With holidays comes traditions and every family is different. I celebrate Jesus’ birthday, very thankful He came. My family puts up a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments collected over the years. Santa brings gifts, which are opened on Christmas day. We enjoy a big meal together, something like turkey or Texas Chile and cinnamon rolls. Then we play card games together. This is a typical Christmas for me.

Christmas Traditions

As you probably know, I am working towards moving to Norway, and I wondered what traditions they followed. Here’s a quick glimpse into a few Norwegians Christmas traditions:

Food

Svineribbe (pork ribs or pork belly) or pinnekjøtt (mutton or lamb) are pretty popular for celebrating Christmas along with cabbage and boiled potatoes. A type of rice pudding is often enjoyed for dessert.

Presents

Present exchanges are generally done on Christmas eve, although some families give a small gift every day in December until Christmas. Presents could be brought by Santa (Julinissen) or even little gnomes (Nisse).

Brooms

Some Norwegians hide their brooms before going to bed on Christmas eve because they believe that is when evil spirits come out.

Trees

Norway traditionally gives a tree to the United Kingdom as a thank you for the help received during World War II. This large tree is placed in Trafalgar Square each year.

Ornaments

In their homes, Norwegians may have a small Christmas tree and oftentimes there are julekurver on them. This is a small paper basket that looks like a heart, which is filled with nuts or candy. Click here for a simple instructional page on how to make your own juleurver.

What traditions does your family have?