You may have not heard about the Gävle Goat. It’s an annual yuletide tradition in the Swedish town of Gävle that has marked Christmas there for decades. But, there is an unsanctioned, sinister movement that plagues the art exhibit year after year.
How do yule goats sign their Christmas cards?
Season’s bleatings. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/8NXYSCtWNc
— Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) December 20, 2022
The Gävle Goat stands approximately 12.8-metres tall, weighing in at around three-tonne. He’s a statue made with a wooden skeleton covered in straw. The town has built one every year before Christmas since 1966. It’s an offshoot of an old pagan tradition in which Swedish people place much smaller straw goats around their homes during the Christmas season. The very first year the statue was installed, someone burned it down on New Year’s Eve. This is where the chaos began!
Gävle goat @Gavlebocken is on fire only hours after it celebrated 50th birthday.
Photo via Aftonbladet #gavlebocken pic.twitter.com/ALDiv2lKXr— Nordic News (@Nordic_News) November 27, 2016
During its 54-year-history, the goat has only survived unscathed about 15 times. This year is not over. To combat the vandals, the town has ramped up security over the years, hiring guards and deploying 24-hour video surveillance. The goat itself is thoroughly doused in flame retardant.
Mostly, all of that has worked.
Last year, The Gävlebocken went down in flames. The year prior, it was spared but lost its little brother.
Welcome baby brother, to a new spot this year I can see!
But I still got my eyes on you. No worries ❤️#gävlebocken pic.twitter.com/uO3jfiRnL7— Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) December 2, 2021
A fan of the Dean Blundell Podcast, Emil Eriksson has a personal connection to this tradition, and helps us to understand its impact on his country. While the tradition started as a local attraction, Emil who is about 180 km away from where the shrine stands tells us
“The town Gävle is proud of their goat. They hate when it burns. The rest of the country think it’s hilarious when they fail to protect it. If it burns it’s the biggest headline in the papers the day after. It’s probably an age division between the traditionalists and the arsonists. Most of the time the perpetrator is young and the complainer is old.”
His father, who is now retired, makes miniature versions of the Gävlebocken to sell, and I quote “My father does indeed build small versions, but mostly to finance a booze run to Germany once a year. But it’s a bit of a craft and since retiring I think he likes the hobby and being productive as well.”
Who wouldn’t want a bocket sized version of me? Here’s a free pattern to crochet your own Gävlebock. (The pattern is in Swedish) https://t.co/ZCPS3tHsuo pic.twitter.com/ahP0Hkop3n
— Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) December 4, 2022
As of press time, The Great Gävlebocken of 2022 is still standing tall. As a side note, Emil told me that If the goat burns before December 13th, it is ordered to be rebuilt. If he is burned after that day, they cash in the insurance and mutter angrily amongst the locals until the following Christmas season.
I, for one, love this tradition. Should we start something similar here in Canada with that smug motherfucker Bonhomme out in Quebec? I see you grinning at me, you snowy fucker… Your days are numbered!
