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FWIW, Scandinavia has long had a tradition of "tomte" (elves, but not quite) watching over children before Christmas, so they can report back to Santa who's nau

FWIW, Scandinavia has long had a tradition of "tomte" (elves, but not quite) watching over children before Christmas, so they can report back to Santa who's naughty and who's nice. As a parent, I find this mildly useful in keeping my kids on their best behaviour, and not particularly Orwellian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte

Sir_Substance 12y ago
That wikipedia article supports nothing of the tradition you just described.
mtbcoder 12y ago
My mother used to read us the stories of Tomte Tummetott when we were very little, thank you for reminding me of that. But was not the tomte's job to watch over the farm and farm animals and silently keep things in order? I do not recall them having much to do with Santa Claus.
innguest 12y ago
> As a parent, I find this mildly useful in keeping my kids on their best behaviour Indeed, I'm sure it's a useful substitute to talking to your kids like human beings deserving of respect and giving them real world reasons why they should not misbehave. You're emotionally manipulating another human being through lies. But it's OK because they're underage and you're their guardian. Right.
- rayray12 12y ago
  You are right!It is perfectly fine to let your kids have fun with these elves because I believe but when your a teenager or adult you grow out of it!
  - innguest 12y ago
    > but when your a teenager or adult you grow out of it And you keep the emotional scars.
veqz 12y ago
The Tomte (Nisse in Norwegian and Danish) is close to what's called a gnome in English, and usually lives somewhere on the farm. As long as it is respected, and offered food for Yule eve/Christmas eve, it will help take care of the farm. If it is not respected, it will play lots of little or big pranks, like tipping over a bucket with milk, or opening the barn door to let the animals run off. It does NOT spy on children, and frankly, they live in a completely different universe than the modern Santa.
- jpatokal 12y ago
  Interesting, this must be a Finnish mutation on the theme then, since tarkkailijatonttu ("watching tomte") are very much a thing in Finland.

Sir_Substance 12y ago

That wikipedia article supports nothing of the tradition you just described.

mtbcoder 12y ago

My mother used to read us the stories of Tomte Tummetott when we were very little, thank you for reminding me of that. But was not the tomte's job to watch over the farm and farm animals and silently keep things in order? I do not recall them having much to do with Santa Claus.

innguest 12y ago

> As a parent, I find this mildly useful in keeping my kids on their best behaviour Indeed, I'm sure it's a useful substitute to talking to your kids like human beings deserving of respect and giving them real world reasons why they should not misbehave. You're emotionally manipulating another human being through lies. But it's OK because they're underage and you're their guardian. Right.

rayray12 12y ago
You are right!It is perfectly fine to let your kids have fun with these elves because I believe but when your a teenager or adult you grow out of it!
- innguest 12y ago
  > but when your a teenager or adult you grow out of it And you keep the emotional scars.

veqz 12y ago

The Tomte (Nisse in Norwegian and Danish) is close to what's called a gnome in English, and usually lives somewhere on the farm. As long as it is respected, and offered food for Yule eve/Christmas eve, it will help take care of the farm. If it is not respected, it will play lots of little or big pranks, like tipping over a bucket with milk, or opening the barn door to let the animals run off. It does NOT spy on children, and frankly, they live in a completely different universe than the modern Santa.

jpatokal 12y ago
Interesting, this must be a Finnish mutation on the theme then, since tarkkailijatonttu ("watching tomte") are very much a thing in Finland.