Julehjerter, a common Christmas ornament In Denmark and Norway.
As i had already mentioned talking about Christmas symbols in Nordic countries, a common homemade Christmas ornament in Scandinavia is pleated hearts, very common in Denmark, known as Julehjerter, and Norway, where they are called Juletrekurv.
Children make them with their family with paper of different colours, although they are mostly red and white. They have been made for around 150 years: the oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal Nordisk Husflidstidende. A 1873 pleated heart can be seen at the National museum in Oslo and one from 1866 at H. C. Andersen house in Odense!
Make your own Julehjerter
I made my very own, simple version of them, so they are not really a basket as the Norwegian name says, and I used strings to hang them on the tree.
what I used:
colored paper (the most traditional version is white & red, but do as you please). I used leftover paper we had at home.
Scissors, obviously and something to make holes on paper, as pins
Strings
Process:
cut paper, put two sheets on top of each other when cutting so it is of the same size.
cut the lines to intertwine the two pieces: they can be all of the same size or the two inner parts narrower.
3. Intertwine the pieces: depending on how you cut the lines you will have a slightly different pattern
4. Make a hole and put the string in it
Your Christmas Heart is ready to be hung on your tree or wherever you want!
Please share with me your Julehjerter if you happen to make any 🙂
Nordic Christmas, or Yule, means among others flag tree decorations, a pinwheel-shaped pastry, and gnomes.
Nordic countries share quite a lot Christmas customs and symbols, whether it is Christmas tree decorations, gnomes and elves instead of Santa Claus, and of course spiced cookies. Let’s see what a Scandinavian Christmas looks like!
1. Scandinavian Santa Claus: Gnomes and pixies
In Sweden and Norway it is a Santa Claus-like gnome bringing presents: Jultomte in Sweden and Julenisse. According to the tradition it lives in farms and takes care of the household while the family is sleeping, Bringing presents if the family treated him and the farm animals well. InNorway, an adult disguises himself as Julenisse and gives out presents to children, often greeting them by saying Er det noen snille barn her? (“is there any good child here?”).
In Denmark Julemanden (literally Christmas man) arrives on a sleigh with reindeers and has elves as helpers, Julenisser or just Nisser, who are believed to live in barns and attics. Children leave rice pudding for the Nisser, who find it delicious accoring to popular belief. In the Faroe islands it is called Jólamaðurin.
Initially the gift bringer was the Julbocken/Julebukk goat mentioned above, so in Finnish Santa Claus is calledJoulupukki…
2. Christmas Decorations: straw goats, pleated hearts and flags
Yule Goat: A common Christmas symbol and decoration is a straw goat, Julbocken/Julebukk, often put under the Christmas tree. It goes back to the Viking times and it was a household protector, representing Thor’s magical goats, who lead him in the night sky. Bigger versions can be found in town centres – this tradition started in the Swedish town of Gävle in the 60s, and every year this traditions is repeated with a Julbock as tall as around 10 metres.
Things to hang on the tree
Julehjerter are pleated hearts, very common and in Denmark and Norway (Norwegians call them Juletrekurv “Christmas tree baskets”), but also present in other Nordic countries as a typical Christmas symbol. Children make them with their family with paper of different colours, although they are often red and white.
Flag garlands: Decorating Christmas trees with flags originated in Denmark and it can be seen in all Nordic countries, although it was more common in themid-20th Century. A survey showed that one in three Norwegians thinks flag garlands are suitable Christmas tree decorations, while only 3 % and 5 % is of the same opinion in Sweden and Finland. Nonetheless, I bought a Christmas tree flag ornament in Sweden…
3. Christmas treats: spiced cookies to rice porridge
Baking gingerbread cookies is a typical Christmas time family activity: Pepparkakorin Swedish, Pepperkaker in Norwegian and Peberkager in Danish, piparkakut in Finnish.
Hiding an almond in rice porridge with a prize for who finds it is a common things in Nordic countries. in Sweden the rice pudding is called risgrysgröt. In Denmark you have the Risalamande (from French ris à l’amande, just because French sounded fancy), It is served cold with a warm cherry sauce,kirsebærsovs. The lucky person who finds the entire almond in it wins a marzipan pig!
Lussekatter are Swedish saffron pastries, typically eaten for Lucia.
Joulutorttu, a Finnish pastry filled with plum or apple jam.
Æbleskiver are Danish fried snacks, round and often served with jam and powder sugar. The name literally means “apple slices”, although apples are usually not an ingredient!
Kransekake, Norwegian and Danish almond cookie rings, commonly eaten on festive occasions.
Mulled wine, glögg, is a classic, with spices as cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, but you can also drink Chistmas beer! It is darker and spicier than the usual ones.
Estonian is a Finnic language, sharing many similarities with its ‘bigger’ sister Finnish, while being unrelated to all their bigger language neighbours
Cream buns are enjoyed in Nordic and Baltic countries during shrovetide, between January and February. Sweden’s classic semla has almond paste, while other countries variations include jam, vanilla cream, and chocolate icing top.
Sámi people, indigenous people of North Scandinavia, have a distinct culture, symbolised by its unique flag and traditional clothing, and part of it are Duodji handicrafts and unique musical expression through yoik.
a Polyglot illustrating Scandinavia 