Joulupukki
thumb|right|Joulupukki and his wife. '''' () is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name literally means or in Finnish; the word comes from the Old Swedish word bukker'', a cognate of English "buck", meaning . An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.
Article
4 sectionsContents
- Origins and description
- Joulupukki's other side
- See also
- References
thumb|right|Joulupukki and his wife. '''' () is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name literally means or in Finnish; the word comes from the Old Swedish word bukker, a cognate of English "buck", meaning . An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.
==Origins and description== The Finnish Father Christmas (literally "Christmas goat") appears connected with the Scandinavian julebukk'', not the "Yule goat" as such, but rather the ritual theatrics of men dressed up in costume rowdily going around villages (see Julebukking). Thus an older dictionary glosses Finnish (lit. "Yule's old man") as Swedish julebock.