Profs & Pints San Francisco: Unpacking Yuletide Traditions

Profs and Pints San Francisco presents: “Unpacking Yuletide Traditions,” a look at the unexpected folkloric and historic origins of many American holiday practices, with Tim Tangherlini, professor of Nordic folklore at the University of California at Berkeley and author of Danish Legends, Folktales and Other Stories.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus processing fees. Available at https://profsandpints.ticketleap.com/nisse/ .]

It’s time to turn the tables and snitch on elf on the shelf: His unassuming and goofy appearance masks a past reputation for having a venomous bite and for driving people mad.

His annual appearance is one of many holiday traditions that, while assumed to be timeless expressions of Christmas spirit, are rooted in beliefs, stories, and practices that might surprise or even shock people celebrating the holidays today.

Come to San Francisco’s Bartlett Hall to gain a much richer understanding of the origins of Yuletide practices with the help of Professor Tim Tangherlini, a scholar of Danish and Scandinavian folk belief who previously led the center for folklore studies at the University of Copenhagen.

Dr. Tangherlini will start his examination of American and European Yuletide traditions by scrutinizing those shelf elves. You’ll learn how they’re the descendants of house elves, or nisse, who were a common feature of stories told in rural nineteenth century Denmark. Mischievous, unpredictable and dangerous, nisse could bestow good fortune on a Danish farm that bribed them with bowls of sweet rice porridge, but they also could cause no end of trouble for farmers who offended them with laziness, carelessness, or disrespectful behavior.

Other holiday traditions can be traced to stark realities. For example, the pervasive use of national flags as Christmas tree decorations, particularly in Denmark and Norway, is rooted in nationalist resistance movements and a desire to counter the cultural hegemony of stronger nations to the south.

You’ll learn how numerous other Nordic traditions, such as the ubiquitous Julebukk (Christmas goat), had long-standing associations with rural pastimes such as mumming and games of strength.

We'll spend some time investigating how the emergence of flying reindeer in early 19th century American Christmas traditions was tied to the rise of national folklore collecting in Finland, immigration from Germany and the Netherlands, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's odd fascination with the Finnish Kalevala epic. You’ll learn how the prominence of Santa Claus in American celebrations has ties to shamanism, early Nordic agrarian beliefs, and tales of Thor and his goats.

You’ll emerge with an appreciation of the rich history behind many of the holiday decorations all around you. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 5:30 and the talk begins at 6:30. Parking available nearby at the Mason O'Farrell garage.)

Image: The Swedish version of Father Christmas leads a Christmas goat on a postcard by artist Jenny Nystrom.(Public domain.)