Christmas Legends and Superstitions Around the World

Christmas legends around the world are fun as well as a bit bizarre and sometimes quite frightful. Sweden’s Christmas Goat Burning, Spain’s Catalan Pooping Log, and Austria’s Krampus Night are just a few of the quirky rituals that highlight the Christmas season in other countries.

Frightening and Destructive Traditions

Sweden’s Christmas Goat Burnings

The Yule Goat (Julbock) is a centuries-old custom in Sweden for which young men dress up as goats and travel from house to house delivering gifts to the children, much like Santa Claus. However, in 1966, a new tradition began: the Christmas Goat Burnings.

Every year in December, the townspeople build a giant goat out of wood and straw called the Gävle Goat and prop it up in the center of town. The huge goat figure rarely makes it to Christmas Day because mysteriously it burns down. The ritual is quite a spectacle as people gather to witness the conflagration. Even with preventive measures in place, such as security guards and cameras, an arsonist finds a way to set it afire.

Goat figurines and decorations are found all over Sweden, a symbol of Christmastime and togetherness.

Iceland’s Grýla and Her 13 Mischievous Sons

In Icelandic folklore, a giantess named Grýla kidnaps naughty children and takes them home to cook in her stew. Her 13 sons, known as Yule Lads, arrive one at a time, causing mischief like slamming doors, pulling pranks, and stealing food. Awaiting her arrival, the children leave shoes on windowsills. The well-behaved children receive gifts and treats, while the bad get rotten potatoes. The legend is meant, as many Christmas legends are, to teach children about the consequences of good and bad behavior.

Krampus Night

This scary Austrian legend involves Krampus, a horned beast that punishes naughty children, a counterpoint to Jolly Old St. Nick. In the country’s alpine communities, Dec. 5 is Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night. Traditional folklore says that Krampus rides along with Santa Claus on that night. While Santa gives the good kids gifts and treats, Krampus issues punishment to the naughty.

The origin of the frightening creature is unclear, though that doesn’t stop young men from dressing up like him and scaring the folks attending the Krampus parade. The figure has become famous over the years in movies, video games, and television shows.

Funny and Silly Christmas Legends

Spain’s Catalan Pooping Log

Children in Catalonia, Spain, obtain a hollow log known as “Tió de Nadal” or “Caga Tió” and paint a smiley face on one end of it. It is then decorated with a traditional red hat and covered with a blanket to keep it warm. Beginning Dec. 8, children feed the log treats until Christmas Eve, when they sing songs and beat the log with sticks. They smack it relentlessly in hopes it will eventually “poop” out candies and presents. This unique tradition brings humor to the holiday.

Venezuelans Roller Skate to Church

In Caracas, Venezuela, on Dec. 16-24, roads are closed to all vehicles so that the streets are safe for roller skaters. In a tradition known as “Misa de Aguinaldo,” townspeople roller skate to church services. Children on the route tie a string around their big toe and hang their foot out the window. As folks skate by, they pull the strings to alert the children that it is time for Mass.

Japan’s Kentucky Fried Christmas

Rather than the traditional turkey dinner, folks in Japan enjoy mounds of KFC’s Kentucky Fried Chicken. Families order their buckets weeks in advance, and on Christmas Eve, there are lines out the door of every KFC restaurant.

La Befana: Italy’s Friendly Christmas Witch

Typically, the word “witch” connotes something evil or scary. But La Befana is a friendly witch who operates much like Santa Claus. Christmas festivities do not conclude until the Epiphany (Jan. 6), when La Befana travels around, delivering candies and treats to the good children and lumps of coal to those whose behavior could use improvement. The kids eagerly await her arrival and often leave stockings or shoes full of carrots and hay for the witch’s broomstick-riding donkey.

1. Many legends and superstitions led to the traditions we follow at Christmastime.
2. Most legends are used to entice children to behave throughout the year.
3. Lumps of coal and rotten potatoes serve as gifts to the naughty children of the world.