A Danish ChristmasEvery country has its own way of celebrating the Christmas season, and Denmark is no exception. To quote Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish Christmas is “magnificent, quite unforgettably magnificent”. Most Danes go all out when it comes to planning and celebrating Christmas, or Jul.
On December 1st, it is customary for children to light a tall calendar candle, which has the 24 days of Christmas printed at intervals along the candle. Each day the children burn one of the 24 sections that mark the number of days until Christmas.
Another tradition is the Advent calendar. There are various forms of these. Some are fancy cardboard houses, which have a door/window for each of the 24 days before Christmas. Each day children open a door to find a surprise or small gift. Some families may use a tapestry with small gifts hanging from 24 hooks, and each day children are allowed to open a small gift. Depending on the family, some may use one, two or all of the above at the same time.
In Denmark, decorations are a major part of having Christmas, and the Danes take this part of Christmas very seriously.
As for the Christmas tree, many families like to choose and chop down their own tree – there are many ads in the newspapers about places where you can go to do just that. Unlike in America and the UK, the tree is usually not put up until Little Christmas Eve (December 23) or Christmas Eve. Some people will have their trees standing outside the home until that time. Homes are also decorated inside with lights and candles. Many of the “outdoor lighting traditions” of America are now taking hold in some Danish homes. In places, you can now see large lawn displays and houses lit up with hundreds of lights. The streets are usually decorated with lots of warm white lights as seen below in downtown Aarhus. A more traditional form of decoration starts early in the month of December, when the house is decorated with “nisse”, garland, candles, tinsel and mobiles. Later in the month, families may enjoy a favorite pre-Christmas activity, a “cut-and-paste” afternoon, where friends arrive with colored paper, scissors and glue to make traditional cones, angels, birds, baskets and hearts for the tree. (See photo of the hearts below.) These are items that will be hung on the tree and often filled with sweets, nuts and other assorted edibles. After all the activity, there will be something good to eat! So remember, if you are invited to participate in such an event, say “YES!”; it is a great way to learn how to make some very intricate and fun Christmas crafts.
“Little Christmas Eve”, December 23rd, is eagerly awaited. Usually, a simple evening meal of warm rice porridge, served with cinnamon-sugar and butter, is served. Christmas is celebrated on the evening of December 24th, with a delicious meal of roast goose or pork, accompanied by red cabbage and boiled potatoes with gravy. After dinner, everyone heads in to see the tree. 
The tree is usually not seen by the children until after dinner, and it is an eagerly anticipated event. The tree has been decorated with the paper hearts and cones (now filled with treats) made by the children. Candles have been lit and placed carefully on the tree, tinsel hangs like strands of silver hair, and a beautiful star sits atop the tree. Everyone joins hands to dance and sing around the tree -- clockwise for one song and then counter-clockwise for the next one. There are several traditional songs that are sung – the most popular is probably
Højt fra træets grønne top,
Glade jul, dejlige jul, and Et barn er født i Bethlehem are two other popular songs.
Once all the singing and dancing is finished, everyone settles down to open the beautifully wrapped gifts. One person is nominated to be the “giver” and hands out the gifts to all those present. Gifts are opened one at a time and the event can last hours. After the gifts are opened, Danes will return to the table for dessert, which is a bowl of Ris a la Mande, or rice pudding. The pudding has lots of crushed almonds in it, but there is one whole almond hidden in the serving bowl. Individual servings are doled out, and the person who finds the whole almond wins a gift. The prize is usually a marzipan pig (very popular), signifying good luck for the coming year; other small gifts can also be used.
Although the custom has waned through the years, some Danes still put a small dish of porridge in the attic for the “nisse”, a bearded, elf-like creature. The nisse was known as a household spirit who controlled domestic fortunes, so the porridge was put out to stay on his good side for the coming year. On December 25th, friends and family gather for a huge lunch that usually continues for several hours. Good food is accompanied by beer and snaps. If a similar gathering is planned for Boxing Day, December 26th, then many Danes enjoy a walk in the snow (if there is any) to help them recover from all the food! There is much more to a traditional Danish Christmas, and it can only be really appreciated by being invited to one and participating in all the fun, food and joviality of a Dansk Jul!
God Jul!
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Below are a few things you should do to celebrate a true “Danish” Christmas. The four Sundays preceding Christmas are called Advent Sundays, and it is traditional to create a wreath that contains four candles (Adventkrans - see photo). The first of the four Advent wreath candles is lit on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. On the following Sundays an additional candle is lit. So on the second Sunday, two candles are lit. On the Sunday before Christmas, all four candles should be lit.
