{"id":2825,"date":"2021-12-24T07:07:51","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T07:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=2825"},"modified":"2021-12-24T09:04:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T09:04:00","slug":"christmas-in-norway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/christmas-in-norway\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in Norway"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Photo by Jona02<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a>; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hurra, det er jul!<\/strong> (Hooray, it\u2019s Christmas!) For billions of people, that means glede<\/strong> (joy) and spending time with familien<\/strong> (the family). But what is special about the h\u00f8ytid<\/strong> (feast, literally \u2019high time\u2019) in Norway?<\/p>\n

Jul<\/strong> [yool] is a very old tradition in Norge<\/strong> \u2013 in fact, even the Vikings had a party this time of year! They called it j\u00f3l<\/em><\/strong> [yohl], and it was a celebration of vintersolverv<\/strong> (winter solstice): From now on, the days would get longer. After the Viking Age, the ancient jul<\/strong> was replaced by a kristen fest<\/strong> (Christian festival) celebrating the birth of Jesus.1<\/a><\/sup>In 2021, of course, many people celebrate Christmas without being religious.<\/span> But the name stuck! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Nisser<\/strong> also survive from ancient times. The little \u201dhobgoblins\u201d<\/a> with r\u00f8de luer<\/strong> (red caps) are a part of Christmas decorations everywhere in Norway! In fact, some people in rural areas put our gr\u00f8t<\/strong> (porridge) for the local nisse<\/strong> to eat\u2026 Julenissen<\/strong>, the Norwegian version of Santa Claus, is like a big version of a nisse<\/strong>. When bringing his sekk<\/strong> (sack) of gaver<\/strong> (presents), he\u2019ll say in Norwegian: \u201dHo, ho, er det noen snille barn her?\u201d<\/strong> (Ho, ho, are there any kind children here?)<\/p>\n

Most of the presents, however, are placed under juletreet<\/strong> (below the Xmas tree) on julaften<\/strong> \u2013 Dec. 24th<\/span>. This is the big day of jula<\/strong> (the Xmas), where people eat julemiddag<\/strong> (Xmas dinner) and unwrap their gifts to hverandre<\/strong> (each other) in the evening. In the long ventetid<\/strong> (waiting time) earlier in the day, many families watch tradisjonsrike<\/strong> (\u201dtradition-rich\u201d) shows<\/a> such as Reisen til julestjernen<\/strong> (The Journey to the Christmas Star) and Tre n\u00f8tter til Askepott <\/strong>(Three Nuts for Cinderella). And you won\u2019t believe how many Norwegians associate jul<\/strong> with Disney cartoons! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Most families have a traditional main dish<\/a> for the evening \u2013 either ribbe <\/strong>(pork ribs), pinnekj\u00f8tt<\/strong> (mutton) or lutefisk<\/strong> (cod). Recently, some Norwegians also started eating kalkun<\/strong> [kalKOON] (turkey) for Christmas. After the dinner, a few families g\u00e5r rundt juletreet<\/strong> (walk around the Xmas tree) and sing julesanger <\/strong>(Xmas carols) before opening the gifts. A speciality in Western Norway<\/a> is celebrating jul <\/strong>around a furu<\/strong> (pine), but most families have a nicely decorated gran<\/strong> (spruce) as their juletre<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

M\u00e5tte alle \u00f8nskene dine g\u00e5 i oppfyllelse!<\/strong> (May all your wishes come true!)<\/p>\n

God jul og godt nytt\u00e5r!<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)<\/p>\n