Jul i Norge (Christmas in Norway) — Norway House (2023)

by Ethan Bjelland
Norway House Marketing & Communications Manager
Norwegian Instructor—Mindekirken Norwegian Language & Culture Program and Concordia Language Villages

ebjelland@norwayhouse.org

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Norwegians celebrate Christmas (Jul) similarly to Americans, though there are marked differences in the specifics of many of the common traditions. Some of the typically Norwegian traditions are based on old, pagan practices that have lingered, some are Christian observances, and others are newer practices that have become traditions for most of Norway today.

Our Christmas season is dealt into five basic parts:

1. December, Advent, and Juletida

2. Lillejulaften (“Little Christmas Eve” - December 23)

3. Julaften (“Christmas Eve” - December 24)

4. Juledagen (“Christmas Day” - December 25)

5. Romjul & Nyttår (December 26-January 1)

December 24-26 are national Holidays, and many folks also take extra time off for the days before Christmas Eve and Romjul.

Starting on December 1st, we kick into gear to create as much kos or hygge in our lives as possible! We use the first three weeks of December to get into the spirit. Christmas markets, parties, and crafting are in full swing, some families host Advent dinners each Sunday, and Christmas calendars of all kinds are gifted to ring in the season.

Some decorations go up, though there is some discrepancy among Norwegians about when the actual tree should be put up. Generally speaking, most folks go shopping for their trees before Christmas, and tradition says we should decorate them on Lillejulaften, the day before Christmas Eve. Today, many will get them earlier in the month of December, and decorate them anywhere from one week to three weeks before Christmas Day.

Julekalender

We love Julekalendere. There’s no getting around it. Many of us in the United States are familiar with the chocolate Advent calendars with little doors to open once a day during the month of December. Each day a small picture, phrase, Bible verse, or treat is found. Some of us make them out of paper chains or light candles, and the retail industry has created countless other calendars from socks to wine for adults.

In Norway and much of Scandinavia, families will make their own Christmas calendars. We also enjoy our Christmas Calendar TV episodes. Yes, you read that right.

NRK and other TV channels in Norway air a Julekalender TV episode for children each night, December 1-24. This has been a tradition in Norway since the '70s. Because so many of the old ones are favorites or otherwise preferred by some viewers, we like to buy our favorites on DVD or stream the old ones year after year. NRK makes a new Julekalender every three years and chooses an “official” one to air in the off years. This year, the Julekalender is a new one, called Stjernestøv (“Stardust). Read more about Stjernestøv and other Julekalendere at the link below.

Juleverkstad + Julebord

We don’t just get together for Christmas dinner… No, we have Christmas dinners and parties throughout the month! It’s common to be invited to Julebord weekly with your friends. Sometimes they’re formal dinners with family or friends, and sometimes they’re informal parties with White Elephant gifts and appetizers. Really, the bars and restaurants are also rather full during this time, with impromptu get-togethers to try to newest seasonal ales and skål with the neighbors.

Another way that we like to get together in Norway is to bake and do crafts together in preparation for the holidays. We host “Christmas Workshops” (juleverkstad) to make decorations and ornaments, wrap gifts, and bake cookies together in a festive environment with treats and music.

Julekaker

You cannot have Christmas without a gazillion baked goods. Norwegian lore holds that no less than seven types of cookies should be available in your home when guests come to visit. We would try to include a list of common cookies for you, though none of us can settle on one that is truly universal. In fact, it’s quite a contentious subject for Norwegian-Americans as well—here are just too many favorites! The Norwegian American has complied an ongoing list of great recipes in their Taste Section’s “Cookie Extravaganza” this December, and we’ve shared that link below.

One of the more unique traditions of recent has been the creation of Pepperkakebyer, or Gingerbread Cities, in many Norwegian towns. Families, schools, businesses, and professional bakers create familiar structures from their cities out of Gingerbread. The largest of these Gingerbread Cities is in Bergen. In fact, it’s the largest in the world, featuring thousands of structures each year. We host our own pepperkakeby at Norway House called “Gingerbread Wonderland.” This year, you can view the entire exhibit online for only $5!

This word means, roughly, “Christmas Spirit.” We’re always trying to create a nice stemning for ourselves and our guests, especially around the holidays. Here are a few other miscellaneous ways that we get in the Christmas Spirit before Christmas Day.

• Tealights & Sun-Lamps

  It can get pretty dark around this time, and there’s significantly less sunlight the further you go North. Sun-lamps are important to help with your Vitamin D levels. Also, we love our tealights. It’s no wonder IKEA has a whole, giant section of candles in their stores—Scandinavians go crazy for votives and tea-lights to get their Christmas Hygge on. There have, not surprisingly, been an uptick in housefires during the holidays in Norway as of late…

• Juleøl & julebrus

  Just like in Minnesota, land of 10,000 breweries, Norwegian brewers make tons of seasonal beers for the holidays. It’s very common for folks to look forward to their favorite beers to share at home or at a bar. But we also have special NA spiced sodas that come out each year in Norway, called Julebrus. The flavors range slightly and are usually brown or red in color. Only a few of these sorts of sodas are available in the United States. IKEA’s Julmust comes out in stores across the world, and an American version called Grandpa Lindquist’s Christmas Soda is sometimes available at Nordic Imports stores.

• Red & White

  Christmas colors in Norway are Red and White rather than Red and Green.

• Straw Ornaments, Julenek, and Julebukk

  Pagan tradition holds that straw had magical properties. You were more susceptible to evil spirits during times of high pith and moment. Old Nordics used to spread straw on the floor during jul. Today, the straw tradition is observed through ornaments on our trees, decorated straw goats called Julebukker, and Julenek—bundles of straw and seeds left outside on trees or a pole for birds and other fauna to feed from. The Christmas goat is also related to another old tradition that is seldom practiced in Norway today. In some small towns, folks dress in costumes and go door-to-door with a goat-head effigy on a stick, singing Christmas songs, and warding off spirits to prepare for jul.

• Julekrim

  Norwegians have time off from work, so of course, we read. And perhaps, even more typically Norwegian, we read a lot of crime fiction novels. Only to be beaten by Easter book sales, crime novels and novellas are also released for Christmas vacation each year en masse. Some have holiday themes and some don’t, but it’s unavoidable. You may also see an uptick in crime and mystery shows and movies on TV during this time—especially from the UK.

• Gløgg

  Mulled wine is a holiday tradition in a lot of countries. In Norway, we call it “Gløgg.” It’s generally made from dry red wine, mulling spices, sugar, and added liquor. You can buy pre-made gløgg in stores and mix it with alcohol or drink it without. Or you can make it at home, quite easily. While there are many “recipes” to be found online and every one of us feels like an expert gløgg maker, here’s what you need to know to get started:

  • Buy a couple of bottles of cheap, dry red wine. You’ll be sweetening later with plenty of sugar and flavors, so it doesn’t need to be the highest quality. Bring it to a soft boil in a pot on the stove or a crockpot, and then turn down the heat.

  • Gather your favorite mulling spices. You can put them in a tea sachet or strain them later. It’s easier to use whole spices, but it’s not necessary. Common spices are cinnamon, anise, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and ginger. We like to add orange slices, too.

  • Add 2/3 cup of sugar per bottle of wine to start off with. You can always add more sugar. Some of us like it sweeter and will add 1 cup to 1.5 cups of sugar per bottle.

  • Add liquor. Usually, we add brandy or cognac. Vodka or Aquavit is also common, but we’ve seen the gambit of personal recipes calling for “whatever’s in the house.” Generally, start with a regular 750ml bottle per two bottles of wine and go from there.

  • Find the balance: Sugar, Liquid, Heat. As you continue to heat the concoction, the alcohol will burn off and the sugar will take over. Keep taste testing until you get your favorite consistency of sweet, spicy, and alcohol.

  • Serve with slivered almonds and raisins. It’s nice to find a little fruit and nuts in the bottom of your cup! Gløgg keeps well in the fridge, too. You can reuse your wine bottles or jar up your mulled wine to heat and serve later.

The day before Christmas Eve is called “Little Christmas Eve,” and it’s steeped in almost as much tradition as the coming days. If you haven’t already started a long Christmas vacation from work or school, you might consider taking the day off on December 23rd to make sure that you’ve got everything ready for Christmas. Lillejulaften is the day that you decorate your Christmas tree (if you haven’t already), you clean the house, and you make sure that your pork ribbe is salted or your lamb pinnekjøtt is soaking.

Grøt

Some make risgrøt for dinner on lillejulaften, and others wait to eat it with lunch on the 24th. Either way, you need to make enough risgrøt for Riskrem on Julaften and for the Julenisse the night before Julemorgen!

Okay, okay, okay… backing up. Risgrøt or Risengrynsgrøt is a sweet rice porridge. It’s served with butter and cinnamon or cardamom. We hide a single almond in the serving dish. If you find the almond in your serving, you get a marzipan pig. The leftovers are used to make riskrem, another type of porridge eaten on Christmas Eve with a red berry sauce. Leftovers for the Julenisse are also left out after we go to bed on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, Julenisser lived on your farm or in your neighborhood. They’re like little happy-looking gnomes or trolls. If you didn’t leave any porridge for them, they would play tricks on your home. Today, Julenisse has become synonymous with Santa Clause, but the lore of the fjøsnisse or traditional farm-nisse has lived on in other ways.

The Same Procedure as Every Year

After we’ve cleaned and decorated on lillejulaften, we like to sit down and—you guessed it!—watch some TV. NRK airs a special program called “The Evening before the Evening,” (Kvelden før kvelden) with guest performances and activities. And at the end of the evening, we watch “Dinner for One.” Now this might be one of the weirdest traditions. It’s a black-and-white short, produced in Germany, in English, about a birthday party… And it’s oddly one of the biggest Christmastime traditions in Norway, aired on lillejulaften.

It features an elderly lady (Miss Sophie) who imagines she has several late friends assembled for a (birthday) dinner party that’s faithfully carried out by her manservant, James. When faced with raising a skål with every single imaginary guest (and becoming intoxicated in the process), James asks Miss Sophie, ‘The same procedure as every year, madame?’ To which she admonishes, ‘The same procedure as EVERY year, James.’

-newsinenglish.no

In fact, you’ll probably hear that quote pretty often on lillejulaften in Norway.

Christmas Eve is the hey-day of the year spent with family and friends. We tend to wake up to a nice breakfast and watch Disney cartoons together while we enjoy the last of our Christmas Calendar treats and the last bits of quiet before everyone shows up at your home for festivities in the afternoon.

Some families spend the early part of the day at a church service, some visit the graves of their deceased with candles and flowers at the graveyard, and some just watch their favorite Christmas shows on TV. A common Christmas favorite, perhaps equally as weird as “Dinner for One,” is “Three Wishes for Cinderella,” (Tre nøtter til Askepott). It’s a Czech-Slovak and East German film from 1975 that is so well-liked in Norway, that we invested heavily in its digital-remastering in the 2000s so we could watch it more clearly and even more frequently, every Christmas Eve.

At 5:00 pm in some towns, church bells ring, signaling the start of Christmas Eve festivities.

Ribbe? Pinnekjøtt? LUTEFISK?!

Now, before we start to get emails from our Rakfisk and Lutefisk -loving Norwegians, let us be clear: these are the two most popular dishes for Christmas in Norway. Especially on the Northern coasts, one may also enjoy Lutefisk (whitefish preserved in a lye-mixture, extensively soaked and boiled, and served with white sauce, drawn butter, or bacon fat with peas on the side), or Rakfisk (any kind of fermented fish with salads and a variety of cold delicacies, often put on bread or lefse), on Christmas Eve. Perhaps we hold some bias, but, “to each, their own.”

Singing + Presents

We open presents on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. Whether you do it before the meal or after is up to your family or friend-group, but you must sing! And probably dance, too—in a ring around the Christmas Tree.

In the old days, folks used to light little candles on the Christmas tree. Some will still do this, or at least make a big deal out of turning the lights on. But the main event is the singing. If you have space to put the tree in the middle of the room, everyone takes each others’ hands and we sing special Christmas songs in a circle around the tree. There are also actions to these songs that all of us learn as a part of our preschool and elementary school curricula, so it can sort of seem like an inside joke at first, but we love teaching newbies our weird traditions.

It’s likely that some folks will have too much to drink at this point—pranks tend to ensue. Norwegians have very strict laws about drinking and driving, so we often have a few friends who stay the night to be safe—and any good Norwegian knows when they have to hand over their keys to the host.

Here are a few to get you started!

Christmas Day is pretty laid back. Actually, in Norway, we also call December 25th, "Første juledagen,” or the First Day of Christmas, because we keep celebrating Christmastime into the New Year.

On Christmas Day, you can probably look forward to a really nice Christmas brunch and some folks wait to open their Christmas stockings.

Romjul means literally, “The Space for Christmas.” After Christmas Day (the first day of Christmas), the twelve days of Christmas (through January 5), are historically recognized to be part of the Christmas season. Parties, julebord, and julemarketer resume. Some folks will not take down their tree until the 5th of January, and some older traditions also include a Hellig-tre-kongers-lys (right) that is lit each night for the twelve days of Christmas in honor of the Three Kings who followed the North Star to the birth of Jesus, ending on the “Three Kings Eve,” January 5th.

Mostly, folks enjoy parties and more Christmas festivities, a typical Western New Year celebration, and plenty of skiing and outdoor activities with friends and family.