Recently my husband and I were out driving in Sweden, (in the Nynäshamn area south of Stockholm) when a rather alarming destination appeared on Google Maps: Ragnarök! Is this for real?! Who lives there?! We decided to give Ragnarök a miss and keep on driving...
In recent essays we have explored Old Norse and Scandinavian traditions of the Yule or Winter Solstice period. Today we will close this series with an essay about the Swedish tradition of plundering (and discarding) the Christmas tree. We will also unravel a ancient and mysterious knot (before tying it securely again, so the universe does not fall apart!
The cultures of Northern pre-Christian Europe viewed the period of Twelve Nights (or Twelve Tide) as a time of danger. The Old Year was dying and there was a time of risk and reversal before the New Year arrived and solidified. In most countries this period ends with Epiphany (Trettondagen Jul in Swedish, literally the thirteenth day of Christmas) but Sweden adds another event to this calendar: Tjugondagen Knut, the 20th day, of the Knot!
The first time I celebrated Christmas in Sweden was in the year 1986. (I was 19 years old and in love!) I was surprised (and charmed) to discover that there is a specific day and ritual for “plundering” and removing the Christmas tree. Traditionally this happens on January 13th, the Day of Knut.
Below is the traditional explanation, courtesy of Nordiska Museet , (the Nordic Museum), in Stockholm:
January 13th arrives exactly 20 days after Christmas and that is what the title of this event means: Tjugondag translates as “Twentieth Day”. The expression is: "På tjugondag Knut körs julen ut!": “On the twentieth day Christmas is driven out!”
Knutdagen, the Day of Knut, is said to derive its name for the Danish duke Knut Lavard (1096 – 1131). He was murdered, just outside Ringstedt in Denmark, on the 7th of January in the year 1131, by his cousin Magnus. Magnus viewed Knut as a rival, well-positioned to rise to power as the successor of King Nils (the father of Magnus). Knut was canonized and declared a saint near the end of the 17th century. The Christmas period was extended by one week and the week of Knut now lasted from the 7th to the 13th of January.
A new (or ancient?) tradition then arrives on the scene. The researcher Olof Rudbeck Senior (1630 – 1702) is the first person to describe a, so called "gästabudskrig" (war on guests or war on hospitality) where the Christmas guests were symbolically driven out of the house, so life could return to normal.
In the 18th century we find the first mention of a related festival, the so called “Julgransplundring” or plundering of the Christmas tree, where it is stripped of all its decorations. Here we need to bear in mind that in times past most of those decorations were homemade and edible (gingerbread people, oranges, candy etc.), not the plastic “rainbow unicorns” we find in the shops today. Today Swedish children still get candy on the day that the tree is thrown out.
As an aside:
Did you know that there is a dedicated day of the week for children to eat candy in Sweden? On Saturdays they demand their “Lördagsgodis” (Saturday sweets) and the shops will advertise their pick-and-mix section accordingly. “Rea på Lördagsgodis!” (Saturday Sweets at discounted prices!)
However, this tradition was created in the 1950s to limit the eating of sweets (and by extension reduce plaque and cavities) to only one day a week. My (Swedish) husband had an even better personal strategy for improving dental health: he unfailingly collected his Saturday Sweets but added them to his personal collection without ever actually eating them. Meaning that, over the years, he acquired an impressive mountain of sweets (which his mother chucked out one day, when he was old enough not to be upset about it).
Tjugonday Knut is celebrated only in Sweden, Norway and Finland. In most other countries Christmas is considered well and truly over by then (though I do observe that many people now stretch the Christmas atmosphere in the “other direction” by putting up their Christmas tree some time in November!)
Knut - Knot
I must say that I find the name Knut rather suspicious!
Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian and German first name, of which the anglicised form is Cnut or Canute... The name is derived from the Old Norse Knútr meaning "knot".
This brings to mind the much older Scandinavian tradition of the “Granny Knot”. I highly recommend the following article by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen: The Scandinavian Cailleach – The”Kælling/Kärring”
I found her thought-provoking article when the spirits sent me on a mission (the instructions were to figure out who the Scandinavian counterpart of the Celtic Cailleach is):
“Frost has nipped off the head of all living things. Finally winter! Everything sleeps – from the tiny insect to the big bear. Skeletons of trees stretch out their branches, black and bare. Gray are the heavy clouds, white the frozen ground. Silence. Death … then suddenly – a blood-curdling shriekcuts through the air. Immediately the wind throws back an howling answer. A moment later earth and sky raise a roar together. A tumult of dry leaves and frozen plastic bags whirl round in the storm. People who lose their footing are swept aside. Snowflakes whip in the faces like nails of glass. Now She rules: "the Kælling"! Now is Her time – Her playtime. On the backs of foaming wolves and ragged boars She rides forward 3. She is the Bone-Mother, the age-old Wise One. Wild and playful.”
She explains that the Kärring will reign from “Hel’s Eve” (Hellemisse, All Saints, Samhain) to Disa Dag (Kyndelmisse, Candlemas, the feast day of St Brigit).
In this period she works the miraculous transformation from death to life, from old to new. (Christianity calls it resurrection). This is Death birthing New Life, the most crucial (and most dangerous) part of the greater Cycle of Life.
This role makes Her the most indispensable link in the chain. And to be precise: She is the very lock. She will link old death to new life. When death cuts the thread, Her steady hands will tie the ends together again in a solid knot. And for this operation She will use a Granny Knot, a “Kællinge-knude”! A knot that will never either loosen, nor slide up; a knot impossible to undo when first tightened.
Her final task is done! Now Brigit´s Day is dawning (Candlemas). In Old Danish Candlemas is called ´Kjær-/Kjør-mes Dag (Day) and Kjørmes Knud. A well-known song goes “Candlemas binds its knot hard and with strong determination” (Kyndelmisse slår sin knude, overmåde hvas og hård). “Knud/Knut (Knot) whips out Christmas”, the Danish children used to sing. (Knud, pisker julen ud!)
This brings us right back to Knut Day, of course! Scheduled for January 13th on the Swedish calendar, meaning today! Many places in Sweden had old pagan traditions linked to this day. Children (especially) would dress up in costumes and wear masks. They would go from door to door carrying a male doll made of straw, the Knut’s Gubbe (Old Man Knut or Old Man Knot, depending on how you choose to translate it). The idea is to be invited in for treats and a drink, but stay in role without your everyday identity being revealed. Dolls of straw, made to resemble old women (the so called Gumma or Crone), were carried around as well and they pose a direct link to the Grandma Goddess tying her cosmic knot.
My advanced Seiðr students and have done work on this. I agree with Brunsgaard Clausen that a much older, pre-Christian festival lurks behind the feast day of a Christian saint (for a much larger collection of examples please read my book North Sea Water In My Veins, about the pre-Christian spirituality of The Low Countries).
If you have not heard of Tjugondagen Knut before I invite you to consider celebrating the Day of the (Granny) Knot (or alternatively the Day of Knut) and to honour one of the most ancient goddesses of Old Europe by giving her (back) a place on our calendar!
And if you are skilled in shamanic or magical workings please note that this period of twenty days (more commonly Yuletide is viewed as a window lasting twelve days, a time of risk and reversal) poses a window of opportunity for powerful magical work!
For those of you eager to dive much deeper into all this: consider attending a Seiðr course or module at my Forest School here in Sweden! There are Bronze Age petroglyphs on my doorstep (see picture below)…
I aim to post two essays a week here on Substack, but if you would like to see my daily posts about about sacred art, Nordic spirituality and my life as a Forest Witch, please follow me on Instagram or Facebook!
Imelda Almqvist, Forest House and School, Sweden
BIO FOR IMELDA ALMQVIST
Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions (the ancestral wisdom teachings of Northern Europe). So far she has written four non-fiction books and two picture books for children. Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages) in 2016, Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism) in 2019, Medicine of the Imagination - Dwelling in Possibility (an impassioned plea for fearless imagination) in 2020 and North Sea Water In My Veins (The Pre-Christian spirituality of the Low Countries) will be published in June 2022.
The Green Bear is a series of picture book for children, aged 3 – 8 years. The stories and vibrant artwork, set in Scandinavia, invite children to explore enchanting parallel worlds and to keep their sense of magic alive as they grow up.
Imelda has presented her work on both The Shift Network and Sounds True. She appears in a TV program, titled Ice Age Shaman, made for the Smithsonian Museum, in the series Mystic Britain, talking about Mesolithic arctic deer shamanism.
Imelda is currently working on a handbook for rune magicians (about the runes of the Elder Futhark) and on more books in the Green Bear Series. Imelda runs an on-line school called Pregnant Hag Teachings, where all classes she teaches remain available as recordings which can be watched any time!
Website:
http://www.shaman-healer-painter.co.uk/
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/user/imeldaalmqvist
Online School: https://pregnant-hag-teachings.teachable.com/courses/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imelda.almqvist/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almqvistimelda/
Twitter: @ImeldaAlmqvist
Magics! I was sensing into the completion of the ‘season’ today and Loved reading about her and learning of her tying the knot - what a gracious and magnanimous crone spirit 🤍
Very interesting, thank you!