Norwegian nisser

Dec 14th

Here is my "collection" of Norwegian nisser. They are some ugly little things, yet we Norwegians decorate our house with them at Christmas time... Norway is an old country with lots of history and culture. These little creatures, according to old beliefs, lived in the barns. They helped care for the animals and live stock throughout the year. On Christmas eve you had to put out a bowl of porridge and a jug of beer to please them. If not, they would kill all your animals and burn your barn down!!! So the nisse was greatly feared! And now something we put in our homes to make it nice....???? History is strange.

These are not my favorites to decorate with, yet they are such a big part of my Christmas culture I feel I should...and they are a little fun as well. To me they definitely means Christmas time.