 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Julemanden" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Julemanden (Faroese:Jólamaður[ˈjɔuːlaˌmɛaːvʊɹ],Greenlandic:Juulimaaq) is theChristmas gift-bringer in modernDanish culture, the equivalent ofFather Christmas orSanta Claus.Julemanden can be directly translated as "The Yule Man" or "The Christmas Man".[1]Julemanden is often illustrated as a short, bearded man dressed in gray clothes and a red hat.[2] He is said to bring presents on Christmas Eve (December 24), coming to houses either by foot or by sleigh, and often wears fur to keep him warm.
The roots ofJulemanden reach intoDanish folklore andmythology.[3] However, the character is a relatively new phenomenon in Denmark, appearing some time afterWorld War II (1939–1945).Until then, there wasnissefar,nissekongen orjulenissen – a character with some resemblance to the modernjulemand. This tradition can be traced back centuries, when people believed innisser (elves,leprechauns, spirits or mystical entities rarely or never seen directly).[4] Local folklore dictated the expected actions of thenisser, which could be moody creatures resulting in all kinds of fortunes or even disasters.
The role of thejulenisse was to bring good fortune to the family and to achieve this, he would have to be treated well especially aroundjul (Yule, in December). This was achieved by feeding him, traditionally with some form of porridge (now rice porridge).[5] Traditionally, the porridge was to be placed in the household attic as this was said to be the place where thenisse supposedly lived and if thenisse was satisfied with the meal he would bring good fortune to the household in the coming year.
Thejulenisse is still, however, "celebrated" and he acts as a stand-in forjulemanden in early December, to entertain the childish mind, bring small gifts and sometimes plays tricks on the household, kindergarten etc. where such "creatures" can prosper.
The gift-givingnisse that becamenissekongen seems to have drawn influences from the American Santa, when American culture began making an impact in Denmark,[6] but rather than outright copying him, local traditions were tweaked, eventually resulting in a Father Christmas-type character with only traces of the originalnisse and in some respects indistinguishable from Santa.[7]
In an attempt to attract more than 800,000 tourists, the Tivoli theme park in Copenhagen replaced theirjulemanden display to that of its Russian counterpart, Father Frost, in 2011.[8]
InDenmark a special postal address is used byPost Danmark for children who want to write tojulemanden:
Rensdyrvej translates as 'Reindeer Way', while the PO Box number 2412 is a reference to 24 December.[9]
