Strange little nisser
Here is a funny Danish Christmas tradition: the Nisser (sort of little elf): small creature living in barns or attics. If you do not offer him a big bowl of rice pudding at Christmas, it will annoy the whole family for the following year, turning beer into milk or other small disasters ...
You can buy them in many different forms and then arrange them around the house in December along with the Christmas tree, julehjerter, ... Some hate them, others find them cute. For children, the challenge is to place them in the most funny and unexpected locations. In most houses, you still discover "kravlenisser" in wacky places long after Christmas. When this happens, the children are usually overjoyed with their victory.
Another star of Christmas is the little piggy ....
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Ha ha, I'm always trying to explain nisser to my friends in England and they just do. not. get. it. I'm usually met with responses like "so...they're like santa's little helpers?" or "yeah, but what's the point". As one of those that you mention above who loves tradition and therefore loves nisser, I can find this quite frustrating! Tradiiton doesn't need a point! Perhaps after spending the weekend with them in Copenhagen this week they will be able to understand a little more what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteIt is not easy to explain, I tried too with some of my French friends, and they didn't get it either. Well, culture is not always easy to export, that is for sure! Good luck this week, I hope they like it...
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