Saint Knut's Day (, ; , ; or ; , ), or the Feast of Saint Knut, is a traditional festival celebrated in Sweden and Finland on 13January. It is not celebrated on this date in Denmark despite being named for the Danish prince

Canute Lavard Saint Knud, also known as Canute Lavard ( Danish: Knud Lavard; cognate with English Lord; 12 March 1096 – 7 January 1131) was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a ...

, and later also associated with his uncle, Canute the Saint, the patron saint of Denmark.

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, associated with the celebration of Christmas. It may also consist of an artificial tree of similar appearance. The custom was deve ...

s are taken down on , and the candies and cookies that decorated the tree are eaten. In Sweden, the feast held during this event is called a

Knut's party A Knut's party or Knut's dance (, literally: "Christmas tree plundering") is a tradition in Sweden on Saint Knut's Day (13 January), which marks the end of the Christmas and holiday season, which includes Advent Sunday, Saint Lucy's Day, Christ ...

(, literally 'Christmas tree plundering').

Origins

(''Knut Levard'' in Swedish) was a Danish duke who was assassinated by his cousin and rival Magnus Nilsson on 7January 1131 so that Nilsson could usurp the Danish throne. In the aftermath of his death there was a civil war, which led to Knut being later declared a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

, and 7January became Knut's Day, a

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, as well as Christian communities elsewhere. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively t ...

. As his name day roughly coincided with

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: Psychology * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany seaso ...

(the "thirteenth day of Christmas"), Knut's Day and Epiphany were conflated to some degree. In 1680, Knut's Day was moved to 13 January and became known as or (the 'twentieth day of Knut/Christmas').

Finland

On , a tradition has been observed which is somewhat analogous to the modern Santa Claus, where young men dressed as

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

(Finnish: ) would visit houses. Usually the dress was an inverted fur jacket, a leather or

birch bark Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. For all practical purposes, birch bark's main layers are the outer dense layer, white on the outside, and the inner porous layer ( ...

mask, horns, sometimes with a sauna whisk as a tail. Unlike Santa Claus, was a scary character (cf.

Krampus The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (''Krampusnacht''; "Krampus Night"), imme ...

). The men dressed as wandered from house to house, came in, and typically demanded food from the household and especially leftover alcoholic beverages. Unless received a salary from the host, he committed evil deeds. A dialectical proverb from

Noormarkku Noormarkku () is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region. The municipality had a population of 6,158 (31 December 2009) and covered an area of of which is water. ...

says: or 'Good t.Thomas brings Christmas, evil Knut takes taway.' In Finland, the tradition is still kept alive in areas of

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish, ; historically ''Satacundia'') is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland ...

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland (, ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ('','' ) of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regional capital and most populous city is Tu ...

, Ostrobothnia and very much so on the

Åland Islands Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

. However, nowadays the character is usually played by children and now involves a happy encounter.

Sweden

In Sweden, Saint Knut's Day marks the end of the

Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...

. It is celebrated by taking out the

and dancing around it. Nowadays, the feast is mainly for children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Knut's Day January observances Christmas-linked holidays

Knut Knut ( Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur ( Icelandic) is a Scandinavian and German first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used which ...

Culture of Finland Culture of Sweden Krampus