The Yule Goat
Long before Santa, a goat came at Christmas in Scandinavia, sometimes bringing gifts, sometimes demanding them. Every year in Sweden, a giant straw goat is built, and people try to burn it down.
What was reported
The Yule Goat, julbock in Swedish, is one of the oldest Christmas symbols of Scandinavia. In older traditions, it was an invisible spirit that checked Christmas preparations were done correctly, or a figure that went from house to house demanding food and drink. Later, it carried gifts. Small straw goats are still common Christmas decorations.
Since 1966, the town of Gävle has built a giant straw Yule Goat, around 13 metres tall, every December. It has been burned down or destroyed in many years, despite guards, cameras and fireproofing, and its fate is followed nationally.
Explanations offered
The goat may go back to pre-Christian midwinter festivals and to the goats that pulled Thor's chariot in Norse myth. The burning of the Gävle goat is illegal, but it has become a strange tradition of its own.
- When
- Told for centuries; Gävle goat since 1966
- Where
- Gävle, Gävleborg, Sweden
- Witnesses
- Scandinavian folklore
- Status
- Folk custom
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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