Nordic Folk Christmas Motifs Explained: Tomte, Julbock, Dala Horse and More

Leave a bowl of porridge with a pat of butter on the barn steps on Christmas Eve, the old Scandinavian custom goes, or the household spirit will be offended. That small, grumpy guardian is the tomte, and he is a good entry point into the motifs that give Nordic Christmas its folk-art character. Knowing what each one is makes them easier to draw and easier to use respectfully.

The tomte (Swedish) or nisse (Danish and Norwegian) is a household spirit, traditionally small, bearded and elderly, who protects the farm and its animals. He is drawn in a pointed red or gray cap, often with a long beard that hides most of his face. In modern designs he is closely tied to Christmas.

Draw him as a simple cone: a pointed hat, a rounded nose and a beard, with no visible mouth or eyes. In Swedish, jultomte is also the name for Santa Claus, so the two have merged in popular imagery.

The julbock is a straw or wooden goat, a Scandinavian Christmas decoration with roots in older folk customs. The exact origin is debated. In pattern work it appears as a stocky goat with curved horns, often bound with red ribbon and drawn in straw yellow. Its Finnish counterpart is the joulupukki, which means "Yule goat" and is the Finnish name for Santa.

The Dalahäst comes from Dalarna in Sweden. It began as a carved wooden toy, and it is usually painted a rich red with decorative strokes in white, green, blue and yellow. The decoration comes from kurbits, the regional style of painting with stylized flowers. It is a Swedish craft symbol that also turns up on Christmas trees as an ornament, though it is not exclusively a Christmas motif.

Draw it with a flat silhouette: arched neck, tiny legs and a saddle-like pattern across the body.

The julehjerter are woven paper hearts, popular in Denmark, traditionally in red and white. Two strips are woven into a heart-shaped pocket, and children hang them on the tree. Their checkerboard weave is perfect for patterns: draw the heart with alternating squares, and tile it in rows.

The himmeli is a Finnish hanging mobile made from straw tubes joined into geometric forms, such as octahedrons, hung from the ceiling at Christmas. In a pattern, use it as a delicate outline of diamonds and triangles. It is a good subject for line-based folk art patterns.

Sankta Lucia is celebrated on December 13, mainly in Sweden but also elsewhere in the Nordic countries. A girl in a white gown and red sash wears a crown of candles, and the day features lussekatter, S-shaped saffron buns with raisins. Use the crown, candles and curled buns as quiet, warm-yellow motifs.

Paper and wooden Advent stars hang in windows from the start of Advent, often alongside multi-armed candle holders. Eight-pointed stars are common in Nordic knitwear and are easy to repeat, which is why they appear in the yoke bands of Norwegian patterns.

Not every Northern motif is "Nordic folk." The Sámi, Indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, have their own living traditions of craft and design, including duodji. Their patterns carry cultural meaning and should not be used as generic decoration. When you want a Scandinavian look, stick to the widely shared national folk traditions above, and treat Sámi work as something to learn about, credit and buy from the makers.

Nordic folk Christmas prints share a vocabulary:

For the tradition behind the look, see the Scandinavian pattern design guide, and for ways to arrange these motifs into products, Christmas pattern design ideas puts Nordic beside other directions. The knit angle is in ugly Christmas sweater pattern ideas.

To try a motif set, Describe It in Pattern Weaver lets you write something like "tomte in pointed red caps, woven hearts and eight-pointed stars on cream" in your own words, and the pattern comes back as a seamless tile in about 20 seconds.