some variations, the group would carry a goat head door to door, some would sing for their candy, and others would disguise their voice and stick around until you guessed who was under the costume. In at least one variation of Julebukking, whoever answers the door must quickly don their own goat-fit and join the clan on their adventure.

The significance of goat imagery in Julebukking stems from the mythical Norwegian Julebukk, or “Yule buck”, a small gift-bearing creature that looks like a goat. The tale of the Julebukk originated in Viking times when pagans worshipped Thor, whose chariot was pulled by the two goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr.

During pagan celebrations, the Julebukk, someone dressed in goat skin and carrying a goat head, would enter the party and at some point in the evening pretend to be sacrificed and “die”, before returning back to life after Thor revived them.

Advertisement

As Christianity became more prolific across Europe, the Julebukk goat gradually began to take the form of the devil and was quickly forbidden by the church. In response, the slightly more jovial Julebukking tradition was formed.

When Julebukking was introduced to the US by Norwegian and German immigrants, it was further influenced by Christianity, with singing in exchange for alcohol becoming the most prominent form of celebration. The 1930s and 1940s, however, saw many communities abandon the alcohol-led festivities due to a culmination of increased mobility, fears of strangers, and decreased access to alcohol due to prohibition.  

While the tradition has mostly disappeared from Norway, there are still a number of communities in the US that claim to still celebrate Julebukking. In some rural Midwestern towns, with large Scandinavian populations, they proudly keep the spirit of the Julebukk alive today.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Saudi Arabia lowers light crude prices to Asia; US, Europe prices steady
  2. Dutch PM Rutte to invite Britain to join defence deal with EU -The Times
  3. El Salvador body to investigate complaints about government’s bitcoin purchases, ATM kiosks
  4. Factbox: How COVID-19 in Southeast Asia is threatening global supply chains

Source Link: Julebukking: Trick-Or-Treating Is Not Just For Halloween

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Project Hail Mary Trailer First Look: What Would Happen If The Sun Got Darker?
  • Newly Discovered Cell Structure Might Hold Key To Understanding Devastating Genetic Disorders
  • What Is Kakeya’s Needle Problem, And Why Do We Want To Solve It?
  • “I Wasn’t Prepared For The Sheer Number Of Them”: Cave Of Mummified Never-Before-Seen Eyeless Invertebrates Amazes Scientists
  • Asteroid Day At 10: How The World Is More Prepared Than Ever To Face Celestial Threats
  • What Happened When A New Zealand Man Fell Butt-First Onto A Powerful Air Hose
  • Ancient DNA Confirms Women’s Unexpected Status In One Of The Oldest Known Neolithic Settlements
  • Earth’s Weather Satellites Catch Cloud Changes… On Venus
  • Scientists Find Common Factors In People Who Have “Out-Of-Body” Experiences
  • Shocking Photos Reveal Extent Of Overfishing’s Impact On “Shrinking” Cod
  • Direct Fusion Drive Could Take Us To Sedna During Its Closest Approach In 11,000 Years
  • Earth’s Energy Imbalance Is More Than Double What It Should Be – And We Don’t Know Why
  • We May Have Misjudged A Fundamental Fact About The Cambrian Explosion
  • The Shoebill Is A Bird So Bizarre That Some People Don’t Even Believe It’s Real
  • Colossal’s “Dire Wolves” Are Now 6 Months Old – And They’ve Doubled In Size
  • How To Fake A Fossil: Find Out More In Issue 36 Of CURIOUS – Out Now
  • Is It True Earth Used To Take 420 Days To Orbit The Sun?
  • One Of The Ocean’s “Most Valuable Habitats” Grows The Only Flowers Known To Bloom In Seawater
  • World’s Largest Digital Camera Snaps 2,104 New Asteroids In 10 Hours, Mice With 2 Dads Father Their Own Offspring, And Much More This Week
  • Simplest Explanation For “Anomalous” Signals Coming From Underneath Antarctica Ruled Out
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version