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The tomte is one of the most familiar creatures of Scandinavian folklore, and he has appeared in many works of Scandinavian literature.
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tomte and is
A tomte, nisse or tomtenisse ( Sweden ) (), nisse ( Norway and Denmark ) () or tonttu ( Finland ) is a humanoid mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore.
The Swedish name tomte is derived from a place of residence and area of influence: the house lot or tomt.
However, there are also folktales where he is believed to be a shapeshifter able to take a shape far larger than an adult man, and other tales where the tomte / nisse is believed to have a single, cyclopean eye.
An angry tomte is featured in the popular children's book by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf, Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ( Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden ).
The tomte is connected to farm animals in general, but his most treasured animal was the horse.
Thus, the tradition of giving porridge to the tomte at Christmas is a remainder of ancestral worship.
These beings are social, however, whereas the tomte is always solitary ( though he is now often pictured with other tomtar ).
In 1881, the Swedish magazine Ny Illustrerad Tidning published Viktor Rydberg's poem " Tomten ", where the tomte is alone awake in the cold Christmas night, pondering the mysteries of life and death.
He is still often pictured on Christmas cards and house and garden decorations as the little man of Jenny Nyström's imagination, often with a horse or cat, or riding on a goat or in a sled pulled by a goat, and for many people the idea of the farm tomte still lives on, if only in the imagination and literature.
The use of the word tomte in Swedish is now somewhat ambiguous, but often when one speaks of jultomten ( definite article ) or tomten ( definite article ) one is referring to the more modern version, while if one speaks of tomtar ( plural ) or tomtarna ( plural, definite article ) one could also likely be referring to the more traditional tomtar.
Nils captures a tomte in a net while his family is at church and have left him home to memorize chapters from the Bible.
They mean a lot and building site, and later protected by a local spirit, a tonttu ( tomte is also known as tomtegubbe, " lot old man " in Swedish ).
tomte ), or he may threaten to stifle people in their beds ( this myth is likely to be based on sleep paralysis ).
The tomte or nisse ( in the southern Sweden and Norway and Denmark ) is a good wight who takes care of the house and barn when the farmer is asleep, but only if the farmer reciprocates by setting out food for the Tomte and he himself also takes care of his family, farm and animals.
The tomte or nisse is a solitary vätte, living on the farmstead.
tomte and one
If one farmer was doing far better for himself than the others, someone might say that it was because of him having a tomte on the farm, doing " ungodly " work and stealing from the neighbours.
A tomte stars in one of author Jan Brett's children's stories, " Hedgie's Surprise ".
tomte and most
( These tomte braids were in fact most likely caused by insufficient brushing.
tomte and creatures
Sources equate the domestic kobold with creatures such as the English boggart, hobgoblin and pixy, the Scottish brownie, and the Scandinavian nisse or tomte ; while they align the subterranean variety with the Norse dwarf and the Cornish knocker.
tomte and Scandinavian
Garden gnomes share a resemblance to the Scandinavian tomte and nisse, and the Swedish term " tomte " can be translated to " gnome " in English.
The tomte / nisse shares many aspects with other Scandinavian wights such as the Swedish vättar ( from the Old Norse landvættir ) or the Norwegian tusser.
* Another name for the tomte, a mythical creature in Scandinavian mythology
tomte and folklore
In other European folklore, there are many beings similar to the tomte, such as the Scots and English brownie, Northumbrian English hob, the German Heinzelmännchen or the Russian domovoi.
With the romanticisation and collection of folklore during the 19th century, the tomte would gain popularity.
tomte and has
During the trip, Nils learns that if he proves he has changed for the better, the tomte might be disposed to change him back to his normal size.
tomte and .
The tomte or nisse was believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep.
The tomte / nisse was often imagined as a small, elderly man ( size varies from a few inches to about half the height of an adult man ), often with a full beard ; dressed in the everyday clothing of a farmer.
An illustration made by Gudmund Stenersen of an angry tomte stealing hay from a farmer.
Despite his smallness, the tomte / nisse possessed an immense strength.
The tomte / nisse was a traditionalist who did not like changes in the way things were done at the farm.
If anyone spilled something on the floor in the house it was wise to shout a warning to the tomte below.
The tomte turns the naughty boy Nils into a tomte in the beginning of the book, and Nils then travels across Sweden on the back of a goose.
The tomte liked his porridge with a pat of butter on the top.
When the tomte of his farmstead found that the butter was missing, he was filled with rage and killed the cow resting in the barn.
Sometimes the tomte would even braid its hair and tail.
) Sometimes actually undoing these braids could mean misfortune or angering the tomte.
He had his dwellings in the burial mounds on the farm, hence the now somewhat archaic Swedish names tomtenisse and tomtekarl, the Swedish and Norwegian tomtegubbe and tomtebonde (" tomte farmer "), the Norwegian haugkall (" mound man "), and the Finnish tonttu-ukko ( lit.
The tomte was not always a popular figure, particularly during and after the Christianization of Scandinavia.
Farmers believing in the house tomte could be seen as worshipping false gods or demons ; in a famous 14th century decree Saint Birgitta warns against the worship of tompta gudhi, " tomte gods " ( Revelationes, book VI, ch.
Folklore added other negative beliefs about the tomte, such as that having a tomte on the farm meant you put the fate of your soul at risk, or that you had to perform various non-Christian rites to lure a tomte to your farm.
is and one
But there's one thing I never seen or heard of, one thing I just don't think there is, and that's a sportin' way o' killin' a man ''!!
I seized the rack and made a western-style flying-mount just in time, one of my knees mercifully landing on my duffel bag -- and merely wrecking my camera, I was to discover later -- my other knee landing on the slivery truck floor boards and -- but this is no medical report.
The true artist is like one of those scientists who, from a single bone can reconstruct an animal's entire body.
In fact, one important aspect of their very religion is the annihilation of men ''.
It took thirty of our women almost six moons to build this one, which is higher and stronger than the old one.
I clapped the big man with the bleached hair on his shoulder and said heartily, hoping it would make an impression on the women: `` This one is the maku Frayne.
`` This one is a tender chicken, oui??
but he presents it publicly so enmeshed in hypocrisy that it is not an honest one.
My definition of this much abused adjective is that a reconstructed rebel is one who is glad that the North won the War.
For one thing, this is not a subject often discussed or analyzed.
The general acceptance of the idea of governmental ( i.e., societal ) responsibility for the economic well-being of the American people is surely one of the two most significant watersheds in American constitutional history.
A third, one of at least equal and perhaps even greater importance, is now being traversed: American immersion and involvement in world affairs.
Today, as new nations rise from the former colonial empires, nationalism is one of the hurricane forces loose in the world.
Historically, however, the concept is one that has been of marked benefit to the people of the Western civilizational group.
It is one of the ironic quirks of history that the viability and usefulness of nationalism and the territorial state are rapidly dissipating at precisely the time that the nation-state attained its highest number ( approximately 100 ).
But it is more than irony: one of the main reasons why nationalism is no longer a tenable concept is because it has spread throughout the planet.
Accidental war is so sensitive a subject that most of the people who could become directly involved in one are told just enough so they can perform their portions of incredibly complex tasks.
Only one rule prevailed in my conversations with these men: The more highly placed they are -- that is, the more they know -- the more concerned they have become.
However, the system is designed, ingeniously and hopefully, so that no one man could initiate a thermonuclear war.
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