Also called Tomte, Tomtenisse, Gardvord, Tuftekall.
The tale
The nisse or tomte is a small, very strong old man who looks after the farm, the animals and the family, as long as he is respected. Every Christmas Eve he expects a bowl of porridge with butter on it. In a well-known Norwegian tale, a nisse finds his porridge seemingly without butter, flies into a rage and kills the farmer's best cow. Then he finds the butter had sunk to the bottom, and in remorse he goes to the neighbour's farm and brings back a cow to replace the one he killed.
When they are met
- Christmas Eve
- Yule
- the dark winter nights
- when a farm or home changes hands
Staying on their good side
- a bowl of rice porridge with a pat of butter on Christmas Eve
- well-treated animals
- a tidy barn or home
- respect for old ways
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Put out a bowl of porridge with butter on Christmas Eve, and be generous with the butter.
- Care well for your pets or any animals in your keeping; he is said to punish neglect.
- Keep the place tidy and avoid slamming doors or shouting.
- Read Viktor Rydberg's poem Tomten on a winter night.
What their tales teach
- looking after animals
- a thriving home
- steady, patient work
- keeping traditions
Symbols
- a red cap
- grey homespun clothes
- a bowl of porridge with butter
- the barn and stable
From Scandinavian farm lore; he merged with the Christmas figure only in the 19th century.
More Norse folklore
- Huldra The hidden woman of the forest
- Draugr The restless dead of the sagas
- Trolls The old dwellers in mountain and stone
- Valkyries The choosers of the slain
- Fossegrim The fiddler beneath the waterfall
- Nøkken The fiddler in the still water
- Mara The spirit who rides sleepers
- Myling The spirit of the unburied child