Pageant for Leith Hospital, in Edinburgh

ACTA ACADEMIAE REGIAE GUSTAVI ADOLPHI 98

2 sid2

ACTA ACADEMIAE REGIAE GUSTAVI ADOLPHI XCVIII

Masks and Mumming in the Nordic Area

Edited by Terry Gunnell

UPPSALA 2007

Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur

Printed with grants from

The Joint Committee of the Research Councils for the Humanities (NOS-H) The Nordic Culture Fund

Letterstedtska föreningen

ISSN 0065-0897 ISBN 978-91-85352-70-8

Printed in Sweden 2007 Textgruppen i Uppsala AB

In memory of HERBERT HALPERT and GEORGE M. STORY

7 Contents

List of maps and figures ...... 11

Foreword ...... 21 Bengt af Klintberg

Acknowledgements ...... 23

Abbreviations ...... 25

Introduction ...... 27 Terry Gunnell

I: NATIONAL AND AREA SURVEYS OF MUMMING

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway: A Survey ...... 47 Christine Eike

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden: A Survey ...... 107 Eva Knuts (trans. Sue Glover Frykman)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark: A Survey ...... 189 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic: A Survey . . . . 275 Terry Gunnell

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia: An Introductory Survey ...... 327 Urpo Vento (trans. Susan Sinisalo)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia: A Survey ...... 367 Ülo Tedre (trans. Maris Leponiemi)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland: A Survey ...... 449 Adriënne Heijnen

II: ARTICLES

Themes in Masks and Mumming

Talking About the Talking Masks of ®r¿ ...... 485 Hanne Pico Larsen

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway, Past and Present ...... 497 Christine Eike

Eros in Disguise: Eroticism in Mumming Interaction ...... 531 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j (trans. Susan Sinisalo)

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings: Changes in Time and Space ...... 549 Eva Knuts (trans. Sue Glover Frykman)

Local Case Studies

Easter Witches in Sweden ...... 569 Fredrik Skott

“May the Star Come in?”: The Process of Tradition in Grimstad, Norway ...... 583 Ane Ohrvik (trans. Jean Aase)

Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland ...... 603 Mari Kulmanen (trans. Susan Sinisalo)

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands, Past and Present . . . . 621 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town: Ash Wednesday Traditions in Iceland, Past and Present ...... 631 Kristín Einarsdóttir

Elves on the Move: Midwinter Mumming and House-Visiting Traditions in Iceland ...... 643 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Related Traditions in the Nordic Area

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits during the Season of Hallowmas and Christmas in Finnish-Karelian Communities ...... 667 Urpo Vento (trans. Sarah Schauss)

The Killing of the Christmas Goat ...... 677 Reimund Kvideland

Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day in Southern Sweden: An Example of the Popular Exercise of Justice ...... 685 Nils-Arvid Bringéus (trans. Alan Crozier)

New Traditions In Masks And Mumming

Carnival in the Classroom: Icelandic Pre-Graduation Mumming Traditions at Upper-Secondary Level ...... 705 Terry Gunnell

Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods: Examples of Non- Traditional Masks in Live Role-Playing Games ...... 723 Bodil Nildin-Wall

Comparable Traditions In Neighbouring Countries

Galoshins: The Scottish Death-and-Revival Play Performed by Boys at Yule or Hallowe’en ...... 733 Emily Lyle

Aspects of the Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play . . . 743 Séamas Ó Catháin

Remembering the Past: The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 755 Paul Smith

Bibliography ...... 771

Index ...... 813

Contributors ...... 837

11 List of Maps and Figures

Maps Map 1.1: Norway (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987)...... 48 Map 1.2 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Julebukk (Christmas Goat: male). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 58 Map 1.2 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Julebukk (Christmas Goat: male). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 59 Map 1.3 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Julegeit (Christmas Goat: female). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 60 Map 1.3 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Julegeit (Christmas Goat: female). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 61 Map 1.4 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Stjernegutter (Star Boys). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 82 Map 1.4 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Stjernegutter (Star Boys). (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 83 Map 1.5: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Mock wedding traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) ...... 85 Map 1.6 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Skotring (Wedding watchers) and other wedding disguise traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) . . . . 100 Map 1.6 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Skotring (Wedding watchers) and other wedding disguise traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) . . . . 101 Map 2.1: Sweden (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987)...... 108 Map 2.2: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Anders (November 30) and Anna (December 9). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 117 Map 2.3: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Lussegubbar (Lusse men) (December 12). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 127 Map 2.4: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Julbockar (Christmas Goats). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 131 Map 2.5: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Trettnegetter (Thirteenth-Day Goats). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 139 Map 2.6: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Mumming on tjugondag (Knut’s Day) and the previous day (January 12–13). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 143 Map 2.7: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Fettisdagen (Shrove Tuesday). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 150 Map 2.8: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Tranutklädsel på Vårfrudagen (Crane dressing on Lady Day). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 154

Map 2.9: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Påskkäringar och påskgubbar (Easter witches and Easter men). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) . . . . . 159 Map 2.10: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Valborrar (Valborg men). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 165 Map 2.11: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Fruntimmers- veckan (Ladies’ Week). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 176 Map 2.12: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Knutare vid bröllop (Knut mummers at weddings). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 182 Map 3.1: Denmark (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987)...... 190 Map 4.1: Orkney. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 276 Map 4.2: Shetland. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 277 Map 4.3: The Faroe Islands. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 278 Map 4.4: : Iceland (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987.) ...... 279 Map 4.5: Sites where vikivaki dance gatherings are recorded as having taken place in Iceland. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 290 Map 4.6: Shetland Mumming Traditions: Names and Time-settings. (Map: Terry Gunnell and Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh.) ...... 294 Map 5.1: Finland, Karelia and Åland (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987...... 328 Map 5.2: Mumming in Finland: A Calendar of Ceremonial Tours and Visits. (Map: Urpo Vento.) ...... 334 Map 5.3: Mumming in Finland: Touring Songs and Plays. (Map: Urpo Vento.) . . 335 Map 5.4: Mumming in Finland: Visitor Threats. (Map: Urpo Vento.) ...... 336 Map 6.1: Map of Estonia. (Map by Tõnno Jonuks.) ...... 368 Map 6.2: Mumming in Estonia: Andrused (St Andrew’s mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 374 Map 6.3: Mumming in Estonia: Lutsid (Lucia mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) . . . 376 Map 6.4: Mumming in Estonia: Toomased (Thomas mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 379 Map 6.5: Mumming in Estonia: Jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 385 Map 6.6: Mumming in Estonia: Nääripoisid (New Year Boys). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 389 Map 6.7: Mumming in Estonia: Jõulusokk (Christmas Goats). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 398 Map 6.8: Mumming in Estonia: Näärisokk (New Year Goats). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) ...... 402 Map 7.1: Map of Greenland. (Map: Adriënne Heijnen.) ...... 450 Map 12.1: Distribution of the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as påskkäringar (Easter witches) in Sweden during the nineteenth century. (Map: Fredrik Skott.) ...... 573 Map 17.1: Midwinter Mumming in Iceland in the twentieth century. (Map: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir.) ...... 644 Map 20.1: Distribution of the Knutsgubbar (Knut men) (dot) and Felixgubbar (Felix men) (triangle) in Sweden in the twentieth century. Based on records in Folklivsarkivet, Lund. (Map: Nils-Arvid Bringéus.) ...... 687

Figures

Fig. 1.1: A julebukk (Christmas Goat) mask made of black-painted wood, a horse-tail, cow skin and cloth from Setesdal, Norway. (Photo: Setesdals- museet: Set. 4686.) ...... 62 Fig. 1.2: A julegeita (Christmas Goat) mask with clacking jaws from Fredrik- stad, Norway. (Photo: Fredrikstad Museum.) ...... 62 Fig. 1.3: A julegeita mask from Flekkefjord, Vest-Agder, in Norway. (Photo: Flekkefjord Museum.) ...... 63 Fig. 1.4: Julebukk and julegeit masks in Valdres Folkemuseum, Norway. (Photo: Valdres Folkemuseum.) ...... 63 Fig. 1.5: A drawing of Lussia and a jolesvein (Christmas Lad) from Forsand, Rogaland, Norway...... 67 Fig. 1.6: Three young male julebukker on a farm in Biri ¯verbygd (Gj¿vik), Norway, c. 1920...... 75 Fig. 1.7: Julebukkar in Tross, Fjalar, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, New Year, in 1955...... 75 Fig. 1.8: A jonsokbrudlaup (St John’s wedding) in Oma, Hardanger, Norway, in 1920...... 94 Fig. 1.9: Jonsok in Ullensvang, Hardanger, Norway, in 2001. (Photo: Christine Eike.) ...... 94 Fig. 1.10: A russ student in Gj¿vik, Norway, in 1991. (Photo: Gunnar Eike.) . . . 97 Fig. 1.11: The custom of house-visiting children at Halloween has now spread to small towns in Norway: Halloween in Gj¿vik, October 31, 2006. (Photo: Christine Eike.) ...... 98 Fig. 1.12: The photograph appears to show a group of maskers (including one in a goat mask) going skotring (wedding mumming) in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway in the first half of the twentieth century. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) . . . 102 Fig. 1.13: Wedding mummers (fussa) in Tydal, Tr¿ndelag, Norway, in 1927Ð1928...... 102 Fig. 2.1: Andersgubbar (Anders men) in the 1950s in Leksand, Dalarna, Sweden. (Photo: Anders Jones.) ...... 116 Fig. 2.2: A Lucia awakening in 1927 in Filipstad, Värmland, Sweden. (Photo: E. Ölander.) ...... 123 Fig. 2.3: A Lucia celebration in Lönne school, Västergötland, Sweden, in 1954. (Photo: Anders Karlsson.) ...... 125 Fig. 2.4: Lussegubbar (Lusse men) in 1950, in Västergötland, Sweden. (Photo: Erland Has.) ...... 128 Fig. 2.5: A julbock and julget (Christmas Goats, male and female), in Vem- dalen, Härjedalen, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) ...... 130 Fig. 2.6: A kneeling julbock, in Mangskog, Värmland, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) ...... 130 Fig. 2.7: A julbock, in Sko, Uppland, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) ...... 130 Fig. 2.8: Drawing of the arrival of a julbock on a farm in Blekinge in Sweden, by the artist Bengt Nordenberg, probably in 1896...... 130 Fig. 2.9: Julbock and Staffan singers arriving, in Nås, Dalarna, Sweden in 1913. (Photo: Thors Erik.) ...... 134 Fig. 2.10: Stjärngossar (Star Boys) from 1914, in Fogdö, Södermanland, Sweden...... 137 Fig. 2.11: Knutgubbar (Knut men) in Torsby, Värmland, Sweden, in the 1950s. (Photo: Arthur Sandén.) ...... 141 14

Fig. 2.12: “Matsmässgubbar” (Mats’ Mass men) in Djursmo, Gagnef, Dalarna, Sweden. (Photo: J. Haglund.) ...... 148 Fig. 2.13: Påskkäringar in Heljebol, Lane-Ryr, Bohuslän, Sweden, in 1961. (Photo: Karin Jonsson.) ...... 160 Fig. 2.14: Påskkäringar (Easter witches) and påskgubbar (Easter men) in Åmål, Dalsland, Sweden, in 1955. (Photo: Sven Christiansson.) ...... 160 Fig. 2.15: Påskbrudar in Lysekil, Bohuslän, Sweden, in 1927...... 164 Fig. 2.16: Rune Larsson as a Valborre, Floda, Dalarna, Sweden, in 1936...... 164 Fig. 3.1: A rune stone from near Århus, Denmark, dated to the late tenth century. (Photo: Moesgård Museum, Århus.) ...... 197 Fig. 3.2: Mumming in recent times in Denmark: One way of teaching the mumming tradition is by showing children how things are done: Agers¿, January 5, 1971. (Photo: John Eley.) ...... 209 Fig. 3.3: Mumming in recent times in Denmark: Groups of six or more mummers are far from uncommon in the Twelfth Night tradition on Agers¿: January 5, 1971. (Photo: John Eley.) ...... 209 Fig. 3.4: The range of masks in modern Denmark: A “gangster” in the village of Asserballe on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 215 Fig. 3.5: The range of masks in modern Denmark: Penguins: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) . . 216 Fig. 3.6: The range of masks in modern Denmark: A young female turned into a decrepit old woman: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 216 Fig. 3.7: Cross-dressing in mumming: Two mummers going the rounds leave a home in Agers¿, Denmark: January 5, 1980. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) . . 218 Fig. 3.8: A painting by Peder Madsen Fax¿e (1781Ð1840), c. 1825, of a Danish Julebuk (Christmas Goat) figure in the countryside of Sjælland...... 236 Fig. 3.9: Rummelpottläufer in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein in the 1930s. (From Meyer, 1941.) ...... 238 Fig. 3.10: New Year mumming on the north-west Friesian island of Hallig Hooge in Schleswig-Holstein in the 1930s or early 1940s. (Photo: Sieg- fried Hellmann. Jr.; from Meyer, 1941.) ...... 243 Fig. 3.11: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, Denmark: January 5, 2003: Diverse workers. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 246 Fig. 3.12: Mummers in the village of Ketting on Als: January 5, 2003: A knight and a monk. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 247 Fig. 3.13: Mummers in the village of Ketting on Als, January 5, 2003: “Søde Sager” refers to a television commercial for sweets. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 247 Fig. 3.14: Mumming in Agers¿, Denmark, January 5, 1969: Learning to give mummers a warm welcome is part of upbringing in a mumming community. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 249 Fig. 3.15: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1969: Teacher Fischer offers sweets to one of his disguised guests taking the role of a driver for the Tuborg brewery. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 249 Fig. 3.16: Young mummers in Agers¿: January 5, 2001. (Photo: Christine Eike.) 250 Fig. 3.17: Mumming in Agersø: January 5, 1969: Teacher Fischer’s wife inspects a female mummer wearing the mask of an old hag. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 252 Fig. 3.18: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1971: Two mummers in late- nineteenth-century fancy dress leave Lars Peter Nielsen’s “showroom”. (Photo: John Eley.) ...... 253 15

Fig. 3.19: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1969: A masked mummer flirts with a teenage girl. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 253 Fig. 3.20: “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel” at Shrovetide in Valby in K¿benhavn. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 258 Fig. 4.1: Háa ∏óra (Tall Thora): A reconstruction of an Icelandic vikivaki guise. (Photo: Sveinn Einarsson.) ...... 288 Fig. 4.2: The wooden mask from Stóra-Borg, southern Iceland (mid-sixteenth century)...... 288 Fig. 4.3: Straw-clad skeklers at Brough Lodge, Fetlar, Shetland in the early twentieth century. (Photo: Sir Arthur Nicholson.) ...... 293 Fig. 4.4: Straw-clad skeklers at Brough Lodge, Fetlar, Shetland in the early twentieth century. (Photo: Sir Arthur Nicholson.) ...... 293 Fig. 4.5: William Stewart of North-a-voe, Yell, Shetland, in full straw costume at a pre-war pageant for Leith hospital, in Edinburgh...... 293 Fig. 4.6: Faroese children going around as gr¥lur wearing costumes made of seaweed. (Artist: Bár∂ur Jakuppson.) ...... 302 Fig. 4.7: A straw hat with a veil (reconstruction at the Shetland Museum). (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 303 Fig. 4.8: Mrs Neta Anderson of Cullivoe, Yell, demonstrates in 2000 how straw hats were worn in the north of Yell, Shetland. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 303 Fig. 4.9: Children on Pop Night in Orkney, 2003. (Photo: Helga Tulloch.) . . . . . 308 Fig. 4.10: Children going guising in Lerwick, Shetland in the mid-twentieth century...... 312 Fig. 4.11: Up-Helly-Aa mummers in Baltasund, Unst, Shetland in the early twentieth century...... 313 Fig. 4.12: Dancing gr¿liks in Unst, Shetland, in the early twentieth century. . . . . 313 Fig. 4.13 aÐb: Guisers in Fair Isle, Shetland in the 1980s...... 314 Fig. 4.14: Satirical guisers in Fair Isle in the 1980s...... 314 Fig. 4.15: Members of a hen party walking the streets of Lerwick, Shetland, in 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 315 Fig. 5.1: A köyriätär (a female kekri being) from North Savo, Maaninka, Finland, in 1928. (Photo: Ahti Rytkönen.) ...... 342 Fig. 5.2: A drawing of a köyrpukki (kekri goat) from North Savo, Siilinjärvi, Finland, in 1936...... 342 Fig. 5.3: A tapanipukki (Tapani goat) or nuuttipukki (Nuutti goat), in Tammela, Finland, in 1928. (Photo: Esko Aaltonen.) ...... 346 Fig. 5.4: A valko (St Stephen’s Day White Horse), Tammela, Finland, in 1928. (Photo: Esko Aaltonen.) ...... 347 Fig. 5.5: A drawing of a nuuttipukki (Nuutti goat) from Hämeenkyrö, western Finland, from 1926...... 352 Fig. 5.6: Adult boys from Niinimäki prepare to visit neighbouring houses and villages: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Mouhijärvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) ...... 352 Fig. 5.7: Nuuttipukit (Nuutti goats) in the farmyard at Uotila: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Mouhijärvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) ...... 353 Fig. 5.8: Boys having fun with the Uotila girls: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Mouhijärvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) . 353 Figs 5.9Ð5.10 aÐb: Nuutinajajia (Nuutti Riders/ Horse-sleigh Riders) from south-east Häme, Iitti, Finland, in 1926. (Photo: Aino Oksanen.) ...... 354 Fig. 5.11: Some Oriental visitors: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Tyrvää, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Carsten Bregenhøj.) ...... 355 16

Fig. 5.12: Miscellaneous masked visitors in a house museum: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Tyrvää, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) ...... 356 Fig. 5.13: Girls in headscarves with brooms and coffee pots: Pääsiäisnoidat, or påskhäxor (Easter witches) from Nordsjö, a Swedish-speaking area of Helsinki, 1966. (Photo: Bo Lönnqvist.) ...... 359 Fig. 5.14: Penkinpainajaiset/ penkkarit (pre-graduation mumming) in a Helsinki school, in 1981. (Photo: Pekka Elomaa.) ...... 364 Fig. 6.1: Näärivana (Father Freeze) at the Estonian Literary Museum in 1978. (Photo: Hallik.) ...... 383 Fig. 6.2: Two poorly dressed Christmas-time wanderers, Saarde parish, Tali commune, Estonia, in 1930...... 386 Fig. 6.3: Dates written on a door by the nääripoisid (New Year Boys), Uustalu farm, Anepesa village, Kärla, Estonia, in 1959. (Photo: O. Kõiva.) ...... 396 Figs 6.4 aÐb: Johannes Liiv demonstrating a näärisokk (New Year Goat): Ahuvara farm, Haapsalu region, Kirbla parish, Keskküla, Estonia, in 1969. (Photo: H. Tampere.) ...... 399 Figs 6.5 aÐb: A näärisokk (Estonian New Year Goat), Pöide parish, Estonia, in 1975. (Photo: V. Kutsar.) ...... 400 Fig. 6.6: A näärisokk (Estonian New Year Goat), in Nõmme, Estonia, 1926. (Made from parts bought to the Estonian National Museum.) (Photo: K. Grepp.) ...... 400 Fig. 6.7 aÐc: E. Holmik preparing the body of a stork for a jõulukurg (Christmas Stork) tradition, Karsnojarski region, Partizanski, Estonia...... 418 Fig. 6.8: Folk calendar holiday traditions in Estonia: A väzdo, the paper lantern children used to carry along with them when making “krõstoslaavitamine” in front of the windows on Saturday nights: Setumaa, 1935...... 427 Fig. 6.9: Folk calendar holiday traditions in Estonia: Masks of the heads of a mardi group (galfava), made of sheep skin, with a horsehair beard, from the island of Suure-Pakri, Estonia, in 1926. (Photo: F. Aastast.) ...... 435 Figs 6.10 aÐb: Marti and kadrid mummers traditions, in Tartu, 1979. (Photo: H. Pärdi.) ...... 436 Fig. 6.11: A group of kadrid, Häädemeeste parish, Estonia, November 25, 1953. (Photo: Al. Jaakson.) ...... 441 Fig. 6.12: Kadrid mummers from the village of Sudiste, Karksi, Estonia, in 1969. (Photo: Pugal.) ...... 441 Fig. 6.13: The Kadri festival at Holstre school, Holstre, Viljandi county, Paistu parish, Estonia, 1982. (Photo: V. Ojala.) ...... 442 Figs 6.14 aÐc: Kadrid mummers. Students of Estonian philology, Pälsoni dormitory, Tartu State University. (Photo: E. Kärdla.) ...... 443 Fig. 6.15: Upper-secondary school pre-graduation tutipäev celebrations in Estonia. (Photo: Maris Leponiemi.) ...... 447 Fig. 7.1: A wooden mask from Greenland, collected by Christian Kruuse in Ammassalik. (Photo: Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu.) ...... 457 Fig. 7.2: A wooden nose from Greenland. (Photo: Nationalmuseet.) ...... 457 Figs 7.3 aÐc: Skin masks from Greenland, collected by George Nellemann. (Photo: Moesgård Museum.) ...... 458 Figs 7.4 aÐb: A mask made of skin from Greenland. The mask is shaped like a bag, so that it can be put over the head. (Photo: Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu.) ...... 461 Fig. 7.5: A double hand-mask from Greenland. (Photo: Nationalmuseet.) ...... 461 Fig. 7.6: Mitaartut in Ilulissat, Greenland, in 1904. (Photo: Dr. Ragnar Wilhelm Gerard Bentzen.) ...... 471 17

Figs 7.7 aÐb: Mitaartut in Sisimiut and Ilulissat in the 1950s. (Photo: George Nellemann.) ...... 472 Fig. 7.8: Two children dressed as mitaartut in Nuuk, in January, 2006. (Note the stuffed clothes.) (Photo: Bolatta Vahl.) ...... 472 Figs 7.9 aÐb: The personal masks of the professional Greenlandic mask dancers, Mette Labansen and Jens Davidsen. (Photo: Adriënne Heijnen.) ...... 479 Fig. 7.10: A wooden pin, used by Mette Labansen in her performances of Greenlandic dances, made by her father. (Photo: Adriënne Heijnen.) ...... 479 Fig. 8.1: Mask talk on ®r¿, Denmark, in 2002. (Photo: Hanne Pico Larsen.) . . . 487 Fig. 8.2: Two of the three drunken salesmen from ®r¿, Denmark (2002), one only wearing a half-mask. (Photo: Hanne Pico Larsen.) ...... 493 Fig. 9.1: Two old women in masks, Oslo, 1945Ð1950...... 498 Fig. 9.2: A group of mummers going skotring in Rylandsholmen, Bremanger, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, around 1920...... 501 Fig. 9.3: This photograph appears to show a group of maskers going skotring in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway, in the first half of the twentieth century. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) ...... 502 Fig. 9.4: This photograph appears to show a group of maskers going skotring in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway, in the first half of the twentieth century. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) ...... 502 Fig. 9.5: Skotring at a Norwegian wedding in Jondalen, in 1993 (Photo: Gunhild F¿rland.) ...... 503 Fig. 9.6: Karneval in Melhus, S¿r-Tr¿ndelag, Norway: February 8, 1958...... 505 Fig: 9.7: Karneval in Melhus, S¿r-Tr¿ndelag, Norway: February 8, 1958...... 505 Fig. 9.8: Russe students in Gj¿vik, in 1951...... 507 Fig. 9.9: Russe students in Gj¿vik, in 1991. (Photo: Gunnar Eike.) ...... 507 Fig. 9.10: A masked young man fending off a battery of eggs thrown by bystanders as part of his stag-party activities in Turku, Finland, 2002. (Photo: Christine Eike.) ...... 508 Fig. 10.1: Ready for the rounds: Maritta Vainiomäki, a female friend of hers dressed as a man, Liisa Vainiomäki and Carsten Bregenhøj, in Keikyä parish, Finland: January 7, 1974. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j.) . . . . . 532 Fig. 10.2: Liisa Vainiomäki dresses her daughter Maritta up to go around with two female friends: Keikyä parish, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j.) ...... 533 Fig. 10.3: A Nuutti mummer takes the hostess for a dance: Mouhijärvi parish, Finland, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) ...... 536 Fig. 10.4: Joking with the daughter of the house: On mummers’ night, social intercourse was important: Mouhijärvi parish, Finland, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Susan Daughtry.) ...... 536 Fig. 10.5: A female mummer gives her host a hug in the presence of his wife: Keikyä parish, Finland, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola- Bregenh¿j.) ...... 537 Fig. 10.6: Drinking, flirting, fast repartee and bursts of laughter are key features of mumming activities: The mummers have chosen this farm in the parish of Mouhijärvi, Finland, because of its hospitality: January 7, 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) ...... 537 Fig. 11.1: Two young Easter brides (Astrid Hansson, 11, and Gerd Hansson, 5) at Stora Kornö, Lyse, Bohuslän, Sweden...... 555 Fig. 11.2: Girls and some “bakers” celebrating Lucia: Göteborg, Sweden, in 1910. (Photo: Hildur Svensson.) ...... 559 Fig. 11.3: A participant in a hen party in Sweden: Vrigstad, Småland in 1957 ...... 561 18

Fig. 11.4: Women dressed up as men for a Swedish hen party: Essunga, Väster- götland, in 1951...... 562 Fig. 12.1: Påskkäringar (Easter witches) in Varberg, Halland, Sweden, in 1916. (Photo: Mathilda Ranch.) ...... 574 Fig. 12.2: Påskkäringar in Karlstad, Värmland, Sweden, in 1946. (Photo: Helge Kjellin.) ...... 575 Fig. 13.1: A Christmas cavalcade in Norway in the nineteenth century. The central part of the illustration depicts disguised people carrying a star. (Xylograph copy of a drawing by Wilhelm Otto Peters, in Nordstjernen, 13, 148 [1886].) ...... 588 Fig. 13.2: “Helligtrekonger”: Children dressed up as the Three Kings carrying a star, on the west coast of Norway. (Xylograph copy of a drawing by Gerhard August Schneider, in Illustreret Tidende, 490, 175 [1869].) ...... 589 Fig. 13.3: Stjernegutter (Star Boys) in Bergen, Norway, on one of the last occasions the stjernegutter performed the play here, at Christmas in 1924. (Photo: Andrew William M. Peders.) ...... 590 Fig. 13.4: Stjernegutter in Grimstad: Christmas, c. 1951. The costumes worn by the boys in the picture are very similar to what the boys wear today...... 593 Fig. 13.5: Stjernegutter house visiting in Grimstad, Norway at Christmas, in 1997. (Photo: Arthur Sand.) ...... 594 Fig. 13.6: New stjernegutter recruits posing for the local newspaper in Grimstad in December, 2002. (Photo: Karin Engh.) ...... 594 Fig. 14.1: Nuutti Mumming in Äetsä, Finland, 2002. (Photo: Mari Kulmanen.) . . 605 Fig. 14.2: Nuutti Mumming in Äetsä, Finland, 2002. (Photo: Mari Kulmanen.) . . 606 Fig. 15.1: Two girls aged 12 dressed as a gubbe (old man) and a gumma (old woman), in Önningeby, Åland, January 13, 2004. (Photo: Siv Ekström.) . . . . 625 Fig. 15.2: A harvest of sweets received by the “old man” shown in fig. 15.1 after “sweeping out” Christmas in five or six different homes in her home village of Önningeby, Åland: January 13, 2004. (Photo: Siv Ekström.) ...... 626 Fig. 15.3: Tjugondag Knut mumming was even depicted on an Ålandic stamp in January 2002 as part of a series of stamps carrying motifs inspired by Ålandic customs and traditions. (Artist: Anni Wikberg.) ...... 629 Fig. 16.1: An öskupoki (ash bag) and stone of the kind children used to hang on adults on Ash Wednesdays in Iceland. (Photo: Kristín Einarsdóttir)...... 632 Fig. 16.2: Ash Wednesday mummers in Akureyri, northern Iceland, 1914...... 636 Fig. 16.3: Icelandic Ash Wednesday mummers in 1999. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) . 639 Fig. 16.4: Icelandic Ash Wednesday mummers in 1999. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) . 640 Fig. 17.1: Hermione and Harry Potter come to visit: ∏ingeyri, Iceland, 2004. (Photo: Sigmundur ∏ór∂arson.) ...... 650 Fig. 17.2: Children in the old style of masks in ∏ingeyri, Iceland, in 1973. (Photo: Skarphé∂inn Njálsson.) ...... 651 Fig. 17.3: Children disguised as jólasveinar (Yule Lads), in ∏ingeyri, Iceland, in 1994. (Photo: Kristján Gunnarsson.) ...... 653 Fig. 17.4: A recreation of the type of masks used in Bar∂aströnd, Iceland. (Photo and recreation: Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir.) ...... 658 Fig. 18.1: An oven built in 1837, from Laihia, Österbotten (Ostrobothnia), Finland. (From Kolehmainen and Laine 1981: Drawing by Alfred Koleh- mainen.) ...... 669 Fig. 18.2: An oven from Ristiina, South Savo, Finland. (From Kolehmainen and Laine 1981: Drawing by Alfred Kolehmainen.) ...... 669 Fig. 20.1: A Knutsgubbe dummy depicted in the Christmas 1910 issue of Falkenbergs-Posten...... 686 19

Fig. 21.1: Class 6B, Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, in convict costumes for their dimission: May, 1972...... 713 Fig. 21.2: Dimission vampires in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 715 Fig. 21.3: Dimission vikings in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 715 Fig. 21.4: Dimission tampons in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 716 Fig. 21.5: A new wig is often as effective as a mask as a means of disguising female identity. Dimission “biker girls” in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík: May, 2000. (Courtesy of Terry Gunnell.) ...... 716 Fig. 21.6: Dimission participants from Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ processing in the city: Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 717 Fig. 22.1: Live role-playing games in Sweden: Wood elves. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) 727 Fig. 22.2: Live role-playing games in Sweden: A black elf. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) 727 Fig. 22.3: Live role-playing games in Sweden: An orc wizard. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) ...... 727 Fig. 22.4: Live role-playing games in Sweden: An orc. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) . . . . 727 Fig. 23.1: Galoshins in Scotland: Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 24, 1982. (Photo: Emily Lyle.) ...... 737 Fig. 24.1: The Ederney Mummers, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1982. (Photo: Séamas Ó Catháin.) ...... 746 Figs 24.2aÐb: Straw hats as used by mummers in Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. (Photo: Molly Carter.) ...... 747 Fig. 24.3: A Mummers play as performed by the Aughakillymaude Community Mummers at County Hall, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, in June 2003. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) ...... 748 Fig. 24.4: Jack Straw, with the Dooish Mummers, Co. Tyrone, Ireland in 1976. (Photo: Caoimhín Ó Danachair.) ...... 751 Fig. 25.1: A poster for Brenda McClellan’s exhibition Any Mummers In The Night?: Newfoundland, 1991 (Wade 1991)...... 760 Fig. 25.2: A wooden tableau of mummers by Harry Sullivan of Torbay, Newfoundland. (Photo: Anna Guigné.) ...... 761 Fig. 25.3: “Mummer with Fiddle”: A bronze by Joan Blackmore Thistle. (Photo: Paul Smith.) ...... 761 Fig. 25.4: Cartoon puzzles of mummers by Mel D’Souza (1991)...... 764 Fig. 25.5: A newspaper advertisement for “Purity Syrup” (1990b)...... 765 20 21 Foreword

Bengt af Klintberg

The study of masking and mumming customs was something that played a very lively role in Scandinavian folklore scholarship in the early twentieth century. However, after that time (and especially after the Second World War), it slipped out of fashion and remained somewhat neglected until it received a new lease of life through the appearance of Carsten Bregenhøj’s Helligtre- kongersløb på Agersø: Socialt, statistisk og strukturelt (1974), a study of the Twelfth Night mumming that was still taking place on an island in the south of Denmark. Unlike earlier scholars who were essentially interested in questions about origin and diffusion, Bregenh¿j followed in the footsteps of the Cana- dian scholars Halpert and Story by focussing on the social interaction that could be witnessed a living, contemporary custom. Alongside this, he presented background information about a number of structurally related traditions in neighbouring countries. In the following years, Bregenh¿j went on to under- take some important video documentation of mumming traditions in other Nordic countries, but his endeavours unfortunately never resulted in any major international research project. Some twenty years after Bregenhøj’s Helligtrekongersløb på Agersø was published, another work appeared in the shape of Terry Gunnell’s comprehensive study, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (1995). In temporal terms, Gunnell’s point of departure was far from that of Bregenhøj in that he was primarily looking for evidence of drama and dramatic forms in early Scandinavia, concentrating on the poems/ songs of the Poetic Edda as a central source. How- ever, as part of his investigation into possible contexts for the dramatic presentation of the Eddic poems, Gunnell presents a substantial chapter which is devoted to more recent folklore material concerning masks and mumming in the Nordic countries. It was logical that the paths of these two scholars should cross. When they eventually met and compared material in 1999 (on a NOS-H grant), both scholars realised that mumming activities in the Nordic countries were far from dead, and that many traditions (old and new) had never been documented and analysed in a satisfactory fashion. Furthermore, many of the problems that had occupied an earlier generation of scholars had never been satisfactorily answered. They therefore followed up their preparatory meeting by contacting a number of colleagues not only in the Nordic and Baltic countries but also in the British Isles, Ireland and Newfoundland where work on mumming traditions was still going on. Several working sessions took place, 22 and these were followed up by a larger symposium in Turku in 2002. The aim behind all of these was to work towards constructing for the first time a detailed overall picture of mumming traditions in the Nordic area, past and present. For logical reasons, it was felt necessary to make this material accessible to those people who do not have a Nordic language as their native tongue. Little of this material has been accessible in English before. The results of the efforts of this group of scholars have now been made available in this impressive volume, which is being published by Kungl. Gus- tav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur (The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for Swedish Folk Culture) in Uppsala. The first part contains national surveys from which readers are given the opportunity to draw conclusions about both the similarities and interesting regional differences that exist within Nordic mumming. The second part is devoted to case studies dealing with specific aspects or individual traditions within this fascinating field of research. This work comprises an important contribution to modern folklore scholarship, not least because it brings our knowledge of Nordic mask and mumming traditions up to date. It also effectively demonstrates that masks and mumming are by no means a historically finished chapter in Nordic society. Indeed, such traditions continue to represent a living and ever-changing constituent of modern-day urban and rural culture in all of these countries. 23 Acknowledgements

A project of this kind has naturally involved the participants being offered in- valuable help from a large number of institutions from all over Europe. We would like to express our particular gratitude to all of the following: Institutt for kulturstudier, Universitetet i Oslo; Norsk etnologisk gransking; Norsk folkeminnesamling; Norsk folkemuseum; Setesdalsmuseet; Fredrikstad Mu- seum; Flekkefjord Museum; Valdres Folkemuseum; Mj¿smuseet, Gj¿vik; Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane; Sunnfjord Museum; Tr¿ndelag Folke- museum; Tydal kommune; Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göte- borg; Folklivsarkivet, Lund; Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnes- avdelningen, Uppsala; Leksands lokalhistoriska arkiv; Nordiska museet; Göte- borgs stadsmuseum; Länsmuseet Varberg; Värmlands museum; Västergöt- lands museum; Kulturen, Lund; Dalarnas museum; Dansk Folkeminde- samling; Nationalmuseet, K¿benhavn; Museet på Sønderborg Slot, Als; De Et- nografiske Samlinger, Moesgård Museum, Århus; Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu; Dansk Polarcenter; Stefansson Arctic Institute; Kalak Ice- land-Greenland Society; Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden; Museon, Den Haag; Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin; Museum für Völkerkunde, Vienna; SILA (The Greenland Research Centre), K¿benhavn; Háskóli Íslands; Fró∂- skaparsetur F¿roya; The School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh; The National Folklore Collection, University College, Dublin; The Depart- ment of Irish Folklore, University College, Dublin; Shetland Museum; the Shetland Archive; the Fetlar Interpretive Centre; the Unst Heritage Centre; ∏jó∂minjasafn êslands; Museovirasto, Kuva-arkisto; Suomalaisen Kirjallisuu- den Seura; Kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitoksen arkistot, Turun yliopisto; Sven- ska litteratursällskapet i Finland; Posten Åland; Österbottens traditionsarkiv, Vasa; Eesti Keele Instituut; Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv; Eesti Rahva Muuseum; Keele ja Kirjanduse Instituut, Tartu; and the Department of Folklore, Memor- ial University, St. Johns, Newfoundland; and especially to Turun yliopisto (the University of Turku in Finland) for helping to organise the Masks and Mum- ming conference in 2002. The following individuals also deserve special thanks for the assistance they have given during the process of this project (in terms of providing photographs or source material; organising meetings and the conference; reading over and correcting proofs; or simply giving encouragement): Lennart Elme- vik, the President of Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur, Bengt af Klintberg; Maj Reinhammar; Mats Hellspong; Göte Klingberg; Inge Adriansen; George Nellemann; Aviâja Rosing Jakobsen; Anne Bahnson; Sibba Einarsdóttir; Cunera Buijs; Ronald Kerkhoven; Peter Bolz; Bolatta 24

Vahl; Gerard van Bussel; Ulla Odgaard; Mette Labansen; Jens Davidsen; Carsten S. Due; Arthur Sand; Gunnar Urtegaard; Gunnar Eike; Anna Lutro; Gunhild F¿rland; Margareta Svahn; Gun Gillberg; Sigmundur ∏ór∂arson; Skarphé∂inn Njálsson; Kristján Gunnarsson; Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir; Gunn- laugur Jónsson; Jón Skaptason; Jón Torfi Jónasson; Molly Carter; Margaret Stout; Mrs Gretta Manson; Jóan Pauli Joenssen; Thomas Pettitt; Eddie Cass; Neill Martin; Emily Lyle; Séamas Ó Catháin; Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh; Helga Tulloch; Sveinn Einarsson; Ian Tait; Brian Smith; Lena Reinert; Kalle Ring; Brenda McClennan; Harry Sullivan; Joan Blackmore Thistle; Caoimhín Ó Danachair; Mel D’Souza; Tõnno Jonuks; Andres Kuperjanov; Mare Kõiva; Meta Sahlström; Monica West; Siv Ekström; Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch; Mari Kulmanen; Maria Korpela; Maria Bregenh¿j; and Tobba, Liv Anna and Helga Sólveig. Special thanks are due to David Nickel, who helped with com- piling the bibliography; to those people who helped with translations (Jean Aase, Susan Sinisalo, Alan Crozier, Sarah Schauss, Sue Glover Frykman, and in particular our Estonian coordinator, Maris Leponiemi); and to all of our in- numerable informants without whom this book would never have come into existence. Finally, particular thanks are due to Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur for publishing the book in its prestigious Acta series; to Letterstedtska föreningen and Nordisk kulturfond for grants towards the publication of the book; and especially to Nordisk Samarbejdsnævn for Humanistisk Forskning (NOS-H: the Nordic Research Council for the Humanities) which financed this project from the start and also provided a grant towards the publication. 25 Abbreviations

ADV: Atlas der deutschen Volkskunde. Lieferungen 1Ð6, 1937Ð39. Ed. Heinrich Harmjanz, and Erich Röhr. Leipzig and Hannover. AES: Material collected by Akadeemiline Emakeele Selts (The Academic Eston- ian Mother Tongue Society) (Estonian survey). ASV: Atlas der schweizerischen Volkskunde IÐII, 1950Ð62. Ed. Paul Geiger, and Richard Weiss. Basel. CBC: Canadian Broadcasting Company. DAG: Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg (The Institute for Language and Folklore: Department of Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Research in Gothenburg). E: Material collected by Matthias J. Eisen (Estonian survey). E, Stk: Eiseni Stipendiaatide Kogu (The Eisen Stipendiates’ collection) (Estonian survey). EKI: Eesti Keele Instituut (The Institute of the Estonian Language, Tallinn). ERA: Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv (The Estonian Folklore Archives). ERM: Eesti Rahva Muuseum (The Estonian National Museum). EU: Etnologiska Undersökningen (Ethnological Research), Nordiska museet, Stockholm. EÜS: Material collected by Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts (The Estonian Students So- ciety) (Estonian survey). FA: See SOFI, FA. H: Material collected by Jakob Hurt (Estonian survey). HBO: H¿gskolen i Bod¿ (The University of Bod¿, Norway). HDA: Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, Berlin. IFGH: Institutet för folkminnesforskning vid Göteborgs högskola (The Institute for Folklore Research, University of Göteborg). (Now in DAG.) IKS: Institutt for kulturstudier, Universitetet i Oslo (The Institute for Cultural Studies, University of Oslo). KKI: Keele ja Kirjanduse Instituut, Tartu (The Estonian Folklore Archives, Tartu). KLNM: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder, 1956Ð1978. Ed. Johannes Brøndsted, Jakob Benediktsson, et al., 22 vols. Reykjavík, Oslo, Helsing- fors, Malmö and København. LUF: Folklivsarkivet, Lund (The Folk Life Archives in Lund). MA: Menntaskólinn á Akureyri (The Akureyri Grammar School, Iceland). MH: Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ (Hamrahlí∂ College, Iceland). ML: Menntaskólinn a∂ Laugarvatni (The Laugarvatn Grammar School, Ice- land). MR: Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík (Reykjavík Grammar School). NEG: Norsk etnologisk gransking (The Norwegian Institute of Ethnological Re- search). NFS: Norsk folkeminnesamling (The Norwegian Folklore Collection). NIF: Nordic Institute of Folklore. Nm: Nordiska museet (The Nordic Museum), Stockholm. NNF: The Nordic Network of Folklore. 26

ODS: Ordbog over det danske Sprog 1975Ð1977: Ed. Dahlerup, Verner, et al. K¿benhavn. (Photographic copy of 1918Ð1956 edition.) OoS: Ord og sed (journal). SA: The School of Scottish Studies Sound Archive in the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. SAOB: Svenska Akademiens ordbok, 1898Ð. Lund. SCA: The Society for Creative Anachronism. SKS: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (The Finnish Literature Society). SKSÄ: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Kansanrunousarkisto (The Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society). SLHD: Svensk lokalhistorisk databas (http://www.lokalhistoria.nu). SLS: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland (The Swedish Literature Society in Finland). SOFI, FA: Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen i Uppsala (The Institute for Language and Folklore: Department of Folklore in Upp- sala). SSS: The School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. ULMA: (The former) Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala: The Institute of Dialect and Folklore Research, Uppsala; now Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen: The Institute of Dialectology and Folk- lore Research: Department of Folklore) in Uppsala. (Now in SOFI.) TKU: Kulttuurien Tutkimuksen Laitoksen Arkistot (The Archives of Folkloristics and Comparative Religion). ULA: Landsarkivet i Uppsala (The National Archive in Uppsala). VA: The School of Scottish Studies Video Archive in the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. VFF: Västsvenska folkminnesföreningen (The Western Swedish Folklore So- ciety). (Now in DAG.) ∏∏: ∏jó∂háttadeild ∏jó∂minjasafnsins (The Ethnology Department of the Na- tional Museum of Iceland). ÅP: Åmåls-Posten.

Introduction 27 Introduction

Terry Gunnell

Masks, Mumming, Drama and the Social Sciences Whenever the subject of masks is raised, those of us living in northern Europe tend to think initially of societies separated from us by time, space or culture. We might consider the indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, or North America. If we consider Europe, our minds might perhaps be drawn to images of ancient Greek theatre or other traditions more closely related to the Mediterranean area, such as the carnival of Venice, or perhaps the commedia dell’ arte. Think- ing in this way, however, we ignore the fact that the Nordic countries and their closest neighbours themselves have a very rich history of masking traditions that goes back as far as the Stone Age. Furthermore, these traditions still go on today, not only as part of calendrical customs such as those known at Christ- mas, New Year and Halloween but also within other more recent traditions like those related, for example, to upper-secondary school graduation, role-playing games and hen parties. In short, in contrast to the “dour, dark” image that outsiders have commonly allotted to the Nordic people, there is strong evidence to suggest that they enjoy regularly changing guise and temporarily adopting new faces for the outside world, and that they have had such interests for a very long time. Before proceeding any further, it is essential to underline the nature of the phenomena under discussion here. In very simple terms, we are dealing with what theatre scholars like Richard Southern regard to be one of the most basic forms of drama, in other words, the act of temporarily taking on another role, thereby disguising your own day-to-day identity from those who are watching in such a way that they are momentarily taken in by the outward form that they are observing (see Southern 1968: 28–32). Like all forms of culture, “masking” is a form of communication, involving both a performer or presenter and a receiver, the two of whom interact with each other. Equally important to remember is that the receiver is almost as active in the “event” as the masked performer: While the observer of the masked figure is aware that they are witness- ing an act, and while they are capable of seeing the two roles (the performer and the performed role) simultaneously, they will nonetheless tend to react at times on the basis of the surface appearance rather than their inner knowledge. In short, the performer is indulging in a game of a kind,1 but the game tempor-

1 On concepts of game and play, see further Huizinga 1949.

28 Terry Gunnell arily extends to those watching during the longer or shorter periods in which they suspend their disbelief (see, for example, Muensterberger 1986: 265 and 267). Such a situation is created the moment that a performer dons a mask (or “false face” as some societies call it), thereby hiding the performer’s real features, and preventing those watching from reading messages on the basis of facial expression. At such a time, the performer immediately assumes a tem- porary dominance in the situation as they continue to be able to read the visual signs of those watching them, while the observers are half-blinded, faced by a new, semi-inhuman reality (Muensterberger 1986: 263). As the performer adds movement, changes their voice, and alters their demeanour, perhaps playing on deeper associations drawn from the world of the audience (beliefs, fears or memories), a double, liminal world is created in the minds of the observers, a world that is tinged with the further insecurities that these mental associations bring. This insecurity and shock also allows easier access to emotions such as fear, joy, laughter and wonder.2 As noted above, the mere use of the mask (whether it involves an actual mask; the use of leather bands to distort the face;3 or the use of mask-up) is, in essence, one of the simplest forms of theatre and drama.4 It becomes “drama” the moment that the performer actually adopts the role that they are performing.5 Even in its most basic form, the dramatic phenomenon is one of the most complex cultural phenomena known to humankind. As implied above, it is no

2 As Muensterberger notes: “Field research, clinical data, and child observation show a certain uni- formity in the dynamic reaction of the viewer to an encounter with a false face. There is, at first, acute disorientation. This varies in intensity, although there is always a momentary regression to an awareness of loss of orientation followed by one or the other kind of affective impact. This holds true even when we are greeted by a person in dark spectacles or someone wearing a ski mask. Then the disguise is confusing because the unfamiliar face represents a threat to the spectator’s autonomous ego function or, under more ominous circumstances, a potential disorganization of structure” (Muensterberger 1986: 262). Similar ideas are expressed by Ron Naverson, who writes: “The individual wearing the mask is not the only one who undergoes a transformative performance. Be- ing in the presence of the mask evokes a variety of emotions from the spectator as well. The type of response is dependent upon many factors including the subject of the mask, familiarity with the mask ritual, composition of the mask features, the environment in which the masking takes place and the skill and talent of the mask maker and performer” (Naverson 2005: 19). 3 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland elsewhere in this volume. 4 See further Tonkin 1992 on the folkloristic functions of masks. 5 In an earlier book by the present author, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia, the following functional definition is given of the dramatic phenomenon: “ ‘Drama’ … is a wide-ranging phenomenon that overlaps on one side with solo recitation and story-telling, and on several other sides with the areas of ritual, spectacle, children’s games of make-believe and the living art ‘performances’ of modern artists. The common denominator is the actual performer of drama, for ‘there is no drama without actors, whether they are present in flesh and blood, or projected shadows on a screen, or puppets’ [Esslin 1976: 11]. In essence, the performer is engaged in the momentary living creation of an alternative world (or a section of it) within this one, to the extent that what he is acting is not himself but someone or something else that ‘belongs’ to a different time and/ or place. This ‘illusion’ of double reality creates its own costume and setting in the minds of both the performer and beholder. It is in these features, the imposition of “make-believe”, the creation of the living double reality, and in the ‘act’ itself that the essence of drama is to be found” (Gunnell 1995a: 12).

Introduction 29 simple two- or three-dimensional visual piece of art (the mask in itself can be this), but a much more complex phenomenon that involves multifarious levels of simultaneous communication, including sound (of various kinds), vision, movement, touch, smell, rhythm, tone, deep mental association, prior expectation and more (see Pfister 1988: 7Ð12). It is furthermore a phenomenon that is naturally firmly attached to the society that gave birth to it, and thus not only a subject for research by scholars of drama, art and literature and but also those working within the social sciences such as folklorists, anthropologists, sociol- ogists and psychologists. As noted above, elementary theatre centring on the use of masks is very old in the Nordic area. It obviously regularly occurred amongst the late Stone Age “shamans” of northern Scandinavia; amongst the Bronze Age settlers of southern Sweden and Denmark; and also amongst the Nordic peoples of the Iron Age. It makes an appearance on diverse materials from the early Middle Ages, such as the tapestries from Oseberg funeral, helmet plates from Öland in Swe- den and Sutton Hoo in England, a fresco from Kiev which seems to depict a masked warrior, and most particularly in the two felt animal masks recently found in the harbour of Hedeby in northern Germany (in an area that in previous times belonged to Denmark: see further Gunnell 1995a: 36Ð80; Bregenh¿j 2000b; Coles 2005: 46Ð51; and also the various national surveys included in this book). Manuscript evidence from Iceland and Norway also suggests that such animal disguises continued to be used in the early Middle Ages after the advent of Christianity (see further Gunnell 1995a: 80Ð82 and 142Ð329). Much of the evidence noted above is necessarily speculative since it comes in the form of images and objects rather than objective accounts. The same, however, does not apply to the wide range of records of Nordic popular masking activities that come from more recent times, many of which remain unknown outside the Nordic countries owing to the simple fact that they have tended to be written in the native languages of the north (for obvious reasons). As will be noted below, the information about these activities, which has been recorded in writing, photographs, interviews and on film since folklorists and ethnologists began collecting material in the mid-nineteenth century, has its own drawbacks, not least because of fluctuations in academic fashions and its use and misuse in the hands of previous researchers.6 Nonetheless, in spite of the drawbacks, this earlier material can still provide modern scholars from a variety of disciplines with opportunities to examine in greater detail the real nature and function of these traditions as they appear to have existed in the past. Modern field research naturally complements this earlier work, and together

6 As many of the writers of the surveys in this book have noted, one of the most common problems with the work of earlier researchers, especially those giving general accounts of seasonal customs in the early twentieth century, is that even when they name their primary sources (which does not always occur), they sometimes freely alter the wording of the source, or even more problematic, blend two or more different accounts from different times and different places. This can make for some key difficulties for later scholars, not least when they, in turn, go on to quote these earlier writers.

30 Terry Gunnell they serve to underline that fact that when officially organised theatre activities eventually began to evolve in the Nordic countries, they did not appear in the middle of a cultural desert as far as dramatic activities go. The aim of this book is to focus on those numerous “folk” traditions in the Nordic countries that have always, to a greater or lesser extent, involved the aforementioned elements of ritualised masking and performance, thereby bringing them directly into the field of elementary drama and theatre. In the English-speaking countries, such traditions are classified by several differing genre titles, ranging from mumming (which in England tends to refer in particular to the slightly more complex “Mummers plays”7) to masking and guising (the latter being the expression used especially in Scotland for disguised house-visiting traditions that do not involve acted plays). In the present book, the expression “mumming” will be largely retained in recognition of the debt that all the authors owe to Halpert and Story’s ground-breaking Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland (1969) which reopened this field of study for a new generation of scholars in the English-speaking countries.8 Our hope is that this new work will not only provide access to the Nordic material, thereby making a new fund of mumming references available to non-Nordic speakers who can read English, but also that it will open a few doors for modern scholars of all languages who are not yet aware of the potential and implications involved in those Nordic traditions involving masks and mumming. Indeed, this field remains an area largely untapped by those scholars of other disciplines who have commonly seen folkloristics as being little more than the simple collection of oral stories and odd types of rural behaviour.

What is Mumming? It might be argued that “mumming” as an activity represents the second stage of theatre, following the mere donning of a mask. It is, in essence, the simplest form of theatre performance, a form of travelling “kitchen- or doorstep- theatre” which creates its own space wherever it manifests itself. As such, it immediately transforms the nature and rules of the day-to-day environment in which it occurs, instituting aspects of chaotic Bakhtinian “festival” and liminality into a “play” world that had previously been somewhat more stable.9

7 See Cawte and Peacock 1967; Cass 2002; Helm 1980; and also the articles by Emily Lyle and Séamas Ó Catháin in this present volume. 8 As will be noted below, Halpert and Story’s book – and the approaches that it advocated – were effectively followed up in the Nordic countries by Carsten Bregenh¿j in his Helligtrekongersl¿b på Agersø: Socialt, statistisk og strukurelt (1974). However, while this work was well-received and brought Halpert and Story’s approaches to the Nordic countries, it unfortunately did not receive the attention that it deserved elsewhere (essentially because it only appeared in Danish, with a short English summary). 9 See Huizinga 1949: 13; Bahktin 1984: 9Ð12, 276 and 370Ð371; van Gennep 1960: 11, 18, 21 and 178Ð179; and Turner 1982: 20Ð60.

Introduction 31

One of the earliest formal definitions of “mumming” appears in a work from 1725 called Antiquitates Vulgares (The Antiquities of the Common People). Here, Henry Bourne describes the activity as involving: a changing of clothes between Men and Women; who when dressed in each other’s Habits, go from one Neighbour’s house to another, and partake of their Christmas- Cheer, and make merry with them in Disguise by dancing and singing and such like merriments (Bourne 1977: 147Ð148). This description places a spotlight on a number of the essential features involved in this activity which have changed little over time: the elements of seasonal festival; movement between sites; house visiting; cross-dressing and disguise; and finally music and dance, all of which serve to underline the fact that, as noted above, generally accepted borders have been broken down, and that this is an “other” time. “Mumming”, however, is just one activity out of many which involve the use of masks, and if its particular features and purpose are to be examined further, it is important to note how it differs from other popular theatrical traditions. In his “typology of mumming” which appeared in Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland in 1969, Herbert Halpert identified four central types of mumming, classifying them largely in accordance with the nature of the performance, movement and setting: 1: The Informal Visit a) The house visit (e.g., Newfoundland janneys) b) The visitation by inquisitors (e.g., eskimo “naluyuks”, St Nicholas and Black Peter) c) The collectors’ performance (e.g., wren boys, carolers, mayers, soulers) 2: The Visit with the Formal Performance a) A Renaissance dumb-show, masque b) The dance (e.g., Sword Dance, Morris Dance) c) The folk-play (e.g., Sword Dance Play, Plough or Wooing Play, Hero-Combat Play) 3. The Informal Outdoor Behaviour a) Undirected wandering (e.g., general carnival behaviour) b) Going from point to point 4. The Formal Outdoor Movement a) Groups moving to give performances at fixed points (e.g., dancers, players, etc.) b) The dance procession or “running” (e.g., the Helston Flora Dance or Furry Dance) c) The formal procession (e.g., parades, pageants) (Halpert 1990: 36) In 1990, Thomas Pettitt added further criteria to this list in his own attempt to classify types of “customary drama”, underlining still further the complexity of these performances. For him, it is important to consider what he calls “spatial patterning”, “social patterning”, and the “sociology of encounters” (Pettitt 1995: 32Ð35). Pettitt underlines that attention must first of all be paid

32 Terry Gunnell to the incidence of the activities (themselves generally divisible into ceremonies, pastimes, and entertainments), in other words whether they are seasonal or occasional (that is, whether they are linked to “predictable but non-seasonal ‘biographical’ events in the life cycle of an individual, or are quite sporadic, prompted by events of a positive nature requiring celebration… or of a negative nature requiring condemnation”). The next elements to be noted are the nature of the participants (whether they are residential groups in a household; geographical groups in a community; or social groups in an association); as well as the auspices involved (whether the activity centres on “an assembly of members of one group” or “an encounter between two groups” who then become active and reactive parties). Since most of these performances tend to involve a transaction, Pettitt stresses that it is also worth noting the interactions between the parties which vary in nature (some being convivial, involving “mutual participation”; while others are mischievous, involving “minor damage or embarrassment”; punitive, involving the deliberate causing of damage; or beneficent); and then the precise nature of the exactions that take place (whether these are “for the benefit of individuals” or “funding for a collective exercise”). Also important, of course, are the physical contexts of the performances (whether these take place in a purpose-built or non-purpose-built building or outdoors); and then the nature of the encounter between the parties (whether it involves an excursion or an incursion, and whether the meeting involves mobile and stationary groups). If it is an excursion activity, there is a clear difference between parades or interceptions. If the activity involves an incursion, on the other hand, it is worth noting whether this involves visits to homes (and if so, whether they are general [“to a range of households”]; select [“to a limited number of predetermined households”]; or specific [“to one uniquely qualified household”]); or a reception; and then whether the meeting takes place in an external; liminal; or internal setting (Pettitt 1990: 51Ð55; and 1995). In general, it might be said that most of the mumming activities of the past described in this book, like those in neighbouring countries, involve seasonal, semi-ceremonial incursions by geographical or social groups into general or select households (where the encounter tends to take place either on the threshold or an accepted social area of the house).10 Over and above their common use of masks, costumes and disguise, these activities centred upon a wide range of improvised or well-prepared interactions but essentially tended to be directed towards funding for a collective exercise (a shared meal) if the food and drink was not eaten on the spot. In return, the hosts received a form of blessing or symbolic recognition of social acceptance (that they were regarded as being an integral part of the community playing the game).11 In general, it might be said that these activities come under the heading of what Halpert refers to as

10 On the role of space and community in the mumming encounter, see further Henry Glassie’s excellent All Silver and No Brass: An Irish Christmas Mumming (1975). 11 See the various case studies included in this volume, many of which underline this feature.

Introduction 33

“The Informal Visit” (in spite of the fact that there are naturally various formalities involved). As Halpert notes, in Newfoundland,12 such visits tended to involve the following elements, most of which are also found in many Nordic masking traditions: a) The visitors are an informal group of varying composition. b) Members of the group attempt complete disguise. This involves (1) disguise of face and body with varying degrees of elaboration, and with sex-reversal (the man-woman figures) as a frequent pattern; (2) disguise of gestures and body movement; (3) disguise of voice, especially, though not invariably, the use of ingressive speech. c) The behaviour of the disguised visitors tends to be uninhibited and the reversal of normal. On request, however, they may entertain by singing, playing musical instruments, and dancing. d) The hosts attempt to penetrate the disguises by a form of guessing game, sometimes accompanied by roughness: unmasking by visitors usually, though not invariably, follows successful identification. e) The unmasked figures return to their normal social roles and are usually offered, and accept, food and drink. Unlike the pattern of many of the English “collectors”, however, no part of this offering is taken away (Halpert 1990: 37Ð38). Based on his experiences of similar traditions in Denmark, Carsten Bregenh¿j went on to break these activities down more simply into the following key structural elements: Main components of mumming Model of mumming 1. Mummers’ masking = Hidden identity/ upside down behaviour 2. Mummers’ visit = A gift or a greeting 3. Hosts’ guessing or unmasking attempts = Revealing of identity/ normalizing of behaviour 4. Refreshments = A return gift (Bregenh¿j 1974: 102Ð103; 109; and 180). In very general terms, it might be said that these features in turn echo the structural format of Victor Turner’s “social drama” which has formed the backbone of countless rituals and stage dramas throughout time: 1. Breach 2. Crisis 3. Redressive action 4. Reintegration (Turner 1982: 69Ð92).

12 See further the article by Paul Smith on Newfoundland mumming elsewhere in this volume.

34 Terry Gunnell

In short, we are brought back to essential parallels that can be found between formal stage drama and popular mumming activities (even those activities which do not involve the actual performance of a play).13 Yet further parallels can be seen between these activities and those essential factors that Richard Schechner sees as being involved in any “actual” performance: 1. Process: Something happens in the here and now 2. Consequential: Redemiable and irrevocable acts, exchanges 3. Initiation: Change in status for participants 4. Space used organically, concretely (Schechner 1988: 51). The classifications outlined above underline just a few of the angles from which the mumming traditions of the Nordic area can be analysed. Over and above the general structures in the performances and the way in which they work an effect on their surroundings, it is also possible to consider the nature of the costumes and masks themselves (and their social and artistic semiotics) and the way in which these dramatic encounters help to form various types of social cohesion and a sense of what Victor Turner calls “communitas” (see, among others, Naversen 2005: 18; see also Turner 1982: 47Ð51). As noted above, these activities can also have interesting, deep psychological effects on both the performer and the observer. As Ron Naversen has pointed out: … descriptions reveal that the masker often feels strangely different and may experience a loss of inhibition and a sense of empowerment. They often equate this strangeness with being possessed or inspired by another force. For some this force comes from the inner will of the subconscious mind. For others it is the spirit force that resides within the mask. In either case the mask serves as a catalyst or nexus point between the wearer and these interior/ exterior forces. Some cultures believe the mask completely possesses the masker while others assert that the wearer must remain in control at all times lest their soul be overwhelmed. Others contend that a balance or collaboration between the masker and the force must be maintained creating a partnership in the performance (Naversen 2005: 18; see also Muensterberger 1986: 261Ð265). This area is a field of study in itself. All in all, mumming activities can be as complex in nature and function as any modern piece of “total theatre” (see Artaud 1970; Grotowski 1975; and Brook 1972: 47Ð72). The problem with examining how such popular traditions functioned in the past, however, is that they cannot be observed by the modern researcher. Furthermore, as noted earlier, in earlier years, it is clear that the scholarly focus was somewhat different from that we might wish for today.

13 Prepared “plays” are of course presented in the “mummers’ play” performances of the British Isles. Similar presentations found in the Nordic countries include the various “Star Plays” (stjärne- spel/ stjernespill) and the “Julebukkvise” (Christmas Goat Songs): see further the surveys of mumming traditions in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland in particular, and also the articles by Reimund Kvideland and Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume. Introduction 35

The Material As will be noted in the various national surveys contained in this book, the earliest real collection of Nordic material involving masks and mumming goes back to the work undertaken by Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831Ð1880) for his Wald- und Feldkulte (1874Ð1876).14 Mannhardt was following in the footsteps of the Grimm brothers who saw folk tales as containing traces of earlier Ger- manic myths which they believed had served to illustrate earlier Germanic rituals reaching back to the pre-Christian world.15 Mannhardt’s pre-planned agenda was very similar. He believed that the later folk customs of the various Germanic countries were built on the foundations of pre-Christian rituals that were especially related to fertility customs. His work was to have far-reaching implications for the study of this field in the Nordic countries, not least because of the emphasis that was placed on looking for the ancient and the pagan (meaning that records of unique or rare customs often received greater attention than those relating to more widespread, if more mundane traditions); because of the angle from which he approached the material (underlining appearance and elements related to “fertility cults” rather than function or reception); and not least because of the stress he placed on connections to pan-German culture (which would result in some later scholars deliberately avoiding the subject of folk “drama” partly because of the way in which pan-Germanic ideas came to be connected with Nazi ideals).16 The work and influence of scholars like Mannhardt should never be forgotten in studies like those undertaken in this book, not least because academic influences and emphases and political agendas have always coloured the material that is collected and presented, and naturally continue to do so in the present day. Even those modern scholars who deliberately avoid using earlier material because they feel it was collected wrongly and/ or gives a wrong picture of “truth” will find themselves guilty of personal selection and interpretation (merely in their choice of what should be selected or rejected). Adopting such approaches, they too create their own conscious or unconscious distor-

14 Of course, there are earlier ethnological works like Olaus Magnus’ Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (1555: see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and Sweden elsewhere in this volume), but these had less impact on the approaches taken by folklorists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. On Mannhardt’s work, see further the brief description of his connection with Norwegian researchers in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume, and Lid 1931. See also the review of scholarship on Mann- hardt’s impact given in Dundes 1999. 15 These ideas lie behind the Grimm brothers’ main collections of material, Kinder- und Haus- märchen (1812Ð1814); and Deutsche Sagen (1816–1818); and Jakob Grimm’s Deutsche Mytho- logie (1835). 16 In connection with such pan-Germanic ideas, see, for example, Otto Höfler, Kultische Geheim- bünde der Germanen, I (1934); Richard Wolfram, Schwerttanz und Männerbund, 1Ð3 (1936/37); and Robert Stumpfl, Kultspiele der Germanen als Ursprung des mittelalterlichen Dramas (1936). On the long-term influence of works like these, see further Eike 1998. With regard to the political connections, approaches and ideology of the Vienna school of folkloristics between the wars, see further Dow and Bockhorn 2004, in particular 57Ð80, 125Ð128 and 148Ð159. 36 Terry Gunnell tions of “truth”. In short, there is always going to be some degree of subjectiv- ity involved in research, but if careful note is taken of the fashions in academic methodologies and academic backgrounds, and of the personal interests, influences and preferences that might affect collection and interpretation at any given time (not to mention the funding and availability of material, and even the personal conflicts between academics that had an influence on the way in which they worked: see, for example, Bringéus 2006), it is still possible to make good use of the archives and earlier scholarly works. Like all collected material, all of this is bound to be coloured, but at least if we can gain some understanding of how it is coloured and why it lacks certain images or nuances in the bottom-right-hand corner (for example), we can go on to make use of the core facts that are provided. The following brief review of factors like those mentioned above is designed to serve as a “health warning” for the material contained in this book. More detailed overviews of the interests, approaches, strengths and weaknesses of local scholars are naturally given in the various national surveys of mumming traditions in the pages that follow. Before proceeding to the local, however, it is important to underline a number of the shared features and fashions which apply to the area as a whole, features which have tended to shape the overall nature of the material faced by any scholar that wishes to em- bark on a study of Nordic mumming past and present. As noted above, Mannhardt had his own “nationalistic” agenda, and this in many ways can be applied to much of the other earlier work that has been conducted in the field of mumming in the Nordic countries. It explains in part why no overall study such as that presented in this book has previously been undertaken. It also explains why even in the present day, scholars from individual Nordic nations are still surprised when they find similar folk traditions to their own existing in neighbouring countries. And even when they do admit that such traditions exist, a battle ensues about precisely which local term should be used for the international tradition as a whole: should it have a Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Faroese, Estonian or even a Shetlandic spelling?17 In short, whenever folklorists in the past made reference to other similar traditions in neighbouring countries, they almost always tended to come back to the centrality of their own local customs, forgetting that folklore knows few national boundaries. Such a reaction is natural considering the roots that folkloristics and ethnology had in the romantic and nationalistic movements of the nineteenth century, but it naturally made for further key limitations in the work that was done in the past.

17 Good examples here come in the cases of the terms to be used for shared traditions like those of the Nordic Christmas goats, and the performers of the various “Star Plays”: see the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. With regard to local spellings, it is important to remember that the names of the traditions examined in this book tended to be used in speech rather than in writing. Spelling, capitalisation and hyphens are forms adopted by the scholar. The range of forms and spellings encountered in the following pages should thus come as no surprise. Introduction 37

As noted, Mannhardt set the pattern for the first real collection of material, and his interests (reflected in the questionnaires that were sent out at the time18) effectively coloured the material that was collected, material that was naturally used again by those scholars that followed him when they created their own surveys and made their own new interpretations. Each of these scholars was in turn influenced by their own personal upbringing and education, the funding that they were given for collection, and other local cultural and political agendas.19 It comes as no surprise that the questions they used to collect material should often be equally coloured, or that more collections were undertaken in some areas than in others. This naturally needs to be borne in mind when analysing the distribution maps presented later in this book. They, like anything else have their limitations, but, viewed with some understanding of the situations behind the collection of the material that they reflect, they still have interesting stories to tell, especially when used with care, in conjunction with other maps, and in association with other research. It might be said that Mannhardt’s emphasis on fertility customs had direct influence on the work of folklorists like Hilding Celander (1876Ð1975) in Swe- den; Nils Lid (1890Ð1958) in Norway; and H. F. Feilberg (1831Ð1921) in Den- mark, all of whom had their own personal interests (Feilberg preferring to see Christmas festivals as having roots in a forefather cult rather than fertility; Lid being especially interested in etymology).20 There were, however, other key influences at work, among them being scholars like James George Frazer whose The Golden Bough (first published in 1890) helped give rise to the works of the English Cambridge School of anthropologists21 and brought classical scholarship back into the question. Frazer introduced even greater cultural leaps of comparison than those undertaken by Mannhardt, simultaneously serving to underline that the countries of Northern Europe were not only connected to the Germans but also other (temporarily more respectable) countries like Greece, Rome and Egypt. While widening the context, The Golden Bough also introduced new emphases in analysis and interpretation. Martin P: n Nilsson’s Årets folkliga fester (1915), containing an influential survey of Swedish folk festivals, is very much a child of its time in this sense, underlining a whole range of classical parallels (and possible roots) to Nordic tradition.22

18 See the translation of one of the original questionnaires sent out by Mannhardt in Mannhardt 1999. 19 See, for example, the discussion of the situation in Norway in Amundsen 2002b and c. See also Burke 1994: 1Ð22, and Shippey 2006a: 11Ð13, and 2006b: 381. 20 See especially Celander 1928b (Nordisk jul); Feilberg 1904 (Jul); and Lid 1928a (Joleband og vegetasjonsguddom) and 1933 (Jolesveinar og gr¿deriksdomsguder). See also Lid 1931 on Mann- hardt’s role in Nordic folkloristics. 21 The “Cambridge School” of Classical Anthropology centred in particular around the works of scholars such as Jane Harrison, Gilbert Murray and Francis Cornford dealing with the origins of Greek drama, and the postulated close connection between myth and ritual in the development of drama. See the reviews of myth-ritual scholarship in Gunnell 1995a: 1Ð22; and Pettitt 2005. 22 On the influence of, and reactions to, Frazer’s work in connection to folk drama past and present, see most recently Pettitt 2005. 38 Terry Gunnell

As implied earlier, the two world wars had deep-rooted repercussions on the study of Nordic folk custom, not least because they tainted the flavour of those studies that sought to reach back into reconstructions of a pre-Christian pan-Germanic past. All of this gave added impetus to a new influence on the block, namely that of the Swedish folklorist and ethnologist Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (1878–1952: see Bringéus 2006). Von Sydow’s introduction of the new functional approaches of the social sciences into the field of Nordic folkloristics was to have deep-rooted reverberations that go on to this day. Partly in reaction to the approaches of his fellow-countryman Hilding Celander (see Bringéus 2006: 221–225), von Sydow questioned both the earlier emphases that had been placed on the collection of relics and oddities, and also the Dar- winian attempts to trace them back to distant individual forefathers or fore- mothers.23 New emphases (particularly clear in the work of von Sydow’s student Albert Eskeröd [1904–1987]) were now placed on social context and function in the present day. If any historical supposition was made it should be based wholly on firm local evidence rather than international comparisons (see, for example, the work of John Granlund [1901Ð1982]). The result of this, felt not only in Sweden but also increasingly in neighbouring countries (including Ireland), was a sharpening of focus onto particular traditions, often in a particularly local context, greater emphasis now being placed on how a tradition works and why it survives, rather than on merely recording its existence. The work of von Sydow and his students served to underline the weakness of many earlier records. As has been implied above, prior to this time, collectors had essentially collected accounts describing the outer appearance of traditions and the time and place in which they occurred, but had made little investigation into how they worked or the societies that produced them. A little like butterflies on a collector’s board, they were pressed into the printing blocks, and stamped out in collections of national traditions with little real discussion about their inner nature or living context. In the new studies, different emphases occurred. New, useful analysis was now made of both social context and social organisation, an excellent example being seen in Carsten Bregen- høj’s ground-breaking Helligtrekongersløb på Agersø (1974) which effectively blended von Sydow’s functional approach with other new ideas drawn from Halpert and Story’s Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland (see above). Here some reference is made to the past, but essentially the book contains a very careful analysis of how one particular tradition works on one particular island: it allies an examination of the social and geographical context to a close examination of the role and dynamics of the customs, all of which is based on detailed fieldwork and deep interviews. As noted above, the functional, social approach represented a great advance, and not least when folklorists eventually ceased being frightened of go-

23 If any attempts were made to go back into the past, these went little further back than to records dealing with the medieval Catholic liturgy: see, for example, Granlund 1948, 1960 and 1970. Introduction 39 ing back into the archives and began to accept that the two approaches could be connected (a historical approach not being necessarily any better or worse than one relating to present function).24 The new approach also underlined the fact that there was as much value in analysing modern living traditions as there was in trying to photograph those that were “fading away”: in short, the emphasis was on the fact that folklore and folk tradition is as “alive” today as it was in the past, and of no less interest.25 Nonetheless, it might be noted once again that even the purely functional fieldwork of von Sydow and his disciples is also bound to involve subjective choices of focus. It is noteworthy that in these accounts, the social emphasis naturally dominates. Very little is said about artistic elements or the fact that this is actually a form of theatre. Few detailed semiotic analyses are made of these traditions as dramatic performances. Rarely do we find analyses of the effects of sound, light, smell, rhythm and visual context on the way the performance was received (see Pfister 1988: 7Ð12). Very rarely are we given descriptions of exactly what it was like to be behind a mask or to speak through it.26 It is also noteworthy that the focus is rarely placed on individuals, especially in earlier works within this style of research. Personal roles within the tradition (as organisers, receivers or performers) are seldom analysed. The overall effect of this is that sometimes the social-scien- tific approach can end up as being as impersonal as that of the earlier “ancient-butterfly-collectors”. Fortunately, things are beginning to change again in the present day, with the new emphases that are being placed on the importance of “personal narratives” (see Kaivola-Bregenhøj et al, 2006). In short, all periods have their drawbacks and advantages, and all periods are bound to have an influence on the nature and quality of the material collected. All of this must also be borne in mind whenever re-analysis is made of past or present-day material. It might also be remembered (as noted earlier) that the fear of being associated with the past or past techniques can sometimes lead to a general halt in the research of a particular folkloristic genre. Indeed, as has been noted, this seems to some extent to have been the case with the study of mask and mumming traditions in the Nordic countries during the period after the Second World War. While studies of mumming plays continued in Eng- land, Ireland, Scotland and Newfoundland,27 work in this field in the Nordic area (over and above the occasional publications of the authors of this volume) near enough ground to a halt, in spite of Carsten Bregenhøj’s new initiative in

24 The work of Nils-Arvid Bringéus represented a great advance in this respect. See especially Bringéus 1976 and 1999, and in particular the very sensible introductions that precede these works, noting the uses of both the historical and functional approaches. 25 The question of folklore and tradition being “alive” or “dead” is naturally an area of discussion in itself: see, for example, Handler and Linnekin 1984; and Burke 1994. 26 An example of a work that goes beyond the functional approach into an analysis of the dramatic experience is Henry Glassie’s All Silver and No Brass: An Irish Christmas Mumming (1975). 27 See, for example, Cawte, Helm and Peacock 1967; Halpert and Story 1969; Gailey 1969; Brody 1970; Cawte 1978; Glassie 1975; Helm 1980; Hayward 1992; and Cass 2001 and 2002; see also the recent list of sources given in Pettitt 2005. 40 Terry Gunnell

1974. It can only be assumed that this was because of the earlier associations that the field had gained and because it was felt that nothing new could be added. This, however, is far from the truth, as the material contained in this present volume should indicate.

The Background and Development of the Masks and Mumming Project It might be said that the work on the Masks and Mumming in the Nordic Coun- tries project on which this book is based has direct roots in three previously published works: first of all, Halpert and Story’s Christmas Mumming in New- foundland; then Carsten Bregenhøj’s Helligtrekongersløb på Agersø; and finally the present author’s The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (1995) which sprang from the feeling that earlier Nordic theatre scholars had been “protest- ing too much” when they tried to suggest that the dramatic impulse had come to the north from other countries. As the latter book argued, and as has been pointed out above, there was clear evidence that dramatic activities had been going on in the Nordic countries from a very early point, and that they were clearly still taking place in folk traditions right across the Nordic area throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (alongside the growth of formally organised theatre activities). In short, the impulse for the growth of theatre in the north did not just come from outside but from within the people of the north themselves who already had their own “intimate” dramatic traditions in their storytelling sessions and festive activities. The authors of the last two works were both coming from different directions, but were unconconsiously both moving into each other’s personal fields (Carsten Bregenh¿j beginning to delve into the origins of the traditions, while the present author was looking at the dynamics of folk drama in Shetland and in modern secondary schools). On first meeting in Helsinki in the winter of 1999, both of us expressed feelings that this was a field which had great potential, but was under-valued and under-researched and that the traditions in question were near unknown outside the Nordic countries. It was also felt that if the field was to move forward, there was a great need for scholars from the various different countries to pool their resources and make their material known and available to those outside Scandinavia who did not read any of the Nordic languages. Indeed, as has been noted earlier, it was also clear that many people in the Nordic countries had little idea of the shared body of tradition that they jointly owned. The next step (now with the financial support of NOS-H) involved the gathering together of a team of international scholars with interest in the field: both experienced scholars and other younger postgraduate students who were interested in taking the field forward to a new generation. The eventual team, involving national representatives Terry Gunnell (Iceland); Carsten Bregenh¿j Introduction 41

(Denmark and Finland); Christine Eike (Norway); Fredrik Skott (Sweden); Urpo Vento (Finland); and Ülo Tedre (Estonia), accompanied by Annikki Kai- vola-Bregenh¿j (Finland); Ane Ohrvik (Norway); Hanne Pico Larsen (Den- mark); Eva Knuts (Sweden); and Maris Leponiemi (Estonia) came from a range of different cultural and academic backgrounds, ranging from drama to history, anthropology, ethnology and folkloristics. Plans (at meetings involving shared fieldwork in Agers¿ in Denmark [2001]; Lofthus in Norway [2001]; and Mariehamn in Åland [2002]) were immediately undertaken to commence work on large surveys of national mumming traditions which would be based both on older archival material and new questionnaires and new field work. It was decided that this would be followed up with new case studies on individual traditions and key aspects of mumming customs, and then an international symposium where all of this work would be introduced to the outside world. Much of the material then presented at the symposium on Masks and Mum- ming in the Nordic Countries which took place in Turku/ Åbo in Finland in the summer of 2002 went on to form the basis of the second part of this book (following the national surveys). If nothing else, the number of participants at the Turku conference underlined that fact that the subject was far from dead. We were gratified to see so many young scholars. It was also clear that it was already receiving international attention (in addition to those invited international scholars such as Séamas Ó Catháin, Emily Lyle and Paul Smith whose work is presented in this book, the organisers were excited to see a number of other key figures in the field such as Eddie Cass [England], and Peter Tokowsky and Jack Santino [USA] at the conference). The overall impression was that people interested in dramatic folk traditions seemed to be coming out of hiding all over the Nordic area.

The Purpose of the Present Book The present book has taken longer than expected to gestate, partly because of the wealth of material that has had to be analysed for the national surveys. Nonetheless, it is hoped that this has not diminished its value. As noted earlier, the intention is that it should serve first of all as an introduction to the various mask and mumming traditions known in both the Nordic countries themselves, and in those neighbouring areas strongly influenced by Nordic tradition (Estonia; Karelia; Greenland and the northern Scottish islands of Orkney and Shetland). Secondly, it is hoped that the case studies included in the second part of the book will serve as primary material and simultaneously open up the wealth of approaches that can be used in dealing with mask and mumming traditions. In addition to offering some introduction to comparable traditions in neighbouring countries (see the articles by Séamas Ó Catháin, Emily Lyle and Paul Smith on Irish, Scottish and Newfoundland mumming), they demonstrate scholars working, among other things, with discourse analysis (Hanna Pico 42 Terry Gunnell

Larsen), Bakhtinian carnival theory (Christine Eike) and van Gennep and Turner’s concepts of liminality (Mari Kulmanen). Elsewhere attention is paid to mumming as commercial heritage (Paul Smith) or as a carefully maintained phenomenon that has moved out the hands of the performers into those of the authorities that it originally threatened (Ane Ohrvik; Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch; and Kristín Einarsdóttir). Other scholars note the way in which the desire to mask and threaten the status quo is taking new forms in line with the changes in modern society (Eva Knuts; Terry Gunnell; Christine Eike and Bodil Nildin-Wall). Urpo Vento, Reimund Kvideland and Nils-Arvid Bringéus, meanwhile, note how mumming can itself blend with other activities and genres, underlining the fact that there are never any clear boundaries between folkloristic forms, while Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j emphasises the way in which the mask offers freedom of behaviour that breaks down a range of different walls within society (both literally and otherwise). Several authors (Fredrik Skott and Vilborg Davídsdóttir, for example, following up earlier work by Christine Eike [1980]), also note the way in which there are often strong connections and even interactions between systems of folk belief and mumming traditions. In all cases, regular note is made of how global influences are making themselves felt, and how changes in the age and gender of performers and also in the surrounding society have altered the dynamics, reception and context of the traditions. Returning to the national surveys, it should be noted that these can never be more than general introductions. Indeed, there is no way that the wealth of material in the huge archives of Sweden and Finland, for example, could ever be easily summarised in single chapters of the kind planned here. The aim is nonetheless to provide those who are not familiar with the country or area in question with some foundation to build on: an idea of the broad range of traditions in each country; of the material that has been collected; and of the research that has previously been carried out into these traditions. All of this also has to be placed in some environmental context. This is why brief descriptions of the geographical environment, history and cultural connections of each country are given before the various authors proceed to outline when, where and how the original collections took place, noting their strengths and weaknesses and where the material is now housed. This background material is then followed up by a review of the traditions in each country, accompanied by references to key scholarly works, and distribution maps (which, of course, need to be viewed in the light of the “health warnings” noted above). Alongside the general facts and figures, an attempt has been made to give regular first-hand descriptions of the various traditions, offering some idea of how they function(ed) and what it was like to take part in these activities as performers or “observers”.28 In each case, footnote references are made to comparable or

28 Naturally, few people simply “observe” the kinds of tradition that are described here. It is difficult not to take part in one way or another. Introduction 43 directly related traditions in other neighbouring countries, and visual material is provided where possible. Finally, some description is made of modern developments that have taken place as the mumming traditions have moved away from their old rural roots and re-evolved in the shape of new customs that have less of a seasonal basis than their forerunners (as in the case of those traditions that are rooted in personal life festivals or school initiation and graduation customs). Finally, at the back of the book, a general bibliography of relevant material has been compiled. This includes not only the reference material for the various articles, but also a number of other useful relevant works dealing with masking, mumming and drama. All in all, as was been noted at the start, this book should for once and for all banish the notion that the Nordic peoples are and were expressionless, “Bergmanesque” beings. It provides new insight into a whole menagerie of masked figures that have stalked the pathways and main roads of the north, ranging from goats and bulls to cranes and bears, and from ogresses to gypsies, kings and pantomime dames. These figures, which go by such exotic names such as the julebukk/ julbock/ julebuk/ joulupouki/ jõulusokk/ †ingál†/ jólhest- ur/ julegeit; jõulupoisid; Julebisp; stjernegutter/ stjärngossar/ seernapojat; staffansryttarna/ tapaninajo; tapanipukit; nääripoisid; kveldskj¿gla; Hellig- trekonger; Knutgubbar/ Knut/ nuutti; mitaartut; Nuutiparooni; Lusse/ Lucia/ lutsi; noitaämmä; Mattesgubbar; toomased; påskkäringar, grØlur/ gr¿liks/ skeklers; kekri; mardi; kadri; busar, dimitendar, and möhippor, just to mention a few, were anything but dull. If nothing else they serve to underline the fact that the spirit of theatre, in one form or another, has always lived in the Nordic blood. 44 Terry Gunnell

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 45

I NATIONAL AND AREA SURVEYS OF MUMMING

46 Christine Eike

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 47 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway A Survey Christine Eike

1. Introduction 1. a. Norway Ð A Brief Description1 To help understanding the background and distribution of mumming customs and disguise in Norway, it is important to mention a few basic facts about the country. Norway occupies the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula and shares borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia (see map 1.1). It stretches nearly 3000 km. from the mild climate of the south to the treeless Arctic archipelago of Svalbard in the north. The coastline is deeply cut by fjords bordered by high, steep cliffs. Inland, mountain ranges cover more than half of the land mass, while Norway’s extensive forests cover a total of 37% of the national area. This has resulted in many areas of the country becoming relatively isolated from each other. The country is divided up into nineteen counties (fylker). The largest cities are Oslo (with a population of around half a million people), Bergen, Trond- heim and Stavanger. Traditionally the largest part of Norway’s population was well-rooted in farming communities with the richest farms and the greatest class gaps being found in Hedmark, Oppland and Tr¿ndelag. In the north, people mainly lived on fishing, while in western and southern Norway, they combined farming and fishing. Today Norway is turning into an increasingly urban society, the country’s prosperity being largely due to the North Sea oil fields which were discovered in the 1960s. Norway’s population has one of the lowest population densities in Europe. Most of the inhabitants are considered to be of Nordic stock, and they speak a language (Norwegian) closely related to the other Scandinavian languages, Swedish and Danish. The largest ethnic minority in the country are the Sami people, formerly nomads who are also known as “Lapps”. The Sami are also found in Finland, Sweden and Russia. In Norway, they mainly occupy the far northern county of Finnmark, but there are also scattered groups in Nordland, Tr¿ndelag and Hedmark.

1 Unless otherwise noted, most of the following background information is based on the encyclopedia, Aschehoug og Gyldendals store norske leksikon 1Ð16, 1995Ð1999 (esp. Vol. 11, 1998) and Swaney 1999.

48 Christine Eike

Map 1.1: Norway (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987). (Courtesy of Gebrüder Borntraeger.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 49

In terms of religious belief, Norway formally became Christian in about AD 1000, although it seems that Irish monks had earlier established a monastery there in around the year 700. Today, a majority of Norwegians belong to the Church of Norway, a Protestant Evangelical form of Lutheranism, which was adopted in 1537. In connection with this, it is worth bearing in mind the effect of Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771Ð1824), a revivalist layman preacher, who traversed the country from 1796 onwards until he was imprisoned in 1804. Even after that time, his popular Pietistic movement continued to grow. It has left deep marks on Norwegian church life and ways of thought in certain parts of the country (mainly the west and the south). The religious traditions of the Sami, meanwhile, were mainly characterised by their close relationship to nature, and certain shamanistic practices carried out by the Sami shamans or noa’ider.2 These practices were carefully observed by Christian missionaries for centuries, many of the magic drums of the Sami being destroyed during the eighteenth century.3 The Sami sense for ecstatic practices nonetheless somehow found a new outlet in a popular Christian movement started by the Swedish priest Lars Levi Læstadius around 1844. This was another influential movement which was rapidly spread to the northern part of Norway by wandering priests (Gjessing 1953: 99Ð100). In spite of its long history, Norway is still a relatively young nation. It was not until 1905 that the king of Sweden eventually recognised Norway’s sovereignty, thereby putting an end to the Swedish-Norwegian union that had lasted for almost a hundred years. Prior to that time, Norway had been under Danish dominion for centuries (1389Ð1814), living very much on the outskirts of that monarchy. Various wars between the Danish Union and Sweden also had some effect on Norway. During the mid-seventeenth century, for example, Norway lost a good portion of its territory to Sweden in the form of Jämtland, Här- jedalen and Bohuslän which explains why these areas commonly have many traditions that are very similar to those found in Norway.4 Norway’s apparent isolation in the past was far from complete. The coastal line brought contacts. In the early Middle Ages, there were close contacts with the colonies across the North Sea, like Orkney and Shetland (bringing also cultural connections with eastern Scotland), the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Indeed, timber trading with England was also maintained from the seventeenth century onwards. Northern Norway had trading contacts with northern Russia for centuries (until 1917), while in the south there were close trading contacts with Holland in the seventeenth century. Earlier on, powerful Hanseatic merchants from Hamburg and elsewhere in Germany had dominated the life of Bergen from as far back as the fourteenth century until Christian III (of Denmark) broke the Hanseatic grip in 1559, thereby allowing Dutch, Danish and Scottish

2 Parallels to such traditions can be seen in the customs described in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland elsewhere in this volume. 3 On the Sami religion, see further Gjessing 1953, and Christiansen 1953. 4 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

50 Christine Eike traders to have their own share in making Bergen a particularly cosmopolitan city.5 The port of Bergen was largely sustained by the export of dried cod from Nordland, and, with all its trading contacts, remained Norway’s largest city until the 1830s. As regards foreign influences, it is also worth noting that inland Norway also had Finnish immigrants settling in ¯stfold and Hedmark in the seventeenth century, and that at the same time Norwegian mines often ordered specialised workers from Germany. Then (as in Ireland, Scotland, and Iceland and the other Scandinavian countries), the nineteenth century brought about a period of mass emigration to North America. This resulted in further contacts: letters of course crossed the Atlantic and some of the emigrants even came back.6 Finally, it needs to be remembered that many Norwegian artists, musicians and writers in the past spent years studying in Germany or Rome, something which also had an impact. Norway’s two “fights” for independence (to free itself from the control of the other Scandinavian countries and from the later control of Hitler’s Germany) have also had an important role to play in the way the country sees itself and its neighbours. During Norway’s cultural revival in the nineteenth century, many parts of the country were firmly opposed to the official Danish language of the upper class, something that led to the creation of a “new” official language mainly based on western Norwegian dialects, nynorsk (New Norwegian) now being Norway’s second official language. Furthermore, after the experiences of the Second World War, Germans and German culture grew unpopular (thus putting an end to a period of quite close connections between the two lands). Today, like many other western nations, one might argue that the Norwegians look to the Anglo-American world for models and inspiration. As with the Hanseatic contacts of the past, this too has had an influence on Nor- wegian folk tradition.

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks, Mumming and Disguise in Norway As with other countries in Northern Europe, little is recorded about folk customs in Norway prior to the nineteenth century. It is known that masks probably existed in pagan Norway from the oldest times, both in the Bronze Age and up to as late as the time of the Oseberg burial in c. AD 850. Figures dressed in horns or animal masks and/ or animal skins appear to have played a central role in pagan ritual in these times (see Gunnell 1995a: 36Ð95 and 2002: 48). After that, however, there is a large gap. A document from Bergen dated 1307, refers to a man known as Arnaldus Jolahest (“Arnaldus the Christmas Horse”: see Diplomatarium Norvegicum 1871: VIII, 29), which might point to the ex-

5 It is these contacts which explain why several “foreign” folk traditions are found in Bergen, but not to the same degree in the surrounding countryside. In a sense, Bergen was one of Norway’s key gateways to the rest of the world. 6 On the movement of Norwegian traditions to America, see further Stokker 2000.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 51 istence of a masked figure similar to that later known in Denmark (1543) as the huægehors (see Palladius 1543: 144), or even comparable to the later Faroese jólhestur (Christmas Horse) associated with Christmas dances (Gunnell 1995a: 166Ð167; and note 359).7 Also worth noting is that Old Norse literature contains numerous examples of characters adopting disguises that cannot be explained as necessary for the central motif or story. Here, too, one encounters several hints of at least partial goat disguises (see Gunnell 1995a: 89Ð87 and 125). The first real Norwegian description of Norway’s most widespread masked figure of earlier times, the julebukk (Christmas Goat) appears in C. Jensøn’s glossary from 1646 where a “raageit” (pole-goat) from Sunnfjord, in western Norway, is described as “Et formummet Menniske med et Sengeklæde paa et Træ giort som en Tang ofver sig oc skremmer smaa Børn” (a person disguised with a sheet or blanket placed over a piece of wood shaped like a pair of tongs, who frightens small children). The first reference to the Norwegian stjernegutter (Star Boys, cf. The Three Kings carrying a star) comes earlier, in 1609, when the journeymen tailors in Bergen were forbidden by law to act as stjernegutter, because this tradition was seen as being the privilege of the pupils from the Latin schools (see Edvardsen 1993a: 37 and 67; and Ohrvik 2000: 41).8 Alongside other prohibitions that occurred in Norway in the eighteenth century, the police in Trondheim in 1787 forbade people to go around with the star at Christmas because of the disorder they were causing (Ohrvik 2000: 42). The eighteenth century also provides us with an early reference to a mock wedding and two more references to the julebukk. The first occurs when the priest Marcus Schnabel writes in 1781 that young people used to meet at a rock in Ullensvang in Hardanger to decorate the Jonsok (St John’s Eve) bride (see Rygh and Olsen 1910: XI, 454; and Helleland 1997: 87). The two julebukk references come from Sunnm¿re in M¿re and Romsdal where the mask is again stated to have been used to frighten children9 and from Namdalen in Nord- Tr¿ndelag where the police annals record how a man in disguise in the 1750s almost frightened some women to death (Lid 1928a: 42). This is about all the source information that we can rely on from the centuries prior to the nineteenth century in Norway. It is thus no wonder that some people have questioned whether house-visiting mummers are an old institution in Norway. However, it must be borne in mind that one cannot draw too many conclusions from the lack of sources. Each century places impor-

7 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and the North Atlantic Islands (the Faroes) elsewhere in this volume. 8 See further Ane Ohrvik’s study of this tradition elsewhere in this volume. 9 “Det selvgjorte Spøgelse, kaldet Jule-Buk eller Jule-Geed, hvormed man her ved Jule-Tider pleier at kyse Børn” (The man-made ghost called Jule-Buk or Jule-Geed [male and female forms of Christmas Goat], with which people used to frighten children at Christmas time: Str¿m 1762Ð 66: quoted in Lid and Solheim 1937: 54).

52 Christine Eike tance on different things, and the subject in question was not seen as being of particular interest prior to the nineteenth century. When the topic at last gained interest, the legitimacy of folklore research was based on getting hold of what could be proved to be “genuine” national folk culture. This was a time at which a nation had to be built and a national identity found. The early scholars of folk customs in Norway and elsewhere were therefore especially interested in ancient pagan rituals, and in finding roots that went as far back as possible. The older the materials were, the more genuine they were thought to be. Later, when the Norwegian nation had become a fact, and old pagan Germanic ritual had fallen into disrepute after the Second World War, it became modern to state that all traditions must have been imported, preferably during the Christian Middle Ages. Today, the question of origin is often said to be outdated and single case studies dominate the picture. Society today has become more centred on the individual, and so has research. People are wary of looking into earlier material. Of course, there are valid criticisms about how earlier scholars’ personal interests and what they wanted to be true tended to have an impact on what was collected and how the collection was carried out. However, one can also ask whether it is ever possible to be objective? Furthermore, even today, people in general are interested in historical lineage, even if it is simply from the viewpoint of nostalgia. In this survey both the diachronic and synchronic approaches will be born in mind.

1. c. The Material As noted above, various features affect the type of folklore material that is collected and the way in which it is collected, not least fashions in research and access to materials. All of this needs to be borne in mind when the earlier material is examined. For obvious reasons, in the nineteenth century, folklore records in Norway become more numerous, and initially, the main interest is focussed on texts, legends, fairy tales and songs. For that reason, when Hans Wiers-Jenssen (1866Ð1925), a theatre instructor and writer in Bergen and Kris- tiania, and Knut Eilif Hougen (1853Ð1935), a teacher and headmaster in Sandefjord, Vestfold collected their material about the stjernegutter (Star Boys) in Norway, the different variations of the stjernegutter song and the remains of a whole stjernespill (Star Play) were their main focus (see Wiers- Jenssen and Hougen 1921, 1937 and 1993). Similar interests can be seen in the work of Johan Theodor Storaker (1837Ð1872) from Mandal, who was also a teacher, and later worked as a headmaster in S¿gne, Vest-Agder. The main emphasis in Storaker’s work was on popular belief and legends, but his collections also contain quite a few references to customs, including masking traditions. In the beginning, he concentrated on Vest-Agder, but in the 1860s, he started to collect material from the whole country. Like the Grimm brothers before him, Storaker’s

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 53 point of view was that popular belief and legends contained the last surviving elements of Old Norse mythology. His collections, however, remained in manuscript form until the Norwegian ethnologist Nils Lid eventually published them over the course of several volumes in the Norsk Folkeminnelags skrifter series (from 1921 onwards). In 1866, Storaker was assigned by Pro- fessor Sophus Bugge (1833Ð1907) of the University of Kristiania (Oslo) to help the German scholar Wilhelm Mannhardt (1831Ð1880) in collecting Nor- wegian material that might be related to early fertility rituals. Mannhardt had composed a systematic question list10 that had been sent to various countries as part of a search for the remains of ancient Germanic ritual. He was mainly interested in reconstructing these rituals, and his results (partly based on Storaker’s material) were eventually published in his influential Wald- und Feldkulte (1874Ð1876). Sometimes the informants are mentioned here; but most often they are not.11 Partly as a result of Mannhardt’s and Storaker’s work, there was a great increase in the collection of material concerning native costumed traditions in Norway in the last part of the nineteenth and the first part of the twentieth century. Today these collections can be found at the University in Oslo as unpublished sources in Norsk Folkeminnesamling (The Norwegian Folk- lore Collection) and/ or as published sources in the series Norsk Folkeminne- lags skrifter (Norwegian Folklore Society Works) published from 1921 onwards. As with the work of Storaker and others, the aim of these folkloristic collections was to collect the memories that people had of former times (rather than accounts of contemporary activities). These memories often date back several generations. The most important contributor to our knowledge of masks and mumming in traditional Norwegian society is undoubtedly Nils Lid (1899Ð1958). Lid was born in Voss in Hordaland, and later (in 1940) went on to become Professor of Ethnology (folkelivsgransking) at the University of Oslo. He continued where Storaker and Mannhardt had left off, essentially searching for survivals from ancient times with a strong focus on fertility rites. He collected a wealth of material in the 1920s, later publishing his conclusions in his two main books about the customs, Joleband og vegetasjonsguddom (Christmas Corn and Vegetation Deities: 1928a), and Jolesveinar og gr¿derikdomsgudar (Christmas Lads and Fertility Gods: 1933). In the 1930s, Lid became one of the co-founders of a new institution: Nemndi til gransking av norsk nemningsbruk (The Committee for Research into Naming) which published the journal Ord og Sed. In this work, he was joined by Svale Solheim (1903Ð1971), later (from 1956 onwards) Professor of Folkloristics (folkeminnevitskap) at the University of Oslo. These two men sent out a large number of questionnaires in the years that followed. Among these was Nils Lid’s wide-ranging questionnaire on spirits: Tradisjon

10 The Danish variant of this questionnaire which was mainly distributed to Norwegian teacher training colleges in 1866, is printed in Lid 1931: 26Ð32. 11 Mannhardt’s material from Norway was later specially published in Lid 1931.

54 Christine Eike um overnaturlege skapnader (Traditions Concerning Supernatural Beings: 1931). The earlier-mentioned julebukk figures (Christmas Goats) are mainly dealt with as spirits in this collection, but on rare occasions also in their form as masked figures. The answers to this questionnaire are today available at the University of Oslo, at the Institutt for kulturstudier (IKS: Institute for Cultural Studies). In 1937, Lid and Solheim went on to compose another article and questionnaire dealing directly with Julebukk og Brudlaupsbukk (Christmas Goats and Wedding Goats) as masked figures, which was published in Ord og Sed in the same year. The answers to this important questionnaire started to come in straight away in 1937, and went on coming in until 1940. These too are kept at the University of Oslo, and form a wealth of very valuable, if largely unpublished material. Other useful articles and questionnaires published by Lid and Solheim are those on Jolesveinar (Christmas Lads: 1937b) and Julegeit og kveldskj¿gle (Christmas Goat [female] and Night Ghost: 1941). Unfortunately, no answers to these two questionnaires can be found at the university. For logical reasons, Ord og Sed had a dormant period during the years 1939Ð45. After the war, in 1946, Norsk Etnologisk Gransking (NEG: The Nor- wegian Institute of Ethnological Research) was founded at Norsk folkemuseum (the National Folk Museum) in Oslo. This institution continued the earlier work of sending out questionnaires that had been started by Lid and his co-workers. The originally Austrian scholar, Lily Weiser-Aall (1898Ð1987), became the institution’s conservator in 1946 and continued her work with questionnaires there until 1968, leading the collection during the last years of that period. Weiser-Aall’s questionnaires are extremely detailed and far-reaching. One of them: Julenissen (The Nisse, 1950; concerning a figure that later takes on the role of the Norwegian Santa Claus), is of particular value for this present survey. The results of this collection were later published in Weiser- Aall’s important survey Julenissen og Julegeita i Norge (The Christmas Nisse and the Christmas Goat [female] in Norway) in 1954. The original material is still kept by NEG. The maps (1.2 aÐ1.6 b) published in connection with this present survey are all based on the earlier material collected up until around 1950. The reason for this is obvious: the early institutions attempted to get as geographically widespread a picture of each phenomenon as possible. They tried to establish a network of informants all over the country, from every single municipality. Most of the material that came in dealt with the traditional Norwegian society of the past, a society which tried to maintain its traditions and changed comparatively slowly. The only part of the country which seems to be under-represented in these collections compared to the more populous south are those areas farthest north in Finnmark and Troms. Here the informants seem to have been comparatively rare. After c. 1950, the collection and examination of disguise traditions which had previously concentrated on describing costumes, listing names and out-

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 55 lining activities, as well as placing them in a specific theoretical and cultural- historical context, fell out of fashion in Norway. This was mainly because many previous scholars had tended to connect such traditions with pagan Germanic ritual, and for obvious reasons, this research had fallen into bad repute. In the 1970s, the same fate befell the earlier emphasis on collecting material from the old farming society of Norway. Outside one questionnaire that NEG sent out in 1978 dealing with the Lucia tradition carried out by children in institutions, little new work was done on costumed traditions until very recently. In recent years (since the 1990s), greater emphasis has been placed on researching contemporary urban society, including urban traditions like those connected with school graduation and stag and hen parties where disguise also plays a part. However, NEG now has fewer informants, and they live in fewer places. When trying to obtain more answers for research into modern traditions (also now from younger people as well as old), scholars in Norway have had to make use of personal acquaintances and/ or fieldwork in their personal living areas. However, in connection with the international research project on Masks and Mumming in the Nordic Countries that forms the basis for this present work, a new questionnaire on masking and disguise traditions in Nor- way was composed by Ane Ohrvik for NEG. This questionnaire was sent out in 2000, and produced a total of 88 answers. It might be noted that the new questionnaire differs from those previously sent out, in accordance with the new emphases underlined in modern folkloristic research. There were no detailed questions, and informants were allowed to choose freely which disguise they wanted to provide information about, as well as being asked to give their personal opinions about traditions. There was no attempt to cover the whole country. It is interesting, though, that many of the informants chose to describe the traditional Norwegian julebukk custom. Admittedly, one should bear in mind that since the questionnaires were sent out by NEG, people might have felt expected to describe earlier Norwegian traditions rather than newer customs like Halloween or elements of costume and disguise at stag and hen parties. However, this cannot be the entire explanation. One further feature must be borne in mind when reference is made to this more recent material in the survey that follows: While earlier scholars were not very interested in drawing attention to their informants (or the context of their answers), those in more modern times in Norway, who focus more on the individual, have a new limitation in that their informants are protected by law and their answers have to be used anonymously. Today NEG will only reveal their sex, age and profession, but not their names and full addresses.

56 Christine Eike

2. General Features of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway The most widespread mask in Norway is called the julebukk or julegeit (Christ- mas Goat, cf. the julbock in Sweden, the julebuk in Denmark, and the joulupouki in Finland12). Other names are used, but everybody in Norway today knows what a julebukk is. This figure seems to have very old roots in Norway. One of the reasons why one can say this is because the terms julebukk and julegeit in Norway referred not only to the disguise and certain supernatural spirits, but also to certain handmade figures of wood or straw and even cakes that went by the same name. The oldest name appears to be the female form, julegeit; and certainly the female is often described as being the more frightening. Furthermore, when both the male and female figures were referred to in the same area (compare maps 1.2 aÐb and 1.3 aÐb), the female goat was more often the spirit, while the male name referred to the more innocent mask. This applies mainly to the records from the nineteenth century and first part of the twentieth century. At these times, the names julebukk and julegeit in general referred to a horned goat mask (see figs 1.1Ð1.5) or a horned goat spirit, which was half spirit, half man (as, for example, in Vigmostad, Vest-Agder, where the julebukk is said to have been a spirit who “va som’n mann neaante, men som edd dyr ovaante” [was like a man on its upper part, but like an animal below]: see NFS: T. Bergst¿l I, 96; and also Eike 1980: 264Ð265; and 271Ð272). How- ever, certain other animals are mentioned in this connection (see section 3. 6. i. below). The goat-like figure was not limited to the Christmas period though: in some areas, it could also appear at weddings (see section 4 below and fig. 1.12). In later times (in the twentieth century), the main objective in the julebukk tradition was to disguise yourself, often in as ugly fashion as possible, in rags, or cross-dressing, thereby concealing your identity (see figs 1.6 and 1.7). Horns and other animal attributes were no longer as necessary as before. To- day, a so-called “julebukk” might come into being merely through the use of a red pixie hood, and a slightly painted face. There are, though, a few occasions when the “real” julebukk can still make an appearance, as occurs in the museum in Valdres (see fig. 1.4), where, as the following account shows, an attempt is being made to keep old traditions alive: Årets julebukkmoro på Valdres Folkemuseum startet pent og pyntelig fredag kveld, med 10 musikere og 20 nysgjerrige publikummere. Julebukkene derimot lot vente på seg, og egentlig var det ganske spennende å stadig kikke ut i mørket etter kveldens ukjente hovedpersoner. Og seint, men godt kom de i følge med pusekatten ”Mahler”, blyge kalvbeinte damer, pukkelrygger, sentralbordet på Fagernes legesenter og flere representanter fra Bloksberg med egen trollkatt…. Blant tilskuerne var det både gjet-

12 See further the studies of these figures in all the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Note also the the πingálp in Icelandic traditions and the jólhestur in Faroese traditions in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 57

ning og stor spekulasjon om hvem alle julebukkene var. Utpå kvelden kom også den ekte julebukken en tur. På en stake var det plassert et stygt bukkehode med horn, og en åpen munn fylt med glør, noe som ble litt for sterkt for den yngste deltakeren på festen…. Og skremmende var også noe av stemningen på museet fredag kveld. De utkledde heksene var klart skremmende, men også de mer uskyldige utkledningene har noe skummelt ved seg. Masker legger andre premisser for kommunikasjon, og julebukken har lånt en identitet, mens du selv er ganske blottstilt (Oppland Arbei- derblad: January 10, 2000). (This year’s Christmas Goat entertainment at the Valdres Folkemuseum started nice and quietly, with 10 musicians and 20 curious visitors. The Christmas Goats, though, kept us waiting, and actually it was rather exciting to be constantly looking out into the dark for the evening’s main unknown attractions. And then, late but to everyone’s relief, they came, accompanied by the pussycat “Mahler”, shy knock-kneed ladies, hunchbacks, the switchboard at the Fagernes medical centre and several representatives from Bloksberg [i.e. witches] with their own magic cats.… Among the audience, there was a lot of guesswork and speculation as to who all the “goats” might be. Later in the evening the real and genuine Christmas Goat also dropped by. There was an ugly horned goat’s head on a pole, and an open mouth full of hot coals, something that was a little too overwhelming for the youngest participant at that party…. Indeed, much of atmosphere at the museum on Friday evening was frightening. The witches in disguise were definitely frightening, but even the other more innocent disguises have something spooky about them. Masks lay down new premises for communication, and while the Christmas Goat has borrowed an identity, you yourself feel quite exposed.) Records of “goats” or similar masked figures appearing at Christmas in the past come from all over Norway. Clearly Christmas and weddings were the two main times at which people in the traditional society of Norway wanted to wear masks or appear as mummers (see also figs 9.2Ð9.4). The reason for why masks seem to have been linked mainly to these two periods, is probably because these were times when the community came together, and feasting gave room for entertainment. Furthermore, it might be argued that Christmas and weddings are both times of crisis: one is a crisis time in the year, the other a personal crisis, a transitional stage in life. At such times, some magic was always useful; it was a means of coping with fear. As noted above, in former times the “goats” wore real disguises which totally concealed the mummer’s identity. Furthermore, as the quote from the newspaper article given above points out, when you put on a mask, you represent something different from everyday life. Nonetheless, the different names for these Christmas figures give an indication of the sex of the original participants behind the masks. Synonymous to julebukker and julegeiter are the names julesveinar (Christmas Lads, a svein being an unmarried young male); jolegutane (Christmas Boys); Jul-Anderskarene (Christmas-Andrew Men); glankarer (Gaping Men, who appeared at weddings) and so on. In short, most of the performers used to be male, which is somewhat ironic since the julebukk in its oldest layer seems to have been a julegeit: a female spirit. Those who wish to connect the Norwegian goat figure with the Devil (see, for example, B¿ 1970: 146Ð148 and 1980: 69Ð70) would do well to remember this feature, 58 Christine Eike

Map 1.2 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Julebukk (Christmas Goat: male). (Map: Christine Eike.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 59

Map 1.2 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Julebukk (Christmas Goat: male). (Map: Christine Eike.) 60 Christine Eike

Map 1.3 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Julegeit (Christmas Goat: female). (Map: Christine Eike.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 61

Map 1.3 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Julegeit (Christmas Goat: female). (Map: Christine Eike.) 62 Christine Eike

Fig. 1.1: A julebukk (Christ- mas Goat) mask made of black-painted wood, a horse- tail, cow skin and cloth from Setesdal, Norway. (Photo: Setesdalsmuseet: Set. 4686.) (Courtesy of Setesdalsmuseet.

Fig. 1.2: A julegeita (Christ- mas Goat) mask with clacking jaws from Fredrikstad, Nor- way. (Photo: Fredrikstad Mu- seum.) (Courtesy of Fredrik- stad Museum.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 63

Fig. 1.3: A julegeita mask from Flekkefjord, Vest-Agder, in Nor- way. (Photo: Flekkefjord Mu- seum.) (Courtesy of Flekkefjord Museum.)

Fig. 1.4: Julebukk and julegeit masks in Valdres Folkemuseum, Norway. (Photo: Valdres Folke- museum.) (Courtesy of Valdres Folkemuseum.) 64 Christine Eike which contrasts strongly with the consistently male Devil figure known in mainland Europe. Not all the disguise traditions in Norway were related to ugliness and fear. The Sankthans (St John’s Eve or Day)/ midsummer mock weddings in Norway (see section 3. d. i. below) were quite another category of tradition. The actors at these mock weddings were and are both girls and boys, but the central figure is the bride, a girl (see figs 1.8 and 1.9). And while the julebukker (pl.) could be horrific and ugly, these “brides” were meant to be as beautiful as possible. Furthermore, the activity they were/ are involved in is very different and takes places at a very different time of year. Children also played central roles from an early point in the stjernespill (Star Play): here too, the key figures, the stjernegutter (Star Boys) with their star were not meant to be ugly; nor were they masked directly (see figs 13.1Ð13.6). Nonetheless, their painted faces showed they were meant to represent something different from their everyday identity. Once again, as their name indicates, the performers here were males, largely due to their Biblical roles and the fact that the pupils at the old Latin schools which began this tradition were males. Female performers nonetheless play a central role in the later Lucia custom which has come from Sweden, and centres on a girl with candles on her head. Like the midsummer brides, she too is meant to be beautiful and beautifully dressed.13 One might therefore note that there seems to be a very basic division in Norway between the ugly, dark roles which were originally restricted to male performers, and the beautiful ones which mainly seem to be connected with girls.

3. An Overview of Mask and Mumming Customs in Norway Following The Old Farming Calendar14 3. a. The Period before Christmas: November 30 (Andresmesse); December 13 (Lussi); December 21 (Tomas); December 23 (Tollesmesse) 3. a. i. November 30 (Andresmesse) It was an old custom in Norway that the fish for Christmas were supposed to be caught around November 30 (Andersmesse: St Andrew’s Day/ Mass). In connection with this, there was a masked figure called Jul-Anders (Christmas- Andrew) that was only known from Beiarn, Nordland in former times.15 It is possible that this figure was also known in other parts of the country at one time, but evidence is lacking. What is interesting is that in spite of its Christian

13 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 14 Regarding the Norwegian farming year and its special holidays, see Alver 1981. 15 See also the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden and Estonia elsewhere in this volume for other related figures. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 65 connections, the masked figure is said to represent a troll or spirit (OoS 1937, from Beiarn. Nordland). Furthermore, the disguised visitors could come either singly or in a group, as the following account describes: I dei fleste bygder er det no so lenge sidan det tok slutt med Jul-Andersdagen at det er lite folk veit å minnest av dei skikkar som fylgdest med….. Han som var til Jul-Anders, kunde vera åleine når han gjekk i gardane. Men det var og vanleg at fleire kledde seg ut og slo fylgje. Dei som vilde vera i lag, gjorde forlikt ei tid fyreåt. Det vart då avtale både kva gardar dei skulle gang i og kor tilskipinga i det heile skulde vera. Men det dei gjorde forlikt, skulde dei halda l¿ynt. Slik var skikken. Dagane fyreåt grov dei fram klea og emna til det som høyrde med til utstyret. Millom anna skulde dei ha maske. Den vart jamnast laga av gammalt feldskinn. I hola for auge sette dei inn to flaskebotnar enn eit slag anna det blanka i. Dessuten laut det vera både horn og skjegg. Til klea leita dei fram slikt som var fillåt og utslite, det verste dei visste å finna. Til utstyret høyrde og ein lang stav. I kveldinga andersmøssdagen gav dei seg so på farten. Medkvart kunde dei gang lange vegar innan dei søkte åt hus. Men dei måta det slik dei kom sløngande til gards i 6 tida; då fann dei folk ved kveldsbordet. Til kveldsmat den dagen var det smale- hovud og skankar. Jul-Andersfylgjet førde seg jamnast pent når dei kom åt folk. Fyrst dei var innum d¿ra, helsa dei, og stelte seg av. Men var dei hos velstands folk, kunde dei gang fram til bordet og handhelsa. Det var for å blidgjera seg. So spurde husfolket kvar dei kom ifrå. Ein i fylgjet svara då med å segja at dei kom frå ein avdal, som han namngav. Deretter fekk dei kvar sitt bein. Men um folk drygde av med å gje dei, hadde dei ei regle som dei sa fram: ”Få e inkj kørs å kake, ska e alle ongann take'! Få e inkj kørs å kringle ska e om jula ringle!” Borna vart jamnast noko ygg av seg dentid Jul-Anderskarane kom i stua. Som oftast kraup dei seg under bordet eller til eit anna rom der dei kjende seg trygge. Men for born som var noko i åra, vart det halde for skam å vera redde. Men ingen kjende seg vidare dristig. Medkvart kunde ein i fylgjet gjera eit rensel for å få tak i eit barn. Um det då ropa og bad for seg, let han det i maken (NFS: Ragnvald Mo VIII, 6–7). (In most settlements, it was such a long time ago that the Christmas-Andrew Day tradition came to an end that people know little about the customs that took place then…. The person who acted Christmas-Andrew could be alone when he came to the farms. However, it was also common for others to dress up and accompany him. Those who wished to come along agreed on their plans some time before. Then they decided which farms they would go to, and how the general arrangement should be. But whatever they planned had to be kept secret. That was the tradition. During the days before, they would get out the clothes and other materials needed for the costume. Among other things, they had to have a mask. This was usually made from an old skin. In the eye holes, they placed two bottle bottoms or something else which was shiny. In addition to this, there had to be horns and a beard. For clothes, they would find something that was worn out and ragged, the worst they could find. The costume also needed a long stick. They would then set out on the evening of St Andrew’s Day. They might go a long way before they visited a house. But they would make sure that they would arrive at the farm at around 6, so that they would find people seated at the meal table. For the meal that day they would have sheep’s head and shanks. The Christmas-Andrew group usually behaved well when they came to people’s 66 Christine Eike

homes. As they entered, they would greet people and stand waiting. But if they were with people who were well set, they would walk over to the table and shake hands. This was to soften them up. Then the people would ask them where they came from. One member of the group would say that they came from an isolated valley which he named. After that, they would each get a bone. However, if people were reluctant to give them food, they had a rule that they would quote: “If I don’t get a cross or cake, I’ll take all the young ones! If I don’t get a cross or coffee bread, I will jingle at Christmas!” The children were usually a little frightened when the Christmas-Andrew Men came to visit. Most often they would creep under the table or go into a room where they felt safe. But for older children, it was seen as a disgrace to be scared. But no one would be particularly bold. Sometimes, one of the group would make an attempt to grab hold of a child. When it yelled and begged to be let go, he would leave it alone.) Clearly the costume used here has close connections to that of the goat figures noted earlier, and in other records from the same place, the same verse is ascribed to the julebukk. Indeed, the overall behaviour of this masked figure is very similar to that of the “goat” elsewhere. One might hazard a guess as to the background of this custom: Catching fish for Christmas in the north of Norway was an important activity. This day was specially marked off on the primstaven (the calendar stick used by farmers) with a cross (which was often interpreted as a fish hook), and from Catholic times it was named after St Andrew. In former times, masked male youngsters used to make sure that working operations got finished in time (see the following section). That might be the reason why the “goat” here was personified with this special name. It would also seem that Catholic saints were later transformed into nasty trolls by their Protestant successors. The same sort of transformation might be seen in the dark figure of Lussi and another monster that used to appear on December 23 (see the following section).

3. a. ii. December 13 (Lussi) Lussi, who was directly associated with an earlier “longest night”16 set on December 13, was also a spirit, seen as a kind of ogress in the south-western part of Norway. According to legends, she either came alone or as the leader of a Norwegian form of the “Wild Ride” known as Lussiferdi (The Lussi Ride:

16 The idea that December 13, or rather the night before, was the “longest night”, the night before the winter solstice, was widespread throughout the countryside in both traditional Norwegian farming society, and large parts of Sweden (see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume). It goes back to the old Julian calendar which was too short, and had resulted (in the late Middle Ages) in the night before December 13 actually being the longest night. Nonetheless, in the farming society, all heavy work had to be finished by this time. It was especially forbidden to do anything involving circular movement that day, like spinning, baking, or grinding. The day also marked the beginning of the actual Christmas period: see further Alver 1981: 102. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 67

Fig. 1.5: A drawing of Lussia and a jolesvein (Christmas Lad) from Forsand, Rogaland, Norway. (Courtesy of Norsk Etnologisk Gransking/ Norsk folkemuseum.) see further Eike 1980: 250 and 266). One informant’s grandmother born in 1831 in Forsand, Rogaland, remembered the masked Lussi figure well. She effectively describes the “monster” as follows: Det var vanleg skikk at einkvan kledde seg ut og gjekk ”Lussi” den kvelden. Beste- mor mi kunde minnast dei gjekk Lussi og korleis dei kledde seg. Ho var f¿dd 1831. Sjølv kan ikkje eg minnast henne, men mor fortalde det etter henni…. Ho minnast dette uhyre gjekk ute på tunet i måneskinet – og ho minnast det beit etter graset på eit lågt torvtekt hustak … Dei stader der det var born i eit hus kunde dei verta reint vitskræmde og tullete av redsla. Difor gjekk skikkane meir og meir av bruk etter- kvart. Men endå hev sume ei redsla for ”Lussenåtta” (Weiser-Aall 1954: 32). (It was a common custom for someone to dress up and go out as “Lussi” that evening. My grandmother remembered how they used to “go Lussi” and how they dressed themselves. She was born in 1831. I can’t remember her myself, but my mother passed her story on to me…. She remembered this monster walking out in the farmyard in the moonlight Ð and she remembered it eating the grass on a low, turf roof…. In those places where there were children in the house, they could go totally out of their minds in terror. That is why the tradition gradually fell out of use. But some people are still frightened of “Lussi night”.) The masked figure was drawn by the informant in question (see fig. 1.5) and described in the following terms: 68 Christine Eike

Ein av dei største drengene kledde seg ut i den største stakken han kunne få tak i. Kring livet knytte han ei stor fjos-breid (forkle) og kring akslene eit sjal og raudt skjerf. Over hovudet spente han ein treklave som det var fastgjort eit bukkehorn og eit verahorn i. Til øyre eit par store ullvottar og til tunge ein hårsil. I den eine handi ein stor kroket stav og i den andre ei hit. Sume bruka og eit kalvehovud til maska, som dei flådde skinnet av når dei slagta (Weiser-Aall 1954: 33). (One of the biggest young men dressed in the largest skirt he could get hold of. Around the waist he would tie a large apron and around his shoulders a shawl and a red scarf. He fastened a wooden collar upon his head, equipped with a goat’s horn and a ram’s horn. A pair of large woollen mittens as ears and a piece of hair filter as his tongue. In one hand he had a crooked stick, in the other a bag. Some also used calves’ heads as masks, which they skinned when slaughtering.)

3. a. iii. December 21 (Tomas) and December 23 (Tollesmesse) Another important day was December 21. This was attributed to Tomas (Tho- mas)17, and on that day people had to finish brewing for Christmas or they had to have finished chopping wood (Alver 1976). In Steigen in Nordland, another local goat figure used to go round on December 23, or Tollesmesse.18 This took the following form: Solkvardag eller tållesmesdag tog en av drengene til at klæ sig ut, tok paa en gammel saueskindsfeld som blev bundet til med sn¿re og ulden vendte ut, paa hodet en hue med brede ¿relapper bundet til under haken og ansiktet var sjult. Oppaa huepollen var festet en skalle med hornene av en jeit og i den ene haand hadde han en liden gryte med glo og ildm¿rje, derpaa gik han op i vettn saa h¿gt han kunde komme. Imidlertid var baade smaa og store budsendt og kom, b¿rnene var til at begyne med lidt fælen men blev trøstet av far eller bedstefar og det kunde nok trenges for jeita var meget stygg at sees til. F¿rst begyndte hun med et stygt maal og derpaa nogen hokkis pokis og tilsist en tale til b¿rnene om at de maatte haalde sig ine om kveldene naar talglys og tranlampe i hjemmene blev tendt. Hun var meget glad i snilde b¿rn men da maatte de og være riktig snild. Derpaa begyndte jeita med en liden jernspade at ¿se ut av gryten glo og ildm¿rje og det syntes som hun spydde ild (OoS 1937). (On Solstice day or the Day of St ∏orlákur, one of the young men put on a disguise, and dressed up in an old sheepskin with the fur inside out, bound up with a string. On his head he had a hood with broad ear flaps, his face being hidden. Part of a goat’s head with horns was fastened on his head. In one hand he had a small pot with glowing embers in it, and would rise up as high towards the beams as was possible. In the

17 The Norwegian tradition of Tomas has really little to do with the Christian apostle Thomas. This Tomas was also referred to as Tomas bryggjar (Thomas the brewer), Tomas fullt¿nne (Thomas full-barrel), Tomas i solhvervene (Thomas of the solstice) or Tomas med lagebytto (Tomas with the wooden water bucket [used during the process of brewing beer]), all names underlining his role in the old Norwegian farming calendar connected to brewing and the solstice. See Alver 1981: 103. 18 Tollesmesse was celebrated in remembrance of Bishop ∏orlákur ∏órhallsson (1133Ð1193) of Iceland, who was also worshipped in western and northern Norway. Sometimes he was called Tol- lak Spole (Tollak Spool) or Todlak med lakabytto (Todlak with the wooden water bucket [while brewing]), and under those names was a spirit people frightened children with. In some places, this date too was reckoned as the longest night: see Alver 1981: 104. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 69

meantime, everyone, both big and small, would have been called to come and watch. The children were first a bit frightened but were comforted by their father or grandfather, and that was often necessary because the goat looked very ugly. She began by speaking in an ugly voice, then giving some hocus-pocus, before ending with a speech to the children that they had to keep inside in the evenings once the candles and oil lamps had been lit. She very much liked good children, but they had to be very, very good. After that the goat started to shovel the glowing coal out of the pot with a small iron spade, making it look as if she was spitting fire.) On the whole, one can say that the period before Christmas was a busy time, as it is nowadays. As can be seen from the above, in traditional society there were special days where special preparations had to be completed, and those spirits fixed to these calendar dates were said to watch out for this. However, it is also quite obvious that some of the stories told about these frightening bogey-figures actually describe masked young men who were performing their ancient right to control traditional rules and regulations (see Eike 1980: 258Ð 260; and Weiser-Aall 1954: 33Ð46). Another explanation for the early appearance of the horned figure might be that in many places, the julegeit and julebukk (the female and male versions of the goat) are so intimately attached to Christmas that the spirit begins to per- sonify the approach of the Christmas season: the closer Christmas gets, the closer the goat is said to come to the farm or settlement. There were many stories and sayings (over fifty recorded from all over the country) testifying to this way of thinking.19 The following is typical: Jolegeiti kom litt nærare husi for kvar dag, og joleaftan kom ho like inn i kjellaren og smakte på ølet (OoS 1931: Eid, Sogn and Fjordane). (The jolegeiti [a spirit] came nearer with each day and on Christmas Eve she would come into the cellars to taste the beer.)20 Some typical “stations” of male or female goat’s progress following the descent from the mountains, were the summer cow shed, the mill, the sauna, the wood shed, the heap of twigs used for animal food in the farm yard, and finally the living room.

3. a. iv. Lucia Quite another story is the procession of girls and boys that commonly occurs today on December 13, the main character here being a girl with candles (today imitation ones for safety’s sake) on her head, who is followed by her “servants”, a custom which has definitely come from Sweden.21 In Sweden before

19 A comparable idea is seen in Iceland in the gradual approach of the jólasveinar (Yule Lads) who, even today, are said to come down from the mountains one by one as Christmas approaches. They then leave one by one in the same fashion after Christmas: see further Árni Björnson 1996: 341– 353. 20 For other examples, see Weiser-All 1954: 28. 21 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 70 Christine Eike the Second World War, the custom had combined with a kind of beauty contest, and Norway took up the tradition in the 1950s, often in connection with charities or purely commercial arrangements. In some Norwegian towns, this form of the custom continued for a while. At that time, “Lucia” also commonly opened the julegate (Christmas shopping streets) in Norwegian towns (see, for example, Bjarne Hodne and Wiersholm 1982: 31Ð32). In 1978, NEG sent out a particular questionnaire (nr. 126) dealing with Lucia. The answers were then summarised by Anne Swang (Moestue) in De- cember 1979. These answers and the answers to our own questionnaire from 2000 (NEG nr.185) suggest that the Lucia processions are about forty years old in Norway and seem to have become a tradition that people expect every year. Two decades ago, it seemed that the custom must have spread from eastern Norway, and that teachers and humanitarian organisations were the enthusiasts that began it all. Today, the main actors are children, from kindergarten to primary school age, while the grown-ups take the initiative and arrange the activities. The children in question are dressed in white clothes, the girls with added glitter, and the boys often crowned with tall, pointed hats set with stars, similar to those worn by the earlier mentioned stjernegutter. It is obvious that some of the older stjernegutter traditions have now passed on to Lucia in Nor- way. However, all of these figures, male and female, carry lights in their hands as they walk around singing the Santa Lucia song as well as other Christmas songs. Today, most primary schools and kindergartens organise such processions on December 13 or a date near to it. They are also encouraged by the media who play an active part in keeping up the interest: local newspapers write about the custom every year, and further attention comes from the television and radio. People tend to think that it is a very attractive custom, as the following quotation indicates: Min eldste datter, f¿dt i 87, Ð sang i kor, og de bes¿kte syke og aldershjem den 13. desember, og sang for de eldre. Skolen har også en samling om morgenen denne da- toen. Barna samles i gymsalen og feirer Lucia med opptog og sang. Moss kirke har tradisjon med å ha en stemningsfull konsert tidlig om morgenen, kl. 7.00 den 13. desember. Da er flere av byens voksen Ð og barnekor samlet og gir oss en nydelig stund med musikk, sang og lys. Kirken er ofte helt full av folk. Folk flest er positive til Sankta Lucia -skikken… synes det er en tradisjon som gir lys og varme i en mørk desembermåned (NEG nr. 185: 34770, female, Moss, Østfold). (My oldest daughter, born in 1987, sang in a choir, and they visited nursing homes and old people’s homes, and sang for them. The school also has gatherings on the morning of this day. The children gather in the gym and celebrate Lucia with a procession and a song. Moss church traditionally has a very moving concert early in the morning, at 7 a.m. on December 13. Then several choirs, both grown-ups and children, are gathered together and they give us a lovely hour with music, song and light. The church is often quite crowded with people. Most people are positive about the Santa Lucia custom…. They think it is a tradition that provides light and warmth on a dark December morning.) Special cakes, the so-called lussekatter (lit. Lusse cats) also form a necessary part of this tradition in Norwegian schools and kindergartens. Sometimes the Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 71 children give away these cakes as they wander around the streets or call at nursing homes. In schools and kindergartens, the children are also annually told who Lucia was and why they celebrate her day, thereby deepening the tradition.22

3. b. The Christmas Period 3. b. i. The Julebukk and Julegeit (Christmas Goat: Male and Female) The figures that dominated Norway’s house-visiting mask and mumming traditions during the Christmas period itself were the julebukk and julegeit (Christmas Goat, male and female: see further figs 1.1Ð1.7 and maps 1.2 aÐ 1.3 b). Other names for related figures met in older records are the earlier mentioned raageit/ rågeit (lit. goat on a pole); the nyttårsbukk, and nyttårsgeit (New Year Goat, male and female) if they come on New Year’s Eve or after that; the julesveinar and jolegutane (both meaning Christmas Lads23); the Jul-Anderskarane (Christmas-Andrew Men; see section 3. a. i. above); the jolebassan (basse meaning a bear); the kveldskj¿gla (Night Ghost, said to refer to something ugly and frightening coming in the evening24); the jolaskatten or putleskatt (Christmas Tax or Small Tax, referring to the small “taxes” of food and drink to be paid to the house-visitors); juleskåka (Christmas Whipping)25; and Tretten-Kari or trettengalten (the “Thirteenth-day” Kari or Pig; a figure that comes after Twelfth Night). As noted above, some masked figures are directly connected to certain days (as with Anders and Lussi), and the same thing happens at the end of the Christmas period with the appearance of Knut.26 The answers to the most recent NEG questionnaire from 2000 (see section 1. c. above), however, almost exclusively refer to the masked figures as julebukk, the only exceptions being the Jul-Anders and the juleskåk in the North. The male “goat” has thus obviously completely displaced the older female “goat”. This might possibly be explained by the fact that nowadays young girls have often taken over the role of being the bearers of this tradition, while in earlier days the same function was mostly carried out by male youngsters. As noted elsewhere, cross-dressing is a common element in all forms of disguise; indeed, what could be a more effective means of changing one’s identity than changing one’s sex? Gender is still important for one’s personality, whatever

22 See further the article by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume, with regard to the element of education in the stjernegutter tradition in Norway. 23 As noted above this name Ð if not the masked figure itself Ð is also encountered in Iceland, where it refers today to a group of spirits in Iceland that form the local equivalent of the Norwegian nisse (see section 3. 6. ii. below). 24 See Ross 1971. The name is slightly reminiscent of the Old Norse word kveldúlfr (meaning “evening wolf”, or werewolf). 25 See Lid 1928a: 62, and the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume. 26 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 72 Christine Eike our feminists might say. Whatever the explanation, it is clear that Norway somehow follows the development that has been witnessed in many other countries, in that the participants of the house-visiting groups are getting ever younger, and the groups are becoming more and more dominated by girls. In many accounts from the twentieth century both male and female performers are nonetheless recorded as having come round in disguise at Christmas, both of them often cross-dressing. In very recent years, it seems that in some places young (male) adults have taken up the old tradition again, in the hope of receiving free strong liquor during their rounds, even bringing along their own glasses for that purpose.27 What did (and do) the “goat” masks look like? As mentioned earlier, the oldest form of mask must have been a horned, bearded goat’s head, often with clacking jaws, attached to a long pole held by the performer which could be used to make the figure larger or smaller (see figs 1.2Ð1.5). He would also be bent over and covered with a large sheep- or goatskin, or merely a sheet of some kind (see Gunnell 1995a: 109; Lid 1928a: 39Ð42; and Weiser-Aall 1954: 23Ð32). To give one example from Valdres: Dei gamle brukte og å gå jolebukk. Og dei hadde ein annan måte å gjera det på enn no. Ein av dei største gutane i bygdi klædde dei ut som bukk. Dei hadde på han ei maske av hovudskinnet på ein geitebukk. Maska måtte ha horn og langt skjegg. So hadde han på seg ei fæl skinnbrok og ei gamal skinntrøye, hengde ei bjølle um halsen, og stasa seg elles ut det beste han kunde. Med denne bukken i brodden for då jolebukkane frå gard til gard. Dei hadde oftast med fele, og dansa litt på kvar gard. Det var skikk at dei gjekk jolebukk til den 13. januar eller tjuendag jol (Lid 1928a: 39). (In former times, they used to “go jolebukk” and they did this in a different way from now. They dressed up one of the biggest lads from the local parish as a goat. They used to make a mask from the skin of a male goat’s head. The mask had to have horns and a long beard. And then he would wear a pair of disgusting skin trousers, and an old skin jacket, had a bell hung around his neck, and generally did himself up as best he could. With this Christmas Goat in the lead, the other Christmas Goats would go from farm to farm. Often they brought a violin to dance at each farm. They continued until January 13 or the twentieth day of Christmas.) Bells and other noise-making instruments like those mentioned here were common fixtures with all the masks and mummers in Norway (see Eike 1978: 59Ð 65; and 1980: 256Ð257). The goat horns could also be made artificially, but people could also use cow horns or calf heads instead (Eike 1978: 41Ð42). Besides goats, a number of other creatures, or parts of them, are mentioned as coming during the Christmas period in the older Norwegian records: a) Birds: Wilhelm Mannhardt refers to a Christmas game from Troms with the following description:

27 Oral information from colleagues from the Eidsvoll museum, Akershus, and the Valdres Folke- museum, Oppland during the years 2009Ð2003; and personal experiences from my own living area (Oppland) in the 1990s, confirmed by answers 34944 from Lillehammer, Oppland, and 34802 from Ås, Akerhus (NEG nr. 185). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 73

Julelegene pleiede ofte en Mand, som var indhyllet i en Skindfeld og udstyret med et omtrent tre Kvarter langt Næb, at forestille Julebukken. Denne kom da uformær- ket ind gjennem D¿ren og gik derpaa i en ludende Stilling fremefter Gulvet, idet den skimtede til Siderne, og lod som den med Næbbet vilde hugge de Omkringstaaaen- de. Paa Næbbet var malet store Øine og adskillige Striber og Busker, og det var tillige besat med store Tænder (Lid 1931: 109–101). (In the Christmas games, a man hidden in a skin and equipped with a beak that was roughly three quarters of an ell [a Norwegian ell was 0.6275 m.] in length, would often act the julebukk. This sneaked unnoticed through the door and bending over, would walk across the floor, looking from side to side, and act with the beak as if it wanted to peck at those standing around. It had big eyes painted on the beak and several stripes and squiggles, and it was also beset with big teeth.) Bird heads are also recorded from Vest-Agder, Rogaland and Nordland (see Eike 1978: 39Ð40). b) Bears, especially in Setesdal, Aust-Agder, where the masked figures were called drykkjebassan (drink bears) and followed a leader called the Guddursbassen (possibly “Gudmund” Bear: see, for example, Skar 1962: 42). In R¿ldal, Hardanger, similar figures were called fydlebasser (drunken bears: see Eike 1980: 269), a name referring to their heavy drinking, like that in Setes- dal. It might be noted that bear masks of this kind are also mentioned at weddings.28 c) Pigs, as in an answer to OoS 1937, from Våga in Oppland. The name trettengalten (the “Thirteenth Day” Pig), recorded from Fåberg, also in Oppland (OoS 1937), also indicates a pig figure. Further examples concerning the same kind of figure come from Haus, in Hordaland, and Vartdal, in M¿re og Roms- dal (see Eike 1978: 40). d) A horse. In a single record that comes from Lom in Oppland (OoS 1937), the informant tells of his father (1815Ð1902) talking of a horse head with clacking jaws. Clearly in some cases, the breed of the Christmas creature was immaterial: sometimes people would use any attributes that resulted in a general bestial appearance, such as tails (Eike 1978: 38Ð39). If they used animal skins, they would have the fur facing out, to emphasise their hairiness. Other records talk of them having masks of wood with iron teeth, in other cases birch bark, or simple blackened faces (see Weiser-Aall 1954: 24Ð33; and also fig. 1.1). Some might use “trollnasar” (troll noses), emphasising once again connections with the supernatural world, something also seen in the following record about the jolebukkar from Nord-Salten in Nordland: Det var ungdomar som hadde klædd seg ut til dyr eller troll. Nokre hadde rumpor, andre hadde trollnasar, og sume kom ridande på utstoppa bukkeskinn eller geite- skinn.

28 See further the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. See also Eike 1978: 28, 49–41, 122–123 and 139, dealing with records from Fåberg, in Oppland, Stordal in M¿re og Romsdal, St¿ren in S¿r-Tr¿ndelag and Kvam in Nord-Tr¿ndelag: Answers to OoS 1937. 74 Christine Eike

Denne skikken og leiken vart førd slik at no ”vilde troll og folk seg blanda” (Hveding 1935: 22Ð23). (They were youngsters that had dressed themselves as animals or trolls. Some had tails, others had troll noses, and some came riding on a stuffed goatskin. This custom and game took place because now “people and trolls wanted to mingle”.) In a record fom H¿londa in S¿r-Tr¿ndelag, people simply describe the disguised visitor as “fillute og fæl” (in rags and ugly), with a long, “ugly” stick, and a long crooked nose which meant they could neither eat nor drink properly (OoS 1937). On the whole, most of the records simply state that the disguised “goats” were as repulsive as possible, using rags, tattered old clothes, clothes turned inside out or cross-dressing, with terrifying eyes and their mouths full of glowing coals, which they chewed with their horrible teeth (see figs 1.6Ð 1.7). During the second half of the twentieth century, all sorts of disguises were used: purchased masks made of cardboard or plastic, a stocking drawn over the face, false noses and all sorts of strange costumes and hats. The answers to our recent questionnaire (2000) record yet another quite recent development, in that some of today’s young “goats” use little more than a symbolic disguise, merely painting their faces slightly without making any attempt to conceal themselves. Others just wear red hats like those worn by the nisse (the Norwe- gian equivalent to Santa Claus), or dress like Santa as they walk around collecting goodies. The specific date on which these masks appear differs all over Norway. As noted earlier, the julebukk spirit is very often said to start appearing before Christmas, and was most frightening on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, people in general in Norway were not supposed to leave the house, apart from going to Mass. The impersonated mask is therefore most often said to have started appearing from December 26 onwards. That was also the time at which people used to meet, and started taking part in games, parties and dances and so on again. Nonetheless, perhaps surprisingly, quite a few older records report that the masked being (like the “real” spirits) appeared on Christmas Eve (see, for example, the answers to OoS 1937). Some of the live- liest records in this regard come from Aust-Agder, Vest-Agder and Telemark in southern Norway. These particular masked figures seem most often to come singly, and they are described as being particularly frightening. From Decem- ber 26 onwards, however, they tend to show up in groups, perhaps with one main leading figure in the role of the “goat”, accompanied by others in all sorts of costumes (see again OoS 1937). Today, it is usual for the julebukker to start walking during the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve (a period called romjulen in Nor- wegian), in some places also appearing on New Year’s Eve or after New Year (at which time they might be called a nyttårsbukk [New Year Goat] for example). The older records also state that the last day of the Christmas period (sometimes January 6, although often also on January 7 or 13 at the Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 75

Fig. 1.6: Three young male julebukker on a farm in Biri ¯verbygd (Gj¿vik), Norway, c. 1920. (Courtesy of Mj¿smuseet, Gj¿vik.)

Fig. 1.7: Julebukkar in Tross, Fjalar, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, New Year, in 1955. (Courtesy of Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane.) 76 Christine Eike time of Knut29) was important as a day for masked visitors. At that time, disguised youngsters might come round to “jage julen ut” (chase out Christmas) with much fun and laughter. They might also dress up one group member as Knut, but it had to be a figure who knew how to play his role well.30 The behaviour of these beings when they visited was on the whole very similar to that encountered in the other Nordic countries. Older records not only describe their frightening appearance, but also the fact that they acted as if they were spirits, talking (as they still often do) with distorted voices, saying that they came from a far off place, from the mountains or the forest, for instance.31 They might also start by appearing in a ghostly manner, as in the following example from Nordland: Forteljaren minnest ifrå han var liten, at ein klædde seg ut som julebukk. Han tok på ein sauskinnsfell og laga seg til med nebb og rumpa. Han kom først til syne på eit nes, som stakk ut i eit vatn attmed garden, den lange rumpa flagra i vinden, og han less gå der og pikke med nebbet. Borna ottast det vilde verta noko fælt. Bukken kom så heim tilgards, fór bort til risskjulet som var tillaga til honom, og fór inn der. Borna såg ikkje noko meire til honom, dei trudde han vart verande der (Strompdal 1938: 99; Vefsn, Nordland). (The informant remembers from when he was a little boy that someone would dress up as a Christmas Goat. Then he would put on a sheepskin and give himself a bird beak and a tail. He would first appear on a headland by a lake near the farm, his long tail fluttering in the wind, seemingly pecking with his beak. The children dreaded this might be something horrible. The goat would then come home to the farm and move on to the twig pile which had been made ready for him, where he disappeared. The children would not see him again, but they believed he was there.) A similar description comes from Hattfjelldal, Nordland, where the masked figure would appear from the woods (OoS 1937). In many cases, people talk of secrecy surrounding the tradition. It was (and is) part of the game that the participants should take the visited houses by surprise. As in the other Nordic countries, it is also part of the game that those visited are expected to guess who is inside the mask. This is commonly described as having been great fun. Other features of behaviour that made these mummers even more strange and somewhat ghostly were the facts that, as mentioned above, they often seemed to “spit fire” by using glowing coal or flint; that they seemed to be able to grow by raising the pole used for the mask towards the ceiling; and that they

29 St Knut’s Day was celebrated in the North in memory of the Danish duke, Knut Lavard, who was killed on January 7, 1131 and later made a saint: See further under the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. All over Norway there was a verse running: Sante Knut ringer (k¿yrer, jagar) jula ut (St Knut tolls [drives, chases] out Christmas). The date could vary: either January 7 or January 13. See Alver 1981: 112Ð114. Here one can find more examples of Knut in disguise. 30 On these traditions, see further the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. 31 Interesting parallels to this tradition are encountered in Shetland and the Faroe Islands, among other places. See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 77 acted like wild animals and made a great deal of noise (see Eike 1978: 48Ð55 and 1980: 271Ð272). Admittedly, the modern house-visiting mummers in Nor- way are not quite as frightening, but when asked, they still pretend to come from far off places, and they sing discordantly. Children today expect sweets, while those youths who have started taking on the role of “goats” tend to go out with the main intention of getting as much strong drink as possible, and can therefore get quite drunk. This, however, is not new: the mummers have always demanded food and drink. It was a kind of unwritten law, a social institution allowing young people to share in the general abundance of the feast (Eike 1978: 76Ð78 and 1980: 283Ð284; and Weiser-Aall 1954: 23Ð24). It might be noted that similar traditions seem to have existed among the Sami in the north, where the most common masked figure at Christmas was Stallo. This being was once again both a spirit and a mask. Nils Lid (1933: 43Ð 70) described this custom and the associated legends at length, based on the descriptions of J. Qvigstad, which record memories from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The disguise in this case is described as being a wooden, painted mask with a big nose, ugly clothes, and a belt with a stick, all of which were worn by a figure who demanded “taxes” (royal taxes for the crown). Those who did not pay were hit with the stick, something that especially applied to the women (NFS: J. Qvigstad 35: 16). There are clearly sexual overtones in these particular records.32 It was commonly stated in earlier records that the julebukker were a custom that was on the verge of dying out. This was the case a hundred years ago, and it is still heard in the present. Nonetheless, the impression gained from the answers to the NEG questionnaire (nr. 185) from 2000 is that the julebukker still hold a strong position in people’s minds. As noted, a great majority of the answers we received chose to describe this tradition. It might also be noted that in the 1950s and 1960s in some places, the tradition gained a certain “official” status, many communities now holding julebukk balls where people would come in different disguises, and where, once midnight arrived, the masks would fall and a prize would be awarded to the best mask. The writer Magnhild Bruheim has written a novel about this, based on her childhood memories in Gudbrandsdalen (1999). In Valdres, Oppland, these julebukkmoro (Christmas goat entertainments) are still kept up. Certainly, it is the case that the julebukker sometimes seem to disappear, but then all of a sudden they always pop up again, as has happened in the cases of those costumed youngsters who are found wandering around certain urban centres in Norway today, demanding strong drink. Even today, some informants say they feel a little unsafe when visited by masked people (see, for example, NEG nr. 185: 34825). The frightening julebukker of the past are clearly not quite dead yet.

32 On this element of erotic behaviour in mumming, see further the article by Annikki Kaivola- Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 78 Christine Eike

3. b. ii. The Nisse and Santa Claus The dominant mask encountered at Christmas in Norway today is nonetheless that of the bearded man in red, known in Norway as the nisse, originally a farm-protecting spirit, which has become connected to the international figure of Santa Claus.33 Lily Weiser-Aall (1954) and recently Ane Ohrvik (Ohrvik 2004) have dealt in detail with the development of this figure in Norway. The modern image of the nisse in Norway is only about a hundred years old, and obviously a mixture of the German Nikolaus, the American Santa Claus with his fat belly, white beard and red hat, and the aforementioned Norwegian house spirits (usually seen as small figures) that would regularly receive cream porridge on Christmas Eve in reward for their help over the year. Christmas cards have had strong influences on this gradual transformation of the small Norwegian house spirit into the modern Santa Claus. Today, the custom has become very international, strongly influenced by the USA, by means of a range of film and television programmes, and perhaps equally as much by the shopkeepers. At the end of November or in the beginning of December, a julegate (Christmas shopping street) opens in all smaller and bigger towns in Nor- way, and this event involves the gift-giving nisse appearing all over the place. The same figure in red is also expected to appear in all kindergartens, and at all juletrefester (Christmas tree parties arranged for young children by schools or organisations). In private homes in Norway, the father of the family, or an uncle (often a male grown up), will act the role of the nisse and appear as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Our recent informants again describe this as a very popular tradition. Nonetheless, some say that they were still frightened by the mask.34 Recent developments of the conception of the Norwegian julenisse nonetheless reflect the special influence of various popular television series. Jule- kalenderen (The Christmas Calendar), broadcast by one of the Norwegian channels in 1994 and since repeated several times, added a strong element of parody to the earlier notion of the Norwegian house-spirits. Then, in 2001, NRK (the Norwegian State Broadcasting Service) broadcast the programme Jul i Blåfjellet (Christmas in the Blue Mountain) in which nisser dressed in blue with blue woollen hats were shown removing the garbage left by people on the mountain. These figures were shown as being in opposition to the red nisser. A book for children followed. Both the television programme and the book became very popular and the figures went on to be imitated by children. Indeed, this development might even eventually cause the gift-giving julenisse to start appearing in blue clothes. Another development came in the form of yet another series from 2001, Nissene på låven (The Nisser in the Barn), which mocked modern reality television. These nisser were perhaps all too human in their behaviour (Ohrvik 2004: 199Ð204). The long-term impact that these

33 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 34 See further the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 79 series might have on the appearance of the masked figures is nonetheless still to be seen.

3. b. iii. New Year’s Eve As noted earlier, the appearance of julebukker (both as spirits and masked beings) seems to have marked certain special days during the Christmas and New Year period. New Year’s Eve is mentioned particularly in this regard in older records from Setesdal in Aust-Agder, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane, M¿re og Romsdal, and from Nord-Tr¿ndelag and Troms (in the form of the nyttårsbukken and nyttårgeita). However, there are also several very special local traditions (still alive) which are associated with this date, and these need to be mentioned here. One of these is that of Kippermusikken which takes place in Flor¿, a small town on the western coast, in Sogn og Fjordane. Olaug Nyb¿, who has dealt thoroughly with this tradition, summarises her article saying: Early on New Year’s Eve, children and adults go mumming. At midnight, a long procession of masked and rigged-out people go through the main street carrying placards with critical-humorous texts. Many groups will spend weeks making the fancy outfits which are all burnt at the end of the procession (Nyb¿ 1987: 18). There are clearly strong Carnivalistic elements to this tradition: much noise, alcohol and criticism of local conditions (in some ways similar to the russ-traditions performed by graduating pupils all over Norway35). Kippermusikken involves the whole community, with up to a thousand direct participants and an equal amount of onlookers who are also often masked or “rigged out” in some way or other. The most active group tends to be (as in many earlier mumming traditions) unmarried grown-up youths. The name Kippermusikken (Kippen, or Kippatoget are also used) most likely comes from an old Norwegian word for a cooper (Kiper). The tradition itself is clearly influenced by an old custom from Bergen, also called Kippermusikken, which is said to have occurred as a tradition on New Year’s Eve in 1880 (Nybø 1987: 15). Hopp (1935: 19Ð11) gives a lively description of this procession in Bergen from his childhood in about 1910. In Bergen, however, this tradition now seems to have died out. Nonetheless, the elements of the “musikk” (music) and satire in both places bring to mind other expressions and traditions like bj¿lleleik (bell-ringing) or kattemusikk (lit. cat music), which are Norwegian names for an activity well known elsewhere in Europe under the names of charivari or “rough music”, traditions whereby people in former times were “punished” for the breaking of unwritten community rules.36 In Norway, for example, such treatment might

35 See section 4 below, and also the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume. 36 See further the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus dealing with similar community reprimands elsewhere in this volume. 80 Christine Eike often be used to expose the movements of new wooers or suitors at night (see Eike 1978: 14Ð17). It can probably also be assumed that the Bergen tradition had early roots in the processions (and plays) of craftsmen known elsewhere in Europe from the Middle Ages onwards. Another very local tradition set on New Year’s Eve is recorded from Mann- dalen, Kåfjord in Troms. This is called Oddabeiagállá (from the Sami words oddabeiavi [New Year’s Day] and Gállá [a masked man]), referring to a New Year nisse of some kind. As with the tradition in Fl¿ro, the whole community participates in this activity, which involves masked dancers in animal skins or old clothes walking to a bonfire at the local community centre, and frightening children along the route. These figures carry torches on poles, sticks and odd musical instruments, and also fire rockets. Their torches are thrown into the bonfire when they arrive at their destination. In the past, only men participated in this tradition, but nowadays this procession also includes women, although preferably no children. In the past, they would also spend a lot of time preparing costumes, starting when animals were slaughtered in autumn, which gave an opportunity to collect parts of the animal skin and horns. At that time, they would also have to remain unknown all the time. In recent times, however, the mask is taken off at the end of the procession, and a prize awarded for the best costume (Sætra 1987: 12–14). Once again, the custom has become safely “official”. There is a possibility that the earlier Oddabeiagállá might be a local variant of the julebukk, but, in my opinion, the old Sami tradition involving the masked Stallo, noted above and recorded by Qvigstad in the nineteenth century,37 must also have had a role to play here. The beating with the stick is certainly very revealing. Furthermore, Qvigstad’s old records concerning Stallo cover precisely this same area in Troms: that of Kåfjord, Lyngen, Storfjord, Mann- dalen.38

3. b. vi. The Stjernegutter (Star Boys) The stjernegutter appeared originally on January 6.39 Later they are also said to have come during the period between Christmas and New Year. Hougen (1937) and Wiers-Jenssen (1921) have collected a great deal of the older descriptions and their articles have been put together and reprinted in 1993 (NFL 138). Ane Ohrvik, one of the members of the Masks and Mumming project behind this present work, has written a dissertation dealing with the stjernegutter tradition (2000) and especially the present-day custom in Grimstad, Aust- Agder where it remains very much alive, and has an unbroken tradition going back more than a hundred years. The tradition is examined in more detail in

37 See NFS: J. Qvigstad 35: 16; and also Lid 1933: 23Ð24 and 43Ð44. 38 It might be noted that spirits at Christmas here are also referred to as juovla-gallat: see NFS: J. Qvigstad 32:31. 39 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 81

Ane Ohrvik’s article elsewhere in this volume, so the following will be nothing more than a brief summary. The Norwegian tradition of going around with a star, and singing at people’s doors, has its roots in liturgical plays which were performed in mainland Europe during the Middle Ages. One of the most common types of liturgical play (in Latin) dealt with the Three Kings following a star to Jesus’ crib. In later times, these plays moved out of the church on to the streets, and were rewritten in the vernacular for other performers. Some time after this, the Latin schools took up the tradition (see Bjarne Hodne and Wiersholm 1982: 33Ð37). The first record of this tradition from Norway comes from 1609 (see section 1. b. above). It is quite clear that here the schoolboys were using the play or the singing as a means of collecting money for their school fees. In the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it had become a well-known urban tradition, spreading especially along the Norwegian coast from Mandal in the south to Vard¿ and Vads¿ in the north (see maps 1.4 aÐb). There are also traces of different roles in the performance: besides the Three Kings and the person who carried the star, one also hears of Mary and the baby Jesus; Joseph who has a hunchback, an axe and a stiff leg (a comic role); various servants; Herod; Stefan (Stephen), and, interestingly enough, Judas.40 In Vest-Agder (Mandal and Farsund), even the julebukk tended to get mixed up with the Three Kings, in this case having the role of a figure that is beaten, falls down and rises again.41 This feature possibly has roots in a semi-dramatic song dealing with a father and son and a julebukk, which was recorded in Bergen at some time during the mid-nineteenth century. Several versions of this song have been recorded in various places, telling basically how the father and son built a boat before shooting a goat, which is then sold piecemeal. Once this business is completed, the goat (which is acted) suddenly returns to life and gallops off.42 The feature of a figure that falls and rises again also occurs in other Norwegian Christmas mumming performances. In one record from Man- dal, Vest-Agder, it was the figure of Stefan (NFS: S. Bugge II: 46Ð48), but more often it was Joseph, or the black king. Indeed, there are a total of about twenty-five records dealing with this motive in the Norwegian stjernespill (Star Play).43 The main song accompanying the stjernespill starts with a greeting to the people in the house, before going on to a verse about Sankte Stefan (St Stephen), the star and Herod. At the end, the figure of Judas comes round with

40 This figure also appeared regularly in Shetland mumming traditions: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 41 See NFS: S. Bugge II: 46Ð48; Hougen 1993: 97Ð100; and Storaker 1921:75. 42 See further Gunnell 1995a: 117Ð122, and the article by Reimund Kvideland elsewhere in this volume which deals with this custom in detail. 43 Edvardsen 1993a includes the earlier accounts of Hougen and Wiers-Jenssen and gives numerous examples. 82 Christine Eike

Map 1.4 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Stjernegutter (Star Boys). (Map: Christine Eike.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 83

Map 1.4 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Stjernegutter (Star Boys). (Map: Christine Eike.) 84 Christine Eike his purse collecting the money and giving thanks. Several scholars have stated that both the song and certain aspects of the actual performance in Norway show traces of influence from both Swedish and Danish texts.44 Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the stjernegutter tradition largely disappeared in Norway, because it was perceived as being blasphemous and involved begging, something that was seen as being quite unsuitable. Today the tradition is only maintained in a few places: in Grimstad, Aust-Agder and on the islands of Vigra, Giske and Valder¿y in Sunnm¿re, the latter of which is probably influenced by an earlier tradition from Ålesund. It has a richer cast than the Grimstad version. In these places today, the boys still dress in special clothes, and both sing and collect money for charity rather than themselves.

3. c. Spring 3. c. i. March 12: St Gregory’s Day (Gregorsmesse)45 On March 12 (Gregorsmesse), small girls in certain towns (in Vestfold, ¯stfold, M¿re og Romsdal, and in Kristiania [Oslo]: see map 1.5) used to walk around wearing white dresses decorated with glitter and ribbons, and with flowers in their hair, begging for money. This tradition is recorded in several towns as having existed in nineteenth-century Norway.46 The figure in question was called the Gregoriusbrud (Gregorius bride) and should therefore be compared with the mock weddings usually carried out on Sankthans (St John’s Eve or Day: see section 3. d. i. below).47 It seems that in earlier times, these girls were also provided with a bridegroom, but later only the brides were left. They might start going around as early as March 1. The girls who participated were often said to be poor girls who were begging for charitable gifts (mainly for themselves), something that the almanac Norsk Folkekalender (1859) says was done in commemoration of Pope Gregory’s love for poor children (quoted in Kr. Bugge 1934: 132). To give one example: I Byerne ved Skiensfjorden og i Vestfold klædte man den 12te Marts fattige Smaa- piger i hvide Kjoler, som var pyntet med kul¿rte Livbaand og mange flagrende Strimler. Paa haaret anbragtes en Krans med Blomster, og man s¿gte idethele at udstaffere de smaa ”Brude” med mest mulig Flitterstas. Det heder ogsaa, at baade Kjolen og Pynten gjerne var laante Sager. Undertiden var Gregoriusbrudene saa smaa, at de maatte bæres paa Armen af Moderen eller en ældre Søster. De blev ført rundt i Husene, hvor de sattes af inde i Kjøkkenet, og de

44 See Ohrvik 2000: 41; Celander 1950: 446; and Edvardsen 1993: 111. 45 The festival was celebrated in memory of Pope Gregory the Great (599Ð604), but in popular Norwegian tradition was essentially the time of the spring equinox. In some parts of Europe, St Gregory’s Day was marked in schools by the performance of plays because the Pope had been connected with schools and teaching. In Norway, one school play is mentioned as having been performed on this day in Bergen in the sixteenth century: see Alver 1981: 125Ð127. 46 See NFS: Kr. Bugge 1; Kr. Bugge 1934: 132Ð133 and 143; and Hougen 1993: 94Ð95. 47 See also details of a similar, related Swedish tradition in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. See also the article by Eva Knuts. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 85

Map 1.5: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Mock wedding traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) 86 Christine Eike

blev da almindelig trakteret med Kager, eller de modtog smaa Pengegaver, som gik i Moderens lomme. I Larvik holdt Skikken sig endnu i 1889-Aarene (Kr. Bugge 1934: 132Ð133). (On March 12, small and poor girls around towns near the fjord of Skien (Tele- mark) and in Vestfold were dressed in white clothes, decorated with colourful ribbons around their waists and fluttering strips. They had wreaths of flowers in their hair and generally one tried to equip these small “brides” with as much tinsel as possible. It is said that both the dress and the decorations were on loan. Sometimes the Gregorius brides were so small that they had to be carried by their mothers or elder sisters. They were brought to different houses where they were put down in the kitchen to receive cakes or small gifts of money which their mothers put in their pockets. In Larvik this custom still was alive in the 1880s.) The tradition seems to have been restricted mainly to urban centres. In the tradition in Ålesund, the children are said to have decorated themselves with colourful paper and flowers made of fabric, and to have sung and danced in a ring along the roads, as they collected money from people passing by. The refrain sung was: “Brud, Brud, fineste Brud” (Bride, bride, finest bride). The custom seems to have died out during the nineteenth century mainly because it was regarded as being first and foremost a form of begging used by under- privileged children (see above). As Hougen (1993: 94) shows, Norway’s capital city, then called Kristiania, was full of Gregoriusbrurer even as late as the 1840s, the girls in this case being about six to eight years old.

3. c. ii. March 24: The Eve of The Annunciation (Marimesse) Several records from Gudbrandsdal in Oppland (and nowhere else) dealing with earlier times, state that March 24 (the Eve of the Annunciation: or Marimesse was celebrated with the appearance of a masked figures named Trono, and the whole custom being referred to as Trono-leiken (the Trono- game).48 In some places in Gudbrandsdal, Trono-kvell (Trono night) is said to have been celebrated on March 24, while others talk of Good Friday. Some informants even claim that Trono-kvell was the night before January 6 or January 13, at the end of the Christmas period, then regarded as one of the most dangerous evenings in the whole year. The tradition described in these accounts is wild, barbaric and amusing, with a number of sexual overtones. It clearly indicates the appearance of a pair of beings: a bearded man and the female troll called Trono. These masked figures could take a great deal of liberties. They seem to be a kind of caricature of the Jonsokbryllup from western Norway (see section 3. d. i). All the same, it is not quite certain where the name comes from. The date March 24 could be connected with certain Swedish disguise traditions celebrating the return of the storks or cranes (traner; Swedish tranor) which

48 See further Kleiven 1915: 152; Kr. Bugge 1934: 141Ð144; and the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume, where one record is quoted in full. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 87 occurred around this time, and were seen in places as a sign of the coming of spring,49 thus linking the word trana (crane) to Trono. On the other hand, Trono is pronounced with a [u:] sound. Furthermore, the crane was not really known in Gudbrandsdalen and the word trana, according to Ivar Aasen, was on the whole rare in Norway. There are furthermore no signs of such birdlike figures in this particular Norwegian Trono tradition. One informant says that the word must be a very old name and that it refers to a female troll or ogress (trollkjerring) or a very badly dressed and ugly woman (Kr. Bugge 1934: 141). Kr. Bugge, quoting M. Moe,50 believed the name originated from the Old Norse trjóna, referring to a pig’s snout. In- deed, the Christmas mummers from this area often say that they used to keep pigs’ snouts in order to fix them to their masks (see quotes given earlier). I have previously dealt with this aspect at length (Eike 1978: 106Ð165) and suggested possible connections with elements of an old battle between winter and summer as well as seasonal mock-marriages.

3. c. iii. Shrovetide There are no records from Norway’s parishes in the countryside in earlier times telling of people celebrating Fastelaven (Shrovetide) with masks and costumes.51 Nonetheless, there is some proof that towns in Norway with foreign connections, and especially Bergen, had some sort of Shrovetide tradition that existed amongst the craftsmen (¯rnulf Hodne1988: 29Ð31).52 It is also noteworthy that in 1638, Bishop Ludvig Munthe tried to put an end to all traditions of this kind, forbidding: … ald den Hedenske oc Papistiske Fastelafuens Løben, oc anden slig Diefuelske Aberj oc Gallenskab, som Skomagere, Skreddere, Weffuere oc andre Handtvercks Busser øfuede oc bedræfue, Gud til Fortørnelse, Englerne oc fromme Guds Børn til Sorg oc Bekymring, oc Dieffuelen sampt hans Anhang til Lyst oc Giæckerji (quoted in ¯rnulf Hodne 1988: 30). (… all this pagan and papist Shrovetide walking and any other devilish monkey business and madness that the shoemakers, tailors, weavers and other craftsmen carry out, something which causes God’s anger and sorrow and worry to the angels and God’s children, but pleases the Devil and his followers.)

49 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume, where similar traditions are described. 50 NFS: Kr. Bugge 7: 121 and 1934: 141Ð142. 51 Nonetheless, there are records telling of how people or youngsters went around whipping people at that time. See further Alver 1981: 166, and ¯rnulf Hodne 1988: 31Ð34. Most often, though, such traditions took place on Good Friday in Norway: see the following section. 52 There is only one known instance outside Bergen. In a divorce case from Stavanger in 1625, a woman is accused of having “løpett fastelaven først til alle grander och naboer och for dennem mig schammeligen paatalett” (run Shrovetide, first to all the neighbours slandering me shamelessly there: quoted by ¯rnulf Hodne 1988: 39Ð31). With regard to Shrovetide customs of this kind, see especially the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 88 Christine Eike

It might be added that those same school boys that stood for the stjernespill (Star Play) in Bergen at the beginning of the nineteenth century also appear to have gone round at the beginning of Lent (see Edvardsen 1993: 134, citing a letter from 1827). The nineteenth-century bourgeoisie in Norway are also known to have held masquerades on their estates or town houses at this time of the year, possibly following a Danish model. However, the inspiration could also come from elsewhere. In the nineteenth century, many Norwegian artists went to Rome and Germany to study, bringing back certain impulses from the Italian carnival and the German Fasching or Fastnacht to Norway. In Kristiania (Oslo), masked balls were held both at Christmas and during the period before Lent. Then, in the 1850s, students started to arrange carnivals which took place in Den gamle Logen (the Old Freemason’s Lodge). On February 23, 1852 it is said that there were eleven hundred participants at one such gathering, wearing all sorts of costumes (see Herresthal 1997: 131Ð132, where reference is made to a writer called Sofonias Christian Krag). In 1859, a similar arrangement was opened by a procession led by two “heralds” riding horses which later also appeared at the ball. The ballroom itself was said to be full of colourful costumes. The first actual Kunstnerkarneval (Artists’ Carnival) was then arranged in Kristiania (Oslo) in 1863. In 1874, the theme was Prins Karnevals formæling med Dovregubbens datter (Prince Carnival’s Wedding to the Dovregubben’s daughter), the site again being the Old Lodge. This particular “happening” was portrayed in a woodcut by Gerhard Munthe. It might also be noted that the Nor- wegian composer Johan Svendsen composed his work Norsk Kunst- nerkarneval for this occasion (see Herresthal 1997: 133Ð134). In the twentieth century, these upper-class masquerades obviously became more democratised. The answers to NEG questionnaire nr. 185 (2000) prove that all sorts of people in the country held public masquerades (often in Febru- ary) in the twentieth century. These were usually arranged by particular organisations and held in local clubhouses (see figs 9.6 and 9.7). Such gatherings were quite popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and many have fond memories of them. In the 1980s, Oslo and certain other towns even tried to set up public carnivals on the model of that held in Rio de Janeiro, and a number of youngsters went to the capital in order to participate. The authorities, however, (for logical northern reasons) did not keep to the dating of Shrovetide, preferring to use the summer months. Such activities, nonetheless, never became a real tradition; they were only a trend that died away relatively fast. In spite of this, many Nor- wegian kindergartens, and sometimes also primary schools, nowadays regularly have their own carnivals, mostly keeping this to late winter or early spring- time, although sometimes they also do the same thing for particular anniversaries. These activities have much support: the children enjoy dressing up and their parents enjoy making costumes for them, as well as watching. It might also be mentioned that certain old Norwegian traditions performed at other times of the year also had public carnival-like elements that might be Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 89 compared to those continental traditions that occur during Shrovetide. In this connection, one might, for example, mention some of those local public traditions connected to New Year’s Eve (like those in Fløro and Bergen) described above, and also the procession in Bergen which takes place on May 17 (see section 3. c. v. below).

3. c. iv. Easter Only one record exists (from Vigra in M¿re og Romsdal ) of a traditional mock wedding taking place at Easter (see map 1.5). In this case, much like the midsummer wedding (see section 3. d. i. below), the children would choose the most beautiful girl to be the bride, and the most handsome boy to serve as bridegroom, and then dress up the påskebrud (Easter bride). A banquet would then be held, the bride and bridegroom taking the seat of honour. This was followed by a procession in which the others followed the couple in front, with a drummer accompanying them. In the end, they would walk to a mountain to play (NFS: Kr. Bugge 5: 70). Other people from Vigra, according to Kr. Bug- ge, confirmed this record from 1921. A more common tradition in Norway was that of “whipping” on Good Fri- day, where young people would beat those who had slept too long. There are quite a few records of this from the counties of S¿r-Tr¿ndelag and Vestfold (see, for example, ¯rnulf Hodne 1988: 89Ð84). Some records also state that those who did the whipping would come in masks or in disguise.53 A number of scholars claim that this custom originates in an idea of “self-punishment” carried out in commemoration of Christ’s sufferings. Others, like Nils Lid (1928a: 101Ð102), believed that the act of whipping (also carried out in Nor- way at Christmas) was more likely to be a fertility rite. The records themselves though, emphasise the elements of fun and amusement.54 Another Easter activity in Vestfold and Telemark was to take others by surprise by placing a figure of wood or a manlike figure in rags, called Gullmund, in their beds or in front of their doors. In Vestfold, this custom took the form of a kind of competition between girls and boys as the following account shows: Brukä di dænn sjikken åppåver hoss dere, å ji langfrædassris? Dæm stal sæ in, a ga dæm ris på sængä, dæm fækk enn tell å lökke åpp får sæ når-eæm kåmm. Så var-e andagen, dænn sku værä Gullmunn. De er stauräne di kællär de, da læg- ger-i di inn sængä te dænn de ligger, me-n såver, me rotä å ällting på, å så når-n vaknär, så finner-æm de ve siä a sæ. Åsså åm treäda, da ske dæm ha Jærttru Galrå. Da-kann di få bryti en stomp a de, å få lakt de i sængä te noen. De er kjekkäst å få lakt-e i sængä te non, så blir-æm så sinte sæ dæm slænger-e borttåver gölve så jolä sprutär. De var bare spettakkel, bådde te jentr å guttär. Kunn-di-nte kåmmä-in, å sto de på

53 See further the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume, where one record from Hemne in S¿r-Tr¿ndelag is quoted in full. 54 See further the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume. 90 Christine Eike

dørnä på utsiä om mårrän; når di lökte åpp så fækk di de i angäne me de samre (NFS A.B. Larsen jr. 1: 24). (Do they do this at your place, to whip each other on Good Friday? They stole inside and gave those who were still in bed a good thrashing. They got someone to open the door from the inside when they came. On the second day, there would be “Gull- munn”. Those are the poles with roots and everything that they put into the beds of those who are still asleep, and when they wake up, they find them at their sides. On the third day, they would have “Jærttru Galrå”. They broke off a piece [of wood] and put it into their beds. It is best to put it into their beds, because then they get so angry that they throw it violently on the floor. There was great commotion between the girls and the boys. If they could not get inside, they put it in front of the doors, so it was the first thing they saw in the morning.) Gullmund and Jærttru in these accounts refer to the saints Gudmund (Gu∂mundur) and Gertrud (Gertrude), their days being in the spring, on March 16 and 17. Nils Lid has written at length about the first figure, including in his discussion a number of popular games that took place at Christmas and other festivals (Lid 1928a: 119Ð188 and 1933: 96). His explanation once again is that this was a fertility rite. According to Lid, who relies on accounts from priests from the eighteenth century, the attributed saint, Bishop Gu∂mundur Arason from Iceland who died in 1237, was worshipped as a god in Telemark. Several other accounts tell of seasonal sacrifices being made to a wooden figure of this name (see Lid 1928a: 158). However, it might also be borne in mind that Gu∂mundur was a well-known name in Old Norse literature, one of the other most famous figures with that name being the legendary Gu∂mundur á Glasisvöllum (Gu∂mundur of Glasisvellir) who appears, among other places, in the Icelandic Hei∂rekssaga (The Saga of Hei∂rek). This Gu∂mundur is said to have been a king of giants who lived in a mysterious and mystical district called Glasisvellir (Shining Plains: see further Tolkien 1960: 20, 66, and 84Ð86). After his death, this Gu∂mundur was also supposed to have been worshipped as a god, so he serves as another candidate for the origin of the effigy. Whatever its origin, the people who found an effigy of this kind in their beds were apparently far from pleased, because it was seen as being a form of teasing, or mockery. Interestingly enough, this particular tradition is still well remembered in one answer given to NEG questionnaire nr. 185 (2000) from Vestfold: En annen skikk som ikke var helt vanlig og som var knyttet til påskedagene, var noe de kalte ”Gullmånn” (skrevet slik det uttales). Den er helt borte. 2 damer 90 og 92 år gamle, har fortalt at det ble lagdt en skikkelse påkledd som gutt eller pike etter behov. Denne skulle lures opp i senga til en som sov. Figuren var av motsatt kj¿nn til den som sov og noen la også en utett vannflaske med så det ble ganske ubehagelig for den sovende etter hvert. Den ene damen mente at de helst skulle gj¿re det med en som var så gammel at vedkommende burde vært gift (nr. 34792: Lærdal, Vest- fold: female, b. 1925, a farmer’s wife). (Another custom, which was not very common but was connected to the Easter period, was something they called Gullmånn (spelled as it is pronounced). This Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 91

custom has now gone. Two ladies, 90 and 92 years old, said they made a figure which was dressed as a boy or a girl, depending on what they needed. This figure had to be smuggled into the bed of someone who was asleep. The figure should be the opposite sex of the one in bed and some also put a leaking water bottle alongside, so it became quite unpleasant for the one who was asleep. One of the ladies thought it should be done preferably to someone for whom it was high time to get married.)55 Functionally this Easter figure is very much the same as the wooden julebukk that was sometimes smuggled in front of people’s houses, and was in some places replaced by a manlike figure as a kind of practical joke.56

3. c. v. May 17 (The Norwegian National Day) The Norwegian writer Henrik Wergeland (1808Ð1845) was a zealous advocate of an official celebration being taken up on May 17 to commemorate the adoption of Norway’s first constitutional law of 1814 in Eidsvoll. Indeed, Werge- land was the first to hold an official speech on May 17, 1833, in Kristiania (Oslo). Children’s parades have taken place on May 17 since 1869, and the first parade in Kristiania in 1870, numbering twelve hundred schoolboys, was initiated by the writer and playwright Bj¿rnstjerne Bj¿rnson (1832Ð1910). The tradition rapidly spread throughout the country. Today every single community has its own procession, including both boys and girls. Since 1905, the students who are about to graduate from upper secondary school have played a central role in these celebrations. Norway’s so-called russeskikker (a word deriving from the Latin depositurus or cornua depositurus, lit. “the one who is about to cast off his horns”) developed out of earlier Danish university customs to become associated with graduation traditions at the final upper-secondary-school level.57 In these customs, the pupils, dressed for the most part in red clothes (see figs 1.10 and 9.8Ð9.9), behave in a contrary fashion to what might be regarded as being normal. Norms are overturned, practical jokes are played on others, and, last but not least, the graduating russ students have to pass certain tests in order to be able to call themselves eliteruss. Most of the rules involved in these tests are exaggerated or absurd, often involving sexual overtones and

55 This custom is also dealt with in ¯rnulf Hodne 1988: 135Ð136. 56 See, for example, Storaker 1921: 129Ð121 from Mandal, Vest-Agder. In Tj¿me, Vestfold, people were also known to dress up another figure named Knut and place that in front of the house to mark the fact that Christmas was over (NFS: Aftenpostens Julekonkurranse 1958a). Similar figures of straw used during Christmas itself were called julsvenn or julastratt (Lid 1928a: 43Ð44), the records of this latter Christmas tradition coming essentially from S¿r-Tr¿ndelag and Horda- land. See further the articles by Christine Eike and Nils-Arvid Bringéus dealing with ritualised humour and the use of effigies in mumming elsewhere in this volume. 57 See further Eike 2001: 68, and the articles by Christine Eike and Terry Gunnell elsewhere in this volume on ritualised humour and comparable modern graduation traditions in Iceland. See also the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions on similar school traditions elsewhere. 92 Christine Eike the consumption of a great deal of alcohol. Many of the activities that take place in public are designed to draw the spectators’ attention towards the key performers, that is the youngsters decked out in their “uniforms”. Now- adays, May 17 marks the end of these special celebrations. The russ58 hordes start the day by awakening their teachers. Many of them still red-eyed (owing to the after-effects of alcohol and a general lack of sleep) and dirty, they then participate in the May 17 parades, making a great amount of noise, just like the mummers of the past used to do. Once the children’s parade has finished, they go on to present their own, in which they carry satirical placards and put on various shows (see further Hjemdal 1999; Sande 2000; and Eike 2001). Outside the activities of the russ, the Norwegian May 17 customs are, for the main part, comparatively formal. For example, the central children’s procession is meant to be beautiful. It involves people who are wearing their national costumes because they are proud of their nation, rather than because they want to change their identity. There is, however, one exception to the rule: as people from Bergen will be aware, their local National Day procession is more reminiscent of the Shrovetide carnival processions that take place on the Continent. Here we see craftsmen appearing in the traditional clothes that were characteristic for them in former times; students carrying out all sorts of amusing activities such as pretending to extract teeth; rowing clubs displaying boats and oars; and other sports clubs putting on shows to advertise the leisure activities in which they are involved. Often these groups make use of lorries in the procession to enable everyone to see them. Like so many other Bergen traditions, this Bergen variant probably has its roots in foreign influences. It probably stems from the many craftsmen and merchants, most of them German, who came to settle in the city in the past, bringing with them a number of foreign traditions. Some of these customs have somehow retained a spark of life over the centuries. They have then been rejuvenated in totally new traditions like the celebration of the Norwegian National Day during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.59

58 As long as these traditions were reserved to pupils leaving the gymnasium, they only used red colours. Today different types of secondary schools use different colours at their final celebrations. Red, however, still dominates. 59 In Stavanger, the Folketoget (Citizen’s Parade) takes place in the afternoon on May 17. All sorts of organisations use the opportunity to present themselves, from football clubs to Christian societies, a veteran fire engine from the fire brigade taking the lead. Nevertheless, this custom is less carnivalesque than that in Bergen. See further http://web3.aftenbladet.no/bildegallerier/ article197768.ece (last visited March 1, 2007). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 93

3. d. Summer 3. d. i. June 23 and 24: St John’s Eve and St John’s Day (Sankt Hans)60 In certain parts of western Norway (and in a few other places: see map 1.5), at around the time of the summer solstice, another semi-dramatic tradition occurs. This takes the form of a mock wedding, and is usually referred to as the Jonsokbryllup (St John’s Eve wedding: see figs 1.8 and 1.9).61 These traditions can be classified alongside the other seasonal mock marriages that take place in the Nordic countries, such as the Norwegian Gregoriusbrud and påskebryllup customs which have been described earlier (see section 3. c. i. above).62 The first record of this custom taking place at the solstice comes from Ullensvang, in Hardanger, in 1781, and tells how young people commonly used to dress up a “bride” at a certain rock (see section 1. 6. above). Another early record from 1823 tells how on June 24, the local bishop witnessed what he at first thought was a wedding procession in Sogndal, Sogn og Fjordane, but later discovered it was a group of children with all the attributes necessary for a real wedding: a drummer, followed by the bridegroom with all of his company, and then the bride with flowers in her hair, bridesmaids and so on. The group was then treated with food and drink by the vicar (Neumann 1823; see also Wyller 1987: 118). It appears that flowers were also used to decorate the Jonsokbrur (St John’s bride) in the past in Valdres, Oppland (Hermundstad 1950: 65). Nowadays the bride or bridal pair in the tradition tends to be represented by children, but this was apparently not always the case. In Vangsnes, in Sogn, for example, adults were still playing the bridal couple in the nineteenth century. Indeed, here, it seems that a mock priest was involved, and he consecrated the “marriage”. It has also been argued by some that this marriage might even have been consummated in one form or other in the far distant past, something which might explain why the role of the mock-bride in some areas of Scandi- navia was seen as being degrading or shameful, and why it was sometimes said that the mock bride would never wear white or have a legitimate child. Gunnell (1995a: 135Ð140 and 53Ð60), among others, has suggested that some of these folk marriage ceremonies might have ancient roots in a form of pagan hieros

60 St John’s Eve, which took over from the earlier midsummer festival (June 21) in the early Middle Ages, has two names in Norwegian, both stemming from the Norwegian form of John’s name: Johannes. Hence, Sankthans and Jonsok (a shortening of the Old Norse Jóhannesarvaka: St John’s Wake). 61 Several scholars in the early twentieth century saw connections between the mock wedding and the effigies of an old man or woman that were burned in the bonfires that also used to take place (and still do) at this time. They suggested that these and the bridal pair were old and new representations of fertility spirits. For references, see further Gunnell 1995a: 136Ð137 (also note 219) and Alver 1981: 145. 62 On mock weddings, see further the examples given in the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in Sweden and Denmark elsewhere in this volume. See also the article by Eva Knuts on other mock wedding traditions. 94 Christine Eike

Fig. 1.8: A jonsokbrudlaup (St John’s wedding) in Oma, Hardanger, Norway, in 1920. (Courtesy of Christine Eike.)

Fig. 1.9: Jonsok in Ullensvang, Hardanger, Norway, in 2001. (Photo: Christine Eike.) gamos or ritual marriage that, on the basis of the literary and archaeological evidence, appears to have once existed in early Norwegian and Swedish tradition. As noted above, the mock-wedding tradition is well rooted in the western fjords of Norway. The following account comes from Hardanger in the 1930s: Borni i Opedals-grendi kom ihop te jonsokbrudlaup eit bel fyre ¿yktardag jonsokaf- tan i eit tun eller ved ei løa. Brudi, ei tå dei eldste gjentone, møtte upp i brudebunad. Dei hadde klædt henne heime hjå mor og far. Ho bar perlekruna, som ei barnegod og Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 95

haghendt kvinna i bygdi hadde laga, bringesylv og raud stakk. Brudgommen (i dei fyrste jonsokbrudlaupi hadde dei ikkje brudgom), ein tå dei minste og snålaste gutane, gjekk i kyrkjeklæde. Dei største gjentone bar skaut og vart ropa for skautakonor. So drog dei ikring i bygdi sku te seg. Spelaren gjekk i fyreenden (det hende at dei laut gå uten spelar òg), og so brudeparet, so skautakonone og gjentone og sistpå gutane. Det bar gjerne fyrst te prestegarden. Fylgjet stogga i tunet, og so kom presten ut og helsa på den vesle brudi og på brudgomen, som var endå mindre. Han kunde óg gje seg i r¿da med skautakonone og andre i laget. So kom prestegardskvendi ut med skjenk og brød og kakor. Ein gong hadde kje brudi fenge nokon brudgom attåt seg. Presten klappa brudi på kinnet og sa: ”Dette var ille. Jeg kan jo ikke vie Dem når De ikke har nogen brudgom.” So kunde laget vitja Ringolvsnes-folket og eit par andre hus. … Fyrst det leid på kveld, kom det ein og annan tå dei vaksne og gav seg med i laget. Ein far eller ei mor totte gaman sitja eit bel og sjå kor veslegut eller veslegjenta leika seg fyrr dei henta dei heim. Ungdomane blanda seg jamleg i dansen, og l¿a kunde vera full av dansande par, vaksne og born. Brudi dansa med kruna frametter natti. Ho var mykje i vinden, og jamvel sume tå dei vaksne gutane totte det var gjøvt å få ein sving med henne (Opedal 1937: 87Ð90). (The children in and around Opedal came together in a farmyard or in a barn for the Jonsok wedding a while before 5 o’clock on the afternoon of June 23. The bride, one of the oldest girls, showed up in a national bridal costume. She had been dressed at her mother’s and father’s house. She had a crown of pearls which a friendly and handy woman in the parish had made, traditional silver jewellery on her chest and a red skirt. In the first Jonsok weddings, they had no bridegroom, but now the bridegroom, one of the smallest and nicest boys, had his Sunday church dress on. The biggest girls had kerchiefs on their heads and were called “kerchief women”. Then they went around the settlement area to show themselves off. The fiddler went in front and then the couple, then the “kerchief women”, the girls, and last of all the boys. Often they went to the vicar first. They stopped in the yard, and then the vicar came out to greet the little bride and the bridegroom who was even smaller. He could also start talking to the “kerchief women” and the others. Then the vicar’s wife came out with food and drink. One time, the bride had not got a bridegroom by her side. The vicar patted her cheek and said, “That was unfortunate. I cannot consecrate your marriage if you have not got a bridegroom.” Then the party might visit some other houses…. When the evening came, one or other of the grown-ups joined them. A father or a mother could enjoy sitting there for a while, seeing how their little boy or girl was acting, before they took them home. The young people usually joined in the dance; the barn could be crowded with dancing couples, grown-ups and children. The bride danced with the crown on her head during the night. She was very popular and even young men highly valued a dance with her.) The pattern in western Norway seems to have been the following: it was the bride who was the centre of attention, and in the earliest descriptions she seems to have been a bride decorated with, and carrying a wreath of flowers. In the eighteenth century, this tradition was probably still carried out by youngsters (older teenagers), but later on children took over their roles. By and by the “bride” came to be dressed in national costume, thereby imitating the real costume of a bride in the countryside. In some places in Norway, this figure might even wear a white bridal veil. She would also be accompanied by real processions, involving all the relevant figures, including a priest and parish clerk, a 96 Christine Eike fiddler and drummer, and a bridegroom. The latter figure was often somewhat unwilling: it seems to have been hard to get boys to play the bridegroom, while it tended to be an honour to play the bride. Usually the procession would also visit the annual Jonsok bonfires (another key feature of the festival). The final feast, which the children would arrange themselves, preparing the decorations, food and everything else that was necessary (perhaps with a little adult help), was then usually celebrated in a barn. Such mock-weddings might even involve skotrarar (“watchers”, that is masked visitors from outside: see section 4 below). However, it is noteworthy that not all children could join in the celebrations. A man (b. 1928) from Odda in Hardanger stated there was some prestige involved in the game. According to him, all the children who participated came from the old farms in the area, while newcomers were not easily accepted (oral information from 2000). There might also be conflicts between groups, one procession in the rural area fighting with another from a neighbouring area, thus underlining some degree of competition between them (Lutro 1998: 36). In many areas, the Jonsok mock-wedding tradition appears to have disappeared in the middle of the twentieth century. However, in recent years both Torill Wyller (1983 and 1987) and Anne Lutro (1998) have carried out a great deal of research into the tradition, Wyller working near Ålesund in M¿re og Romsdal in the 1980s; and Lutro working in Ullensvang in Har- danger in the 1990s, putting particular effort into collecting the bridal crowns that were originally used in jonsokbryllup in Hardanger. Clearly in these areas, the tradition is still very much alive today (perhaps even spreading), largely due to the work of some enthusiastic grown-ups.63 The answers to NEG questionnaire nr. 185 (2000) confirm this impression. Furthermore, memories of jonsokbryllup in the past are clearly among the favourites of people from western Norway. Of course, some “weddings” today are held for the benefit of the tourists, but this does not disguise the fact that very genuine customs still go on a number of local parishes. While the jonsokbryllup in M¿re og Romsdal have become more carnivalesque, those in Hardanger are deliberately beautiful and rather solemn. It might also be noted that a number of kindergartens in western Norway have now also taken up the tradition, thereby adding a new element to it.

3. e. Autumn 3. e. i. October 31: Halloween (Hallowe’en) While no earlier mumming traditions are known to have taken place in Norway in the autumn, this season is now becoming one of the most active periods owing to the appearance of a newcomer in the shape of the American Hallow-

63 Based on oral information from Anne Lutro, in 2000/ 2001; and personal fieldwork carried out in Hardanger with the Masks and Mumming group in 2001. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 97

Fig. 1.10: A russ student in Gj¿vik, Norway, in 1991. (Photo: Gunnar Eike.) (Courtesy of Gun- nar Eike.) een. As in the other Scandinavian countries, this is a very new phenomenon in Norway, and has markedly been on the increase all around the country since about 2000.64 Ane Ohrvik has studied this phenomenon in Norway, and in 2001 wrote the following: During this short span of time, Halloween has gone from being viewed as a foreign mumming Ð and Autumn tradition primarily communicated via films, tv-series, news programming and books with their roots in North American culture, to being something ever more Norwegians know of and have seen or celebrated. To the degree that Halloween has been celebrated earlier, the celebration has mainly occurred in smaller somewhat closed environments connected to the English and American schools, and among English speaking immigrants (Ohrvik 2001: 234).65

64 See further all the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 65 It might be noted that Ane Ohrvik has analysed the entrepreneurship behind the making of this new tradition still further in an article from 2006 (Ohrvik 2006). 98 Christine Eike

Fig. 1.11: The custom of house-visiting children at Halloween has now spread to small towns in Norway: Halloween in Gj¿vik, October 31, 2006. (Photo: Christine Eike.)

Halloween parties, involving the key elements of horror and costumed disguise, skeletons, macabre masks and black creepy-crawlies, are now well- known in Norway, firmly backed up by advertisements and shopkeepers. An- nouncements tend to state that guests should arrive dressed in the most bizarre costume they can find, and that the most gruesome costume will be awarded a prize. This phenomenon is now spreading from the larger cities to smaller cities, and, interestingly enough in view of the other changes that have recently taken place in mumming traditions, from youngsters and children (see fig. 1.11) to more grown-up people. In the years since 2000, newspapers from all over the country have been full of advertisements and reports of this kind. The whole process is very complex: it involves a great deal of influence ranging from the mass media to shopkeepers and restaurants who want to earn money, to private parties and to the wishes of children who have now started house Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 99 visiting, offering “Trick or treat” or “knask eller knep”/ “knask, knep eller ram- pestrek” (lit.: crunchy candy or tricks; crunchy candy, tricks or vandalism: see Ohrvik 2001: 235 and note 4).66 Nevertheless, several answers given to the most recent NEG questionnaire (2000) were sceptical about this new tradition. To give one example: I år var første gang vi fikk barn på døra som hadde kledd seg ut som Halloween. De var heldigvis ikke utkledd med alt det grusomme utstyret som forretningene rekla- merer for. I fjor sendte jeg brev til flere firma som reklamerte for Halloween. Har lest at dette egentlig er en okkult ”fest”, og jeg reagerer veldig på at norske barn skal utsettes for dette. Det er jo hekser, djevler, voldelige ”remedier”, f. eks. var det noe som kunne tygges og som da sprutet ”blod”. Er det nødvendig å føre inn slike skik- ker? Nei, vi får håpe dette bare blir et blaff (NEG 185 Nr. 34817, a female teacher from Hol, in Buskerud). (This year was the first time we had children at our door who had rigged themselves out as Halloween. Luckily they were not dressed in all this gruesome gear that shops keep advertising. Last year I sent letters to several firms who had published adverts for Halloween. I have read that this is an occult feast and I react strongly to Nor- wegian children being exposed to this. After all, there are witches, devils, and all the paraphernalia of violence: for instance, there was something one could chew to make “blood” flow. Is it necessary to import customs like this? No, let’s hope this will only last a short phase.) In 2001, Ane Ohrvik made the following comment: To what extent Halloween will have the characteristics of a trend or if it will become integrated into a Norwegian complex of traditions, remains to be seen. One of the decisive factors in either case is precisely in what way the celebration will provide meaning to those who participate (Ohrvik 2001: 240). Since that time, newspaper articles and television reports on Halloween have increased and so have the masked house-visiting children. They can now be found all over the country and are on the verge of becoming a national tradition in Norway. Indeed, nowadays, both grown-ups and children are celebrating Halloween in Norway, in spite of Ð or maybe even because of Ð all the criticism against this American import (Ohrvik 2006: 152Ð159).

4. Non-Calendrical Traditions From the start, it seems that masking traditions in Norway were not limited to calendrical customs. As has been noted, weddings have always been times at which masked figures might make an appearance. This was a rich tradition in older times in Norway: invited guests might perform an entire play, making fun of the wedding, and uninvited guests might appear in masks as skotrarar (lit. “watchers”: see maps 1.6 aÐb; and figs 1.12Ð1.13, and 9.2Ð9.5). Another more

66 On the nights of October 31, 2003 and 2006, I personally observed several groups of masked and house-visiting children roaming the streets in my neighbourhood in the small town of Gj¿vik, Opp- land (fig 1.11). 2003 was the first time I had the chance to be an eyewitness to this phenomenon here. 100 Christine Eike

Map 1.6 a: Mumming in Norway (south) prior to 1950: Skotring (Wedding watchers) and other wedding disguise traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 101

Map 1.6 b: Mumming in Norway (north) prior to 1950: Skotring (Wedding watchers) and other wedding disguise traditions. (Map: Christine Eike.) 102 Christine Eike

Fig. 1.12: The photograph appears to show a group of maskers (including one seemingly in a goat mask) going skotring (wedding mumming) in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway in the first half of the twentieth century. Here people also talked of the tradition “å skåtre”, the group sometimes being called skottrarar or even glankarer. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) (Courtesy of Sunnfjord Museum.)

Fig. 1.13: Wedding mummers (fussa) in Tydal, Tr¿ndelag, Norway, in 1927Ð1928. (Courtesy of Tydal kommune.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 103 urban tradition connected to weddings is that of stag and hen parties which have their own elements of disguise. This has been rapidly spreading in recent years in Norway.67 Both of the above customs are dealt with in more detail in my article on “Disguise as Ritualised Humour” elsewhere in this volume. However, it is worth giving a brief review of the skotring (“watcher”) traditions which are more particularly Norwegian, and are almost certainly very old.68 As noted in the aforementioned article, the variety of names for these traditions in western Norway and elsewhere indicate that these visitors originally came to watch, and were thereby performing some kind of control. From the start, they may well have been youngsters who were “assisting” their friends through a kind of rite de passage, very much like young people do nowadays when they take part in stag and hen parties. In western Norway, skotring is still very much alive today, and while in older times such a visit might have been regarded as quite a nuisance, owing to all the alcohol, mischief and mockery associated with it, today it is seen as an honour to have as many masked visitors as possible (see, for example, NEG nr. 185: 34941 from Ullensvang, Hordaland). Gunhild F¿rland is at present writing a thesis (at the University of Oslo) on the subject of skotring in Jondal, in Hardanger. She informs me that during the second half of the twentieth century, people there started making a competition out of this tradition. It is still important not to be recognised, however, and is still a tradition that those who are masked carry out all sorts of ridiculous activities. This offers an outlet for a small community which is otherwise strictly regulated by unwritten rules. However, in the end the mask always falls, and the best costume is awarded a prize. In this way one might say that direct mischief has now become outdated. It has become socially “controlled”.

5. Conclusion If one examines the brief bird’s-eye view that has been presented here, it is obvious that there must have been a number of “genuine” disguise traditions that were deeply rooted in Norwegian society. In my opinion, this must include the house-visiting julebukk traditions that occurred all around the local parishes of the Norwegian countryside (both those that occurred at Christmas and the related customs connected to weddings). While these are very similar to Swedish and Danish traditions (and even those from Germany and Austria), this does

67 On stag and hen parties, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tradi- tions elsewhere in this volume, and especially the article by Eva Knuts. 68 However, see also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic in connection with Shetland wedding traditions which also offer parallels to the appearance of so-called “Strawboys” at Irish weddings. See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden with regard to the tradition of Knutgubbar appearing at weddings. 104 Christine Eike not mean they must have been imported, as some have suggested. The julebukk custom is still known (if not always practised) today, all over the country, both in towns and local parishes. The masked figures at weddings, mainly uninvited guests, are still found in western Norway. The same applies to the mock-marriage traditions also rooted in western Norway, which are celebrated at around the time of the summer solstice. As has been noted, these, too, were probably originally an old rural custom with roots in Norway, rather than a later import. They have parallels in the mock weddings that occur at other times in Sweden, Denmark and on the Continent. The reason for their being largely limited to western Norway is nonetheless still unclear. As has been noted, however, they live on, and have even been undergoing a period of revitalisation in recent years. All the same, this custom, like that of the julebukk, seems to be involving younger and younger children as time goes on. It is clear that during the Middle Ages and later, influences from other countries certainly did come to Norway, especially from Germany and other nearby countries on the Continent. The arrival of Catholic customs was also part of a broader pattern that was common within the larger European area. On the Con- tinent, it is clear that these often redefined (rather than replaced) older pre-Christian customs, turning them into cult activities connected to saints. At the same time, they also led to the adoption of genuine new Christian customs. The plays originally performed by schoolboys on holy days, like those of the stjernegutter on January 6, definitely have roots in Catholicism. What is more surprising is the way in which Norway (and the other Nordic countries) continued (or adopted) this tradition which had roots in medieval Catholic liturgical plays long after the time of the Reformation, the now evolved “plays” gradually being transferred into the hands of house-visiting schoolboys in towns and places along the coast. Here the movement of the tradition seems clear: in Norway, the texts of the stjernegutter songs show strong Danish and Swedish influence. As has been noted, this once relatively widespread tradition died out in most places during the nineteenth century, largely because it was viewed as a form of begging. Today, it is only being kept alive in Grimstad and on some islands further north near Ålesund. Similar moral condemnations of so-called “begging” activities also had an effect on the Gregorius “brides”, which were another largely urban tradition that died out completely in Norway during the nineteenth century. Other external influences can be seen in the Shrovetide carnivalesque traditions which were in former times mainly confined to Bergen. As has been shown, these foreign carnival traditions were brought to Norway from southern Europe in the nineteenth century, and were at first an urban custom, which took the form of masked balls organised by the upper class. Later on, these traditions spread out into rural districts, the result being that today carnivals are far from uncommon in Norwegian kindergartens and schools. As has been indicated, Bergen is clearly a special phenomenon in terms of Norwegian folk tradition. To my mind, this city has maintained a number of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway 105 foreign craftsmen’s and merchants’ traditions such as those which can be seen in the special carnivalesque processions that take place in Bergen on May 17. The same applies to the Kippermusikken tradition that took place on New Year’s Eve in former decades. This must have originally been introduced by foreign craftsmen, before later spreading to Flor¿. The twentieth century thus saw the fading of some traditions and the advent of others. As has been explained, the Norwegian Christmas nisse in his modern form is a mixture of an old Norwegian house spirit, the German Weihnachts- mann, and (increasingly in recent years) the well-known Anglo-American figure of Santa Claus, who is vigorously championed by the mass media and shop keepers. This modern Christmas figure is now a common sight in both urban and rural areas. Another relatively modern figure showing Swedish influence is that of the candle-crowned Lucia and her followers, yet another custom that is cultivated by kindergartens and schools all over the country. Obviously, any custom that has moved into the sphere of schools and kindergartens, and is specially arranged for children by grown-ups, has lost any genuinely frightening aspect. As noted above, it is interesting to see how some of the oldest Nor- wegian customs, like that of the julebukk, nowadays tend to involve children who are getting younger by the year. At the same time it is noteworthy that more and more of the participants are female, less truly disguised or masked all the time. It is nonetheless important not to generalise too much here. In small communities where people know each other well, one can still find grown-ups participating in parties like the julebukk balls. Elsewhere, it was clear some years ago that young male adults had started going julebukk once more (see section 3. 6. i. above). The most recent innovation in Norway is the American Halloween. This seems to bode an interesting return of the frightening and threatening aspect of wintertime mumming that used to exist in the past. Ghosts and ugly costumes and masks once again dominate this tradition, just as they did in the distant past in Norway. In the last few years, this newcomer has been rapidly spreading throughout Norway from the towns to the countryside. The same can be said about the use of disguise in stag and hen parties, and the change in identity and costumed licence that takes place in Norwegian graduation traditions, the russeskikker, which have speedily developed in various ways during the twentieth century. These new disguise customs are once again far from harmless. They are regularly seen as being threatening to society.69 As is noted in various articles elsewhere in this book, it seems that young adults are now reclaiming their age-old right to be able to don masks and threaten social norms, albeit now in an urban setting. Also noteworthy is the way the new traditions have tended to adapt themselves, and find themselves bending back towards the shape of the older and better known local traditions that existed in the past. In

69 On this aspect, see further the article by Terry Gunnell on modern pre-graduation traditions in modern Icelandic upper-secondary schools elsewhere in this volume. 106 Christine Eike short, what we commonly see here are old elements reappearing dressed in new clothing. However, if they fail to adapt to their surroundings and the demands of their times (as in the attempts to set up a summer Carnival in Oslo), they will simply die out again. Development in our times is breathtaking and rapid. One can never be sure what will happen to the new traditions, or those from the past. What is sure, however, is that masks, mummers and disguise traditions are deeply rooted in Norwegian society, and that they are likely to live on in one form or another for some time to come.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following questionnaires are referred to in this survey: OoS (Ord og Sed) questionnaires: 1931: Tradisjon um overnaturlege skapnader 1937: Jolebukk og brudlaupsbukk NEG (Norsk Etnologisk Gransking) questionnaires: 1950: nr. 29: Julenissen 1978: nr. 126: Lucia-opptog 1994: (særemne) nr. 28: utdrikningslag 1997: nr. 174: Russetid – russeklær 2000: nr. 185: Utkledning og masker

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 107 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden A Survey Eva Knuts

1. Introduction 1. a. Sweden Ð A Brief Description Sweden is a long and narrow country in which the conditions for agriculture and other ways of making a living have always varied (see map 2.1). There are also great differences between the north and south of the country. The ethnologists Mats Hellspong and Orvar Löfgren (1995: 8) have written about the highly variable nature of both the climate and terrain which has created varying household and consumption profiles in different parts of Sweden. As they note, these differences were reflected in a number of aspects of daily life, ranging from the seasonal cycle and the organisation of work, to eating habits and living environments. The differences are also reflected in the customs and practices of festivals and holidays. A great deal of research has been carried out into the country’s various “dividing lines”. A number of clear patterns have been discerned through studying both the cultural and material patterns of innovation and the differences and similarities within the countryside itself. Limes Norrlandicus (the summer pasture limit) stretching from Uddevalla in the west to the river Dal- älven in the east is seen as an economic and geographical “dividing line” (Bringéus 1990: 83). Livelihoods to the north of the summer mountain pasture limit have traditionally been mixed in character and include migratory work, forestry and agriculture, the raising of livestock and fishing. In the south, agriculture (mainly cereal production) has dominated, meaning that in the past, large farm holdings were common and wealth was counted in acres. Among other things, these differences have influenced marriage patterns and, to a certain extent, also the mumming traditions. Other “dividing lines” can also be detected in Sweden. One example is the diagonal line that runs from the border between Dalarna and Värmland and down through the uplands of Småland to Kalmar. This dividing line has historically indicated differences in culture. The Knutgubbar (Knut men: see section 2. b. vi.; and map 2.6) are an illustration of this, as they were common in Värmland but did not occur at all in Dalarna. Being geographically closer to the continent, the southern provinces have also had much more contact with

108 Eva Knuts

Map 2.1: Sweden (from Norden: Man and Environ- ment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987). (Courtesy of Gebrüder Born- traeger.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 109

Denmark and Germany, and this is reflected, for example, in the traditions connected with Shrovetide (see sections 2. c. iiÐiii and map 2.7). Something that might seem illogical when viewed on a map can actually become quite logical if it is clarified from a cultural-historical perspective. For example, large areas of woodland hindered the spread of some innovations in Sweden. Some places which were once important centres of dissemination, such as manor houses, factories and ports, are today no longer regarded as centres. Diocesan boundaries may also have influenced the nature of dissemination in the different parts of the country. An example of this is the celebration of Luciadagen (St Lucia’s Day or Lucia), said to have originated in the diocese of Skara which gave more importance to Lucia than other dioceses (see section 2. b. i.). A great deal has happened in the time span covered by this survey. Among other things, new systems of communication have altered the map. The railway, the canal lock system and other new innovations meant that parts of the country that were previously isolated became more accessible. However, tech- nical innovations are not the only thing to have redrawn the map. Alternative cultural environments have also appeared: political or religious affiliation have begun to mean more than the local community in terms of social belonging. The Temperance Movement and other organisations are also often mentioned as intermediaries for new festival traditions. Furthermore, the growth of popular movements in rural areas during the second half of the 1800s is often said to have sped up the dissolution of homogeneous local cultures (Hellspong and Löfgren 1995: 333). Today, the Swedes, like the other Nordic nations, live more globally than people did previously. They travel, watch television and read books, newspapers and magazines that are distributed across the globe. People can also connect up with the Internet and be influenced from a wide range of different quarters. This is also noticeable in the inspiration of festivals, costumes and masks in the modern day world.

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks, Mumming and Disguise in Sweden Masks and disguises, however, are far from new to Sweden. The earliest sources on such activities are found in both archaeology and written works. As several scholars have noted, Stone Age petroglyphs from northern Scandinavia seem to point to shaman-like figures wearing horns and costumes, and numerous Bronze-Age petroglyphs from southern Sweden (particularly in Bohuslän) show figures that seem to be wearing animal horns, bird-like masks and even bird costumes. Many of these are placed in a ritualistic context that includes other activities like the blowing of horns, dance and acrobatics (see Gunnell 1995a: 37Ð49; and Coles 2005: 35Ð52, in particular). The actual reason as to why the masks are being worn is of course unknown, but it can be assumed that they were associated with religious worship. In the Viking Age, other figures

110 Eva Knuts start appearing in Swedish sources: horned, dancing figures carrying sticks or spears are depicted on several archaeological artifacts from Sweden (a helmet die from Torslunda, Öland from the seventh century; and on two amulettes from the province of Uppland: see Gunnell 1995a: 66Ð70). In one case, the dancing figure appears alongside the figure of a man obviously wearing an animal costume (the Torslunda helmet die). In another, the same two figures were found together in the shape of two amulettes (see Price 2002: 373). Once again, the context is open to discussion, but the horned figure and the animal-man also appear together on the Norwegian Oseberg tapestry, another archaeological find from late pre-Christian times which seems to depict ritualistic activities (see Gunnell 1995a: 60Ð66). Furthermore, two early authors, Adam of Bremen in c. 1070, and Saxo Grammaticus in c. 1200, imply that “dramatic” activities and dance used to form part of the rituals that were performed at the large-scale spring festival in Uppsala in pagan times (Gunnell 1995a: 76Ð80). What these activities might have been like is open to discussion, but a contemporary account of a “Gothic dance” (the Gothikon) performed for the Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople one Christmas in the mid-tenth century by a group of “Goths” (who probably came from Gotland, Östergötland or Västergötland) might offer some explanation: rather like the maskers of later times, these figures were disguised in animal costumes and masks, and after greeting the Em- peror, they gave a performance of a ring dance with a song before leaving the building (Gunnell 1995a: 71Ð76). Olaus Magnus (1490Ð1557), in his work Historia De Gentibus Septentrio- nalibus (The History of the Nordic Peoples: 1555), describes disguises (including animal costumes) being used in Sweden1 during Lent (Olaus Magnus, Book 13, ch. 42) as well as other masked traditions like a mock combat between two individuals representing “Summer” (dressed in lush green leaves and flowers) and “Winter” (dressed in animal skins) which took place on May 1 (Book 15, chs 8 and 9), and also a Sword and Hoop dance, both of which probably had origins in Danish traditions (Gunnell 1995a: 128Ð133; and Svensson 1938). Other early written sources that mention disguise prior to the creation of the various Swedish folklore research archives are the church and parish records, but their main aim is usually to suppress the custom of masking. The first mention of a pingstbrud (Whitsun mock bride) thus appears in a church record from 1746 (Bergstrand 1933: 112Ð113). There are also several church records from the 1700s where it is clear that a ban on “klädandet av blomsterbrudar” (dressing up as flower mock brides) has been discussed (Bringéus 1999: 77). Stjärngossar (Star Boys), meanwhile, are reported as being banned from 1655 (Celander 1950: 49), and in Malmö, in southern Swe- den, a forty-mark fine was imposed for “att bruka den så kallade julbocksle- ken” (practising the so-called Christmas Goat game), in 1695 (Eskeröd 1953: 232).

1 Of course, it should be remembered that the Sweden of this time was somewhat different to present-day Sweden. For example, Bohuslän, like Skåne, then was under the Danish crown.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 111

The practice of mumming is mentioned in these written records, but seldom described in any detail. Personal stories and experiences are not mentioned at all. By and large, those who represented the social and cultural hegemonies were the ones who created the sources. They tell us that masking and disguising occurred, but do not give any insight into their cultural significance. They give us glimpses into the phenomena without giving any detailed descriptions. However, these written records confirm the fact that masking existed in Swe- den and that it was so common and widespread that the church was prevailed upon to suppress it.

1. c. Methods and Material 1. c. i. Folklore Archives in Sweden The aim of this survey is to give an overview of the masking and mumming traditions that have been recorded in Sweden from the time at which records began up until the present day. Research material for this article has come from the Swedish folklore archives in Göteborg, Lund and Uppsala and Nordiska museet (the Nordic Museum) in Stockholm.2 In the past, these archives collected material from their own respective areas. Nowadays, they sometimes collect according to their respective fields of interest and often on a national rather than a local basis. This division means, however, that certain parts of the country have been examined more carefully than others. The collection of material for the archives was most intensive during the first half of the twentieth century, the primary interest being to document the lives and traditions of country people during the nineteenth century. There are thousands of records and notes that deal with mumming traditions. The amount of material is far too great to describe in its entirety here, and it is far from easy to piece together a complete picture. Searching the archives is also time-consuming as the material is often only accessible via the catalogue headings, and imagination, stamina and luck are needed if you want to find what you are looking for. Numerous people have been engaged in the development of the aforementioned archives. They have noted down their own memoirs and/ or interviewed others. A considerable number of the records at Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet (DAG) were collected by so-called “scholarship students” who would usually spend a month or so in the collection area. The “scholarship students” often used special questionnaire books containing a large number of

2 Göteborg: DAG (Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet, Göteborg: The Institute for Lan- guage and Folklore: Department of Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Research in Gothen- burg); Lund: LUF (Folklivsarkivet, Lund: The Folk Life Archives in Lund); Uppsala: SOFI, FA (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen: The Institute of Dialectology, Ono- mastics and Folklore Research: Department of Folklore).

112 Eva Knuts

“open” questions concerning a wide variety of subjects (Liungman 1927; and Bergstrand 1934). For example, questions in connection with the Lucia tradition include: “Har man brukat kläda en en kvinna till ‘lussebrud?’ ” (Is it usual for a woman to be disguised as a Lucia bride?: Bergstrand 1934: 19). They also ask how the tradition came about and whether it is an old local custom. Con- cerning the customs and traditions of Knut (St Knut’s Day: January 13, which marks the end of the Christmas season) and Twelfth Night, the “scholarship students” were supposed to ask simply the following question: “Förekom att man klädde ut sig och besökte folk dessa dagar?” (Did people disguise themselves and visit people on these particular days?: Bergstrand 1934: 21). Along- side the students, the folklore archives in Göteborg also made use of so-called “district or local informants”, although not to the same degree as the other Swe- dish folklore research archives. In contrast to scholarship students, these local informants had often been born in or lived in the area where they operated. The folklore archives in Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala mainly made use of local informants who were also equipped with special questionnaires often containing a lot of detailed questions with accompanying examples. A detailed survey can be found in Rolf Kjellström’s book, Nordiska frågelistor (Nordic Questionnaires: 1995). In this general survey, one can do little more than briefly mention some of the more important questionnaires that have been used. At the folklife archives in Lund, for example, use has been made of the questionnaires on Halmfigurer och utklädning vid skörden och Jultiden (Straw Charac- ters and Mumming Traditions at Harvest and Christmas: HC 3); Tranan och vårfrudagen (The Crane, and Lady Day: LUF 37); and Julupptåg (Christmas Traditions: LUF 152). Among others, the folklore archives in Uppsala also issued questionnaires on Seder och bruk, som sättas i samband med Staffan (Traditions and Customs Connected with Staffan: ULMA M 2); Lussenatt och Lucia (Lusse Night and Lucia: ULMA M 115); Moderna festseder (Modern Festival Traditions: ULMA M 240); Det moderna Luciafirandets spridning (The Spread of the Modern Lucia: ULMA S 42); and Halloween (ULMA M 279). Examples of questionnaires from Nordiska museet connected with masking include Jul (Christmas: Nm 13); Från Lucia till 20-dag Knut (From Lucia to St Knut’s Day: Nm 15); and Att gå med stjärnan (Walking with the Star: Nm Sp 193). With regard to work at the archives, special attention is drawn to Agneta Lilja’s thesis, Föreställningen om den ideala uppteckningen (The Concept of the Ideal Record: 1996), which deals with the collection at the former ULMA (Dialekt- och folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala: The Institute of Dialect and Folk- lore Research, Uppsala; now Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnes- avdelningen: The Institute of Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Re- search: Department of Folklore) in Uppsala. Fredrik Skott is also currently engaged in a doctoral thesis concerning the collection activity at the archive in Göteborg and its ideological background (Skott 2000; 2001; and 2002a). Jonas Frykman (1979), meanwhile, has written about the classification principles at

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 113 the folklife archives in Lund and says that these have determined what has been recorded and how (see also Bringéus 1998). Although the scholars mentioned above are comparatively critical of the collection activity of the various archives, it is worth emphasising that a project such as this would never have been possible without being able to make use of the material that they contain.

1. c. ii. The Collection of Material for the Project In the collection of new material for this project, the present author and Fredrik Skott at the Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet (DAG) wanted to try to cover the whole country. Appeals were published in a number of newspapers, both regional and national. A question list (Utklädningsupptåg i Sverige förr och nu: Mumming in Sweden Past and Present: DAGF 5) was drawn up and distributed to all the rural folklore societies in the country, to the Uppsala archive’s former contact network of informants, and to any others who expressed interest. This effort resulted in some 250 replies. The replies came in from different parts of Sweden, although there was a certain over-representation from western Sweden. Some of the returned questionnaires are up to twenty pages or more in length, whereas others are more concise. They mainly consist of noted memoirs, but sometimes newspaper cuttings and photographs have been attached. Through Bengt af Klintberg and his popular programme Folkminnen (Folk- lore) on P 1 (Swedish National Radio), it has also been possible to reach listen- ers from all over the country. It might also be noted that Bengt af Klintberg has been kind enough to donate all of the material that he has received over the years about masking and mumming to the archive. Together with Fredrik Skott, the present author has also visited the different folklore archives in the country in order to copy material which is now also available at the archives in Göteborg. In this regard, special mention should be made of Göte Klingberg’s unpublished manuscript Årstidsbundna barnupptåg vid 1900-talets mitt (Seasonal Children’s Traditions in the mid 1900s: Kling- berg 1998: IFGH 7324). This manuscript builds on notes and records made by 478 student teachers between 1953 and 1961. Klingberg’s material, however, mainly deals with the northern provinces of Dalarna and Värmland. In addition to this, a number of students’ essays about mumming traditions have also been used in the project (listed in the General Bibliography).

1. c. iii. Previous Research On the whole, the literature that has been used in the project can be divided into three categories: texts on masks, disguise and mumming; comprehensive texts about seasonal festivals in Sweden; and texts on the work of the archives throughout the years. Most of what has been written about masks, disguise and mumming in Sweden is relatively old. Only a few works have been produced

114 Eva Knuts in recent times, as modern Swedish ethnologists have shown little interest in festival and mumming traditions. The names of several researchers recur in the references, and these deserve special mention. David Arill (1893–1953) was active in Göteborg during the 1920s. He was somewhat ahead of his time because he collected contemporary accounts of mumming traditions. Among other things, his description of Knut- dagen (St Knut’s Day: 1919) is of particular interest because it focuses on the age in which he lived, rather than a historical perspective (see section 2. b. vii.). Hil- ding Celander (1876Ð1975) was another important researcher and prolific author with regard to public holidays and feast days and the customs and traditions connected to these. Celander’s major work on Stjärngossarna (The Star Boys: 1950) is very comprehensive and has been of great help in the writing of this article. Several Swedish works describe the annual life cycle of people in the country, or at least certain aspects of this. In particular, attention should be drawn to the work of Nils-Arvid Bringéus (1926Ð) who has written several comprehensive books, such as Årets festdagar (Festival Days of the Year: 1999), and Människan som kulturvarelse (Man as a Cultural Creature: 1990) which gives a broad picture of both Swedish culture and the history of ethnology. Bringéus has also written an article about Lucia in English (Bringéus 1998). Other researchers who have described the annual cycle include Danver (1943), Eskeröd (1953), Nilsson (1936) and Swahn (1993). In all of these books, masking has been discussed as an important and essential part of Swedish calendrical traditions. Finally, there are a number of articles that describe occasional mumming traditions, noting pranks or games without putting them into a wider context. References to these can be found under the descriptions of the respective traditions.

1. c. iv. Terms of Reference As outlined above, the amount of material dealing with masking and mumming traditions in Sweden is both abundant and comprehensive. It is also often complex and sometimes contradictory. As noted, a great deal of new material has also been collected during the project, the most interesting of which can be found at DAG. Much of this new material has been included in this survey which aims to give a brief overview of Swedish masking and mumming traditions. Additional material is, of course, available in the Göteborg archives. Various limitations have had to be set within the project, one of these being the focus on calendrical mumming traditions. This has been more problematic than expected, in that many mumming traditions are sometimes regarded as calendrical, but at other times are described as mumming traditions connected to the life cycle (as with school traditions for example). Indeed, the question of the calendar is itself problematic. A number of changes have been made in the calendar over time meaning that some days have “wandered” (see, for example, Malmstedt 1994). Some calendrical festivals have been removed or

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 115 have gradually lost their significance, while others have been created or become more important. Malmstedt’s thesis (1994) on the reduction of the number of public holidays puts forward a variety of reasons for the major changes in the calendar that took place between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century: there seems to have been a constant struggle between those who wanted to reduce the number of feast days in the calendar and those who wanted to keep them. An important observation is that several Catholic Saint’s Days continued to be important days in connection with weather omens and special social events in Sweden even after the Reformation. The material itself also gives rise to other limitations since it is only possible to discuss those mumming traditions that previous researchers have been particularly interested in and have described. For all we know, there may have been several mumming traditions that were not observed or recorded by the folklorists of the time. Further limitations are posed by the fact that the time indications in the source material are often too vague to enable later researchers to date the mumming tradition accurately. Words such as fordomdags (the old days); forntid (prehistoric times) and brukligen (customary) give the impression that a particular type of mumming has a long tradition, but they do not indicate how long. It is also necessary to be aware of the fact that the folklore research archive work formed part of the project to construct a Swedish history that people could be proud of. A long and constant tradition was thus a guarantee of something genuinely Swedish. In light of that, it is necessary to take time indications such as forn (ancient) and förkristet (pre-Christian) with a pinch of salt. Most records are also retrospective: the contemporary period was of less interest than the depiction of older history. It is furthermore not possible in such a survey to name those mumming traditions that only appear sporadically in the material, just as it is impossible to sort out all the obscurities and contradictions that appear on a closer reading of the records. The theoretical perspective has also had to give way to descriptions of the masking and mumming traditions.

2. An Overview of Masks and Mumming Customs in Sweden Following the Old Farming Calendar 2. a. The Period before Christmas: November 30 (Anders), December 9 (Anna) The name days of Anders (November 30) and Anna (December 9) are those when masking most often occurred during this period (see fig 2.1). Danver3 (1942) says that this method of celebrating name days has been influenced by

3 Karin Danver is also known as Karin Johansson, who in 1973 published Jag gratulerar (Con- gratulations!), a revision of the 1942 article. 116 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.1: Andersgubbar (Anders men) in the 1950s in Leksand, Dalarna, Sweden. (Photo: Anders Jones.) (Courtesy of Leksands lokalhistoriska arkiv.)

Christmas mumming traditions such as julspöken (lit. the Christmas Ghost) and lussegubbar (Lucia men). She also discusses the erotic and sexual allusions in these traditions, something that does not appear in the material submitted to this project which deals with the tradition’s more recent manifestations. Ekman, who also wrote an essay on the subject, was herself a firgubbe (lit. celebrating man) during the 1950s (see Ekman 1979). She states that the celebration of Anders and Anna could well have started around the first part of the nineteenth century, as there is no evidence of such activities in the eighteenth century. In general, as is described more thoroughly elsewhere in this chapter, the celebration of name days might have been associated with disguising and masking in various parts of the country at particular times in history. The celebration of Anders and Anna, for example, seems only to have occurred in the province of Dalarna during the 1900s, especially around Siljan and particularly Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 117

Map 2.2: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Anders (November 30) and Anna (December 9). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) in the lower Siljan region and in Älvdalen (see map 2.24). The records give a somewhat varied picture of the associated mumming tradition and indicate slightly different time scales with regard to when it disappeared. According to the records, the celebration of Anders and Anna has not been practised in Swe- den since the 1960s. In certain places it disappeared much earlier.

4 It should be stressed that the maps accompanying this survey are based on the records in the various Swedish folklore archives concerning mumming activities in the twentieth century, in addition to the material that was collected recently in connection with the Masks and Mumming in the Nor- dic Countries project (material which is now kept in Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg). It has unfortunately not been possible to carry out a complete collection of material from all the various areas of Sweden. The maps thus show first and foremost a draft image of the respective mumming traditions, pointing out the places where we know that they occurred at some time in the last century. It should be stressed, however, they may well have also occurred in other places. For example, map 2.9 suggests that påskkäringar were not found on the island of Öland. This is simply because none of the answers to the various questionnaires have come from this island. However, we can be quite certain that the tradition did exist here. (Readers who know of any further information about customs missing from the maps are encouraged to contact Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg with details.) It should be noted, furthermore, that the present maps make no indication of exactly when in the twentieth century the various traditions are known to have taken place: most records nonetheless come from the middle of the century. Finally, as has been noted several times elsewhere in this volume, there are naturally always problems with defining the different traditions and drawing lines between them. All of this must be borne in mind when the maps are considered. (See further the discussion of the use of maps in the introduction to this book.) 118 Eva Knuts

The reason why these names are given special attention, especially in Dalar- na, might be because Anders and Anna were very common names.5 In Dalarna, the first-born girl was often given the name of Anna and the first-born boy that of Anders. In some records like the following however, it did not seem to matter whether an Anna or an Anders lived at the house being visited, as here the disguised visitors went round to everyone: Det var inte alltid så noga att det fanns en Anders/Anna. Vi barn tog chansen att komma in i bruksgårdarna dessa kvällar – för där kunde vi förvänta oss extra godis (DAGF 146: 3: Leksand, Dalarna). (It wasn’t always important that there was an Anders or an Anna. We children also used to visit the mill cottages on those evenings Ð because we always expected to get more sweets there.) It is thus not a question of whether the mumming honoured a particular Anders or Anna: it was the days themselves that were important. In some places, the most important celebration was that of Anders (DAGF 120), whereas in others it was that of Anna (DAGF 146: 4). The following quotation, taken from a letter received during the present project, effectively summarises the celebration: Anders- och Annadagen var något man verkligen längtade efter. Då skulle vi “små- ungar” få gå ut på byn på kvällen, något som inte förekom annars. Vi klädde ut oss, flickorna till pojkar och pojkar till gummor. Vi gick från gård till gård, Anders och Anna var ju de vanligaste namnen (DAGF 143: 1: Leksand, Dalarna). (The name days of Anders and Anna were something that you really looked forward to. It was then that we “little ones” could go out into the village at night, something that we didn’t otherwise do. We disguised ourselves so that the girls were dressed like boys and the boys like old ladies. We went to every house, because Anders and Anna were the most common names.) The letter continues with a song that was usually sung when the firgubbar (celebrating men) congratulated the person in question: I dag är det Anders- (Anna-) dagen, och vackert är ditt namn, och vill du lyda lagen, ska kaffehurran fram (DAGF 143: 1: Leksand, Dalarna) (Today it is Anders’ [Anna’s] Day, and beautiful is your name, and if you want to obey the law, you’ll put the coffee-pot on.) It is clear that those doing the celebrating expected to be invited in for coffee. Some records say that getting up to mischief of this kind was one of the most amusing things people remember being involved in. Two records from the town of Orsa in Dalarna (DAGF 122 and DAGF 151) report that the visitors were also described as rädeskall or rädikall, which, according to the follow-

5 See, for example, DAGF 120; DAGF 128; DAGF 146: 2; and DAGF 151. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 119 ing submitted letter, means “something/ -one that frightens” in the Orsa dialect: I vissa fall gick man in i hus för att tigga och visade sig därigenom i belysning. Andra struntade i förplägnaden för nöjet att få vara anonyma och att i mörkret dyka upp utanför fönstren eller att spela hartsfiol. En riktig “rädikall” brydde sig inte om kakor och karameller (DAGF 122: Orsa, Dalarna). (In some cases you went into the house to ask for gifts and therefore revealed yourself in the light. Others didn’t care about getting any food as it was more fun to be anonymous and appear at the window in the darkness or make a screeching noise by stroking a wire rubbed with resin. A real “rädikall” wasn’t interested in cakes and sweets.) In this case, the activity itself was more important than the celebration of the name day. It might also be noted that Orsa was also thought to be one of the places where the celebration continued right up into the 1960s. As indicated above, these activities involved the following features: Those who were in disguise went around mostly unrecognised and visited houses in the hope of getting something nice to eat. Girls were often disguised as boys and vice versa. It was also important to try to remain anonymous, as the following quotation indicates: Det sades inte mycket, ty man ville inte röja sin identitet. Det blev en liten sport hos gårdsfolket att försöka lista ut vem som dolde sig bakom förklädnaden, t ex genom att få den utklädde att röja sig på någon finurlig fråga (DAGF 151: 2: Orsa, Dalarna). (Not much was said, since you wouldn’t give away your identity. It became quite a game for people to try to find out who was hiding behind the disguise Ð for example, by making the mummer betray him/ herself by asking a clever question.) Such behaviour is reminiscent of, for example, the Swedish Knut mummers which are described later in the survey (section 2. b. vii.). In both cases, so-called skröpansikten6 (face masks) were common. If a mask was not used, the face was painted, blackened with soot or covered with a stocking. Further- more, the age of those who took part seems to have varied. Some write that the mummers were mainly children, while others write about adolescents. Adults could also take part, however. Ekman, who wrote an essay about the celebration of the Anders and Anna name days, found in the records that people born in the eighteenth century often had something to say about the special celebrations concerning the Anders and Anna name days (Ekman 1979: 13; referring to EU 50249). However, she found no evidence of the tradition in the previous century. Furthermore, the following quotation shows that the associated customs have not remained static, but have changed with time. The quotation also raises the question of local designation: here it seems that the mummers could be referred to as both firgubbar and skröpgubbar (masked men), even though they occurred in the same place:

6 These face masks (as in other neighbouring countries) were often home-made from birch-bark, material or paper with hair, a beard and eyebrows made of moss. 120 Eva Knuts

Man kan säga att 1900–30 så var det namnsdagar, främst Anna och Anders som fi- rades. 1900–1915 helst tidigt på morgonen 1915–1930 helst kvällen. Vem som ville deltog, men mest var det skolbarn och äldre ungdomar som firade utan någon som helst organisation. De gick runt i byn, främst då i gårdar där det fanns namnsdags- barn, oavsett ålder, men även andra besöktes. Det hela var på skämt, någon sjöng, man förställde rösten eller spelade nånting och skramlas skulle det med hästpinglor och koskällor mm. Man kom och gick efter behag, traktering förekom ej. Samtliga var utklädda och utspökade i vända rockar eller pälsar, masker och skråpukar. De kallades och kallade även sig själva för firgubbar eller skröp och skröpgubbar. Detta firande tycks också ha med årstiden att göra, jag minns aldrig att vi firade Per eller Karin på detta sätt (EU 60473: Leksand, Dalarna). (You might say that between 1900 and 1930 it was mainly the name days of Anna and Anders that were celebrated. Between 1900 and 1915, this usually took place early in the morning, while from 1915 to 1930 it was usually in the evening. Any- body could participate, but it was mainly schoolchildren and teenagers that celebrated spontaneously. They went around the village, mainly visiting the houses where the name-day people lived. Age didn’t matter though, and in reality, anyone could get a visit. The whole thing was a joke Ð someone sang, usually disguising their voice, or played an instrument Ð accompanied by the rattle of horse- and cowbells etc. You came and went as you pleased; there was no food. Everybody was disguised in jackets or fur coats turned inside out, and wore masks. They were called Ð and also called themselves Ð firgubbar or skröpgubbar. This celebration also seems to have been connected to the seasons. I don’t remember celebrating Per or Karin in this way.) To conclude, the name-day celebrants are thought to have been somewhat younger than was usual in other masked traditions: from 5Ð6 years old up to 17 (as reported in IFGH 6776: 1). Something else that distinguishes these name-day celebrations is that they did not involve any collective gathering at a common feast, something that is described as being one of the main reasons for many other mumming traditions (see below). It might be noted that Anders and Anna are also mentioned by many as being a prelude to the celebration of Christmas, which was the year’s biggest masking festival (see, for example, DAGF 146: 1: Sollerön, Dalarna).

2. b. The Christmas Period Christmas is the time of the year when, without comparison, most of the maskings and disguisings happened and still happen. Swedish mumming traditions directly associated with Christmas extend from Lucia (Saint Lucia’s Day: Decem- ber 13) until Knut, the twentieth day of Christmas (January 13). In older records, the main reason given for mumming traditions during Christmas is the collecting of food and schnapps for the Christmas lekstugor (lit. games rooms7). More often than not it was the young people of the village who did not yet have their own

7 The word lekstuga (cf. the Danish word Legestue or Julestue: see the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume) refers to the room where young people gathered for their Christmas meetings, which would include dancing and the performance of certain singing games. See further Bringéus 2005: 9–41. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 121 houses or possibilities of earning a living that went mumming at Christmas.8 The mummers, both men and women, thus would visit the neighbours for food and schnapps. Some food and drink would be consumed there and some would be taken on to a later party. The disguises used on such occasions were often inspired both by Bible stories and biblical characters depicted in churches (as with Staffan and the Three Kings). As will be seen below the Swedish mumming traditions occurred on several of the days that made up the Christmas holiday, and it is often impossible to distinguish these different mumming traditions from each other. The written sources nonetheless often describe Christmas mumming traditions as being different from other forms of mumming, different traditions belonging to different days. However, if the records are examined closely, there seems to have been a wide mixture of mumming traditions and characters which, in principle, could appear at any time from the celebration of Lucia until that of Knut. The following is a presentation of what was most typical for the activities on the different days, but it can never be more than a rather simplified picture of the complex muddle of Swedish mumming traditions that took place over the Christmas period. The first important masking day in connection with Christmas is Lucia, followed by Christmas Eve, and then Boxing Day with the appearance of the Staffansriddare (Staffan riders). New Year’s Day, however, was obviously not seen as a mumming day in Sweden, since only a few records deal with masking at this time. Previously, though, Twelfth Night was the day of the stjärngossar (Star Boys). “Walking with the Star” was particularly common: it involved a dramatisation of the visit of the Three Kings, although King Herod and other well-known New Testament characters, such as Joseph and Judas with his purse, also appeared. Lilla Knut (small Knut: January 12) was the day before Knut (January 13), and this was regarded as the day when Christmas definitely came to an end. In some places, the children disguised themselves at Lilla Knut, although Knut was actually a more important day for masking. In addition, the name day of Felix (January 14, the day after Knut), was also celebrated in some places with mumming. To summarise, the traditions of Christ- mas (as described in the older records) have shown great variation. Many of the older Christmas mumming characters can be found in today’s Luciatåget (Lucia procession). The stjärngossar, for example, were not previously connected with Lucia but in the twentieth century, came to be included in Lucia’s retinue. Rather than being among the leading actors, though, they have now been relegated to the back of the procession.

8 Ynglingalagen have a history that goes back to the Middle Ages. The young folk of the rural community organised themselves into ynglingalag or close-knit gangs, literally “leagues of youth”. These can be said to be based on two structural suppositions: the marriage system and principles of inheritance, both of which were dependent on the other (Wennhall 1994: 46). The age limit for eligibility to these gangs has varied, but a common criterion seems to have been that you had to be confirmed. 122 Eva Knuts

As noted above, Christmas is associated with many different local mumming traditions, many of which have existed for a long time. One of the problems, however, concerns what the mumming and the characters are actually called in each place. Some mumming traditions are also very similar, even though the names are different (see further section 2. e.). To complicate matters further, the same name is sometimes used for different mumming traditions. One local example of this in Dalsland is the julegoppa (a bird-like figure), which can be either a masked individual or an effigy made out of straw, even though both figures are connected with straw (Järlgren 1978). Another example is the name Knutgubbe, which can refer to a masked person, a straw doll, or a mummer that attends a wedding as an uninvited guest (see af Klint- berg 1991; and Bringéus 1973).

2. b. i. December 13: St Lucia’s Day (Lucia)9 In Sweden, Lucia is a common spectacle on the morning of December 13, with her bridesmaid attendants and stjärngossar in tow. Dressed in white and wearing a crown of lighted candles, she makes her appearance on television, at workplaces, schools and in the home (fig. 2.2). What is it that has drawn a Catholic saint to become one of Lutheran Sweden’s leading symbols? It is a long and complicated story, and there is no definite answer. In the Middle Ages, Sweden was a Catholic country and Lucia was a popular saint there, just as she was elsewhere. Meanwhile, according to folk belief, the night of Decem- ber 13 was seen as being the longest of the year,10 and this had to be recognised in some way (Bringéus 1999: 110; cf. Bergstrand 1935). Dark and evil forces were also considered to be on the move on that particular night. Even in those records that do not mention a costumed Lucia, early, hearty and sometimes numerous breakfasts are said to play a prominent role on that particular night. In the church calendar, Lucia also marked the beginning of the period of fasting before Christmas. Furthermore, since Lucia night was still regarded by many as being the longest of the year, this meant that several breakfasts were necessary in order to survive both the long night and the subsequent fast.11 From the records, it is clear that the name Lucia can be interpreted in differ-

9 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. 10 This was largely the result of the defective old Julian calendar which did not match the natural year. By the Middle Ages, this meant that the midwinter solstice had slipped back to December 13. As noted elsewhere, this was corrected in northern Europe in the eighteenth century with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, and subsequent skipping of up to thirteen days in one year (thus bringing the calendar once again in line with the natural year). This thirteen-day reduction caused a great deal of confusion throughout the area discussed in this book. See especially the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume (on Shetland Christmas traditions). 11 Indeed the element of inviting people to a symbolic breakfast is still a central element in the traditional Swedish Lucia custom. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 123

Fig. 2.2: A Lucia awakening in 1927 in Filipstad, Värmland, Sweden. (Photo: E. Ölander.) (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.) ent ways: It might come from the Latin word Lux, which means “light”, but has also been said to be associated with Lucifer, the rebel archangel and bearer of light and evil (see Bergstrand 1935: 19). At the same time, Lucia, or “Lusse” as the day was also called by some,12 is also tied up with the figure of the lussegubbe (Lusse man), a nasty male character that is sometimes also called Lucifär or Lucipär (see, for example, IFGH 2468), both of which clearly indicate associations with the figure of Lusse. Yet another interpretation is that the name of Lucia has something to do with the louse: records from central Swe-

12 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 124 Eva Knuts den, and especially Närke, note that those who were last to get up on Lucia morning were often called “lus” (lice), signifying that they were slow and lazy. In the earliest recorded material, all of these ideas appear side by side. Lucia could be a saint or a good person, but was also Adam’s first wife, regarded as being mother to redheads and all of those who dwelt in the underworld, an evil person associated with pagans (IFGH 3698). In her present-day image, Lucia has several different connections. The school term finished on St Lucia’s Day and the djäknar (students at the Latin/ cathedral schools) were then free to go in search of resources to pay for their future studies. One method was to go around singing, and in that way collect money and provisions (Swahn 1993: 79; see also Wennhall 1994: 40). This was developed into a more organised stjärngossetåg (Star Boy procession: see section 2. b. vii.). The djäknegång (when the students wandered round the district singing songs in return for food, drink and clothing) could occur throughout Christmas, but started at Lucia. Over the course of time, new characters were added to the retinue, one of these being the sångängel (song angel). The sångängel appeared in a white chemise, sometimes equipped with wings and wearing a crown of cranberry twigs, and may have inspired the image of the modern Lucia (Celander 1950: 331Ð338). Another character that may have influenced Lucia’s image is the Christkindlein, who was known to give presents to children in Germany in the seventeenth century (Swahn 1993: 71; see also af Klintberg 1991, concerning the figure of the Kinkenjes). Early accounts of the tradition describe a white-clad woman wearing a crown of lighted candles and holding a basket with presents. Evidence of a winged woman dressed in white and carrying breakfast provisions can be traced back to 1764 (Swahn 1993: 78). It is possible that the modern Lucia is thus a combination of these different white-clothed characters. The legend of Lucia was, to some extent, familiar in Sweden even during the Middle Ages (Celander 1960; and Swahn 1993: 74). The festival also had a simplex ranking, with the exception of the Skara diocese in western Sweden where the day had a semi-duplex ranking,13 pointing to a higher grade of festival (Bringéus 1998: 19; Berlin 1974: 3; and Celander 1965: 706). It is thus not surprising that some scholars have argued that the celebration of Lucia originated in the west of Sweden, where the local church might have influenced the tradition. Whatever, it seems clear that students later spread the tradition of Lu- cia to university towns.14 In the older records, Lucia is often described as a mumming activity that oc-

13 This difference can be attributed to the busy commercial activity of Lödöse near Skara and its association with other centres such as Lübeck and Brügge (see Celander 1965: 706). Another explanation could be that Lödöse was one of Sweden’s most important shipping ports for pilgrims (Ekre, Hylander and Sundberg 1994: 106). Scholars have suggested that the most important road from Lödöse was probably that towards Skara which, from the 1100s, was the church’s and the plain’s greatest metropolis. 14 See Hedin 1931, who argues that the tradition originates in the province of Värmland. See also Klingvall 1970 for a discussion of Lucia in Skåne. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 125

Fig. 2.3: A Lucia celebration in Lönne school, Västergötland, Sweden, in 1954. (Photo: Anders Karlsson.) (Courtesy of Västergötlands museum.) curred in one’s own home or in that of the neighbours. Someone dressed up in different clothes and offered people “lussebiten”, which consisted of coffee, pork and rolls, early in the morning. Before coffee became widely available, schnapps was offered. In the earlier source material, the reports about Lucia are, to say the least, full of contradictions, ranging from suggestions that Lucia was a woman with an illegitimate child and that ashes were strewn in her tracks (VFF 676: 1; and VFF 683: 7), to talk of Lucia being chosen from amongst the most beautiful women.15 Lucia was also often accompanied by hideously- clothed lussegubbar (Lusse men) and the procession could become quite motley (see fig. 2.3). Sometimes she was even accompanied by a consort, and they went around disguised as a (bridal) pair.16 It is also worth noting that several of the records dealing with mumming at Lucia make no mention at all of the woman in white with a crown of candles on her head, but instead concentrate on the mischievous lussegubbar who are out and about. Such figures might perhaps treat you to something, but more often than not they would be after rewards, like most other mummers. The following quotation reveals something of this ambivalent attitude to Lucia: Lucia var ett elakt spöke. Det skulle vara spöket efter en elak käring, som levde för länge sedan i världen. När det blev “lussemöran” så var hon ute och sprang i stugorna å skrämde folk. Men det var inte denna käring en firade för den en firade var vit å grann å hade ljus i håret. […] På herrgårdarna var det vanligt med “lussebrur” och

15 See, for example, VFF 1540: 6; IFGH 1187: 38; and IFGH 1331: 33. 16 See, for example, VFF 783: 26 and VFF 1804: 2; for a distribution map of the Lucia tradition in earlier times, see Campbell and Nyman 1976: I, 55Ð56, with a commentary in Campbell and Ny- man 1976: II, 114Ð119. 126 Eva Knuts

på prästgården. Det var allt för de börjat först med detta. Det var så roligt och hög- tidligt. Så det var i många stugor som de härmade efter detta. Så då gick allt lusse- brurna till någon god granne också å bjöd folket där. På herrgårdarna var det den vackraste pigan, som fick kläda sig till “lussebrur”. Då fick hon låna vit klänning av frun å vita skor. I bondhemmen kunde det räcka med ett rött band om midjan å en rosett bak eller fram. På huvudet hade hon en krans, som var gjord av lingonris. Fyra ljus var fastsatta i kransen. Dessa brunno när hon kom in och bjöd på kaffe. Håret var inte flätat utan hang ned på ryggen, utslaget. Hon var grann som en prinsessa. Jag såg det när jag tjänade dräng på Kårud (IFGH 3752: 23, 25: Millesvik, Värm- land, recorded in 1936 from an informant born in 1872). (Lucia was a wicked spirit Ð the spirit of a wicked old woman who had lived in the world a long time ago. On Lucia morning, she was out and about, running into people’s cottages and frightening them. But it was not that old woman that we celebrated; the one we celebrated was dressed in white and wore a crown of lighted candles. […] “Lucia brides” were common on the estates and at the vicarage. They started that. It was such fun and a real celebration. In many cottages, people imitated this, so all the Lucia brides went to a friendly neighbour and invited people there. On the estates, it was the most beautiful of the girls that got dressed up as the Lucia bride. She borrowed a white dress and white shoes from one of the older women. In the peasant cottages, it was enough to have a red belt tied around the waist with a bow at the back or the front. She had a crown on her head, made out of cranberry twigs. Four candles were fastened in the crown, which were lit when she came in and invited people for coffee. Her hair wasn’t plaited but hung loosely down her back. She was as beautiful as a princess. I watched the procession when I worked as a farmhand at Kårud.) The complexity of the Lucia and Christmas mumming traditions is not easy to grasp in a single image. However, certain recurring features can be identified. The lussegubbar, for example, belong to the popular, burlesque sphere. Their role at Lucia was to go around and get up to mischief, frightening people.17 By the same classification, Lucia was an upper-class tradition that spread via maid-servants, students, and later the mass media to “ordinary people”. The quotation given above shows how these different images could overlap. Over the course of time, the figure of Lucia has become younger. Earlier accounts never describe a child Lucia. It was always an adult Lucia that visited other adults. In several of the records, it is even reported that the mother of the house took the role of Lucia, and if she was too old or infirm, it was the eldest daughter’s duty to take the role (or take part in the Lucia procession: see IFGH 2703). However, other disguised figures such as the lussegubbe have not totally disappeared from the more recent Lucia celebrations (cf. Strömberg 1996; see also map 2.3 which indicates the distribution of the lussegubbe tradition in the twentieth century), as the following example indicates: Vid lussetid i min barndom (40-talet), gick vi barn runt och knackade på i stugorna. Vi hade ett litet sångprogram med julens sånger som vi sjöng för var och en som ville lyssna. Efter “tablån” fick vi ofta frukt, godis, lussekatt och pepparkaka som tack. En och annan liten slant blev det också ibland. […] Idag får vi besök av utklädda

17 See, for example, DAGF 138; Klingberg 1998: 92Ð94; and Campbell and Nyman 1976: II, 118. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 127

Map 2.3: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Lussegubbar (Lusse men) (December 12). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

barn kring lusse. Visst är det roligt, men […] tyvärr är dagens lussande ett tiggeri av pengar. Barnen har klätt ut sig till alla möjliga figurer, men de sjunger knappast nå- got. Möjligen början på någon julsång. Sen vill man ha pengar. När jag var barn lade vi ner mycket arbete på att ha ett väl inövat program (DAGF 214: 1, 2: Stenstorp, Västergötland). (At the time of Lucia in my childhood (the 40s), we children went round and knocked on the doors of the cottages. We sang a little medley of Christmas carols for anyone who wanted to listen to them. After the “programme”, we were often given some fruit, sweets, “Lucia cats”18 and gingerbread as thanks. Sometimes we also got a little money. […] Today, children in disguise visit us at Lucia. Of course, it is fun, but […] unfortunately they just beg for money. The children disguise themselves as all sorts of characters, but they hardly sing anything. Sometimes they might sing the first few lines of a Christmas carol and then want money. When I was a child, we put a lot of effort into making sure we had a well-rehearsed programme.) The lussegubbe is described in older records as being a dangerous character, and both the images of Lucia Night and the earlier noted connection to Lucifer seem to have influenced this particular mumming tradition. Black was commonly used for both clothing and masks for these figures. The masks in ques-

18 Lussekatter (Lucia cats) are bread rolls with raisins, coloured yellow with saffron and, for example, shaped into simple “S” figures. 128 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.4: Lussegubbar (Lusse men) in 1950, in Västergotland, Sweden. (Photo: Erland Has.) (Courtesy of Västergötlands museum.) tion were also supposed to be as hideous and terrifying as possible; and were sometimes equipped with horns (Lidén 1994: 30). However, as the above quotation illustrates, the disguises of the Lucia mummers have also changed in that the children are said to disguise themselves as “all kinds of characters” (fig. 2.4). In Sweden, the ideas and images connected with Lucia have thus had a long and complicated history. The modern-day Lucia, however, has only existed for a short time. Sweden’s first official Lucia did not actually appear until 1927, when she was just one of many who took part in the Lucia procession. In the following year, she assumed a considerably more important place and role. Since then, the choosing of a girl to be Lucia has become more popular throughout the country, and can perhaps be regarded as Sweden’s first beauty contest (see Stockholms Dagblad, December 14, 1927 and December 14, 1928; and Berlin 1974).

2. b. ii. Christmas Eve19 As far as mumming traditions were concerned, the days between Lucia and Christmas Eve were relatively quiet in Sweden. Lucia was the last fasting

19 It might be noted that, as in the other Nordic countries and unlike in the United Kingdom and the USA, Christmas Eve is the main day on which presents are distributed and when the main Yule- tide family meal is eaten in Sweden. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 129 period before Christmas (cf. the relationship between Shrovetide and Easter). In earlier times, Christmas Eve itself was not marked by any special mumming tradition. However, the julbockar (Christmas Goat [male], a term that might generally apply to Christmas mummers: see section 2. b. iii.) might pay a visit and toss presents to people. In general, the Christmas tradition described in Klingberg’s manuscript is very similar to that which took place at Easter: Samma sak händer som vid påsk, fast denna gång är det egenhändigt gjorda julkort som ges bort. Detta händer på julaftonens eftermiddag. Utklädsel: långa kjolar, huckle (Klingberg 1998: 100: Ramnäs, Västmanland). (The same thing happens at Easter, except that home-made Christmas cards are given away, usually on Christmas Eve. The disguise: a long skirt and a shawl.) The presentation of Christmas cards without dressing up in disguise was, however, much more usual.

2. b. iii. Julbocken (The Christmas Goat)20 As noted above, the disguised goat was a common character at Christmas in Sweden (see figs 2.5Ð2.8; and map 2.4).21 The following quotation shows that the goat could arrive with presents, like Santa Claus. It is described here as a tradition that took place essentially in well-to-do families: Julbock förekom ej i min hemtrakt, åtminstone ej sådan, som gick från gård till gård. Men i mera förmögna hem och i herrskapsfamiljer var det ingenting ovanligt, att nå- gon mansperson av tjänstefolket kläddes ut till bock. I brist på bockhorn användes stora bagghorn, ibland hela skinnet. Vanligtvis var det någon fyndig flicka eller frun i huset, som ombestyrde utstyrseln. Sålunda klädd gick bocken på alla fyra till samtliga familjemedlemmar, lastad med julklappar, som dock inte voro värre fastbundna än han kunde skaka dem av sig, då han efter mycket väsen och stötar på dörren kommit in i festsalen. För övrigt en ganska trevlig tillställning, som både gamla och unga hade stort nöje av (Keyland 1919: 29: Öland). (The julbock never came to my neighbourhood, at least not as something that went from house to house. But in wealthier families, and especially among the gentry, it

20 For other versions of this figure which was known right across the Nordic area, see the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 21 The most common disguises at Christmas in Sweden were those of the julbock. However, many records (like those describing julspöken [the Christmas Ghost] or julgubbar [Christmas men] from Skåne) suggest that all the disguises of the different Christmas figures were surprisingly similar. The names given to these figures might be a result of how the original questions on the questionnaires were formulated. Different archives used different questionnaires, and this might have affected the responses. One of the questions in Skåne, for example was: “Förekom det att ungdomar klädde ut sig till ‘julspöken’ och gick omkring i gårdarna?” (Did young people dress up as “jul- spöken” [the Christmas Ghost] and visit different farms and cottages?: LUF questionnaire 152). The archives in Uppsala formulated the question as follows: “Redogör för utklädning och upptåg vid jul! Gingo maskerade följen omkring från hus till hus? Hur benämndes de (julbockar, julgubbar)?” (Describe the masking and mumming traditions at Christmas! Did the maskers go from house to house? What were they called [Christmas Goats, Christmas men]?: ULMA questionnaire M 153). 130 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.5 (left): A julbock and julget (Christmas Goats, male and female), in Vemdalen, Härjedalen, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.) Ð Fig. 2.6 (upper right): A kneeling julbock, in Mangskog, Värmland, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.) Ð Fig. 2.7 (right): A julbock, in Sko, Uppland, Sweden. (Photo: Nils Keyland.) (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.)

Fig. 2.8: Drawing of the arrival of a julbock on a farm in Blekinge in Sweden, by the artist Bengt Nordenberg, probably in 1896. (Courtesy of Kulturen, Lund.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 131

Map 2.4: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Jul- bockar (Christmas Goats). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

wasn’t unusual for one of the men or one of the servants to disguise themselves as a goat. If goat horns weren’t available, large ram’s horns were used instead, and sometimes the whole animal skin. As a rule there was a resourceful girl or wife in the house who took care of the outfit. Dressed like this and on all fours, the goat would go up to each family member in turn, loaded with Christmas presents in such a way that they could easily be shaken loose. After a lot of noise and fuss and banging on the door, the goat came into the hall. It was really quite a nice party, and one that was enjoyed by young and old alike.) As in the other Nordic countries, however, the Swedish goat is not primarily described in the records as being a giver of presents. It was more common for the goat to collect gifts, as the following quotation illustrates: Om julen gicks med julbocken som den kallades på folkspråket. Ett sällskap af pojkar gick då från hus till hus en af dem var utklädd till julbock på det sätt han gick framstupa stödd på en staf ett skynke eller filt var kastad öfver ryggen ett uppstoppat bockhufvud med försvarliga horn stack fram med ett konstgjort skägg och en pung under hakan. Den förklädde stötte i golfet med sin staf drog i snöre hvarvid bockens gap öppnades en vid klut föreställande tunga räcktes ut och ropade “bää pengar i mitt skägg”. De der- vid hopsamlade pengarna fästades upp av sällskapet (VFF 398: Valla, Bohuslän). (Christmas was the time of julbocken as we country folk called it. A group of lads went around from house to house, one of them disguised to look like a goat. Bent double and with a stick as support, some kind of cover or blanket would be thrown 132 Eva Knuts

over his back. The outfit was then finished off with a stuffed goat’s head with horns and an artificial beard covering a pouch hanging under the chin. The disguised person strutted around with his stick and pulled on a string to make the goat’s mouth open. A handkerchief made to look like a tongue would then be stuck out and the goat would shout, “Baaa money into my beard.” The whole gang then had a party with the money collected.) As noted, the collection (in this case, money) would then be used by the whole troupe. It was clearly a collective and not an individual activity, as occurred in the case of the Anna and Anders mumming traditions, for example. One Christmas game that might be related to the above mumming tradition was called slakta bocken (Slaughter the Goat). This was a game that could be used to keep the entertainment going in between drinks. The goat, which could be a person in disguise or a stuffed doll was “slaughtered”, and “the blood” (alcohol) was then drunk by the happy partying group (Celander 1928).22 When going through the older Swedish records concerning the julbock (and its variations), the comical aspects of the tradition are striking,23 as the following quotation effectively illustrates: Det kunde gå lustigt tillväga på de kalasena. Rätt som det var när man dansade som bäst kom någon utklädd in och levde pajas. De brukade klä ut sig till julbock. De tog hudar omkring sig och satte horn på skallen, så hade de en bjällra på sig. Den kunde de hitta på att knyta fast mellan benen för att det skulle bli riktigt roligt och för att de skulle få flickorna blyga. Bocken gick omkring och knuffades. Så kunde de kläda ut sig i trasor och sota ansiktet (IFGH 2655: Nedre Ullerud, Värmland). (Those parties could be really funny. Just as the dancing was getting into full swing, someone would come in all dressed up and play the buffoon. He was usually dressed up as a julbock, with a goatskin wrapped around him and horns on his head. The goat might also have a little bell tied between its legs to make it really funny and make the girls blush.24 The goat then went around the room, pushing and shoving folk it met. The mummers could also disguise themselves in rags and blacken their faces with soot.) Again and again, the commentaries inform us that this mumming tradition was great fun and that it was especially enjoyable to get into costume. The sheer entertainment value of the mumming should never be underestimated.

2. b. iv. December 26: St Stephen’s Day (also referred to as Annandag jul, or the Second Day of Christmas) On Christmas Day, it was customary to stay at home and take it easy. Indeed, the older records show that it was unthinkable to disturb the neighbours on Christmas Day. The day was expected to be celebrated quietly at home. There

22 The tradition of “Slaughtering the Christmas Goat” is mainly described in the records from western Sweden. It might be noted that the mock-slaughtering of “bears”, “oxen”, “goats” and “bucks” also occurred at weddings, and at Lent, the mock-slaughter of a “buck” is mentioned (Celander 1928). Celander argues here that other “ancient” rites of this kind can be found connected to similar traditions in Germany, Finland and Norway. 23 See further the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. 24 On such erotic aspects of mumming, see further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 133 was always an exception, however. Some records refer to the fact that the julbock went visiting throughout Christmas, although it is not known for certain whether this is because of how the records are formulated, or whether certain types of character were allowed to perform during the main holiday period. People certainly were not meant to work unnecessarily on Christmas Day, something which meant that even cowsheds were not cleaned out at this time. The social part of the main Christmas festival in Sweden started on Boxing Day. Staffanriddarna (staffanryttarna/ staffansridarna being different names used for the so-called Staffan25 riders) who appeared at this time performed in different ways. Some of the young men would take their masters’ horses and rode at full gallop to as many running watercourses as possible. It was regarded as being beneficial for the horses, since the water was believed to be especially good and life-giving on that particular morning. People also rode to farmsteads where they cleaned out manure or threw it back into the stable. This depended on whether the farmer had been greedy or behaved badly in some other way during the year. Throwing manure back into the stable or cowshed was a way of getting revenge. It gave the ynglingalag (youth league) a means of expressing how they felt and thought (cf. Löfgren 1969: 29). If one of the young men was very fond of a girl, or if the farmer was thought to be good, it even might be that the cowshed would be mucked out and cleaned until it “shone”. The following is a typical Staffan account, and shows how disguise could also be involved in this tradition: Annda jul red de Staffan, de var utklädda lite grann och flög överallt och kasta full stallen med hästgödsel. Annda jul började de gå med julbocken och fortsatte hela julen. De var utklädda så de inte kände igen dem, De gick för att få supar (IFGH 4159: 47: Lommeland, Bohuslän). (On Boxing Day, they rode Staffan in basic disguise and travelled around and filled the stables with horse manure. On Boxing Day, they started to go around with the julbock and continued throughout the entire Christmas holiday. They were disguised so that they wouldn’t be recognised and went visiting so they could get schnapps.) In the records, it emerges that it was not uncommon that people rode with a star at this time, and that staffansryttarna and stjärngossarna (the Star Boys) were often confused.26 The above quotation also shows that the julbock and Staffan could appear on the same day, even though they had different functions (see fig. 2.9). As indicated in the quotation given above, the staffansryttare often rode into people’s outer vestibules on Boxing Day morning, wanting schnapps. The element of disguise, however, was not really so typical in the case of the

25 The name Staffan means Stephen, but the figure of Staffan known in Swedish folk tradition and that from other parts of Scandinavia is somewhat different to the figure of St Stephen known elsewhere. Essentially, as in the well-known Scandinavian ballad about him, Staffan was a stable boy who was watering horses when he saw the Christmas star: see further Strömbäck 1968. 26 The Star Boys were otherwise associated with Twelfth Night, when the Three Wise Men were supposed to have honoured the baby Jesus with their gifts (see section 2. b. vi below). 134 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.9: Julbock and Staffan singers arriving, in Nås, Dalarna, Sweden in 1913. (Photo: Thors Erik.) (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.)

staffansryttare. It could nonetheless take a variety of forms, as can be seen in the following example: Klockan 5 red Staffan och hans följeslagare ut, klädda i masker och höga “skorstens- hattar”, sjungande vid gårdarna “Goder afton”, “Staffan var en stalledräng” m. fl. visor. Där dörrarna voro tillräckligt höga, redo de, som det orkade och vågade, in i stugan. De bjödos sittande till häst, från julbordet både brännvin, sirupsbrännvin, dricka och gorån. Men tänk vad dessa ryttare förstörde golvet! (Keyland 1919: 47: Västergötland). (At 5 o’clock, Staffan and his companions rode out, wearing masks and high top hats, singing “Good evening”, “Staffan was a Stableboy”, and other such songs at each farm. In the places where the doors were high enough and they were brave enough, they rode right inside the house. Still sitting on their horses, they were offered schapps, syrup schnapps, drink and gorån.27 But just imagine how the riders damaged the floor!) Since Staffan was seen as being the patron saint of horses, the element of riding was not far-fetched. According to Celander (1950: 43), however, the custom gradually changed so that instead of “riding Staffan”, people started “walking Staffan”. The tradition is thought to be old, but the earliest record comes from around 1700 (Celander 1950: 43). As can be seen from the other surveys in this book, neither Staffan nor the Star Boy traditions are specific to Sweden. They can also be found in the other Nordic countries and parts of Germany.

27 Gorån was a special type of cake made at Advent. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 135

2. b. v. New Year’s Eve Few accounts in Sweden tell of any New Year mumming. However, as noted earlier, there are many vague formulations about people going around performing between the Lucia and Knut celebrations (see, for example, section 2. b. iv and IFGH 4159: 47). A number of informants talk generally of “veckan mellan jul och nyår” (the week between Christmas and New Year: LUF 3978) and “under julen” (during the Christmas period: LUF 4124). This could mean that masking at New Year might well have occurred more often than has been explicitly articulated. Helga Erlandsson wrote the following in a letter to the editor of the Skånska Dagbladet (no year is given) giving one example of a visit at this time: På nyårsafton gick man så “julspöken”. Vi skola i det följande se hur “tosingarna” tog stugan i besiktning. In kom då först anföraren om vi så får säga, med en på rim avfattad hälsning t. ex. “Go afton min värdinna, kan jag få gröten smaka, kan jag inte få gröten smaka kanske jag får be värdinnan om en kaka?” In kom så hela raden, maskerade på alla möjliga och omöjliga sätt, somliga med en uppstoppad docka fast- bunden på ryggen så att det såg ut som de hade ansikte både fram och bak s.k. “dubbelgubbar”. Då blev det ett sjuhejans leverne i stugan. Man hoppade, dansade och sjöng, så man höll på att slå ner både “altare och beläte’” […] så förflöt nyårsnatten under skämt och glam, tills det åter var tid att bege sig till kyrkan och ringa ut det gamla och in det nya året (LUF 340: 4: Onsjö, Flelie, Skåne). (On New Year’s Eve, you went around as “julspöken” (Christmas Ghosts). In the following description, you can see below how these “fools” would survey the room. The leader, if you could call him that, came in with a little rhymed greeting such as “Good evening to the hostess. May I taste the porridge? If I can’t taste the porridge, may I ask the hostess for a cake?” Then the whole troupe came inside, all wearing very different masks and some with a stuffed dummy tied onto their backs so that it looked as if they had faces at the front and back, like so-called “double men”. There was then one great big hullabaloo and you skipped, danced and sang until you came close to knocking down both “altar and graven images” […] so that New Year’s Eve was spent jesting and laughing and talking until it was time to go to church and ring the old year out and the new one in.)

2. b. vi. January 6: Epiphany or Twelfth Night: Stjärngossar (the Star Boys) and Others28 One mumming tradition that differs from most of the other traditions in Swe- den is that of the Twelfth Night stjärngossar. This was a mumming visit that was planned well in advance. The roles were allocated, the play was rehearsed and the costumes acquired. This tradition has little in common with the motley and disorderly house-visits that took place at other times. This was obviously a play and not an improvised game. Even though the stjärngossar might some-

28 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark, Norway, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume, and in particular, the article by Ane Ohrvik on Star Boy traditions in Norway. 136 Eva Knuts times become targets of criticism if the tradition “went astray”, the form was different, even if the overall function was similar to that of the other mumming traditions. Stjärnespelet (the Star Play) had definite roles and each of these had specific attributes. The archive material contains several entries telling how people would rehearse the play for months. Others, however, just sang some songs and did not act out the play. Although these performances differed by place and time, the following quotation describes them well: De hade blåa papper uppefter byxorna. Det var två kungar: Herodes och Morie Lands konung, tre vise män från österland, Judas, två betjänter åt kungarna och den som bar stjärnan. Kungarna hade vita skjortor. De var utsydda med blått papper efter ärmarna och i fler rader på byxorna. Om ärmarna satt lager med blått papper. Bälte hade de om livet och stjärnor på bröstet och ett band tvärs över bröstet. Sabel hade de också; den var av trä men klädd med papper. Morie lands konung var svärtad. På huvudet hade båda kungarna kupiga hattar av vitt papper, smala upp och vida ner. Betjänterna hade sina vanliga kläder men hade lite rosor på bröstet och på armarna. Judas var kolsvart – han hade kohorn, ett på vart knä. Skägg hade han av svart hästtagel. Han hade inget på huve, när han var inomhus. Han hade en pung av tyg och en flaska, som han skulle ha brännvin i. De vise hade vita skjortor men inga huvudbonader på inne (IFGH 1630: 19–22: Upphärad, Västergötland). (They had blue paper over their trousers. There were two kings: Herod and the King of Morie, the Three Wise Men from the East, Judas, two footmen for the kings and someone who carried the star. The kings were dressed in white shirts. Blue paper was sewn onto their sleeves and in several lines on their trousers. Laurels made of blue paper were also attached to the sleeves. They wore belts around their waists, stars on their chests and sashes of ribbon. They also had sabres made of wood but covered with paper. The King of Morie was blackened. Both kings wore conical hats made of white paper on their heads, which were narrow at the top and wider at the brim. The footmen wore their ordinary clothes but had little roses on their chests and on their sleeves. Judas was jet black and had a cow’s horn on each knee. He also had a beard made out of black horsehair. He didn’t wear anything on his head when he was indoors. He carried a purse made of cloth and a bottle for schnapps. The Wise Men had white shirts but no headgear on indoors.) This quote underlines what a stjärngossar group might look like, although both the characters and the repertoire could change (see especially Celander’s impressive work on the subject from 1950). Almost without exception, the Three Wise Men were included in the play (see fig. 2.10). Herod and Judas, complete with his purse for collecting food and schnapps, were two commonly occurring characters. Alongside these, Joseph might also appear as a clown or trickster, and one might find Staffan (Stephen), the goat and the stjärngossar appearing together, and sometimes even Lucia (or the sångängel [song-angel] as the character might also be called). When it came to the figure of the julbock, for example, elements of amusement start appearing in the stjärngossar accounts. With regard to the stjärngos- sar themselves, however, memoirs regularly place emphasis on the aesthetic impression and the beautiful songs: Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 137

Fig. 2.10: Stjärngossar (Star Boys) from 1914, in Fogdö, Södermanland, Sweden. (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.)

De storväxta och rejäla smederna kunde bliva rätt gråtmilda och sentimentala när så mycket grannlåt trängdes i deras enkla tjäll, och rörde upp sinnena med vackra jul- sånger och jesusbarnet och krubban… (NM KU 89: Iggesund). (The tall and solid blacksmiths could become very tearful and sentimental when so much finery was forced into their simple abodes, stirring their feelings with beautiful Christmas carols, baby Jesus and the crib…) The stjärngossar did not only appear on Twelfth Night, however. They could make an appearance at any time from the time of Lucia until Knut.29 Another feature was that there was reciprocal rivalry between singing troupes: those who came earlier in the holiday period had a greater chance of being rewarded with food and drink. Several stories are told about the conflicts that ensued between the troupes in Göteborg, since too many were competing for rewards at the same time. By the time of Twelfth Night, both presents and generosity might have been on the wane (Celander 1950: 348). The stjärngossar tradition is thought to have originated in urban areas and continued to be common in towns and cities, and above all in Göteborg (Ce- lander 1950: 492). Its historic model can be found in medieval Catholic liturgical drama in neighbouring countries, and especially that associated with

29 It is possible to trace the spread of the tradition from the maps in Celander’s comprehensive work (1950: 494, and 495). As he notes: “The density is greatest in the provinces of western Sweden. From the beginning, ‘star-walking’ has had a foothold in the towns. […] and its geographical distribution, points to the west coast, and especially its cultural centre, Göteborg, as the place of origin from which the Star Play spread” (Celander 1950: 492). 138 Eva Knuts

Holy Innocents’ Day. These performances had gradually moved outside the confines of the church and become more secular in form (Celander 1950: 16). As noted earlier, mumming of this kind was a good way for penniless schoolboys, choirboys and music school pupils to gather resources. As Celander writes, however, there is no evidence to show that stjärnsjungning (singing about the star) existed in Sweden before the seventeenth century. The earliest Swedish sources on the tradition are found in court records and injunctions. In 1655, in Stockholm, for example, it is recorded that some schoolboys were charged with “lupit kring om i staden med stjärna och apats med Kristi födelse” (running around the town with stars and mimicking the birth of Christ: Celan- der 1950: 49). Celander says that the custom must have already spread when this suggestion of general prohibition was put forward. A later history of the tradition is found in Klingberg’s manuscript (1998: 101), which describes a stjärngossar play from around 1950, the same year in which Celander’s book about stjärngossar was published. Whether Celander’s work had any influence on the revitalisation of the stjärngossar tradition is not easy to assess. The stjärngossar described in Klingberg’s manuscript performed at organised functions, and such performances might have been a way for associations (such as the Red Cross during the war, for example) to raise money, or for school classes to collect money for a school trip. They could either take place during Lucia and Advent or on Twelfth Night. Many sources point out that it was not the children’s own idea to go around and perform, but that adults were often behind it.30 The following account is relatively typical for such charity-sponsored events: Ny sed införd av Röda korsföreningen. Förekommer veckan omkring Trettondagen. Barn från folkskolan. 10–15 stycken. Både pojkar och flickor utklädda till stjärngos- sar, vita skjortor och toppmössor. Judas svartklädd och sotad. Alla gårdar i byn be- sökes, julsånger, staffansvisor sjunges. Judas tigger pengar och alla barnen bjuds på gotter (Klingberg 1998: 104: Järna, Dalarna). (New custom introduced by the the Red Cross. Occurs during the week around Twelfth Night. Children from elementary school. 10Ð15 of them. Both boys and girls disguised as Star Boys, with white shirts and top hats. Judas is dressed in black and his face is blackened with soot. Every house in the village is visited and Christmas carols and Staffan songs are sung. Judas begs for money and all children are given sweets.) In Bomhus, to the south of Gävle in Gästrikland, junior school children perform a Christmas play every year. The play has been performed since the beginning of the 1900s. Most of the well-known characters appear, including Judas with his purse, Mary, the Three Wise Men and so on. The play was published in 1939 (DAGF 175: 1Ð2). This, however, is a clear example of the revitalisation of a tradition. The form might be the same, but the content has altered. As the play has now been written down, it does not change much year by year, unlike the previous situation when plays were handed down orally,

30 See further the article by Ane Ohrvik on the Norwegian Star Boys for a comparable example from another country. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 139

Map 2.5: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Trett- negetter (Thirteenth-Day Goats). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) performers simply learning the words from someone who had previously acted in the play. However, it was not only stjärngossar that made an appearance on Twelfth Night, as the following example shows: Vi kallade det alltid för trettnegetter. Det var på Trettondagafton som både pojkar och flickor spökade ut sig, ju mer desto bättre. Vi började gå redan i fem, sex- årsål- dern, men jag minns att jag var med en gång som 30-åring. Vi hade en korg med oss och däri lade dom kakor och frukt. Först när vi kom hem fick vi se efter vad de lagt i korgen. Vi gick aldrig ut innan det började mörkna. Vi klädde oss i gamla kläder och skråbuk, det var en slags ansiktsmask (Herjulfsdotter 1991: 29: Dals Långed, Dalsland. Berättarna födda 1903 och 1910). (We always called it trettnegetter [Thirteenth-day Goats]. Both boys and girls disguised themselves on Twelfth Night; the more the merrier. We started to get involved when we were five or six years old, but I remember that I was once involved even when I was 30 years old. We had a basket and people put cakes and fruit in it. We were only allowed to look in the basket when we got home. We never went out until it had started to get dark. We dressed up in old clothes and face masks called skråbuk [in the local dialect].) Trettnegetter are believed to have occurred regularly during the same period of time in Dalsland and the form is again very similar to that of the Knutgubbar 140 Eva Knuts

(Knut men) found in other places (see the following section). The two traditions were quite separate, however: where trettnegetter are found (see map 2.5), there are no reports of Knutgubbar.31

2. b. vii. January 13 (Knut), and January 14 (Felix) Earlier calendars signify that Christmas in Sweden officially ended on January 7. That started to change around 1700,32 when January 13 was increasingly becoming recognised as the end of Christmas (see, for example, Lindhagen 1912). According to Lindhagen, the oldest source confirming that the end of Christmas had definitely moved to January 13 is Verelius’ edition of the Her- vara saga of 1672 (Lindhagen 1912: 180). The account here states that when the ancestors of the Swedes became Christians, they celebrated Christmas in the following way: Denna festlighet fortgick hos dem från aposteln Tomas’ dag till den 14 januari, då man återgick till sina vanliga sysslor och arbeten. Häraf det gängse talesättet Knut körer Julen ut, d.v.s. Knut eller den 13 januari gör slut på festdagarna. (With them this festivity went on from St Thomas’ Day until January 14, when they resumed their ordinary duties and work. From this comes the saying Knut drives Christmas out, which is to say that Knut, or January 13, signified the end of the holiday period.) Today Christmas trees are often thrown out at Knut. Julgransplundring (the children’s party at which the tree is stripped of its decorations and sweets) and a final dance round the tree is a typical means of saying farewell to Christmas nowadays in Sweden. Earlier written material contains evidence to show that Knut was also a means of emptying the neighbour’s larder and beer barrels of their Christmas fare. In short, it marked the return of ordinary everyday life. However, before that could occur, there had to be one last party. Several researchers have investigated the Knut celebration, so a great deal of material is available on the traditions and what happened on that particular day. The Knutgubbar (Knut men) associated with this day in Sweden could be people in disguise (see fig. 2.11), but in southern and western Sweden in particular, the participants sometime went round with Knutgubbar or Felixgubbar (Felix men) effigies that were artificial or stuffed. Celander (1925) has written about the Knut traditions, and Bringéus (1973; 1999: 22Ð26; 2005: 59Ð81; and elsewhere in this book) discusses the straw dolls that were carried around during both Knut and Felix.33 Hedin (1931) men-

31 There is no doubt, however, that the Dalsland tradition is closely related to that of the Norwegian julegeit (see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume). 32 This was around the time at which the Gregorian calendar was taken up. 33 “Genom Knutsgubbarna och deras pass fick man utlopp både för sitt skämtbehov och för sin hämndlystnad” (Through the Knut men and their passports, people got an outlet for their need to joke and for their desire for revenge), writes Bringéus (1999: 24). He continues with a note: “Han Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 141

Fig. 2.11: Knutgubbar (Knut men) in Torsby, Värmland, Sweden, in the 1950s. (Photo: Arthur Sandén.) (Courtesy of Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg.) tions the Knutgång (Knut men going from house to house) in Värmland and Es- keröd (1953), as part of his description of the year’s festival traditions. He also describes the straw figures and the cleaning out that took place at Knut. Swahn (1993) also has a chapter about the celebrations at Knut, with a brief examination of the origins of the day. Finally, Valdis Ordéus (2002) has described in detail both the mumming tradition and the straw figures of the Knut period. DAG has a wealth of material concerning mumming activities at Knut. Some three hundred recordings from Värmland, Bohuslän and Halland were collected mainly around 1920. The teacher and folklorist David Arill was especially interested in the tradition and asked his students to write stories about it. What is particularly valuable about Arill’s material is that his students described the tradition as it was practised at the time of recording, writing down their own experiences of it. Arill’s collection of accounts thus gives a good idea tjänstgjorde som det värsta samvete och som värsta åklagare och ärekränkare. Han sändes nämli- gen aldrig ut utan att vara försedd med s.k. pass i fickan. De voro i sanningen hemska dokument dessa pass, skrivna som de voro med förvrängda, men dock så läsliga bokstäver som möjligt. Var det någon som gjort hyss under året eller på något annat sätt skämt ut sig, så kunde han vara säker på att han fick ett ordentligt knudapass” (He [i.e. the Knut man] acted as the worst conscience and as the worst prosecutor and defamator. He never actually went out without being equipped with a so-called “passport” in his pocket. These passports were truly awful documents, written in as distorted Ð although still decipherable Ð a way as possible. If anyone committed any form of mischief or disgraced himself in any other way during the year, he could be sure of getting a proper Knut passport: Bringéus 1999: 24). 142 Eva Knuts of how the young people themselves perceived the Knut celebrations. The following is one personal description of the Knut celebration in 1920, written by a boy who really enjoyed disguising himself as one of the mischievous old knutgubbar: Huvudsyftet med Knut och Felix är säkerligen att komma åt de julgotter o. dyl. som finnes kvar nämnda dagar, och efter det att man ett par tre år varit med i Knut- och Felixlagen vet man var man bäst blir mottagen och undfägnad, på en del ställen vill man ej alls veta av Knutarna, och det kan ju förekomma att de inte alltid äro ordent- liga när de besöka stugorna, […].--- Vi ta sällskap med en flock Knutar. Det är ett stimmande och tisslande i hopen, man har förfärligt grov eller pipig röst, man hör att de äro rädda att blotta sig. Man skrider långsamt fram till stugan som först skall besökas. Knutarna stegar in och hälsar och man frågar ömsesidigt hur man mår, värdfolket hör efter var herrska- pet är ifrån och Knutarna presenteras. Jo, en är ifrån “grannsocknen” ett par andra från Lappland o.s.v. “Dä va fasligt vad ni äro grova i rösten ida” gänmäler värden “i måtte ha fått e svåra förkylningar” Och Knutarna harklar sig, de språka med mycket grov och pipig röst. Har nu värdfolket råd så bjuder de Knutarna på mat och dryck- jom, det sitter då hårt åt för många Knutar, man vill gärna inte taga av masken. […] På kvällen till den 14 jan. äro Felixarna ute och besöker stugorna. Om Felix är man helt vitklädd och brukar flickorna som är Felixarna, flertalet har julgransstjärnan o. dyl. att pryda sig med. Flickorna ser bäst ut om de inte har något för ansiktet, pojkarna brukar ha gardinmasker för ansiktet, och det är mycket roligt att se och höra hur man tittar på händerna ty som bekant brukar pojkarna ha grovare händer än flickorna. Man kan i allmänhet säga att Felixarna äro trevligare och mindre bullersamma än Knutarna, men måtte Knutarna och Felixdagen ännu i många, många år besöka oss nämnda dagar, ty vintern är lång och Knutarna och Felixarna göra åtminstone så- pass gott att ett par vinterkvällar gå fortare undan än annars (VFF 146: 1–2: Ham- burgsund, Bohuslän). (The main aim of mumming at Knut and Felix is without doubt to get at the Christ- mas goodies that are left over, and after a couple or so years of going around celebrating Knut and Felix you got to know the best places for food and drink. In some places they didn’t want anything to do with the mummers, which might have been on account of unruly behaviour in the past. […] We gang up with some of the other mummers. There’s a lot of noise and whispering amongst the crowd and folk use either terribly deep or squeaky pretend voices, so that they won’t be recognised. You advance slowly towards the first house to be visited. The mummers go in and say hello and ask how everyone is doing. The hosts ask where everyone comes from and the mummers are introduced. One might come from “the neighbouring parish”, and another from Lappland and so on. “What a dreadful voice you’ve got today,” the host retorts, “You must’ve caught a terrible cold.” And the mummers clear their throats and talk with deep or squeaky voices. If the hosts have enough food they invite the mummers to eat and drink with them, but that’s a bit difficult for many of the mummers, as we don’t want to take off our masks. […] On the eve of January 14, the Felix mummers go round to the houses. The boys are dressed all in white and many of the girls wear Christmas tree stars and so on as decoration. The girls look best when they don’t cover their faces with a mask but the boys usually wear masks and it’s really funny when people look at everyone else’s hands, as it’s a fact that boys usually have coarser hands than girls. In general, you can say that the Felix men are nicer and not as noisy as the Knut mummers, but I hope that both the Knut and Felix mummers keep coming to visit us on those days be- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 143

Map 2.6: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Mum- ming on tjugondag (Knut’s Day) and the previous day (January 12Ð13). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

cause they make a couple of long winter evenings pass much faster than they would otherwise.) This kind of masking is mentioned as occurring in both Värmland and north Bohuslän. There are a number of recordings to indicate that julespöken (lit. Christ- mas Ghosts) also went around at Knut in Skåne: this was basically a variation of the Knut mumming, although there is no indication of what the tradition was otherwise called in the area (see Nissow 1971). Meanwhile, an overall analysis of the Knut tradition shows that in southern Sweden, and especially in Skåne and Halland, it was common to springa med Knutgubbe (lit. run with the Knut men) which involved, for example, making a figure out of straw, dressing it up and equipping it with a “passport” and then sneaking it into the house of a neighbour, friend, enemy or acquaintance.34 During the 1900s, the tradition of disguising as a Knutgubbe seems to have been most common in northern Halland, northern Bohuslän and certain places in Värmland, as well as along the coastal stretches of the Gulf of Bothnia around Medelpad and in Blekinge (see map 2.6).35 In

34 See Celander 1925; and Bringéus 1973; 1999: 22–26; and 2005: 59–81; and elsewhere in this volume. 35 Disguising presumably occurred in several places in Norrland. The greater wealth of material from southern and western Sweden is probably due to a more intensive recording activity in these parts (Ordéus 2002: 151). 144 Eva Knuts

Småland, such masking was often combined with a literal “sweeping out” of Christmas (Swahn 1993: 305Ð306),36 and was commonly described as follows: Mina minnen av utklädning gäller först och främst att vi “sopade ut julen” på Knut- dagen den 13: e januari. Vi var då utklädda i gamla kläder som för det mesta tillhörde våra föräldrar, ibland målade vi oss troligtvis med vattenfärger. Helst skulle det inte gå att känna igen de utklädda. Utrustade med kvastar gick vi runt i husen i de närmaste byarna, man brukade åt- minstone bli insläppt i köket. Om vi fick något minns jag inte, kanske blev det lite överblivet julgodis. De första minnena är från en by i Fridlevstad socken, sedan flyttade vi till Tvings socken [Blekinge] och därifrån minns jag en händelse, då var jag nog 13–14 år. Vi var fyra flickor som lyckats klä oss till oigenkännlighet, då mötte vi en pojke från en grannby som vi inte gillade något vidare. Eftersom vi var utklädda kände han inte igen oss, så vi lyckades att med hjälp av kvastarna skrämma iväg honom. Detta tyckte vi var extra roligt eftersom han alltid var kaxig och retfull mot oss flickor (DAGF 172: Fridlevstad and Tving, Blekinge, from around 1950). (My main recollection of the mumming is that we “swept out Christmas” on January 13, which was Knut’s Day. We got dressed up in old clothes which belonged to our parents and sometimes we painted our faces. It was important that the mummers shouldn’t be recognised. Equipped with brooms, we went round the houses in the nearby villages, and we were sometimes invited into the kitchen. I don’t remember if we got anything but I suppose there might have been a few sweets left over from Christmas. My first memories are from a village in the parish of Fridlevstad. Then we moved to the parish of Tving [Blekinge] and I remember something that happened there when I was about 13Ð14 years old. We were four girls, and managed to disguise ourselves so well that no one recognised us. We met a boy from a neighbouring village whom we didn’t particularly like. As we were in disguise, he didn’t recognise us, and we managed to frighten him away with our brooms. We thought that was a great hoot because he was always so bossy and teased us girls.) Brooms were thus also in evidence in Blekinge and could be used for other purposes than just sweeping out Christmas. However, the above quotation also illustrates another recurring theme in mumming activities: that behind the masks it was possible to pay back wrongs. The same can be seen in another example which states that “Man klädde ut sig till hemska gubbar, gick in i stugan och rev ner allt som hörde julen till” (You dressed up to look like horrible old men, went into the house and tore down everything to do with Christmas: DAGF 174: Norra Halland). In several other places, “sweeping out”, “pushing out”, “dancing out”, “carrying out” or other such similar activities occurred without any kind of masking (see Hagberg 1937, for example, on the celebration of Knut on the island of Öland).

36 In his material, Klingberg sees a somewhat different distribution than Swahn does. Klingberg only has one example of the Knut celebrations from Dalarna, which is otherwise well represented in Kling- berg’s material. Klingberg thus sees Dalarna as a dividing line, mumming being more common in the area south of Dalarna, whereas to the north of Dalarna, he feels it was common to banka ut julen (knock out Christmas). This division was based on records collected between 1953 and 1963 (Kling- berg 1998: 115), that is to say, more recent material than that which Swahn refers to. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 145

In recent years, it seems that organised masquerades have become more common at Knut. They might be communal or organised by the Lions Club or another association, as the quotations given below indicate. Awarding prizes for the best disguises (something that often happens these days) is never mentioned in the older material. This is something else that is a recent development: Varje år anordnar Lions i Ekshärad Knutdans på ett torg i Ekshärad, som kallas Röda torget. Då brukar barnen maskera sig till olika saker, sagofigurer el. ng. aktuellt, som hänt i bygden. Det blir juldanser runt julgranen och sen är det även priser till de bäst maskerade. Alla barn får sen en godispåse, även de omaskerade (DAGF 125: 3: Eks- härad, Västergötland). (Every year, the Ekshärad Lions Club would organise a Knut dance in the Red Mar- ket, one of the market squares in Ekshärad. Children usually disguise themselves as storybook characters or as someone real to represent something that has actually happened in the district. There are Christmas dances around the Christmas tree and there are also prizes for the best disguises. All of the children then get bags of sweets, even those who aren’t in disguise.) Mina första minnen av detta är från slutet av 1930-talet och denna dag räknades länge som en av höjdpunkterna på året. Dagen började med att de yngsta i olika masker och kläder vandrade runt i husen och fick något godis i form av kakor eller ka- ramell. På kvällen tog de vuxna över och utklädda besökte även de hus i samhället och det var många funderingar och gissningar vem det kunde vara som kunde döljas under mer eller mindre grymma masker. Man får komma ihåg att detta var under en mörk tid i dubbel bemärkelse och man tog denna sedvänja som ett sätt att fira och slå sig lös. Kvällen avslutades med dans i föreningshuset och kom ju många möjligheter genom maskens skydd välja en partner men som när masken föll uppdagades vara av samma kön. Detta var före bruket av kommunal gran på torget. Det var långt senare som dansen på “Knutgubbekvällen” genomfördes vid denna gran. Att vara “Knutgubbe” var för oss barn och kanske de äldre med något man plane- rade under året. Jag har några personliga figurer som jag med min mors hjälp försökte efterlikna. Det var “Zorro” (han med fäktningen) cowboy och spöke. Efter kriget så kunde man se de kända personer som präglat krigstiden (DAGF 139: 1: Gusum, Östergötland). (My first recollections of this are from the end of the 1930s, and that day was one of the best of the year. The day began with the youngest wandering around to the houses in different masks and clothes and being given something sweet such as cakes or toffees. In the evening the adults took over and the maskers visited other houses in the community as well and there was a lot of wondering and guessing as to who was hidden behind the terrible looking masks. It’s important to remember that this happened when it was a dark time in two senses, so it was an opportunity to celebrate and let your hair down. The evening ended with a dance in the village hall and the masks made it possible to choose any partner you wished. When the masks were taken off, you often discovered that you were dancing with someone of the same sex. All this was before the habit of having a communal Christmas tree in the market square and it was much later that the Knut men danced around that tree. For us children, and perhaps also for the adults, being a Knutgubbe was something 146 Eva Knuts

that you planned throughout the year. There were a few characters that, with my mother’s help, I personally tried to imitate, such as “Zorro” (the one who fenced), a cowboy and a ghost. After the war, you recognised those well-known faces that were associated with wartime.) The first quotation gives a good example of the changes that took place in the tradition. The evasive Knutgubbar that visited neighbours and friends begging for food and schnapps were later replaced by more organised Knut events, such as a dance or fancy dress party. In the times described above, around the end of the 1930s, these different Knut celebrations could run parallel to each other, as the tradition was increasingly transformed into a gathering around the Christmas tree where, as the material shows, it was now mainly children who were disguised. The second quotation also demonstrates how the inspiration for disguises often came from contemporary times. Zorro was a real hero for many boys, just as the modern inspiration for today’s disguises often comes from films, children’s programmes, politicians or pop stars. Several records note that this has not always been the case, underlining that the wearing of this kind of mask has become increasingly popular over time. Previously, Knut was a day when the mummers simply went around to people’s houses in any form of available disguise offering entertainment in return for food and drink. As one man noted: “Men så lever vi också i penningarnas tid. I min ungdom levde man i brännvinets tid” (We live in the age of money. In my childhood you lived in the age of schnapps: ULMA 21202: 16). However, things in the past could get pretty rough, as the same informant adds: Jag fick besök av 13 utklädda pojkar. Dom fick sitt brännvin och höll sig ganska lug- na inne men när dom kom ut blev dom visst osams och skulle klå upp en. Han fick båda benen avslagna och blev invalid (ULMA 21202: 18: Gimo, Uppland). (I was visited by 13 boys dressed up in disguise. They got their schnapps and were quite calm when they were inside but as soon as they went outside they got really unfriendly and one of them got beaten up. Both his legs got broken and he ended up an invalid.) The Knutmasso at Gimo in Uppland has today evolved into a carnival with fancy-dress costumes that people put a great deal of time and effort into creating (Ordéus 2002). Many say that the tradition has actually become more popular in that many “non-locals” come to Gimo to take part. At the same time, the masks have become more imaginative and lavish. As noted above, in days gone by, it was enough simply to blacken your face with soot and disguise yourself in rags or fur coats turned inside out. Wolter Ehn visited Gimo in 1975 and documented the Knutgubbar through photographs and text (ULMA 31092). He observed that adults and children dressed up in quite different ways. The children used whatever they could lay their hands on and visited the houses to get sweets. The adults, however, gathered in the market square and their disguises often represented political themes or a TV personality. Now Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 147

(2007) Gimo has its own Knutmasso museum and the carnival held in the town attracts thousands of people.37 Felix mummers (January 14) are also described in the account given by Arill’s student quoted above (VFF 146: 2). Other informants echo the idea that these are often said to have been “nicer”, since they wore beautiful white clothes. However, Felix mumming was not as common as that which took place at Knut. Indeed, the Felix mumming tradition only seems to have existed locally in northern Bohuslän during the 1900s.

2. c. Spring and Summer 2. c. i. February 24: Matthew’s Name Day (Mattias) Those who are called Mattias and Mats (Matthew or Mats) celebrate their name day on February 24. In addition to this, Mattiasdagen (Matthew’s Day) was considered to be a generally important occasion with a role to play in weather predictions. Karin Danver (1943: 72) notes that in northern Sweden, this day also attracted the proverb […] “Mattias med sitt långa skägg, lockar barnen utom vägg” (lit. Matthew with his long beard lures the children outside).38 It is often thought that the mumming at this time was inspired by a nursery rhyme as described in the account given below. So-called Mattesgubbar (Mattes men) are nonetheless still active in Häl- singland. They are also mentioned in Dalarna, where the name Mats has also been observed (see fig. 2.12). The tradition of disguising as Mattesgubbar is clearly an early one, especially in central and northern Sweden, as the following descriptive passage illustrates: Sålunda har man klätt ut sig till “Matthias Långskägg” med skägg av lav. Man kläd- de sig så styggt som möjligt i vrängda pälsar med mask för ansiktet. Även barnen brukade ibland “gå mattes”. Ibland tycks denna barnutklädsel tagit formen av ett i ordets egentliga betydelse maskerat barntiggeri av den art som även förekommer på andra av årets märkesdagar, i Sverige dock huvudsakligen under vårhalvåret, vilket naturligtvis sammanhängde med att vinterförråden nu var på upphällningen (Danver 1943: 75). (People dressed themselves up as “Matthias Longbeard”, with a beard of lichen. You made yourself as horrible as possible in a fur coat turned inside out and a mask on your face. Even the children sometimes “went Mattes”. Sometimes this children’s disguise seems to have taken on the form of the masked-child begging which occurred on other holidays in Sweden, mainly during the spring, something which was naturally connected with the fact that the winter stocks were running low at the time.) According to the letters that have been received in connection with this project, Mattias mumming was still going on in Ovanåker, Hälsingland in the mid

37 See photos at: http://www.knutmasso.se: last visited March 1, 2007. 38 For references to parallels from Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where the names of ∏orri/ Torre, Knut and Staffan are used for a similar rhyme, see Gunnell 1995a: 97; M. Olsen 1912; Lid 1928a: 189Ð192; and Troels-Lund 1914: VII, 62. 148 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.12: “Matsmässgubbar” (Mats’ Mass men) in Djursmo, Gagnef, Dalarna, Sweden. (Photo: J. Haglund.) (Courtesy of Dalarnas museum.) twentieth century. It might be noted that Ovanåker is the neighbouring local authority to Alfta, where Shrove Tuesday mumming is still performed (see section 2. c. ii.). Ekman (1991) points out that the relationship between the communities is complicated and that antagonisms exist between Ovanåker och Alfta: “Local consciousness is expressed in everyday life, it is highlighted in annual festivals, and it is constructed in campaigns defending local values” (Ekman 1991: 172). Ekman does not write explicitly about the Mattias and Shrove Tuesday mummers when she illustrates how Ovanåker and Alfta promote their native districts, but these different mumming traditions can be understood from that perspective, as the following quotation shows: Här i Järvsö var barnen ute på Mattesmäss, de klädde ut sig och gick omkring i går- darna. Antingen klädde de ut sig alldeles “uhampligt” i gamla kläder, eller också var de fint klädda som värsta 'bruar'. När de kom in på ställena, så sa de: “Ge oss en bulle”. Då fick de en bulle (mjuk kaka), ull och fläsk. De talade inte om vilka de var när de kom. De fick gå var de ville i trakten. Ungdom har gått förr också. Det var flickor och pojkar om varann som gick. Maten åt de opp hemma sedan. I Järvsö och Ovan- åker har de gått på Mattesdagen, men i Alfta gick de på fettisdagen. Det var fram på kvällen som de kom (E.U. 8487: Järvsö, Hälsingland). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 149

(Here in Järvsö children were out and about on Matthew’s Day, when they got disguised and went around the houses. They either dressed up quite inappropriately in old-fashioned clothes, or they were really nicely dressed, like really smashing lasses. When they arrived at a house and were invited inside, they said: “Give us a bun”. They then got a bun, wool and pork. They didn’t say who they were and were allowed to go anywhere they liked in the district. Teenagers Ð boys and girls Ð had also done the same in the past. They ate the food at home afterwards. In Järvsö and Ovan- åker, they went mumming on Matthew’s Day, whereas in Alfta they did it on Shrove Tuesday instead. It was well into the evening when they arrived.) As noted above, an interesting variation of Mattias mumming occurred in Dalarna, which is the area where both the Anders and Anna name day celebrations have taken place (cf. map 2.2). In short, the Mattias mummers can be explained as form of another name-day mumming, although one that does not apply to people with one name in particular. An interesting example of how misunderstandings can occur is seen in the account of how Hagberg travelled especially to Gagnef in Dalarna, “på spaningsfärd efter en gammal folksed” (on a reconnaissance trip to look for an old folk tradition: Hagberg 1913a: 9). She had heard about the occurrence of a bear-masking tradition there on St Matthew’s Day. Hagberg found a Matsmässbjörn (Matthew’s Mass bear) but the disguise occurred only on account of her visit. People she met told her that this tradition was not common, and that mumming events were only very occasional. She also came across mock-bridal pairs (young teenagers wearing bridal costumes). Accounts were also found of weddings being celebrated with bear mumming, which is thought to have been a local game. In principle, this tradition is thought to have disappeared in 1913 when Hagberg documented the Mattias celebrations (Hagberg 1913a).

2. c. ii. Shrovetide: Shrove Tuesday (Fettisdag) Like Easter, Shrove Tuesday is a moveable feast which at the earliest falls on February 10 and at the latest on March 9. As in Denmark, Iceland, The Faroes, and parts of Norway and Finland,39 Shrovetide is celebrated in Sweden not only with good food and drink, but also with mumming traditions of various kinds. Shrove Tuesday is the last day of “luxury” before the forty-day fast that precedes Easter. When Protestantism came to Sweden during the sixteenth century, all fasts of this kind were condemned as being “Papist”. However, Shrove Tuesday (fettisdag in Swedish) had already become associated with a number of enjoyable, popular and national traditions, and these did not disappear with the Reformation. As always, it is easier to maintain more pleasurable traditions than mournful ones, and even though fasting is no longer practised in Sweden today, an enormous number of the special Shrove Tuesday semlor (buns filled with cream and almond paste) are still eaten.

39 See further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. For a similar tradition in Iceland, see, in particular, the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir. 150 Eva Knuts

Map 2.7: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Fettisda- gen (Shrove Tuesday). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

The home district of the disguised fettisdagsgubbar (Shrove Tuesday men) in Sweden is primarily Alfta, in Hälsingland (see map 2.7). The tradition is very much alive here: children disguise themselves, take a bag with them and visit the different shops in the community in a hunt for sweets or some other little gift. During the twentieth century, similar Shrove Tuesday mummers could also be found in Jämtland and in Medelpad, but, according to the letters we have received, not in southern Sweden. Sometimes the tradition is referred to by the name of fettisdagslappar (Shrove Tuesday Lapps), as this quotation from Medelpad illustrates: Till kvällen måste man vara hemma i tid till skymningen, ty då kom det roligaste av allt. Sen lång tid tillbaka hade vi förberett oss och målat “skråpukar” för ansiktet. De skulle vara så skrämmande och fula som möjligt. Gamla kläder utochinvända för att ingen skulle känna igen oss. Sparken var förståss med som åkdon, och där känner jag igen mig från andras berättande att vi barn samlades till “långslä” och roade oss. Dock inte med ramsor. Men vi gick med “tiggarpåsen” d.v.s. vi gick in i gårdarna stod tysta och stumma vid dörren allt medan man försökte få oss att tala. Kanske fö- reställde man sig och sade Tack innan man gick sedan man fått något i tiggarpåsen. Man kunde få knäckar, bullar, toppsocker eller något annat gott som man sedan delade broderligt. Aldrig pengar! Denna sed var mycket vanlig i Medelpad ända fram till 1940-talet då jag bodde i Ånge och där fick besök av “fettisdagslappar”. Att de Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 151

kallades så kan gå tillbaka till den tiden när samerna “lapparna” kom hit ner om vint- rarna och gick i stugorna och tiggde kaffe och socker. Har de gamla berättat mej (DAGF 146: 11: Matfors, Medelpad). (It was important to be at home before dusk that evening, because that was the nicest of all. We’d been preparing for this for a long time and had made and painted face masks, which were supposed to look as horrible and frightening as possible. We also wore old clothes turned inside out so that no one would recognise us. The kick-sleigh was, of course, the means of transport, and I recognise myself when others describe how we children saved up for “a long sleigh” and had a good time. Not with nursery rhymes though. We carried “begging bags” and went to the farms and stood silently at the door while those we visited tried to get us to say something. Perhaps we made faces and remembered to say “thank you” before we left, after something had been put into our begging bag. You might get toffees, buns, sugar lumps or something else that was nice and we then divided it all equally between us. Never money! That tradition was very common in Medelpad right up until the 1940s when I lived in Ånge and there we were visited by Shrove Tuesday Lapps. The name might go back to the time when the Sami came here during the winter and went to the houses, asking for coffee and sugar. That’s what the old folk told me anyway.) Sture Ohlsson, who studied the tradition in Alfta (1980), asked a number of his informants how old the tradition was thought to be and found out that at least two of the informants’ mothers said that they had gone Shrove Tuesday mumming. As they were born in 1862 and 1888, this means that the tradition could be traced back over one hundred years.

2. c. iii. Other Shrovetide Mumming Traditions in Sweden In 1526, King Gustav Vasa of Sweden gave permission to two men, Peder Sun- nanväder and one Master Knut to ride into Stockholm, in the following manner: Herr Peder med en halmcrona på huffwudet och träswärd widh sijdann och Mester Knut med en biskopzhat aff näffuer; och fölgde them en stoor hoop i larffua klädher (Nilsson 1936: 283). (Herr Peder with a crown of straw on his head and a wooden sword at his side and Master Knut with a bishop’s hat of birch bark, followed by a big crowd dressed in ragged clothes.) This activity was clearly not uncommon. As Nilsson notes, Olaus Magnus (1555) reported that people in Sweden sometimes disguised themselves as oxen, goats or women during Lent. Related to this was the old Shrovetide tradition from Skåne and the other old Danish provinces in the south of “att slå katten ur tunnan” (Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel),40 a custom which is thought to have died out in these parts

40 For parallels to this tradition and the element of choosing a “king”, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume, and also the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir on Icelandic mumming at Lent. 152 Eva Knuts before the start of the last century.41 However, information describing the game in Sweden can be found dating back to the first part of the eighteenth century.42 In earlier times, the game was all about knocking a cat out of a suspended barrel. Young men would ride past the barrel with cudgels in their hands, and were supposed to try and break it to reveal what was inside it. Later on, a bottle of schnapps or punch replaced the cat inside the barrel. The mumming element here is that the person who succeeded in breaking the barrel would traditionally be crowned as a mock “King” and could then choose a “Queen” from among the womenfolk.43 It also occurred that the riders would dress up in imaginative uniforms with coloured ribbons, stars and decorated hats. Girls would often then crown the victorious so-called Kattkungen (Cat King) with “papperskrona, ordnar, epåletter och annan grannlåt” (a paper crown, and decorate him with medals, epaulettes and other finery: Jeppsson 1973: 44). Another Swedish Shrovetide tradition worth mentioning in this context was att åka för stora rovor och långt lin (sledging for big turnips and long flax), whereby up to fifty sledges would be tied together to make a long “raft”. These would be pulled to the top of a hill after which everybody would get on and slide down the slope: see af Klintberg 1991). Långlinsåkning (long-flax sledging) was practised for a long time in the Baltic countries and then spread to Fin- land and Sweden from the south east (Bringéus 1999: 42). It was common in those areas where flax growing was important, both to the east and west of the Baltic Sea (as the tradition was connected to influencing the growth and length of the coming flax harvest). Mumming traditions connected to långlinsåkning are nonetheless mainly recorded in Dalarna and Södermanland (Hagberg 1913b). Hagberg noted that even in 1913, Shrove Tuesday was celebrated in many of these areas with various disguise traditions, including dancing and all kinds of processions and pageants. She goes on to describe how popular the tradition of långlinsåkning was here, noting that it was both a common and an old tradition. She notes how the young folk involved in the tradition would disguise themselves “i det roligaste och värsta de kunde få tag uti, och de utklädda skulle sitta på de sammanbundna kälkarna” (in the funniest and the worst clothes they could find, and then the maskers were supposed to sit on sledges tied together: Hagberg 1913b: 143).

2. c. iv. March 25: The Annunciation; Lady Day (Marie Bebådelse- dag) The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, or Lady Day, occurs nine months before Christmas. Although not widespread, crane mumming traditions are mentioned at around this time and are probably connected with these important fes-

41 Another related Shrovetide game with jousting elements that was known in the same area was att sticka preussaren (Hitting the Prussian: see Bringéus 1999, and Nilsson 1936). 42 See Eskeröd 1953: 16; Bringéus 1999; and Svensson 1938. 43 See Eskeröd 1953: 13; Bringéus 1999: 39; Ejdestam 1971: 71; and Jeppsson 1973: 43. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 153 tivals: indeed both religious and public holidays tend to attract similar traditions. The cranes (tranor) are considered to return to southern Sweden at around the time of the Annunciation. They are a sign of spring and worth watching out for, since for most people in the north, spring is a long-awaited time of year. In the modern calendar, summer time begins on or around the same date as the Annunciation. In the popular tradition, it also represented an important day in terms of work and nature. At this time, one productive year came to an end and a new one was beginning. Nonetheless, as has been noted, Sweden is a long and narrow country, and climatic conditions differ considerably between the north and south. Spring thus comes at different times in different parts, and different signs represent different omens. As von Sydow (1916: 33) writes: Man spanar efter varje tecken som kan tyda på dess ankomst, det må nu vara fåglarna i luften eller blommorna på marken. Nära förbunden med föreställningen om våren är t. ex. lärkan […] En annan fågel som också ropar ut, förvisso med icke ringa stäm- ningskraft men utan sentimentalitet, är tranan. (You look for any sign that can indicate its [i.e. spring’s] arrival, whether it be birds in the air or flowers on the ground. The lark is one bird that is closely connected to the notion of spring […] Another bird that also heralds spring’s arrival with loud croaks, but little sentimentality, is the crane.) Different types of tranor (crane) masking occurred in Sweden around the An- nunciation. The following brief local classification of the tradition is not complete, however, as different types of tranor mumming have appeared outside the general boundaries noted below (see map 2.8). In Småland, it was common for tranor mummers to try and disguise themselves to look as much like a crane as possible, as the following poetic description relates: Med vilken spänning låg man inte och väntade, lyssnade till varje ljud, medan vår- kvällens skymning sänkte sig över rummet! Vilken hemsk tjusning erfor man inte, när dörren äntligen öppnades och tranan med gravitetiska steg skred in! På huvudet, som hölls högt upplyftat, bar hon ett tänt ljus. Hon kråmade sig och svängde sig som tranor bruka, och tittade efter, om barnen snällt och ordentligt låg i sina sängar (LUF 1776: Värnanäs, Småland). (You were filled with such eager expectation that it was almost impossible to just lie there and wait, listening to every sound as the gloaming of the spring evening crept into the room! What a terrible fascination it was when the door was finally opened and the trana solemnly glided in! On its head, which was held high, was a candle. It preened itself and swayed just like a crane does, and looked around to make sure that the children were lying in their beds, as good as gold.) The disguise as a trana could consist of a white sheet spread over a couple of short sticks which formed a tail and beak, and then a pair of red stockings. It might be that the trana also had wings, with “det hela anordnat så likt en trana som omständigheterna medgåfvo” (everything arranged to look as much like a crane as possible: LUF 1078: Förlösa, Småland). Several records add that the 154 Eva Knuts

Map 2.8: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Tran- utklädsel på Vårfrudagen (Crane dressing on Lady Day). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) trana brought sweets for the children if they had been good, or a birch if they had not behaved themselves (von Sydow 1916: 50; and Hedman 1967). In Värmland, it was more common for so-called tranbrev (“crane letters”) to be distributed or thrown into people’s houses at this time. Those distributing them could adopt a crane disguise, but otherwise any disguise might do, as the following account implies: I min hemsocken, Ekshärad i Älvdalen, liksom i Karlstad under min skoltid (1879– 88) brukade man kläda ut sig till tranor och efterhärma deras gälla lock- eller var- ningsrop, då man kastade “tranbreven”. “Tranbrev” målades – liksom påskbrev långt före trankvällen och föreställde vanligen flygande trana, ofta med ett brev i näbben eller hängande i ett band om halsen. Ofta var bilderna försedda med text, i regel versifierad. Breven överlämnades i skymningen då man, utklädd till trana eller ej, smög sig till huset, där mottagaren bodde, öppnade dörren och under utstötandet av gälla rop inkastade tranbreven, varefter man hastigt avlägsnade sig (LUF 1719: 1–2: Värmland). (In my home parish of Ekshärad in Älvdalen, just as in Karlstad during my school days [1879Ð88], people used to disguise themselves as cranes and imitate their shrill call or warning cry when they threw in their “crane letters”. The “crane letters” were painted Ð like Easter letters Ð well in advance of Crane Evening and often represented flying cranes with a letter either in their beaks or hanging from a ribbon around their necks. The pictures were often accompanied by a text, usually in verse form. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 155

The letter was distributed at dusk when, whether disguised as a crane or not, you crept to the house where the recipient lived, opened the outer door and with the ut- terance of a shrill cry threw the “crane letter” into the room before making a hasty retreat.) As noted above, in the same area as that in which the tranbrev occurred, it was also common to distribute or throw so-called påskbrev (Easter letters: see the following section; Olsson 1961; and also Skott 2002b). Masking without carrying letters also occurred in Värmland at this time. This masking, however, differed from the Småland mumming in the sense that it was more symbolic in form, rather than involving any real attempt to look like a crane, as the following quotation indicates: På “Vafferkvällen” (d. 24 mars) brukade ungdomen kläda sig till tranor, tog fällar över sig och en käpp i handen (käppen skulle föreställa näbb) och gingo till grannarna där de skrämde barnen, ty dessa trodde att det var riktiga tranor som med näbbar- na knackade i golvet. Så tog två och två i varandras händer och dansade trandans, trippade på tå och svängde hastigt runt (VFF 1089: Tveta, Värmland). (On the eve of Lady Day (March 24), the young folk usually disguised themselves as cranes with a rug draped over themselves, holding a stick (to represent a beak). They went round to scare the neighbour’s children who believed that they were real cranes that tapped their beaks on the floor. In pairs, they took each other by the hand and mimicked the crane-mating dance by tripping along on their toes and then swinging round quickly.) In Värmland, tranor mumming was something mainly done by young people in general, whereas in Småland it was usually a woman Ð either a mother or an unmarried maiden Ð that disguised herself. Here the mumming seems to have been essentially a way to get children to behave and go to bed early, since otherwise they could expect a birching on Lady Day. Similar mumming traditions to those recorded in Värmland also occurred in Dalsland during the same period. The names of the tradition in Dalsland are nonetheless a little different and more imaginative, ranging from vaffertroll (Lady-Day troll, vaffer coming from Vårfrudagen but also connected to “waffles” or våfflor: IFGH 1004: 23); and trangubbe (crane men: IFGH 2722: 60); to vafferget (Lady Day Goat: IFGH 1004: 4), although it is more common to use the name tranor, as in the following example: En skulle ha vaffler på vafferafta. Ibland va dä nôn som hade klätt ut sä å kom till ställane. Dä va trana. Dä kune bli store sällskap å de jekk te flera ställe (IFGH 2020: Fröskog, Dalsland). (You were supposed to have waffles on Lady Day evening. Sometimes people disguised themselves as cranes. There could be a big group of them and they went round to different places.) Another more geographically spread tradition from the same period Ð but with fewer examples Ð was that of people disguising themselves and running barefoot on Lady Day, as is demonstrated in the following account: 156 Eva Knuts

I vissa trakter i Värmland skulle man, när man sprang trana, besöka ett visst antal gödselhögar, nio eller flera, eller alla gårdar i byn (Danver 1943: 198; see also Gran- lund 1960). (In certain areas of Värmland, when you ran around like a crane, you were supposed to visit either a certain number of dung heaps, nine or more, or all the houses in the village). As the name barfotaspringning (barefoot running) suggests, it was common to run around the dung heaps barefoot. The following example of doing the same thing in costume is atypical: Efter kl. 8 på “vafferkväl” eller “Trankväl” brukade ungdomen springa maskerad som tranor över 7 gödselhögar samt 9 gånger omkring stugan. Tranan skulle då ej kunna plöja sönder fötterna (NM 2494, here from von Sydow 1916: 57). (After 8 o’clock on “Waffle Evening” or “Crane Evening”, youngsters masked to look like cranes usually ran over seven dung heaps and nine times around the house. Then the crane wouldn’t plough your feet apart.)44 As has been seen, different mumming traditions sometimes blended, and here the tranor mumming and barfotaspringing (running barefoot) clearly occurred together. The same can be seen in the following example: De klädde ut sig så illa de kunde och gick och förde skoj och tiggde, de var vaffertranor. De skulle springa motsols tre gånger runt stugan naken eller i bara linnet (IFGH 1811: 24: Tydje, Dalsland). (They disguised themselves to look as horrible as they could and went around making mischief and begging. They were vaffertranor and were supposed to run anti-clockwise three times around the house either naked or just in their vests.) As with several of the other Swedish mumming traditions, stuffed figures (in this case in the shape of cranes) could also be used.45 As pointed out in section 1. a., there are considerable climatic differences between the southern and northern parts of Sweden, which means that spring arrives at different times in different areas, arriving somewhat earlier in the west. Thus, running barefoot did not just occur on the Annunciation. In the west, in Bohuslän for example, similar activities occurred earlier on Grego- riusdagen (St Gregory’s Day) on March 13. Both the Annunciation and Gregorius were considered to be the first day of the summer half year (in different places), and it is very likely that the tradition of running barefoot can be seen as a symbolic first performance of summer Ð since all children ran barefoot during summertime (Danver 1943: 196Ð205).

44 In other words, it prevented you from getting chaps on the soles of your feet caused by the crane. Regarding this tradition, Bengt af Klintberg notes in a letter to the editor dated August 8, 2006 that this superstition relates to “an activity among children and adults, connected to the first day of the summer half year. Summer was the time when children walked barefoot, and Annunciation Day or Gregorius, as the local start of summer, was the first day you could do this Ð even if there was snow on the ground. In connection with bare feet, the word “trana” here refers to the chaps that children sometimes got on the soles of their feet.” 45 See, for example, LUF 1776: Värnanäs, Småland; and ULMA 13670: Älvsbacka, Värmland. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 157

The distribution area of the tranor mumming tradition is noteworthy. Horn- borgasjön (Hornborga Lake), which is famous for its crane-mating dances, is situated in Västergötland, but interestingly enough there is no evidence at all of any crane mumming tradition taking place here. In addition to the three provinces named above, however, there are a few examples from Närke (ULMA 885: 1); Blekinge (Nm DFS 1904: 26; vol. II, 14); Södermanland (ULMA 2667: 23); Öland (LUF 3093, EU 1938); and Skåne (ULMA 13672).

2. c. v. Askkällingar (Ash Hags), Påskkäringar (Easter Witches) and Påskbrudar (Easter Brides) As noted above, Easter is a moveable feast, Easter Day falling on the first Sun- day after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. Easter Sunday can fall at the earliest on March 22 and at the latest on April 25. In Sweden, three different main mumming traditions occurred during Easter week: askkällingar (Ash hags), påskkäringar (Easter witches or hags); and påskbrudar (Easter brides). In the nineteenth century, askkällingar were a common sight on the island of Gotland. Catharina Fredriksson (born in 1853) describes what they looked like and how they behaved at that time: “Aske-kärringar” det var store, långe karlar, vanligen klädda, en som gubbe och en som kärring. De gick omkring med ris och en påse att lägga äggen i, som de tiggde. För det mesta var riset tjärigt och när man var barn fick man allt duktigt med stryk, men “det var till nån slags välsignelse”. Förr gick de vanligen långfredagen eller an- nandagen, ej på påskdagen. När man var barn skulle man läsa för de där “askekär- ringarna”, men först skulle man kyssa riset. När dom kom in i stugan ropte dom: “påska-bollar (bullar) och påska-ägg, påska-bollar och påska-ägg”, och då var det att ge dom. Man var rädd för dom när man var barn och de hade stora skråpukar och stora näsor och på karn var det ett långt skägg. Ibland hade de ju också fisknät på sig och stora kohudar över sig. Askekäringar brukas nog än, den dag i dag är (EU 17883: Gotland: Recording made by Anna Arvidsson in 1935 of an account by fru Catharina Fredriksson, born in 1853). (Ash hags were usually big, tall fellows; one was dressed as a man and one as a woman. They went around with birch twigs and a bag in which to put the eggs that they collected. The twigs were often stained with tar, and as a child you got a lot of beatings, but “it was a kind of blessing”. It was common to go around on Good Fri- day or Easter Monday, but never on Easter Sunday. When we were children, you were supposed to read for those “ash-hags” but first of all you had to kiss the twigs. When they went into the house, they shouted, “Easter buns and Easter eggs, Easter buns and Easter eggs,” and then you had to give them some. As a child, you were frightened of them: they wore terrible masks and had big noses and the men had long beards. They sometimes had fishing nets and big cow hides over them. Ash hags probably still appear today, as they did in the old days.) The quotation underlines that askkällingar could still be seen in Gotland in the 1930s. Exactly when this mumming tradition ceased is not known, but evidence of it exists from Visby in Gotland in the 1940s and 1950s. A detailed de- 158 Eva Knuts scription of the tradition as it occurred in the Klinten area of Visby is given in the following account: Först något om klädseln. Man tog nog vad som fanns, några gamla rockar eller kjolar. Huvudsaken att man såg så skräckinjagande ut som möjligt. Det hände att pojkar kunde klä ut sig i nån gammal kjol, målade ansiktet, eller smorde in det med aska. […] Mest gick vi väl i grupper, man var rädd för att vara ensam, det kunde ju komma någon större eller starkare pojk. Nog hände det att vi brukade riset på dem, som vi vågade oss på. […] Jag vet att vi höll på att skrämma slag på en flicka, när jag ut- klädd i en gammal rock och med en slokhatt på huvudet, satt på en kamrats axlar, och försökte låta så skräckinjagande ut som möjligt (letter from Göran O. Karlsson of Visby, Gotland, to Fredrik Skott, dated January 5, 2004: in the ownership of Fred- rik Skott). (First of all, I’ll say something about the disguises. You used whatever was available, like old coats or skirts. The main thing was to make yourself look as frightening as possible. It happened that the boys might disguise themselves in some old skirt, and paint their faces or rub them with ashes […]. We usually went around in groups, as we were afraid of going alone because we might meet a bigger or stronger boy. If that happened, we would use the birch on those we dared to attack […]. I know that we frightened the life out of one girl once when I was dressed up in an old coat, had a floppy hat on my head and was sitting on a friend’s shoulders trying to sound as terrifying as possible.) It is likely that the Gotland askkällingar eventually lost out to the påskkäringar (Easter witches) mentioned below. Today, dressing up as påskkäringar (Easter witches or hags) is one of the most common mumming traditions in Sweden (see maps 2.9 and 12.1; and figs 2.13Ð2.14 and 12.1Ð12.2).46 Throughout the whole country on either Maundy Thursday or Easter Saturday, young girls disguise themselves as witches, usually wearing long skirts, aprons and shawls or headscarves to cover their heads. The little “witches” might also carry broomsticks or perhaps baskets with so-called påskbrev (Easter letters) inside. Today’s påskkäringar are comparatively “cute” and harmless. The following quotation illustrates how this mumming tradition could manifest itself in Stockholm in the middle of the twentieth century: Nu är jag 52, men när jag var liten klädde de flesta småungarna ut sig till påsk- käringar på Skärtorsdagen. Vi målade rosor på kinderna och ibland hade vi läpp- stift och ögonbrynspenna. Vi hade huckle/schalett på huvudet, långa kjolar och förkläde. Schaletten och förklädet var viktigast. Vi lånade av våra mammor. Vi hade kaffepanna med eller utan lock, eller i yttersta nödfall en liten korg att samla godis och pengar i. Det är möjligt att någon “red” på en sopborste eller kvast, men jag är inte säker. Barnen som klädde ut sig var upp till 10 – 12 år, absolut inte äldre. På sen eftermiddag/kväll gick vi tillsammans flera barn och ringde på dörrarna i husen runtomkring. När (om) dörren öppnades ropade vi “Glad påsk” och såg gla- da ut. För det mesta fick vi då lite godis i våra kaffepannor/korgar, ibland fick vi en peng. Ibland fick vi skällning för att vi ringde på. Så småningom började några

46 See further the article on this subject by Fredrik Skott elsewhere in this volume, and also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 159

göra påskkort (enkla teckningar) och lämna till dem som öppnade dörren, men det var inte särskilt många som lade tid på det, och de vuxna blev närmast förvånade när vi ropade “Glad påsk” och lämnade påskkort (DAGF 86: Stockholm, Upp- land). (I’m now 52 years old, but when I was a child most of the little ones used to disguise themselves to look like Easter witches on Maundy Thursday. We painted rosy circles on our cheeks and sometimes we even wore lipstick and eye shadow. We wore headscarves on our heads, long skirts and aprons. The headscarves and aprons were the most important. We borrowed them from our mothers. We carried coffee pots with or without lids, or if absolutely necessary a little basket that we could collect sweets and money in. It’s possible that someone “rode” on a broom or brush, but I’m not sure. The children that were disguised were between 10Ð12 years old, certainly no older than that. Late in the afternoon/ early evening, a group of us would go round and ring the doorbells of the neighbouring houses. When (if) the door was opened, we’d shout, “Happy Easter!” and smile. We usually got some sweets in our coffee pots or baskets and sometimes even got a coin. Sometimes we got a telling-off for ringing the doorbell. Eventu- ally, we started to make a few Easter letters (with simple drawings) and gave them to whoever opened the door, but there weren’t many who could be bothered and the adults were quite surprised when we cried “Happy Easter!” and left our Easter letters.) 160 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.13: Påskkäringar in Heljebol, Lane-Ryr, Bohuslän, Sweden, in 1961. (Photo: Karin Jons- son.) (Courtesy of Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg.)

Fig. 2.14: Påskkäringar (Easter witches) and påskgubbar (Easter men) in Åmål, Dalsland, Sweden, in 1955. (Photo: Sven Christiansson.) (Courtesy of Gun Gillberg, and Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 161

In the past, it was argued that the tradition of påskkäringar probably originated in the suburbs of Stockholm at the beginning of the twentieth century.47 However, Fredrik Skott has recently shown that that was not the case. As his research indicates, the tradition of mumming in the form of påskkäringar (females) and påskgubbar (Easter men; males) had already become common occurrences in western Sweden by the mid-nineteenth century.48 Today’s Easter mumming tradition is, in fact, radically different from the way it used to be. The påskkäringar of the nineteenth century were not small children, and were far from “cute”. Rather than children, it was usually teenagers who took on the roles of the witches. Instead of using make-up, the mummers smeared their faces with soot. Another alternative was to use a face mask (skråpukansikte). This might originally have been made out of cloth or paper, with hair, a beard and eyebrows made from moss, but by the start of the twentieth century, ready-made masks were already becoming available. All of these masks guaranteed that you would not be recognised and also made it easier to frighten the people being visited. The disguises varied: records often describe how the mummers tried to make themselves look like “real” witches, therefore dressing up as old peasant women with long skirts and headscarves in old and tattered clothes. It was very common for men to disguise themselves as women and vice-versa so that they would not be recognised. As noted above, both the påskkäringar and påskgubbar (Easter men) carried things that were particularly associated with witches. Some sort of flying equipment, such as a broom, poker or pole was compulsory. Some- times they would carry a smörjehorn (a horn containing “flying ointment”) or a coffee pot with them as well (Skott 2002b). Katarina Nilsson, an 87-year-old from Östra Ämtervik described in 1931 what påskkäringar looked like when she was young: De unga brukade kläda ut sig på påskkvällen och spela spratt med varandra i gårdar- na. De klädde ut sig “eländigt”. De voro ute för att rida till “Blåkulla”. Och de klädde ut sig till käringar och gubbar; flickorna till anskrämliga gubbar och pojkarna till kä- ringar. Somliga hade fula “skråbukansikte” på sig […] De jamade som kattor och “vände bort rösten”. Ett omtyckt nöje var att repa efter väggarna med käppar och ställa till oljud på fönstren, ja t.o.m. placera en sten genom skorstenen. Alla sådana där upptåg hittade de på. Det var inte alla gårdar som voro trakterade av att få sådana påhälsningar, men det var ingenting att göra åt saken. Och blev man arg och lät veta detta, så kunde det bli ännu värre nästa års påskkväll (IFGH 2472: 42–44: Östra Äm- tervik, Värmland). (The young folk used to get disguised on Easter Saturday and play tricks on each other. They dressed themselves up to look “really poor and horrible”. They were supposed to ride to “Blåkulla” [a mountain which was said to be the traditional meeting place for witches in Sweden] to meet up with the devil. They disguised themselves as old women and men: the girls as nasty old men and the boys as old women. Some of them wore ugly face masks […]. They mewed like cats and “changed their

47 See Bringéus 1976: 134; Rehnberg 1952: 146; and Ronström 1988. 48 See further the article by Fredrik Skott on this subject elsewhere in this volume. 162 Eva Knuts

voices”. A popular trick was to scratch on the walls with sticks and make a right old noise at the window, yes, they would even put a stone down the chimney. They invented all kinds of pranks. Not everyone liked such visits, of course, but there wasn’t anything you could do to prevent it. If someone got angry and showed it, they could expect worse treatment the following Easter.) It is evident from the above quotation that the nineteenth-century påskkäringar of western Sweden went around the villages and got up to a lot of mischief. It is often recounted that either an individual or a group would go into houses in order to frighten the occupants and be treated to eggs, cakes or schnapps. How- ever, it was just as likely that the påskkäringar went out distributing or throwing påskbrev (Easter letters). These letters usually had a coloured drawing on the front, often showing a witch but also eggs and other things connected with Easter. The letters also usually carried a little verse, sometimes addressed to the påsktroll (Easter troll) or something similar. The verses varied but were usually formulated as an invitation to take part in the forthcoming feast at Blåkulla, such as: “Sopa, raka, smörjehorn, sänder jag dig till resedon. Far fort min vän, kom snart igen! Det önskas av en trogen vän!” (I send you a broomstick, rake and ointment horn. Be quick, my friend, and come back soon! From a faithful friend!: Skott 2002b). The letter was then folded up to make a triangle or square and delivered anonymously, as Karl Magnusson, born in 1870 in Stora Kil in the county of Värmland, relates: När det led fram på kvällen så att det var nedmörkt blev det rörligt på vägarna och kring stugorna, ty då kom utklädda “trollpackor” och “påskgubbar” i farten. Det kunde vara stora lag. De sprungo omkring i gårdarna och kastade “påskbrev” (även kallade “trollbrev’”). Man ritade ut fula käringar, gubbar och bockar på papper. Kun- de man någon vers så skrev man. […] Man brukade rita ut en eldgaffel, käpp, katt, kvast el. dyl. På sådana åkdon tänkte man sig att häxorna åkte till Blåkulla. Ungdo- marna, som voro ute för att föreställa “trollpackor” voro klädda i t rasor, hudar o. dyl. De buro käppar och kvastar. När de svängde med kvasten “ven” det i luften. Det skulle föreställa som då en “påskkäring” far i luften. När de hade avlämnat ett påsk- brev i en stuga tog de kvasten och sopade på fönstret eller efter väggen. Eller de slog ett slag i väggen innan de skyndade därifrån. Det var inte meningen att man skulle upptäcka vem eller vilka som kastade breven. Det skulle vara hemligt (IFGH 2469: 8–10: Stora Kil, Värmland). (As evening approached and it got dark, things started to happen on the roads to and around the houses in the village, because the masked “witches” and Easter men were coming. There could be a big group of them. They ran to the houses and threw in Easter letters (also known as “troll letters”). They drew horrible old women, men and goats on them. There might also be a little verse written underneath. […]. There could be a poker, stick, cat or broomstick or such like on the letters because the witches went to Blåkulla on them. The young folk playing the parts of “witches” were dressed in rags, animal skins or such like and carried sticks and brooms. When they swung their brooms, they “swished” in the air. It was supposed to represent an Easter witch taking off. When they had delivered an Easter letter to a house, they either swept the window or one of the walls with the broom or else banged on the walls before hurrying off. You weren’t supposed to know who had thrown in the letter. That was a secret.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 163

In comparison to many of the other Swedish mumming traditions, the påskkäring tradition was distinguished by its strong connection to contemporary religious ideas and myths. As noted above, the stories in the folklore archives prove that during the nineteenth century the mummers did their best to resemble the legendary witches in a realistic fashion. The disguises, the coffee pot and the other witches’ attributes are examples of this. The participants’ behaviour also indicates that they were greatly inspired by the stories about “real” witches. For example, some of the older court records mention that witches often left their houses by flying up the chimney (Skott 1999: 116). In order to imitate this, the mummers sometimes climbed up onto the roof and poured soot down the chimney (see, for example, IFGH 2722: 54). The element of adding “realism” to their enacted role as mythical witches was done to frighten the people they visited, and many records show that they often succeeded in this. As Fredrik Skott has shown, the påskkäring tradition spread from western Sweden to other parts of Sweden around the turn of the nineteenth/ twentieth century. It then spread to the Swedish parts of Finland and after that to the Finnish-speaking parts of Finland (Skott 2002b: 201Ð202).49 The tradition has changed quite dramatically during the twentieth century. From mainly having been a teenage tradition, it has now definitely become a children’s tradition. The participants are no longer masked, although they are still in costume. Their behaviour has also changed. Gone are the attempts to frighten those visited and the tradition of “throwing” Easter letters (even if in parts of western Sweden Easter letters are still distributed). In short, the masked mumming tradition has changed to become something much more organised. For example, it is now common for adults to organise Easter parades and processions in many areas. In general, however, the most recently collected material indicates that the tradition is still on the decline in much of the country (Skott 2002b: 202Ð212). Påskbrudar (Easter brides) were also known to occur in Bohuslän (see figs 2.15 and 11.1). It was often children who disguised themselves in this way.50 However, it might be noted that few of the older records concern påskbrudar (see also Arill 1928a). Nonetheless, there are a few photographs of påskbrudar in the folklore archives, one of which is dated 1927 (DAGF 190: 9). The following quotation effectively summarises what these brides might have looked like: Vid påsken hade barnen sitt eget påskekalas. De var en sju, åtta stycken som slog sig samman i ett lag. Så sköt de ihop lite kaffe och dopp och några ägg var, och så fick de vara i någon kammare. Då kläddes också någon liten pen tös på en åtta år eller så där till påskebrud […]. Hon hade krona, krans och slöja. Kronan och kransen gjordes av vackra tyg- och pappersbitar. Till slöja användes en gardin. När bruden var fär- digklädd gick de omkring i husen och visade henne. Därvid leddes hon av två flickor medan de övriga följde efter. Så fick de gotter och pengar där de var och visade sig (VFF 1761: 40: Morlanda, Bohuslän: informant born in 1847).

49 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming in Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. 50 See further the article by Eva Knuts on mock brides elsewhere in this volume. 164 Eva Knuts

Fig. 2.15 (above): Påskbrudar in Lysekil, Bo- huslän, Sweden, in 1927. (Courtesy of Nordis- ka museet.)

Fig. 2.16 (right): Rune Larsson as a Valborre, Floda, Dalarna, Sweden, in 1936. (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.)

(At Easter, the children had their own Easter party. Seven or eight of them would get together in a group. They each contributed a little coffee, some cakes and eggs and met up in a room at the back. A girl of about eight years old was then dressed up as an Easter bride […]. She wore a crown, a garland and a veil. The crown and the garland were made out of beautiful pieces of material and paper. A net curtain was used as a veil. When the bride was ready the group took her round to the houses to show her off. She was led by two girls and the others followed behind. They got sweets and money in return for the little show.)

2. c. vi. April 30: St Walpurgis or Walpurgis Night (Valborg) Valborg is a fixed day in the calendar, and, as was noted in section 1. b., Olaus Magnus (1555) wrote of a costumed combat between “winter” and “summer” taking place in Sweden at around this time.51 For many people in Sweden in

51 Bringéus writes that: “Valborgsdagen inledde det administrativa året och många städer i Dan- mark och Sverige bekostade denna dag en fest med förplägnad och skådespel” (Valborg marked the beginning of the administrative year and many towns and cities in Denmark and Sweden provided a feast on that day complete with food and drama: Bringéus 1999: 61). In the late Middle Ages, the day had become a saint’s day in honour of St Walpurga, who, according to tradition, was an abbess in Germany in the eighth century (Bringéus 1999: 61). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 165

Map 2.10: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Val- borrar (Valborg men). (Map: Fredrik Skott.) more modern times, Valborg means Valborg bonfires52 and songs where “skö- na maj” (beautiful May) is heartily welcomed.53 The present author remembers how during her childhood in Leksand, Dalarna, the whole village would gather in a field and light a bonfire that had been steadily constructed during the previous weeks. Persuading parents to buy rockets and bangers was vital, even if it was not always successful. In the earlier literature, the noise of fireworks or cowbells was often associated with the idea of frightening away wolves or witches which were believed to be on the prowl at this time.54 According to the available material, mumming as Valborrar (Valborg men) on Valborg Night was thought to have been a local custom, mainly limited to Floda in Dalarna (see fig. 2.16; and map 2.10). However, it also took place

52 Bringéus (1999: 65) quotes Linné (from 1749): “Eldar sågs på många ställen lysande långt ifrån vägen, ty lantmannen har för sed alltifrån hedenhös, att natten före Valborgsmässodagen upptända eldar på marken, att däromkring dansa och fägna sig åt den tillkommande sommaren” (Fires could be seen burning brightly from afar because since time immemorial, farmers have kindled fires on the ground on Valborg and danced around and celebrated the coming summer). 53 As af Klintberg notes, in the old Danish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland, Valborg has for centuries been the evening when the young folk sing “maj i byn” (May into the village). He adds that “Majsjungning var en accepterad form av tiggeri i de sydsvenska byarna” (Singing May in was an accepted form of begging in the southern Swedish villages: af Klintberg 1991: 97). 54 See Bannbers 1947; Nilsson 1936: 51–52; and Eskeröd 1953: 55–57. 166 Eva Knuts occasionally in a few other places in Dalarna, such as Järna, Evertsberg and Ore, and also in Hälsingland (ULMA 2751: 5: 13). The most important ingredients of the Valborg celebration (the bonfire, the fireworks and the disguises that made the wearers so anonymous that they could get up to real mischief) are well described in the following quotation: På Valborgsmässoaftonen samlas människor vid elden och då förekommer det dans som på en vanlig dansbana. Somliga klär ut sig till vad som helst, precis som till en maskerad. Klär gärna ut sig så de ser så rysliga ut som möjligt. Sedan springer de omkring bland de andra människorna och tänder fyrverkeripjäser, gräshoppor o.d. De ej utklädda människorna vill gärna veta, vem den utklädda är och försöker därför lura av den utklädda hans ansiktsmask, som kan bestå av en strumpa dragen över huvudet. Ofta har den utklädde en lång käpp, som han går omkring och retar människor med. Det är när man får ett sådant slag som man försöker få av masken på den ut- klädde. Det gäller för den utklädde att ej visa sitt rätta jag ty vid kvällens slut disku- terar och gissar man vem den och den kunde vara. Det få man aldrig reda på, om inte den utklädda har måst tagit av sig masken. De utklädda dansar gärna med ej utkläd- da, men föreställde rösten och undviker på alla sätt att visa, vem de är. De utklädda kallas valboror (Klingberg 1998: 74: Floda, Dalarna). (On Valborg Night, people gathered round the bonfire and there was an open-air dance. Some people disguised themselves, as for a masked ball. You could look as horrible as you liked. Then those disguised would run around among the crowd and light fireworks. Those who weren’t in disguise were, of course, eager to know who the others were and would therefore try to entice the mummer to take off his or her mask, which might be a stocking pulled down over the head. Often the mummer would carry a long stick that he would poke or hit people with to irritate them. When you get such a knock, you really try to get the mask off. The game was all about the mummers not revealing their identity, although by the end of the evening, everyone was talking about them and trying to guess who was who. You only found that out if the mummers took off their masks. The mummers happily danced with those who weren’t in disguise, but all the time altered their voices and tried to avoid giving the game away. The maskers were called valboror (Valborg men). The above quotation underlines that fact that the mummers were adults. The record quoted below however, relates that Valborrar were mainly children: På Valborgsmässoaftonen hade vi många eldar i byn. De sämsta kläderna som fanns klädde vi oss i (helst herrkläder) och när brasan nästan brunnit ner krafsade vi åt oss kolbitar och sprang runt och sotade varann. Det var skolbarnens lek, flickor och pojkar emellan. Som vi såg ut när vi kom hem (DAGF 146: 15: Sollerön, Dalarna). (There were a lot of bonfires in the village on Valborg Night. We dressed up in the worst clothes we could lay our hands on [preferably men’s clothes] and when the fires had almost burned out, we raked out bits of charcoal and ran around and spread soot over each other. It was a schoolchildren’s game between the boys and the girls. What a sight we must have looked when we got home.) (The informant adds: “Dessa saker roade vi oss med på 1930- och 40-talet” [We enjoyed ourselves doing these things in the 1930s and 1940s].) Ola Bannbers (1947), who has written about Valborrar i Floda (Valborg men in Floda) also points out that the tradition has now been taken over by children, since previously it was adults who disguised themselves as Valborrar. None- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 167 theless, Valborg mumming is not thought to have been a tradition that has spread much.55 A newly received letter from a local folklore society relates how people used to kåjta Oullbou (run Valborg) in Evertsberg in northern Dalarna (DAGF 179). The account given shows how the local people have tried to keep the tradition alive: En av de traditioner som vi försökt bli bevarad är när man på valborgsmässoaftonen klädde ut sig för att gå runt i byn och tigga. […] I nutid uppmuntrar vi barnen att komma på vår valborgsfest och vara utklädda men det blir svårare och svårare att motivera dem. Senaste året annonserade vi att vi från hembygdföreningen sminkade de som ville. Det gav gehör (DAGF 179: Älvdalen, Dalarna). (One of the traditions that we have tried to keep alive is Valborg Night, when people disguised themselves and went around the village collecting […]. Nowadays we encourage the children to come to our Valborg celebration in disguise, but it gets harder to motivate them. Last year, we advertised that the members of the folklore society would make up those who wanted to take part. That got a good response.) This example shows how older traditions can be revitalised (cf. the Knut and Twelfth Night mumming events discussed above) and spread via schools, local folklore societies and other “adult controlled” institutions.56

2. c. vii. Whitsun (Pingst) Whitsun is another moveable feast. At the earliest, Whitsun falls on May 10 and at the latest, on June 13. Nowadays, Whitsun is one of the most popular times for weddings in Sweden, meaning that the sight of real bridal pairs at Whitsun is not unusual. Bridal mumming is not about looking horrible or dressing as shabbily as possible.57 In pre-industrial peasant society, the bride was the most beautiful person imaginable, as Resare notes: Eftersom man eftersträvade att bruden skulle bli så otroligt grann, så lånade man utsmyckningen från andra. Ofta var det prästfrun som stod till tjänst med hela bröllopsståten men även herrgårdsfruar bidrog till att göra brudarna så fina som möj- ligt genom att låna ut sina egna smycken (Resare 1988: 82). (The aim was to make the bride as unbelievably beautiful as possible, so you borrowed each other’s jewellery and other fancy things. The clergyman’s wife was often in charge of the whole affair, but the ladies of the estate would also help to make the brides as lovely as possible by lending out their own jewellery.) The whole village could thus be involved in the dressing and adorning of the bride. Many churches supplied bridal crowns and jewellery (on condition that

55 It is possible that Valborg mumming was more common than the records indicate, but names such as valborrar, at least, are not thought to have been common. Nonetheless, mumming traditions without names attached to them can easily get lost in the archives. 56 On such organisation of tradition, see further the article by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume. 57 See further the article by Eva Knuts on this subject elsewhere in this volume. 168 Eva Knuts the bride was a virgin). With regard to pingstbrudar (Whitsun brides), several records and a great deal of other literature is available on the subject. The first appearance of pingstbrudar seems to occur in the minutes of a parish meeting from 1746: Androg Kyrckowerden Hendrick Matthesson från Juhla klagomål öfwer en piga från prästegården i Ullerfwad wid namn Annika, at hon förledne Pingestdag kom till Juhla by före messan, men wille intet följa med det öfriga folket till kyrckan, utan blef qwar i byen under Gudstjenstens förrättande tillika med en annan hop ungdom, som hon lockat med sig, the ther hafwa fördt ett oanständigt wäsende under sielfwa Gudstjensten med en så kallad Pingestbruds utspökande med mera, begärandes at jag wille lägga handen här wid, at hon må blifwa befordrat til en tillbörlig näpst här före (C. M. Bergstrand: 1934: 112). (The church warden, Hendrick Matthesson from Juhla, made an accusation against a maiden by the name of Annika from the vicarage in Ullerfwad, saying that last Whit Sunday she came to Juhla before the Communion service, but would not join the others going to church. Instead, she remained in the village during the service, together with another group of youngsters that she had enticed to come with her. During the service there was a scandalous disturbance with a so-called “Whitsun bride” (pingestbrud) in disguise. He demanded that she ought to be properly castigated.) The reason why the pingstbrud is mentioned in the above quotation is that the church wanted to get rid of the tradition of pingstbrudar, which was viewed “såsom ett syndigt väsende” (as a sinful practice: Bringéus 1999: 77). The same attitude can be detected in several other early records which mention the clergy’s disapproval of the tradition. The effect that this had is clear: several informants remember the pingstbrudar from their childhood, but note that the tradition disappeared as a result of the church’s disapproval (see, for example, IFGH 2059). In contrast to midsummer, Whitsun was an important religious festival. Broberg (1956) nonetheless says that the status of the pingstbrud was lower than that of the Swedish midsommarbrud (midsummer bride: see the following section) for several reasons. In part, it was due to the religious complications and in part due to the facts that the pingstbrudar were often younger than the midsommarbrudar and also that “begging” was usually connected to the latter practice (see, for example, Granlund 1970). Furthermore, the midsommarbrud was chosen and “dressed up” by the whole village. In addition, both young and old often celebrated midsummer together, while the pingstbrudar were principally a concern of the younger folk: adults had little control over what actually happened. In addition, at midsummer, it was more common to have a procession or at least a bridal pair. The pingstbrud, on the other hand, tended to be an individual mummer, although she might have had several bridesmaids in tow. Broberg (1956) argues that the pingstbrud tradition, which was most widespread in southern Sweden, in Skåne, western Blekinge, southern Halland, and parts of Västergötland and Östergötland (there are few examples from Närke and Södermanland), is the oldest variant of bridal mumming, and suggests that it might derive from similar mumming traditions on the continent. It might also Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 169 conceivably be connected with the masked procession of the majgreve and gre- vinna (the Count and Countess of May) in Denmark (cf. Gerward 1996).58

2. c. viii. Midsummer (Midsommar) In spite of its earlier connection to the summer solstice (June 21), and Johannes Döparens födelsedag (the birth of John the Baptist on June 24), midsommar in Sweden is nowadays a moveable feast, and is celebrated between June 20 and June 26.59 It is not surprising that poles, houses and people are decorated at this time, thereby echoing nature which generously supplies both flowers and greenery. The midsommar pole, or majstång (lit. Maypole) as it is also known, has come to symbolise Sweden in the minds of many. Small midsommar poles are widely available in souvenir shops, and pictures of them are regularly seen in Swedish tourist information brochures. According to the more recently assembled material, masking is no longer associated with midsommar in Swe- den, although for many people the wearing of a garland of wild flowers is closely associated with midsommar eve. Nonetheless, throughout the whole country in the past (with certain local variations), it was common for people to dress up a midsommar bride or bridal pair (see the previous section).60 In geographical terms, the earlier midsommarbrud occurred more widely (especially in central and northern Sweden) than the pingstbrud (Whitsun bride). However, the external appearance was similar, as the following account shows: Midsommarbruden hade blekingedräkt och liksom ett silverskärp om livet och hals- band och kedjor hade hon också och en fin papperskrona på huvudet och silkesband bak i kronan. Det riktigt tindrade omkring henne. Och så hade hon två tärnor med kransar på huvudet. Den som tog första dansen med bruden kallades brudgum. De hade inte majstång överallt, där de hade midsommarbrud. – Midsommarbruden skulle ha pengar och ett par skor för det att hon var brud (LUF 3148: Bräkne-Hoby, Blekinge; here from Broberg 1956). (The midsommar bride wore the Blekinge costume, with a silver belt around her waist, and she also wore a necklace and chain, and a lovely paper crown on her head with a silver ribbon at the back. She really sparkled. She also had two bridesmaids

58 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 59 As Nilsson notes, “Det är ej den kyrkliga bemärkelsedagen, Johannes Döpares födelsedag, som gjort midsommar till en stor och spridd folklig fest, utan tvärt om den omständigheten, att Johannes Döpares dag infaller på en dag, vilken har ett sådant läge i kalendern, att folkliga föreställningar och bruk lätt har kunnat anknyta sig till den, som gjort den till en allmänt firad festdag” (It is not the religious observance of John the Baptist’s birthday that made midsummer an important and widespread popular festival; on the contrary, John the Baptist’s birthday falls on a day which has such a position in the calendar that popular ideas and practices could easily be combined to become a generally celebrated festival: Nilsson 1936: 105). The day occurs six months before the birth of Christ. Nilsson wrote his comment before midsommar in Sweden was moved to the Saturday closest to the equinox, in accordance with the reformation of the calendar in 1953 (Bringéus 1999: 80). 60 See further the article by Eva Knuts on mock brides elsewhere in this volume, and also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway for similar traditions. 170 Eva Knuts

with flower garlands on their heads. The one who had the first dance with the bride was called the “bridegroom”. They didn’t have majstång where they had the midsommarbrud. Ð The midsommarbrud was supposed to be given money and a pair of shoes because she was a bride.) As Resare points out, some bridal accessories were more important than others: “Det som framförallt karaktäriserade den svenska bruden är hennes huvudprydnader: kronan, kransen och slöjan” (What really characterises the Swedish bride is her headgear: a crown, a garland and a veil: Resare 1988: 77).61 These attributes are often mentioned as part of the costumes in descriptions of the traditions. One intriguing and recurring feature of these traditions, however, is the mention of the white dress, because while upper-class brides started to wear white at weddings from around the start of the nineteenth century, in principle the lower classes maintained the tradition of wearing black throughout the century. It would thus seem that the bourgeois ideal was the principal model for this “popular” mumming tradition. It might also be noted in this connection that the bride described above wears the Blekinge costume, something which might have been regarded as being “more folksy”. Another feature of the mock bride tradition in some parts was the discussion of morality, as the following quotation about a Whitsun bride indicates: Under mina första år var jag med ute på mycket roligt, så hade vi en pingstäng på Bornberget [Västergötland], där missionshuset nu ligger. Där hade vi alla möjliga galenskaper för oss om pingsten, sen blev det förbjudet för det kom horeri med i spelet, de gifte ihop brudpar och sen låg det nära tillhands, att de höll ihop hela natten (IFGH 4301: Våmb, Västegötland). (During my first year, I was involved in lots of amusing things. We had a “Whitsun meadow” in Bornberget [Västergötland], where the mission house is now. We did all sorts of mad things at Whitsun, but then it was banned because the game got mixed up with “whoredom”. They married the bridal pair and then they spent the whole night together.) The fact that not everything in these traditions was completely respectable can be understood from the suggestions given in some accounts that people did not dare to mention this game to the local vicar (IFGH 4475). Furthermore, many records highlight the fact that the chosen bride was often a girl who already had a bad reputation. According to several records, it was not considered “correct” for a girl to take the role of the mock bride, perhaps because, if nothing else, the bride was supposed to dance with all the men and receive money for being the bride (Granlund 1970). However, in other records, the attitude was completely different in that people there talk of it being an honour to be chosen as the bride. Several records point out that the most beautiful maiden in the village should have the leading role, and ideally be someone who had not been involved with a lot of boys. Attitudes towards the mock bride tradition thus

61 Similar features are found in Norwegian tradition. See further the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 171 varied considerably, and could be interpreted quite differently in different places, and perhaps also by different generations.62 The midsommar bride, however, was not the only tradition to occur at this time. In some places, other types of masking were also known at midsummer: David Arill, for example, wrote about the tradition of lövgubbar (leaf men) in Uddevalla in Bohuslän. His conclusion was that the lövgubbe was probably a “rätt sent inflyttad främling” (foreign tradition new to the area: Arill 1928b: 12). In this connection, it is worth remembering that Uddevalla was a busy seaport and that similar mumming traditions occurred in both Germany and Eng- land (cf. the German Laubman, the English Jack-in-the-Green, and the figure of “Green George” in the Slavonic area: Bringéus 1999: 80). Most likely foreign traditions like these lie behind the local Uddevalla tradition of lövgubbar. Another place where a similar form of mumming has occurred is the island of Gotland, which has also had a great deal of contact with Germany over the years (even though such connections can not be directly deduced from the existing material). One informant describes the characters that appeared here in the following way: Midsommargubbar var en gammal sed att styra till med midsommardagen. Den är bortlagd för flera år sedan, och i Attlingbo har den med säkerhet inte förekommit efter år 1860 (ULMA 441: 20: Nils Carlsson, materialinsamling till uppsats: Gotland). (The midsummer men [midsommargubbar] were an ancient tradition connected with Midsummer’s Day. It was discontinued some years ago and in Attlingbo, it certainly hasn’t existed since 1860.) In Gotland, the tradition involved several old men being dressed in greenery. These would open the dancing, and each one chose a midsommartös (midsummer maiden).63 This resembles the following mumming tradition known in Dalarna: Dä va pojkar som gått te skogen och klätt säj i grönt, så stora de va, å de dansa först mä säj själva på messommassleken kring majstången, sänn bjö de upp flickorna, å de hadde så mycket upptåg för säj, sa mor, och de roade alla, å mor tala om att sånna där gubbar hadde de där var messommarslek (ULMA 4653: Söderbärke, Dalarna ). (The boys went into the woods and disguised themselves all over with greenery. They started dancing around the Maypole and then invited girls to partner them.

62 When Granlund (1970) went through the records in connection with the Whitsun brides, it appeared that the girl who was chosen as bride varied considerably. It might be the most beautiful girl, a rich man’s child or a girl from a poor family. How the bride was chosen also reveals something about the status connected with being the bride. In this respect, Granlund found that the bride could be chosen by lottery, hired, bribed, elected, chosen or selected. The people who initiated the mumming are also interesting from the point of view of status: it appears that it could have been the young people themselves, the village community, older people, “en hel hoper barn” (a group of children), “fattigt folk som skickar ut sin flicka som brud” (poor people who sent their girl as a bride), or, for example, simply “Ulleve herrgård” (Ulleve manor: Granlund 1970: 75). 63 These men were sometimes called S:t Hansgubbar (St Hans Men), a tradition that might be connected to the Norwegian and Danish celebrations of “St Hans” (St Johannes, or St John), which are still observed (Bringéus 1999: 80). See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and Norway elsewhere in this volume. 172 Eva Knuts

Mother said that they were up to such larks that everybody was amused and that they always had such fellows at every midsummer game.) Yet another comparable tradition occurred in Närke, where one account tells of gröngubbar (green men), young men who disguised themselves with bracken and danced around the majstång (ULMA 5175). Articles about these lövgubbar and gröngubbar nonetheless describe a tradition that had already (at the time of writing) disappeared. According to the recorded material, the phenomenon disappeared in around 1860. Exactly why that happened is unknown.

2. d. Autumn As in the other Nordic countries, there are not very many autumn mumming traditions in Sweden. In fact, there is a general scarcity of festivals between midsummer and December. One tradition that does occur around this time is Halloween, which will be described specially later. There are, however, one or two other festive opportunities which occur during this period, all of them interestingly enough, associated with food. For example, eating crayfish by the light of paper moons is a bright spot in August (see, for example, Salomonsson 1991). August parties involving the eating of fermented herring (surström- ming) are also regarded by many (mainly people from the county of Norrland) as the most important event of the year. Although not masking traditions as such, the wearing of silly hats and bibs is part and parcel of these festivities.

2. d. i. Harvest Time As noted above, food has a prominent role to play during autumn’s various “premières” in Sweden, with crayfish, the aforementioned fermented herring and the year’s new wine being only a few examples. For many people, another main event of autumn is moose hunting (and the related eating of the catch). Yet another important food festival is Mårten Gås or Martinmas (November 10). In recent years, shopkeepers in Sweden have also started introducing Michaelmas campaigns,64 whereby old-fashioned wooden wheelbarrows filled

64 “Gränsmärket mellan sommar- och vinterhalvåret utgjordes sedan gammalt av Mikaelidagen, den 29 september. […]. [D]agen accentueras ytterligare av att ‘stordans’, auktioner och marknader också ägde rum vid denna tid” (Since ancient times, Michaelmas, on September 29, has marked the boundary between summer and winter […]. The day was further accentuated by the fact that “the big dance”, auctions and markets also took place around this time: Bringéus 1976: 219–220). As the autumn’s work and harvest were both finished at this time, farmers could easily spare their workers for a few days of organised festivities. It might also be noted that Michaelmas was the year’s most important weekend for moving in Sweden. It was a time when people could change their employer. Michaelmas is thus to autumn what Valborg is to spring; a time of seasonal change which signified the beginning and end of fäbodvistelse (summer pasture grazing) which deserved celebration, as the following quotation indicates: “[I] Dalarna omtalas, att valborgsmässoafton och Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 173 with root crops create an atmosphere in the fruit and vegetable sections of shops where “genuine” country wenches dressed in nineteenth-century costumes hand out recipe leaflets. Particular markets are also organised in different parts of the country, often with an emphasis on the area’s history (see, for example, Ekman 1991). Here too, people in “period” costume sell old- fashioned things and practise old crafts which illustrate the fact that autumn was/ is a busy time for the rural farmers, as well being as a time of abundance (as the above examples demonstrate). Indeed, the fact that few mumming traditions exist in autumn is sometimes accounted for by the fact that this was such a time of abundance, feasting and celebration that there was less need to create occasions for food and drink via masking and mumming. Nonetheless, there are a few local recordings of autumn mumming traditions in Sweden. Celander points out that in Vadstena, a town in northern Östergötland, a strange kind of harvest festival was celebrated after the potatoes had been harvested, which consisted of people disguising themselves and going around to sample the new potatismos (mashed potatoes made with the new season’s potatoes). As the potato harvest was usually complete at Michaelmas, the time at which the local market in Hova was held, both occasions (the mumming and the market) went by the name of Hovamoset (lit. Hova mashed potatoes: Celander 1923: 43).

2. d. ii. Halloween There seems to be some confusion about exactly when the modern Halloween falls in Sweden: whether it should take place on the day before Allhelgona- helgen (All-Hallows’ Day), or on October 31.65 Both variations appear in the mass media and literature in Sweden.66 The old Hallowe’en is a festival that has little historical anchorage in Swe- den, except for the fact that it occurs at about the same time as the old vetur- nætur (Winter Nights), which (at least in the Norwegian territories) were worshipped at the start of winter, in late October.67 The modern Halloween tradition, however, first became popular in Sweden during the 1990s (Lilja 1998).68 mikaelikvällen antändes stora eldar på fäbodvallarna” ([In] Dalarna it is mentioned that on Valborg Night and Michaelmas Eve, big bonfires are lit in the valleys of the summer pastures: Svensson 1934: 70). 65 The confusion is explained by the fact that since 1953, Allhelgonahelgen (All-Hallows’ Day) has been listed as occurring on the first Saturday in November in Swedish calendars, the old All- Hallows’ Day having been dropped as a festival in Sweden since 1772. Halloween thus occurs on the weekend that is closest to October 31, and is seen as being a period rather than a single date in Sweden. 66 See Deckel 1998; Bringéus 1999; and Lilja 1998. 67 On this festival, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 68 Regarding the development of this tradition in the Nordic countries, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and in particular the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic concerning traditions related to the festival of Hallowe’en as it existed in an earlier form (in Shetland). 174 Eva Knuts

The main ingredients of the celebration are, of course, nothing new to Sweden. As has already been seen, masked collection of foods formed part of several festival traditions in the past. The remembrance of the dead at All Hallows’ is nothing new either. Admittedly, the scooping out of pumpkins, carving faces on them and putting a candle inside was not customary (according to the records), but it was relatively common to make potato or turnip lanterns around this time, as the following record shows: Tidigare på hösten [än Anders- och Annadagarna] gjordes s k “rovgubbar” av stora rovor som tagits upp ur jorden för att användas som fodertillskott till korna. De gröp- te ur rovan och gick runt och skrämdes på mörka höstkvällar. Även vid dessa tillfäl- len var man flera barn i grupp (DAGF 151: 2: Orsa, Dalarna. Cf. ULMA 38666: 2; and Klingberg 1998: 89Ð90). (Earlier in the autumn (before the Anders and Anna days), we used to make so-called “turnip men” out of the big turnips that were dug up to use as fodder for the cows. Folk hollowed out turnips and several children went around in groups frightening people in the dark evenings.) There are also examples of Halloween being sporadically celebrated before 1990 in Sweden, something mainly attributed to exchange students, au-pairs, increased travel and imported media images. Nonetheless, as has been noted, the celebration of Halloween has only really caught on in a big way in Sweden during the last few years: it has become a time of masking for both children and adults. As in the USA, children practise “Trick or Treat” (“bus eller godis” in Swedish), while adults have fun dressing up and attending masked balls at this time. Children and adults also party together, allowing parents to meet other adults with children, thereby pleasing everybody. Indeed, for a number of years now, the Hard Rock Café in Stockholm has organised Halloween parties where both adults and children are welcome.69 Masking at Halloween in Swe- den can take different forms, but is naturally more often than not horror-, ghost- or witch-related. It is also noticeable that costumes seem to have become much more risqué in recent years (Deckel 1998). As has already been noted above, Halloween takes place in the autumn at a time when there is a scarcity of festival opportunities. Many people have thus used this as an argument to justify the celebration of Halloween. Others, however, think that Halloween has no place in the Swedish festival calendar and that it is not fitting for modern Swedish children to disguise themselves in this terrifying way. It is possible to interpret some of the negative voices as a Chris- tian reaction to something regarded as pagan (Lilja 1998). However, many of those who have expressed their opinions, and have taken part in the masking, say that it is good that something is happening, even though Halloween is not as important as Christmas or Easter, for instance (see, for example, IFGH 7362). As one person who was interviewed about Halloween noted, it is “enda

69 It might be noted that the same thing has happened in Reykjavík in Iceland, and in other countries. Indeed, the role of the Hard Rock Café (among others) in promoting the American form of Halloween in other countries is worth further research. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 175 helgen som anhörigmaffian inte tagit patent på” (the only festival that the mafia of relatives hasn’t hijacked: Expressen, October 31, 1997; quoted from Lilja 1998: 75).

2. e. Other Swedish Mumming Traditions During the Year 2. e. i. Mumming Traditions in Connection with Name Days All the days of the calendar year are directly connected to different personal names. In bygone times, name days such as these were celebrated much more than birthdays. As Johansson writes: Att den katolska kyrkan bekämpade födelsedagen som festdag, sammanhänger med kyrkans uppfattning att människan föds i arvsynd, som hon först genom döden kan befrias från till ett nytt himmelskt liv. Det är den uppfattningen som ligger till grund för seden att fira helgonens dödsdag som deras födelsedag (Johansson 1973: 16). (That the Catholic church opposed birthdays as feast days is bound up with the church’s conception of original sin, and that it is only through death that people can be delivered from sin to live a new life in heaven. It is this belief that forms the basis of the tradition of celebrating the anniversaries of the deaths of saints as people’s birthdays.) In the past, not knowing the date of your birth was nothing unusual (Johansson 1973: 18). Nowadays, celebrating actual birthdays is much more important (af Klintberg 1995; and Johansson 1973), and may even involve masked mummers (see further section 3. a. below).70 Klingberg’s manuscript (1998) noted earlier contains information about how Fruntimmersveckan (Ladies’ Week: July 19Ð25) was celebrated with masking in Dalarna (see map 2.11). Klingberg states that on this occasion it was mostly children who disguised themselves (often in their mothers’ or their fathers’ cast-off clothing) and went round to visit the neighbours. The records use the terms filegubbelutta and firegubbelutta for these figures (cf. firgubbar in the Anders and Anna traditions, all of these words meaning “celebrating men”: see also section 2. a. above). One reason why Fruntimmersveckan (Ladies’ Week) has been connected with mumming traditions might be because that is when many Swedish women celebrate their name days.71

70 The concept of time has changed. Earlier records were clearly more connected to the working year (the seasonal cycle). To some extent, this is still the case, but nowadays time tends to be cal- culated in terms of human life, from the cradle to the grave. In other words, the focus is more on individual lives and careers (Frykman and Löfgren 1979: 37–38). Mumming traditions in connection with the seasonal life cycle are thought to have been much more common in the past. The change can be seen in the increasing attention given, for example, to birthday celebrations (af Klintberg 1995; Johansson 1973; and Mattsson 1999). 71 The so-called Fruntimmersveckan (Ladies’ Week) is preceded by the name day of Fredrik (Fritz). Fruntimmersveckan includes the name days: Sara, Margareta (Greta), Johanna, Magdale- na (Madeleine), Emma and Kristina (Kerstin). The names in brackets show the “new” names that have been added to the calendar. See further af Klintberg and Wesslén (2000) with regard to names, the church and folklore. 176 Eva Knuts

Map 2.11: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Frun- timmersveckan (Ladies’ Week). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

Other name days where mumming traditions have occurred are those of Lisa, Katarina (Catherine) and Elisabeth (Klingberg 1998: 84). During the twentieth century, it was thought that these name days were celebrated in the same areas as Anders and Anna (see section 2. a.). Although Klingberg’s manuscript contains several reports of this, there are no letters in the archives describing these traditions, and none have been received in connection with the present project. One other name day that has been celebrated by masking was that of Karl (Charles). One informant describes that celebration as follows: Vid Söderfors bruk förekom på Karldagen, 28 januari, det s.k. Karlfirandet. Karl- gubbar klädde ut sig när det började skymma (i fyra tiden), till oigenkännlighet. Dessa Karlgubbar var både ungdomar och vuxna. De gick omkring i gårdarna och sjöng (ULMA 25377: Söderfors, Uppland). (On Karl’s Day, on January 28, the so-called Karl celebration took place in Söder- fors. The Karl mummers put on their disguises when it started to get dark (at about four o’clock in the afternoon) so they wouldn’t be recognised. These Karl mummers consisted of both young people and adults. They went round to people’s houses and sang songs.) This recording was made in 1963, and goes on to mention that adults stopped Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 177 taking part in these traditions in the 1930s and that only the children continued. The fact that Karl was observed in this way could also be connected to Sweden having had several kings called Karl. As noted earlier, Mattias (St Matthew’s Day: February 24) is another day where masking has been known to occur.72 This might have something to do with the different connections that this day has with regard to weather forecasts and the fact that it is set half-way through winter. In this survey, Mattias was dealt with separately, as it is quite different from the celebrations of Anders and Anna (see section 2. a.). Although Mats and Mattias share the same name day, the celebration of Mats is closer to the name-day mumming traditions connected to Anders and Anna, as particular attention is paid to people with the name of Mats.73 Danver (1942: 40) compares the custom with the lussegubbar (Lusse men) and julspöken (the Christmas Ghost). The names of Mats, Karin, Anna and Anders were among the most common name days to be observed with mumming events. However, the practice of celebrating Karin and Mats with mumming activities probably disappeared much earlier than that connected to Anna and Anders, even although there is no solid evidence to confirm that.

3. Non-Calendrical Traditions As is apparent from the other surveys in this book, mumming events do not only occur on special calendar days but also on days that are associated with the passage through life, such as birthdays, weddings, the start and finish of schooldays and so on. Although this survey of Swedish mumming traditions has concentrated on calendrical mumming traditions, it would be incomplete without some brief mention of these other life-passage traditions.

3. a. Mumming Traditions in Connection with Birthday Celebra- tions During the latter part of the nineteenth century, people in bourgeois circles started to observe certain special birthdays, such as the fiftieth. It was only in the twentieth century that the celebration of birthdays became more common in other social groupings. As has been noted, name-day celebrations were more common than birthdays in earlier times (see above, and also Johansson 1973 and Mattsson 1999). Mumming events in connection with birthdays are a relatively new phen-

72 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditons in Estonia for parallel traditions. 73 Several of the letters that have been recently been received reveal that people were aware that different names were observed in different parts of the country. For example, those who celebrated Anna and Anders in Dalarna note that they were aware of the celebration of Knut in Värmland, and also that of Mattias. 178 Eva Knuts omenon and might take different forms. Mattsson (1999) writes, for example, that those attending these celebrations often dress themselves up as someone or something that the person being honoured would recognise in connection with his or her life. For example, someone interested in hunting might be honoured by other “hunters”; the nursery teacher by “children”; a village football coach by sport “fanatics”; and so on. Birthday maskings of this kind are thus designed to amuse and honour the birthday boy or girl and can also be a way of underlining the joint membership of a group of like-minded people, as the following example shows: Från min arbetsplats, är numera pensionär, har jag många roliga utklädningsminnen. Vi utgjorde ingen stor arbetsstyrka så vi kände varandra ganska väl. När någon i per- sonalen fyllde jämnt ex. 25, 30, 35 och uppåt överraskade vi ofta vederbörande med att komma utklädda och gratulera. Oftast hade vi ett tema. En kvinnlig arbetskamrat fyllde 30 år och bjöd hem oss till någon kväll senare. Undrade liksom i förbigående vad hon skulle bjuda på, “korv och mos” sa vi. Hon skrattade förstås åt oss. Kvällen kom och det var snöigt och kallt när vi traskade fram till huset i vår utstyrsel för kväl- len. Själv stod hon i dörren, uppklädd och fin, då hon fick se oss komma utklädda som till barnkalas. Flickor i knästrumpor och korta kjolar, rosetter och råttsvansar och buspojkar i golfbyxor, hängslen, fräknar och vattenkammat hår. När festföremå- let hämtat sig och lite fick vi god mat. Ingen korv med mos, men hon förstod att vi önskat oss det. Härlig tårta till efterrätt med kaffe. Behöver det sägas att vi skrattade oss genom kvällen (DAGF 221: 3: Borlänge, Dalarna). (Although I’m now retired, I’ve got a lot of happy memories of mumming from my place of work. We were a small group of people who knew each other quite well. When one of the staff had a special birthday, reaching 25, 30, 35 and above for example, we often surprised the person in question by disguising ourselves and wishing them many happy returns of the day. We usually had a theme. A female workmate celebrated her thirtieth birthday and invited us to her home one evening. We curiously speculated what she might offer us. “Bangers and mash,” we said. Of course, she laughed at us but said nothing. The evening arrived and we trudged to the house wearing our outfits in the cold and snowy weather. She stood in the doorway, all beautifully dressed up in her best clothes, and watched us arriving in our disguises as if we were going to a children’s party. Girls dressed in knee socks and short skirts, pigtails and ribbons and the rascals in plus-fours, with braces, freckles and hair plastered down with water. When the hostess had recovered from the shock, we got something rather splendid to eat. It wasn’t bangers and mash, although she now understood that was what we’d hoped for. There was a wonderful cake for afters, and coffee. You can imagine that we did nothing but laugh the whole evening.) As has been mentioned, the honouring was often adapted to suit the individual. In this case, it was a skit on age, the idea being that on your birthday, you are like a child again. One of the reasons for why birthday mumming of this kind is popular in Sweden could be that it is a way of loosening up “bourgeois respectability”, or freeing people from the “tyranny” of having to demonstrate how many different kinds of cakes you know how to bake (as in the above quotation, where sausages and mash would have been quite appropriate). When a group of friends wake up a sleepy fifty-year-old in the middle of the night, they are not Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 179 expecting a three-course meal and evening dress. The use of costumes makes for a freer and more relaxed experience, or as af Klintberg (1995: 210) expresses it: “En folklig motrörelse till den dominerande utformningen” (a popular opposition to the dominating pattern) of the birthday party. Birthday celebrations of this kind might be thought to belong to the private sphere and are therefore perhaps out of the range of this survey, but it should be remembered that in Sweden these celebrations are often recognised outside the four walls of the home in the form of signposts or stuffed figures placed by the roadside, encouraging people to blow their car horns for födelsedagsbarnet (the birthday boy/ girl: Mattsson 1999).

3. b. Mumming Traditions in Connection with Weddings Getting married was a socially important transition, perhaps more so in the past than it is today. For a woman, the transition from spinster to married woman was a bigger step than for a man. She received a new name, a new title, often a new home, and a new social status. From the archive material, it is quite obvious that girls longed to get married. Various records of old wives’ tales and other types of folklore give advice on how to catch a husband. According to Mats Hellspong (1969 and 1988), there were several examples of so-called mökvällar (lit. virgin nights; later hen parties) in Sweden in the sevententh century. These evenings were held in the home of the bride-to-be and took the form of mixed parties that cut across both generation and gender divisions. Stag parties, says Hellspong, were then developed in bourgeois and academic milieus during the nineteenth century. These stag parties were, and are, very different in character to hen parties.74 At hen parties, it often happens that the bride-to-be is first of all lured to a place and then a game is invented in which disguising plays an important part. The quotation that follows is a description of a “typical” hen party from the late twentieth century: Lördag morgon. En arbetskamrat och jag hade bestämt att jobba lite extra för att hinna med ett specialarbete vi höll på med. Men jag hade knappt hunnit in på jobbet förrän gänget stormade in. Lurad! De försåg mig med ögonbindel och jag ikläddes våtdräkt! Försågs med en flaska runt halsen innehållandes något som var grönt och stärkande så bar det iväg. När de tog bort ögonbindeln var vi i hamnen och där väntade en racerbåt och ett par vattenskidor. Jag hade aldrig stått på ett par vattenskidor och det blev knappt något stående den här gången heller. Men både jag och tjejerna hade kul ett par timmar i alla fall. Efteråt hade vi picknick på gräsmattan med mat och dryck som de haft med sig. Men prövningarna hade bara börjat. Nu var det dags för nästa utstyrsel. Jag skulle sälja blommor på stan. Men inte vilka som helst utan de som fanns på mitt blommiga klän- ningstyg. Gissa om köparna klippte strategiskt. Sedan var det slut på den pinsamma delen av möhippan (obligatorisk). Vi åkte till vattenpalatset och åkte vattenrutsch- bana och myste i bubbelpoolen. Sedan åkte vi hem till en av tjejerna och åt pizza, drack vin och förberedde oss för kvällens övningar. Nu skulle jag kläs ut igen. En av

74 See further the article by Eva Knuts on wedding mumming traditions elsewhere in this volume. 180 Eva Knuts

tjejerna som är frisör och fixade håret, sminkade och en lång vit klänning åkte på. Utstyrseln var ganska “snäll” men jag såg naturligtvis utspökad ut som sig bör. Se- dan bar det av till en pub där resten av kvällen spenderades med irländskt liveband och irländska långdanser. Framåt småtimmarna blev det taxi hem efter en mycket lyckad och minnesvärd möhippa (DAGF 155: 3: Frändefors, Dalsland). (Saturday morning. A workmate and I had decided to put in some overtime so that we could finish the special job we were working on. But I had hardly arrived before the gang rushed in. Fooled! They blindfolded me and made me get into a wet suit! Then they hung a bottle around my neck with some kind of green and invigorating tonic inside and pulled me along with that. When they removed the blindfold, we were at the docks where a speedboat and a pair of water-skis were waiting. I’d never water-skied before so I couldn’t stay upright, but we all had a good laugh for a couple of hours anyway. Afterwards, we had a picnic on the grass with food and drink that they’d brought with them. However, the ordeal had only just started. Now it was time for the next prank. I was supposed to sell flowers in town. Not just any old flowers but the ones on the material of my dress. You can guess how strategically the buyers cut them out. When that embarrassing part of the hen party was over (it was compulsory), we went to a waterworld and rode the water chutes and then enjoyed ourselves in the jacuzzi. After that, we went back to one of the girls’ houses and ate pizza, drank wine and prepared for the evening’s exercises. I was dressed up again, this time in a long white dress. One of the girls was a hairdresser and she did my hair and face up. The outfit was quite nice, but, of course, she’d made me up to look like a ghost. We went to a pub where for the rest of the evening we did Irish country dancing to a live Irish band. In the early hours of the morning, we got a taxi home after a very happy and memorable hen party.) Hen parties such as the one described above were common urban traditions in the1990s.75 They essentially involve the element of surprise, where the unsuspecting main character is driven off and “subjected” to a few well-planned pranks. The other key element of the embarrassment involved in the hen party is in evidence here: it is not uncommon for a bride-to-be to have to sell flowers, kisses or condoms in the town, or be made up to look like a bride. The girlfriends often keep their distance, giggling and diligently taking photographs if they are not themselves disguised as men, children or something else that made fun of the future. As regard the bride’s disguise, it is not unusual (but perhaps more frequent in the past) for various household utensils to be included, such as a cheese-grater for a crown, and whisks, soup ladles and rolling pins as a “bouquet”, all of them jocular insinuations about the coming role of a housewife (see figs 11.3 and 11.4). Other mumming traditions that occurred before the wedding in Sweden included kryckeståt (lit. crutch-retinue), which might take the following form:

75 Hen parties are at present (2007) in the process of changing their character in Sweden. The embarrassment of masking and publicly “making a fool of yourself” happens less commonly now. Instead, girlfriends organise a pleasant experience for themselves and their friend, for example, in the form of a CD recording, a pottery class, dancing lessons or something that the bride-to-be will appreciate: see further the article by Eva Knuts on these traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 181

Först kom björken eller kryckan med hela sin löfskrud på och dragen af två hästar, därefter musik och så hvitklädda tärnor med blommor och ljus i händerna och där- efter utstyrd i alla möjliga besynnerliga dräkter, stundom med masker. Vid fram- komsten gruppera sig deltagarna omkring dörren, och en prästdräkt klädd ryttare rider fram och läser lyckönskningstalet (Hagberg 1915: 141–142). (First came the birch or crutch76 covered in leaves and greenery and pulled by two horses. Next there was music, and bridesmaids in white with flowers in their hands, and then the horse riders disguised in every possible extraordinary costume, sometimes with masks. On arrival, the participants gathered at the door and a horseman in clerical garb rode up and gave a congratulatory speech.) According to the descriptions of the tradition (in both older and more recent records), it is common for a tree to be brought to the couple’s house.77 Krycke- ståt (or kryckegänge [crutch-assembly] as it was also called) was directly connected to the reading of the banns. When the minister read the banns before the wedding, it was jokingly said that he had “slagit benen av paret” (broken the couple’s legs) or “kastat paret från predikstolen” (thrown the couple from the pulpit). This was why the couple needed the crutches and sticks which gave this mumming tradition its name. The tradition still occurs, although according to the letters received for this project, it no longer involves any masking. Af Klintberg (1991) has also commented on geographical differences with regard to kryckeståt mumming. In southern Sweden, kryckeståt mumming is more loosely structured and can include mischievous pranks, whereas in the north it takes a more theatrical form with a definite cast: as the quotation above shows, the participants here are disguised as vicars, bridesmaids and other characters connected with a wedding. Even during the actual wedding celebration, neither the newly weds nor the guests could be totally certain whether there would be pranks or not, because Knutgubbar, like those mentioned earlier in this survey, might turn up at any time (see map 2.12), as in the following example: Att äldre klädde ut sig upplevde jag första gången då jag kom till Indal 1936. Det var då att vara “Knutgubbe” som man klädde ut sig, men inte på något särskilt sätt. Men helst skulle det vara gamla kläder, som man fick låna. Helst snygga förstås, men man fick vara aktsam med fina klänningar. En del av flickorna klädde ut sig i manskläder då kunde de bjuda på dansbanan som alltid fanns när det var bröllop i byn. För ansiktet hade man en strumpa eller en stor näsduk. På sidan färgade man sig med rött blomkrukspapper så man ej blev igenkänd. Det var svårt att gömma håret om man var utklädd till man och skulle ha knallhatt. Men jag var nog lik en man ty jag blev utkastad av en berusad på en loge, ty han trodde jag var arg på honom. […] När vi kom till bröllopsgården ropade vi “brudpar ut” och de kom ut och visade sig. Men en brud körde hem oss. “Försvinn! Vi vill inte ha några knutgubbar här.” Men andra bjöd in oss och vi fick ibland kaffe och fick dansa inomhus i ett större rum (DAGF 131: 2Ð4: Indal, Medelpad).

76 This was a birch tree that had developed a double stem half-way up the trunk, thus making it resemble a crutch. 77 The tree is covered in green vegetation like a midsommar pole, and erected in the couple’s garden or a nearby field. The couple’s initials are woven into garlands which are hung from the pole. 182 Eva Knuts

Map 2.12: Mumming in Sweden in the twentieth century: A draft map based on information from archive records and a recent questionnaire: Knutare vid bröllop (Knut mummers at weddings). (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

(I first experienced older people getting disguised when I came to Indal in 1936. Be- ing a Knutgubbe meant getting disguised, not in any particular way but preferably in old clothes that you borrowed. Ideally the clothes should be nice ones, but you had to be careful with nice dresses. Some of the girls disguised themselves in men’s clothing so that they could ask someone to dance, as there was always a dance when there was a wedding in the village. They wore either stockings or big handkerchiefs over their faces. They also painted themselves with the stain from decorative flower- pot paper so they wouldn’t be recognised. It was difficult to hide your hair if you were disguised as a man with a bowler hat. But I must have looked like a man because I got thrown out of a barn by a drunk who thought that I was angry with him […]. When we got to the wedding location, we shouted, “Newly-weds out!” and they made an appearance. But one bride drove us away: “Get lost! We don’t want any dirty old knutgubbar here.” However, others invited us in and we sometimes got coffee and were allowed to take part in the indoor dancing.) The names Knutare and Knutgubbe refer back to the Knut mumming traditions that occurred after Christmas at Knut (see section 2. b. vii. above and af Klint- berg 1991). However, in some places, the expression Knutgubbar has come to be used for all uninvited wedding guests, whether they are disguised or not.78

78 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume for information about similar wedding traditions known in Shetland, Ire- land, and Norway. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 183

Even though not everybody in the village would be invited to the wedding, people were still eager to see the bridal pair and perhaps get a little food and drink. Disguising yourself so that you would not be recognised was thus one way of taking part in the festivities without revealing your identity.

3. c. School-Related Mumming Traditions The use of costumes and disguising in connection with starting and graduating from gymnasium also occurs in Sweden.79 The so-called nollningen (ragging) at the start of school is somewhat similar to the approach for hen parties, but instead of dressing up a bride, the new students are dressed up in pin-stripe suits or other costumes and subjected to a light form of bullying, or hazing. An- other version can be seen in the quotation below (which is not connected to upper-secondary school where ragging of this kind is most common), which describes final year students dressing up and initiating first year students: När det blev min klass tur att sparka in ettorna klädde vi oss i sadomasochistiska figurer med piskor och hård makeup, mest eftersom våra egna bödlar haft den rollen och vi ville på något vis hämnas på ettorna som inte alls haft med saken att göra. Vi kom och våldgästade ettorna i deras klassrum vid sista lektionen. Sadister som vi skulle föreställa så hade vi bestämt att inte godta några som helst undanflykter som förhindrade deltagande i lekarna som väntade, men när vi sen stod där och de började berätta att mamma väntade på barnpassning hemma, då kunde vi inte neka utan ho- tade istället med kommande straff och att ingen skulle slippa undan. Efter ett tag i fullkomlig maktposition kunde jag inte släppa min roll och vägrade en kille att gå på toaletten. Som utklädd iklär man sig en roll och kläderna gör det lättare att behålla den (DAGF 152: Göteborg, Västergötland). (When it was my class’s turn to rag the first year students, we got dressed up as sado- masochistic characters with whips and rough make-up, mostly because our own tor- mentors had had that role and we wanted the first year students to be involved in our revenge even though they hadn’t had anything to do with that. We gate-crashed the first-year students’ classroom in their last lesson. Since we were pretending to be sadistic, we had decided not to accept any excuses that prevented participation in the forthcoming game, but when we actually stood there and they said that their mother was waiting for help with taking care of the children at home we couldn’t refuse, but instead threatened punishment and said that no-one would get out of it. The experience of having absolute power was difficult to give up and I refused to let one boy go to the toilet. When you are in disguise, you really play the role, and the mask makes it so much easier.) At the time of final exams in Swedish secondary schools, it is also common for graduating students to make use of disguise to underline their “difference”, something that applies to both those ending their compulsory nine-year educa-

79 For comparable traditions in Iceland and Norway, see further the article by Terry Gunnell on dimission in Iceland and that by Christine Eike’s article on ritualised humour in mumming traditions. See also the other general Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume with regard to other school traditions. 184 Eva Knuts tion in secondary school and those finishing their “student’s exam” in the final year of upper-secondary school. The following description was provided by a woman who describes the last week of upper-secondary school, where students disguised themselves for what they called Jippo-dagen (stunt day); and also the disguises adopted at this time: Skolan arrangerade den och den gick till så att alla avgångsklasser, utklädda på något vis, samlades på en stor gräsplan […] och drack alkoholhaltiga drycker samt tävlade mot varandra i lekar av olika slag. Det förekom ej någon tävling om bäst utklädda eller liknande. Vi var utklädda för att det alltid varit så på studenternas jippo-dag och varför det är så är väl för att det ska bli något extra kul och speciellt. [På många andra skolor] är det tradition att klä ut sig sista veckan i 9: an. Alla i klassen är utklädda till samma sak och det bestäms gemensamt ett tag innan. Vi var utklädda till romare med vita lakan och lagerkrans av eklöv. […] På lakana skrev vi hälsningar till varandra. I övrigt gjordes inget särskilt i samband med utklädandet (DAGF 176: 1–2: Varberg, Halland). (The school arranged it so that the final year students, all disguised in some way or other, assembled on the main lawn outside, […] drank alcohol and competed in various kinds of games. There wasn’t any competition for the best disguise though. We were disguised because it had always been like that on jippo-dag, and it’s like that to make it extra special. [In many other schools] it’s a tradition to disguise yourself for the last week of the ninth year. Everyone in the class is disguised in the same way Ð and we decided that in advance. We got dressed up as Romans with white sheets and a garland of oak leaves as a headdress […] We wrote messages to each other on the sheets; otherwise we didn’t do anything special.)

4. Conclusion As noted above, this survey has concentrated on calendrical mumming traditions related to seasonal festivals which have changed and developed over time. However, it also shows how similar traditions are often connected to festivals of the life cycle. One of the regular complications involved in making such a survey are the facts that people often use different names for similar traditions, and that similar names are used for traditions that are actually quite different. An example of the first problem can be found in the Christmas mumming tradition, where, in the archive material, a number of different names are used for mumming traditions that have a similar function and form, ranging from julspöken, which is the most common name for this activity in Skåne to julbockar or julgubbar which occur in other places. As has been noted, the masking activity in each case is quite similar, as are the descriptions of what both the mummers and the hosts do. The range of names may, of course, be a result of how the questions (used for gathering material) were formulated. As was pointed out at the start, different archives used different questionnaires and this may have affected the formulation of the responses. An example of the second problem with naming can be seen in the case of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 185 the Knutgubbar. The tradition of Knut has varied greatly by both area and period: the name Knutgubbe might thus allude to straw figures equipped with a “passport”, which can either be sneaked into a place or taken around at the time of Knut (Bringéus 1973). However, it might also refer to a mummer who went around visiting the neighbours to collect some of the solid and liquid luxury goods that were left over from Christmas. A third variant of the name is seen in the Knutgubbar who go to wedding feasts uninvited wearing masks (see af Klintberg 1991). The word julegoppan has a similar range of meaning. As Järlgren (1978) has noted, this can refer to either a straw character or a mummer. In spite of the different names, the essential nature of all of these mumming traditions is similar, and related among other things to an expression of freedom. In Sweden, the motto “ta vad du har” (make good use of what you have) has commonly determined the choice of clothes and masks used in these traditions. Cast-off clothing is scavenged from attics and rag-rug baskets. Fur coats are turned inside out, and nightshirts become stjärngossar (Star Boys) outfits. Masks, meanwhile, have always been created from whatever material is available, ranging from shoeboxes and birch bark to thin nylon tights in later times. Soot from the kitchen range or fireplace and coloured crepe paper could become make-up. As one informant notes about the Knut tradition in Tanum, Bo- huslän, in 1919: “några särskilda kostymer användes ej, utan deltagarna kläda sig i allmänhet så lustigt och brokigt som möjligt” (special costumes were not used; instead participants dressed as comically and as gaudily as possible: VFF 3). In the same way, blånor (unspun flax) and horsehair would frequently be used to make beards and hair (IFGH 1630: 19), while straw could be used as padding to change bodily proportions. Different animal skins or hides would be adopted for animal disguises, again depending on what was available. In the northern-most part of Sweden, for example, the julbock (Christmas Goat) could be dressed in reindeer skin (Paulaharju 1966: 216). Elsewhere, sheepskin and cowhide might be used to create “goats” if these skins were more easily available. The same motto, noted above, might apply to the way the immediate environment has worked on inspiration. Today people have access to a vast range of images and resources when planning to go mumming. Masks and costumes of all kinds are immediately available for purchase or hire, and mummers are no longer limited to having to wear any old nightdress when taking part in a Lucia procession. In days gone by, people would tend to take inspiration from the more limited resources that were at hand. Nonetheless, these limitations did not mean that any less time went into the preparation of mumming than it does nowadays. This applied especially to the tradition of “walking with the star”, a form of mini-pageant which also included rehearsed texts (see section 2. b. vi. above). Nonetheless, the availability of materials and images is bound to change traditions in some way or other. This also applies to the availability of mass-pro- 186 Eva Knuts duced materials. Nowadays, there is an abundance of different masks to choose from in the shops. When the first rubber mask appeared on the market it had an immediate influence on disguise themes. As one informant notes: Så var det en kategori som hade köpta masker. Det kunde vara undersköna damer i vackra kläder, peruk och en kokett liten mask, en pajas eller en kines. En nyhet för året voro de amerikanska gummimaskerna. Men av dessa fanns ej så många typer, att välja på, så det blev ingen överraskning när man såg en apa eller Churchill upp- träda gång på gång (ULMA 21202: 5: Gimo, Uppland, recorded in 1951). (Some people had bought masks. There could be exquisitely lovely women in beautiful clothes, a wig and a coquettish little mask, a clown or a Chinese man. A new feature was the American rubber mask. However, there weren’t so many kinds to choose from, so it was no surprise when you saw a monkey or Churchill make an appearance over and over again.) Masking traditions are not always just about getting disguised, but also about demonstrating personal creativity in arranging both costumes and masks, and in spite of the modern range of commercial masks to choose from, a sense of pride about individual creativity remains, as can be seen in the following recent account: … jag har såna kompisar, Lena och Sara som är jättebra på att sy och fixa som lägger ner hela sin själ på maskerader och kommer på jättebra idéer och syr fantastiska dräkter så man blir grön av avundsjuka (Deckel 1998: 13). (… I have friends like that, Lena and Sara, who are wonderful at sewing and arranging and who put their hearts and souls into making fancy-dress costumes. They have great ideas and make such fantastic costumes that people are green with envy.) Mumming themes have also changed over time in Sweden, and can also indicate differences between generations. For a mask to succeed, it demands meaning and recognition, especially when it alludes to a supernatural figure, or, more recently, political events and personalities. Nowadays, the figure of Pokemon is a popular character among children; they would hardly identify with a Charlie Chaplin mask. The theme of animals, however, is one that has recurred over time. In the archive records, the figure of the goat (in different forms) regularly recurs,80 and is thought to have appeared all over the country (just as it has appeared regularly in the other Nordic countries and also Estonia81). Some characters, the goat included, have tended to occur throughout the Christmas period without having any special connection to any particular day. The julbock (Christmas Goat), for example, can appear on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, the days between Christmas and New Year, and right up until the final Knut celebrations (often under different names relating to the date: see earlier in the survey). It was a popular character that could appear both alone and in other contexts, and, as with the Knutgubbar, could also take the

80 There are some one hundred records concerning goat figures in the DAG collection alone. 81 See the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden 187 form of an artificial stuffed figure that was carried around. However, it must be remembered that it was not necessary to resemble a goat to be referred to as a bock (goat). The expression could simply refer to anyone who was dressing up as “nastily” as possible.82 Furthermore, records note that both women and men could become bockar. Nonetheless, many went out of their way to disguise themselves to look as much like a goat as possible, wearing an inside-out fur coat, goat horns and an artificial beard. They might even go around on all fours and behave as a goat. As the above survey underlines, goats were not the only non-human figures to appear in Swedish mumming traditions. Cranes were also relatively common, as were bears which appeared at weddings and, for example, on Matsmässodag in Dalarna (Hagberg 1923). Several figures, however, are only mentioned very occasionally in the records. These include an elephant (VFF 1788, noted in 1929 in Bohuslän; ULMA 7732: 53: informant born in Väster- botten in 1856); a lion (ULMA 7732: 53); a julko (Christmas Cow: VFF 1773: 21); a nyårsget (New Year Goat: VFF 1540: 8); and an ape (VFF 1782: 5Ð6). Another recurrent feature of mumming in Sweden is that of cross-dressing. A very simple way of being comical is to disguise yourself as a member of the opposite sex, and men dressed in women’s clothes seem to have been something that was seen as particularly amusing in Sweden, as the following accounts suggest: De i upptåget agerande kallades “lussegubbar” vilket inte hindrade att flickor och pojkar bytte kläder under upptåget vilket gav anledning till munterhet (EU 27215: 491). (Those appearing in the pageant were called lusse men, which didn’t prevent girls and boys changing clothes during the mumming, something that caused great hilarity.) Från gård till gård drager på “Matsmässkvällen” och även på Matsdagens kväll ett brokigt, bullrande tåg af utklädda ynglingar och flickor fram. Kullorna är härvid ofta karlklädda och ynglingarna ståta i kjolar, kjolsäck, kvinnfolkspäls, och kunna de få tag uti en röd brudpigkjol, så begagnas denna med förkärlek (Social-Demokraten, May 3, 1903: Gagnef, Dalarna). (On Matsmässkvällen, and even on St Matthew’s Eve, a gaudy and noisy procession of masked lads and lasses goes around the houses. The lasses are often dressed up as men and the lads parade around wearing skirts, fur coats and carrying handbags. If they could get hold of a red bridal skirt, it was all the better.) In the ordinary life of the past, the role patterns of the sexes were firmly established, although they could occasionally be made fun of in this way. Women who padded themselves with straw, borrowing their brother’s trousers and putting pipes in their mouths must have been an equally amusing sight for people.

82 The same applies to the word gr¿lik in Shetland today, as in the expression that someone “looks like a gr¿lik”: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. See also Gunnell 2001a, and 2007a (forthcoming). 188 Eva Knuts

Disguise, however, also offered other useful means of breaking free from normal behaviour, something that recordings clearly indicate when they note, for example, that “Vid julens slut kläder man (fortfarande) ut sig till ‘Knutgub- bar’ som går i tjogtals på en gång och ofreda flickorna” (At the end of Christ- mas people [still] disguise themselves as Knut men and go around together in a gang to pester the girls: VFF 593: Värmland; 1922). Nothing else is noted here. Nothing is stated about gathering food and drink or that Knut signified the end of Christmas. For this informant, mumming was essentially perceived as a means of pestering the girls in disguise.83 In short, as has been noted above, disguises marked a period of release. As another informant notes: “Allt var tillåtet om Jul men så snart den var över blif det arbete och allvar igen” (Any- thing was allowed at Christmas, but as soon as it was over, it was back to work and being serious again: EU 1042). However, as this survey has underlined, Christmas was not the only period to signify something exceptional. In Swe- den, throughout time, a whole range of other festivals have regularly served to provide a necessary break from ordinary, humdrum lives.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources is referred to in this survey: DAG (Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg): Records: DAGF, IFGH and VFF LUF (Folklivsarkivet, Lund): Records: LUF SOFI, FA (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen, Uppsala): Records ULMA Nm (Nordiska museet): Records: EU

83 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j article on eroticism in mumming elsewhere in this volume.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 189 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark A Survey Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

1. Introduction 1. a. Denmark Ð A Brief Description In order to help readers understand fully the nature of Danish mask and mumming traditions, it is relevant to give a short geographical, historical, and sociological description of Denmark, especially if one is to compare the Danish material with the equivalent traditions in the other Nordic countries. Danish geography, history and sociology have naturally had a great impact on deciding the survival or extinction of these traditions which, in their overall pattern, differ quite distinctly from those found in Norway, Sweden and Finland, for instance. As will be noted, however, there is one noteworthy exception to this general rule: Christmas mumming in Denmark, which centres around the Jule- buk (Christmas Goat) tradition at the end of the Christmas period, has tended to be relatively similar in form to that found elsewhere in the Nordic area. Today, Denmark can be considered a small country with an area of only 43,000 km² and a population of 5.3 million (see map 3.1). The country consists of the peninsula of Jylland (Jutland), and then about 407 named islands of which 328 are inhabited, creating an overall coastline 7314 km in length. Un- like Norway and Sweden, the nature of Denmark is rather uniform, varying mainly between flat or softly undulating fields, heath lands, and some forest. The highest point is Ejer Bavneh¿j in Jylland, which reaches only 171 m. above sea level (Aalbæk 1981–1987). The capital of Denmark is København (Copenhagen) on Sjælland (Zealand), Greater K¿benhavn now containing 1.5 million inhabitants. The overall population density of the country as a whole is nonetheless still only 123.7 per km². For administrative purposes, the country is divided up into a number of counties and municipalities. The geology of Denmark and especially the surface soil composition has had a special influence on the development of settlements, and subsequently also on the traditions. As the ice of the last Ice Age melted, the sea level rose. At the end of the period between 6000 and 4000 BC, the form of what was to become Denmark had been largely established (Nielsen and Schou 1958a: 32Ð 60, maps 52Ð53). At that time, the country was covered with oak-dominated mixed forests. With the introduction of agriculture in the late Stone Age (c.

190 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Map 3.1: Denmark (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987). (Courtesy of Gebrüder Borntraeger.)

2300Ð1500 BC), the forests were probably slashed and burned (Br¿ndsted 1938: 178, and 311Ð312) especially on the lighter soils in the western parts of Jylland. This and the dominant westerly winds (combined with other factors) eventually led to top-soil erosion which, by around AD 1800, had turned western and northern Jylland into a woodless heath tract (Nielsen and Schou 1958a: 32Ð60; and Nielsen and Schou 1958b: 67Ð74, maps 33 and 68) with agriculture being carried out only along streams and waterways and in dispersed suitable enclaves. The remaining scattered forests were restricted to the main islands of

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 191

Sjælland and Fyn (Funen), surrounding minor islands and eastern Jylland (Nielsen and Schou 1958b: 67Ð74, map 70). All of the above led to the population of west and north Jylland being relatively widely dispersed. In around 1850, the only places where the average population density was over 40 per km² were the islands and certain central eastern Jylland districts including the island of Als (Alsen) and its vicinity (Hansen 1958: 91Ð122, map 107). As has been shown in the other surveys, such environmental factors have a key role to play in shaping mumming traditions: folk customs like midwinter mumming, Shrovetide pageants and the “Bringing In” of May demand a certain frequency of social interaction and an acceptable distance to next-door neighbours (and, in the last example, also the existence of forests: see Schmidt 1940: 62Ð63). Much of the material dealt with in the following survey will thus be from the more densely populated areas noted above, from the towns, and also the area along Limfjorden in north Jylland. For particular social reasons (see below), certain small islands will also come to the fore. Denmark (“dene mearc”) is first mentioned as a nation in records by King Alfred the Great of England (Wessex) (871Ð899) in around 885, and then again in 906 (as “Denimarca”) by Abbot Regino of Prüm (d. 915) in his Chronicle.1 The extent of the country referred to at that time, however, is not certain. What is clear, however, is that the windswept Danish islands made the Danes a sea- faring stock from an early point. Between the middle Iron Age and the end of the Viking Age (500Ð1100), the Scandinavians developed a range of light and fast sea-going vessels powered by either oars or sail which eventually culminated in creation of the long ship. In around 950, this technological innovation and various political developments led to a unification of the scattered south Scandinavian societies living on both sides of the Kattegat sea into one nation. This included present-day Denmark and the now Swedish Skåne, Halland and Blekinge (which remained parts of Denmark until 1658), dense woods to the north and north-east of these areas dividing them from the rest of Sweden. As noted in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume, the traditions of these former Danish regions in southern Sweden are still often markedly different from the customs known in the rest of Sweden. Denmark’s neighbours, however, have never been far away. This has resulted in Denmark having extensive contact with the rest of the world, something that has naturally had a great impact on Danish tradition. The degree of contact has been further influenced by the development of navigation and ship-building techniques. For safety reasons, the early civilian sailing routes went from one island to the next. Ships initially needed few provisions and little drinking water as they could usually land and replenish their stores quite easily. How- ever, as commercial and war ships developed into heavy-load-carrying vessels during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the smaller islands gradually

1 See, for instance, http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/jelling30.htm (last visited March 1, 2007); and The Catholic Encyclopedia (1914 edition): Computer Edition, 2003: “Regino of Prüm” and “Ecclesiastical Annals”.

192 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen diminished in importance and became relatively isolated. Meanwhile, in terms of government and church administration, the main parts of the country were easily controlled whereas the minor islands were often left to develop as best they could. In terms of traditions, this meant that new ideas often came to be introduced without opposition, and unwanted customs simultaneously done away with, along the main routes. Since the pattern of tradition-survival on islands and in other isolated corners of a large nation tends to depend upon co- operation and conformity, customs expressing such social features often tend to last much longer here. Among the earlier customs which have survived in these areas are mumming and good-luck visits. South of Denmark is Germany which shares Denmark’s only mainland border at the foot of the Jylland peninsula. The main political border between the northern German-speaking tribal duchy of Franken (Franconia) and Denmark, known to have existed from 811, is the River Eider, which runs from the present-day Kiel to the North Sea. For more than a thousand years, numerous battles were fought over the dominion of the regions immediately to the north of the Eider. At different times, these areas have taken the form of self-ruled duchies run by viceroys of either royal Saxon or Danish blood, either separately or in co-existence. The language constellation in the area has thus long been both Danish and Friesian or Low German, although until the nineteenth century the population mainly thought of themselves as Jyllanders or Danes. Tra- ditions in this area have always differed to some extent from those in the rest of the country. This applies, for instance, to the islands of Als and ®r¿ (Aeroe), where mumming still has a stronghold. These islands formed part of what came to be known as S¿nderjylland (North Schleswig) or Schleswig-Holstein (Trap 1953Ð1972: XXIV, 3). North and north-east of Denmark is, of course, the main Scandinavian peninsula occupied by Norway and Sweden. As the rest of this volume demonstrates, the three countries have a shared heritage. Old Norse was more or less a common language in these areas (as well as in the North Atlantic islands). Odin (Ó∂inn), Thor (∏ór) and the other Æsir gods seem to have played a role in most of the local pantheons, and, give or take a generation or two, all of these nations started turning to Christianity at around the same time (c. AD 1000). Two monuments in the churchyard at Jellinge put up by King Gorm the Old (Gormur hinn gamli: died 958/ 959) and his son, Harald Bluetooth (Haral- dur blátönn, king from 958Ð986) testify that the latter converted the Danes to Christianity.2 During the Middle Ages, however, repeated prohibitions of heathen practices demonstrate the difficulties that faced the Christian mission in Denmark (J¿rgen Olrik 1923: XXXI). Throughout their church life, most of the Nordic people, nonetheless, had some degree of unity in their worship of St Olav (Ólafur Haraldsson, 995–1030) and St Knud (Lavard) (Knútur lávar∂ur, c. 1096Ð1131). The See of Lund (1104Ð1536) also served for some time as the

2 Trap 1953Ð1972: XXI, 1119Ð1120; Salmonsens Konversations Leksikon 1915Ð1930: IX, 902; and X, 870. Cf. http://www.fortidensjelling.dk/menu1.htm (last visited March 1, 2007).

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 193 central bishopric for all the Nordic countries. As is demonstrated elsewhere in this volume, the festival of St Knud was to influence deeply the mumming traditions of Sweden, Finland, and western Estonia.3 To the west of Denmark are the British Isles, and to the south-east and east are Poland and the Baltic states. Initial influences from these neighbours in the early Middle Ages were nonetheless soon overshadowed by the commercially strong Germanic countries. Right up until the First World War, German and Dutch contacts regularly continued to play a central role in the development of Nordic culture. Traders from the Hanseatic League of cities under the leadership of Lübeck, which controlled the local salt mining, first established themselves firmly in the Nordic area during the period of 1153Ð1349.4 Hanseatic trading guilds were then set up in many commercial towns such as Bergen (Norway), Visby (Gotland), Stockholm (Sweden), and Tallinn and Tartu (Es- tonia: see Mänd 2005). Denmark, however, continuously fought the Hanseatic League. This meant that no Danish town ever became a member of the League, even though the Hanseatic traders controlled the Skanör herring market between 1368 and 1385.5 In spite of this, a number of new European life-styles and customs were introduced into many Danish cities during these turbulent times. Among the new influences were probably the Shrovetide or Fastelavn carnival customs (see sections 2. a. and 3. e. below). An exchange of traditions with the British might also have taken place in some areas, although this is a phenomenon that needs more research.6 History has helped to underline the cultural effects of many of the political and geographical connections noted above. From 1397 to 1814, for example, Norway and Denmark formed parts of the same state under the Danish crown. In the Kalmar Union (1397Ð1521) which created this state (initially also including Sweden and Finland), Denmark also acquired rule over Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, which were retained when Norway came under Swedish rule in 1814. After centuries under the Danish crown, Iceland later declared itself independent in 1944, the Faroes and Greenland obtaining home rule in 1948 and 1979 respectively. Nonetheless, as the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume under-

3 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Estonia, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. 4 http://www.norwayonline.no/?chapter=55&cat=26&disp=54 (last visited March 1, 2007). 5 http://www.oresundstid.dk/dansk/oresundstid/arkiv/tekst/hoj_middelalder.htm (last visited March 1, 2007). 6 For a short survey of English-Danish contacts, see for instance Enemark 1958: 668Ð674. Statis- tics of ships passing through the straits at Kronborg between 1497 and 1725 show that around 50% were Dutch. German ships accounted for 40% of shipping by 1575, after which year their part was steadily reduced to 15%, whereas the British ships only accounted for around 10% or less, rising over the last 75 years to almost 20%: Henningsen 1949: 142Ð143, note 39. On the role of the Hanseatic merchants in establishing Carnival traditions, see also Mänd 2005. On other possible transferences of tradition in this period, see, for example, the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume with regard to the Horse Game (Hestleikur) in Iceland.

194 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen lines, Danish influences on many of the traditions of these countries remain very obvious. Partly as a result of the connections noted above, the Danish population is somewhat diverse. The majority can be considered to be of Nordic descent, however, although over time various new ethnic minorities have been incorporated into Danish society. For example, Norwegians, Icelanders and Faroe Islanders regularly came to the capital both to receive education as clergymen and civil servants and to make use of the country’s various institutions. The same movement applies to the Danish-speaking inhabitants from Schleswig- Holstein in the border region. In addition to this, foreign clergy and mercenaries have frequently been stationed in the country over the years, some settling down, or, in the very least, adding variety to the country’s gene pool. Another group which was to become important for Danish Shrovetide traditions were the Dutch settlers. The first group was invited to K¿benhavn in 1515 by King Christian (originally spelled “Christiern”) II, who reigned from 1513 to 1523. The first of the settlers arrived in 1518, and by 1521, twenty-four Dutch families consisting of 184 persons (possibly only counting the men) had settled (Pi¿ 1997: 23). They came from Waterland in the province of West Friesland (Dutch West Friesia), and their privileges were made out for the entire island of Amager close to the capital. Their task was to grow vegetables and teach the Danes about new farming crops and methods. However, when the unpopular King Christian went into exile in 1523, the only area left to these people was the main village of Magleby on the south tip of Amager and the nearby island of Saltholm (see Hjort 1986: 9Ð11). As in the other Nordic countries, the official Danish religion today is Protestant Evangelical Lutheranism (since 1536). After the Reformation in 1536, however, a number of old traditions still lingered on from earlier times. In a pamphlet from 1736, entitled Everriculum fermenti veteris seu residuæ in Danico orbe cum paganismi tum papismi reliqviæ in apricum prolatæ (A Besom against the Old Leaven Bread or Remnants in the Danish Kingdom of Pagan and Papist Scraps Brought into the Open), Bishop Erik Pontoppidan (1698Ð1764) expressed the wish that his revelations of pagan and papist superstitions should promote “Landsforvisningen af denne forbandede Galskab” (the banishment of this damned madness7: Pontoppidan 1923: 8). Old habits nonetheless always die hard, and even today one can find language and folklore relics in Denmark and the other Nordic countries that reflect these nations’ pre-Christian heritage, one striking example being the names of the weekdays, mandag (lit. Moon day), tirsdag (the war god Tyr/ T¥r’s day), onsdag (Odin/ O∂inn’s day), torsdag (Thor/ ∏órr’s day), fredag (the goddess Frigg’s day), l¿rdag (lit. bath day), and s¿ndag (lit. Sunday).8 As laws were liberalised and freedom of religion was introduced under the

7 Unless otherwise stated, all translations into English in this survey are by the present authors. 8 Politikens Etymologisk Ordbog 2000: 417, 631, 464, 633, 244, 412, and 616.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 195 constitution of 1849, other Christian religious denominations came into existence in Denmark, especially in Jylland. An old Jewish community and a young Muslim group were also recognised. Nowadays, while Denmark is making great efforts to ensure religious freedom, most people are proud to characterise Danish society as being essentially secular.9 All of this has, of course, had influence on Danish lifestyle and tradition. The official language in Denmark is Danish. Despite the small size of the country, there are nonetheless many dialects in Denmark, which, even within the national borders, can make it difficult for people to understand one another fully. As is shown elsewhere in this volume, this spoken language, with all of its local features, is often of major importance in the dialogue of the mumming traditions (Larsen 2002).10 At different periods since the age of the Vikings, the Danish crown has had a foothold in many European regions. In addition to the earlier-noted Danish rule in the south of Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes, the Danes also ruled in Normandy and the southern part of the Danelaw in England during Viking times. Expansion in later centuries followed the usual European trends of religious crusades (Denmark conquering the Slavic Wends [Kurland and Livonia] as well as the Finno-Ugrian Estonians at an early point in time); unions by royal marriage (the earlier-noted Nordic alliance of Kalmar); and various feuds and deals with local princes with regard to the question of succession in the southern border regions until the border dispute was finally settled in 1920. Denmark has also possessed some minor tropical colonies (Petersen 1946). Many of the above activities have naturally led to the further dissemination of various Danish traditions to other countries.11 In general, then, Denmark has been much less isolated than the other Nordic countries, geographically, politically and culturally. Through the key activities of agriculture, trade and seamanship, the Danes have been in constant contact with the surrounding countries and even other continents over the course of time. Alongside the export of cultural heritage traits, there has been a constant flow of external goods, ideas and ideals passing through Denmark, all of which have left their mark on common practices and traditions.

9 See Andersen and Nielsen 1991. According to the general social survey (Socialforskningsinsti- tuttets omnibusunders¿gelse) conducted by Socialforskningsinstituttet (the Social Research Insti- tute) in January 1975 (Datamateriale DDA 0127), 94% of the Danish Population were members of the national Danish Church (107). However, in answer to the question “Går De ofte i kirke?” (Do you often go to church?), the answers “aldrig” (never), “kun til højtiderne [jul, påske, pinse]” (only on holy days [Christmas, Easter, Whitsun])” and “af og til” (now and then) were given by 93% (108). 10 See also the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on talking with masks elsewhere in this volume. 11 See the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Finland and Karelia, Estonia and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume.

196 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks, Mumming and Disguise in Denmark Concerning the earliest references to masks, mumming and disguise in Den- mark, the sources are scarce and reticent. Most of the early sources pose a challenge to the researcher and only reveal their true value through careful analysis.12 The fact that most of the earliest written sources concerning mask use are in Latin adds to the difficulties.13 Later bans and clerical warnings also contain vague words and phrases that appear to have some relation to the present subject matter, but one must be wary of taking them individually: to get to the nucleus of the question all such bans need to be taken into consideration alongside one another.14 Unfortunately, limitations in space prevent any serious, systematic presentation of this material from being made here. The brief review that follows will thus be limited to several key references that are important for the later discussion. The following early reference to traditional masking is regularly quoted in works on Danish literature and folklore. In 1722, a small group of K¿benhavn entrepreneurs invested in a theatre building in the street of Gr¿nnegade, called Den Danske Skueplads (The Danish Stage). This was a multifunctional enterprise where dining-rooms, card games, comedies and masquerades could be arranged. At some of the popular follow-up parties, the comedy would graduate into a masquerade (with some unofficial gambling on the side), in which the audience changed their role from that of spectators to amateur comedians. One of the co-owners and industrious benefactors was a certain Hans Mikkelsen, alias the Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg (1684Ð1754). Of particular interest here is that fact that around this time Holberg included the mumming figure of the Julebuk (Christmas Goat) in one of his theatre comedies, entitled Jule- stuen (The Christmas Gathering: 1724: see Holberg 1923: 381Ð401). In fact, two different figures of this kind appear in Julestuen in two different scenes. The first appearance takes place in scene 9 where the servant boy Arv “svøbt udi et hvidt Lagen med to Horn i Panden” (wrapped in a white sheet with two horns on his forehead: Holberg 1923: 391) vainly attempts to estimate the effect of his disguise. Later, in scene 13, “Arv kommer indridende, kullet i Ansigtet, med en Pind i Munden, hvorpaa staar to Lys, ridende paa to Karle, som vender Rumperne til enanden” (Arv appears as a rider, with a blackened face. In his mouth, he holds a stick with a candle on both ends. He is mounted on two men who have turned their behinds towards each other: Holberg 1923:

12 On the very earliest material in the shape of mask remnants and a rock carving from Viking times (see fig. 3.1), see further Hägg 1984; Gunnell 1995a: 73 and 75–76; and Bregenhøj 2000b: 294– 295. 13 See Saxo Grammaticus 1931Ð1957: I, 12Ð14 (Book 1, chapter 4, sections 2Ð10); and 2002: 16Ð 19 (English translation). See also Worm 1626Ð1633; and Sorterup 1722 in Thottske Samling, nr. 1466, 4¡, 50Ð53. 14 See Pedersen 1514, after Kalkar, 1976: III, 646; Pedersen 1850: I, 70; and Palladius 1925: 144 and notes 221Ð225.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 197

Fig. 3.1: A rune stone from near Århus, Denmark, dated to the late tenth century. The stone bears a disputed stylisation of a face, which some have suggested is meant to reflect a mask. (Photo: Moesgård Museum, Århus.) (Courtesy of Moesgård Museum, Århus.)

399). In this case, he succeeds in scaring the children, the master of the house needing to inform them that it is only Arv. The stage directions state that this should be a “Spectacul” (a boisterous scene). This is only comprehensible if we suppose that Arv and his dapple-grey horse end up their performance in the “traditional” way – whatever that was at the time. Since this was a figure that was condemned in real life for unseemly behaviour, but was now given license to “improvise” in a theatrical comedy, it might be supposed that the figure was expected to live up to its reputation by acting lustfully and clowning about. Moreover, within the logic of the comedy, we can expect that the suppressed and simple Arv was supposed to succeed finally in getting satisfaction of some kind after all of his efforts. The play needs to be viewed in context. In this period, in the late 1720s and 1730s, the Pietistic Danish court was creating an atmosphere that was quench- ing a great deal of the fun people were having in the capital. In 1728, the only public theatre had to close, and in the last year of the reign of Fredrik IV, on

198 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

April 21, 1730, a new Helligdagsforordning (Holiday Ordinance) was pro- claimed forbidding, among other merriments (such as “Skue-spil” [plays] and “Masqverade”), those gatherings (including “Juule-Stuer”) which took place on holy days (including Sundays) and the evening before.15 In a revised version of this law (now concerning “Sabbaten og andre Helligdages tilb¿rlige Hel- ligholdelse” [the proper observance of the sabbath and other holidays]) brought into force five years later on March 12, 1735, this ban is repeated with the statement that “de saa kaldte Julestuer forbydes aldeeles” (the so-called Christmas gatherings are banned altogether).16 Another important description from this period is also worth quoting. On the bi-centenary of the Danish Protestant Church in 1736, Bishop Erik Pontop- pidan anonymously published a small pamphlet in Latin which concerned those remnants of paganism and papacy that still existed in Denmark. It was entitled Everriculum fermenti veteris seu residuæ in Danico orbe cum paganismi tum papismi reliqviæ in apricum prolatæ (A Besom Against the Old Leaven or Reminder in the Danish Kingdom of Pagan and Papist Scraps Brought into the Open: Pontoppidan 1736 and 1923). As a kind of Pietist fun- damentalist, Pontoppidan demands a ban of both Shrovetide merriments and the Christmas gatherings of the time. He condemns both. His valuable description includes, among other things, mention of “Jule-Buk, for hvilken den frygt- somme Barnealder endnu ryster og skælver, slagen af en Art panisk Skræk” (the Julebuk, at which those of a timid child age still tremble and shiver in a form of panic-ridden fear: Pontoppidan 1923: 25). He goes on to discuss: … vore […] Julelege […som] ypperligt slægte dem [Saturnalierne] paa. Paa den Tid lader sig se alt hvad der allevegne findes af Piger og Giger […] de Yngres Fløjte juble, og midt under al Lystigheden med Julekager og Juleskaaler, under Julens h¿jst fornøjelige Rædsler, nyde de stangende Horn. […] de Yngre komme sammen, og med de Yngre ikke saa faa, som ere mere fremrykkede […] i Alder… (Pontoppidan 1923: 26Ð27). (… Our Christmas games […that] superbly emulate them [i.e. the Saturnalia]. During these times, every living being, including maids and fiddlers, appears from anywhere, […] the flutes of the young rejoice and in the midst of all the merriment of Christmas Bread and Christmas cheer, in the most enjoyable atrocities of Christ- mas, they delight in the butt of horns. […] Now the young get together, and, along with the young, there are not so few that are more advanced […] in age.) Pontoppidan ends by complaining that these groups of people fill their time with “Bysladder” (village gossip) and “liderlige og utugtige Ord … Kortspil … Lege” (lewd and obscene language… playing cards… games) as well as “at stampe i Gulvet saa med den ene, saa med den anden Fod … alle mulige Nar- restreger … Fylderi og Nattesvir…” (stamping the floor first with one foot and

15 Schou 1795Ð1850: Kong Friderich den Fierdes Forordninger og aabne Brev, Var 1730: IX. Forordning: Article 8. 16 Schou 1795Ð1850: Kong Christian den Siettes Forordninger fra 1735Ð1736: VII. Forordning: Article 8.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 199 then the other… all kinds of pranks… drinking and nightly revelling: Pon- topiddan 1923: 27). Unwittingly, the indignant Pontoppidan provides us here with a rare early description of the simple festivities of the eighteenth-century Danes, and especially of the Christmas gathering where everyone meets on an equal footing: the young and old, maids of all sorts, amateur fiddlers, noisy and bustling youths, carefree revellers that are happily eating, drinking and thoughtlessly playing cards and vulgar games, dancing vigorously and evaluating their fellow villagers, and talking freely about genitalia and sex. As noted above, Pontoppidan also tells how adults allow a horned masked figure (like that described by Holberg) to scare the children, and notes that they themselves delight in the appearance and foolery of this being. When Pontopiddan’s references to parallel phenomena from Classical Greek and Latin literature are edited from the account (as has been done above), little seems be of obvious heathen or Papist origin, with the possible exception of the Christmas Goat. Considering the information available, it can be surmised that between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, the popular Christmas mummers known in Denmark tended to be associated with animal figures. The central figure was called a Julebuk (Christmas Goat: male), a word that in time came to stand for any form of mummer.17 Its “stage” took the shape of individual homes (as in Holberg’s comedy) or those parlours where youth gatherings took place (as noted by Pontoppidan). On the other hand, the Danish Shrovetide carnival figures were predominantly human characters decked out in facial masks and fancy dress.18 These Shrovetide mummers appeared both in the streets and in individual homes. Both traditions, however, had as their central purpose the gathering of provisions and, in the towns, even money. No popular mumming tradition seems to have pleased the Danish authorities at this time. Both bar and pulpit cooperated in condemning such traditions,

17 See Hjørring’s account in Kj¿benhavns Diplomatarium (1872Ð1887) 1838Ð1896: V, 1838: 752 and 780: Forordning for K¿benhavn af 21 Januar 1688; Forordning af 22. oktober 1701, II 3, ¤3 (see also ODS XII, 377: langs: 3). See also Moth in MS Gml. kgl. samling 769Ð777, concerning “Julebisp” and “Julebuk”). The word Julebuk is also found as a relic connected with Christmas on Als and the Sundeved peninsula in Southern Jylland. The word here means a special piece of pastry. Alongside the traditional wheat æbleskiver and pebern¿dder (both small ball-shaped pieces of bakery, the former being pancakes formed like tennis balls while the latter were gingerbreads), there were other round cookies which had two projections placed opposite each other, supposedly representing horns. These were called Julebukke (Christmas Goats): see Ussing 1926: 116. This tradition is described in the following way in an account from Felsted, near Aabenraa (Apenrade), between 1880 and 1900: “Hos bageren eller kagekonen … kunne man købe … småkager af simple dejg (vand, mel, sukker), formede som dyr eller mennesker og malede med rød saftfarve. På nogle egne kaldes disse for julebukke” (At the baker’s, or from the female bread peddler, you could buy cookies made of simple dough [flour, water, sugar], made in the shape of animals or humans and dyed with red juice colouring. In some places these are called julebukke: Adriansen 1979: 59Ð60, quoting Th. Kaufmann, from Jydske Tidende, December 27, 1974). 18 See Holberg 1749: 444: “Den nye Lov 1522” (The new law of 1522); Danske Magazin 1752: 367; Danske Magazin 1843, I, 97; Christian den fjerdes recess af 27 febr. 1643, bog I, kapitel 2, ¤ 26; (MS) Helsing¿rs Byes Tingbog (justitsprotokol), 1631–1634, Vol. 41: 159 (“18 marts 1633”); Danske Magazin 1843, I, 97; Palladius 1556b, 54; and (MS) Henningsen 1946: DFS 2002/ 007. 200 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen as can be seen in the following example from 1702 (with reference to a number of Christmas and spring customs) which states that: “Efftersom Forn¿denhed udkrever at [dette] maa komme til En huers notice, saa skall det afleßes paa alle Herreds Ting og af Predickestolene publiceres” (Because necessity demands that this should come to everyone’s attention, it must be read out in all local district courts and made public from the pulpits: Achelis 1932Ð1933: 197Ð198). Over time, both the Christmas and the Shrovetide traditions changed. New forms evolved and these were then transplanted onto other annual festivals. Due to bans such as the earlier-mentioned “Hellig- dagsforordningen” and law on “Sabbaten og andre Helligdages tilb¿rlige Helligholdelse” from 1730 and 1735, however, the geographical distribution of these traditions diminished. By the end of the eighteenth century, the patchwork of traditions involving an element of disguise had become both muddled and multifaceted.19 Once again, limitations in space prevent any real attempt at disentangling the paths of evolution in order to identify “genuine” ancient relics in this early material. Instead, we will turn to the beginning of organised folklore collecting, concentrating on the findings made under the auspices of the folklorists, and making short tradition flashbacks whenever our predecessors make this possible.

1. c. The Material 1. c. i. Dansk Folkemindesamling The documentary material concerning Danish mask and mumming traditions in the comparatively recent past and present, is mainly found in Dansk Folke- mindesamling (DFS: The Danish Folklore Archives) in K¿benhavn. This documentation, which, among other things, is used to determine distribution patterns and thereby create maps, can be supplemented with selected newspaper material, as well as both published and unpublished studies focussing on various traditions that involve masks and/ or mumming traditions. Needless to say, the preliminary selection of the sources used for this study, as well as the character of the sources, and the premises for their creation, is bound to have an influence on the result of this present survey. Hence both the selection and the sources themselves deserve a few remarks. Dansk Folkemindesamling was founded on April 1, 1904 by the Folklore Fellow and university lecturer of popular traditions, Axel Olrik (1864Ð1917), together with the clergyman and folklore author Henning Frederik Feilberg (1831Ð1921) and the chief librarian at the Royal Library, Hans Ostenfeld Lange (1863Ð1943). Immediately in 1904, Olrik set out to organise the extant

19 See Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 36, referring to Galskjøt 1862; Goldschmidt 1852–1896: 109–110; Henningsen 1949Ð1950: 3; Bircherod 1688 (see Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 356: 129); Str¿m 1847 (see Bobé and Dumreicher 1915: I. ii, 14); and Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 37. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 201 material, primarily that assembled by Svend Grundtvig (1824Ð1883), and in 1906 he went on to make an archival system for the steadily-increasing amount of newly-collected material (the so-called “1906-collections”). The main purpose of the archive was to reach back in time and preserve the remnants of a fading era before social changes eradicated everything (Koudal 2004: 27Ð28). In 1908, Olrik went on to found Foreningen Danmarks Folkeminder (The Danish Folklore Society) which aimed to create a network of informants who would collect and document Danish folk traditions (Boberg 1953: 191Ð201). Olrik’s direct engagement with the archives nonetheless decreased when he received the first chair in Folklore in Denmark in 1913 (Boberg 1953: 191, and Holbek 1971). Olrik was himself a student of Svend Grundtvig, who, under the guidance of his influential father, Niels Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783Ð1872), had collected and studied folklore since he was a boy. Svend Grundtvig had had a dream of establishing a museum of Danish folklore involving eight rooms arranged on the basis of different topics, such as folktales, ballads, legends, folk beliefs, minor genres and so on. Grundtvig was a prolific scholar, and alongside all of his own work, he established a large group of like-minded researchers and collectors, including, in addition to Olrik and Feilberg, men such as Evald Tang Kristensen (1843Ð1929), Jens Madsen (1833Ð1907), Rasmus Hansen (1825Ð1893), Klaus Berntsen (1844Ð1927), Christen Andersen Thyre- god (1822Ð1898), Troels Frederik Troels-Lund (1840Ð1921), and his own half brother Frederik Lange Grundtvig (1854Ð1903) (Boberg 1953: 179Ð207). Af- ter Svend Grundtvig’s death, all the colleagues or followers mentioned above continued to collect folklore material, some of them publishing it as well, either independently or with help from Axel Olrik.20 Alongside them, there were also others from related areas who ranged themselves behind “Folke- mindesagen” (the folklore endeavours), such as the philologists and teachers Marius Kristensen (1869Ð1941) and Henrik Ussing (1877Ð1946), both of whom collected and published material from the island of Als (Kristensen 1909; and Ussing 1926); and Frederik Knudsen (1864Ð1934), an innovative teacher of athletics and ball games, who scrutinised the history of some popular jousts (Knudsen 1923 and 1924; and Koudal 2004: 92). Two independent authors from this time with a special interest in folklore were Thorkild Gravlund (1879–1939), from the Reersø peninsula in western Sjælland, and Christine Reimer (full name: Signe Christine Antoinette Manna Reimer: 1858Ð1943), from the inland parish of Hårslev in north-western Fyn. As part of their private collecting activities, both of these people found material on mumming. Chris- tine Reimer’s collecting began in around 1890 and resulted in her major work,

20 Svend Grundtvig is often regarded as the father of Danish folkloristics, but it should be remembered that collecting was carried out and books published about folk traditions before his time. The most important figures in this regard are Rasmus Nyerup (1759Ð1829) and Just Mathias Thiele (1795Ð1874) (see Boberg 1953: 157Ð159 and 161Ð164; cf. http://www.nomos-dk.dk/folket/sam- lereogforskere.htm, last visited March 1, 2007). 202 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Nordfynsk Bondeliv i Mands Minde (Peasant Life on Northern Fyn within Liv- ing Memory: 1910Ð1919), a monumental publication of 864 pages. Prior to the start of institutionalised collecting activity at the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the dominant interest in Denmark had been in oral literature. Folk customs only gradually caught the attention of scholars, partly because Svend Grundtvig, Axel Olrik and other influential scholars of popular antiquities all believed in typology and it was obviously much easier to typologise fixed-form folk poetry than folk customs. Something else that must be born in mind is that at this time, historical interest was prevalent. Thus, when traditions were examined during the period from 1904 until the mid 1950s, the main research interest was that of explaining their history and origins rather than their function. Denmark owns a large and important collection of folklore, and there is reason to be grateful that so many gifted people have been involved in its creation. Nonetheless, considering the numerous individuals that were involved in collecting over a period of more than 150 years, it is quite natural that the extant body of available material is far from homogeneous or uniformly arranged. Shifts in paradigm, focus and trends, as well as different cataloguing techniques and methods of systematisation make the business of managing these large collections a highly cumbersome task for present-day scholars. The work involved in documenting a specific tradition fully can sometimes feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Indeed, searching Dansk Folkemindesam- ling for accounts on mask traditions reveals very little. Moreover, the material naturally seems to reflect closely the limited nature of the questions asked in the questionnaires sent out by Axel Olrik in 1908 (Olrik 1908: 25Ð26). Hesitant or biased or negative attitudes towards certain aspects of folklife are also reflected in some of these collecting activities. To give one example of the problems encountered with questionnaires: As a folklore collector in the southern part of Jylland, H. F. Feilberg had heard from several villages about masked youths making house visits during Twelfth Night. In his book on Christmas (Jul) from 1905 he writes about the “stjernedrenge” (Star Boys: see section 3. d. below) going round on this date. Before proceeding to other mumming practices, he adds a remark that, concerning Twelfth Night activities, “hvad ellers kan nævnes er ikke af stor Be- tydning” (whatever else might otherwise be mentioned has little real importance: Feilberg 1962: II, 294). It might be noted that Feilberg was also the co-author (with Axel Olrik) of a questionnaire (“Spørgsmål om folkminder”: Questions about folklore) sent out by the Folkemindesamling at around this time. It is impossible to know whether Feilberg’s views on Christmas mumming influenced the form of the questionnaire in a negative way or whether it simply never crossed his mind to ask directly about the end of the Christmas period. Whatever, it seems clear that a good opportunity was wasted. The aforementioned “Spørgsmål om folkeminder” questionnaire concerned Skik og brug (Customs and Use: 1908). Organised into different categories, Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 203 each item of folklore was supposed to be written on a separate form which could be obtained from Dansk Folkemindesamling. The answers, it appears, were going to be incorporated into the collections of the folklore archives. This particular questionnaire contains ten questions about Christmas and five questions about Shrovetide traditions. In spite of the heading suggesting that the questionnaire deals with customs and use, only five of the Christmas questions actually deal with this subject. The other five deal with beliefs. In the section of the questionnaire dealing with Christmas celebrations, question seven runs as follows: “Er der særlige julelege? Hvordan leges ‘julebuk’? Er de endnu i brug, eller huskes der blot noget om dem?” (Do special Christmas games exist? How is “julebuk” played? Are they [these games] still in use or are they only vaguely remembered?). It is noteworthy that question number seven received only a meager response. Moreover, some of the answers given here might well find themselves classified by archive personnel under the heading of “Belief” rather than “Customs”. This complicates searches for material greatly: one of the problems today with retrieving the relevant material from the archives is that answers from this time regarding the Julebuk customs might have been filed under “Festivals”, “Customs and Use” or “Legend and Beliefs” rather than according to their original context.21 Concerning Shrovetide, it is noteworthy that none of the questions in the Feilberg-Olrik questionnaire deal with masks or mumming traditions. The results can be easily predicted: the responses contain no information on Shrovetide disguises. In spite of the initial questionnaire problems from 1908, the celebration of Christmas and Shrovetide is well represented in the collections of Dansk Folkemindesamling, and particularly in two collection “cornerstones”: call numbers DFS 1883/001Ð017 and DFS 1906/043. However, it was not until 1933 that the folk-song and folk-music archivist Hakon Grüner-Nielsen (1881Ð1953) found it appropriate to formulate a series of questions directly concerning Christmas games and the Julebuk. Concerning the mumming tradition, he sought information on: Julebuk som Halmdukke, Julebuk udført af enkelt Karl eller af to Karle…, Julevætte, Hvegehors, Kvæghors, Hvide-Hest (-Mær), Bjørn, Ged, Ræv, Stork m.m. Kendes et Uhyre, der stjæler Børn og putter dem i en pose? Kendes Konge, Julebisp og Præst i Jule-Legene? (Grüner-Nielsen 1933a: 174–175). (The Christmas Goat as a straw doll, the Christmas Goat performed by one or two single young men … The Christmas Spirit, the hobby horse, an ox-like horse, a white horse [or mare], a bear, goat, stork etc. Is there a known bugbear that steals children and puts them into a sack? Is there a King, a Christmas Bishop and clergyman known among the Christmas games?)

21 The questionnaire on “customs and use” was employed, for instance, by one collector in the parish of Gimlinge, in south-western Sjælland. However, the answer to question seven was filed in the collection under call number DFS 1906/023: 448: Sagn og tro (Legends and Beliefs). Note that the references to Dansk folkmindesamling are hereafter given in their modern form: for example DFS 1906/023 instead of DFS 1906/23 204 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

This collection was aimed at supplementing Grüner-Nielsen’s material for a study named “Julestuer og Julestuelege i Danmark paa Holbergs Tid: Et Bidrag til de folkelige Selskabsleges Historie” (Christmas Gatherings and Christmas Gathering Games in Denmark at the time of Holberg: A Contribution to the History of the Popular Parlour Games: Grüner-Nielsen 1933b). In his request for material, Grüner-Nielsen in part adopts the terminology used by Palladius (from 1544) and Sorterup (MS from 1722). He received less than twenty answers which were incorporated into the archive collections Fester (Festivals: call number DFS 1906/043), Folkliv (Folklife: call number DFS 1906/046), and Sagn og tro (Legends and Beliefs: call number DFS 1906/023). In 1940, the prose folklore archivist Hans Ellekilde (1891Ð1966) cooperated with the newspaper Berlingske Tidende concerning the further collection of Christmas material. This collection took the form of a competition and was in- stigated in the Saturday edition of November 17, 1940 under the heading: “Fortæl om Barndomshjemmets Jul og dens gamle Skikke” (Describe Christ- mas in your childhood home and its old traditions). This resulted in almost 500 replies which are now kept in Dansk Folkemindesamling, call number DFS 1940/003. Part of the response material was published in Ellekilde and Flor’s Barndomshjemmets Jul (Christmas in the Childhood Home: 1941); and Elle- kilde’s Vor danske Jul gennem Tiderne (Our Danish Christmas Throughout the Ages: 1943). It is noteworthy that very little new appeared concerning the Christmas mumming traditions. Other Christmas material has come from archivist I¿rn Pi¿ (1927Ð1998), who deposited the Christmas material he collected through Danmarks Radio (call numbers DFS 1963/005, DFS 1964/001 and DFS 1966/016); and from Anton Valdemar Pilgaard (1917Ð1977), a journalist from Struer, in north-western Jylland, who donated his scrapbook on Christmas between 1957Ð1977 to Dansk Folkemindesamling (call number DFS 1993/021: see Koudal 2004: 95 and 97). As implied above, besides the folklore records themselves, Dansk Folke- mindesamling also contains other valuable material such as newspaper clippings. Such material can be found, for instance, in Feilberg’s collections, such as the Skik og brug (Customs and Use) collection (call number DFS 1906/047Ð 047b), and, concerning Shrovetide, in the results of a more recent collecting experiment from the mid-1990s (call number DFS 1995/001: see Koudal 2004: 88 and 97). If a regional study is the aim, local newspapers must always be searched carefully for accounts of the mumming tradition in question, and these must then be followed through the years. Such a study has been commenced in ®r¿ where traditions have recently been of central interest (see section 3. d. below). As noted above, Dansk Folkemindesamling inspired and was often the basis of folklore research into year festivals. In addition to those key monographs and articles on mask and mumming traditions mentioned in the following section, a number of other scholars have contributed surveys or popularly written Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 205 introductions to these customs in works dealing with cultural history. Their source material has nonetheless tended to be that contained in the nineteenth-century printed collections rather than in the archives themselves. An- other central point of research was the monumental endeavour produced by the teacher, clergyman and philologist Otto Kalkar (1837Ð1926) in his Ordbog til det ældre Danske Sprog (1300–1700) (Dictionary of the Older Danish Lan- guage [1300Ð1700], published in four volumes in 1881Ð1907, with a supplementary volume in 1908Ð1918). All of these scholarly works were valuable contributions in their own time. However, when it comes to understanding the function and use of masks and mumming, the source criticism in these works is often inarticulate and the presentation shallow.

1. c. ii. Monographs on Mumming and Similar Traditions A number of monographs which have some relevance to the topic of this chapter came to be produced as a result of the work at Dansk Folkemindesamling and Foreningen Danmarks Folkeminder. As noted above, the first attempt to produce an overview of the popular entertainment in Danish Julestuer (Christ- mas gatherings) was that of the archivist at Dansk Folkemindesamling, Hakon Grüner-Nielsen, in his “Julestuer og Julestuelege i Danmark …” (Grüner- Nielsen 1933b). The first part of this work, which is very systematic, covers two categories of mummers, the first being “Julestuens skræmmedyr” (the frightening animals of the Christmas gatherings), first and foremost being the earlier-noted Julebuk (Christmas Goat). These are then followed by “Jule- stuens standspersoner” (persons of rank at the Christmas gatherings), including the Julebisp (Christmas Bishop), a central figure in a parody involving mock weddings (Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 35–44).22 From 1921 to 1926, the young student August F. Schmidt (1899Ð1965) was research assistant at Dansk Folkemindesamling (Boberg 1953: 200Ð201; and Koudal 2004: 235). Soon after this, Schmidt began working as a popular scholar dealing with folkloric subjects. One such study is Fra Julestue til Val- borgsblus: Gadebasse og Gadelam: En folkloristisk unders¿gelse (From Christmas gathering to Walpurgis Bonfire: Village-Road Master and Village- Road Darling: A Folkloric Investigation: 1940). Since Grüner-Nielsen had previously dealt with mock weddings in his main Julestuer study of 1933, Schmidt skipped this element of these traditions, along with the competitions or processions of which the Gadelam tradition could be a part. Surprisingly Schmidt never saw the Gadelam tradition as being related to the open-field system23 but only as a social institution within the youth societies of the time.

22 On such mock marriages, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Sweden, and the article by Eva Knuts elsewhere in this volume. See also Gunnell 1995a: 133Ð 140 and 144Ð160; and 2003 on Icelandic and other Nordic traditions that may be related to the Danish Julebisp tradition. 23 Until the late eighteenth century, the inhabitants of Danish villages worked together in a communal effort. In the all-important harvest work, male and female farmhands worked together in 206 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

The study nonetheless provides an excellent overview of its subject matter along with a useful history of both the civil and clerical bans of this tradition (Schmidt 1940: 46Ð53). More directly related to the present study, however, is Schmidt’s work from 1948, “Helligtrekongersangere i Danmark” (Twelfth Night Singers in Denmark), which deals with the Danish tradition of stjernesangere (Star Singers) or stjernedrenge (Star Boys). As noted elsewhere in this volume,24 this custom is distantly related to medieval church plays, involving fixed characters and props as well as a script, which, almost without exception, takes the shape of a song (Schmidt 1948). Almost simultaneously, Henning Henningsen (1911Ð2005), the museum curator at Handels- og Søfartsmuseum på Kronborg (The Commerce and Ship- ping Museum at Elsinore Castle) became interested in Shrovetide traditions, some of which had an element of masking and disguise, and especially the maritime celebrations of the Danish ports. His first comparative study from 1949 was a documentation of Dystl¿b i Danske Søkøbsstæder og i Udlandet (Boat Jousting in Danish Seaports and Abroad), followed in 1950 by a comprehensive article concerning other Shrovetide jousting sports in Denmark: “Strå- mand, Roland, og Quintan” (Tilting at the Straw Man, Roland and Quintain). These works were followed in 1953 by another comparative investigation, Bådeoptog i Danske Søkøbstæder og i Udlandet (Boat Pageants in Danish Sea- ports and Abroad). In 1959, a further study was made into the classic float tradition of Bakkus på Tønden (lit. Bacchus on the Barrel, involving a jester on a barrel who was drawn on a cart or sledge) which was included in the Lenten festivities of some Danish towns. This was offered to Foreningen Danmarks Folkeminder for publication, but never came out (see Henningsen MS DFS 2002/007). Meanwhile, Henningsen had been collecting material for a small book on journeyman initiations (1960), and for a comparative maritime study which was to become his dissertation in English: Crossing the Equator: Sailors’ Baptism and Other Initiation Rites (1961).25 In more recent times, all of those islands where the population still practise and cherish masking and mumming traditions have been visited by scholars. The most active and productive of these is Carsten Bregenh¿j, who has been working with mask and mumming traditions since the late 1960s.26 Other re- pairs. At the youth gatherings of the year, the pairing activities related to this often gave rise to both intrigue and fun. The event was often referred to as “Uddelingen af Gadelam” (the distribution of the village-road darlings). Various ordinances from the period (Forordninger om fællesskabets ophævelse: Udskiftningsforordningerne 1769Ð81, in Schou 1795Ð1850) which aimed at abolishing the open field system initiated a process that lasted for about a century. The youth organisations nonetheless continued to function, at least as the organisers of village dances and games, and mock weddings remained part of the entertainment. 24 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden, and Finland and Karelia, and especially Ane Ohrvik’s detailed study of the tradition in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 25 It might be noted that three disguised characters are often mentioned in the Equator-crossing descriptions: Neptune, “the barber” and “the doctor” (Henningsen 1961: 119–140). 26 See Bregenh¿j 1974, 1980, 1997, 2000a, and 2001 and 2007a and b (forthcoming). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 207 cent studies carried out into the present-day mask traditions on the islands include the following: Christian Heilskov Rasmussen has written about Twelfth Night traditions on Agers¿ and Om¿ (Rasmussen 1969); Birgitte Storm has written about the same tradition on Om¿ (Storm 1988); Knud Fischer-M¿ller has been working with Twelfth Night traditions on ®r¿ for many years (see Fischer M¿ller 2001); and Hanne Pico Larsen has been working with the Shrove Monday informal house visits on the same island (Larsen, 2002).27 Minor studies have also been carried out on Als.28 This area was also visited by Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen in 2003 and 2004, and it is hoped that this fieldwork material may still be turned into a report of some kind.29 As surprising as it may sound, a number of obvious mumming traditions remain unresearched, including the bourgeois and popular masquerade (see the reference to Hans Christian Andersen in section 2. c. below), masking and mumming at Shrovetide including the Danish-Jewish Purim carnival, and the fun and games (involving disguise) which take place at carding gatherings.

2. General Features of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 2. a. Danish Shrovetide and Christmas Customs: The House Visit and the Procession As has been noted in the historical section of this survey, Danish mumming traditions have tended to group themselves around the periods of Christmas and Shrovetide (Fastelavn in Danish). Shrovetide was Ð and still is Ð a central festival for mumming activities in Denmark. J. S. M¿ller (1865Ð1950) even went as far as suggesting that the remains of other similar traditions at other times of the year might derive from this festival (M¿ller 1931: 4). According to Hans Ellekilde, however, Shrovetide as a festival and all the customs connected to it, was imported from Germany in the Middle Ages, and has no real roots in Nordic history and tradition (Ellekilde 1943a: 27Ð32; see also Schmidt 1940: 61). Other Danish mask and mumming traditions tend to centre around the Christmas period (especially Nytår [New Year], and Helligtrekonger [lit. Holy Three Kings] or Twelfth Night) or at least the dark months of the year. Most of the related traditions seem to have the same social function as those which occur at this time. They will be briefly touched upon in the following sections. It is fair to suggest that because many of the traditions fall so close to each other, they also rub off onto one another in form. As the other surveys in this

27 See also Hanne Pico Larsen’s article on talking to masks elsewhere in this volume. 28 See Adriansen 1979; Kristensen 1909; and the chapter “Aarets Højtider” [Annual Festivals] in Ussing 1926: 112Ð136. 29 See Bregenh¿j 2007b (forthcoming). 208 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen volume show, the same thing occurs elsewhere in the Nordic area. The two main forms of the mask and mumming traditions known in Denmark (and the other Nordic countries) at the aforementioned times of the year are the informal house or good-luck visits, and then the more formal outdoor processions.30 To- day the first of these is the dominant type, the most widespread and the best known. In folklore terminology, the “house or good-luck visit” includes such Danish traditions as at rasle Fastelavn (going from house to house dressed up or disguised in order to collect money at Shrovetide). Such activities are usually informal or improvised. The category “house or good-luck visit” emphasises the places to which visits are paid or the deeper meaning of these visits. With regard to the second type, in tradition research “formal outdoor processions” refer to any organised march or ride involving dressed-up participants, often including an interlude for a competition watched by spectators, and/ or pauses for house visits. When pauses take place at the homes of local inhabitants, formalised greetings may be exchanged, and the visitors may collect gifts or accept refreshments, and in return invite their hosts to a party. Informal house or good-luck visits by children are often (but not exclusively) performed during the day in Denmark.31 If performed by adults, they usually take place after nightfall. Then, under cover of disguise and darkness, the adults (and, in some places, also children) move around in the neighbourhood, visiting people who by one means or another signal to the rest of the community that they are part of the game (see figs 3.2 and 3.3). Many complicated and unspoken rules have to be followed in these transactions which simultaneously underline a clear separation between insiders and outsiders.32 Furthermore, social ties are maintained without having to be negotiated in the open. One might theorise that the grown mummers go to friends’ homes simply for the immaterial purpose of making them happy. In other words, people exploit the framework of the mumming tradition for social purposes as a means of “patting each other’s backs” or “oiling relations”, thereby strengthening the tradition and social relations.33 In Denmark, the more formal parades or processions have tended to take place in connection with traditional tournament-like competitions. Among these are the Shrovetide boat floats and related “boat jousting” (Henningsen 1953); the Amager Shrovetide parade (Hjorth 1986); the Sommer i By (Bring- ing in the Summer) parades (Hansen 1980); the earlier-noted Bakkus på T¿nden (Bacchus on the Barrel) float (DFS 2002/007); and the “Tilting at the

30 As regards typologies of mumming traditions, see further Halpert 1969 and Pettitt 1990 and 1995. See also Bregenh¿j 1974, 91Ð120, and the introduction to the present book. 31 See further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, for example, the Survey of Masks amd Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic (concerning Shetland and Iceland). See also the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir and the article on mumming traditions on Åland by Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch. 32 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume. 33 See further Bregenh¿j 1974: 35Ð36; Fischer M¿ller 2001: 16Ð21; Larsen 2002: 7Ð12; and Storm 1989: 28Ð49. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 209

Fig. 3.2: Mumming in recent times in Denmark: One way of teaching the mumming tradition is by showing children how things are done. Parents thus often take children along to visit grandparents and other relatives: Agers¿, January 5, 1971. (Photo: John Eley.)

Fig. 3.3: Mumming in recent times in Denmark: Groups of six or more mummers are far from uncommon in the Twelfth Night tradition on Agers¿. Since the 1960s, masks made of plastic or rubber have become a common means of avoiding recognition in bright electric light: Agers¿, January 5, 1971. (Photo: John Eley.) 210 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Ring” parades.34 Related combat genres and pageants going back to the Renaissance are at stikke til saraceneren, tyrken, morianen (The Saracen, Turk or Moor joust); at stikke til Quintan (Tilting at the Quintain), at stikke til Ro- land (Tilting at Roland); at stikke til stråmanden (Tilting at the Straw Man); and at stikke til jomfruen (Tilting at the Maiden) (Henningsen, 1949Ð50: 1Ð36). Although these traditions have not commonly involved the use of facial masks, a person disguised as a jester or fool or something similar may have commonly been part of the fun. His outfit could include a false nose and beard, a wig or a blackened face. The following recording of the “Bringing in the Summer” tradition may serve as a relatively typical example. The informant describes how, during the Whitsun holiday in the 1890s, a “nar” (jester) held a performance at the steel mill and gun factory in Hellebæk, Nordsjælland: … så Far selv “Narren”, der var klædt i Narredragt med Bjælder på Tøjet og Huen og havde en Urskive på Bagdelen. Han løb rundt med Snusdåse. Dem der ikke gav ham noget fik et Slag af en [harlekinsbriks] […] som […] lavede stort Rabalder, men slog ikke hårdt. […] Far har hørt om Narren, der blev båret på en Tønde […] Lige- ledes […] at Narren havde ret til at gå ind i de forskellige Telte og spise eller drikke, hvad han havde Lyst til uden Betaling (Hansen 1980: 56).35 (My father himself saw “The Jester”, who was dressed in a jester’s costume with bells on his clothes and his cap and had the face of a clock on his behind. He ran around with a snuff box. Those who did not give him any got a slap with a slapstick which made a lot of noise but he did not hit them hard. Father has heard about the jester that was carried around on a barrel. And that the jester had the right to go into any of the different [food or beverage] tents and eat or drink whatever he liked without pay.) Around 1820, the jester in question might have been dressed in a “Harle- kinsdragt” (Harlequin dress) and masked or corked. As one observer writes: “Stundom havde han en sort Halvmaske for Øjnene; stundom var han kun stærkt bemalet” (At times he had a black halfmask covering his eyes; at times he was only heavily coloured: Ole Lund [1812Ð1891] 1892, quoted in Elle- kilde 1961: 32). The fool would entertain the spectators or the households wherever the parade paused, breaking social norms and expectations in a mul- titude of ways. Included in his role was the collection of money or provisions, sometimes even involving stealing from sculleries or henhouses.36 In spite of

34 See Alstrup and Olsen 1991: II, 745Ð746 and the literature mentioned there; Petersen 1971; Adriansen, Branderup and Denckert 1986; and Salmonsens Konversations Leksikon 1915Ð1930: XX, 212: “Ringrenden; Ringridning”. 35 On the Whitsun traditions at the gun factory, see Ellekilde 1941b in 1961: 29: quotation from Fr. Schaldemose (1783Ð1853) in his newspaper Helsing¿rposten 1838. See also Henningsen 1949: 27; and Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 47: 25. Regarding the jester’s slapstick or bladder, see Boter- mans, Dewit, and Goddefroy 1989: 57. 36 Similar figures are, of course, found amongst the English mummers and sword dancers, among the Shetland guisers, and even in the groups of Swedish Star Boys (figures like Joseph, or Judas, the latter of whom often carries a purse). See, for example, Gunnell 1995a: 107, 118 and 171Ð172, and the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Norway and the North Atlantic Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 211 the variations in the festival games and small performances which would parade the streets or move from farm to farm, they all have the same function as the earlier-mentioned “good-luck visits” (Halpert 1969: 34Ð61). The importance of such visits lies in the way they confirm social affiliations, the avoid- ance of a visit then marking the understanding of a lack of affiliation.37 The following two Danish examples drawn from both an archive and literature help illustrate not only this function, but also the strong impact and consequences that such traditions can sometimes have. The first example comes from the island of Bornholm in 1921 and depicts an informal house visit that took part in the past. As a veterinary doctor in a remote province, the narrator is obviously an outsider. This permits him to offer a more objective view. Da jeg for ca. 25 Aar siden var Dyrlæge paa Bornholm, sad jeg en Fastelavns Man- dag Aften og drak Kaffe i et Gaardmandshjem i Poulsker, da der pludselig kom en ung Mand ind i Stuen, satte sig ved Bordet og begyndte at tage Del i Samtalen, som om han enten var i Familie med Værtsfokene eller nærmeste Bekendte. Han bragte Hilsen fra forskellige paa ¯en og spurgte til forskellige Personers Befindende, hvilket han fik Svar paa, men alt paa en saa underfundig Maade, at jeg var klar over, der stak noget under, og da han pludselig sagde Godnat og Tak, spurgte jeg Værtsfolke- ne, hvem han var. De lo og sagde, det var Fastelavnsnarren, men det havde ikke været dem muligt at opdage, hvor han var fra, eller hvem han var. At han var camou- fleret, anede jeg ikke. Denne Form for Fastelavnsl¿jer har jeg ikke truffet paa andet steds (DFS 1906/043 682). (About 25 years ago, when I was a vet on [the Danish island of] Bornholm, I was sitting, having coffee in a farmer’s house in Poulsker one Shrove Monday evening, when all of a sudden a young man came into the living room, sat down at the table and started participating in the conversation, as if he was related to the hosts or a close friend. He brought regards from different people on the island and asked about different persons’ well-being, all of which he received answers to, but it was all in such a subtle way that I was aware that there was a catch in it somewhere. When he abruptly said good night and thanks, I asked the hosts who he was. They laughed and said that that was the Shrovetide Fool, but it had not been possible to discover where he was from or who he was. I did not sense that he was disguised. I have not come across that form of Shrovetide fun anywhere else.) In this observation describing practices from the late 1890s, it appears that the Shrovetide mummer was probably hiding his identity beneath some kind of headgear and a scarf, as well as maybe a false beard. It is also implied that he was wearing normal clothes that, nonetheless, may have been borrowed from someone else. Expecting nothing out of the ordinary, the vet does not see anything that seems to be abnormal on a cold February night. It is only the crafty replies to the mummer’s questions that attract the observer’s attention. More- over, his hosts laugh at the verbal tug-of-war and clearly had fun during the visit. It can also be expected that this Shrovetide humorist enjoyed himself elsewhere in this volume. On Judas, see also section 2. b. below and the article by Ane Ohrvik on Star Boys in Norway. 37 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume. 212 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen fooling not only the friendly farmer and his family but also the newly-established vet. It might also be noted that the event in question takes place on an island far from the mainland, and that the doctor only experienced this tradition once. This would suggest that the activity on Bornholm which he witnessed was essentially a relic of a tradition that had once been more common and was probably already on the wane. Were it not for the fact that this event took place at Shrovetide, the visit and the interaction would have fitted in well as a piece of Twelfth Night mumming. The similarities between the two traditions are striking. The second example was written and first published in 1852 by the Danish Jewish author, Meïr Aaron Goldschmidt (1819Ð1887) and re-published post- humously by his son. In 1826, when he was at the age of six, Goldschmidt’s family moved from the provincial town of Vordingborg to the village of Valby outside K¿benhavn where Goldschmidt’s father had acquired a farm from the estate of a local widow. Goldschmidt noticed how during their first Shrovetide in Valby, the youths of the village paid the farmers of the village “good-luck visits” in hierarchical order. They were on horseback, wearing beautiful costumes and under the leadership of a farmer’s son, Cort Sørensen: Toget så dejligt, gammeldags ud, når det således i spraglede dragter og med vajende lansevimpler drog hen ad den brede snedækte gade. Det søgte da hvergang en gård, og portene på alle byens gårde stod på vid gab, ligesom ventende med længsel. I por- ten blev blæst en fanfare; man red ind i gården, Cort Sørensen lod udføre forskellige evolutioner, hvorpå man steg af, gik ind og blev beværtet med det bedste huset for- måede. Vor store port stod åben som de andre; men hele dagen kom toget ikke til os…” (Goldschmidt 1896–1898: II, 110). (The parade looked lovely and old-fashioned as it came down the broad, snow- covered road like that with multi-coloured costumes and raised lance streamers. Each time it passed, it headed for a farm, and all the gates of every farm were wide open, as if waiting for them with longing. In the gate opening, a fanfare was blown, and then they entered the yard. Cort S¿rensen [the head of the parade, and also the son of the official performing certain judicial functions in the parish] had many voluble reverences carried out, whereupon they dismounted and went inside and were served the best the house could offer. Our big gate was open like all the others but all day long the parade did not come to us.) Every time the parade passed the gate, Cort Sørensen would cry out: “Kristine Hansdatter er ikke hjemme!” (“Kristine Hansdatter is not at home!”), Kristine Hansdatter being the former owner of the farm. Goldschmidt continues: Vi børn følte den skam, der overgik vor gård, så dybt, at vi stod og græd bag port- stolperne og knap vovede at se på festen, der syntes at være gjort for alle andre, kun ikke for os. Hvilken sørgmodig aften, da mørket var kommet og alt håb slukt! Vi børn gik ikke engang ned i borge[r]stuen, men sad stille hos vores forældre, der syntes os tavse og mismodige at stirre ind i ilden, som knitrede i den store ovn (Gold- schmidt 1896Ð1898: II, 111). (We children felt the shame that had fallen upon our farm so deeply that we stood crying behind the gate posts, and hardly dared to look at the festivities. They were Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 213

seemingly made for everybody else but us. What a sad evening it was when dark fell and extinguished all hope! We children did not even go downstairs to the main room [where everyone on a farm would normally spend the evening together], but sat quietly with our parents who, it seemed to us, were quite dejected, silently staring into the fire, which crackled in the big stove.) While it is obvious that the newcomers were being intentionally humiliated, it is worth noting that there is nothing here to indicate that this had anything to do with their faith. On the contrary: on the following day, even the newly- arrived Goldschmidts received a visit from the troupe. The account goes on: ’Gud ske lov, der er de!’ råbte vi børn og kom næsten til at græde af glæde. Fader sagde: ’Der er ingen, der har haft bud efter dem!’ men med et mærkelig opklaret ansigt trak han i hast støvlerne på og gik ud og bød alle: ’glædelig fest og velkommen’ (Goldschmidt 1896Ð1898: II, 111). (“God be praised! Here they come!” we children shouted, and almost cried with joy. Father said, “Nobody sent for them”, but with a strangely lit-up face, he hastily pulled on his boots and went out and bade them all, “A joyous feast and welcome!”) In this latter example, a seemingly harmless tradition is used as a means of dis- tressing the outsiders. This might be an extreme situation in which otherwise unexpressed or suppressed anxieties and resentment are spoken out loud, the words, “Kristine Hansdatter is not at home!” underlining the fact that the present owner is “not one of us”. As recent field work in Denmark has revealed, even today mumming groups may ignore outsiders, although their “in- ferior” status is seldom spelled out as directly as in this example.38 For a native villager in a community which has mask and mumming traditions or other forms of “good-luck visit” customs, it is important to know that you are numbered among the hosts. We are personally aware that on islands like Agers¿ and ®r¿, people annually keep count of the number of mummers that have visited them, ambitiously comparing the score with that of the neighbours or that of important individuals in the local community, as well as checking on the development compared with last year. When the evening is over people somehow know their “marks”.39

2. b. Serious and Amusing Forms of Masking Generally speaking, Danish masked figures have tended to be either stereotyped or idiosyncratic. The most stereotypical or traditional of the masked figures have appeared in Denmark’s masking traditions for centuries, and are naturally also found outside Denmark (see Henningsen 1949: 27 and 82; and Henningsen 1953: 32Ð46 and 174Ð17540). These figures are Stodder og

38 Fredrik Skott and Carsten Bregenh¿j, unpublished report on fieldwork on Agers¿, January 5, 2001. Cf. Weiser-Aall 1954: 47; and Bregenh¿j 1974: 129Ð130. 39 See Bregenh¿j 1974: 35; Fischer-M¿ller 2001: 19; and Larsen 2002: 86. 40 See the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 214 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Kælling (the beggar and his wife, or the beggar and the old hag: Henningsen 1953: 34Ð35; and M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 19), or mand og kone (husband and wife), which is equivalent to Fastelavnsnar og Kælling (Shrovetide jester and old hag: M¿ller 1931: I, 15); or Midsommernarre (midsummer jesters: Hansen 1980: nr. 12, 28); Den [manden] der rider på ryggen af sin ‘ajlmoder’ (bedste- mor) (The man that is riding on the back of his grandmother, or the old woman carrying her husband: Fischer-M¿ller 2001: 19Ð20; and M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 18); Bjørnetrækkeren med Bjørn (the bear-tamer and his bear: Henningsen 1953: 39Ð42); and Judas (so-called because this figure often collected the money for the procession: Henningsen 1953: 3641). The general term could just be narren/ Midsommernarren (the [midsummer] jester: Hansen 1980: 28Ð29, 51, and 56Ð57); but these figures could also be called bajadser og klovner Ð Dummepetere, Auguster (buffoons and clowns, fools and Augusts42), Pjerrot’er og Harlekiner (Pierrots and Harlequins: Henningsen 1953: 33), or askefis – klædt ud på den snurrigste måde (lit. Ash fart dressed up in the most curious way: Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 47: 25); J¿den sometimes called den vandrende j¿de (the Jew or The Wandering Jew: Henningsen 1953: 36; and Olsen 1913: 38Ð40); Halmmænd (straw-men: Henningsen 1953: 42Ð43); Negere (morianer), tyrkere og indianer (Moors, Turks and Indians: Henning- sen 1953: 20, and 35Ð36); Vildmanden (The Savage: Henningsen 1953: 36Ð 39); Bakkus (på tønden) (Bacchus on the Barrel: Henningsen 1953: 45; and Hansen 1980: 56); Kæmpefigurer (giants or giant figures: Henningsen 1953: 45Ð46); Sommer og Vinter (Summer and Winter: Henningsen 1949: 129); Bar- beren (The Barber: Henningsen 1961: 135–139; and Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 24Ð25, 45Ð46); and others43 (see further Mathiesen 1967: 41 and 43). In a rare recording from the village of Bakkeb¿lle, east of the town of Vor- dingborg on southern Sjælland, four stereotypical disguises are mentioned. The text forms part of the description of a Shrovetide pageant: Bagest, men ikke i nogen bestemt Orden, red de komiske figurer. En var udklædt som en gammel Bonde. Han havde en Pisk i Haanden, i Enden af Snerten havde han bundet sine Vanter fast. i Lommerne havde han forskellige Kornsorter, som han solgte og lovede at levere visse T¿nder af til en bestemt Tid og modtog Haandpenge paa det Korn han skulle levere. J¿den solgte baand i alle de Gaarde, Selskabet kom i. Visekællingen var en Karl, der var udklædt som en gammel Kone. De Viser, hun solgte, var ikke andet end udklippet Avispapir. Sidst i Rækken kom Narren, der gjorde mange løjer. … Naar Skafferen havde endt sin Tale, kom Narren og raabte: Ha! Ha! Ha! Det er bare Løgn, han fortæller. I skal ikke tro, hvad han siger; I skal bare tro, hvad jeg siger, for det er mig der staar for hele Lavet. Saa remsede han en hel Del op om, at Maden var sluppet op, og Øllet var løbet af Tønden, Brændevin var

41 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume, and note 36 above. 42 M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 19; Henningsen 1949: 27, and 41; Henningsen 1953: 33; and Reimer 1910Ð1919: 426Ð427. 43 In comparison, see, for example, Pfaundler 1981: 81Ð99 (savages); 100Ð106 and 243Ð252 (bear catchers and bears); 159Ð163 (Summer and Winter [die vier Jahreszeiten]); 243Ð252 (orientals); 252Ð271 (Gypsies or travellers); 335Ð347 (The Barber). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 215

Fig. 3.4: The range of masks in modern Den- mark: A “gangster” in the village of Asser- balle on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

der ikke noget af o.s.v. Visekællingen kom altid en del efter det øvrige Selskab. Hun red på en gammel mager krikke, der var vanskelig at faa af Sted (Olsen 1913: 39–40). (In the rear but in no particular order came the comical figures. One of them was disguised as an old farmer. He had a whip in his hand; in the end of the whiplash he had tied his mittens. In his pockets he had different grains that he offered for sale and promised to deliver a certain amount of barrels at a certain time, and accepted a de- posit for the potential deliverance of grain. The Jew sold ribbons in all the farms the party visited. The female broadside ballad peddler was a young man that was disguised as an old woman. The ballads she sold were nothing other than newspaper clippings. Last in the row was the jester who did a lot of tricks…. When the waiter had ended his speech [in each of the farm houses] the jester stood up and shouted: “Ha, ha, ha! He is only telling you lies! Don’t believe what he is saying. Only believe what I say, because I represent the entire corporation!” Then he rattled off a good deal about the food that had come to an end, saying the beer had run out of the barrel, that there would be no hard liquor etc. The female broadside ballad peddler always arrived later than the rest of the train. She was riding an old skinny jade that was difficult to get moving.) Most of these formerly widespread and well-known characters have now almost entirely disappeared. Their appearance in Danish masking and mumming traditions, however, seems to place them in the role of ambassadors of a pan-European masking culture.44 The most popular disguises in Denmark today seem to be based around the simple idea of the concealment of the individual (see figs 3.4 and 3.6). A person who wishes to go mumming might simply take those clothes that are avail-

44 See further Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 62–64; Mathiesen 1967: 36–44; and Henningsen 1953: 32– 46, and 174Ð175. 216 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.5: The range of masks in modern Denmark: Penguins: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

Fig. 3.6: The range of masks in modern Denmark: A young female turned into a decrepit old woman: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, January 5, 2003. (Photo: Carsten Bregen- h¿j.) able and wear them upside down or inside out. The general appearance matters little as long as the mummer is altered beyond all recognition. Alternatively, you can buy a mask that suits the particular role you have in mind. You might even purchase your entire outfit. Naturally the media and the increasing influence of the world outside Denmark are also reflected in the supply and the de- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 217 mand for different types of mask. As in other countries, the trends in types of masks and carnival costumes can be traced back to popular television programmes, video games, politicians in the spotlight, and protagonists in best- selling books or comics and so on. Simultaneously, however, the choice of masks and roles at any particular time may also reveal something about the everyday environment, and offer a critical social commentary on what is going on. In Danish areas on the border with Germany, for instance, there have been periods when it has been popular for mummers to disguise themselves as Ger- man soldiers, politicians or tourists (see further section 3. e. v. below and Mathiesen 1967: 44).45 Planned practical jokes or social criticism of this kind may thus have some influence on the nature of the mask or role, as tends to happen, for instance, in the town of ®r¿sk¿bing on ®r¿ where the house visits have almost developed into a kind of annual revue.46 The mummers here normally do their rounds performing a satirical skit which comments upon all the big issues that have affected the local society during the previous year. For example, if the scene in question concerns an error made by the local vicar, it will be natural that at least one person will disguise himself as a vicar.

2. c. Cross-Dressing As in all the other countries covered in this volume, a common feature of both the aforementioned stereotypes and the individual masks is the element of cross-dressing (see fig. 3.7). Pretending to be the opposite sex is an ambivalent endeavour which in Christian contexts, at least, apparently provoked strong opposition as well as gaining psychological appeal. Naturally, there are other still more complex psychological explanations (see Bjerg 1967: 10Ð12), but at the same time, it must be considered that this is maybe the most obvious form of disguise, since nothing is more visible and unchangeable in daily life than a person’s sex. Not being able to decide whether a mummer is male or female creates for the spectator an enigmatic vision. Breaking the most conventional norms related to gender roles provokes an uncanny feeling of uncertainty in both performer and observer. In his 1736 tirade against Shrovetide mumming (see section 1. b. above), Bishop Erik Pontoppidan makes special mention of cross-dressing. Drawing his imagery from zoology, the bishop compares the act of mumming to the shape and colour changes of invertebrate polyps or octopii: “den Art Polyp-

45 In the period prior to Denmark’s admission to the European Union, the Deutschmark was particularly strong in relation to the Danish krone. The uneven exchange rate made visiting West Germans tourists seem “rich” and often arrogant. The limited length of the German coastlines (for a population of about sixty million people) had also made the seaside resorts of western Europe popular tourist targets for the Germans, and not least those in nearby Denmark. Not all Danes appreciated the resulting influx of holidaymakers from south of the border. 46 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume for similar traditions in Fair Isle, Shetland. 218 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.7: Cross-dressing in mumming: Two mummers going the rounds leave a home in Agers¿, Denmark: January 5, 1980. Newcomers, the newly wed and those with recently-redecorated homes could be sure of a visit on this evening. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

Forvandling, som vi kalde Forklædelse og Mommerier…” (this kind of “polyp transformation” which we call disguising and mumming: Pontoppidan 1923: 29).47 Like other clergymen of his time, Pontoppidan also draws support from the statement in Deuteronomy 22.5 that “A woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man; neither shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God”. The uncanny feelings that cross-dressing can arouse is described with naive susceptibility by Hans Christian Andersen (1801Ð1875) in his novel O.T. from 1836 (Andersen 1999: 151Ð153). The main character here is a sensitive young student, Otto Thostrup, who is very interested in Sophie, the sister of his close friend Wilhelm. One night, Otto and Wilhelm attend a masquerade at the students’ union, a place in which, in accordance with the norms of the time, no women were allowed. Many of the young students are dressed like women, and some of them are even quite “good looking”. The young Otto is overwhelmed by the numerous discordances he observes at the party: the music, the boys romping about, old professors flirting with the young “women”. More than anything else, he is surprised by his best friend, Wilhelm: En ung Dame, én af Skjønhederne, i hvid Kjole og med et tyndt Klæde over Skuld- rene, kom til og kastede sig i hans Arme. Det var Wilhelm; men Otto fandt en Liig- hed hos ham med Fr¿ken Sophie, den han f¿r aldrig havde fundet saa stor; og derfor

47 The reference is to the way tentacle marine animals (i.e. octopii, cuttlefish, and squid) can change both form and colour. The reference to the polyp was common eighteenth-century trope. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 219

steg Blodet ham op i Kinderne, idet den Smukke omslyngede ham og lagde sin Kind ind til Hans, han saae mere af Sophie, end af Wilhelm … [Otto følte] sit Hjerte banke som i Feber; der str¿mmede Ild gjennem Blodet, han st¿dte ham bort (Andersen 1999: 151Ð153). (A young lady, one of the beauties, dressed in a white dress and with a thin scarf around her shoulders, came and threw herself into Otto’s arms. It was Wilhelm, but Otto found in him a resemblance to Miss Sophie, which he had never found before so distinctly, and therefore the blood ran to his cheeks. When the beauty embraced him and put her cheek to his, he saw more of Sophie than of Wilhelm in this figure… [Otto felt] his heart beat as in a fever, fire flowed through his blood. He pushed him away.) The two friends stay together, and at the table, where there is singing and drinking, Wilhelm has the role of Otto’s lady. The somewhat intoxicated Wilhelm lives up to his role and after someone proposes a toast to the ladies, all the “girls” get up on their chairs or on the table. They, in turn, propose a toast to the men: … ’Nei, Nei!’ hvidskede Otto til Wilhelm, idet han drog ham ned. ’I disse Klæder ligner De Deres S¿ster saa meget, at det er mig afskyeligt, at De saaledes kan gaa ud af Hendes Rolle!’ (Andersen 1999: 151–153). (… “No, please!” Otto whispered to Wilhelm, while dragging him down. “In these clothes you look so much like your sister; it is disgusting to me how you can act like that so contrary to her character.”) Otto senses that Wilhelm is getting carried away by his role. When Wilhelm later tries to kiss him, he leaves. In the novel, Wilhelm is mocking Otto for having a weak spot for his sister. Focussing on the physical side of a relationship, he indicates to his friend that he knows his most secret dreams. While creating a cruel phantom for Otto, he also robs him of his illusions of Miss Sophie. This one-sided picture is, of course, unfair and Otto rejects it in confusion and annoyance, both because of the cold-heartedness of his friend and his own arousal.48

3. Overview of Mask and Mumming Customs in Denmark Following the Old Farming Calendar 3. a. The Period before Christmas: 3. a. i. Nikolaus (St Nicholas), Julemanden (the Christmas Man) and Julenissen (The Christmas House Elf) Christmas (Jul) was a time for celebration in the Nordic countries before the inhabitants learned about the birth of Christ, and, as noted above, it is around Christmas (along with Shrovetide) that a majority of Danish masking traditions occur.

48 See further the article on eroticism in mumming by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 220 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Although St. Nikolaus is a well-known saint and mumming figure in areas to the south of Denmark (such as in Spain, Austria and Holland or in Catholic Germany) where he is celebrated on St Nicholas’ Day (December 6), no mumming is recorded on this day (or on St Nicholas’ Eve) in Denmark itself. How- ever, by the early nineteenth century, the figure of a bearded or masked bringer of gifts had come into being in German-speaking Europe, and, under different names, this figure was already spreading into the Nordic countries. At around the same time, the same figure was beginning to undergo the process of being transformed into the modern Santa Claus in the United States. The Danish Father Christmas, known variously as Julemanden (The Christmas Man) or Julenissen (The Christmas House Elf),49 now began appearing as a bearded figure (most often wearing a false beard) dressed in a dark coat or jacket. In homes with children he distributed gifts to the young and sometimes to everyone present on Christmas Eve. The performer was most often a grown male member of the family. However, the Julemand or Julenisse would also appear before Christmas in the shape of a hired performer promoting Christmas commerce in department stores. The first record of such a disguised Julenisse wearing clogs and a long beard on the main K¿benhavn shopping thoroughfare, Str¿get, is from 1915 (Pi¿ 1977: 124). The first permanent department-store Santa commenced his career in 1932 (Pi¿ 1977: 124Ð125). Indeed, as early as 1930 and 1931, the agency Biltzing’s Bureau was known to have been supplying customers with performers taking the role of the Julenisse.50 With the adoption in Europe of American commercial culture, the figure of Santa gained a firm hold in Denmark. Elements from the old Julemand and the new Santa Claus finally merged soon after the 1950s, especially under the influence of the cinematic Christmas shows produced by Walt Disney. The eventual blended figure retained the name of the Julemand, now visiting houses on Christmas Eve, interrogating children about their behaviour during the past year and distributing gifts from a sack. He was also believed to live in Green- land, probably close to the North Pole, where he and his helpers, the Nisser (elves), produced gifts, and from where he set out on his trips to visit Denmark. The main influences this figure has acquired from Santa Claus are the flying sledge, the reindeer, the now invariable white beard and red outfit with white fur trimming, and the black boots and fur trimmed hat.51

49 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume for similar terminology. 50 The Royal Library, Manuscript Dept., K¿benhavn: Biltzings Bureaus kassebog, Signatur acc. 2004/40, pages 197, 242 and 247. 51 For the history of the Julemand and Julenisser, see Pi¿, 1977: 82Ð100 and 100Ð107. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 221

3. b. The Christmas Period 3. b. i. Julestuer (Christmas Gatherings) and Other Related Activities Julestue (Christmas gathering; plural: Julestuer) is the common name used for the earlier form of Danish Christmas festivity where most mask-related activities took place. Thanks to numerous literary sources, these are best known in their eighteenth-century form (see Grüner-Nielsen 1933b). The era of Jule- stuer gatherings of this kind spanned the period from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. The duration of the Julestue period ran from St Stephen’s Eve (December 26) on the second day of Christmas to St Knud’s Day (January 7) or, in some sources, Candlemas (February 2): in short, the entire Christmas “helg” (holy period) as well as the so-called “legatee” season, that is, the season of game- or youth-gatherings. According to Grüner-Nielsen, these holiday gatherings originated in the wakes and related pastimes of the Catholic era (Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 3–4). The earlier Christmas entertainments in Denmark seem to have been male dominated and included drinking, chain-dancing and singing, and trials of strength or dexterity of different kinds. Bishop Peder Palladius seems to be referring to such drinking evenings when he writes about animal masks in his Visitatsbog (Visitation Book) from 1543Ð1544. The fact that young men also went mumming at this time is implied by both Palladius and a Christmas sermon written by the clergyman Christiern Pedersen from 1515 (Pedersen 1850: I, 70). Some of these mummers probably performed with the so-called rumlepotte (“rommelpott”, or friction drum) as well (see Botermans et al 1989: 82– 83; and fig. 3.9). It is apparent, however, that party games in which both genders could participate were already occurring in the fifteenth century. The mixed-gender mode of celebration probably contributed to the popularity of the games. Dur- ing the two following centuries from 1550 to 1750, it seems that the Julestue participants would entertain themselves with a variety of different games, as well as telling stories, asking riddles and dancing. This was common practice both in the cities and in the countryside. In the countryside, however, the pairing of harvest workers for the coming year might also take place at these Christmas gatherings.52 This probably gave rise to a number of new “wooing” and “pairing” games like those associated with the Julebisp (Christmas Bishop: see further section 3. c. iv. below). When the Christmas games were later banned, the pairing of harvest workers and other “pairing games” were supposedly moved to other holidays (Hansen 1980: 110).53 The mumming tradition, however, seems to have run parallel to the Julestuer, and in all probability goes back at least to the time of Saxo.54

52 See note 23 above. 53 Hansen 1980: 110 contains references to a representative selection of examples of these so-called gadebasse and gadelam traditions. See also Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs 1Ð27: 3Ð15; and Schmidt 1940. 54 See note 13 above. 222 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

As has been noted earlier, the holiday-eve vigils or wakes were regularly debated and attacked from the beginning of the Danish Reformation (1536), and this continued until 1683, when they were finally banned in Christian V’s Danske Lov (Christian V’s Danish Law). Over the course of the early eighteenth century, the Julestuer gradually fell into disrepute, not least during the Puritan era, in part owing to the heavy drinking, violence, and indeed the trans- gression of norms for acceptable conduct which had become connected with these gatherings. In the eyes of the spokesmen for both Pietism and Mercantil- ism, an entire fortnight of Christmas merrymaking was both un-Christian and wasteful. It was referred to as “…den unødig hvile fra alt arbejde i de 13 dage i Julen” (the unnecessary repose from all kinds of work during the 13 days of Christmas).55 As far back as 1668, an ordinance for K¿benhavn was also introduced against going around with the Julebuk (Christmas Goat) and the aforementioned rumlepotte, as well as taking part in other such “Aberi og Spøgelse … og letfærdigt Spil” (aping and disguising … and other mockery). This ordinance for the capital was then repeated in 1701 (Schou 1795Ð1850: 459). As has been noted at the start of this survey, and elsewhere in this volume,56 the origin of such Christmas mumming in Denmark and the other Nordic countries has given rise to some speculation. The use of masks in these parts certainly seems to have early roots in the Nordic countries,57 and several Nordic legends tell of farmhouses being taken over by groups of antagonistic supernatural beings at Christmas time.58 In both Norway and Denmark, there were both legends and beliefs relating to groups of wild spirits which visited farmhouses at Christmas.59 Nonetheless, it should be stressed that the parallel and possible interconnection between mumming customs and supernatural figures associated with Christmas is less apparent in Denmark than it is in other countries.60

55 Kristensen 1987: 1. IV, nr. 362: 130: David Monrath’s translation of Jens Bircherod’s Palæstra antiqvaria from 1688. There were, however, other reasons for changes in behaviour. For example, a shift in taste concerning dancing was occurring during this period as ballroom dancing (in couples) was becoming the main popular entertainment at the Julestuer gatherings. This replaced earlier traditions, not least in terms of dance. On this question, see, for example, Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 2; Olsen 1923: 76Ð77, and 93Ð94; Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 364: 130Ð131; Rasmussen 1905: 225; Graves 1921: 144Ð145; and DFS 1906/046: 730: Horslunde i Lollands N¿rre herred: Folkeliv contribution I, 2Ð3. 56 See the Introduction and the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 57 See the references given in notes 12 and 13 above in particular. 58 See further Gunnell 2004, and, in particular, the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 59 In Denmark, these were called the Den vilde Jagt (The Wild Hunt) which was often connected with the god Odin/ Ó∂inn; in Norway, this group was often referred to as the Oskoreia: see Nilsson 1938: 34Ð35; Celander 1943; and Eike 1980. 60 As Pi¿ has shown, the connection of the nisse to the celebration of Christmas (as a Julenisse) is a literary-artistic invention with roots in Danish legends (first collected and published by J. M. Thiele in Danmarks Folkesagn IÐIII, 1843Ð1860) which told how Gårdboen (the house- or stable- Nisse or spirit) used to be served porridge with butter at Christmas (Pi¿ 1977: 100Ð107). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 223

Even the figure of the so-called Jule-Vætte (Christmas Spirit) is as yet only known from one source (Sorterup 1722: 50Ð53). Regarding the Julebuk, it is clear that in Denmark, as in Sweden,61 the name could refer to both a masked figure (see fig. 3.8) and a straw doll dressed in old clothes like that described in the following account from the island of Læsø (Laesoe) in the Kattegat: Der blev ogsaa undertiden lavet en Julebuk af Halm, og var der nogen, man havde Løjer af at skræmme, blev den listet ind hos Vedkommende og altid sat saaledes, at de løbe paa den (DFS 1906/043 Fester, Top. 1300 Læsø. Recorded by S. Ditlevsen in Elsted 1908, from Kirstine Nielsen of Vesterø; see also Grüner-Nielsen 1924: 180; and 1933b: 159). (Sometimes a Christmas Goat was also made from straw, and if anyone wanted to play at frightening somebody, it would be sneaked into the house of the party concerned. It would always be placed in such a way that they bumped into it.) When a similar doll was sent round on the day of St. Stefanus Protomartyr (St Stephen), December 26, it might alternatively be called a Staven (otherwise Steffen or Stefan: Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs 323Ð324 and 331Ð332: 112Ð114). Such figures were mainly known in the area around the north Jylland town of L¿gst¿r on the south shore of Limfjorden, in the parishes of Næsborg, Løgsted and Vilsted as well as in the hamlet of Hestbæk, some 12–15 km. inland to the south-east in Blære parish. Indeed, on both shores of Limfjorden, practical jokes were performed on St Stephen’s night and sometimes on New Year’s Eve, as well under the cover of darkness in the districts of Mors, Thy, Vendsys- sel and Himmerland (Feilberg 1910: 271Ð272; and Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs. 322–330: 112–114). One account of such activities ends with the words: “De har også taget folks vogne og skilt ad og sat dem op på husene med en staven i” (They have also taken peoples’ carts apart and reassembled them on top of the houses with a Staven in them: Thomas Nørgård, from Næsborg: Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 323: 112).62 With regard to the Julestue gatherings, there are a number of legends which deal with a Julebuk doll. Seven in total, they are all very similar and are all related to the village of Vinten, in Tamdrup, east Jylland, near the town of Hor- sens (Ellekilde 1945: 213–224). In spite of Ellekilde’s enthusiasm for the material, two of the key examples (from 1854 and 1886) bear the marks of literary composition,63 which unfortunately makes them unfit for inclusion here in the present discussion. While straw dolls of this kind are clearly part of the folk life

61 Regarding the figure of the Julebuk, see the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions elsewhere in this volume, and especially those concerning Norway and Sweden. See also the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus elsewhere in this volume. 62 See also Kristensen 1891Ð1893/1987: 1, IV, nr 377: 134 for another account. A similar feat took place in the parish of Errits¿, near Fredericia in south-east Jylland, around 1800 (Ussing and Ussing 1915: I, 11Ð12). 63 Scrutiny of this material has commenced, and on the basis of this, the seven legends can be dis- missed from the present survey. A study of the legends by Carsten Bregenh¿j is forthcoming. 224 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen of the area (Ellekilde 1938: 5Ð100; see also Kristensen 1987: 1, IV nr. 331Ð 332: 114),64 it is uncertain how they came to be mixed up with the Julebuk doll of northern Jylland.65 In addition to this, a few texts dealing with the straw doll tradition have also been found from Sjælland, although in some cases, it is difficult to discern whether the text in question is a folk-life record, a folk legend or a mixture of both. Dolls of this kind, however, were not limited to the autumn and winter. They might also be brought round during Fastelavn (Shrovetide) (M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 18). By the time that Dansk Folkemindesamling was established in the early twentieth century, little was left of the older Danish Christmas mumming traditions for the new collectors to find. All that remained in living memory were the Julestuer and youth dances where games might still have occurred. When the folklorists asked for memories concerning the Julebuk (as noted above), they seem to have received little response. More often than not, the respond- ents only remembered such figures from times gone by in the form of indirect associations Ð stories they had heard from their parents or grandparents. Fur- thermore, on the rare occasion that a positive answer was given, the collectors seem to have done little to get their informants to expand on their experiences. Things were not helped by the fact that in an old-fashioned area like western Sjælland in the 1860s and onwards, a strong home-based missionary evangelical movement was having a great influence on people who viewed everything connected with the youth gatherings as temptations of the Devil (see Beck 1946). Julestuer in the countryside would take place in the storstue (parlour) of a big farm. In order to find a suitable “ball room”, the youth leaders (often the so-called gadebasse [lit. village-road master, but meaning the main elected youth leader]) and his helper would discuss where the youth dances for the next season might take place and subsequently strike a deal with the respective farmer, mainly concerning payment for candles and beer, and later also coffee (see Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 23–24, following an account from Karen Toxværd in 1886). In such cases, the participants would be the members of the village ungdomslauget or ungdomslaget (youth group), in other words, everyone who had been confirmed but was not yet married, farm hands and maids as well as the farmers’ sons and daughters. As Karoline Graves relates concerning the country Julestuer: Disse afholdtes snart i een Gaard, snart i en anden. Og naar et Par Karle havde erhvervet Tilladelse til at afholde Legestue et Sted, sendtes om Aftenen i M¿rk- ningen, naar Karlene var ved at vande Heste, og Pigerne ved at sysle (bære Vand,

64 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, and especially the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus on straw figures elsewhere in this volume. 65 When H. P. Christensen of eastern Jylland, the informant who provided the 1854 version of the legend, began his studies in K¿benhavn, his fraternity room-mate was Svend Grundtvig’s eager informant, Nikolaj Christensen (1833Ð1903), from Vendsyssel in northern Jylland. Either their discussions influenced the wording of the legend or Nikolaj Christensen made slight changes before the material was sent on to Svend Grundtvig. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 225

Tørv og Brænde ind), et Par Drenge gennem Byen, raabende: »Til Legestue! Til Legestue!Ç Ligestraks tittede der saa Hoveder ud af Porte, D¿re og Luger med Ud- raabet: ÈHvor? Hvor?Ç Naar dette var forklaret, l¿b Drengene straks videre til andre Gaarde. Naar de havde været Byen igennem, løb de ud til hver enkelt af Udflytter- gaardene (Graves 1921: 143). (These gatherings were held at the farms one after the other. When a couple of the bachelors had obtained permission to hold the games gathering on one of the farms, a couple of farm boys were sent round at twilight, when farmhands were out watering the horses and the maids were at their evening chores (carrying in water, turf and firewood). The boys would cry out, “To a games gathering! To a games gathering!” Right away, heads would pop out of gates, doors and other openings with the in- quiry: “Where? Where?” When this had been explained, the boys ran on to the other farms straight away. When they had gone through in the village, they went on out to each of the outlying farms.)

3. c. Christmas Masks and Mumming in Denmark 3. c. i. Havfruen: The “Mermaid” Game-Related Activities Among the few folklore records that do exist concerning Christmas mumming activities in Denmark, there are two short descriptions of less frequent mumming traditions, the Havfruen (Mermaid) and the hvide Hest (White Horse: see the following section). The collector and author of this material was the earlier- mentioned Karoline Graves (1858Ð1932: see Graves 1921), whose work was based in the villages north of Lake Tissø in the western part of Sjælland. The origin of the note in question is not clear, but when Graves talks about customs learnt from old people, the time span often covers the period from last decade of the eighteenth century until the early nineteenth century. The site in question was close to Graves’ childhood home in Halleby-ore, and the context of the tradition was the Legestue, games gatherings for young people,66 which, according to Graves, traditionally commenced after Christmas and continued until April 1 (Graves 1921: 144Ð145). In content, the Julestue and Legestue were generally the same: as noted above, both mainly involved the youth of the village. The text is introduced as follows: “Ved Gilder og Dans foranstaltedes undertiden morsomme Optog. Om et Par saadanne har en gammel, forlængst afdød Kone fortalt” (At gatherings and dances, amusing games were sometimes arranged. An old woman, now long gone, told about a couple of these: Graves 1921: 145). The first game was called At have Havfruen inde (Having the Mermaid In- doors). This was a practical joke carried out by one of the sturdier girls who would be carrying a beer jug with a spout on her head. The jug was full of water, and the girl would be covered in sheets. She asked somebody (a new

66 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume with regard to Swedish lekstugor. 226 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen farmhand in the village) to dance, and at the end of the dance she nodded her head, causing her dance partner to be drenched with water.67 While Christmas is not mentioned explicitly in this account, the next narrative from the same informant (see the following section) tells of a horse figure which would have formed a natural part of the Julestue. It might be assumed that the same applied to the Havfrue. Indeed, a considerable number of Danish Christmas games involve some unsuspecting newcomer in the youth circle being taken advantage of and having water poured over him (or her) at the climax. The key point of this game in the present context is that the costume itself is said to involve sheets, something that suggests that anonymity was attempted. Nonetheless, while the deception in the mermaid case bears some resemblance to mumming, it is only marginally related to other masking activities.

3. c. ii. The Horse Mummers The mumming tradition called den hvide Hest (the White Horse) described in the second account by Karoline Graves is somewhat similar to a figure which earlier appeared in Holberg’s Julestue (scene 13: see section 1. b. above), in that it involves a two-man horse, albeit here without a rider. The account runs as follows: Et andet Optog foranstaltedes af Karlene og kaldtes den hvide Hest. To Karle gik i bøjet Stilling, den bageste holdende den forreste om Livet; de var ligeledes dækket af lagner, et par r¿de Kvindehuer dannede ¯ren. H¿jt vrinskende traskede den hvide Hest nu Stuen rundt, mens den drejede Hovedet, som dannedes af den forreste Karls Arme, snart til den ene, snart til den anden Side (Graves 1921: 145). (The other game was arranged by the young men and was called “the White Horse”. Two young men moved about bent forward, the one in the rear holding the one in front around the waist. Sheets also covered them, and a couple of red women’s bonnets formed the ears. Neighing loudly, “the White Horse” now trotted around in the room, its head, made up of the arms of the man in front, turning alternately from one side to the other.) As noted above, while Christmas is not mentioned explicitly here, the horse figure could easily have formed part of a Julestue. Once again, the costume involves sheets and suggests an attempt at anonymity. The idea about the ears also seems to indicate some degree of improvisation: the front mummer held the two bonnets forming the ears through the sheet, and then moved the “horse head” around to add to the fun.68 Furthermore, the sounds emitted and the

67 Agrarian females in Denmark used to carry burdens on their heads. The trick here involved the girl dancing with a jug of water on her head that was unsupported by her hands Ð without spilling any water. The time reference indicates that the dance in question might have been a minuet, a slow, graceful, and upright dance in ½ time which was popular among Danish peasants until at least the middle of the nineteenth century. See also J¿rgen Hansen, in Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 345: 116. 68 The degree of improvisation implies that the performances were staged at short notice. It is not likely that Karoline Graves or her source would have forgotten to mention it if the front mummer Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 227 movements around in the room indicate a certain degree of impertinence or annoyance on the mummers’ part towards the other participants. Nonetheless, the horse figure is not meant to be scary. It is clearly stated that the games were meant to be “morsomme” (amusing). The above account might be compared to an exceptionally short record made by Grüner-Nielsen in 1911 in which the Christmas mummer described is clearly related to the above horse figure. The informant is an 85-year-old man called Anders Olsen, from the village of Yderby, Odden, on Sjællands Odde (Tongue of Sjælland) in north-west Sjælland. Nothing is stated about the time at which this custom was observed but it might be assumed that the testimony refers to Olsen’s youth in the 1840s. The only thing that indicates that the group in question was engaged in mumming at Christmas is the headword “Julebuk” (perhaps relating to the 1908 questionnaire concerning year festivals noted earlier). The staccato style of the report seems to indicate that the first word was uttered by Grüner-Nielsen, the rest being the answer: Julebuk. Blev lavet ligesom en hest. To mænd gik underneden og så var der hængt noget over. En red på den (DFS 1906/043, 332, Fester). (Christmas Goat. Was made like a horse. Two men went underneath and then something was hung over [them]. Someone was riding it.) Once again, it seems as if probing for further information did not form part of the interview technique at this time. Nonetheless, it might be noted that here the word “Julebuk” may in fact be used to imply any type of Christmas mummer. The horse and rider constellation could have had its own name which is unmentioned here. Although the informant has little to say about this tradition from his youth, his attitude seems to be very neutral. It may also be supposed that if the informant had experienced any considerable childhood fear in connection with the being, it would have appeared in the answer. Either Olsen did not encounter the horse himself or it was simply not frightening, something that the previous account also suggests. It is significant, though, that both tes- timonies confirm that this mumming tradition survived the official bans on such activities. Yet another horse mummer was described by a Danish American. A clergyman in Clinton, Iowa, the earlier-mentioned Frederik Lange Grundtvig (1854Ð 1903) collected a considerable amount of folk life and folklore material from a Danish immigrant to North America, the sign-writer and parish clerk Lars Rasmussen (1837–1917), who was a member of Grundtvig’s Danish congregation. During their encounters Lars Rasmussen spoke from memory about al- had carried a more obvious imitation of the horse’s head like an axe, as occurred in a neighbouring parish: cf. Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 38–39. With regard to the horse disguise and its behaviour, see further the account of the Icelandic vikivaki horse, the Faroese jólhestur, the Orkney (and Shetland) Kyerin Horse (Carrying Horse), and the medieval Norwegian figure of Arnaldus “Jolahest” noted in the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. See also Gunnell 1995a: 14, 82, 110, 114, 143, 149Ð151, 153Ð158, 160, 166Ð168, and 180; Alford 1939 and 1968; and Cawte 1978. 228 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen most all aspects of his home farm, Klokkergården, and the village of Bjørup in Systofte, five km. east of Nyk¿bing, in Falster. Grundtvig gathered these notes into a manuscript which was completed in 1895. This was then published as a book called Livet i Klokkergården (The Life at the Bellringer’s Farm) in 1909. Among other things, Lars Rasmussen tells of the festivities and youth gatherings he experienced during the period after 1852 when he had become a member of the youth group at the age of fifteen (Rasmussen 1909: 221). He says that these gatherings could last for two nights (Rasmussen 1909: 223). At such youth gatherings, dancing was said to be most important and the dances were modern (Rasmussen 1909: 225). Rasmussen then adds some information about earlier times drawn from hearsay: I Julen havde man tidligere haft de såkaldte ’Legestuer’ […] Man morede sig med som det hed, at ’tage Leg ind’ […] En af Legene […] og det var nok den fæleset, kaldtes ’Hvidemær’ (Viemær). Man fik fat i en ’Horsepande’ og satte Lys i Øjen- hulerne. En af Karlene hold den frem for sit Ansigt. En anden gik bag ved ham, buk- kede sig og satte Hovedet mod hans Ryg. Begge var de dækkede med et Lagen, og det hele skulle ligne en Hest. Men en gang saa man Fanden i samme Skikkelse udenfor Vinduet. Det sagde man var Grunden til, at man havde aflagt at ’tage Leg ind’ (Rasmussen 1909: 227). (During Christmas in the old days, they had so-called “games-gatherings”. They entertained themselves by “taking in the game” as it was called. One of the games, and it was probably the most nasty, was called “Hvidemær” (in dialect, “Viemær”: “the White Mare”).69 They got hold of a horse skull and put candles in the eye sockets. One of the young men held it in front of his face. Another one went behind him, bent down and put his head against the back. A sheet then covered both of them and the whole thing was supposed to resemble a horse. At one time, however, they saw the Devil in the same shape outside the window. That was the reason, it was said, why they abolished “taking in the game”.)70 This description provides a useful example of how fact and legend could mix in verbal accounts (see further section 3. c. v. below). Lars Rasmussen does not give any source for this information but it is obviously related to a time before his birth. An indication of this being a second-hand tradition might be seen in the fact that the figure in question is referred to as both a game (leg), and a pastime described without any action. The reason why Lars Rasmussen may have found “the White Mare” “nasty” might be because he was a religious man. It

69 “The White Mare” described by Lars Rasmussen brings up an interesting question. Could the four terms “huægehors” (perhaps a hobbyhorse, as noted by Palladius in 1543–44); “Qvaeghors” (a sort of “ox-horse” mentioned by Sorterup in 1722); “den hvide Hest” (Graves from 1810); and this “Viemær” be related? Unfortunately Graves does not provide us with the dialect form from north-west Sjælland. However, concerning the pronunciation of “viemær” in the mid Falster dialect, one cannot help wondering whether this has anything to do with the word “hvege” with a mute “h” in “hvege-” and a soft “g” as in “kveghors”. As the words hest, mær and hors all refer to a horse, a shared connection in the past might be possible. The etymology connecting “vie” to “hvid” or “white” is therefore not convincing. It seems to be due to a transformation in pronunciation influenced by the later use of white sheets as a covering disguise. 70 On the idea of putting candles in the eye-sockets of a skull for a lighting effect, see further Gunnell 1995a: 148 for a parallel example from Shetland. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 229 is not explicitly stated that the figure in question was seen as having anything to do with a so-called helhest (horse ghost), a figure which, in Danish folk belief, was especially connected to village graveyards and apparently appeared whenever somebody was about to die. However, the mention of the skull of a dead horse might have made Lars Rasmussen link the figure of “the White Mare” to the supernatural. As other legends indicated, messing with such things could lead to a bad end: the imitation of such a demonic being might attract the Devil himself, sometimes with dire consequences.71 The end of the account might nonetheless be interpreted as reflecting clerical interference from the Pietistic era. Rasmussen’s description of “the White Mare”, however, is otherwise quite straightforward. Two young men are clearly dressed up as a horse, covered by a white sheet. The exceptional trait, perhaps, is the mixture of the realistic horse skull and the small candles which are placed in the eyeholes as a special effect. Keeping the skull in balance would nonetheless have restrained the movements and speed of the figure. This entertainment would probably have been more frightening than amusing, although naturally it all depended on the practice and adroitness of the mummer holding the skull. There is, however, an interesting twist to this story. On one hand, it is presented as a traditional “game” which was repeated from one Christmas to the next. On the other, Lars Rasmussen seems somewhat lax in his statement that “they got hold of a horse skull”, which suggests that horse skulls were just lying around waiting to be picked up for the odd Christmas game. It might be supposed that Lars Rasmussen never learnt where the skull had been kept, but that, in fact, someone had kept it in store for the Christmas gatherings. The explanation of the sudden cessation of the game tradition is then drawn from legend. Rasmussen actually seems to be referring to the shift which took place from old games to the dances he knew, something which is supported by other sources. The idea that the games should have come to an abrupt stop because of a religiously coloured scare Ð only to be replaced by dances at successive Christmases seems rather unlikely. Stories about Christmas mummers (referred to as Julebukke [pl.]) appearing in the shape of horses or with traits that relate to horses are mentioned from six other places in western Sjælland.72 Most of these accounts also have a religious undertone or once again mix fact and legend. It might be noted that the tradition area of these narratives includes Ottestrup, the home-ground of the clergyman and poet J¿rgen Sorterup (1662Ð1723) who provides us with an early horse record from his childhood in 1678 (concerning a “Qvaeghors” [a sort of

71 See Gunnell 1995a: 158. 72 The narratives come from the following places: Egebjerg parish (DFS 1906/043, 336: Fester) from the 1830s; Veddinge village, Fårevejle parish, from around 1800 (Andersen 1919: 22.); Sønder Bjerge village near Skælskør (no time reference), published in 1886 (Kristensen 1886: 110–111); Gimlinge parish, about ten kilometres north-east of Skælskør, from the last half of the 1840s (DFS 1906/023, 448: Sagn og tro); and two examples from Eggerslevmagle parish, five kilometres north-east of Skælskør, from around 1830 (DFS 1906/023, 441: Sagn og tro). 230 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

“ox-horse”]: see note 69). It might also be mentioned that south-western Sjæl- land also includes Agers¿ where the first narrative of a mumming event during the Christmas period was recorded between 1829 and 1834 (H¿gsbro 1908: 92Ð93).

3. c. iii The Stork On the large island of Lolland, about ten km. north of Nakskov lies the village of Horslunde. It was here that the informant Peder Christensen (Fugl) was born in 1793. His material, probably from between 1808 and 1826, was later reproduced by his son Christian Pedersen Fugl who retold his father’s stories in March 1910 (DFS 1906/046: 730: Lollands N¿rre herred: contribution I, 1Ð 2).73 Two narratives concerning masking are given in succession here, one dealing with a stork figure and the other with a game related to the so-called Jule- bisp (Christmas Bishop), which will be dealt with in more detail in section 3. c. iv. below. The two accounts are only divided by a comma and both seem related to the first Julestue or youth gathering of the season. The first part runs as follows: Naar Juledag var gaaet […] saa mødte gjerne en af de første Dage derefter et par af Byens Karle hos en af Gaardmændene og bad om Tilladelse til at holde Julelag der i Gaarden en af de første Aftener, hvad der næsten aldrig blev nægtet. Byens Ung- dom blev saa af de nævnte Karle indbudt til møde den fastsatte Aften, en Spillemand blev ogsaa anmodet og naar en Del var samlet spilledes op til Dans og imens der dan- sedes blev en Julebuk udpyntet ude i et andet Værelse vor kun de indviede var tilste- de, denne var i Almindelighed udstaferet til at ligne en Stork med et hvidt Stykke Tøi over sig og om Hovedet, en lang Pind imellem Tænderne var Storkens Næb, denne var flækket i den ydre Ende og og [sic] deri var indeklemt en Karklud som skulle forestille [en] Fr¿ Storken havde fanget, i en Krog var saa sat en Spand med Vand hvori Storken kunne dyppe Karkluden og med en Skralde skult under Klædet, traadte Storken saa i[nd] i Dansestuen, efterlignende Storkens Knæbren og daskede hvem han kunde komme nær om Ørene med den vaade Klud, særlig Pigerne var han efter, og Dansen h¿rte derved pluselig op og der blev i et, Hvin, Latter og Sjov over hele Stuen…” (DFS 1906/046: 730: Horslunde in Lollands Nørre herred: contribution I, 1Ð2). (On one of the first days after Christmas Day, a couple of the village farmhands would appear at one of the farmers’ places and ask for permission to hold a Christ- mas gathering on that particular farm on one of the next evenings, something which was hardly ever denied. The youths of the village were then summoned by the aforementioned farmhands to appear on the evening in question. A fiddler was also summoned and when some of the party had gathered, a dance was struck up. While the dance went on, a Julebuk was rigged out in another room where only the initiated were present. This figure was usually done up to look like a stork, covered with a white piece of cloth that also hid the head. A long stick between the teeth formed the

73 The record in question is also quoted by Grüner-Nielsen (1933b: 40), although in a markedly rewritten version involving fifteen changes. Such “improvements” make it impossible for later folklorists to trust the reliability of Grüner-Nielsen’s work and obstruct close analysis. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 231

bill of the stork. The stick was split at the other end and in the slit was fastened a dishcloth, which was supposed to represent a frog that the Stork had caught. A bucket of water was then placed in a corner for the Stork to dip the cloth into. The Stork would enter the dance room shaking a rattle which was hidden under the cover to resemble the clacking of a stork. It slapped whoever it could approach about the ears with the wet dishcloth and was especially after the girls. With this, the dance suddenly stopped, and all of a sudden there were squeals, laughter and various larks all around the room.) This stork figure is rare in Danish tradition, even though comparable figures are known in neighbouring countries.74 In order to understand this particular stork description, it must be remembered that this account is a retold narrative. Christian Pedersen Fugl did not tell the story from his own personal experience. Furthermore, the masking element mentioned here is limited to a white piece of cloth covering the head and body. Nonetheless, for the performer to be able to rotate the rattle, it must be assumed that there was some space inside the white cloth. It may therefore also be assumed that the mummer was leaning forwards. However, as the Stork was capable of seeing his way both to the bucket and the girls, one might guess that somehow the eyes and mouth (with the beak) were not covered, even though the mummer’s identity was expected to be kept secret. No mention is made in the account of the exit of the Stork, though. It is not certain whether its identity was revealed, or whether it reappeared at the following Christmas gathering. The reaction to the Stork act is also one of laughter and joking and it is clearly meant to be both amusing and entertaining.75 The chasing of girls, moreover, has a flirtatious and sexual overtone76 like that seen in several other mumming accounts. As mentioned, the gathering in question was particularly given over to dance, the Stork show being just an interlude.77

3. c. iv. Julebisp (The Christmas Bishop) The Danish tradition of the Julebisp (Christmas Bishop) which has been mentioned several times in this chapter is first mentioned by Mathias Moth (1649Ð 1719) in around 1700. It then resurfaces in an altered version almost a century later. This account is an almost classic demonstration of the ineffectiveness of the earlier-noted Danish bans and also the deterioration of a tradition which lacked roots in social functions. The account in question goes back to 1861, when Svend Grundtvig pub-

74 See the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Norway and Estonia elsewhere in this volume, especially on the figure of the trana/ trane (crane). 75 It is somehow incomprehensible why Grüner-Nielsen saw the stork as being one of the frightening animal figures of the Julestuer (1933b, 35Ð40). 76 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on the erotic aspects of mumming elsewhere in this volume. 77 This might also be compared to the accounts of the Icelandic vikivaki games and earlier masked figures in Faroese tradition. See Gunnell 2001a and 2003, and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 232 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen lished a depiction of a Julestue tradition in the parish of Rønnebæk near the town of Næstved in southern Sjælland (Grundtvig 1970: III, 176Ð177). The informant in question was Per Henrik, a 91-year-old farmer, who remembered Christmas games from his youth in around 1785Ð95. The Julebisp is described in particularly interesting detail (see also fig. 3.8 for a comparable guise): De havde ogsaa en Leg, som de kaldte Julebispen. En Karl blev udklædt med en hvid Skjorte paa og fik en Pind i Munden med et Lys på hver Ende. Han blev sat paa en Stol midt paa Gulvet, med en Strippe Vand foran sig og en Karklud, som han havde skjult under Skjorten. Saa gik alle de andre rundt om ham og sang: ’Her vier vi os en Julebisp, den gi’r vi Nødder og Ævle; men den, vi havde ifjor, den gav vi Døden og Djævle.’ Under Sangen offrede enhver, en efter anden, N¿dder og ®bler. Naar Julebispen ikke var tilfreds med sit Offer, tog han Karkluden, dyppede den i Strippen og slog dem med i Ansigtet, som havde offret alt for knapt” (Grundtvig 1970: III, 176–177). (They also had a game called “The Christmas Bishop”. One man was dressed up in a white shirt and he had a stick in his mouth with a candle in each end. He was placed on a chair in the middle of the floor, with a bucket of water in front of him and a dishcloth that he held hidden under his shirt. Then everybody else walked around him and sang: “Here we consecrate a Christmas bishop, To whom we give nuts and apples; But the one we had the previous year, We gave him death and devils” [or “damn and blast”]. During the song, everyone gave offerings of nuts and apples, one by one. If the Julebisp was not satisfied with the offering, he would take the dishcloth, dip it into the bucket and hit the person that had given too little in the face.) The main function of the Julebisp in Moth’s earlier account was to pair off boys and girls.78 The “Bishop” himself was blackened up, spoke gibberish and made faces. The performance in question was also divided into two parts: first of all, the party chose a “Bishop” and then they subjected themselves to his whims. In this later account, however, the Julebisp is clad nicely but not blackened. Furthermore, he does not speak and he does not perform any ceremony. There is no reason why he should be paid. To the participants, this seems to have looked like a nonsensical singing game in which the amusement seemed to centre on arbitrary punishments and the throwing of water (as in the “Mer- maid” and “Stork” games noted earlier). In the introduction to the later description, it is stated that Per Henrik “fortæller, at i hans Ungdom legede man om Julen” (relates that in his youth

78 On such mock weddings, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Sweden, and the article by Eva Knuts elsewhere in this volume. See also Gunnell 1995a: 133Ð 140 and 144Ð160; and 2003 on Icelandic and other Nordic traditions that may be related to the Danish Julebisp tradition. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 233 they would play games during Christmas time: Grundtvig 1970: III, 176), the implication being that this was no longer done. This is well in accordance with the observation that by the mid-nineteenth century, dancing rather than games had become the main entertainment at Danish Christmas parties (cf. Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 364: 130Ð131). The next example of the Julebisp tradition, given by Peder Christensen (Fugl), lacks a nametag. The similarities nonetheless make it obvious that it is related to the Julebisp game. As noted earlier, the account in question is chron- ologically connected to the Christensen’s Stork narrative which came from the village of Horslunde (DFS 1906/046: 730: Lollands N¿rre herred: contribution I, 3). As noted, Christensen probably experienced the event some time between 1808 and 1826. Following on from the account of the Stork game, the narrative states: … strag efter kom saa et helt Selskab ind i Stuen, hvoraf 2 var udpyntet som Præst og Degn, 2 som Brud og Brudgom og derefter Følget, saa stillede Præst og Degn sig op i ærværdig Alvor inerst i Stuen og Brud og Brudgom foran dem, saa spurgte Præsten Bruden: ”Naa du lille Sokihose, vil du saa ha den store Bolribaavse”, Bruden svarede ja og efter et lignende Sporgsmaal, endnu mere grinagtigt til Brudgommen, blev de viet med mange Løier, og saa ønskede Præsten dem Lykke i Fremtiden, med Kornbun- ker paa deres Loft som store Muldvarpeskud og Flæskesider til Røg i deres Skorsten som slagtede Lusebelge, og i den Dur gik ¯nskerne for de Unge Folk, i en Mangfol- dighed, altsammen for at vække Latter og Sjov i Forsamlingen, naar saa Legen var til Ende begyndte Dansen igjen med List og Lyst til hen imod Morgenen, for saa at be- gynde igjen en af de nærmeste Aftener i en anden Gaard og sådan fortsattes til ind i Januar” (DFS 1906/046: 730: Lollands Nørre herred: Folkeliv contribution: I, 3). (… soon after, an entire party of people entered the room. Two of them were dressed up as a clergyman and a parish clerk, two as a bride and groom and then came the train. In august seriousness, the clergyman and parish clerk then took up position at the end of the room with the bride and groom in front of them. Then the clergyman asked the bride, “Well, you little ‘Sock-in-Hose’, will you take this big ‘Rumble- in-His-Drawers’?” The bride answered, “Yes,” and after a similar, yet even more ridiculous question had been made to the groom, the couple, with much horseplay, were declared husband and wife. Then the clergyman wished them good luck in the future, with stacks of grain as big as molehills in their loft and sides of bacon for smoke-curing in their chimney like butchered flea skins, and more of the same style in profusion, everything aimed at entertaining the party and making them laugh. When the game was over, the dance was resumed with a will until the early morning only to restart on one of the following evenings at another farm, and in that way it continued until some time in January.) It seems possible that these poignant old “sketches” in Horslunde involving the Stork and the mock wedding were all that was left of the formerly abundant Christmas games. It is obvious, though, that the two best-spoken boys played the characters of priest and clerk. It might also be noted that the names given to the bride and groom are metaphorical descriptions of sexual organs, and that the wedding speech contains a parody of wealth. As noted in the account, the little burlesque, which once again has flirtatious and sexual overtones, was essentially aimed at “entertaining the party and making them laugh”. 234 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

In the wedding sketch described above, the four main parts may be compared to “actors” in costume. Nonetheless, unlike in Moth’s and Grundtvig’s accounts, no details are provided about masks, disguise or stage props. Other records of the tradition (see, for instance, Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs 346Ð352: 116Ð120) mention, though, that the actor playing the vicar might wear a frock coat or a Geneva gown; that belts and ribbons were made from straw or reeds, and that a turf could serve as a Bible. It might thus be assumed that dark vest- ments and a book sufficed for the ecclesiastical roles. In the Danish countryside, country brides and grooms were usually married in festive dress (so-called “folk costumes”), so they would hardly need to dress up in any special way: an extra silk ribbon or a psalm book might serve. However, it was not usual that there was anything in particular to distinguish the bride and groom from the rest of the partygoers in this tradition. Most often the records simply state that “præsten” (the [mock] clergyman) performed a parody of a wedding ceremony. Sometimes all the couples at the party were solemnly joined together in a ceremony of this kind (see, for example, Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs 346Ð352: 116Ð120). It might also be noted that when the ceremony took place on the evening of New Year’s Day, it was said that the boys “fik Nytårsgave” (got a “New Year present”, that is, a female partner: Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs. 5Ð6, 8, 10 and 12 and 22: 6Ð9, and 11).79 As has been noted earlier, the many variations of the Julebisp tradition and other similar customs probably have roots in the fact that young people were originally paired off at Christmas for the year’s work, and especially for harvesting. The mock-wedding ceremony thus turned a practical procedure into an entertaining farce. In the case of the Horslunde mock wedding, however, the pairing of farm boys and girls no longer seems to have had a practical purpose. Instead, the ceremony concentrates on one couple and is presented as a sketch, essentially for the sake of entertainment. The performance now centres around the ability of the mock clergy to imitate a real wedding ritual and present an amusing wedding speech, thereby turning everything into innuendo and nonsense. Closely related in content to the Julebisp tradition is a singing game called Den rige Hr. Randsbjerg (The Rich Mr. Randsberg), which was also performed at the Christmas gatherings. A man born in 1805 named Mads Jensen, from Værslev, near Kalundborg in western Sjælland, states that: Vi havde sommetider udpyntet hinanden på det skrækkeligste … og … legede også den rige hr. Randsbjerg (DFS 1883/008, 489a). (We sometimes did each other up in a horrible fashion [and] we also played “Rich Mr Randsberg”.) Den rige Hr. Randsbjerg is clearly a courting game, which, according to other folklore records (see Tvermose Tyregod 1931: 20–21; and Grüner-Nielsen

79 Concerning the pairing games which took place at spring, summer or autumn celebrations, see Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nrs 1, 3Ð4, 7, 11, 15Ð17, 20Ð21, 24Ð25, 35, 54Ð55, and 69: 3Ð6, 8Ð13, 18, 27, and 30; and Hansen 1980: 26, 63Ð65, 68Ð69, 70Ð82, and 84Ð85. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 235

1933b: 56), is described as being a singing game in which the rich suitor and his men are “svært udpyntet og for det meste havde han klokker på” (exces- sively decked out, and usually he had bells on his clothes). However, according to the singing game, instead of riches the suitor promises the visited daughter beatings and scoldings (Tvermose Tyregod 1931: 20Ð21). Following this, the poor suitor and the suitor’s men enter. These are “fattig Per Eriksen, skrud- trygget, pjaltet og med alle sine lurvede sønner” (poor Peter Eriksen, hunch- backed, ragged, along with all his shabbily dressed sons). His speech is said to be “noget forskrækkeligt tøjeri” (some terrible gibberish), supposedly a parody of a best man’s speech praising the groom, promising the bride-to-be exquisite food and so forth. As has been noted earlier, absurd wedding speeches often formed part of other Christmas games. However, the context for this particular singing game could be any game gathering.80

3. c. v. Julebuk: The Last Christmas Goats The few recordings of the horned Julebukke that we have from Denmark in the nineteenth century are often very vague. They appear to refer to the time around 1825Ð1850 (cf. fig. 3.8). The first runs as follows: Julel¿jer,81 (Ubby) (også kaldet Julestuer.) Vi havde sommetider udpyntet hinanden på det skrækkeligste ved disse gilder, – og vi dandsede, så det stod efter. Julebukken, der var klædt ud i Fandens lignelse, nærmede sig somme tider til dørene og kiggede ind, og når vi så kom ud, dandsede han sommetider oppe på taget. Men vi legede også andre, såsom Havfruen og den rige hr. Randsbjerg” (DFS 1883/8, 489a). (Christmas fun, [from the village of Ubby] [also called Christmas gatherings]. We sometimes did each other up in a horrible fashion for these parties Ð and we danced with a vengeance. The Christmas Goat, dressed up in the likeness of the Devil, would sometimes approach the doors and peep in, and when we subsequently came out he was sometimes dancing on the roof. But we also played other games such as “The Mermaid” [noted in section 3. c. i. above] and “Rich Mr Randsberg”.) This record was collected in 1879 for Svend Grundtvig by J¿rgen Hansen (1851–1888), a free school teacher at Værslev Friskole in the village of Værslev near Kalundborg in western Sjælland from the aftægtsmand82 (pen- sioner) Mads Jensen, born 1805 (DFS 1883/8, 489a; see also Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr 357: 129; and Ellekilde 1944Ð1946: 52, and 54). It is important to note that this record concerns the period around 1825 and has a humorous tone. The informant begins by mentioning that young people in his day would dress up for the Christmas games, but he then pauses and, as in similar records from this time, notes that dancing was the most important

80 See, for instance, the accounts by Karen and Peter Toxværd in Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 23–27; and Graves 1921: 143Ð148. 81 In the original, this is misspelled “Juleb¿jer”. 82 “Aftægt” means the accomodation and support provided (according to a written contract) by the new owner of landed property for its former owner, especially by a son for his parents. 236 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.8: A painting by Peder Madsen Fax¿e (1781Ð1840), c. 1825, of a Danish Julebuk (Christmas Goat) figure in the countryside of Sjælland. (Courtesy of Nationalmuseet, K¿benhavn.) feature of the entertainment. The Julebuk dressed up in the likeness of the Devil was no doubt a somberly dressed mummer equipped with horns who peeped in from the outside through half-open doors. It is also noteworthy that the author talks of “gilder” (parties in the plural) here, because it most likely refers to the earlier-mentioned fact that the country Julestuer moved from one farm to another (both from year to year and within the same year), wherever the youth leaders could strike a deal with the owners. It thus appears that the “Lucifer” mummer was a recurring event. Running out after the Julebuk seems to have resemblance to the tradition of catching the people that smashed potsherds by the doors (see the following section). It might be noted that the record by Mads Jensen also refers directly and indirectly to three different activities which formed part of the Christmas games: besides the Julebuk, these was also Havfruen (the Mermaid) and Den rige Hr. Randsbjerg (see section 3. c. iv. above). Other Julebuk records from this time are so truncated that it is rather uncertain what is really meant, as can be seen with the following two examples. The time frame for both is probably 1825Ð1850, and the geographical situation western Sjælland. The first account runs as follows: Julebukken var et udskåret træbillede ‘med noget om sig’. Den ejedes af flere lands- byer i forening, og når man dansede med den i Fandens navn, måtte han selv svinge Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 237

sig på taget i selvsamme takt. (K. Juhl, from Bjærge, near Skielskør, quoted in Kris- tensen 1886: V, 110). (The Christmas Goat was a carved wooden figure “with something around it”. It was owned jointly by several villages, and when a person had danced with it in the name of the Devil, he himself had to dance with the very same rhythm on the roof.) The following record is from the village of Brandstrup, in Tersl¿se, about twelve km. north of Sor¿. Here, the supposed origin and background of the dangerous Christmas entertainments is made quite clear: Præsten sagde til min moder, da hun gik til konfirmation, at hun måtte nok fornøje sig om julen, men ikke have noget at gj¿re med de forbandede julelege. Nogle var klædt ud som engle, og andre som djævle (the wife of Niels Olesen from Brandstrup, quoted in Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr 342: 116). (The vicar told my mother when she was preparing for her confirmation that she could enjoy herself at Christmas, but should have nothing to do with the damned Christmas games. Some [meaning the participants or visiting mummers?] were disguised as angels and others as devils.) As the nature of the account implies, certain early home missionary activities, containing reverberations from the original Pietistic movement, still had representatives in western Sjælland. Nonetheless, it is obvious that some kind of Christmas game is being referred to here. The “devilishly” disguised participants might well be the Julebuk (with followers?). The angels, however, are more problematic. Nonetheless, short notes of this kind are all that we have from this time concerning a tradition that was becoming extinct.

3. c. vi. A Medley of Christmas Entertainments In autobiographies and descriptions from independent folklorists, it is often stated that mumming activities might be accompanied by other traditions. These might include practical jokes performed under the cover of darkness, the bringing round of straw dolls (see earlier), noise-making, singing, rommelpott playing (see fig. 3.9 and section 3. b. i. above), throwing pots at doors and walls, and firing shotguns. Early Christmas mumming records from between the sixteenth and eighteenth century suggest that this tradition took place during the twelve days of the Christmas period. This probably applies to a later example recorded on the island of Læsø in the Kattegat (DFS 1906/043: 1300) and is certainly the case in another account from western Sjælland (Olsen 1923: 73; Jürgensen quoted in Høgsbro 1908: 92–93). If a specific evening is mentioned for this mélange of activities, it is most often either New Year’s Eve or Twelfth Night or both. However, St Stephen’s Eve (the night of December 25) is also named.83

83 See Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr 373, 300, 323, 325Ð328, 330, 333 and 377: 90, 112Ð115 and 133; Feilberg, 1962: II, 277Ð279; M¿ller 1933: II, 311; Graves 1921: 175Ð176; Reimer 1910Ð1919: 458Ð462; Bregenh¿j 1974: 157Ð159; Feilberg 1910: 280; Olsen 1923: 73Ð74; and Adriansen 1979: 47Ð50, 68, 82, and 95Ð96. 238 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.9: Rummelpottläufer in Elmshorn, Schleswig-Holstein in the 1930s. (From Meyer, 1941.)

Books on folklore have a tendency to present festival customs as individual phenomena, one (main) custom taking place at each festival. Even though the polymorphous nature of the Christmas customs is clearly stated in the sources, this fact seems to have been difficult for scholars to absorb. In some cases, the presumed purpose or explanation for the custom appeared to support a pattern of individual customs. This can be seen, for instance, when scholars have claimed that Danes welcomed in the New Year with gunfire on New Year’s Eve. In fact, what they were greeting were their neighbours, by whom they were expecting to be caught and taken in for a treat. Some of these noise-makers were masked, but others were not. The misunderstanding arose in part from asymmetrical resem- blances, for example, when rural Als was compared to urban Berlin or New York. The Danish trend-creating bourgeois circles that were attempting to emulate the metropoles of the time were more interested in life style than folklore facts. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 239

3. d. January 6: Epiphany or Twelfth Night: The Stjernedrenge (Star Boys); Mumming on Sjælland, Agers¿ and Om¿, ®r¿ and Als One part of the medley of costumed traditions at Christmas was the tradition of at gå med stjernen (Going with the Star), carried out by singing stjernedrenge (Star Boys). The fact that this money-collecting entertainment had an origin in the choir- boy traditions of the Catholic church going back to the Middle Ages84 gave it an element of supremacy over other Christmas house-visiting performances in the eyes of many researchers. As a result, a number of works on the Christmas mumming customs have seen the Danish Julebuk mumming tradition simply as a deteriorated form of stjernedrenge carol singing. The main roles in the “play” are the Three Kings (Schmidt 1948: 60, and 63). Sporadic records from throughout the history of the Protestant church provide a relatively good impression of the development of this tradition, for which the overall picture is the same as in the other Nordic countries.85 How- ever, on the Danish islands, the stjernedrenge performance most often took place on helligtrekongers aften or Twelfth Night. On the mainland, however, it could take place over an extended period of time (Schmidt 1948). In general, the stjernedrenge tradition in the three different parts of the country seems to have picked up three different song traditions, and different features. The “Star Singing” in Denmark also had a different fate to that known elsewhere in the Nordic countries.86 Among other things, the late-nineteenth-century bans seem to have had a devastating effect.87 By the early twentieth century, the popular tradition had died out. With regard to their appearance, some performing stjernedrenge groups might be dressed up in princely uniforms, with the Moorish king blackened up, and his colleagues wearing big hemp beards. Others, however, might go door to door wearing no special costume at all.88 Closely connected to the Christmas period, and in particular to Twelfth

84 See Risum 1962: I, 22Ð24; Hastrup 1992: 65Ð68; Kaspersen 1992: 216Ð219; Troels-Lund 1914Ð 1915: VII, 87 (based on MS Ny Kongelig Samling, nr. 769 d. fol.); Schmidt 1948: 51 and 118; Bobé 1935: 2, and 163; Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 404: 147 (quoting David Monrath); Olrik’s preface to Pontoppidan 1923: XII; and Edvardsen 1759: 354Ð355. 85 See also the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Norway and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume, and especially the article dealing with this tradition by Ane Ohrvik. 86 See Schmidt 1948: 51, note 2; 58Ð59, and 115Ð116; and also Heiberg 1862: I, 146Ð152; Thiele, quoted in Dumreicher 1917: I, 23; and Mortensen: 1909: 50. 87 See DFS 1906/045a, 3285; and the law Lov af 3. Marts 1860, the punishments of which were tightened in the Lov af 1. April 1911. See also “Betleri” (begging) and “Løsgængeri” (vagrancy) in Salmonsens Konversations Leksikon 1915Ð1930: III, 131Ð132 and XVI, 275; Schmidt 1948: 122Ð123; Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: VII, 90; and Feilberg 1863: 72Ð73. 88 See Edvardsen 1759: 354Ð355, also quoted in Schmidt 1948: 57Ð58; Thiele quoted in Dum- reicher 1917: I, 23; Ellekilde 1923 also quoted in Schmidt 1948: 63; Schmidt 1948: 67Ð68; Uhr- skov 1924: 39Ð41; and Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 413: 144Ð148. 240 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Night, is the tradition of house visiting carried out by groups of masked persons. This tradition is still practised on four Danish Islands: Agers¿, Om¿, ®r¿ and Als, and on the Broager peninsula in the village of Skelde. Detailed studies of the tradition have been made on the first three islands,89 and some fieldwork has been carried out on Als and Sundeved as well as in the village of Skelde on the peninsula opposite Als by Inge Adriansen,90 Carsten Bregenh¿j, and Hanne Pico Larsen in 2003 and 2004. Some accounts relate to the same places and contain valuable observations about the way these mumming traditions function. Narrating from an inside perspective in her memoirs, Fru Konradine Jürgensen on Agers¿ has no name for the impromptu masking she took part in, but the act might be considered to be similar to what she may have experienced as a child in Jylland or as an adolescent in northern Sjælland. In passing, however, she does mention that she misses the New Year fun.91 As a lively 19-year-old on an isolated island, she clearly involved herself in whatever amusements were made available to her (H¿gsbro 1908: 99). Unlike Konradine Jürgensen, the later collectors tended to view the tradition from an outside perspective. Here the name of the customs had importance, and the names of the tradition in each of these earlier-noted places vary. In Agers¿ and Om¿, the custom is called at l¿be Helligtrekonger (lit. Roving92 the Holy Three Kings/ Roving at Epiphany), while as a noun it is referred to as Helligtrekongersl¿b (lit. Holy Three Kings [or Epiphany] Rambling93). On Als, meanwhile, the mummers are often referred to as the Omklædte (a dialect expression for “the masked”94), and on ®r¿ they are called Udklædter (disguised) or Masker (masks) (Fischer-M¿ller 2001: 16). On Als, the tradition is simply called At gå langs (lit. Going the Length,95 that is, “going from house

89 See Rasmussen 1969: 111Ð124; Bregenh¿j 1974; Bregenh¿j 1997: 286Ð291; Storm 1989: 28Ð 49; and Fischer-M¿ller 2001: 16Ð21. 90 The “Kulturhistoriske Undersøgelser” project, run by the Sønderborg Slot museum, in 1978. 91 “Anden Juledag havde de unge deres Juledans. […] Jeg dansede med […] Præstekonen havde aldrig før danset med. Det var det eneste egentlige Gilde, der var i Juletiden. Der var ingen Nytårs- fester og heller ingen Nytårsløjer” (On the second day of Christmas, the youth held their Christmas dance. […] I took part in the dance. […] The parson’s wife had never previously taken part in the dance. It was the only real party there over Christmas. There were no New Year festivities and no New Year pranks either: H¿gsbro 1908: 99). 92 Cf. the dictionary definition of the verb “løbe” in ODS 1975–1977: XIII, 502: “skynde sig fra det ene sted til det andet” (rove from one place to another). 93 Cf. the dictionary definition of the noun “løb” in ODS 1975–1977: XIII, 489: “omflakken” (rambling). Helligtrekonger is the Danish word for Epiphany. These expressions are the Twelfh Night equivalent of the term at l¿be Fastelavn (lit. roving Shrovetide). Today the latter expression is also used as an abbreviated version of l¿be Fastelavnsnar (roving as a Shrovetide fool), which means to be cheated or fooled like an April Fool, sometimes going in vain from one place (or authority) to another as part of a practical joke. 94 Cf. the dictionary definition of the verb “omklæde” in ODS 1975–1977: XV, 550: “maskere”. Note also that Konradine Jürgensen uses the expression “klæde mig om” for masking (Høgsbro 1908: 92–93). The word “omklædte” (dressed up) is also used on Omø (DFS 1906/043 461). 95 Cf. the dictionary definition of “langs” in ODS 1975–1977: XII, 377: “bevægelse … inden for et vist område … efter dets længderetning” (movement … within a given space… going its length). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 241 to house”: observation by Bregenhøj and Larsen in 2003 and 2004). The mummers might also be called De udklædte (the disguised: personal communication from Tage Brummer to Karen Bek-Pedersen, August 28, 2003). In a number of records, none of these words are used. In north-western Sjælland, in Ods Herred (the district of Ods), another lively mumming tradition has left several marks on the folklife of the area. Inter- estingly enough, the Twelfth Night mumming custom survived longer here in spite of the evangelical movement which preached against all kinds of fun of this nature. The following record comes from the parish of N¿rre Asmindrup, near Nykøbing in Sjælland, and was recorded for Dansk Folkemindesamling in 1913 from a Fru Sørensen, a teacher’s wife around 45 years of age. According to Thorkild Gravlund, the west Sjælland author who recorded the account, she remembered the following incident from her childhood between the mid 1870s and the early 1880s: Da Fru. S. var Barn, kom der et Helligtrekonger optog i hendes hjem. Der var navnlig en høj Karl, klædt i Kvindeklæder, som kom først ind af Døren, og som Fru S. blev bange for. De opvartedes med æbleskiver. De sang ikke, men sad og snakkede lidt, f¿r de gik videre (DFS 1906/043: 335, here from DFS 1906/045A: 335). (When Fru S. was a child, a group of Twelfth Night mummers visited her home. The first one to come through the door, a tall fellow dressed in women’s clothes, made Fru S. especially frightened. They were treated with æbleskiver buns. They did not sing, but sat and talked a little, before going on.) This description makes no reference to the “Star Song” or the stjernedrenge and must therefore (in spite of its brevity) be seen as depicting a visit by mummers.96 The elements of gender reversal and the conversation also seem more typical for an anonymous visit by mummers than they are for the stjernedrenge. Whereas the language situation is relatively simple in other regions of the country, in south Jylland the terms for mummers are complicated, and particularly in the area consisting of the S¿nderborg district, Als and Sundeved. Feilberg (1962: II, 294Ð295), who grew up in south-west Jylland, refers to the mummers as “Helligkrister”, a word which has roots in German tradition (Bobé 1935: II, 162; and Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: VII, 36Ð37). After the Reformation in Germany, Christmas gifts were no longer given by Sanct Nico- laus but were instead said to be brought by das heilige Christkindlein (the Holy Christ Child), presents then being die heilige Christkindlein Gabe (the gift of the Holy Christ Child: Weber-Kellermann 1978: 41–42). These “Christ Child” or “Holy Christ” gifts would arrive mysteriously on St Nicholas’ Eve, on Christmas Eve, or on Christmas morning as a manifestation of the omnipo-

96 Schmidt includes this record in his study of Twelfth Night singing (1948) as evidence of Star Singing. This inclusion underlines the confusion that was rife even among Danish folklore scholars with regard to the mumming traditions of the Danish Christmas period. 242 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen tence of Christ.97 In popular speech, Kristkind or Heiligekrist became the shortened forms for the gifts (and are still in use in German-speaking regions). How- ever, names like Christkindlein soon (by 1682) came to be used in for all sorts of masked persons running around in the streets (Weber- Kellermann 1978: 36 and 64Ð65, based on an edict issued by Duke Gustav Adolf of Mecklenburg). Also in dialect usage in the Schleswig-Holstein area, including Als, are the terms Heiligekrist or Hellekrist which apparently came to stand for both the bringer of presents (Ussing 1926: 117) and also those obscure visitors that frequented local homes as good-luck-bringing guests (Ussing 1926: 114). In Als, the Danish colloquial shortened form (Jesus) Kindchen (Jesus Child) eventually became Kingen, the word Alsians use to refer to the Danish Julemanden or Santa Claus (Adriansen 1979: 39). Just as the name of the tradition in southern Jylland was influenced by the bilingual context of the area, so too may the time of the performance be reminiscent of the old Catholic calendar which placed emphasis on the Advent period. One source claims that “Børn gik omkring og sang lige ind til Jul” (children went about singing right up until just before Christmas: Ussing 1926: 114). Here the mummers (apparently Hellekrister, with or without costumes) go around for an extended period before the Christmas holiday begins. The main reason why the Christmas mumming tradition is still found on these islands is probably because of their isolated situation compared to the rest of the country.98 However, it is also worth noting that here, the tradition is generally spontaneous: there is no society, organisation or supermarket behind the organisation of the custom or involved in sponsoring it. It is up to each and every person in the villages in question to know what to do, and how to act accordingly. The custom thus flourishes in and of itself, if the conditions are right. This means that if a disruptive event takes place or threatens to occur locally (in the form of bad weather, an important local birthday, or perhaps the closing of a local gathering place), there is nobody to act on behalf of the mumming “institution”. No single person or body has the authority to introduce alterations or postpone or change the tradition.99 As regards the nature of the masks and disguises in the area, many sources are relatively vague, while others refer to gender reversal or name a certain profession in society. Only rarely does a source clearly point to a relationship between the image chosen by a mummer and living persons or the politicians of the day, as in the accounts given below. Henrik Ussing describes the end of Christmas activities in the northern part

97 One form of Christkindchen (from Alsace) with gifts was performed by a young woman in white, a figure that later seems to have become the Swedish Lucia (Pi¿ 1997b: 127Ð129, quoting Weber- Kellermann 1978: 22Ð23, and 35Ð40). Gifts might also be brought on the eve of the first Sunday in Advent, or on St Nicholas’ Eve (the night of December 5). 98 In earlier times, however, mumming of this kind clearly also existed elsewhere, at least on Sjæl- land and Fyn. 99 Compare this with the situation described by Ane Ohrvik in her study of the Norwegian stjernegutter tradition elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 243

Fig. 3.10: New Year mumming on the north-west Friesian island of Hallig Hooge in Schleswig- Holstein in the 1930s or early 1940s. (Photo: Siegfried Hellmann. Jr.; from Meyer, 1941.) of Als in the pre-industrial era in the following way (see fig. 3.10). On New Year’s Eve, he writes: … blev Nytaarsskyderne bedt ind, og hvert Sted fik de Kaffe, Æbleskiver og Tve- bakker og i Reglen en Puns eller to som Tak for Skud. … Der kom ogsaa ’Udklædte’, unge Mennesker, der har klædt sig ud i de pudsigste Dragter. [De] fik Snaps og Æbleskiver. I Kettinge, Egen, Hagenbjærg og Nørborg Sogne var der saaledes nogen, som hen paa Aftenen klædte sig ud; de kom undertiden i Optog paa 8–10 Per- soner eller flere og opf¿rte Dans og Musik. Saaledes gik endnu i 1844 en 12Ð14 unge Karle og Piger fra Egen Sogn omkring flere Steder i N¿rreherred meget smukt pyntede i forskellige Dragter. De saa ogsaa en senere Søndag ind i Hagenbjerg Præste- gård og andre Steder, opførte Danse og fik Gave (Ussing 1926: 120). (… the New Year shooters were invited in, and in each place they got coffee, æble- skiver and rusks and usually a glass of punch or two as a sign of gratitude for their shots. … Mummers also arrived, young people who had disguised themselves in the most curious outfits. They were given schnapps and æbleskiver. Thus, during the evening in Kettinge, Egen, Hagenbjærg and Nørborg [present day Havnbjerg and Nordborg] some youths would disguise themselves; they could turn up in groups of 8Ð10 persons or more, and perform with dances and music. As late as 1844, a group of 12Ð14 young bachelors and girls from Egen would visit several places in the northern district of Als in this way, nicely made up in different outfits. On a later Sunday, they would also turn up at the vicarage of Hagenbjerg and other places, perform dances and receive a reward.) It is remarkable that here the same group goes mumming both on New Year’s Eve and on a later occasion. However, the calendar for 1844 and 1845 (Bauer 244 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

1964: 45 and 14) shows that December 31, 1844 was on a Tuesday, the following Sunday being January 5, 1845, in other words, helligtrekongers aften (Epiphany Eve), the traditional mumming night. As is shown elsewhere in this volume, there is a common tendency among mummers to try and visit all the members of a certain community. It would therefore make sense to employ two nights instead of only one if it was possible.100 Ussing also indicates that the mummers could choose either Twelfth Night or the following day (which was also a holiday) for masked visits, if not both dates. One notes furthermore the appearance of particular political figures, and men of different trades and professions, which was somewhat exceptional: Paa Helligtrekongers Aften kom mange Steder Piger og Drenge udklædte i store Flokke. Piger tog Drengeklæder paa og Drenge tog Pigeklæder paa, og saa tog de et Stykke Papir med Huller til Øjne, Næse og Mund for Ansigtet; de gik i Besøg til Na- boerne; men i Regel blev de hurtigt kendte. … Helt ned i den tyske Tid holdt det sig at løbe om i Forklædning. En Gang var der et Par, der havde udklædt sig som Kejser Vilhelm [I] og Bismarck101 med tre Haar paa Hovedet; da var de en hel Snes i Flok (Ussing 1926: 124Ð125). (In many places, girls and boys would come visiting in disguise in crowds on Twelfth Night. The girls put on boys’ clothes and the boys put on girls’ clothes, and they then made a piece of paper into a mask with holes for the eyes, nose and mouth. They went around visiting the neighbours. But usually, they were soon recognised…. The tradition of going from house to house in disguise was maintained right down into the German time [after 1864]. … Once a couple of mummers were disguised as the Emperor Wilhelm [I] and Bismarck with three hairs on his head. They were part of a group of a score of mummers.) Hell. 3 Kongers dag er det brug at de unge klæder sig ud og går på besøg. En kan være klædt ud som handelsmand, en som læge, en som røgter osv. Spøgen går ud på, om husets folk kan opdage, hvem der skjuler sig i forklædningen (Kristensen 1909: 155; and Ussing 1926: 125). (At Epiphany, it is usual that young people disguise themselves and go visiting. One person may be disguised as a grocer, another as a doctor, and yet another as a herdsman etc. The point of the joke is to see if the people of the house can detect who is hiding behind the disguise.) It is obvious that these two descriptions by Henrik Ussing have been pieced together from different records, unfortunately without reference being made to the original informants. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the situation here is similar to that mentioned in the earlier Danish bans where the mumming tradition is said to take place on several nights during the Christmas holiday period. The same is indicated by records from S¿nderborg, and by the traditions from western Sjælland mentioned above, and on western ®r¿ and Læsø (as well as

100 This occurs sometimes in the Faroe Islands: see Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming), and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 101 Probably after the Dano-Prussian war of FebruaryÐOctober 1864, but before 1888 when the death of Emperor Wilhelm I eventually led to the fall of Bismarck in March 1890 (under Emperor Wilhelm II). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 245 in Norway and Swedish Ostrobothnia in Finland).102 Eight kilometres north-west of S¿nderborg, in ¯ster Sottrup on the peninsula of Sundeved, west of the Als Sound, in around 1915, New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night are depicted as follows: Nogle børn gik med rumlepotter Nytårsaften, men ikke os. Derimod gik vi til vore naboer og kastede potteskår på trappen og råbte »Godt nytår«. Vi var ikke klædt ud. Vi blev kaldt ind og fik saftevand og æbleskiver som tak for pottebraget. Andre børn gik omkring om eftermiddagen den 31. december, bankede på [hos] folk og ønskede »Godt nytår«. De medbragte en kurv, så det var klart, at deres nytårsønsker skulle belønnes. I kurven kom der gerne kager, pebernødder, æbler eller en appelsin og et enkelt sted fik de lidt julegodt som marcipan. I dag er disse skikke borte på min hjemegn, men vi kan dog endnu for løjers skyld tage en ituslået krukke med, når vi er inviteret på nytårsvisit hos naboen. Helligtrekongersaften var en slags afslutning på julen… Mange unge klædte sig ud og gik på besøg hos de ældre, ofte gemte de også ting og lavede halløj; som man i dag bruger at gøre nytårsaften (Adriansen 1979: 87, from an account by Martha Christensen). (On New Year’s Eve, some children were going around with the rommelpott, but we didn’t go. On the other hand, we went to our neighbours and threw potsherds on the stone doorstep, and cried out, “Happy New Year!” We were not disguised. We were called in and treated to lemonade and æbleskiver in thanks for the pot-smashing. Other children went around on the afternoon of December 31, knocking on people’s doors and wishing, “Happy New Year!” They carried a basket along with them so it was evident that their New Year wishes were to be rewarded. In the basket they got cookies, gingernuts, apples, or an orange, and at one place they got a few sweets like marzipan. Today in my home region, these customs have gone, however, but for the fun of it we might take a broken pot with us when we are invited to a New Year party at the neighbour’s. Twelfth Night was a kind of an ending to Christmas…. Many young people disguised themselves and went visiting older inhabitants. They often hid implements and made a stir, something which is usually done today on New Year’s Eve.) Fifteen km. east of S¿nderborg, on the eastern-most tip of Als, is the village of Lysabild and a ferry berth called Mommark. The south-eastern point continues into the dangerous “Pøls Rev” (Poel Reef) where a lighthouse was first erected in 1906. Frederik Andersen, the son of a rich Lysabild farmer, describes his experiences of Twelfth Night from around 1910 in these parts as follows. Especially worth noting here are the nature of the roles and the conversation which takes place: Hen på aftenen kom der mange voksne, der var klædt ud. De fik et halmstrå, så de kunne suge et glas mjød i sig, selvom de havde maske på. Der kom gerne en 30 stykker. De var især klædt ud som handelsmænd, og de snakkede med far om, hvad grise og k¿er kostede. Andre, 7Ð8 stykker, kom ind og fortalte, at de var strandet ude ved Pøls Rev. De spurgte om vej til Mommark Færge og til Sønderborg. Det var næsten hele landsbyens voksne, som gik rundt på denne måde, præsten og degnen gjorde det

102 See further Öster 1991: 10, and the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland and Norway elsewhere in this volume. 246 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.11: Mummers in the village of Asserballe on Als, Denmark: January 5, 2003: Diverse workers. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

ikke og heller ikke min far. Det var ikke noget for ham, men han tog altid pænt imod dem, der kom (Adriansen 1979: 73, quoting Frederik Andersen; see also 69). (In the evening, many grown-ups visited in disguise. They were given a straw so they could suck up a glass of mead even though they were wearing a mask. Around thirty mummers usually came. They were commonly disguised as merchants, and they talked to father about the prices of pigs and cattle. Others, about 7Ð8 in number, came in and explained that they had been shipwrecked out by Poel’s Reef. They asked for the way to the Mommark ferry and to S¿nderborg. Almost the entire grown-up population was engaged in going round in this way; the clergyman and the church servant did not go though, and nor did my father. It was not his cup of tea. But he always received those who came nicely.) The local clergyman in the village of Asserballe on Als from 1941 to 1959 observed Twelfth Night mumming at the home of the sognefoged (the parish ex- ecutive officer) and describes it as follows: Alle kunne klæde sig ud, ja kun vende vest og jakke – ingen kvinder var selvsagt med i spasen. […] Jeg har kun oplevet een Alsinger […], der både i tøj og tale var en ypperlig imitator og mester i at g¿re sig ukendelig. Han var sjov. (Personal communication from Tage Brummer (1912Ð2004) to Karen Bek-Pedersen, dated August 28, 2003.) (Everyone could disguise themselves; well, they could just turn their waistcoats and jackets inside out – of course there were no women engaged in the fun. I’ve only experienced one man from Als that was an excellent imitator in both clothing and speech, a master at making himself unrecognisable. He was funny.) Another feature of mumming here is that any kind of disguise is possible in principle (see figs 3.4Ð3.6 and 3.11Ð3.13). It all depends on the imagination of the potential mummer, and his/ her talent as an actor, a seamstress or a tailor. In most cases, a small group of two to four people would go mumming together and, as is done nowadays, they would often agree on a theme for their outfits and a strategy for their ploy. People might also go mumming with somebody they did not associate with in their daily lives, simply as a means of making it more difficult for the hosts to guess their identity (Fischer-M¿ller 2001: 19). A young wheelwright from Skovby on the western side of the island of ®r¿ Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 247

Fig. 3.12: Mummers in the village of Ketting on Als: January 5, 2003: A knight and a monk. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

Fig. 3.13: Mummers in the village of Ketting on Als, January 5, 2003: “Søde Sager” refers to a television commercial for sweets. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) 248 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen wrote the following account of mumming in the parish of Bregninge as it was in 1900: I Aar gik jeg omkring som Barber og havde min Lærling med til at indsæbe Folk, som ville barberes. Den første som jeg barberede var Smeden i Leby, ham sæbede Lærlingen ind i Sværte, uden at han mærkede det. Vi havde også en med os som lavede nogle Kunster i Kort. … Ved saadanne lejligheder kommer alle de gammeldags Klæder og høje Hatte rigtig i Brug, thi jo værre man ser ud, des bedre kan man klare sig. Det sidste Sted man kommer ind, lader man gerne Masken falde … saa fortæller hver, hvad han har lavet, og hvor han har været (Fischer-Møller 2001: 19, and 21). (This year I went around as a barber and I had my apprentice with me to lather those people that wanted a shave. The first one I shaved was the blacksmith in Leby; my apprentice lathered him with black lead without him noticing anything. We also brought a fellow along that could do card tricks. … On such occasions, all the old-fashioned clothes and top hats were really useful because the more bizarre you looked, the better the chance you had of succeeding. At the last home you visit, you often drop your mask; then everyone says what he has been up to and where he has been.) The mumming trick described here (sometimes called Barberen og Bonden [the Barber and the Farmer]) centres around distracting the victim so that he does not notice that the soap is, in fact, a mixture of lard and soot, or something of that kind.103 However, the wheelwright goes on to add that he regrets having gone mumming so often because people can now penetrate his disguise. This relates to the fact that although the most artistic mummers take on different roles from one year to the next, a certain style of their performance nonetheless remains as a kind of trade mark. While they do everything correctly, their performance is so well executed in speech and gesture that the audience immediately recognises the performer. According to Fischer-M¿ller (2001: 19Ð21), the ®r¿ mumming tradition was brought to the island from neighbouring Als in around 1850. The new tradition then spread out from a tailor in Leby over the next 50Ð70 years until it had reached most of the western part of the island. At the same time, the period of celebration was expanded to four days, lasting from January 5Ð8, each region then choosing one of the days to engage in mumming. On the island of Agers¿ in the first third of the twentieth century, the mumming disguises are described as follows: Hellig tre kongers aften klædte unge og gamle sig … ud i forskellige dragter og gammelt t¿j. Som masker brugte de sammenrimpet gaze, der var farvet med r¿dbedesaft, ’så saften løb ned ad kinderne’, sagde alle (Rasmussen 1969: 113–114). (On Twelfth Night, both young and old disguised themselves in different outfits or old clothes. For masks they used gauze which was tacked together and dyed in beetroot juice “so that the juice ran down your cheeks,” everybody said.) The following account from 1970Ð1971 provides another perspective into the Agers¿ tradition (see figs 3.2Ð3.3, 3.7 and 3.14Ð3.19). Concentrating on the masking, it is worth quoting at length:

103 See also Strøm 1915: 14; Henningsen 1961: 135–139; and Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 24–25 and 45Ð46. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 249

Fig. 3.14: Mumming in Agers¿, Denmark, January 5, 1969: Learning to give mummers a warm welcome is part of upbringing in a mumming community. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

Fig. 3.15: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1969: Teacher Fischer offers sweets to one of his disguised guests taking the role of a driver for the Tuborg brewery. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) 250 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.16: Young mummers in Agers¿: January 5, 2001. (Photo: Christine Eike.) (Courtesy of Christine Eike.)

I de enkelte hjem har man som regel masker liggende fra foregående år, men man kan også lave dem selv af karton, gaze eller en nylonstrømpe, man kan låne sig frem, eller man kan købe dem hos købmanden eller isenkræmmeren. De hjemmelavede masker formes eller males med næse, mund og øjne osv. De købte masker forestiller ofte fremmede folkeslag, indianere, kinesere eller negre etc., eller karrikaturer, klov- ne, gale kvindfolk, hæslige ungmøer eller oldinge, iblandt er der ogsa halvmasker, silkemasker eller briller med næse og overskæg. Bortset fra silkemaskerne er de fleste af plast eller gummi. Mellem kl. 19 og 20 er de fleste børn i alderen 7–14 færdige med deres omklæd- ning og maskering. Dragterne spænder fra den hurtigt komponerede cowboy til den omhyggeligt sammensatte vagabond a la Storm P, eller den smukt polstrede dame i oldemors tøj. Ofte er drengene klædt i pigetøj og omvendt. Ansigtet er skjult bag masken, håret af et tørklæde og en hat eller hue, en enkelt paryk sås også i 1971. Pi- ger med langt hår vil ofte samle det under hovedbeklædningen. Hænderne dækkes af handsker eller luffer, og kun fodtøjet synes af og til at være det samme som til dag- lig. Dragternes variationsbredde er lidt afhængigt af, hvor koldt eller fugtigt det er. Er det koldt, vil de mere ensartede frakker præge udklædningerne, er det derimod mildt, vil de sartere og mere spraglede dragter være de foretrukne. Hvis man ikke har store lommer i sin dragt, hører endelig til udstyret en håndtaske eller en lille kurv til opbevaring af de modtagne godter. Nar børnene er kommet ind et sted står de inden for døren og betragter stiltiende selskabet ved spisebordet eller i sofagruppen. ”Så taler folk altid om os, og de spør- ger gerne om, hvem vi er, om der er mange omklædte eller 'hvor kommer I fra?' men de får aldrig noget svar.” [informanter: Jan Rasmussen & Villy Jensen]. ”Det mest spændende ved helligtrekonger er at se, om folk kan kende os, nogen siger det mens man hører på det, andre venter til man er gået. Somme tider lytter man uden for døren eller ved et vindue, for at høre om de kendte en.” [informant: Ole E. Andersen]. Nogle vil 1¿be to gange, f¿rst med en gruppe og en maskering, og senere sammen med andre i en anden maske. Mange af de unge aftaler i forvejen at 1øbe sammen. Ved de ikke i forvejen ”hvad Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 251

de vil være” går de til Arna og Lars Peter Nielsen på Kratgården med deres maske og bliver klædt ud. De klædningsstykker som Lars Peter låner ud vil ofte være kvin- dedragter, både til de unge piger og de unge mænd, så mange unge mænd bliver klædt i kvindetøj. I 1971 blev 22 personer i aftenens løb klædt ud på Kratgården Ligesom børnene går de unge i flok, drenge med drenge og piger med piger. Ofte er 3–4 stykker sammen, men undertiden er der horder på en halv snes unge mænd. Flere af de tilrejsende er med i disse grupper. De unges adfærd ligner børnenes, blot kan den være noget mere livlig, da de i højere grad forstår at agere og mime svar på tiltale. Denne gruppe kan også tage initiativet til samspillet, ”forhutlede vagabonder” kan sætte sig hos værtsgruppens piger og tage om dem, eller ”unge damer” kan spille op til mandfolkene ved at strutte med barmen eller vrikke med hofterne. Men den abso- lutte tavshed overholdes, og de bliver budt de samme ting som b¿mene, blot fristes de til at smide masken med ¿l, vin eller spiritus. Den ældre voksne befolkning forbereder sig i reglen ikke på at 1øbe helligtrekonger, de kryber oftest i udklædningen inspireret af aftenens stemning (Bregenhøj 1974: 28Ð33; see also illustrations 29, 31, 38, 42, and 96). (At the various individual homes, masks have often been saved from previous years. However, they may also be made at home for the occasion from cardboard, gauze or a nylon stocking; you can borrow from somebody else or buy them at the grocery or hardware store. The home-made masks are shaped or painted with a nose, mouth and eyes etc. The store-purchased masks often represent foreign people like Red Indians, Chinese or Negroes etc., or caricatures, clowns, shrewish women, ugly maidens or old people. Sometimes half-masks can also be seen, silk masks or specs with a nose and moustache. Apart from the silk masks, most of them are made of plastic or rubber. Between seven and eight p.m., most of the children between the age of seven to fourteen will be ready dressed up and masked [see figs 3.2Ð3.3 and 3.14Ð3.16]. Out- fits may range from that of a rapidly composed cowboy to a carefully prepared vagabond in the style of the cartoonist Storm P.,104 or a handsomely padded lady in great grandma’s dress. Often the boys are dressed in girls’ clothes and vice versa. The face is hidden behind the mask, the hair by a scarf and a hat or cap; one wig was also seen in 1971. Girls with long hair will often keep it out of sight under their headdress [see fig. 3.17]. The hands must be covered by gloves or mittens; the only thing that seems to be the same as that worn normally is the footwear. The range of variation in outfits depends somewhat on the cold or moist weather conditions. If it is cold, more monotonous coats will dominate the outfits. However, if it is mild, more delicate and more varied dresses will be preferred. If the mummers do not have big pockets in their outfit, part of their equipment will be a handbag or a small basket for carrying the various goodies that they receive. When the children have entered somebody’s house, they silently stand by the living-room door watching the party at the dinner table or in the three-piece living room suite. “Then people talk about us and they usually ask who we are; if there are many disguised people on the move or ‘Where do you come from?’ but they never get any answer.” “The most exciting thing about Twelfth Night is seeing whether people can recognise us; some say it while you are listening; others wait until you have left. Sometimes you will listen outside at the door or by the window to get to know if they recognised you.” Some mummers may tour the village twice, first with one group in one outfit and then later with another in a different mask.

104 Robert Storm Petersen (1882Ð1949), a generally loved Danish painter, author and cartoonist, cherished also for his serio-comic vagabonds. 252 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.17: Mumming in Ag- ers¿: January 5, 1969: Teach- er Fischer’s wife inspects a female mummer wearing the mask of an old hag. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

Many of the teenagers decide amongst themselves with whom they will go mumming. If they do not know in advance “what act to play”, they may go with their masks to Arna and Lars Peter Nielsen105 at the Kratgården farm to get fixed up [see fig. 3.18]. The articles of clothing that Lars Peter will let them borrow are often women’s garments both for the young women and the young men, so many of the boys will be dressed in female costumes. On Twelfth Night in 1971, twenty-two persons were dressed up at Kratgården. Like the children, the adolescents go mumming in groups, often boys with boys and girls with girls. They often go in parties of three to four, but sometimes form hordes of ten or so young men. Many of their friends who have come to visit will form part of these groups. The behaviour of the youngsters is similar to that of the children; however, they are often more lively as they have a better understanding of how to act and respond in gestures, giving tit for tat. This age group of mummers might also take the initiative in the interactions; “shabby vagabonds” may seat themselves next to the girls at the hosts’, putting their arms around them (see fig. 3.19); or “young ladies” might tease the menfolk by conspicuously displaying their bosoms or swaying their hips. However, absolute silence

105 The farm of this childless couple, Arna Margrethe Nielsen (né Madsen: 1924–1987) and Lars Peter Karl Nielsen (1924–1999), was called “Agers¿s museum” (Agersø Museum). It might be said that Lars Peter was the “Nestor” of Agersø mumming. Towards the end of their lives, the couple’s old-fashioned and frugal lifestyle went to extremes; part of the roof fell in from neglect, and in the poorly heated home much of the heritage collection began to rot and mould, including the old dresses and overcoats. After their deaths, the property and everything else that could be saved were auctioned off, and the uninhabitable house was razed to the ground. This brought an end to a very interesting era that had a deep influence on the general appearance of the Agers¿ mummers. See the illustrations in Bregenh¿j 1974: 29 and 42. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 253

Fig. 3.18: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1971: Two mummers in late-nineteenth-century fancy dress leave Lars Peter Nielsen’s “showroom”. This farmer annually gained recognition for his strange collection of costumes each Twelfth Night. (Photo: John Eley.)

Fig. 3.19: Mumming in Agers¿: January 5, 1969: A masked mummer flirts with a teenage girl. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.)

is maintained and they are offered the same treats as the children; the only thing that tempts them to take off their masks is the offer of beer, wine or alcohol. The older grown-up population does not usually prepare to go mumming on Twelfth Night, but might be inspired by the mood of the moment to get into some impromptu disguise.) The following record of the mumming tradition of Om¿ as it was in 1945 was sent to Dansk Folkemindesamling (call number DFS 1906/043: 461; see also 254 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Storm 1989: 29Ð30; and Bregenh¿j 1974: 41Ð43). Here the mummers involved the old and the young (and children) and had the following possibilities. The children and teenagers: … er klædt ud i meget forskellige Dragter. De pynter sig med gammelt Tøj og vender Frakker. … Der er nogle Mandfolk, der klæder sig ud som kvinder, og der er nogle Kvinder, der klæder sig ud som Mænd. Nogle er klædt ud som fiskere eller meget gamle Folk, og nogle stopper sig ud med Pukkel og Mave. De har Maske for Ansig- tet for ikke at blive kendt. Masken er købt eller hjemmelavet. … Mændene har gerne en Kæp eller Stok i Haanden. … De siger ikke noget, naar de kommer ind. … De omklædte får Kager, Æbler, stoppet Piben og i den gode Tid fik de Snapse mange Steder særlig naar folk troede at det var Kvinder der var klædt ud i Herretøj. Saa skulle de se om de omklædte kunne tage en snaps. (… are disguised in different outfits. They adorn themselves in old clothes or turn coats inside out. … There are some men who dress up as women, and there are some women that dress up as men. Some are dressed up as fishermen or as very old people, and some pad themselves out with a hunchback or a potbelly. They wear a mask in front of their faces in order not to be recognised. The mask is bought or home-made. The men usually have an ash-plant or walking stick in their hands. They do not say anything when they enter. The mummers receive cakes, apples, get their pipes filled and in good times, they would get a glass of schnapps in many places, especially if people believed that they were women dressed up in men’s clothes. Then they wanted to see if the disguised person could handle a schnapps.) In the old days, it was unusual for the mummers here to reveal their identities. However, as the society of Om¿ changed, so too did the Twelfth Night tradition. In the late 1980s, people would unmask themselves whether they had been recognised or not, as the following account demonstrates: Mona var jo herovre sidste gang og så pludselig, så kom der en meget flot dame ind ad døren og vimser rundt og vi gættede og gættede, men vi kunne ikke finde ud af hvem det var. Så var det sørme Monas datter der pludselig stod der og hun kunne ikke kende sin egen pige” (Interview concerning Twelfth Night on Om¿ in 1987 taken by Storm: see Storm 1989: 46). (Mona was at my place last Twelfth Night, you know, and then, all of a sudden, in through the door came this very elegant lady. She bustled about and we guessed and guessed but we couldn’t work out who it was. Then, in a flash it was Mona’s daughter that was standing there, and she couldn’t recognise her own daughter.) The mumming tradition that has been described here can be briefly summed up as follows: Groups of masked persons, occasionally even single mummers, go from house to house during the course of Twelfth Night (the evening of Janu- ary 5). They visit houses where a lamp is lit outside, thereby providing an indication that visitors are welcome. Sometimes mute (on Agers¿), sometimes talkative, they enter the houses where they are awaited, and the host group have great fun commenting on their disguised visitors who are offered drink, various titbits or sweets in exchange for their visit. While they are there, a teasing game also takes place. In some villages where the mummers are mute (as in Agers¿), the host group make hints about their identity and try to make them remove Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 255 their masks. In other villages, the teasing is reciprocal: the maskers carry out practical jokes and make witty remarks about their host group, while the household and other guests respond with fast repartee and sharp flickers of humour. After a while, the maskers move on. In these cases, the actual character of the disguise and masking is not the main point, rather the fact that the masked visitors are altered beyond recognition. In many cases, the mummers take every precaution to remain anonymous. When they have left, the host group will then eagerly discuss the mummers’ identities, while the mummers discuss among themselves whether they have succeeded in fooling the household and where they should go next. It might be noted, however, that it is considered in- appropriate to mention any of the mummers by name in their presence. When guessing identities, the host groups therefore address the mummers in a form of “coded” language which indirectly reveals to their guests the knowledge of certain in-group information that only insiders would have.106 Since this is a game that involves two parties (the mummers and the host groups), it is important to underline that neither group can exist without the other. It would be a misunderstanding to think that the mummers play the main role in this game. It might be said that the potential hosts prepare for the proper reception of their masked visitors as much as the potential maskers prepare for their “show”. Indeed, the population of each community as a whole is involved in the tradition, teaching, instructing and providing the dresses and props for the mummers, inviting guests, cooking, rearranging the homes and if necessary hanging out extra lights, and stocking up with provisions to feed the mummers. The potential performers regularly discuss among themselves who should go with whom, what they should wear, whom they should visit (and why or why not), and what tricks to perform. They sometimes rehearse their acts. It might also be said that even though most of the mummers in this tradition are children, the teenagers and grown ups that are involved as a whole outnumber the minors. It would thus be wrong to think of the Danish tradition as being a children’s custom. In this regard, it should be noted that on Agers¿ and Om¿, the mummers are a mixed group of all ages. In ®r¿ and Als, however, the children normally go guising in the afternoon and the adults in the evening.107 On the two first islands, all the mummers are offered both drink and sweets or something else to eat. Where there is a division in the times of mumming visits, however, the children get sweets, fruit, cakes or money, while the adult mummers receive mainly alcohol or, if they insist, soft drinks. However, in this latter case, being particular about the form of drinks will often be considered as offering a clue to the mummer’s sex, so many female mummers will often knock back a glass of schnapps in the service of their role. In the past, the ambition of many mummers was to get round to as many homes as possible. Among the obstacles for

106 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on talking to masks elsewhere in this volume. 107 Cf. the traditions on Unst in the north of Shetland: see further the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 256 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen a successful round would be the amount of drinks offered in the course of the trip, so the evening might also be seen as a test of moderation and restraint (see also Storm 1989: 44; and Reimer 1910Ð1919: 427Ð428).108 Getting badly intoxicated would spoil the fun for the mummers themselves, so this was something to be avoided. It might also be noted that today the mummers usually choose which homes to visit. There are, however, certain signs of growing organisation in these customs. In some instances (as in the villages of Asserballe on Als, or Skelde on Bro- ager), the local inn, hotel, or welfare society might arrange a masked ball late in the evening to accompany the mumming. For the proprietor or organising society, this is, of course, a commercial enterprise, involving the selling of either entrance tickets and/ or beverages and the distribution of prizes for the best mummers according to some generally accepted or ad hoc invented criteria. This may in part be an influence from the Shrovetide masquerade traditions, but could also be a relatively recent trait which has the conservation of the tradition as a secondary motive.109

3. e. Shrovetide 3. e. i. A History of Danish Shrovetide Celebrations Fastelavn (Shrovetide) is the name for the big festival that is held as a preparation for Lent which always falls somewhere between February 1 and March 7. The word Fastelavn derives from the German word Fastelabend (in Low German, Fastlauen). While the Danes kept the word Fastelavn, the Germans changed it to Fastnacht during the sixteenth century (Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: VII, 94Ð95). The celebration of Fastelavn was probably introduced to Den- mark in the last part of the Middle Ages, imported from Germany to the Danish boroughs (Ussing 1935a: 105). In the Middle Ages, when the Danes were Catholic, there were legitimate reasons for celebrating this festival which, according to the Swedish Arch- bishop Olaus Magnus (1490Ð1557), lasted for six days in the early sixteenth century.110 After the Danish Reformation in 1536, the Protestant church attempted to get rid of both Lent and the Fastelavn celebrations. While the church succeeded in removing Lent, however, the Fastelavn celebration proved to be more tenacious. As its religious content as a harbinger of nine weeks of fasting disappeared, it became the people’s celebration of the prelude to the new working year which began with the preparations for sowing: a new life circle (Henningsen 1991: 21Ð22; and Pi¿ 1997: 12Ð13). The old provincial

108 With regard to the element of self-control in mumming, see also the article on Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Greenland elsewhere in this volume. 109 On such elements of “entrepreneurship”, see also the articles by Ane Ohrvik, Fredrik Skott and Paul Smith elsewhere in this volume. 110 Magnus 1972: 463; 1909Ð1951: III, 80; and 1998: II, 658Ð659 (Book XIII: ch. 42). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 257 laws from the thirteenth and fourteenth century were remembered among the people and even learned by heart. Later repeals and amendments were not perceived as binding. The old laws in question concerning sacrilege stated that Lent ran “fra de ni ugers faste begynder, og til første søndag efter påske” (from the beginning of the nine-week fast until the first Sunday after Easter).111 More- over, the printed calendars called the seventh Sunday before Easter Sunday Fastelavn (Shrovetide) or Fastelavns s¿ndag (Shrove Sunday) so people considered that Shrovetide existed even after the Reformation (Pi¿ 1997: 12). Getting the laws printed helped somewhat, as did the fact that there were no unified laws for the whole of Denmark until after 1683 (Danske Lov 1683).112 Ironically, after the Danish Reformation in 1536, instead of being done away with, Fastelavn came to be extended. In popular opinion, it was supposed to last for at least a whole week (Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: VII, 97Ð98). Erik Pontoppidan’s battle-cry against old “heathen” tradition, Everriculum fermenti (1736: see section 1. b. above) implies that a great deal of “devilish” activity was carried out among the Danish peasants during Fastelavn, but that nothing could be done about it: it was outside the domain of the church, a feast belonging to the people (Pontoppidan 1923: 28Ð33). Today’s Fastelavn traditions in Denmark are little more than a weak reflec- tion of what they used to be, and of the other carnival traditions found throughout Catholic Europe where the entire society is turned upside down once a year. Among most of the Danish population, Fastelavn is simply regarded as a weekend’s entertainment for children. In the past, however, Fastelavn was an Olym- piad of strange games and competitions: once a year, class and gender distinc- tions were levelled or even reversed. In a symbolic sense, the weak battled against the strong: women against men, peasants against the upper class, and summer against winter (Henningsen 1991: 21Ð25; and Pi¿ 1997: 26Ð28).

3. e. ii. Shrovetide Processions and Jousting The Dutch peasants that came to Denmark by royal invitation in the first half of the sixteenth century (see section 1. a. above) were well-experienced in Fastelavn activities, and their exotic forms of jousting were often exploited by the throne as a means of amusing the court and its foreign visitors (Hjorth 1986: 26–27). It is generally believed that the so-called “Royal Dutch” introduced, among other customs, the tradition of at slå katten af tønden (Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel: see fig. 3.20).113 However, Frederik Knudsen takes

111 Jyske Lov 1991: http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/manus/41/dan/ (last visited March 1, 2007): “2. bog § 82. På hvilke tider der kan begås helligbrøde”. 112 See Sjællandske Lov, 1505 and 1576; Jyske Lov, 1590 [published in German 1684 and 1717, and in force in Schleswig-Holstein until 1900]; and Holberg 1749: 437 and 440. See also Salmon- sens Konversations Leksikon, 1915–1930: V, 602–603 (“Danmark: Retsvæsen”). 113 This tradition of competing at striking a barrel (with something in it) until it breaks is also known in parts of Sweden, the Faroe Islands and Iceland: see Kristín Einarsdóttir’s article on Ash Wednesday traditions in Iceland, and the Surveys of Masks and Mumming in Sweden and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 258 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fig. 3.20: “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel” at Shrovetide in Valby in København. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) the view that the competition was already known in Denmark when the Dutch arrived (Knudsen 1923: 28Ð29). The traditions of gåserenden (Goose Jousting) or at trække hovedet af gåsen (Pulling the Head Off the Goose), or at trække hovedet af hanen (Pulling the Head Off the Cock), a variant of the British “Throwing at Cocks” (Knudsen 1924: 1–12), were also made famous in Den- mark by the Amager Dutch, but seem to have had parallels in most of Europe much earlier, and are therefore more international than they may appear. Only the so-called æggedansen (Egg Dance)114 may be genuinely of Dutch origin. Among the Danish Dutch themselves, the prestige of winning these games was important. The winner of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”, known among other names as the Kattekonge (Cat King), was exempted from tax for a year. Another significant aspect of these traditions was the way the associated processions going between farms on horseback reinforced group solidarity. In- deed, Fastelavn usually started or ended with an outdoor parade.115 In the countryside, the usual custom was that young bachelors would tour the community on horseback or on foot, visiting every house in the form of a “good luck visit”, sometimes including a minor performance among their activities. In some cases they were disguised with masks, and in some not. In some places, a jester or other such figures were brought along, while in others no such figure was known. (Regarding these customs, see section 2. a. and 2. b. above.)

114 See Hjorth 1986: 27, and 54Ð55; Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: VII, 113Ð118; and Pi¿ 1997: 25Ð26. 115 See, for instance, M¿ller 1933: 2, 16Ð19; Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 122Ð134: 53Ð58; Henning- sen 1991: 22Ð25; and Knudsen 1923: 19Ð29. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 259

In the Fastelavn parade, an excessive use of silk ribbons and trinketry seems to have been the rule. One example is the leader of the bachelors’ pageant in the village of Sandby, north-western Sjælland, in the 1850s: Udenpaa Frakken havde han en fin, hvid Skjorte, hvorpaa var anbragt spraglede Sil- kedolimj¿ser og Filifutter sammen med brede, kul¿rte Silkebaand. Paa Hovedet havde han en h¿j Papirshat, hvorpaa var anbragt en ÈSnurfisjumÇ og lange Silkebaand, der flagrede efter ham. Ved Uhrkæden havde han meget »Dingel-Dangel« (Olsen 1923: 78; quoting Johanne Marie Hansen from the 1850s). (On top of his coat, he wore a fine white shirt decked with multi-coloured silk favours and buckles, bows, tassels and fringes, along with broad, varied silk ribbons. On his head, he wore a top hat made of paper with a constellation of tinsel and long silk ribbons that fluttered behind him. On his breast watch-chain were a lot of dangling things.) In the same village in the middle of the nineteenth century, Fastelavn lasted for a week and involved masks. It is described as follows: Tirsdag red man Fastelavn og slog derefter Katten af T¿nden, hvorpaa Dagen endte med Spisning … og Dans … Onsdag kom alle Svinninge Bys Karle ridende ned til Sandby, dem var jeg bange for, for de havde Masker paa og rendte efter mig, men jeg gemte mig i et mørkt Rum. De skulde prøve Kræfter med Sandby Karle. Man endte Dagen paany med Dans. Torsdag red Sandby Karle op til Svinninge på Gen- besøg…” (Olsen 1923: 79–80, quoting Johanne Marie Hansen from the 1850s; see also M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 15). (On Tuesday, they [the young men] were riding Fastelavn [from farm to farm]. After that they “Knocked the Cat Out of the Barrel” after which the day was ended with eating and dancing. On Wednesday, all the Svinninge bachelors came riding down to Sandby. I was afraid of them because they were wearing masks and chased me, but I hid myself in a dark room. They had a trial of strength with the Sandby bachelors. The day ended with a dance party. On Thursday, the Sandby bachelors rode up to Svinninge to pay a return visit….) In Grevinge in Ods Herred (district) in the 1850s, the Fastelavn celebrations also began on a Sunday with a party. The Monday was then devoted to “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”: Flere af Karlene red rundt til flere Byer og slog Kat af T¿nde, men i bedre Hjem vaagedes der over at S¿nnerne ikke fik Lov til at ride i andre Byer end deres egen. I Optoget var der en Fastelavnsnar og en ‘Kælling’ (en forklædt Karl); men ordentlige Karle ville ikke spille denne Rolle. Mandag Aften samledes man til Dans, som varede til Kl. 2 (Petersen-Blidstrup 1921: 206; see also M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 15; and Graves 1921: 179). (Several of the bachelors rode around to a number of villages and “Knocked the Cat Out of the Barrel”. However, in homes of good social standing, they took great care to ensure that the sons were not allowed to ride in other villages than their own. In the procession, there were a Fastelavn jester and an old hag (a disguised young man); real men would not play that role. On Monday evening, they gathered for the dancing which lasted until two a.m..) In Reerslev, in L¿ve, Fastelavn is described as beginning as follows: 260 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Fastelavns mandag rider man. Dagen efter tager karlene atter deres stads og masker på og går omkring i byen og tigger, og om aftenen er der gilde (Kristensen 1987: 1, IV, nr. 128: 55). (They ride [that is compete and/ or visit farms] on Shrove Monday. The day after, the bachelors once again put on their finery and masks and walk around in the village begging [collecting provisions], and in the evening there is a party.) As indicated in this quotation, the main purpose was often to invite people to a party and collect provisions. In return for their visit, the members of the parade were often paid in kind, meaning that participants had everything they needed for the dance in the evening (Pi¿ 1997: 13). When a fiddler needed to be engaged or aquavit bought, a little money was added. Vilhelm Beck (1829Ð1901), a strongly evangelical clergyman, provides us with a good description of the Fastelavn custom as it existed in the parish of Ubby, in north-western Sjælland, where he served as curate to his father in 1856Ð1865. The description is a condensed rendering, but gives a clear testimony of how a member of the clergy with willpower and determination can help destroy a tradition: Fastelavnen var den værste Tid i Aaret, da kunde man sige, at Fanden ret var løs. Fastelavns Mandag kom Unge ridende i en stor Skare med “en Stodder” og “en Kæl- ling” i Spidsen, “Stodderen” udpyntet paa det voldsomste med Fjer og Baand, “Kæl- lingen”, en Karl i Fruentimmerklæder, og hele Skaren udpyntet med Pigernes stærkt farvede Huebaand; de red ind i alle Gaarde, dansede og tiggede ®g og Penge til Gil- det. Om Eftermiddagen fandt man l¿sgaaende Heste rundt om paa Markerne og d¿ddrukne Karle, som var faldne af Hestene (Beck 1946: 48Ð49). (Fastelavn was the worst time in the year. Then you could rightfully say that the Devil was on the loose. On Shrove Monday, a large band of young men came riding in led by “a blighter” and “an old hag”; the “blighter” was most vehemently decorated with feathers and ribbons, while the hag was a young man in women’s clothes. The whole band was decorated with brightly coloured ribbons taken from the girls’ bonnets. They visited all the farms on horseback, danced and asked for eggs and money for their party. In the afternoon, you would find stray horses in the fields and also dead drunk young men who had fallen off their horses.) In one village at least (in Tersl¿se, 30 km. north-west of Ringsted), the procession also visited the vicarage. After working in Ubby for a few years, Beck notes how his campaign for spiritual revival has been gaining ground among the young: Endelig var der vaagnet så meget Liv i de Unge, at jeg kunde gaa løs paa dette Uvæ- sen, og ved en Bibellæsning lykkedes det med Brorsons Fastelavnssalme (“Synde- fulde Fastelavn”) 116 at faa slaaet det hele ihjel (Beck 1946: 49). (At last, the young had become so spiritually revived that I could launch an attack on this odious practice. In one of my Bible reading circles, I succeeded in getting the whole thing killed off by referring to the Shrovetide psalm, “Sinful Fastelavn”, by Brorson.)

116 Beck is here referring to the Pietistic clergyman and psalmist, Hans Adolf Brorson (1694Ð 1764). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 261

In many seaside towns or fishing villages, there was another custom whereby youths would sejle med sluppen (Sail the Sloop) as the custom was sometimes called. Here they went around with a decorated boat placed on a carriage or a sledge (Henningsen 1953). The related competition, dystl¿b (Boat Jousting), would normally involve jousting by boat, with the combatants standing on raised stern sheets. If the harbour was still covered with ice at the time, sailors would saw an open fairway for the tradition beforehand (Henningsen 1949). When the Fastelavn parade was arranged by people inland, the play area would often be the main street, the town square or the market place, where citizens could line up to watch the Fastelavn games being played by the young men. The type of game in each case would depend very much on local tradition.117 The following account from the village of Ballerup describes the guises used by some bachelors: Fastelavnsløjerne bestod for det meste i “at stikke til Straamanden”. … Gildesdagen samledes de unge Karle til Hest i ”Gildesgaarden”, hvor man havde tilsagt en Mand fra Kj¿benhavn til at m¿de med Masker og Dragter. De pyntede sig nu paa det bedste og red saa omkring til Udflytterne, hos hvilke de blev beværtede med Æbleskiver og Punch. I Spidsen red en General eller Anf¿rer, derefter to Fanef¿rere, en Mand med Straamanden, en Pjerrot og en Mængde med brogede Fantasidragter. Om Eftermid- dagen Kl. 3Ð4 blev Straamanden anbragt paa et passende Sted i Byen, og de ridende morede sig nu en Times Tid med at tage den af Støtten med Spydet. Den som ”tog” Straamanden sidst red til Gildesgaarden med den, hvor saa Pigerne indfandt sig til Dansen (Henningsen 1949Ð1950: 6: DFS 1906/043: K. Nielsen, November 17, 1885). (The usual Fastelavn entertainment centred around “Tilting at the Strawman”. On the day itself, the bachelors gathered at the farm where the party was to be held, on horseback. An agent from K¿benhavn had been summoned to come along with masks and costumes. They now dressed themselves up as well as they could, and rode round to the outlying farms where they were treated to æbleskiver and punch. In front rode a general or leader, followed by two standard-bearers, one man with the Strawman, a Pierrot and a crowd in multi-coloured fancy dress. In the afternoon, around 3Ð4 p.m. the Strawman was placed in a suitable place in the village and the riders now enjoyed themselves for an hour or so by lifting it off its foundation with a lance. The last competitor to “take” the Strawman rode with it to the farm where the party was to be held and where the girls then gathered for the dance.) In those traditions involving straw dolls (especially those which took place during harvest), dancing with the doll could be part of the fun.118 In an account from Glostrup near K¿benhavn, an informant born around 1865 remembers that “de havde en jomfru og red omkring med, og i øverstestuen dansede de med den” (they had a [straw] maiden with which they rode around, and in the big hall they danced with it: Henningsen 1949Ð1950: 5). As has been noted above, many such competitions, and especially those

117 See Knudsen 1923: 19Ð29; Knudsen 1924: 1Ð12; Troels-Lund 1914Ð1915: 108Ð113; and M¿ller 1931Ð1933: II, 25Ð27, and 38Ð39. 118 See also note 132 below on an early account which might refer to a similar tradition being associated with women’s gatherings in Denmark in the early medieval period. 262 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen involving masked competitors, were held at Fastelavn in Denmark.119 None- theless, it would be a misconception to limit Danish popular traditions involving jousting and good-luck visits to a single festival holiday. Many of these activities might also take place in connection with other spring festivities in Den- mark. Fastelavn week was naturally a good time of year for festive celebration because there was no urgent work to be done by farmers or seamen. However, the climate was not always favourable. As a result, the festivals of 1. maj (May Day), pinse (Whitsun), or St. Hans (midsummer) might be chosen instead as a time setting for the competitions. On the eastern Danish islands and in southern Jylland, for example, “Tilting at the Ring” has long been a summer entertainment. In western Sjælland, eastern Jylland and on the island of Bornholm, however, the competition was originally connected to Fastelavn (Pi¿ 1997: 20).

3. e. iii. Modern Shrovetide Money Collecting In spite of the fact that the more spectacular Shrovetide customs in Denmark are well documented in historical sources, little is known about their geographical distribution past and present. Pontoppidan, for instance, implied in 1736 that the traditions he was describing were a nationwide phenomena.120 None- theless, the fact of the matter is that there can be no certainty about this; indeed, it is most likely that they were not known throughout the country. From 1850 to 1950, it is the occupational traditions (including pageants) that are the best documented. Competitions, special foods and excessive partying all belong to Fastelavn, but when it comes to what is supposedly the most prevalent of all games, the mumming tradition, surprisingly little is known about this or its connection to Shrovetide. There has been no historical investigation into the rise and fall of the tradition, and the records at Dansk Folkemindesamling are of little help. In order to provide a cartographic overview for his MA thesis on mumming traditions in Agers¿ (1971), Carsten Bregenh¿j went through folk-life collection DFS 1906/043 and found only eleven cases of Shrovetide mumming (at l¿be Fastelavn or Fastelavnsl¿b) from the early twentieth century. The distribution is concentrated on the islands east of Lillebælt (the Little Belt) (Bregenh¿j 1974: 157Ð161). Bregenh¿j’s survey is admittedly somewhat sketchy; material from more collections could have been included, along with newspaper clippings, and the material collected by Kristensen or Feilberg. Nonetheless, mapping of other traditions indicates that customs sometimes have different forms in the different main provinces of Denmark. This means that there is a strong probability that the distribution map would not have changed significantly even with further records.

119 See also Henningsen 1949Ð1950: 1Ð9: records from Valby, Br¿nsh¿j, Hersted¿ster, Stege Landsogn, Store Magleby near Skælskør, and Sønderjylland. 120 Pontoppidan 1923: 1, 11, and 25–26: here references are made to “i de danske lande” (the Dan- ish lands); “over hele Danmark” (all over Denmark); “Dansken” (the Dane, i.e. every Dane), and “det legende Danmark” (Denmark at play), for example. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 263

The most well-known Danish Shrovetide tradition in the twentieth century is probably that of at rasle Fastelavn (lit. rattling Fastelavn) in which dressed up or disguised children would go round the neighbourhood or the village, singing a Fastelavn song or two at people’s doors and receiving money in return. These traditions are known to have existed from at least the mid-nineteenth century. The following observations probably refer to the village of Hårslev on Fyn and then Odense. The former place was the childhood home of the writer, Christine Reimer, the latter her home when she was working as a folklore journalist and author: Som Forl¿bere for selve Fastelavnsl¿jerne saa man allerede et Par Uger f¿r Fattig- folks Børn løbe fra Dør til Dør for at aflire en tillært Vise – som de paa bedste Beskub satte “Tonen” paa, ret frit efter dens Forbillede. Deres Dragt var fra Top til Taa oversyet med flagrende Papirsstrimler i […] spraglende Farver, og Hoved- bedækningen var af broget Papir. Disse levende “Fastelavnsris”, smaa og store Rol- linger, fik da som Bel¿nning en R¿d Skilling til en Bolle, en To- eller Enste-Skilling, og Ansigterne straalede om Kap med det kulørte Flitter.[…] Sædvanlig var der flere i Følge. Søskende fulgtes ad – de større Børn tog de mindre ved Haanden Ð og smaa, bitte Purke var med, ikke st¿rre end at de akkurat kunde sætte en eller anden Krusedulle-Melodi paa nogle Ord, som for Eks.: “Naar Julen er god, saa varer den ved til Paaske”. […] Hvor de kom ind, stillede de sig paa Rad og sang af fuld Hals. Som Regel gjorde Narredragten og Fastelavnsvisen Lykke, saa Sangerne gjorde en god H¿st af r¿de Penge. Det Hele var en Spekulation af Forældrene. Pengene skulde jo bringes hjem; men ikke desto mindre kunde B¿rnene ikke godt modstaa Lysten til at k¿be en enkelt Bolle eller to hos H¿keren eller Hvedebr¿dkonen […] De smaa Fastelavnsnarre, dette er deres egentlige Navn, h¿rer ikke helt de forbi- gangne Tider til. Endnu kan de dukke op og synge sig frem fra Sted til Sted. Medens Skikken har tabt sig paa Landet, er den taget til i Byerne. Der st¿ver nu B¿rnene om syngende for Døre, med Masker og alle mulige vanartede Forklædninger, helst med Laserne hængende efter sig, og rasler med Indsamlingsbøsser. Dette Prelleri er et Vildskud, der burde skæres bort (Reimer 1910–1919: 424–425). (A couple of weeks beforehand you could see a prelude to the Fastelavn entertainment as poor people’s children would go from door to door. The purpose was to reel off a song learnt by heart which they set to music as best they could and rather freely in comparison to the original. Fluttering shreds of gaily-coloured paper were sewn to their clothes from top to toe, and the headwear was also made of multi-coloured paper. These live “Fastelavn birch rods”,121 small and big tots, were then given as a reward a single small coin, a two- or one-skilling piece [equivalent to one or two farthings] for a bun, and their bright faces would compete with the coloured tinsel. Usually the children would go in a group. Siblings would go together, the bigger children taking the smaller by the hand Ð and even tiny tots came along, hardly big enough to be able to keep in tune for a few words, as, for instance, in “When Christ- mas is good it will last until Easter”. Wherever they were allowed in, they lined up and sang at the top of their voices. Usually the jester outfits and the Fastelavn song were a success so the singers made a nice harvest of cash.

121 In Danish, the phrase “han er pyntet som et fastelavnsris” (lit. he is dressed up like a Fastelavn birch rod) is usually taken to mean “he is dressed like a Christmas tree”, but that does not fit the context here. 264 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

Everything was a speculative transaction on the parents’ side. The money had to be brought home. However, the inclination to buy a single bun or two at the trades- man’s or from the female wheatbread peddler was difficult to resist. The small Fastelavnsnarre [Shrovetide jesters], as they are properly called, are not quite a thing of the past. They may still appear singing their way from place to place. While the custom has declined in the countryside, it has increased in the towns. Here the children roam about singing at doors dressed in masks and all kinds of depraved disguises, preferably dragging rags behind them, rattling their collecting boxes. This money extraction is an aberration that ought to be abolished).122 It is interesting that Reimer (a folklorist) here accepts the country tradition from around 1850 but condemns the same thing when it occurs in an urban environment in around 1910. It is not quite clear whether the reason is the masks and tattered dresses she describes, or the obvious money collecting. Nonethe- less, what is important is that she testifies to the Fastelavn money-collecting tradition occurring in both environments. The next informant remembers how she, her older sister Lisbeth, her foster brother Jens Jakob and others imitated older children when going on a Faste- lavn collecting tour. At the same time, she describes what Fastelavn mumming was like: En Gang, medens jeg var lille, skulde vi efterligne de store med Fastelavnsl¿jerne. Vi klædte os da ud. Lisbeth var Skorstensfejerens Kone, hun havde et langt, hvidt Sjal, hun rendte og slæbte med. Christian, … var Skorstensfejeren, jeg selv var i Drenget¿j, og Jens Jakob var Stoddert¿s; til denne Trup sluttede sig Steffens D¿tre og et Par andre. Vi gik saa og stavrede om i Byen. Et Sted, hvor vi kom hen, var der Kortspil, de vilde saa gerne haft os indenfor, men vi vilde ikke. Hos den nederste Per Nilen, blev vi bedt ind, og der dansede vi, saa der blev Gang i St¿vlerne, kan Du tro, vi fik en Skilling og var svært tilfreds. Men det var f¿rst, naar de store skulde til at lave Fastelavnsl¿jer, at der var noget rigtig ved det. Moder var jo Centrum i al den Hall¿j og Hurlumhej, der var i den An- ledning, og hun glædede sig længe i Forvejen til Fastelavnen. Intet var for godt og intet for dyrt, og hun lagde sig ordentlig i Selen, saa længe Fastelavnen varede (Olsen 1923: 75, quoting Johanne Marie Hansen, dealing with the late 1840s and early 1850s). (Once when I was little, we wanted to imitate the big ones at the Fastelavn entertainment. So we disguised ourselves. Lisbeth was the chimney sweep’s wife; she had a long white scarf that she dragged behind her. Christian was the chimney sweep, I was dressed in a boy’s clothes, and Jens Jakob was a ragamuffin girl. We were joined by Steffen’s daughters and a couple of others. We then wobbled about the village. At one place we visited, there was a card game going on. They would really have liked us to come inside, but we didn’t want to. Down at the lower Peter Nilen’s [Niel- sen’s], we were asked inside and there we danced. We really kicked up our boots, you know, and we got one skilling and were very content. But it wasn’t until the big ones made their Fastelavn entertainment that it really amounted to something. On this occasion, Mother was, of course, the centre of all the fuss and hubbub and she was looking forward to Fastelavn long beforehand. Nothing was too good or too expensive; she really put everything into it [dressing up youngsters] as long as Fastelavn lasted.)

122 This account offers a parallel to the Icelandic Ash Wednesday mumming traditions described in detail by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 265

The name for the tradition in Sandby was Fastelavnsl¿jer (lit. Fastelavn fun or entertainment). Another expression, at rasle fastelavn (lit. rattling Fastelavn) stems from the metal moneyboxes that the children would bring along with them and rattle to underline the purpose of their visit. Unmasked visits were also known at this time. In some places on Als, for instance, children might go round with decorated sashes demanding Hedeviger (Hetweger: buns with Ð or without – milk) in a “trick or treat” fashion (Ussing 1926: 126). These traditions are reminiscent of the earlier-mentioned “good-luck visits” undertaken by touring village youths in which provisions and money were collected for a village dance (see also Ussing 1926: 126). In the case of the touring village youths, the visitors were usually unmasked, but they might bring a jester. As late as the 1980s, such customs could still be seen in several villages such as Langkastrup, in Virring, ten km. east of Randers in eastern Jylland.123 Money-collecting house visiting was well-documented in Danish cities between the 1930s and the 1950s, but the overall geographical distribution from that time onwards is less certain. With the emergence of the welfare state from the late 1950s onwards, the popularity of the tradition appears to have diminished in many areas, especially among the recipients of these visits.

3. e. iv. Dressing up to “Knock the Cat Out of the Barrel” As has been noted above in section 3. e. ii., one of Denmark’s more well- established traditions is that of at slå katten af tønden (Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel).124 The prerequisite for this activity is some kind of organisation that can provide the sticks or bats and the barrel, and the stuffing for the barrel, such as confetti, sweets and oranges. Someone also needs to purchase tokens of respect for the winners of the event, and ensure that everything proceeds safely. While the previously-noted money-collecting tradition has lost its popularity in Denmark, the Fastelavn barrel-knocking custom has gained in favour. The tradition has now established itself all over the country as kindergartens, youth and sports clubs, residential organisations, local historical societies, recreation centres, and supermarkets have come to see it as a good way of engaging young people in traditional activities while simultaneously indirectly promoting their own ideology or commercial purposes. The event is often announced on the local radio or in the regional advertising papers which remind audiences or readers to come in costumes. While the tradition in former times was related to Shrove Monday, it now commonly takes place on a Satur- day or Sunday. However, kindergartens and recreation centres may still

123 See the Dansk Folkemindesamling website: http://www.dafos.dk/bornefolklore/ex11.cfm (last visited March 1, 2007). 124 See further Kristín Einarsdóttir’s article on Icelandic Ash Wednesday traditions elsewhere in this volume for further information on comparable traditions in Iceland. See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic (regarding the traditions in the Faroes and Iceland). 266 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen arrange for the event to occur during their normal opening hours on a Monday. Some of the organisers even give prizes for the best costumes.125 As noted above, it is evident that costumes and false noses are still popular in Danish Fastelavn traditions. This is not just because grease paint and strange clothes are regarded as being important for maintaining the tradition; equally important is the fact that role play is perceived as a manifestation of creativity. There is an abundance of “do-it-yourself” literature and library books telling Danish children (or perhaps mainly their mothers) how to paint their faces or sew their own costumes. In the new surroundings, however, this masking no longer has the purpose of rendering the mummer anonymous, but rather serves as a means of creating role figures. As this volume underlines, masking traditions tend to change in line with changes in society. One key change took place when girls began joining the boys in the fun (something that occurred some time back): rather than wanting to look ugly or frightening, many girls tend to succumb to their pre-teen dreams, wearing make-up instead of masks. In another logical extension of the earlier-noted growth in the competition aspect of the tradition, novelty shops in Denmark now sell a considerable number of latex masks, costumes, wigs and other accessories designed especially for Fastelavn mumming. This has had its own consequences: the complicated fancy dress associated with popular films and television programmes such as Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, Scream and Halloween can now be cheaply purchased, along with other guises associated with politicians, beauty queens, vamps and bimbos. All of these features have served to change the traditions in Denmark as they have in other countries. However, it might also be said that they have served to rejuvenate them and keep them alive for new generations.

3. e. v. Shrove Monday Mumming Today Fastelavn mumming activities directly connected with tricks and practical jokes have been known both on the islands of Bornholm and Christians¿ (east of Bornholm), and on the other east Danish islands. Two Fastelavn tricks from north-western Sjælland (probably from the parishes of Jorl¿se and Buerup) may serve as an effective introduction for this form of present-day mumming: They were recorded by Karoline Graves and were most likely performed after the middle of the nineteenth century. The account runs as follows: Fastelavnen var særlig den Tid, hvorom de unges Tanker hen paa Vinteren drejede sig; og de ældres da for Resten med, og mange var de Paafund, der saa kunde udfin- des. 4 Gaardmandskoner fra Jordløse klædte sig saaledes ud, to i Mandsklæder, to i Tøj, som de laante hos Degnemadammen (i den Tid var der altid et skarpt Skel i Klæ- dedragten imellem B¿nderfolk og Folk udenfor Bondestanden). Hos en Gaardmand fik de K¿ret¿j; da han kom ind efter at have hjulpet dem til K¿rende, spurgte han:

125 For comparable developments in other parts, see, for example, the article by Fredrik Skott elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 267

ÈHvad, hvor blev vor Moer af?Ç Han havde ikke opdaget, at et af de ÈMandfolkÇ, han lige havde hjulpet af Sted, var hans egen Kone. I denne Paaklædning kørte de til Bæks Kro for at bestille Fastelavnsgilde. De bænkede sig i Krostuen og forlangte en halv Pægl. Kromanden saa lidt tvivlende til dette Selskab, som han ikke rigtig vidste, om han skulde henregne til Bønder eller KøbstadsfoIk; men ret længe varede det ikke, f¿r han fik ¯jnene op, og holdt naturligvis saa et farligt Styr med disse lystige Kvinder (Graves 1921: 178). (As the winter was drawing to an end, the thoughts of the young turned especially towards the time of Fastelavn; well, this goes for the older people as well and there were many pranks that were made up then. So four farmer’s wives from Jordløse disguised themselves in such a way that two of them were dressed up in men’s clothes, while two wore clothes that they had borrowed from the parish clerk’s wife. (In those days, there was always a sharp divide in dress-code between the farming people and non-farming people.) At one of the farmers’ places, they were given a vehicle. Hav- ing helped them get on their way, the farmer went back in and exclaimed: “What? Where did the little woman go?” He had not realised that one of the men that he had just been helping off was his own wife. In the aforementioned garb, they then drove to “Bæk’s Kro” pub to arrange for a Fastelavn party. They settled in at a table and ordered half a “pægl” (0.12 liter) [of spirits].126 The innkeeper looked a little sus- piciously at this party which he did not really know whether to class as farmers or townspeople; but it did not take long before he had his eyes opened, and he then naturally kicked up an awful lark with these merry women.) En… Dreng klædte sig som en gammel Kælling og gik omkring og tiggede To (Uld). Da han Dagen efter kom i sine egne Klæder og vilde give Ulden tilbage, fik han Lov til at beholde den som L¿n for den Morskab, han havde voldet (Graves 1921: 180). (Once a farm boy dressed up as an old hag and walked around begging for wool. When, on the following day, he came round in his own clothes and wanted to give the wool back, he was allowed to keep it as a reward for the fun he had caused.) Another account from the second half of the nineteenth century tells a story showing how someone blir narret Fastelavn (becomes “a Fastelavn fool”). There are a number of occasions when people in Denmark were allowed to “Gække” or “Narre” (trick) others into reacting to a certain false message, including April 1 or the victim’s “name day”. On the island of Fyn, one such day was Shrove Monday according to Christine Reimer who gives the following account of a trick involving disguise: Naar Fastelavns Mandag kom, hørte det …med til Dagens Fornøjelse at faa i det mindste een Person narret Fastelavn. […] Det gik til paa alle Facuner. En Mand sagde i sin Tid, […] at en Dreng, der havde tjent ham for nogle Aar siden, men som nu tjente i en anden Gaard, havde klædt sig ud som en Pige og ladet sig fæste til Maj at tjene for Pige hos ham. Alt gik brillant, til der skulle skrives Skudsmaalsbog, da op- dagedes det f¿rst, hvorledes Manden var Çgaaet i T¿jetÈ (Reimer 1910Ð1919: 430). (When Shrove Monday came, one of the amusements of the day was to try and make at least one person a Fastelavn fool. It could be brought about in any odd way. A long time ago, one man recounted how a farm boy who had worked for him some

126 Old liquid measures: 1 Danish pot (0.966 litre, i.e. a U.S. quart) is 4 pægle; one pægl is 0.2415 of a litre (a U.S. gill). 268 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

years ago, but now was working at another farm, had disguised himself as a young girl and got himself a job with him working as a maid from May onwards. Every- thing went brilliantly until the servant’s employment book had to be signed, and then it was discovered how the farmer had swallowed the bait.) Examples of present-day house-visiting tours taking place on Shrove Monday can still be found in three locations on the island of ®r¿: in the towns of ®r¿sk¿bing and Marstal, and in the village of Ommel. Archivist Svend Nielsen of Dansk Folkemindesamling carried out fieldwork in Marstal in the early 1980s. The following description, however, is based on later fieldwork carried out in ®r¿sk¿bing by Carsten Bregenh¿j in 2001, and by Hanne Pico Larsen in 2002.127 In terms of unwritten rules, the ®r¿ Shrove Monday traditions may be regarded as being among the most elaborate of all the mumming traditions in Denmark. While the summary of Danish Christmas mumming traditions given earlier is in many ways also valid for ®r¿sk¿bing, the main difference here is that the mummers always have a sketch to perform, and always speak as long as they know the local dialect. Furthermore, the show is performed in a falsetto voice, some of which may even be ingressive.128 The themes taken up by successful mummers are always connected to local affairs that have caused ridicule, concern, debate or scandal-mongering. The masks are usually latex or rubber masks which are bought in the book and paper store or Ð more often Ð outside ®r¿, by mail order or via the Internet. Performers do not usually wear the same mask or the same costume two years in a row. The character of the disguise depends more on the plot or idea of the sketch that the mummer or mummers are going to perform. For instance, when Helmuth Kohl was Chancellor of Germany, the Mayor of Marstal gave a talk on the marketing of tourist attractions. However, according to the local newspaper, he had expressed the opinion that “Ærø skulle være en del af Tyskland” (®r¿ should be part of Germany). The following Fastelavn, “Helmuth Kohl”, accompanied by two bodyguards, paid a visit to ®r¿sk¿bing, welcoming everybody to the Bundesrepublik of Germany, and handing out ten Deutsch- mark notes in every house Ð notes with a portrait of the Mayor of Marstal on one side. The ambivalence the people on the island have towards German tourists is a key aspect for understanding of the irony of this act. The rivalry between the two towns (Marstal and ®r¿sk¿bing) is also apparent in this practical joke which was much appreciated Ð at least in ®r¿sk¿bing. As is shown in Hanne Pico Larsen’s case study elsewhere in this volume, the only houses visited in this tradition are those situated in the centre of the town. People who regard themselves as living off the main routes or in other parts of town but still wish to take part in the tradition therefore try and stay

127 Regarding the latter fieldwork, see the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume. See also see Larsen 2002. 128 As is noted in the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume (see, for example, the survey of North Atlantic customs regarding Shetland traditions), ingressive speech is used in a number of other areas, in Nordic mumming traditions as well as in Newfoundland. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 269 with other family members or friends in the town centre on Shrove Monday. Otherwise, they might perhaps visit the only public establishment that is open during the winter. The mummers of ®r¿ are called masker (masks), and it is noteworthy that here no children are allowed to go mumming in the evening. In fact, the young people themselves tend to believe that even teenagers are too young to act as masker. In return for their visit, these older performers are offered schnapps by their host groups who are strict about noticing whenever masker transgress the accepted mumming codes. For example, if someone shows up without gloves, it is taken as a sign that the mask in question is an outsider. He or she may then get a friendly reception, but the hosts will concentrate on the “real” masker in the company and perhaps try to cut the visit short, since there is no reason to keep up the dialogue with someone who would be anonymous to them anyway. The ®r¿ tradition is really a kind of half-improvised theatre that has been moved from the public to the private sphere. It is much loved by the tradition-bearers but the complicated rules create many restrictions: in addition to the in-group code of conduct, there is also a socio-economic aspect to the tradition, because the houses in the centre of ®r¿sk¿bing are protected by a Building Preservation Act. Generally speaking, the homes are extremely charming but quite old and small, and costly to maintain and modernise. Whenever such a house becomes available, it is often sold at an extraordinarily high price. This makes these buildings ideal as summer-houses for well-to-do city dwellers or as fashion or handicraft studios aimed at the summer tourist clientele. In consequence, these houses are often empty in the winter season, meaning that during Fastelavn, the number of homes that the mummers can visit is gradually diminishing. All of the above seems to indicate that the tradition is now (2007) under threat, although not for the same reasons as those that apply in the case of the Als helligtrekonger.129 It is not known how long the Shrove Monday mumming tradition has existed on ®r¿. The first extant accounts come from the local newspaper, ®r¿s Avis (The Aeroe News), which was established in 1858. A few weeks before Fastelavn in 1860, advertisements for masks and related Fastelavn accessories started appearing along with announcements of a Fastelavn party that was due to take place in a local establishment: Maskerade. Med det kongelige Amthuses Tilladelse afholder Undertegnede en Mas- kerade, Søndagen den 28 dennes, om Aftenen Kl. 7, hvortil indbydes. (Billetter á 4 Mk. faas hos J. P. Bonsach.) (Masquerade. With the permission of the Royal Prefect’s Office, the undersigned will arrange a Masquerade to which (the public) is invited on Sunday 28th of this month at 7 o’clock in the evening. (Tickets at 4 Marks can be obtained from J. P. Bonsach.) A short journalistic notice that appeared after the carnival offers a unique

129 Bregenh¿j 2007b (forthcoming). 270 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen glimpse of what was seen as being ridiculous at the time: “Et borgerligt Bryl- lups-Optog vakte især megen Munterhed” (A civil wedding bridal procession provoked particular mirth: Bregenh¿j 2001: 23Ð25).130 It might be noted that similar advertisements for Fastelavn masquerades and dances reappeared during the following years but came to a halt after the 1867Ð68 famine.

4. Related Calendar and Life-Cycle Traditions A number of other old and new traditions connected to both calendar customs and life-cycle traditions in Denmark have some relation to the mumming customs. For example, there was a rooted practice among agrarian youths of welcoming in the summer by gathering green branches and decorating a dancing place with the greenery.131 Connected to the gathering of provisions for the party was a procession carried out by the bachelors. As with the Fastelavn processions, the company often included one or more disguised comical figures that would make people laugh and encourage them to give more generously. It might be said that in the old agrarian society, part of the pay received by farmhands and servants was the party that was arranged upon the completion of an important task. Not all these parties included an element of mumming. However, at so-called “carding gatherings”, male farmhands sometimes appeared in the evening in disguise in order to keep the working girls company, something that gave cause for much mirth and flirting.132 In modern times, a number of new annual traditions have been introduced into Denmark. For example, before Christmas, on St Lucia’s Day (December 13), many Danish schools and welfare institutions nowadays celebrate a tradition that was adopted from the Swedes. The first Danish Lucia (Lucia “bride”) was chosen in 1944 (Pi¿ 1997b: 130Ð131). Today, the competition to decide the candidate for the year can be compared to a beauty contest. The Latin-American Shrovetide carnival is another costume-related festival which has been imported and transformed into the so-called “Samba” carnival which is celebrated at Whitsun. The first such carnival was held in K¿benhavn in 1982 and has developed into a festival of Latino-rhythmical music.133 Unlike

130 See further, Bregenh¿j 2007a. The right to a civil wedding in Denmark was passed through the matrimonial legislation of April 13, 1851. During the first twelve years, only ten civil weddings were contracted. The general idea that this law was totally uncalled for was the probable reason for why some citizens of ®r¿sk¿bing made fun of it. See also Kofod 1999: 76Ð77. 131 See Palladius 1925: 87; Hansen 1980: 8 and 95–106; and Grüner-Nielsen 1933b: 2–5. 132 See Grundtvig 1970: 246; Feilberg 1910: I, 111, 115, and 118; Olsen 1909: 21Ð22; and Reimer 1910: 70Ð71. This tradition might be compared to the wedding-crashing traditions of Norway, Sweden and Shetland (see the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume); and possibly also an early account (1300) by a Dan- ish Franciscan monk in Dublin telling of a straw figure that came to life during a women’s entertainment for a friend who had given birth: see Olrik and Olrik 1907 and Gunnell 1995a: 105Ð106. 133 Bregenh¿j and Sinding-Larsen 1988: 111; see also http://www.karneval.dk/ (last visited March 1, 2007). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 271 in Brazil, however, masking does not form an essential part of this festival in Denmark. More closely related to the old mumming traditions is the relatively recent adaptation of the Halloween customs which were grafted onto the Danish festive calendar in the same period (also around 1980). However, while commercial and welfare enterprises arrange for the purchase and use of Halloween paraphernalia for masquerade-like teenage parties, no trick-or-treating takes place at this time in Denmark. Another area in which masking is occasionally used is the personal “rite of passage” at important “transition” points in people’s lives. This applies especially to those who are in their late teens and early twenties. In such customs, the “novice” and the “master(s) of ceremony” might both be disguised and/ or masked. From the late Middle Ages in Denmark, a tradition is known to have existed whereby, at the close of their apprenticeship, future journeymen often had to undergo a mock test, called a Beh¿vling (lit. planing), some rough handling which would make them “real” members of a guild (Henningsen 1960). Students who had passed the admission test to the university suffered a similar treatment.134 This has continued, and today, during the last day of school before the examination for the school-leaving certificate (and other final exams), Danish youths now engage in topsy-turvy celebrations that may include masking (Kofod 1999: 155Ð159).135 Similar costumed “rites of passage” occur when Danish ships cross the Equator or other important maritime points, when a Linjedåp (lit. Line-Baptism) might be performed by masked characters (Henningsen 1961). In the commercial fleet, this is still practised (personal communication from Handelsflådens Velfærdsråd [The Danish Government’s Seamen’s Service]). Similar topsy-turvy role-taking can be seen in the leave- taking parties that often occur before weddings in Denmark; in other words, in the so-called Polterabend (stag or hen parties), where “ritual status reversal” may take place. Here, too, disguise forms an important element in changing both character and surroundings (see Simonsen 1996: 47Ð53; and Kofod 1999: 63Ð64).136

5. Conclusion This overview of the traditional Danish mumming material that has come down to us from earlier generations of folklorists in many ways lacks both sub-

134 See Henningsen 1961: 266Ð269 and 271; Kofod 1999: 156; and Holberg 1749: 199Ð200 and 211. 135 Similar traditions occur in most of the other Nordic countries. See the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and especially the article by Terry Gunnell on pre-graduation traditions in Iceland (see also Gunnell 2007b). 136 For similar traditions elsewhere, see also the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, and the article by Eva Knuts elsewhere in this volume. 272 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen stance and coherence. One problem is that most of our predecessors were, in fact, not folklorists but folk poetry scholars. For instance, just a small fraction of Svend Grundtvig’s Gamle Danske Minder (Old Danish Relics: 1854Ð1861; see Grundtvig 1970) takes the form of folk customs. Furthermore, when Grundtvig’s prose material was copied by Carl Wad and others, it was roughly estimated that less than 10% dealt with customs.137 In 1924, the teacher and researcher Frederik Knudsen rightfully pointed an accusing finger at the Danish folklore scholars when he claimed that: Det er beklageligt, at Folkeskikke er den Gren af Folkeminderne, der her i Danmark ofte foreligger ufuldstændigt optegnet og beskrevet, saaledes at de enkelte Skikkes nærmere Udførelse og geografiske Udbredelse nu kun daarligt kan efterspores (Knudsen 1924: 1). (It is regrettable that popular customs form the branch of folklore that in Denmark often appears to be most imperfectly collected and described, something which means that the performance and geographical distribution of each custom can now be only incompletely traced.) However, even before the folklorists reached this material, the ruling class had already done everything in its power to destroy and criminalise Danish popular traditions, including those relating to masks and mumming. This was much helped by the Danish geography which, with a few exceptions, left every nook of the land open to inspection. The authorities had a comparatively easy task in enforcing their bans and interdictions. Another problem is that among those of our past colleagues who did write about folk customs, ambitions often focussed more on literary style than on respect for the original records that they were using. Unfortunately, there is not enough space here for any detailed analysis of the weaknesses of their methods and publications. Nonetheless, in spite of the generally imperfectly collected and published material, the extant mumming records that have survived serve to brighten the picture considerably. It is known that early Christmas mummers were dressed as animals.138 Furthermore, it is clear that Christmas and Twelfth Night mumming was performed for money in K¿benhavn from at least 1676 (Bobé 1935: II, 163; and Moth, around 1700), and that at that time there were stjernesangere (Star Singers), Julebukke (Christmas Goats), and other mummers which were “formummede, sværtede og forklædte Personer, som løbe langs Gaderne og sig ei ville give til kiende” (disguised, blackened and masked persons that moved along the streets and refused to reveal their identities), some of them performing (indecent) songs to the rhythm of the rommelpott.139 The Fastelavn (Shrovetide) mummers in Denmark, meanwhile, were predominantly human figures wearing facial masks. Before 1521, these mummers

137 See Ellekilde 1944; Koudal 2004: 54; and DFS 1883/103. 138 See Pedersen 1514 and 1515; Palladius 1543Ð1544; and Worm 1626. 139 See Hj¿rring 1668; Forordning for K¿benhavn af 21. Januar 1688; and Forordning af 22. oktober 1701. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark 273 might even be dressed as indulgence-vending monks gathering provisions (Danske Magazin 1752: 367). Mention of facial masks and Fastelavn indecen- cies appears in early records from 1548 (Danske Magazin 1843: 3. Række, I, 97) and 1556 (Palladius 1556b: 54). As early as 1633, note is made of a citizen of Helsing¿r (Elsinore) who was engaged in cross-dressing (Helsing¿rs Byes Tingbog, XLI, 18. marts 1633: 159). Outfits and masks thus formed part of a Feast of Fools where disguised people would play tricks on each other. Every major festive youth gathering among the agrarian populace seems to have contained the element of bachelors touring the village collecting supplies for the party that followed. Records suggest that these processions might have brought along comical figures as a means of provoking mirth and pride and loosening purse strings. Indeed, the troupe as a whole might be splendidly rigged out in fancy dress and masks. Costume and disguise of this kind is an efficient way to loosen up and transgress the boundaries of everyday rules. It also eases tensions and oils relations. Difficult choices were often lightened and glossed over by the element of role play and ridicule. Similarly, tedious work might be made more bearable with lightly masked flirtatious humour and such like. As has been noted in this survey, it seems that from a historical perspective at least, the fertile areas of east Jylland and the islands of Fyn and Sjælland all used to be able to boast of at least one annual topsy-turvy tradition. The towns, on the other hand, seem to have had several. Today, however, in contrast to the other Nordic countries, Denmark has little left of its earlier popular mumming and masking traditions. In spite of this, the light that has been shed on the confusion and mistakes of our predecessors, alongside the fieldwork undertaken over the entire region in the last half century, and the other comparative material now within our reach has made the research possibilities much wider than they have ever been before. Furthermore, new commercial forces and old psychological needs are making the entire region open to the introduction of a number of new, similar cultural elements from outside, all of which will need to be documented and researched. The opportunities for serious studies into the popular mask and mumming traditions of Denmark therefore represent a vast and fascinating field, the cultivation of which has only just begun.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources is referred to in this survey: Biltzings Bureaus kassebog, Håndskriftsafdelingen, Manuscript Division, Det kgl. Bib- liotek, Royal Library, K¿benhavn. Signatur acc. 2004/40. Helsing¿rs Byes Tingbog (justitsprotokol), 1631–1634, Vol. 41: Landsarkivet for Sjæl- land: Call number: DC-066, 18 marts 1633: 159. DFS (Dansk Folkemindesamling): The following collections and manuscripts: DFS 1883/001Ð017: Svend Grundtvigs samling, blandede indsendte bidrag til Gam- le danske Minder. 274 Carsten Bregenh¿j and Hanne Pico Larsen

DFS 1883/008: Svend Grundtvigs samling, 489aÐb, J¿rgen Hansen 1879, Top. 306. DFS 1883/103: Svend Grundtvigs samling, afskrifter af folkeskik. DFS 1906/023: Sagn og tro: 441, 448. DFS 1906/043: Fester: 332, 336, 461, 682, 1300. DFS 1906/046: Folkeliv: 730. DFS 1906/045a: Folkeliv (afskrifter, udklip, sp¿rgekortbesvarelser, excerpter mm.): 335, 3285. DFS 1906/047Ð047b: Folkeliv. Særtryk og udklip, ordnede topografisk: 1906Ð1959. DFS 1924/003: Gründer-Nielsens efterladte arkivmatriale, bl.a. egne og andres optegnelser, til Læsøfolk i game Dage. DFS 1940/003: Folkelig dansk Jul. Besvarelse af Berlingske Tidendes julekonkur- rence. DFS 1963/005: DFS 1964/001 and DFS 1966/016: Juleskikke, indsamlet af Dan- marks Radio i forbindelse med I¿rn Pi¿s radioforedrag om samme emne. DFS 1993/021: Avisudklip vedr¿rende Julen, 1957Ð1977. DFS 1995/001: Fastelavn 1994. Avisudklip. DFS 2002/007: Henning Henningsen: Bakhus på Tønden: En dansk fastelavnsskik (1946).

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 275 Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic A Survey Terry Gunnell

1. Introduction 1. a. The Islands of the North Atlantic Ð A Brief Description 1. a. i. The Landscape As will become apparent during the course of this chapter, there are several reasons for gathering the mumming traditions of Orkney, Shetland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland together in one place, not least because all of these places were settled by people from Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages, and because they are essentially island communities (albeit a comparatively large island community in the case of Iceland). They thus grant us the possibility of examining the process by which imported customs adapt themselves to new environments. Furthermore, as relatively isolated settlements on the periphery of the main map of the Nordic countries with (in the case of Iceland) some very early records, they may also form a kind of reliktområde (an area where older variants of traditions survived longer) and offer useful information about the possible form of early disguise traditions in the Nordic area. Before proceeding any further, it is useful to give some basic information about each of these island communities, their history and environment, underlining those factors that might have had an effect on the shape and development of the traditions in general. Perhaps the most interesting of these developments is the fact that the early mumming traditions in these places, which appear to stem from shared and somewhat ancient roots, seem to have died out in Ice- land. They meanwhile blossomed in the Faroes and Shetland, those in Shetland taking on a number of rather exciting unique but simultaneously “international” forms. The reasons for these contrasting developments will be one of the central questions that the following chapter will seek to explain. Orkney (see map 4.1) comprises of a collection of seventy islands, only sixteen or seventeen of which are still inhabited (accounts vary). Set just eight nautical miles off the northern coast of Scotland, and running from 58° 41’ to 59° 24’ N, these islands cover an area of land roughly 973 km2 in size, and nowadays provide a home to over 19,000 people (Schei and Moberg 1985: 12Ð 13). The islands themselves have benefited from the fertile mud which was deposited in the last Ice Age, meaning that over the centuries, the low-lying, un-

276 Terry Gunnell

Map 4.1: Orkney. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) dulating landscape has been “agriculturally friendly”. This, in turn, means that Orkney has always been essentially a farming society (Schei and Moberg 1985: 140). Shetland (see map 4.2), a collection of fourteen inhabited islands (and around a hundred other small isles and rocks), is situated farther north at around 60¡ N, around 300 km. west of Norway and 150 km. to the north-east of Scotland. It covers an area of around 1433 km2 and is nowadays inhabited by less than 22,000 people.1 Boasting a rougher landscape than Orkney, Shet- land also has much less fertile land, much of it being peaty heathland below 300 m. in height which serves quite well for sheep farming but is not very beneficial for growing crops. Most of the good land is situated in small coastal valleys, and especially in south and west Mainland.2 These environmental factors

1 See Small 1983: 20; and www.hie.co.uk/HIE-shetland-area-profile-2003.pdf (last visited March 1, 2007). 2 See Small 1983: 21; and http://www.visitshetland.com/attractions-and-activities/natural/scen- ery/ (last visited March 1, 2007).

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 277

ATLANTIC OCEAN Map 4.2: Shetland. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) have led to the Shetlanders having a slightly different lifestyle to that of the Orcadians. While most of the population outside the capital of Lerwick used to live in the same kind of small self-sufficent crofts as those worked by the people of Orkney, the crofts in Shetland tended on the whole to be somewhat less scattered than those in Orkney. Many Shetlanders lived in small, close-knit communities which depended more on fishing than on the produce that their small farms could provide. Indeed, it has been said with some truth that while the people of Orkney were farmers who fished, the Shetlanders were fishermen who farmed (Schei and Moberg 1985: 147). The people of the Faroe Islands (see map 4.3), set another 300 km. farther to the north, between 61° 20’ and 62° 24’ N, had a similar life-style to the Shet- landers, although for them, the importance of fishing has grown over the last

278 Terry Gunnell

Map 4.3: The Faroe Islands. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) centuries. A collection of eighteen islands composed of basalt lava, and covering an area of about 1,400 km2, the Faroes are set on the submerged Wyville- Thompson ridge which runs from Greenland, through Iceland, to Scotland. Owing to the different kind of rock, the landscape of the Faroes is very different from that of Orkney and Shetland, and much less fertile. Outside the capital of Tórshavn, the people have tended to live in small tightly gathered communities (over one hundred of which exist today) by the sea in narrow valleys separated by high ridges of rock (Schei and Moberg 1991: 3Ð8). Nowadays, the Faroes have a fast-growing population of about 44,000 which is distributed around sixteen of the islands, but increasingly concentrated in the capital.3 Still farther north, between 63° 23’ and 66° 32’ N and covering an area of 103,950 km2, Iceland (see map 4.4) is one of the largest islands in the North Atlantic. Sitting astride both the North Atlantic Ridge and the earlier mentioned Wyville-Thompson Ridge which runs south to the Faroes, it is also situated on the plate boundary separating the North American and the Euro- pean tectonic plates, a feature that has helped to define not only the shape of Iceland’s nature but also its history. As a result of the plate movement, the land is largely made up of volcanic lava, which, along with the rapid soil erosion of

3 Schei and Moberg 1991: 3Ð8; and http://www.world-gazetteer.com (last visited March 1, 2007).

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 279

Map 4.4: : Iceland (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987.) (Courtesy of Gebrüder Borntraeger.) recent years, has placed sharp limits on the amount of fertile land available to farmers (most of which is situated in the wide southern plains). Much of the centre of the country is made up of unpopulated and eroded desert highlands, meaning that the population has always tended to live around the coasts, on the southern plains, in the wider northern and western valleys or in the narrow, somewhat isolated valleys of the eastern and north-western fjords (usually referred to as the western fjords). The country’s name stems from the fact that 11% of the land is covered in glaciers (Iceland 1986: 2Ð9). While today much of Iceland’s economy is based on its fisheries, this has not always been the case. In the past, it was essentially a community that lived on farming. Unlike the situation in the Faroe Islands or Shetland, there were few townships. Farms also tended to be relatively scattered, something that, along with the general history of the country, seems to have had a central role to play in the rise and fall of the country’s mumming traditions.

1. a. ii. History Unlike Iceland and the Faroes, both Orkney and Shetland have been inhabited for over 5000 years, since Neolithic times. Prior to the arrival of the Norwegian Vikings in the eighth century, both groups of islands were populated by Pictish settlers who had moved north from Scotland. It has been argued that these people were totally wiped out by the new invaders (Smith 2001). From that time onwards, Scandinavia was to have a deeply-rooted influence on both sets

280 Terry Gunnell of islands, especially in the case of Shetland where it seems that documents were still being written in Norse until the sixteenth century (Donaldson 1983: 9). Initially a Norwegian earldom, both Orkney and Shetland were given to Scotland by the Danish king4 in 1469 (Crawford 1983: 43). This had an immediate effect, especially on the culture of Shetland. Orkney had been essentially under the control of Scottish earls and Scottish bishops long before this time and had thus already adopted the lowland Scottish language and culture (Donaldson 1983: 8Ð9), but Shetland, which was physically closer to Norway, had always remained much more Nordic. It had been ruled directly from Nor- way since 1195, and much of its land was still under Norwegian control (Donaldson 1983: 9). The annexation of the two groups of islands thus brought a new influx of foreign influences to Shetland, not only in the shape of a number of Scottish settlers (mainly in southern Mainland), but also an ever- increasing number of Hanseatic traders (from Hamburg, Lübeck, and Danzig) who had earlier been supposed to trade with the islands only via the Norwegian Hanseatic centre of Bergen (Donaldson 1983: 11; and Friedland 1983: 87Ð91). Direct trading with the Hanseatic merchants continued until 1779 (Friedland 1983: 90Ð91), and while the actual influence on Shetland tradition might have been much more limited than it was on Bergen5 (the crews largely staying on their ships, and merchants staying on land only over the winter), it is nonetheless a factor that must always be borne in mind. Other possible influences on Shetland during the years that followed were the regular presence of Dutch fishermen from the fifteenth until the twentieth century (Boelmans-Kranenburg 1983); a new influx of Scottish immigrants (even a number of Gaelic speakers) during the herring years of the late nineteenth century (Donaldson 1983: 17Ð18); and most recently a large influx of oil workers connected to the North Sea oil rigs. Most of these influences would nonetheless seem to have been exerted more on the larger townships like Ler- wick than on the scattered collections of crofts in the more northerly islands of Yell, Unst and Fetlar.6 At the same time, even though official contact with Nor- way (and Denmark) came to an end in the sixteenth century, regular unofficial contact must have continued with both Norway and the Faroes throughout all of this time. Indeed, even today, as any casual walk past the shopfronts of Ler- wick will show, the Shetlanders (much more than the Orcadians, Faroese and Icelanders) are still very proud to emphasise their Norwegian background. When Orkney and Shetland passed over to the Scottish crown in 1469, both Iceland and the Faroes firmly remained attached to Scandinavia. Iceland, in-

4 Regarding how Denmark came to control both Norway and Shetland through the Kalmar Union in 1387, see further below in this section. 5 Regarding Bergen and its Hanseatic connections, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 6 It should nonetheless be borne in mind that the small township of Baltasund in Unst was also once quite an important fishing port, and as such had a number of foreign contacts over the years.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 281 itially independent, had by its own decision come under the Norwegian crown in 1262, and soon after Norway, Sweden and Denmark joined together in the Kalmar Union of 1387, both Iceland and the Faroes (along with Norway) found themselves under Danish rule (officially from 1536: Schei and Moberg 1991: 32). It was not until 1944 that Iceland regained total independence. The Faroes, meanwhile, have had home rule since 1948, but remain officially under the Danish crown. The Faroes and Iceland are much more distant from the European mainland than Orkney and Shetland, but there is still good reason to consider the potential cultural influences that other nations may have had on Faroese and Icelan- dic tradition. Indeed, the Faroes and Iceland were far from being culturally isolated. From the start, it is apparent from early sources and recent DNA research in Iceland that the settlers of both (and especially Iceland) must have been a very mixed group of people. Over and above the fact that most of the settlers of Iceland came from all over Scandinavia (albeit mainly from the entire length of Norway, with all the cultures that entails), it must be remembered that around half of the female population (in the form of slaves, wives or concu- bines) appears to have come from Scotland, the Scottish Isles or Ireland.7 Evi- dence of continuing Norwegian and Danish influence can be expected to be found on both the Faroes and Iceland throughout the centuries (official Norwe- gian influence only lasting until the fifteenth century). This was essentially brought about by the merchants and officials that lived in both the Faroes and Iceland, particularly during the time of the Danish Trading Monopolies which were effectively in action from the seventeenth until the mid-nineteenth centuries,8 but also came to bear because anyone from these islands who wished for further education prior to the twentieth century had to go to K¿benhavn (Copenhagen). However, in addition to these factors, it is also important to bear in mind the probable influences of the English, Hanseatic and Dutch traders who were competing for the stockfish trade in Iceland and the Faroes during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, and especially during the fifteenth century.9

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks, Mumming and Disguise in the North Atlantic While there are few really early records concerning masks or disguise activities prior to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Orkney, Shetland or the Faroes, Iceland offers a potential treasure trove of early source material which

7 See Agnar Helgason 1997; and Agnar Helgason et al. 2000a and b, and 2001. 8 The official monopoly on Icelandic trade came to an end in 1786Ð88, but free trade was not effectively established until 1855: Gunnar Karlsson 2000: 182 and 244. 9 The monopoly was established in 1602, but trade with the Germans went on until at least 1620 (see, for example, Gunnar Karlsson 2000: 138Ð139). It might be noted, however, that the English influence was less in the Faroes than it was in Iceland.

282 Terry Gunnell has relevance for the background history of such traditions in the Nordic countries as a whole. The material in question is preserved especially in the Ice- landic sagas, the handbook of mythology known as the Prose Edda (usually accredited to Snorri Sturluson), and then early poetic material (the so-called Eddic poems and the skaldic poetry). There is thus good reason to spend a little more time here on early material than might be spent in the other survey chapters. Much of the source material in question deals with the beliefs and world of the Nordic countries before the the area was converted to Christianity in c. AD 1000Ð1100. It is impossible, however, to be certain about exactly how much value this particular material has as evidence for pre-Christian custom in this area: much of it lived and altered within the oral tradition possibly for several centuries before it came to be recorded on pergament in the early Middle Ages (from the twelfth century onwards). In the very least, the early written material provides us with useful information about beliefs and traditions at the time of recording, which, when it comes down to it, has no less overall importance. Indeed, when placed alongside the older archaeological material from mainland Scandinavia concerning the use of masks,10 the Ice- landic literary evidence has particular relevance because of the potential bridge it offers with the pre-Christian world. This material has been covered in detail in previous works,11 and therefore only a general summary of some of the key points relevant to the possible background of North Atlantic customs will be given here. As noted above, Old Icelandic literature contains numerous general references to people wearing what might be costumes and/ or masks. Several accounts talk of people taking on various guises, such as those of a bird12 or an animal.13 The poem ∏rymskvi∂a (The Lay of ∏rymur/ Thrymur), sts 19Ð32, describes the gods ∏ór (Thor) and Loki dressing themselves as women and going to a wedding (Eddadigte II, 1971). Elsewhere, one finds descriptions of people disguising themselves in birch bark (Örvar-Odds saga 1943: 359Ð360), or false goat beards (Hrómundar saga Gripssonar 1944: 274; and ∏orleifs πáttur jarlsskálds 1956: 220; see further below). There may even be one possible reference to a figure making use of a straw costume.14 In addition to this, there could be several direct mentions of what appear to be masks (as in Kormáks saga 1939: 247), something that can be placed alongside the other more indirect indications found, for example, in the god Ó∂inn’s names “Arnhöf∂i”

10 See further the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 11 See Gunnell 1995a: 93Ð181, especially 142Ð179; 2001a; 2003; and 2007c (forthcoming). 12 A hawk or falcon as in the Eddic poem ∏rymskvi∂a, sts 3, 5 and 9 (Eddadigte II, 1971); and in the skaldic poem Haustlöng (Snorri Sturluson 1998: 2); or a swan, as in the introduction to Völundarkvi∂a (Eddadigte III, 1961), and Hrómundar saga Gripssonar (1944: 280). 13 Figures put on bear and wolf skins in Völsunga saga (1943: 15) and Kormáks saga (1939: 247). In the first example, the characters then actually become the animal in question. See also Hrólfs saga kraka (1944: 87–89), where the a hero’s spirit seems to become a bear. 14 Byggvir in the poem Lokasenna, sts 43Ð44 (Eddadigte II, 1971): see further Gunnell 1995a: 101Ð 102.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 283

(meaning Eagle head: see Edda 1926: 73); and “Grímur” and “Grímnir” (both of which mean literally “mask” or “the masked one”: see Grímnismál, sts 46Ð 47, in Eddadigte III, 1971; and Edda 1926: 210).15 The references noted above offer an intriguing body of evidence concerning early ideas about how identity can be altered by means of changing appearance, but they nonetheless remain little more than suggestions. More interesting in the present context of the development of mumming traditions are three more detailed references which might well point to a living tradition of mumming-like traditions being well-known in Iceland in the thirteenth century, if not before that time. I have argued elsewhere that there is good reason to believe that some of the early medieval Eddic “poems” about the Old Norse gods and heroes (those poems composed wholly in monologic or dialogic form) must have been originally presented in a simple dramatic fashion (Gunnell 1995a). One of the works in question, Lokasenna (Loki’s Flyting), has particular interest in the present context because of how closely it reflects the disguised house visit as it regularly occurred in the Nordic countries in later times. The setting of the poem shows the gods sitting down to a feast, something that in itself suggests a festive gathering of some kind. All of a sudden, a figure (the trickster god- giant Loki) enters the room, apparently in disguise since he avoids giving his own name at first.16 Loki (as “Loptur”) goes on to state that he has come a long way, and demands something alcoholic to drink: ∏yrstr ek kom (I, Loptur, came thirsty πessar hallar til to the hall, Loptur, um langan veg, a long way áso at bi∂ia to ask the gods at mér einn gefi to give me mæran drykk mia∂ar. a drink of shining mead.) (Lokasenna: st. 6, in Eddadigte II, 1971.17) He then proceeds to insult each of the members of the banquet, accusing them one by one of various immoral offences, until he is eventually forced to leave. As noted, the parallels that his behaviour presents to the common patterns of later Nordic mumming are striking. This especially applies to the feature of the disguised “supernatural” visitor who comes “from afar” to visit a festive meal, implicitely demanding sustenance and then satirising the hosts before finally being forced to depart. It is also noteworthy how, in Lokasenna, all of those present answer the accusations in an almost ritualistic fashion, and how an identity guessing-game seems to lie behind the poem (see further Gunnell 1995a: 206Ð212; 225Ð229; and 238Ð247).

15 The name Grímur is also applied to a goat in Droplaugasona saga 1950: 177. In one occasional verse, two drinking horns are called Grímar, once again pointing to a connection between masks and horns: See Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning 1912Ð1915: A.I, 152; B.I, 145. 16 This element of disguised visitors visiting halls is a very common motif in these particular dramatic poems: see further Gunnell 1995a: 182Ð281. 17 Unless otherwise noted, all the translations in this chapter here are by the present author.

284 Terry Gunnell

The next example that might refer to early mumming activities comes from a short story or πáttur called ∏orleifs πáttur jarlsskálds (The Tale of ∏orleifur/ Thorleifur the Jarl’s Poet) contained in a late fourteenth-century Icelandic manuscript called Flateyjarbók. This account tells of how one Yuletide in pre-Christian times, a poet named ∏orleifur decided to visit a ruler of Norway called Jarl Hákon in order to wreak revenge for a particular insult the poet had previously suffered at the hands of the Jarl. Over and above the particular timing and setting of the action, which once again takes place at a banquet, this account has special interest in the present context because of the description given of the disguise that ∏orleifur adopts for his visit: ∏orleifr byr ser nu stafkallz georui ok bindr ser gæitarskegg ok tok ser æina stora hit ok let koma undir stafkallz georuina ok bio suo vm at öllu(m) skylldi synazst sem hann æti πann kost er hann kastade j hijtina. πuiat giman hennar var uppi vid munn honum vndir gæitarskegginu. sidan tekr hann hækiur tuær ok uar broddr nid(r) or huorri (Flateyjar- bok 1860Ð1868: I, 210; see also ∏orleifs πáttr jarlsskálds 1956: 220Ð223). (∏orleifur now puts together a beggar’s costume, and attaches a goat beard to himself. He then took a large leather bag, placed it under the beggar’s costume, and arranged it so that everybody would imagine that he was eating the food which he threw into the bag, because the bag’s opening was placed by his mouth behind the goat beard. He then took two crutches with points on the bottom of each …) On “four legs” and with a goat’s beard, ∏orleifur stumbles into the hall quite uninvited, and makes good use of his crutches to cause a disturbance among the other beggars. This, in turn, results in his being brought before the Jarl where he announces that his name is Ní∂ungur Gjallandason (lit. Young In- sult, the son of Screeching), and that he has come “from the east”. In the past, he says, he was welcomed by the great and mighty, but is now forced to en- dure abject poverty in the forests and open countryside. He asks for food, and on being invited to eat, proceeds to work his way through at least two table servings (which he secretly stuffs into the bag behind his beard). Eventually he comes to a halt in order to chant a ritual curse on the Jarl. After this, ∏orleifur disappears from the locked hall, and Jarl Hákon discovers he has lost his beard and the hair on one side of his head.18 Once again, the details of the account offer striking parallels to those of the later annual Christmas visits that were made to Nordic farms by figures such as the widespread “Christmas Goats”.19 It must be stressed that neither of the above accounts directly states that they are describing a seasonal disguise tradition, and indeed, in the earlier forms of Old Norse literature, such a statement would have been unlikely, not least because figures in the sagas are usually identified by their outward rather than inner appearance (Gunnell 1995a: 85). Hence, in the main part of the above account, ∏orleifur is not referred to as ∏orleifur, but as Ni∂ungur (the role he is

18 A complete translation of the story is contained in The Complete Sagas of Icelanders 1997: I, 364Ð366. 19 See the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 285 playing). Even more revealing, however, is the third account, which comes from êslendinga saga (The Saga of Icelanders). Most important here is that this Icelandic saga describes contemporary events from the thirteenth century rather than events of the past. At one point, the saga describes how, in 1221, a man named Loftur Pálsson attacks a farm in the south of Iceland called Brei∂abólsta∂ir. Loftur’s intention is to kill, among other people, a man named Steingrímur Skinngr¥luson (lit. the son of Skin-Gr¥la: Sturlunga saga 1878: I, 244Ð247). As I have shown elsewhere (Gunnell 2001a: 34Ð38), the name Gr¥la (lit. Growler) is immediately striking because it seems to have been well-known not only among Icelanders but also among the other Nordic people of the time as the name of a threatening female ogress rather than a woman. Three other features of the account should also be noted: first of all, the association between Gr¥la and “skins”; secondly, Steingrímur’s supposed connection with dances and satire (he had apparently aroused Loftur’s anger by satirising him in a dance: Sturlunga saga 1878: I, 246); and thirdly, the fact that as Loftur rides down on the farm, he chants two lines of a verse about Gr¥la that would have obviously been well-recognised by any listening audience at the time (indeed the verse is still known in Iceland). By uttering these words, he simultaneously takes on the role of the ogress himself: Hér ferr Gr¥la í gar∂ ofan (Here comes Gr¥la, down into the field, ok hefir á sér hala fimmtán. with fifteen tails on her.) Most intriguing of all is the fact that variations of this same verse and Gr¥la’s name have direct connections with living mumming traditions known in both the Faroe Islands and Shetland (and possibly also earlier traditions from Ork- ney as well) which, like so many other disguise customs, were first recorded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.20 Indeed, the verse is still known in this context in the Faroes (see Gunnell 2001a). The traditions in question will be examined in more detail later in this chapter, but the implication must be that the figure of the “skinn-Gr¥la” described in êslendinga saga was an early manifestation of these later mumming figures which were already known in connection with dances in thirteenth-century Iceland: a disguised female troll figure in skins acted by a man that would come in from the “wild” to appear at dances or festivities (in a similar fashion to Loki in Lokasenna and ∏orleifur in ∏orleifs πáttur jarlsskálds). As I have stressed elsewhere (Gunnell 2001a), the connection between the variants of these “Gr¥la” verses in Shetland and the islands further north would appear to go back to the fifteenth century, since, as has been noted, after 1469, Shetland’s direct official connections with the Faroes and Iceland supposedly broke down. Furthermore, the differences between the Shetlandic and Faroese languages after that time would have made

20 On these verses, see further Gunnell 1995a: 165; and 2001: 38 and 52; Jón Samsonarson 1991: 48Ð54; Hammershaimb 1949Ð1951: 308; Thuren 1908: 65; and Jakobsen 1897: 19 (dealing with the Shetland variant where the name of Gr¥la is substituted with that of Skekla, another troll name directly associated with mumming traditions: see further section 3. b. below. 286 Terry Gunnell it difficult to allow any easy transference of poetic oral material between them.21 The implication, then, is that the Gr¥la tradition known in thirteenth-century Iceland was also known amongst the Scandinavian settlers in the Faroes and Shetland, and lived on in the shape of disguised figures later known as gr¥lur in the Faroes, gr¿liks and skeklers in the northern isles of Shetland, and possibly gyros in Orkney (see further sections 3. a. Ð 3. c. below). In Iceland itself, however, there seems to have been another development. During the centuries between the fourteenth and the end of the eighteenth centuries, the climate in Iceland worsened considerably. In addition to this, the country suffered from a long line of devastating catastophes, ranging from a form of the Black Death in the fifteenth century to a number of horrendous volcanic eruptions in the eighteenth, the worst of which (the Laki eruptions of 1783Ð1784) almost put a complete end to the settlement. During the latter half of this period, a number of records exist suggesting that traditions involving costumes and masks were still known in the country, but they all point to such traditions still being essentially associated with seasonal dance gatherings taking place in large farmhouses in the countryside, rather than house-visiting traditions like those known in neighbouring countries. There are however, a number of features in these customs which point to close connections between these later Icelandic dance traditions and those connected with the typical mumming activities known elsewhere. The dance games in question (the so-called vikivaki dance games, which are described in a number of accounts from the seventeenth until the mid-nineteenth centuries) have been examined in detail by a number of scholars, following the initial collection of original spoken and written source material undertaken by the Icelandic folklorists, Jón Árnason and Ólafur Daví∂sson in the late nineteenth century.22 Several indications point to some of these games being a direct continuation of the earlier-noted thirteenth-century Icelandic dance traditions associated with the “skinn-Gr¥la”. In the very least, the accounts in question underline that from the sixteenth century until the early nineteenth century, the Icelanders regularly held communal dance gatherings (most commonly at Christmas) during the course of which masked animal and human figures would burst into the dance room out of the darkness, partly as a means of entertainment, partly as a means of shocking people into a excited state of what Victor Turner calls “communitas”, 23 as the group was forced to combine forces to eject the outsiders from the dance room (see further Gunnell 2003). The earliest record of such activities, taken from a work named Qualiscunque De- scriptio Islandiae (1588Ð1589) probably written by the Icelandic bishop Oddur

21 See also Jón Samsonarson 1975: 428; Smith 1978: 23–25; Manson 1978: 13–15; and Crawford 1983. 22 For the original sources see Ólafur Davi∂sson 1894: 95–246; Jón Samsonarson 1964: I, ix– ccxliii; Strömbäck 1948, 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1989; Sveinn Einarsson 1991: 65–118; and Gunnell 1995a: 144Ð160, and 2003, where translations into English are included. 23 On Turner’s ideas, see further the articles by Terry Gunnell and Mari Kulmanen elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 287

Einarsson, talks simply of “uigilijs sanctorum” (gatherings of people on Chris- tian holidays), who “et alternatim alias ludicras actiones et ridicula spectacula exhibendo” (between dances presented other play activities and ridiculous spectacles). The author then goes on to underline that “ridiculas, effæminatas et lasciuas actiones” (ridiculous, effeminate and lascivious activities) occurred at these gatherings (Jón Samsonarson 1964: xxxiii). The nature of these “ridiculous spectacles”, most of which are first named in the mid-seventeenth-century Icelandic translation of a work named Crym- ogæa (originally written in Latin), include first of all a Christmas-Goat-like figure with a skin covering, a horned head on a pole and clacking jaws. This figure is variously referred to as a fingálpn, fingálf, πingálpn or πingálp (see Gunnell 1995a: 144Ð148), words which probably have an origin in the Old Ice- landic word finngálkn meaning a monster that is half-beast, and half-man, a very natural way to describe a disguised animal figure. Other figures include a hestur (horse), the costume and behaviour of which seem to have been very similar to several those horse-disguise traditions known in England even today (see notes 27 and 46 below); a hjörtur (hart) which crawls on all fours with candles attached to it; and three female figures: a kerling (old woman) and her daughter (both acted by men) who are in search of good men to marry; and another figure named Háa-∏óra (Tall-Thora), a giant woman created by a man carrying a pole with a cross-bar which is clothed in women’s dress (see fig. 4.1). According to the most detailed account of these traditions, a manuscript called Ni∂urra∂an, written before 1800 (Jón Samsonarsson 1964: liii–lxiv; translated in Gunnell 2003), the πingálpn, the hestur and Háa-∏óra were all aided and abetted by so-called skjaldmeyjar (shield-maidens) or valkyrjur (valkyries), other men dressed as women. In this context, it is worth noting immediately that concrete evidence of the use of masks in southern Iceland, probably as early as the late sixteenth century, has recently come to light in the form of a wooden mask constructed from the head of a spade found at Stóra-Borg near Eyjafjöll (see fig. 4.2). This object, probably the oldest wooden mask known in the Nordic countries, has nails hammered into its rim, suggesting that something must originally have been attached to it, quite possibly material used for a costume. While the exact dating is uncertain, most scholars have raised the possibility that the mask might have been used in a game like those noted above (see Mjöll Snæsdóttir 1990: 169Ð171; and Gunnell 1995a: 146Ð147). A number of important conclusions can be drawn from the early descriptions of the Icelandic vikivaki dance-game figures. First of all, it is clear that in these early Icelandic traditions, the “audience” travels to the performance site rather than the performers visiting their audience, something that indicates an interesting difference to the tradition of mumming and house visiting known elsewhere. Here we have individual, near “theatrical” performances.24 If this was a development, it may have been brought about by a combination of

24 Of course, it is far from certain which form came first, even though house visiting is much more widespread in the other Nordic countries. 288 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 4.1: Háa ∏óra (Tall Thora): A reconstruction of an Icelandic vikivaki guise. (Photo: Sveinn Einarsson.) (Courtesy of Sveinn Einars- son.)

Fig. 4.2: The wooden mask from Stóra-Borg, southern Iceland (mid-sixteenth century). (Photo: ∏jó∂minjasafn êslands.) (Courtesy of ∏jó∂minjasafn êslands.) factors, ranging from the lack of villages in Iceland to the worsening of the climate, and possibly even the display of communal strength that such dance gatherings could show the critical authorities of the time.25 While it would have been a relatively simple matter to convict individual groups of house visitors for breaking laws against masking, it would have more difficult to do the same

25 See the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 289 to an entire vikivaki gathering. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that all of the masked figures encountered in these dance games offer close parallels to features of mumming known elsewhere, especially the πingálpn,26 the horse,27 the old woman and the other elements of cross-dressing,28 and the fact that all of these figures, like many of those known elsewhere, were played by men. Fur- thermore, all of these “games” also contain features that seem to imply a symbolic house visit: all the masked figures come from “outside” the dance room (indeed the “Fingálpn” from 1644 is supposed to live “á hei∂um og skógum” [on the heaths and in the woods]), and they all enter the room without warning. They also leave in their costumes (sometimes after having been half disrobed, as in the case of the kerling). They do not, however, make any collections. The closest parallels are with the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Danish Christ- mas parties (Julestuer) where guests seem to have been commonly entertained by the arrival of goat figures.29 As the distribution map 4.5 shows, however, most of the reported dance gatherings seem to have occurred in the south and west of Iceland, near areas where fishing took place during the winter time, and in other parts of the country that were relatively isolated, rather than in larger settlements. To that degree they are quite different from the Julestuer. The Icelandic vikivaki dance-game traditions seem to have died out in the early nineteenth century, partly as a result of the antagonism of the authorities, and partly though the influx of new pair-dancing traditions that arrived from England (something that underlines the likelihood that the English also had some influence on the Icelandic vikivaki figures like the hestur: see further notes 27 and 46). When masks and disguise eventually reappear in records from the late nineteenth century, they are firmly attached to house-visiting traditions, and have a number of mainland Scandinavian connotations, something that has encouraged some scholars to argue that these later traditions are recent, not natural to Iceland and quite unconnected to the older vikivaki traditions.30 It is not until the vikivaki games start dying out in Iceland that the earliest

26 As noted above, the horned costume is a mirror image of the goat figures known all over Scan- dinavia, even if the name is different. This latter fact (suggesting the Icelanders did not know the Scandinavian name Ð indeed they had no goats) may be another indication of how early the shared roots of these traditions must be. See further the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 27 As noted above, there are clear parallels to the costume of the horse in England: see Cawte 1978: 8, 86Ð87; 110Ð120; 125Ð127; 140Ð141; and 193; and Greig 1973 (my thanks to Thomas Pettitt for pointing out these similarities). Otherwise, as is noted below, it is obvious that the Faroese knew a similar figure, the jólhestur (Christmas Horse), which appeared at dances. Similar figures may well have also been known in Norway (the figure of Arnaldus Jolahest: see the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway); and in Denmark (the hvegehors: see the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark). 28 The kerling (old woman) offers obvious parallels to both Gr¥la and figures like Lussi/ Lusse in Norway and Sweden: see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 29 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 30 See further Árni Björnsson 1996: 542, and the evidence of modern Icelandic traditions given below. 290 Terry Gunnell dance gatherings are recorded as having taken place in Iceland. (Map: Terry Gunnell.) vikivaki Map 4.5: Sites where Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 291 references of more traditional mumming traditions start appearing in the Faroes, Shetland and Orkney. As in many cases elsewhere in the Nordic area, some of these first references to mumming in these parts appear in dictionaries. In the Faroes, Svabo’s Dictionarium Færoense written in the 1770s makes it clear that the present-day Faroese tradition of Shrovetide mumming was already well-known by that time, and already closely connected to the aforementioned figure of Gr¥la, the costumed figures in question being referred to either as a personification of the festival as “Lengef¿sta”, “langaf¿sta”, or “Lange- faste” (lit. Long Fast: Svabo 1966: 491), or simply as a “grujla”, which, like “Lengef¿sta”, is described as being a “Bussemand hvormed man skræmmer Børn i Fasten. Manducus” (a bugbear used to frighten children at Lent; a costumed figure: Svabo 1966: 290).31 There are no records of the Shetland skekler and gr¿lik traditions prior to the early nineteenth century. The first description of the Shetland guisers32 or mummers appears in 1809 in Arthur Edmondston’s A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands. Edmondston, a doctor in the capital of Lerwick, on Mainland, writes the following about Shetland weddings: It is a common practice for several young men to disguise themselves, and visit the company thus assembled. Such a party is known by the appellation of Guizards. Their faces are masked, and their bodies covered with dresses made of straw, ornamented with a profusion of ribbands. Each of them has a particular character to support, but none speak, so that the performance is a kind of pantomimical masquerade. The person who directs their movements is called the Skudler, and he is always the best dressed of the party. They are kindly received, and dance with every person present in succession (Edmondston 1809: 64). While several other descriptions of the straw costumes start appearing soon after this (especially in connection with weddings), the actual names of the gr¿liks33 and skeklers34 (the names regularly given to the mummers in the northern isles) and direct notice of their close connection to seasonal festivals do not appear until the mid-nineteenth century, first of all in Thomas Edmond- ston’s An Etymological Glossary of the Shetland and Orkney Dialect (1866: 42) where the “Grulacks” (immediately connected to the Icelandic Gr¥la by Edmondston) are connected with “Persons disguised, Hallimas-maskers”; and then in an article sent by Edmondston to the Proceedings of the Society of An-

31 A related word in the dictionary is the adjective “grûiliur”, meaning “abominable” (Svabo 1966: 290). For further brief dictionary definitions, see Jakobsen and Matras 1961: 131; and Jakobsen 1891: 97. 32 Scottish tradition nowadays uses the word “guiser” rather than “mummer” for house-visiting figures of this kind. However, in line with the conventions used elsewhere in this book, the Shetland and Orkney figures will here be referred to as “mummers”. 33 It might be noted that the spelling of this word varies greatly in the written sources which contain all of the following: grulik, grulack, grølek, grölik, grülacks, grulic, grülik, grillock, grulick, groe- lick, grolic, and grolick.It is essentially a word that is spoken rather than written. 34 As with the word gr¿lik, there are a variety of spellings of the words skekler and skekling in the written sources: people also write of skakling, skeckling, skeklen, skaklers, skakelers, skekklers, skeklars and skeklas. 292 Terry Gunnell tiquaries (1869Ð1870) in which he describes a complete straw costume which was “worn by the peasantry to disguise themselves when going from house to house at Hallowmas or Martinmas, and at Christmas” (see figs 4.3Ð4.5). Ed- mondston goes on to note here that “Those disguised are sometimes termed, as in Scotland, ‘gyzarts,’ and also in some localities ‘skeklers’” (Edmondston 1869Ð1870: 472). Twenty-seven years later, in Jakob Jakobsen’s Den norr¿ne sprog på Shetland (1897: 19 and 53), a Shetland version of the earlier-noted Gr¥la verse (in which the name of Gr¥la has been intriguingly substituted with that of another troll named “Skekla”) is quoted, along with the words “gr¿lek” and “skekla” which are both said to be directly associated with the Shetland traditions involving straw costumes, the first with traditions on the island of Unst, and the second with those on the neighbouring islands of Yell and Fetlar. As noted below, the same geographical distributions still largely exist today with regard to the naming of the figures connected to the Shetland mumming traditions (see map 4.6). As regards Orkney, there are no references to mumming traditions prior to an account published in 1922 about the tiny (four miles by one) northerly island of Papa Westray, where masked figures known as the gyros (a word probably stemming from the Norn35 word gyre meaning an ogre or ogress, if not another version of the name Gr¥la) are said to have regularly appeared on Gyro night, some time in February, perhaps around the time of Shrove Monday (known as Gr¥lukvöld, or Gr¥la Night in the Faroes), at around the same time that the Faroese gr¥lur and the later Icelandic Shrovetide mummers of Ísafjör∂ur were also out (see further below in sections 3 c. and 3 d.). Interestingly enough, like the vikivaki figures in Iceland, the Papa Westray gyros are said to have been young men dressed as old women, each wearing “some grotesque headwear, then some woman’s garment about the body, and about the legs he would have loose simmans [a rope made of straw or heather] tied around the waist by a piece of rope”. According to this unique description of the gyro tradition (which seems to have disappeared after 191436), the costumes with their “rags and tatters and simmans” were sometimes so cumbersome that the performers had difficulty running (Drever 1922: 70; see also Marwick 1975: 107). It is noteworthy, though, that nothing is said about these particular figures house visiting. Instead, the game in question seems to have been more like a form of hide-and-seek in the wild, young people going out from the crofts with torches in search of these disguised beings. When found, the gyros (older youths) would chase the younger people, trying to whip them with their simmans.37

35 Norn was a language deriving from Old Norse which was formerly spoken in Shetland and Ork- ney: see Marwick 1975: 14; and Marwick 1929. 36 The dating is worth noting. As is pointed out at the end of this survey, it is evident that the two world wars had a drastic effect on folk traditions of all kinds, and especially on mumming traditions. 37 See Drever 1922: 70; also Marwick 1975: 107; and http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/gyro- night.htm (last visited March 1, 2007). Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 293

Fig. 4.3: Straw-clad skeklers at Brough Lodge, Fetlar, Shetland in the early twentieth century. (Photo: Sir Arthur Nicholson.) (Courtesy of the Shetland Museum.)

Fig. 4.4 (above): Straw-clad skeklers at Brough Lodge, Fetlar, Shetland in the early twentieth century. (Photo: Sir Arthur Nicholson.) (Cour- tesy of the FetlarFetlar Interpretive Centre.)

Fig. 4.5 (right): William Stewart of North-a- voe, Yell, Shetland, in full straw costume at a pre-war pageant for Leith hospital, in Edin- burgh. (Courtesy of Mrs Gretta Manson.)

1. c. The Material As is apparent from the above, the preservation of much of the early material concerning masking and mumming traditions in the North Atlantic Islands was largely accidental, recorded by various interested parties, such as local collec- 294 Terry Gunnell

Map 4.6: Shetland Mumming Traditions: Names and Time-settings. (Map: Terry Gunnell and Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh.) tors and even tourists (such as Samuel Hibbert [1931] and Walter Scott [1996] both of whom gave early descriptions of Shetland traditions: see further Gunnell 2001a). As time passed, however, figures such as the Faroese linguist V. U. Hammershaimb (1819Ð1909), and the Icelandic folklore collector Jón Árnason (1819Ð1888) began making a more systematic collection of this kind of material, largely as a follow-up to their other collecting activities. Hammer- shaimb’s main claim to fame is his central work on creating the Faroese written language, but as part of this work he also collected folktales, games and traditions (see especially Hammershaimb 1849–1851). Jón Árnason, on the other hand, began by collecting folk tales before progressing onto games, songs and dramatic traditions like those which are described as part of the vikivaki games, material that was later added to and published by Jón’s young assistant Ólafur Daví∂sson (1862–1903) (see especially Ólafur Daví∂sson 1894). One might say that each of these three men was working essentially in the spirit of their times, inspired particularly by the work and approaches of the Grimm brothers who had been engaged in discovering the “old”, and especially the potentially ancient. It might be noted, however, that the “fertility” fashion inspired by Mannhardt, and reflected in much of the early collection and analysis undertaken in mainland Scandinavia38 does not seem to have had much effect in either Iceland or the Faroes, where the emphasis was placed on collection and

38 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 295 the national rather than any real international comparison or analysis. Indeed, much of the collection in both countries up until comparatively recent times has been strongly influenced by their struggle for independence from Den- mark. In the years following the pioneering work undertaken by Hammershaimb, Jón Árnason and Ólafur Daví∂sson, collection went on in a similar vein, initially relatively informally, and then, later on, in the hands of universities and museums as they gradually came into being. In Iceland, it is worth paying special note in this context to the work of Jónas Jónasson frá Hrafnagili (1856Ð 1918), whose essential work êslenzkir πjó∂hættir (Icelandic Ways of Life) has been republished several times in Icelandic (1934; 1945; and 1961); and then Árni Björnsson’s books Saga daganna (The History of the Days: first published in 1993, and then revised in 1996), dealing with seasonal traditions in Iceland, and Merkisdagar í mannsævi (Important Days in Human Life: 1996) on human rites of passage in Iceland. Árni’s works are central resources on Ice- landic festivals, since they are based both on early written sources and on the later questionnaires that were systematically sent out by the Ethnology Depart- ment of the National Museum of Iceland (∏jó∂háttadeild ∏jó∂minjasafnsins) where Árni worked. Their weakness, however, might be said to be that they tend to avoid any theoretical discussion about function or the social context of tradition, and show little real attempt to place the traditions discussed in a wider Nordic context. In addition to the Icelandic scholars noted above, it is also important to mention the important research work into the vikivaka dances carried out by Jón Samsónarson (based at the University of Iceland [Háskóli Íslands]) and the theatre historian Sveinn Einarsson (see Jón Samsónarson 1964; and Sveinn Einarsson 1991). Both scholars were more interested in context than their predecessors and present some very useful analysis. However, for obvious reasons, they both have little detailed knowledge of mumming traditions outside Denmark, England, France and Germany, something which naturally adds some limitation to the extent of the contextual discussion they can offer concerning such customs. As noted above, Árni Björnsson’s primary source material on Icelandic disguise traditions from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries took the form of various questionnaires sent out by the Ethnology Department of the National Museum in Iceland from the 1960s onwards. Most valid in the present context are questionnaires 31 (1975: on annual and personal festivals); 39 (1979: on children’s games); 47 (1982: on growing up in the urban environment); 56 (1983: on leisure and social activities in the urban environment); 70a (1988: on Christmas); 86 (1994: on daily life in rural and urban environments in the twentieth century); 99 (2000: on Christmas gatherings and meals); and 101a (2001: on Ash Wednesday and Halloween).39 The latter was prepared by

39 See further http://www.natmus.is/thjodminjar/thjodhaettir/spurningalistar (last visited March 1, 2007). 296 Terry Gunnell

Kristín Einarsdóttir, and sent out as part of the Masks and Mumming project that lies behind this book. Alongside this, Kristín has assembled a great deal of other material on Icelandic Ash Wednesday traditions for her MA dissertation on the subject which was completed in 2004 (fieldwork material recorded on film, photograph and mini-disc, and diaries written by children at school about their activities on this day in 2003 and 2004: see further the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume). Meanwhile, the present author has been collecting interviews, films, photographs and other information concerning initiation and pre-graduation traditions involving disguise at the upper-secondary school level in Iceland (festivals for some reason ignored by Árni Björns- son in his earlier-noted work). In addition to this, the present author and Vil- borg Daví∂sdóttir have conducted several interviews and gathered information concerning a number of other previously unrecorded house-visiting mumming traditions that have existed in various parts of Iceland (see further below, and the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir elsewhere in this volume). Some of this work stems from a number of useful interviews concerning seasonal and life festivals that have been undertaken by students of Folkloristics as part of their coursework at the University of Iceland (like the other material noted above, also kept in the Ethnology Department of the National Museum). Of course, visual and audio material on most of these traditions is also available in the archives of the Icelandic National Radio and Television (Ríkisútvarpi∂ and Ríkissjónvarpi∂), and the main Icelandic national papers (especially Morgun- bla∂i∂). In the Faroes, Hammershaimb’s groundbreaking work on the Faroese language was followed up by the scholar Jakob Jakobsen (1874Ð1918), who also played a key role in recording information about the early Shetland and Orkney language known as Norn, a distant variant of Old Norse. As has been indicated above, Jakobsen’s works on both Faroese and the Shetland Norn (1891 [with V. U. Hammershaimb], 1897, and 1928Ð1932) contain a great deal of important information relevant to mumming traditions. They form the basis for the Faroese National Dictionary at the University of the Faroe Islands (Or∂asavn Fró∂skaparseturs F¿roya) which, like the growing Faroese sound archives is housed at the Faculty of Language and Literature (Føroyamálsdeildin) at the University of the Faroe Islands (Fró∂skaparsetur F¿roya) in Tórshavn. Other visual material on the gr¥lur tradition is also available in the archives of the Faroese television channel, Sjónvarp Føroya, in Tórshavn. The first real review of Faroese life and traditions (containing useful information on the gr¥lur traditions) appeared in Jóan Pauli Joensen’s Färöisk folkkultur (Faroese Folk Culture: 1980), later extended and translated from Swedish into Faroese as Fólk og mentan (People and Culture) in 1987. During the present project, direct fieldwork research was also been undertaken into the Faroese gr¥la tradition by the present author in 2002 (see further section 3. c. below). Primary source material on Shetland traditions is available first and foremost in the Shetland Archive in Lerwick, and the Archive of the School of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 297

Scottish Studies in the University of Edinburgh. The latter contains the notes and recordings of interviews taken by collectors like Elizabeth and Katherine Neilson (1961); Hugh Jamieson (1974); Alan Bruford (1975Ð1976); Peter Cooke (1982) and the present author (2000 and 2001); while the Shetland Archive contains an even wider variety of materials ranging from legal documents, papers and letters to the recordings and interviews of the Shetland fiddler, Tom Anderson (1910Ð1991) and material recorded by BBC Radio Shetland. Photographic material and reconstructed straw hats (see fig. 4.7), and even a complete reconstructed straw costume can be seen in the Shetland Museum in Lerwick. Other local collections of Shetland material are available in, for example, the Fetlar Interpretative Centre in Houbie, Fetlar; the Old Haa in Burravoe, Yell; and the Unst Heritage Centre in Haroldswick, Unst. General studies of Shetland folklore have been published by Marwick (1975/ 2000) and Nicholson (1981). Furthermore, some of the valuable primary source material assembled by local collector, Laurence Williamson from Yell (1855Ð1936) is available in Johnson 1971. Until recently, however, no systematic collection or detailed studies had been done on the Shetland mumming traditions. The focus of attention has been on the Shetland Up-Helly-Aa traditions (see section 3. b. below), which have been effectively documented and analysed in a detailed social history study written by Callum Brown with help from Shetland archivist Brian Smith (see Brown 1998). In 2000 and 2001, however, the present author collected a wide range of interviews to do with the Shetland traditions as part of the Masks and Mumming project behind this book.40 It is hoped that the results of this will appear in a particular monograph in the next few years. (Until then, see Gunnell 2001a and 2007a forthcoming.) As regards Orkney, a similar situation exists to that in Shetland. Primary material regarding the few traditions that have existed is available in the Ork- ney Archive, in the School of Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and in the work of Hugh and Ernest Marwick (1881Ð1965; and 1916Ð1977: see Marwick 1975 and Robertson 1991). In addition to this, a number of interviews concerning “Pop Night” traditions (see section 3. a. below) have recently been made by Helga Tulloch, previously a student of the School of Scottish Studies. It is hoped that a more detailed study of those few modern house-visiting traditions that still exist in Orkney will be undertaken before too long.

40 It might be noted that the Masks and Mummers questionnaire prepared by Carsten Bregenh¿j and Terry Gunnell was published in Shetland, and distributed in both Shetland and the Faroes, but unfortunately yielded few results, largely because no “questionnaire networks” have been established in either place. The approach to collection in both places tends to be more personal. 298 Terry Gunnell

2. General Features of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic As with the mask and mumming traditions found elsewhere in Scandinavia, those on the North Atlantic islands tend to occur at both particular seasonal festivals (for the main part during the “winter” half of the year) and personal life festivals, especially in pre-wedding gatherings like stag and hen parties (at least in Shetland and Iceland), at weddings themselves (especially in northern Shetland), and then as part of upper-secondary school initiation and graduation ceremonies (in Iceland). As regards the most common forms of masking in all of these places, the central figure, past and present, must be that of the old woman acted by a man, in the form of Gr¥la, the kerling and Háa-∏óra in Iceland (in the past), and the gr¥lur, gr¿liks, skeklers and gyros in the Faroes, Shetland and Ork- ney, even if in more modern times the “performers” might no longer be aware of the female ancestry of the figures they are “portraying”. Here one must consider parallels with not only figures like the Norwegian Lussi,41 but also Gaelic figures like the “Gy(re) Carlin” (Gyre-karline?) from Fife in Scotland that (like Lussi) was supposed to take any unspun flax from spinning wheels at New Year (Lid 1933: 59); the straw Cailleach (Old Woman) from the Western Hebrides (the islands of Islay and Kintyre: Maclagen 1895: 148Ð 154); and an old dance known as Cailleach an Dùdain (Carlin of the Dust), from Eriskay, Benbecula and Perthshire which involved an old hag (acted by a man) who fought her husband, was killed, lamented for, and then brought back to life (Flett and Flett 1952: 114Ð117; and Gailey 1969: 97Ð98).42 As I have suggested elsewhere (Gunnell 2004), there is a faint possibility that all of these figures originally represented a personification of the winter season, but that is perhaps beside the main point here. More interesting in the present context are the various ways in which these figures were portrayed over time in different places, and the ways in which local materials were employed to help bring them to life. As was noted earlier, the earliest manifestation of Gr¥la appears to have been in animal skins. Such a guise, however, seems to have been comparatively rare in more recent tradition in the North Atlantic islands. However, other more easily accessible raw materials were always close at hand, and imagination in this regard was rarely lacking. Two of the most interesting and detailed early descriptions of disguised female troll figures in Iceland are those of the kerling (the old woman) and Háa-∏óra (Tall Thora) given in the late eighteenth-century manuscript Ni∂urra∂an which describes various vikivaki games in detail. The former description runs as follows, and demonstrates clearly how people made good use of whatever was available:

41 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 42 On the figure of the Gaelic Cailleach in Ireland, see especially Ó Crualoaich 2003. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 299

Hún er so í skraut búin, a∂ πa∂ er tekinn fyrst lo∂inn hundsbelgur og steyttur me∂ mel, πr¥stur sí∂an á hennar höfu∂ og reyr∂ur ni∂ur um kjálkana. So er hún fær∂ í vonda hærusekksdulu, og nær hún ofan á rassinn. ∏ar a∂ auki er hún öll πakin me∂ meltuskum, leppum og tirjum. Grímhetta me∂ gleraugum er fyrir hennar ósjónu. Hún hefur og ro∂aveski á bak til ásamt vonda sjóvettlinga á hendi. Me∂ πetta staular hún til ba∂stofudyra (Jón Samsonarson 1964: I, lv–lvi). (She is dressed up in the following decorative fashion: first of all, a hairy dogskin bag is filled with flour, and this is forced onto her head and firmly bound under her chin. She is then clad in a ragged dress of horsehair sacking which reaches down to her backside. Apart from this, she is covered in old flour-bags, and other rags and tatters. A mask with spectacles on covers her visage. She has a fishskin bag on her back and some tattered seaman’s gloves on her hands. Dressed like this, she totters along to the living-room door.) Háa-∏óra is grotesque in a different way (see fig. 4.1). Ni∂urra∂an states the following about her costume: Hann er me∂ soddan móti tilbúinn, a∂ πa∂ er tekinn staur tveggja álna langur, svo sem rekutindur a∂ gildleika. Hönum er skauta∂, og yfir um hann er vafi∂ me∂ trafi, og lafir langt skott ni∂ur, πví staur er látinn yfir hinn staurinn og bundinn fast vi∂. ∏ar er og hengt á stórt lyklakerfi. Sí∂an er bundi∂ um kragann á kvenhempu, og fer πar ma∂ur undir. Svunta er höf∂ a∂ framan, og málindakoffur yfirdregi∂, og πegar go∂i∂ er so tilfansa∂, fer ma∂ur undir hempuna, heldur um staurinn og pikkar í hallinn e∂a gólfi∂ (Jón Samsonarson 1964: lxiii). (It is made in such a fashion, that a two-ell [c. 114 cm.] long pole is taken, like a wooden spade in size. This [pole] is topped with a tall woman’s head-dress, and a white strip of cloth is bound around this in such a way that the end is left trailing down. Another pole is then placed across the first one, and tied to it. A large bunch of keys is hung from this. After that, a long, black woman’s coat is [placed around the frame, and] done up at the neck, and a man goes underneath. An apron is fixed to the front, and a decorative belt drawn over it. When the god [idol?] has been prepared in this way, a man goes under the dress, holds the pole and hammers at the stone or the floor. The more recent Faroese Gr¥la described effectively by William Heinesen in his short story “Grylen” (1957) is based largely the traditions on the somewhat isolated island of Svinoy that Heinesen had heard about from a wholesale merchant from Svinoy. This figure is much closer to the ancient figure of “skinn-Gr¥la”. While being predominantly feminine by name, she is also said to be enormous, “som en tørvestak at se, en lang, raslende hale slæber hun efter sig, den runger og skramler som af tomme kedler og kasseroller” (much like a stack of peats, she drags a long, rustling tail behind her, which rattles and bumps like empty kettles and pots: Heinesen 1970: 38). Heinesen adds that “Hun er meget lådden og bærer horn og hale” (She is very shaggy, and has horns and a tail: ibid: 33), and surprisingly enough also has a large, wooden phallus (“standaren”) which supposedly has the quality of being able to bestow fertility on barren women (ibid: 39).43 Furthermore, she has the ability of alter-

43 There are interesting parallels here with the Sami Stallo and other erotic figures like those described by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj and Nils-Arvid Bringéus in their articles elsewhere in this volume. See also Gunnell 1995a: 112, 151Ð154, and 163Ð164. 300 Terry Gunnell ing her size, occasionally stretching herself, as Heinesen implies when he writes: “Undertiden standser Grylen, lægger sig udslettet med trynet i jorden” (Meanwhile the Gr¥la stops, and lies down, stretched out full length with her snout to the ground: ibid: 38). As noted above, the bestial qualities of the Gr¥la implied in Heinesen’s account are rare but far from unique in earlier accounts, and offer an effective bridge with the past. The description also offers clear parallels to the early poetic images given of the supernatural figure of Gr¥la in Iceland which retain many of these inhuman aspects. In the poet Stefán Ólafsson's poem, “Gr¥lu- kvæ∂i”, from the sixteenth century, Gr¥la is described as being three-headed, and having a “hrútsnef” (a ram’s snout), a beard, a “kjaftur eins og tík” (a mouth like a bitch) and eyes like burning embers (Stefán Olafsson 1948: 18– 20). In Gu∂mundur Erlendsson’s “Gr¥lukvæ∂i” (1650) she has “horn eins og geit” (horns like a goat’s), “hár um hökuna/ sem hn¥tt garn á vef” (hair on her chin like knotted wool on a loom), and “tennur í óhreinum kjapt” (teeth in her dirty mouth), and goes about in “lo∂nu skinnstaks tetri” (shaggy tattered skin coat), bearing “sína rau∂brota staung“ (her iron staff: quoted in Ólafur Daví∂sson 1898Ð1903: 114Ð11). It would appear that like the Norwegian Lussi described in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, she was envisaged as having certain goat-like qualities which might even connect her to figures like the Icelandic πingálpn described below. The line between human and bestial figures in the early mumming world was evidently not a clear one. As regards the more obvious animal figures that appeared in the past in the North Atlantic islands, it is best to begin with the aforementioned goat-like πingálpn of the vikivaki games, the costume of which is described in Ni∂urra∂an as follows: Fyrst er tekin hornótt fjöl, so sem hálf alin löng, og rúmt kvartél brei∂. Á fjölina eru negld tvö geldsau∂arhorn, en fyrir ne∂an hornin eru smí∂u∂ augu, og er πar smellt í gle- ri. Ni∂ur me∂ vöngunum ernu nelgd lo∂in gæruskinn grá. Nasir eru og tilbúnar, og eru settar í πær tvær kertapípur, πa∂ er a∂ segja so sem mynd πeirra af tré sem er gjört á gat og πar í settir tveir kyndlar sem á er kveikt, πá πa∂ kemur í stofuna. Hornótt gat er gjört fyrir ne∂an augun. ∏ar er rekin í staur sem ma∂urinn heldur um, πá er hann leikur πetta skrímsli. Hann er hálfönnur alin a∂ lengd, hann er umvafinn me∂ brekáni, en undir brekáni∂ fer ma∂urinn sem me∂ leikinn fer. Fjöl er brúku∂ fyrir ne∂an staurinn, föst vi∂ d¥rshöfu∂i∂. Henni skellir leikma∂urinn upp yfir alla í húsinu, so πar ver∂ur af so miki∂ mosk og dusk, a∂ sumir núa augun, en óst¥rkir fara a∂ ¥la. ∏etta gengur me∂ danslátum, skjaldmeyjum og skrekkigangi, πví höfu∂i∂ er so í útlíti sem versta kvikindi e∂a mons- tur (Jón Samsonarson 1964: liv–v). (First of all, a rectangular piece of wood is taken, about half an ell [28.5 cm.] in length, and about a quarter of an ell wide [c. 14 cm.]. To this piece of wood are nailed two ram’s horns, and below the horns, eyes are made, and glass knocked into these. Grey sheepskin is nailed down the cheeks. Nostrils are also made, and in these are placed two candle-holders, that is to say objects of wood that look like them with holes in, and in these are placed two candles which are lit when it comes into the room. A square hole is made below the eyes. Into this is thrust a pole that is held by the man when he acts Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 301

this monster. This is about one and a half ells in length [c. 90 cm.]. It is wrapped in a blanket, and under the blanket goes the man who acts the part in the game. Another piece of wood is used below the pole, and attached to the animal-head. The actor claps this over everyone in the house causing so much dust and smoke that some rub their eyes, and those who are more sensitive start crying. This goes on with dance actions, skjaldmeyjar and terrorising [skrekkigangi], because in appearance the head looks like the worst of creatures or a monster.) The parallels with the Scandinavian goat figures described in the other surveys in this book are too obvious to need further comment other than that all these figures must be related, and that this relationship must go back at least to the sixteenth century.44 Very similar in form to the Icelandic πingálpn (and many of the Christmas goats) is the Faroese jólhestur (Christmas Horse) which supposedly used to appear at dances and answer people’s questions on the second day of Christmas. The costume of this being was sometimes made of a genuine horse-skin, but its central feature, as with the πingálpn, was “tvær fjalir, sum hann læt dúgliga vi∂ til kjaft” (two blocks of wood which it used in a lively fashion for a mouth), in other words, “clacking jaws”.45 As noted earlier, the Icelandic vikivaki horse figure, is much closer to what is referred to in England as a “tourney horse” (Cawte 1978: 8). The likelihood is that the complicated guise described below must have been adopted from abroad, and probably from England, where the central activity of the Icelandic game, whereby the horse is cured of a limp or shoed, also forms a key element of traditions like that of the Midlands “Old Horse” (see Cawte 1978: 117– 120).46 The costume in question is described in Ni∂urra∂an as follows: Hann er me∂ soddan lagi innrétta∂ur: Fyrst er búin til grind í lögun sem hripsgafl (used for carrying manure). Hann skal vera so til passa, a∂ hönum sé πrengt upp yfir mannsins mja∂marbein. Vi∂ πessa grind er bundinn beyg∂ur sveigur vel sterkur. Hann stendur langs aftur frá manninum. Á hann er lög∂ rau∂a svunta og hún ni∂ur- saumu∂ rammbyggilega allt um kring. Vi∂ hana eru fest 2 tröf e∂a 3, og ganga πau jafnt til hlí∂a. Á svuntuna eru lag∂ir kláutar mislitir. ∏ar eru og álag∂ir einir 10 lá- tunslistar me∂ svo miklu skrauti, a∂ allt glóir. Lyklakerfi er fest framan í grindina, og πeim hringlar hesturinn, πá hann hleypur í gle∂istofuna. Hann er fær∂ur í mussu e∂a kjól, sé hann a∂ fá, og er sauma∂ur hvítur trefill aftur um baki∂ og fram fyrir brjósti∂. Hann hefur og ni∂urbrettan hatt á höf∂i. Um hann er hn¥tt hvítu handklæ∂i, og ná skúfarnir aftur á lendar (Jón Samsonarson 1964: liii–liv).

44 Admittedly, similar figures are also known in the United Kingdom: see further Cawte 1978. 45 See Joensen 1987: 204 and 197Ð198; Jacobsen, Matras and Poulsen 1974: 102; and most recently Poulsen 1994: 49Ð52. 46 As Thomas Pettitt has underlined to me in discussion in 2002 (and a letter dated March 12, 2004), there are further parallels in the Kent Hooden Horse (Cawte 1978: 86Ð87); the Cheshire Wild Horse/ Hob (Cawte 1978: 125Ð127); and the Lancashire Old Ball (Cawte 1978: 140Ð41), which were all horse figures; and also the Sheffield Old Tup (a ram) (Cawte 1978: 110Ð117). See also the Irish wake game, The Speckled Stallion/ The White Mare described in O’ Suilleabhain 1967: 61. These models are much more likely than those that some scholars have previously suggested with regard to horse figures from the Basque region: see, for example, Strömbäck 1948: 142Ð143. 302 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 4.6: Faroese children going around as gr¥lur wearing costumes made of seaweed. (Artist: Bár∂ur Jakuppson.) (Courtesy of Jóan Pauli Joenssen.)

(This is prepared as follows: First of all a frame is put together, somewhat like a manure box. This should be big enough to be squeezed up over the man’s hips. A strong hoop is bound to this frame, running out behind the man. A red pinafore is placed on this, and sewn firmly all the way around. To this, two or three long strips of material are attached which run equally to the sides. Cloths of various colours are placed on the pinafore. As many as 10 brass strips are also placed on it, with so much decoration that everything glows. A bunch of keys is attached to the front of the frame, and the horse jangles this as he runs into the dance-room. He is put into a smock or dress, if one is available, with a white scarf running down his back and over his chest. He also has a hat on his head with the front brim folded down. To this white towels are knotted, the tassels of which run back down to his thighs.) Another inhuman masked figure connected with Christmas was the Faroese jólahøna (Christmas Hen), which like the jólhestur, supposedly appeared at dances. Even less is known about this figure, but there are obvious similarities to certain bird figures once known in Sweden and Norway like the julegoppa.47 In the Faroes, the costume was created by a person covered in a woollen blanket, with two short sticks poking out, one in front and one behind. The front stick was then used to pick at the ground in a hen-like fashion, very similar to the behaviour of the julegoppa (see Matras 1924: 180Ð181).48 As time goes on, it is clear that the original animal or the essential “feminine” nature of the beings represented became less important than the importance of creating an alien disguise that could be maintained during a visit. Ob- viously, as has already been shown, in the North Atlantic as elsewhere in Scan- dinavia, people tended to use those materials that were closest at hand, and if skins were not available then they would use something else more practical. In the Faroes, it would seem that this material was often seaweed (although it

47 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia elsewhere in this volume on figures such as the Swedish tranor (cranes). 48 See further Hammershaimb 1849Ð1851: 309 on other Faroese dances and songs that appear to have involved animal costume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 303

Fig. 4.7: A straw hat with a veil (reconstruction Fig. 4.8: Mrs Neta Anderson of Cullivoe, Yell, at the Shetland Museum). (Photo: Terry demonstrates in 2000 how straw hats were Gunnell.) worn in the north of Yell, Shetland. (Here ties are substituted for ribbons). (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) might be noted that there is no record suggesting that the gr¥lur were ever seen as sea monsters: see fig. 4.6). One early early account from 1821, talks of “Langefasten” (see above) as having had a “stor Tangstakke, som slæbe bag after hende som Halen og en rustet sort Krog i hver Haand” (a large coat of seaweed which dragged behind her like a tail, and a rusty black hook in each hand), and “paa Bagen en stor Skindpose, som hun rasler med” (on her back a great skin bag which she rattled: Thuren 1908: 67Ð68).49 One of my informants in 2002, however, also talked of a man from Sandur, on Sandoy, who in the late 1930s terrified local people (and exhausted himself) by using a newly-flayed cow’s head to disguise himself (interview with Rannveig Winther, 2002). In Shetland, the obvious material was Shetland oat straw, which was employed by both the gr¿liks and the skeklers in the northern islands as a means of affecting a complete disguise (see figs 4.3Ð4.5 and 4.7Ð4.8). As Edmond- ston in 1869Ð1870 notes scientifically about one straw costume which had been put on show:

49 A similar account is given in Rasmussen 1985: 140; trans. in Gunnell 1995a: 163. 304 Terry Gunnell

The straw helmet is usually ornamented with long streamers of ribbons of different colours. One of the pieces surrounds the neck and covers the shoulders, the larger covers the middle, and the narrow bits are anklets. The face is covered partially with a coloured handkerchief…. The custom is fast dying out, and it is not easy to procure a complete suit. The dresses exhibited were made in the Island of Fetlar, where until very lately the people had comparatively little communication with the South. As with figures like the πingálpn and jólhestur, obvious parallels can be found for some of the features of these straw costumes in neighbouring countries, especially in the garb of the Irish Strawboys which was also made of straw, and also involved ribbons and pointed hats (see figs 24.1Ð24.4).50 Other similar costumes have been noted in a few places in Sweden (see, for example, the figure of Halm-Staffan in Gunnell 1995a: 100Ð105), while, as the other Sur- veys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume show, the element of tall pointed hats was widespread in the Nordic countries (especially in the “Star Boy” traditions known in both Norway and Sweden). Ribbons, meanwhile were a common feature with both the British mummers and the Scottish Galoshins.51 In this way, as in many others, the Shetland mumming traditions seem to form a unique and valuable cultural blend of features drawn from all points of the compass. While the exact character (and sex) of the Shetland and Faroese house- visiting mummers was evidently no longer clear to those who witnessed them in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it seems obvious that, like some of the other Icelandic and Faroese disguised dance-game figures mentioned above, they were still at least seen as representing something inhuman or supernatural, if not directly animal-like. This is stressed first of all by the nature of their names, which, as has been noted, were associated with ogresses, giants or trolls, and secondly by the fact that they tended to make animal noises instead of normal speech.52 If they uttered any words at all (words which might often be in inverse speech), they, like Loki in the early poem Lokasenna, would often talk of coming from a long way off, for example, from the mountains (in the Faroes), or from an inaccessible beach (interview with George Peterson from Papa Stour, Shetland: 2001). Indeed, this feature still applies in the “mumming talk” known in the Faroes today (fieldwork in Sandoy 2002; and conversation with Lena Reinert, March 2000). The unearthly nature of these figures and the effect they could have is perhaps no better described than in the following account written by R. Menzies Fergusson, which first appeared in The Orcadian in 1857. It describes the visit of a group of straw-clad Shetland mummers to a house in what seems to be a township on Mainland at Hallowe’en (perhaps Walls or Scalloway):

50 On the Strawboys, see, for example, Gailey 1969: 74Ð75 and 91Ð93; St Clair 1971: 15; Danaher 1972: 45; Colum 1989: 408Ð409; and Glassie 1975: 117. 51 See the article by Emily Lyle on Galoshins elsewhere in this volume. 52 See Hammershaimb 1849Ð1851: 308; Heinesen 1970: 33Ð35, 38 and 43; Fergusson 1857; see also references in Gunnell 1995a: 117. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 305

On the evening of last Halloween, and about eight o’clock, the noise of footsteps was heard making toward the house where I lodge, and in a brief interval, a gentle tap at the kitchen door intimated that admittance was requested. The servant had been permitted to visit her friends that evening, and to “haud her halloween,” and my landlady, who it appears, is a stranger in this immediate district, and who was employed at the time, sent her little boy to open the door. The youngster no sooner opened it than he gave a yell, and took to his heels, seeking the “benmost bore,” where I was seated with a gentleman from Strathmore. “What’s the matter with you, my little fellow,” said I, “who are you?” He could hardly give me an answer, but kept gaping, and gasping, and roaring, “they’re a’ white B-----a, they’re a’ white; will they tak’s t’inkest doo?” I had scarcely time to thoroughly understand what he said, when in rushed my landlady, shrieking in a half-st fled voice, that the kitchen was full of fairies; and had we not instantly assisted her to a seat, I believe she would have fainted and fallen, for her lips and nose were as bloodless and white as drifted snow, and her knees were trembling like a dock leaf. Fairies, quoth the gentleman, by -----, I’ll have a shot at them; and as he rushed up stair for his fowling piece, which I knew was loaded, I whispered to my landlady not to be afraid, as perhaps the fairies were come to pay me a visit. I felt I had commited an error, for my remark only tended to increase her terrors, and as I had said nothing to prevent the gentleman from seizing a loaded gun to clear the house of the supposed “spirits of the hill”. Were the gentleman to present the gun, I inferred the fairies would take to flight, and the object of their mission would be destroyed. To prevent this, I proposed we should enter the kitchen unarmed, and speak kindly to the mountain strangers, who, for ought we knew, were come to visit us on business of importance. I was the first to enter, but I hastily retraced a few steps as soon as I saw the kitchen literally full of beings, whose appearance being so unearthly, shook the gravity of my muscles, and forced the cold sweat to come out from every pore of my body. There they stood like as many statues, one of whom was above the rest, and of gigantic dimensions. Eyes, mouths, or noses, they had none, nor the least trace of a countenance. They kept up an incessant grunt, grunt, grunt, or a noise partly resembling swine and partly turkey cocks. Their outer garments were as white as snow, and consisted of petticoats below, and shirts on the outside, with sleeves and collars. They were all veiled, and their head dresses or caps were about eighteen inches in height, and made of straw twisted and plaited. Each cap terminated in three or four cones of a cresent shape, all pointing backwards and downwards, with bunches of ribbons of every colour waving from the points of the cones. The spirits, for such they appeared to be, had long staves with which they kept rapping on the floor. Between them and the door stood one as black as “hornie,” but more resembling a human being than any of the others. His head dress was a southwester, and he had a keshie on his back. My landlady by this time had considerably recovered, and the sight of the keshie tended greatly to allay our doubts, and we all ventured into the kitchen. Immediately upon our entering the kitchen they formed themselves into pairs and commenced hobbling and dancing. When asked what they wanted, the keshie was presented, and in it was a piece of mutton and other eatables. Their chieftain, or leader, muttered in a disguised and gutteral tone of voice, that they would take anything we chose to give them. My landlady gave them some mutton and oat cakes, with which they appeared highly elated, and returned thanks with bows and curtseys, but still kept up the incessant grunting. Before leaving the door, however, they inquired of me in the same gutteral tone of voice if they should go to the minister’s. Certainly, said I, be sure you go there, and give him a specimen of your dancing; for the minister is a very liberal gentleman, and will, I doubt not, fill your keshie (Fergusson 1857). 306 Terry Gunnell

Over the last fifty years, as everywhere else in the Nordic area, the “traditional” costumes used by the North Atlantic mummers have come to be replaced by masks bought in shops and any form of old clothes that are available (although the full-face masks commonly used in the Faroes, Shetland and elsewhere in Nordic area have yet to catch on in Iceland [2007]). While the traditional guessing game still forms the basis of the game in some places (Shetland, the Faroes, and parts of Iceland), elsewhere (especially in Icelandic Ash Wednes- day traditions) it is losing its importance, as younger children have taken over the tradition. The emphases have thus changed. As several of the writers in this volume have noted, for younger children basic face paints and wigs serve what for them is the basic central symbolic function of announcing that one is a game participant: one of “them” rather than one of “us”. This is seen as being enough to earn the edible rewards on offer or, in the very least, the undivided attention of passers-by on the street. Similar rules, of course, apply to those modern urban disguise traditions that are more intimately connected with life festivals rather than the seasons, traditions such as hen parties (Shetland and Iceland), wedding guising (Shetland) and school initiation and graduation (Iceland). The key attraction here is essentially the freedom that being in a mask, albeit a symbolic one, provides.53 The feature of making people guess our identity is an added bonus, but that is not what is most important. Just as the nature of the mask and the emphases behind masking have varied over time in the North Atlantic, so too has the overall nature of the activity. As noted above, house-visiting traditions (if they ever existed in early times) seem to have disappeared at a very early point in most places in Iceland. In their place has come a slightly different type of tradition whereby most Icelandic children on Ash Wednesday tend to visit shops and companies by day rather than homes by night (see figs 16.1Ð16.4).54 The Icelandic school traditions and many of the hen party activities also limit themselves to certain locales, such as the homes of teachers or friends, school buildings, work places and particular drinking venues. In yet other traditions like the old vikivaki games or the Shetland wedding traditions, instead of the mummers going around and visiting their audiences, the audience assembled in one particular locale, awaiting the arrival of their disguised visitors like a semi-unsuspecting theatre audience. In the Papa Westray games, meanwhile, the audience actually had to go out to find the beings. As Tom Pettitt (1990 and 1995) has shown, each of these variations is bound to involve slightly different dynamics, all of which are worthy of further analysis in future.

53 See also the articles by Christine Eike (on ritualised humour) and Mari Kulmanen elsewhere in this volume. 54 See further section 3. d. below, and the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 307

3. An Overview of Mask and Mumming Customs in the North Atlantic Following The Old Farming Calendar In the brief reviews of annual mumming traditions that follow, the ordering will be slightly different from that taken in most of the other surveys in this book in that it will begin with Hallowe’en. The main reason for this is that in Shetland, especially, the Hallowe’en mumming traditions have to be considered alongside those related to Christmas and New Year. The overview will take one area at a time, beginning with Orkney and then moving north to Shetland, the Faroes, and Iceland. Coincidentally, this also provides a faint chronological pattern to the annual festivities known in the North Atlantic islands.

3. a. Orkney: November 5: Pop Night; New Year’s Eve: “The New’er Song” As has been noted above, the old local gyro traditions of Papa Westray (set in February) seem to have died out before the First World War. Most of the other customs relevant to the present subject that exist today in Orkney today seem to have been imported from Scotland and England in relatively recent times, something that underlines the continuity of the close cultural connections that Orkney has always had with Scottish mainland (see the historical survey in section 1. b. above). None of the customs in question are “mumming” traditions in the strict sense of the term, but the close relationship that they have to such traditions makes them worth noting here. Pop Night (Pope Night) is the Orkney equivalent of the British Guy Fawkes’ Night, or Bonfire Night (November 5) which has taken over from the older Hallowe’en/ Samhain bonfires in many parts of the United Kingdom, and in some places retains strong marks of the anti-papist sentiments associated with its origin.55 This tradition, which has not been documented in any detail outside the work of Ernest Marwick (see Marwick 1975: 117), appears to be limited, in Orkney, to the town of Stromness. Helga Tulloch, a research student (and Orkney inhabitant) has provided the following summary of the tradition based on her own recent fieldwork (see fig. 4.9):56 It involves small groups of children going from door to door with their “neepy lanterns”57 or (more so in the middle of the town and south) ghoulish faces carved out of turnips. At each door they ask for “a penny to burn me pop” (a penny to burn the

55 Guy Fawkes’ Night is a commemoration of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, a Catholic conspiracy to blow up both King James I and the English Parliament in 1605: See Simpson and Roud 2000: 261Ð262. 56 My thanks to Helga Tulloch for allowing me access to her material on both the Pop Night traditions and those involving the “New’er Song”, based on the following interviews that she has taken: Eric Flett, Stromness, 24.11.02 (School of Scottish Studies [SSS] Archive J02.194.2); Jackie Robertson, Stromness 27.09.02 (SSS Archive J03.83.1); Jim Robertson, Stromness 23.11.02 (SSS Archive J02.194.1); and Thora Tulloch, Stromness 21.11.02 (SSS Archive J02.194.0). 57 i.e. hollowed-out turnip lanterns. 308 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 4.9: Children on Pop Night in Orkney, 2003. (Photograph: Helga Tulloch.) (Courtesy of Helga Tulloch.)

pope Ð I think it really means). I used to go around58 with our neighbour (a year younger than myself) and my brother Ð there were rarely more than four of us. We usually kept to our own road but as we got older went to some other places in the north end of the town. It was always very exciting getting home and counting out our money. Some children, after they finished going from door to door, went out to the community bonfire at Ness at the Southend and threw their pops in the fire. I think we did this a couple of times. I also remember once some older girls pushing a guy (a scarey crow type figure) through the streets from the Northend [of town] to the bonfire at the Southend. I think they collected money along the way. My father and uncle used to go out on “pop night” as well. Their uncle used to take great pride in making quite artistic “pops” for them. My grandmother remembers children taking part in the custom when she was young (born 1916) but did not go herself. This was due to the fact that her best friend’s mother was not from Strom- ness but the East Mainland of Orkney and felt that the custom was just a form of begging and forbade her daughter to participate. My granny is quite annoyed about missing out and insists that it was not like begging at all. The sentiments expressed about begging here are interesting, and, of course, reflect an attitude commonly heard in discussions of mumming traditions not only in Scotland during the nineteenth century, but also throughout the Nordic area. The same idea is clearly underlined in the following comments by another informant from Stromness: … Well what happened was, you see, my friend’s mother… she belonged to the East Mainland and she took it in her head it was like begging. But you see it really wasn’t: the people in the town accepted it and they kept it going…. But… she wasn’t allowed to have a pop so of course I didna have one either…. She wasn’t used to this and she thought it was really like going about begging for money and she wouldn’t let her daughter take part in it … silly idea. It was just a turnip and they sort of marked out a face on it…. And some folk carved out a face… some folk’s were really good…. It was in connection with this Guy Fawkes…. (Thora Tulloch, interviewed by Helga Tulloch, 21.11.02: SSS Archive J02.194.0).

58 About twenty years ago. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 309

As indicated above, the “Pop Night” tradition involved house visiting but no formal mumming. Nonetheless, use of the painted “pop” or “guy”, which one man describes simply as being “a stuffed character… like a scarecrow” (Jim Robertson, interviewed by Helga Tulloch, 23.11.02: SSS Archive J02.194.1) offers interesting parallels to the idea of “mumming by effigy” described elsewhere in this book by Nils-Arvid Bringéus and Christine Eike. Another once widespread house-visiting Orkney tradition which has now disappeared,59 is that of the singing of the so-called “New’er Song” or New Year’s Song, a song which was also well-known in certain areas of western Shetland (especially Foula, Papa Stour and the district of Walls: see further Stoughton Holbourn 1938: 157Ð161). The fact that the singers of the song refer to themselves in the lyrics as being “St Mary’s Men”60 raises the possibility that the tradition may at one time have had faint connections with a mummer’s play or Galoshins tradition; indeed, as Ernest Marwick notes, parallels to the song can also be found in Aberdeenshire (Marwick 1975: 101).61 As the title of the “New’er Song” suggests, the tradition tended to be carried out either at New Year, or “Old New Year” (twelve days later, on January 13), and is well summed up in the following account by Mary Scott about the North Ronaldsay customs: The New’er Sang was sung on New’er Even – it was never called Hogmannay Ð by a company of men from each “toon” going from door to door in their own district, and singing the song outside each door. After they had sung they were taken inside the house and were treated to food and drink Ð the best that was in the house. When they went on to the next dwelling-place their numbers were augmented by any men who cared to accompany them from the house just visited. By the time the New Year was well established they were usually very merry Ð and fine fun it was to be a child and to be privileged to listen to their fun and rejoice in their enjoyment. Each “toon” stayed within its own boundaries in the old days, but nowadays there is some relaxation of the old customs. Indeed, the old tradition of singing the New’er Sang is in danger of being lost… (Scott 1968: 152–154).62 It might be noted that as with “Pop Night”, there are no living (or written) memories of costumes or disguises being used in connection with this tradition in Orkney. However, once again, earlier links to costumes, masks and role-play may well be indicated by the common involvement of a figure known as the Kyerin Horse, or “Carrying Horse” (Marwick 1975: 102), who is mentioned in one verse of the song, and was thus also known in those parts of Shetland where the “New Year’s Song” was sung. The verse runs as follows: “Here hae

59 Supposedly, like the gyros tradition, it largely died out before the First World War: see Robert- son, 1991:130Ð132. Marwick (1975: 101) notes that in the 1970s, the tradition could only be found on the island of Burray. According to Helga Tulloch, it is now (2007) no longer known. 60 “Good New Year E’en, Guid Year Night/ Saint Mary’s men are we,/ We are come here ta claim a right,/ Afore Our Ladye”: see further Stoughton Holbourn 1938: 159–160. 61 On Galoshins, see further the article by Emily Lyle elsewhere in this volume. 62 See also Marwick 1975: 101Ð103; Black 1903: 195; Firth 1922: 33; Banks 1946: 22Ð23 and 33Ð 34; and Robertson 1991: 130Ð132. 310 Terry Gunnell we a carrying horse – / Saint Mary’s men are we,/ The De’il sit upon his corse,/ Afore Our Ladye” (Stoughton Holbourn 1938: 159–160). As Firth (1922: 126) notes: The carrying horse referred to in verse 15 was a marked man, selected for his strength. His duty was to carry a caisie63 or a winno-cubbie, in which were gathered all the eatables received on their house to house visitation. At the last house in the district the contents of the cubbie were discussed, along with copious draughts from the guidwife’s ale cog. Macleod Banks (1946: 33) underlines that this figure had a particular comic role to play, stating: The “carrying-horse”, mentioned in the last verse, was the clown or jester of the party, who suffered himself to be beaten with knotted hankerchiefs, and received double rations as the reward of this folly. It should be stressed that no accounts tell of the Kyerrin Horse ever actually taking the form of a horse. There is, however, another somewhat unique Ork- ney tradition which certainly does involve a strong element of ritual animal role-play. The tradition in question, nowadays referred to as the Festival of the Horse, has been transferred from its original dating at Easter to that of a Wednesday in August which is more amenable to tourists and other visitors. It has always been limited to the island of South Ronaldsay. Ernest Marwick describes the modern tradition as follows: Boys assemble on an afternoon of the holidays to compete in a mimic ploughing match. They bring miniature ploughs, some of them exquisitely made and regarded as family heirlooms. The little girls of the island (and some of the smaller boys) dress up as horses, in costumes so colourful and exotic that they dazzle the eye. Their character as “horses” is remembered in fetlocks and tail, collar and hames, bridle, and silver edged shoes (to simulate horse shoes), but after that fancy takes over. Spangles, silver chains, gold braid, tiny bells, ribbons, rosettes, medals, mirror glass Ð everything in the house that is gay or that glitters is requisitioned. Costumes and ploughs are judged in the crowded village hall at St Margaret’s Hope, then the ploughmen, without their horses, travel to an island beach, where there is a stretch of smooth damp sand marked out in flats, or sections, for ploughing. The ploughs are pushed through the sand under the eyes of serious adult judges, much care being taken to produce straight and even furrows. The day ends with tea, games, dancing, and prize giving (Marwick 1975: 109Ð110). As Marwick notes, the alteration of the time setting has totally removed any potential links the custom might have had with the farming year, thereby making it quite a different festival. He adds, however: It grew out of a simple custom, whose origin and precise meaning are forgotten. With ploughs that could be as unsophisticated as a cow’s hoof fixed to a stick, the island boys completed in turning the light earth of a potato field. Each part of the island had its own ploughing match, but out of a number of separate events a single large scale festival emerged (Marwick 1975: 110). It might be noted that the age of the original tradition is uncertain.

63 A straw basket; cf. the word keshie in numerous Shetland accounts of mumming activities. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 311

3. b. Shetland: Hallowe’en, Christmas, New Year, Old Christmas, Old New Year, Up-Helly-Aa (last Tuesday in January) As has been noted above in section 1. b., Shetland “guising” went under a variety of names, and took place essentially at Hallowe’en and during the Christmas period. However, there are also references to it taking place on “Winter Sunday” (October 14); at Martinmas; and (more rarely) at Shrovetide and Easter.64 Nonetheless, even within this general time frame there was certain amount of variation based on whether the island or the local community had accepted the official time change from the old Julian calendar to that of the new Gregorian calendar.65 As Sheila Gear writes on behalf of the people of Foula: We celebrate Christmas or Yule on the 6th of January because in 1752 when the calendar was reformed the Foula folk still adhered to the old Julian calendar, not approving of the highhandedness of shifting all the days twelve days back. New Year’s Day or ‘Neurday’ correspondingly falls on the 13th of January (Gear 1983: 102). In general, it would appear that a basic line can be drawn between the northern and easterly islands of Unst, Yell, Fetlar and Whalsay, where mumming used to take place at Hallowe’en (both Old and New Hallowe’en in northern Unst even today: interviews with May Sutherland 2000 and Bertie Priest 2001); and the more southerly and westerly areas of Mainland, Bressay, Foula, Papa Stour and Fair Isle, where Christmas and New Year are the times at which such activities have usually taken place. Nonetheless, a clear intermingling of traditions has taken place over time: in Fetlar in more recent years, Christmas and New Year mumming (by children) have replaced the old Hallowe’en traditions; while in large parts of Yell and on Fair Isle, both Hallowe’en and New Year are celebrated (see map 4.6). In general, in modern times, it would seem that outside Unst Hallowe’en is beginning to become a children’s mumming festival, while Christmas, New Year and Up-Helly-Aa (see below) are the times at which adults mask themselves.66 Another feature which echoes this old borderline between northern and

64 See Hibbert 1931: 289 and 293; Edmondston, 1869Ð1870: 470Ð472; Newall 1978: 42Ð43; Mar- wick, 1975: 115Ð117; and Jakobsen 1928Ð1932: I, 274. 65 Reviews of information about the Shetland traditions can be found in Gunnell 1995a: 167Ð178; 1999; 2001a, and 2007a (forthcoming). For primary written sources, see especially Edmondston 1809: II, 64Ð65; Hibbert 1931: 293; Edmondston 1866: 42 and 107; Reid 1869: 58Ð59 and 62; Ed- mondston 1869Ð1870; Fergusson 1884: 158Ð160; Stewart 1986: 130Ð134; Stewart 1872: 220; Johnson 1962, 565Ð57; Johnson 1971: 130Ð133; Spence 1899: 189; Edmondston and Saxby 1900: 330Ð331; Hardy 1913: 139Ð141; Stoughton Holbourn 1938: 157Ð161; Saxby 1932: 70; 77, and 86; Moffatt 1934: 181Ð184; Mitchell 1948: 119; Marwick 1975: 91, 115Ð116; Balneaves 1977: 231; Newall 1978: 42Ð43; Nicholson 1981: 140Ð141, and 147; and Waterston and Jones 1983: 61. The description of present-day customs is based on fieldwork undertaken by Terry Gunnell in Shetland in the summers of 2000 and 2001. 66 In both Fair Isle and in Northavoe, Yell, the children dress up at Hallowe’en, and the adults go mumming at New Year. 312 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 4.10: Children going guising in Lerwick, Shetland in the mid-twentieth century. Here straw hats are still being used. (Courtesy of the Shetland Museum.) southern mumming traditions in Shetland is the use of the names gr¿liks (Unst) and skeklers (Yell and Fetlar) for the Hallowe’en mummers; and “guisers” for those who came round in disguise later in the year in the south (see map 4. 6). The costumes associated with these two groups also seem to have varied. While the southern “guisers” seem to have worn any old clothes and masks that were available, the gr¿liks and skeklers in the past were directly connected to straw costumes and/ or straw hats (see figs 4.3Ð4.5, 4.7Ð4.8 and 4.10Ð4.11), those in north Unst (Haroldswick and Norwick) being further divided into Dancing Gr¿liks (who were limited in number to six masked dancers and a fiddler: see fig. 4.12); Black Gr¿liks (adults who come round at night) and Penny Gr¿liks (children who come round on the Saturday before Hallowe’en: May Sutherland and Joan Mouat: interview 2000). While the straw costumes have now almost disappeared from living memory, the use of straw hats either as complete facial masks (Fetlar, and north Yell: see fig. 4.8), or as headwear with added veils to disguise the face (Mid and South Yell and Whalsay: see figs 4.7 and 4.10) may well be making a return in the deliberate resurrection of a sellable craft strongly connected to local identity.67 In general, however, the nature of the costumes used in Shetland mumming today (throughout the islands) closely reflects those developments that are taking place in mainland Scandi-

67 This potential “resurrection” is echoed by the decision to have an old photograph of the Fetlar skeklers on the cover of the most recent edition of Marwick’s The Folklore of Orkney and Shet- land. Both developments reflect in some ways the commercialised heritage developments in New- foundland and Åland described by Paul Smith, and Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch in their articles elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 313

Fig. 4.11: Up-Helly-Aa mummers in Baltasund, Unst, Shetland in the early twentieth century. (Courtesy of the Shetland Museum.)

Fig. 4.12: Dancing gr¿liks in Unst, Shetland, in the early twentieth century. (Courtesy of May Sutherland and the Unst Heritage Centre.) navia. The old straw hats and flour bags used in the past are increasingly being replaced by complete rubber facial masks (see figs. 4.13 aÐb and 4.14). Furthermore, at their Hallowe’en festivals, the children are regularly starting to adopt roles based on media stereotypes, making use of a few strokes of symbolic face paint rather than going out of their way to disguise themselves completely. 314 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 4.13 aÐb: Guisers in Fair Isle, Shetland in the 1980s. (Courtesy of Margaret Stout.)

Fig. 4.14: Satirical guisers in Fair Isle in the 1980s. (Courtesy of Margaret Stout.)

The essential “game” itself, however, is still largely the same in Shetland today as it was in the nineteenth century, especially when it is “played” by adults (as in Haroldwick and Norwick in Unst; and Northvoe in Yell). The mumming group, which will carefully go round the entire community (see further Gunnell 2007a forthcoming), will arrive at a house making noise, and burst right into the living room (often without knocking) where they are awaited. They will then either stand silently or disguise their voices. Some will perform a Shetland Reel (which needs six dancers, hence the number of Dancing Gr¿liks in northern Unst). Others, meanwhile, might perform a satirical sketch Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 315

Fig. 4.15: Members of a hen party walking the streets of Lerwick, Shetland, in 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.)

(see fig. 4.14), something that is a common feature of modern Fair Isle mumming (interview with Margaret and Michael Stout 2000), and probably has close connections with the Up-Helly-Aa tradition which occurs later in January and is nowadays known in most larger towns in Shetland, such as Lerwick and Brae in Mainland, Bressay, Uyeasound and Baltasound in Unst (see fig. 4.11), and Cullivoe in Yell (see further Brown 1998: 178Ð179). A typical example of Shetland mumming as it used to take place in Unst at Hallowe’en is described in the following account by May Sutherland: Just after tea… once you’d settled in for the night… dark nights, you know… and then you’d hear the knock, knock on the door (laughs)… that’s them arriving…. Well, you invited them in, and they came in and… I mean, the dancing set, they danced… played… you could hear the fiddle before they came to the house, you see… playing as they were approaching the house… and they came in and danced and so on, and you offered them some refreshment or whatever… and they either took it or not, I mean you did nae force them to take it… no, they either took it or not, and if they were… if they thought they been… we’d guessed who they were, you see… then they would maybe take their masks off, and … veils off, and let us know who they were…like… but very often they didn’t do that… They thought, you see, we hadn’t guessed who they were, so they were off again (laughs)…. It was the same with the groups, the Black Gr¿liks going in twos and threes, you see…. They would come in and you were always trying to guess who they were and so on, but… although they were disguised, you could recognise the way they walked or… the way… something about them that you thought you recognised, but, of course, some- 316 Terry Gunnell

times you were wrong altogether! (Laughs)… […] Very often it was a thing like a… bit of muslin, or a loose cotton, or something they put over their faces so you didn’t know them… Masks weren’t used so much then… they…. Well, no doubt you couldn’t really get them so easily here… so usually it was some bit of cotton or muslin thing over their faces…. They always tried to hide the hair too… Just…. The idea was that you had to… I mean, they didn’t want you to recognise them, you see (laughs)…. That was all part of the fun, trying to guess who they were…. They didn’t speak… or… not until they took their masks off… then… but while they were masked and so on, they didn’t speak because you would recognise the voice, you see… TAG: So they would just come in and dance straight away, or stand in the door…? MS: Yes, the dancing ones were dancing, and the others came in and you invited them to sit down and so on, and gave them some… something to… refreshments… and maybe asked them if they wanted something to eat and so on… but usually they’d shake their head: No, they weren’t needing anything and away they’d go again (laughs)…. If they took anything, they just ate… or drank it in the house before they left again…. They didn’t carry with them…. (Interview with May Sutherland, Unst, 2000). The customs known earlier around the capital of Lerwick at Christmas and New Year were not so very different from these, as the following letter sent in answer to the 2001 Masks and Mumming questionnaire demonstrates: Children’s Guising: My first experience of guising was when I was about age six (1918). I went with my brother to relations and friends. We went on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve in the afternoon as soon as it got dark. Children were called “the peerie guisers”. We were dressed in any old fashioned clothes. We kept these old fashioned clothes for guising. We always wore masks (faas faces) which could be purchased for a penny or two from a local toy shop (Kitty Bruce’s). My mother always made sure we prepared an act of some kind, singing, dancing or dialogue. Usually the boy pretended to be a woman and the girl pretended to be a man. The people were so happy to see us and gave us an apple, an orange or a penny. When we got home we counted our pennies and my mother took us to the shops to spend them. This was a great excitement as, at that time, work and money were scarce. Adult Guising The shops stayed open on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve until 8 or 9 p.m. and so adult guising only started after that. Before midnight on New Year’s Eve, guisers gathered at the Market Cross. My parents took us to the cross where the brass band was playing and the ships in the harbour blew to bring in the New Year. After midnight guisers would meet friends or relatives or go to any house that was an “open house”. Word went round as to which houses were open houses. The guisers were dressed in old clothes or fancy dress and wore masks. Some houses, ours included, kept a guising box with a variety of costumes to wear, old fashioned clothes or fancy dress. The guisers went in pairs or groups and brought a gift to the house or took a bottle of spirits and shared with their hosts. A welcome was given to everyone. There was singing, dancing and dialogue and sometimes a fiddler would arrive. The festivities lasted all night. Guisers would sometimes do a skit about some local incident and would be questioned by their hostesses as the hostess tried to find out who the guisers were. The Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 317

longer you could keep people guessing the more fun it was! The masks would never be removed by the hosts but as soon as they guessed who you were you took your mask off. If they couldn’t guess we took our masks off anyway (Letter from Adeline G. H. Robertson, Lerwick 2000). Such were the traditions in Lerwick in the past. The description underlines the degree to which Shetland’s modern Up-Helly-Aa festival in Lerwick (and other larger towns) with its burning Viking ship and squads of thematically- masked (largely male) figures, led by the elite male squad of the elected Guizer Jarl and his horned viking warriors, represents, in essence, an interesting urban development of these earlier rural house-visiting traditions that used to take place all around the islands (including Lerwick), not least because these, too, still involve a fair amount of community hall visiting, if not individual house visits. Allied to this, however, are a number of other economic, political and social factors that have been carefully and effectively analysed by Callum G. Brown in his seminal work on the history and development of the tradition (1998). Neither the name nor the dating of the Up-Helly-Aa festival have yet been totally unexplained (see Brown 1998: 32Ð41), but it is probable that the dating of the festival on the last Tuesday in January was a development from an “Old Twelfth Night”. As an officially organised and publicised mumming tradition which nonetheless makes great use of satire to challenge the powers that be, Up-Helly-Aa offers some interesting parallels to the commercial aspects nowadays associated with the mumming traditions of Newfoundland. It also echoes the nostagic growth in the number of local Viking history plays annually being performed by local people in the summer time in many parts of Nor- way, and the development of medieval and/ or Viking “markets” and festivals in Scandinavia in places like Visby in Gotland, and Hafnarfjör∂ur in Iceland. In all of these cases (which usefully also attract tourists), the mainly adult participants spend several days in ancient costume, often taking on new names, and simultaneously allowing themselves various degrees of medieval liminal license.68 In general, the more time one spends in Shetland, the more clearly one realises the importance of the role played by costuming and disguise traditions in the lives of many of the islanders. As has been noted above, the traditional mumming customs at at Hallowe’en are, in many places, beginning to be taken over by young children and are even officially organised by primary schools. However, alongside this, many adults regularly continue to take part in traditions involving costume, if not in the traditional Hallowe’en, Christmas or New Year mumming, then in Up-Helly-Aa squads, or in wedding mummers’ groups (which are still known in many parts of Shetland, especially in Unst and The

68 On the subject of “heritage” costuming of this kind, see further the references and articles in Anttonen, Siikaala, Mathisen and Magnusson 2000; and Eriksen, Garnert, and Selberg 2002. This aspect of Viking-Age costuming has yet to be researched in Iceland. Here, it is closely connected to the comparatively recent development of the Ásatrúarfélag which involves the worship of the Old Norse gods. 318 Terry Gunnell

Out Skerries, where all the wedding guests have been known to arrive in costume), or even costumed hen parties (which have become a common phenomenon in recent years in Lerwick: see fig. 4.15). In Shetland, adult mumming is clearly far from dead. As I have discussed elsewhere (Gunnell 2007a forthcoming), these Shetland traditions also have particular value in the context of this book because they offer some very interesting points of comparison for the mumming traditions known elsewhere in the Nordic area, not only with regard to the apparent early roots of the Shetland customs and the continuing close connections that exist between the northern mummers and certain supernatural figures of folk belief, but also in the way these traditions function as a means of mapping out and underlining the identities of the communities and social groups that take part in the liminal mumming game. They form an effective link between the mumming traditions of mainland Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland, and the more northerly islands of the Faroes and Iceland.

3. c. The Faroes: Gr¥lukvöld (The First Monday or Tuesday Evening in Lent) As has been noted above, one of the more intriguing features of the Faroese gr¥la tradition is its dating at the start of Lent, especially since Gr¥la in Iceland is nowadays connected to Christmas, and the gr¿liks in Shetland are associated with Hallowe’en. There is little question that the present dating stems from the close connections that the Faroes have had with Denmark and the influence of Danish Shrovetide mumming, something also witnessed in Iceland in the Ice- landic Shrove Monday and Ash Wednesday costume traditions, both of which, like the Faroese traditions, occur alongside other more obvious Danish traditions like the eating of cream buns and that of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”.69 However, as I have noted elsewhere (Gunnell 2007a forthcoming), Shrove Monday directly follows the last traditional dance weekend in the Faroes, and, as has been pointed out in section 1. b. above, Faroese traditional dances in the past, like the vikivaki gatherings in Iceland, regularly used to involve costumed figures (such as the jólhestur [Christmas Horse]: see further section 1. b. above). Furthermore, the Faroese dance season begins at Christ- mas. In that sense, Shrovetide mumming in the Faroes represents a delayed “end of Christmas” festivity a little like the Knut “knocking out of Christmas” found in mainland Scandinavia.70 Furthermore, the fact that the Faroese figures

69 In spite of the present association with a Christian festival, several scholars support the idea that the tradition must be older: see, for example, Thuren 1908: 66; and Joensen 1987: 204. Regarding the tradition of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”, see further the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Denmark, and the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume, 70 See further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and especially that relating to Denmark where there are references to a similar time span for certain traditions. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 319 are named after a troll figure associated with Christmas in Iceland suggests further strong parallels with those figures seen at the end of Christmas elsewhere in Scandinavia.71 As noted in section 1. c. above, little detailed research has been done into Faroese mumming traditions or the various local variations that are certain to be found on different islands and in different townships. However, such work is now hopefully commencing at the University of the Faroe Islands, and one can look forward to seeing some interesting results. My own fieldwork in 2002 over two evenings in Kaldabak, Streymoy, and Sandur, Sandoy underlined the fact that not only does the tradition take place on different days (in many places now on the Saturday and Monday before Gr¥lukvöld, which are seen as being more practical), but also that it can continue for several evenings as the young mummers try to cover an entire settlement. Clearly, anonymity is still important, as is the idea that the disguised figures come from the mountains or far away. Unlike in Shetland, however, most interactions that I witnessed tended to take place in doorways rather than inside houses. Furthermore, while the Shetland tradition is that all houses should be visited, the children I accompanied in Sandur (two of whom took on the roles of Bin Laden and George Bush) tended to avoid some houses, but they also gave particular rewards to others who received them well (for example, a “Smiley” face drawn in the snow on a car bonnet). Furthermore, as in the other Nordic countries, it seems that few older people now take part in these traditions. Heinesen’s Gr¥la (see section 2 above) has gone through some radical changes.

3. d. Iceland: Christmas, New Year, Shrove Monday (Bollu- dagur) and Ash Wednesday (Öskudagur) As has been noted in section 1. c., no previous survey has been made of modern Icelandic mumming traditions. Indeed, the implications from both of Árni Björnsson’s central books on Icelandic seasonal and life festivals (Saga daganna and Merkisdagar í mannsævinni) were that such traditions were near non-existent in Iceland. Next to nothing is said in either book about house- visiting traditions, the shop-visiting traditions that take place on Ash Wednes- day, or even the use of costumes in the upper-secondary school pre-graduation traditions examined elsewhere in this volume.72 Both the Ash Wednesday mumming traditions and those associated with schools may be relatively recent in some areas, but they are nowadays widespread and firmly rooted. Further- more, in the last few years, as work has been proceeding on the Masks and Mumming project that lies behind this book, it has become increasingly appar-

71 See further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. On the Faroese gr¥la traditions in general, see further Hammershaimb 1849Ð51: 308; Thuren 1908: 66Ð68; Rasmussen 1985: 140Ð141; Svabo 1966: 290 and 491; Joensen 1987: 203Ð 204; Egholm 2000; and Gunnell 2001a: 38Ð41. 72 See further the article by Terry Gunnell elsewhere in this volume. 320 Terry Gunnell ent that a number of other mumming traditions (of the more traditional kind) used to exist quite unrecorded in a number of relatively isolated settlements. Indeed, in some places, they are still leading an active life (see figs 17.1Ð17.4). This especially applies to Christmas and New Year mumming which was evidently particularly well-known in certain settlements in the western fjords (a so-called relik område where a number of older traditions can still be found, and simultaneously a social and geographical environment that has many similarities to that known in the Faroe Islands). As the fieldwork conducted by myself, Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir and some of my other students at the University of Iceland has shown, house visiting in complete disguise which involved the guessing of identity like those traditions known in both Shetland and the Faroes was well-known in each of the following settlements in the western fjords: in Gjögur (now a deserted settlement in the north-west fjords, where Twelfth Night mumming used to take place in the 1940s: see below); in Bar∂aströnd (where mumming between farms was known to take place before Christmas in the same period);73 and in ∏ingeyri and Ólafsvík (where Twelfth Night mumming still takes place).74 Elsewhere there are reports of mumming having once taken place in Hauganes in Eyja- fjör∂ur on New Year’s Eve; in Vestmannaeyjar (The Westmann Islands, where mumming took place between Twelfth Night and the start of the spring fishing season: see Sigfús M. Johnsen 1989: 169–170); and in the south-western harbour town of Grindavík (where New Year’s Eve mumming still continues).75 (See further map 17.1.) In the case of all of these traditions, the central aim has always been disguise oneself and avoid recognition. An interesting shared feature of many of the traditions in question is that the mummers are seen as having the role of supernatural characters (álfar [elves] in ∏ingeyri and Gjögur, and jólasveinar [Yule Lads] in Grindavík), and are asked for their individual supernatural names by those who receive them.76 One account from a woman who grew up in Gjögur in the 1930s gives an effective picture of the way in which the tradition used to function: Og svo var aftur á πrettándanum, πá var… aftur svona svolítill gle∂skapur. Stundum fór ma∂ur grímuklæddur í húsin og ger∂i solti∂ sprell. ∏a∂ var alltaf drukki∂ πá um kvöldi∂. ∏á var aftur gefi∂ súkkula∂i og svona. ∏a∂ sem eftir var af bakkelsinu frá

73 Based on interviews with taken by Terry Gunnell and Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir, with Yngvi Haralds- son, Gunnar ∏orsteinsson and Bjarni ∏orsteinsson in 2002, and Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir 2003. See also Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir 2003, and Kristján ∏ór∂arson 2005: 60Ð63. 74 Based on interviews taken by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir, in 2002 and 2004. 75 For more detail on these traditions, and particularly that from ∏ingeyri, see further the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir on midwinter mumming in Iceland elsewhere in this volume. See also Vil- borg Daví∂sdóttir 2005. 76 Interview with Gu∂rún Gu∂steinsdóttir, 2004; see also the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir elsewhere in this volume. According to Gu∂rún Gu∂steinsdóttir, these mummers also take on the roles of Gr¥la and her present-day husband (according to folklore), Leppalú∂i. However, it is unlikely that this is a continuation of the medieval traditions noted above. Gr¥la is nowadays seen as being the mother of the jólasveinar, and it is more likely that she joined the group here through her “sons” rather than vice versa. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 321

jólunum… Ég man a∂ einu sinni fór ég og önnur stúlka, πá klæddum vi∂ okkur í… ég var í peysufötum og lét á mig grímu og hún var í karlmannsfötum me∂ hatt og staf, vo∂alega fínar, og striksu∂um πarna um sta∂inn og spjöllu∂um vi∂ fólki∂. Su- mir πekktu okkur en sumir ekki. Sumir áttu bágt me∂ a∂ átta sig á πví hva∂a fólk πetta var. Sumir πekktu stúlkuna sem var me∂ mér á afa hennar; hún væri svo líka afa sínum [hlær]…. töldu sig πekkja′na. En πetta gat veri∂ ansi gaman. Ég man líka einu sinni a∂ á πrettándaskvöld πá kom ma∂ur sem hét Trausti heim til okkar allur kolsvartur í framan og amma heitin var πá lifandi og vi∂ vorum náttúrulega mörg πá svo lítil a∂ hún var í litlu herbergi πarna inn af eldhúsinu og vi∂ allir minni börnin… vi∂ ruddustum inn til ömmu minnar og loku∂um hur∂inni… og fórum og lög∂ustum öll á hur∂ina. Hún vildi sjá… fara fram og sjá πetta fyrirbæri en… hún komst ekki fram fyrir okkur πví a∂ vi∂ stó∂um bara fyrir hur∂inni. [Hlær] (Lilja Björk Vilhelms- dóttir, interviewed by Lilja Jónsdóttir 2003). (And then on Twelfth Night, there was… again a bit of fun. Sometimes you went into houses wearing a mask, and caused a bit of disturbance. They used to drink in the evening. And they also gave chocolate and such like. Then there were the remains of what had been baked for Christmas. I remember that once, me and another girl, we dressed up in… I was in national costume and wearing a mask, and she was dressed as a man with a hat and stick, very fine, and we strolled around the place and chatted to the people. Some recognised us, but others didn’t. Some had great trouble trying to work out who these people were. Some recognised the girl that was with me from her grandfather; she was so like her grandfather [laughs]. They reckoned that they knew her. But that could be a lot of fun. I also remember one time on Twelfth Night, there was a man called Trausti who came to our home with his face all blacked up; my grandmother who is now dead was still alive then and many of us were still so little then, and she was in the little room off the kitchen and all of us little children… we rushed in to my grandmother and locked the door… we put our backs against the door. She wanted to see… to go out and see this phenomenon, but… she couldn’t get past us, because we were blocking the door [laughs].) This is obviously very much the same tradition as that known in Shetland, the Faroes and elsewhere in the Nordic area, even though a number of local variations have come into being, as with the appearance of the disguised jóla- sveinar, and the individual expression a∂ fara me∂ grímu (to go with a mask) which was used by my informants from Bar∂aströnd to describe the tradition. As in the other Nordic countries, these customs, if they have continued, have tended to move into the hands of children rather than adults, although in some places (as in Grindavík), some adults still participate (see figs 17.1Ð17.4). One question has to be whether these midwinter customs are the remains of an old local tradition or one that has been brought by Scandinavian immigrants to the western fjords and the southern towns (as clearly occurred with the Shrovetide mumming noted below, and is discussed in more detail in Kristín Einarsdóttir’s article elsewhere in this book). As Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir has noted, there is evidence to show that the tradition was brought from ∏ingeyri to Ólafsvík by one enterprising man,77 and it is possible that there are also close connections between both of the southern traditions (indeed, both Vestman- naeyjar and Grindvík were old harbour settlements from the Middle Ages

77 See further the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir elsewhere in this volume. 322 Terry Gunnell which had close connections with other countries). Further research still has to be carried out in this area. However, one other factor that needs to be borne in mind is the possible influence of a popular Icelandic play called N¥ársnótt (New Year’s Eve) written by Indri∂i Einarsson, a student of the Latin school in Reykjavík. This work was first performed at the school at Christmas 1871, and deals with interactions between “álfar” (elves) and human beings on the night in question, a time when, according to Icelandic folk belief, the álfar are supposed to be on the move. Some days after the first performance, on New Year’s Eve 1871, the students of the school, dressed up in the elvish costumes from the play, led an álfaganga (elf procession) to a bonfire on a hill in Reykjavík, thereby starting a new tradition of costumed elven processions and bonfires that spread with the play to a number of rural communities, and is still widespread even today (see Árni Björnsson 1996: 396–398; and Sveinn Einarsson 1991: 305Ð312, and 340). It is quite possible that this had some influence on the extant mumming traditions (especially on a New Year’s Eve tradition like that Hauganes in Eyjafjör∂ur, near Akureyri). Nonetheless, it is unlikely that the play was known everywhere. Fur- thermore, there seems to have been a clear difference between the nature of the Twelfth Night processions which kept to the streets, and those other traditions which involved disguised house visiting.78 The Icelandic Shrovetide mumming traditions are examined in more detail elsewhere in this book in an article by Kristín Einarsdóttir. For that reason, only a few basic relevant points will be noted here. As Árni Björnsson has noted (1996: 542), it is evident that in Ísafjör∂ur (once again in the western fjords) around the turn of the last century, there used to be a tradition of house visiting in disguise that took place on the evening of Shrove Monday. A man named Jón Grímsson notes in his memoirs written about this time: … fóru grímuklæddir hópar karla og kvenna um allar götur og inn í hús manna til πess a∂ s¥na sig og forvitnast. ∏óttu πetta engir aufúsugestir og loku∂u πví margir húsum sínum πetta kvöld (quoted in Árni Björnsson 1996: 542). (… masked groups of men and women went around all the streets, and into people’s houses to show themselves off and spy. They weren’t seen as being very welcome guests, so many people locked their doors that night.) Jón provides further context to this tradition by stating (and thereby supporting other witnesses) that “Grímudansleikir voru alltaf haldnir á mánudaginn á föstuinngangi” (masked balls were always held on the Monday in Shrovetide). A local advert from this period tells of tickets for these dances being sold by the local Norwegian baker in êsafjor∂ur (Árni Björnsson 1996: 542). Further- more, those presently involved in the local Ísafjör∂ur tradition, which still continues in its original form, tend to use the verb a∂ maskera (lit.: to mask) when

78 As Gu∂rún Gu∂steinsdóttir has noted to me (interview taken on April 15, 2004), both traditions exist alongside each other in Grindavík, the elven procession to the bonfire preceding the house visiting. However, Gu∂rún sees the two as being totally separate, not least because totally different roles and costumes are used for both. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 323 referring to their activities (Kristín Einarsdóttir 2004). The latter is an obvious mainland Scandinavian expression (in normal circumstances, one would expect the Icelandic verbs “a∂ dulbúa sig” or “grímuklæ∂ast” to be used). Both this expression and the connections with the Norwegian baker seem to point to strong mainland connections having existed at some point. On the whole, the Ísafjör∂ur tradition of evening house visits and guessing games taking place on Shrove Monday is closer to the Faroese gr¥la traditions than it is to the most typical Icelandic Shrovetide mumming traditions, which, as noted earlier, nowadays take place on Ash Wednesday during the day, have direct connections with the Danish Shrovetide tradition of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”79, and primarily involve visits to shops and companies rather than homes. As Kristín Einarsdóttir has noted, a form of costumed house visiting used to exist in Reykjavík prior to 1890, whereby on Shrove Monday, children in home-made military uniforms paraded with the kattarkóngur (The Cat King, who had knocked the “cat” out of the barrel), visiting houses and shops to sing and gain edible rewards (see Árni Björnsson 1996: 538–142). However, this tradition died out before the turn of the century. The more recent tradition of masking, known all around the country, seems to have spread quickly in very recent years, moving out from the more Danish-influenced centre of Akureyri in the north, where it seems to have been quite deeply rooted in the late nineteenth century. It was adopted by Reykjavík children in the 1980s (partly under the influence of the media and the local authorities), thereby taking over from a much older tradition in which children would pin ashbags or small stones on the back of unsuspecting passers by.80 As Kristín Einarsdóttir notes, on the basis of her examination of the tradition over the course of several years, while there are close connections between the modern Ash Wednesday mumming traditions that take place around Iceland today (see figs 16.1Ð16.4) and the house-visiting mumming that takes place elsewhere, there are also certain key differences related to the element of the time-setting (mainly during the mornings), the connections to shops and the fact that no guessing game takes place (nor many real attempts at complete masking). Furthermore, in Iceland the visiting children sing songs for their rewards (like their predecessors in Reykjavík in the nineteenth century), thereby avoiding the direct stigma of “begging”. Nonetheless, what is particularly interesting is that there seems to be a deeply-rooted unwritten rule that the songs sung by the children have to be traditional Icelandic songs (albeit sometimes with altered texts) rather than modern pop-songs. The force of “tradition” thus remains strong, even when the tradition itself in most places is relatively recent.

79 In simple terms, participants try to break open a hanging barrel with sticks. The winner in Iceland is then called the Kattarkóngur (Cat King). While the barrels in Iceland never seem to have contained a cat, they did sometimes contain a dead raven: Árni Björnsson 1996: 538–541. On this tradition (also known in the Faroe Islands and Denmark, see further the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Denmark, 80 See further the article on this tradition by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume. 324 Terry Gunnell

4. Non-Calendrical Traditions The main non-calendrical costumed traditions known in the North Atlantic islands have all been mentioned briefly above. Their key interest here is the way in which they underline the fact that the desire to dress up in costume in these parts is not limited to children. Indeed, what seems to be happening as the importance of the rural, communal, natural year is superceded by new patterns related to individual life spans, and the ebb and flow of the school year for example, is that the generations that used to go mumming on seasonal festivals in the past are now finding new reasons to don disguise and change their identities for a day. Some of these, like the Shetland tradition whereby uninvited mummers (originally in straw costumes) would visit weddings in disguise to dance with the bride and get a free drink clearly have early roots (see further Gunnell 2001a). As with the other Shetland traditions, this custom of mumming at weddings (especially known in Unst and the Out Skerries) offers a potential bridge between Irish traditions81 and traditions from western Norway and Sweden.82 Most of the other non-calendrical traditions in the North Atlantic islands, however, are much more recent. The hen party traditions in which either the bride or the whole group is dressed in costume (see fig. 4.15) are known in all of the places under discussion, and seem to have arisen in the last twenty years or so, coming north to Orkney and Shetland from Scotland, and to Iceland and the Faroes from Denmark.83 It would be interesting to compare the differing emphases and functions involved in these traditions which have come from different cultural backgrounds. The Icelandic upper-secondary school traditions involving costume (see figs 21.1Ð21.6) are perhaps an even more interesting phenomenon because, at least in the case of the pre-graduation traditions, they might offer an example of polygenesis, closely reflecting similar school traditions known elsewhere in the Nordic area, but seemingly having a local origin.84 As this particular tradition (dimission) is examined in more detail by the present author elsewhere in this book, nothing further will be said about it here. However, it is worth underlining the fact that initiation traditions in the same Icelandic upper-secondary schools also tend to involve a strong element of costuming, the initiates usually being “marked” in one form or another (either their faces or their over-

81 The Irish Strawboys (see note 50 above) used to behave in a similar fashion. 82 Such as the skotring custom described by Christine Eike in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and in her article on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden with regard to the Knutgubbar wedding visitors. 83 Sigrún Kristjánsdóttir notes in a recent BA dissertation (2002: 43–51) that stag and hen parties seem to have started occurring in Iceland in about 1980. 84 The question of whether the first use of costumes in upper-secondary school pre-graduation festivities was perhaps influenced by the first generation of Icelandic exchange students visiting Denmark in the early seventies has to be researched further. Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic 325 all dress), while their initiators often wear complete disguise, commonly echoing their roles as bu∂lar (executioners: see Gunnell 2006 and 2007b forthcoming). While the element of “hazing” has quite early roots at the Icelandic upper-secondary level, the use of costume is more recent, and seems to parallel the use of costumes in pre-graduation customs. In all of the above cases, the use of costumes has a similar effect: it allows the wearer to behave more freely than they would do otherwise, and simultaneously creates an atmosphere of liminality which can be either threatening or entertaining (if not both) for those not directly involved in the “game” itself. As noted above, these traditions also underline the fact that people in the North Atlantic islands, especially those in their late teens and twenties (if not older), have not lost their interest in disguising themselves or at least in dressing up in strange costumes for an hour or two when the occasion arises.

5. Conclusion As pointed out at the start of this chapter, one of the most interesting features of the North Atlantic mumming tradition is the fact that while mumming and house visiting thrived in Shetland and the Faroes, it seems to have died out in Iceland (and also Orkney). If it did survive in Iceland, it was nonetheless limited to one or two particular areas: the western fjords and the early harbour villages of the south and south-west (Vestmannaeyjar and Grindavík). This raises some interesting questions about why it should have succeeded in one area and not the other. The answer has to lie in the different natures of the settlements in each place, and the effects of the environment. All of the settlements in question suffered from the worsening of the climate after the Middle Ages. However, in Shetland and the Faroes, people lived in small villages or clusters of crofting farms, while the Icelandic and Orcadian farms tended to be more widely scattered across the landscape. Indeed, it might take an hour or more to move between farms in winter time in many parts of Iceland. In such an environment, the “dance gathering” (as with the vikivaki dances) was a more logical solution, not least because it killed two birds with one stone: it provided an evening of recreation and entertainment for those participating and also en- abled the “monsters” to visit everyone and bestow them all with a special “blessing” at the same time. Interestingly enough, those places where the ar- chetypal mumming traditions continue to exist in Iceland are environments which are very similar to the sort of village or town community found in both Shetland and the Faroes. Another feature worth noting from both Orkney and Shetland in particular is the striking role played by both world wars in the abandonment of community-based traditions like those involving costumes and disguise. As is well known, such traditions essentially involved young men. Furthermore, I have commonly heard it stated in my fieldwork that the “guisers” in Shetland would 326 Terry Gunnell visit every house in the community, except those where people were in mourning: in essence, it was felt that one liminal state was enough for any household to bear at any one time; a time of mourning was not a time for “humour” or additional shocks. Bearing this in mind, it should be remembered that both Orkney and Shetland suffered particularly badly during the wars (many of young men served at sea, especially in the convoys of the Second World War), and it is noteworthy that many of the mumming traditions, if they died out in individual communities, seem to have come to an end at this time. Even if enough of the young men who had earlier taken part in these traditions came back after the war, the traditions themselves would have been a painful reminder of exactly how much had been lost. In a sense they would have operated in an opposite fashion to the way in which they would normally function. As noted earlier, mumming creates a feeling of communitas, but in such situations it can also underline a communitas that has been lost. This may well be another element to bear in mind when considering why the Icelanders, in particular, did not develop their mumming traditions after the eighteenth century.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 327 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia An Introductory Survey

Urpo Vento

1. Introduction 1. a. Finland and Karelia Ð A Brief Description1 Finland is nowadays the most northerly member of the European Union (lying between 60 and 70¡ N). It is 1,170 km. long and has an area of 338,145 km2, yet only 5 million inhabitants (see map 5.1). To the west and south, it is bordered by inlets of the Baltic Sea, to the north by Sweden and Norway, and to the east by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Karelia which forms part of this. The geological and climatic differences between the north and south of the country are considerable, as are those between the west coast and the continental eastern Finland and Karelia. The Ice Age moulding of the soil and countryside of the western part of northern Europe ended ten thousand years ago, but the land earlier compressed beneath the continental ice is still rising and shaping the landscape, especially on the coasts. The treeless peaks of the northern fells rise to just over 1,000 m.. Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of lakes studding the wooded inland regions of Finland form waterways that release their waters into the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland or, in the north, the Arctic Ocean. The earliest settlements were set up at the river estu- aries and slowly spread along these water systems. Any examination of cultural history in this area has to address an area larger than that covered by Finland today, since the borders to both the west and the east were open in former centuries. The south-west province of Finland is known as Varsinais-Suomi (Finland Proper) and indeed, Finland once constituted no more than this region which was inhabited by Finnish settlers in prehistoric times. The names of the historical provinces in modern day Finland reflect the areas inhabited by the ancient tribal communities and their settlement: Varsinais-Suomi, Satakunta, Häme and Pohjanmaa (Österbotten/ Ostroboth- nia) in the west, Uusimaa (New Land) in the south, Savo, Karelia and Kainuu in the east, and Lappland in the north. The Stone-Age dwellers along the southern and northern coasts of the Gulf

1 The information in the following section is mainly drawn from Klinge 2000, and Jutikkala and Pirinen 1996.

328 Urpo Vento

Map 5.1: Finland, Karelia and Åland (from Norden: Man and Environment, ed. Uuno Varjo and Wolf Tiertze, Berlin and Stuttgart, 1987. (Courtesy of Gebrüder Borntraeger.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 329 of Finland represented a particular linguistic group from whose proto-language the present Baltic-Finnish languages (that is Finnish, Estonian, Livonian, Veps, Votic, Karelian and their various dialects) have developed. The forests and lakelands of the inland regions were once inhabited by Sami (Lapps) who hunted and fished and left numerous place names beginning with the word lappi. Their Sami language is also related to the parent Baltic-Finnish language and belongs to the same family of Uralic languages like many of the indigenous languages of central and northern Russia and the Urals. During the second millennium AD, the Sami gradually retreated from the new, encroaching Finnish and Karelian settlers, pushing north to their present domain which spreads over four national states. Alongside the people noted above, however, other migrants from Scandinavia had been settling on the coasts of Finland at least from the Bronze Age onwards, but their migration from the west became particularly marked in the thirteenth century. In later times, however, migration took place in both directions. Swedish speakers now account for about 5% of the Finnish population, most of them still inhabiting the coastal towns, the regions around them and the archipelago. Politically, Finland was gradually annexed to the Kingdom of Sweden by religious and secular forces in the thirteenth century. At the same time, the Novgorod princes were baptising the Karelians into the Orthodox faith. East- ern Finland and Karelia then became a regular subject of armed dispute between Sweden and Russia with their conflicting trade-policy interests. Under the Treaty of Pähkinäsaari (Nöteborg/ Schlusselburg) of 1323, the country was divided so that most of Karelia and northern Finland came under Russian rule. Over the next few centuries, Sweden enacted an expansive policy in the east, its might reaching a peak in the seventeenth century when even the eastern reaches of the Baltic, including Ladoga Karelia, Ingria and Estonia, belonged to this same superpower. Large numbers of Orthodox Karelians then fled to the Tver region in the Russian heartland to escape the missionaries of the Western church. These people have retained their language and identity right up to the present day. Over the following century, however, the national frontier of Fin- land once again moved westwards, and in the war of 1808Ð09, Sweden was forced to renounce the whole of Finland. As an autonomous Grand Duchy subordinate to the Russian Emperor, Finland nevertheless enjoyed a more independent status than it had done before this time. Among other things, it was able to keep its former laws and Swedish-speaking culture, and was also given an opportunity to develop the language of the Finnish-speaking majority into one of learning and literature. Imperial rule ended in Russia with the October Revolution of 1917, in the aftermath of the First World War. Finland then declared itself independent, but in 1918, partly with German assistance, it was forced to establish this new freedom by means of a bloody civil war. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which Ger- many a couple of decades later assigned to the Soviet sphere of interest along with Finland, soon broke away from Russia in their own wars of independence.

330 Urpo Vento

During the Winter War of 1939Ð40, Finland succeeded in maintaining its independence despite losing 10% cent of its territory, in other words most of the province of Viipuri and its own part of Karelia. During the Continuation War of 1941Ð44, it managed to reclaim Karelia, but was then obliged to cede this back again under the terms of the peace treaty. Evacuating and settling 423,000 Karelians to more westerly regions of Finland was a major project, and in the course of it, the earlier distinctive cultural features of the different provinces became mixed. After the war, contacts with Soviet Karelia and Ingria beyond the border remained poor for decades until the 1990s when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the border between Russia and Finland was once again opened to traffic in both directions. For a decade now, Finland has been receiving thousands of Ingrian-Finnish and Karelian “returnees” from the Karelian Republic and Estonia.

1. b. The Earliest References to Masks, Ritual Plays and Visiting in Finland and Karelia Ritual behaviour on festive occasions has undoubtedly been a particular phenomenon of the northern peoples of Europe which has roots stretching back maybe as far as prehistoric times, despite the lack of documentary evidence. We know that the inhabitants of Finland and Karelia during the so-called “Comb Ceramic” period (5000–2800 BC) were hunters and gatherers living in small communities. Indeed, hunting and fishing are known to have been major means of subsistence in the late Iron Age as well. In spite of the lack of material evidence, it may be possible to draw a picture of the way people lived in Fin- land by studying the culture of those speakers of Uralic languages who were living as hunters and fishermen along the rivers of Siberia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The most highly-revered animal among the hunters of northern Eurasia was the bear, which also played a major role in the mythology of the Finno-Ugrian peoples. They would see the Great Bear on the northern firmament, would set their course by it in the wilderness, and in their songs would retell the myth of how, long ago, the bear was lowered from the sky. Bear-hunting then became a form of ritual play, the mythical kinship between bear and man being reflected at different stages of this ritual. Having killed a bear, the hunting community would gather for a feast (the oldest Finnish document of such a feast dating from 1640). More interesting, however, is the account (Couon pääliset eli Häät) published by Christian Salmenius in 1754 telling of a bear feast held in the manner of a wedding (häät) in honour of a slain bear in the parish of Vii- tasaari in central Finland. According to the account, the corn gathered for the feast was used to brew beer and spirits. The people then assembled at the house where the feast was to be held in their best clothes, and a boy was dressed up as a bridegroom and a girl as a bride in honour of the bear. After this, the company feasted off bear meat and pea soup (Haavio 1967: 15Ð16; and Sarmela 2000: 13Ð17, and 46Ð54).

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 331

This latter account does not give any detailed description of how the company behaved at the “wedding”, but the drama may be assumed to have combined respect for the dead bear with playful wedding cheer as occurs in the bear feasts of the Khanty and Mansi peoples. In this connection, when documenting bear rites on the Ob river waterway in the late nineteenth century, Artturi Kan- nisto and K. F. Karjalainen made a point of mentioning the men’s dancing and grotesque jesting in birch-bark masks and women’s clothes (Kannisto 1906; and Karjalainen 1927). In his introduction to the hunting songs contained in a recent anthology of Finno-Ugrian folklore, Lauri Honko was also able to illustrate his text with photos taken by Lennart Meri of a similar bear feast in a Khanty village in the 1980s (Honko 1993: 117Ð140). Meanwhile, in the Mansi bear feast, we find onlookers being pecked by the same “crane” figure (a man wrapped in fur rugs with a red beak)2 as that sometimes which features in the autumn feast (kekri) at the end of the Finnish-Karelian crop year and in the visiting games of the Christmas season (Kannisto 1906: 230). Entertaining the revellers and onlookers with simple jesting carried out by persons dressed for a particular role was presumably customary in both the early hunting communities and the later agrarian villages of the northern Eurasian regions. Bear feasts, weddings and other festivities divided the annual round into set periods. When the catch or the harvest had been brought in, the revellers had something to offer others and also time to amuse themselves. The earliest records of pre-Christian work feasts in agrarian culture in Fin- land are found in sixteenth-century documents stating how peasants in Savo, for example, were fined for drinking an Ukon malja (a toast to the supreme god Ukko). Mikael Agricola also attached to his Finnish translation of the New Testament (1548) a mention of kekri and Ukon vakat (Ukko’s bushels), and in the foreword to his Psalttari (1551) passed a disapproving comment in poetic metre on pagan practices: Ja kun kevätkylvö kylvettiin silloin Ukon malja juotiin. Siihen haettiin Ukon vakka niin juopui piika sekä akka. Sitten paljon häpeää siellä tehtiin kuin sekä kuultiin että nähtiin (Haavio 1967: 148Ð52). (And when the seed had been sown in spring, A toast to Ukko would be drunk. For this they fetched an Ukko bushel And from it both mistress and maid would drink. Then much that was shameful was committed As could be heard and witnessed too.) It is not until the mid-nineteenth century that any observations are made by researchers about masks, ritual plays or visiting around the New Year. Admitted-

2 See further the descriptions of similar crane figures in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

332 Urpo Vento ly, an occasional reference to them appears in earlier documents, such as municipal ordinances. For example, the bourgeoisie of Pori in 1688 are known to have been under obligation to see that the children did not go about on Tapani or Tapanin päivä (St Stephen’s/ Boxing Day) “kulkea taloissa laulamassa ja vaivaamassa kunnon ihmisiä” (from house to house, singing and disturbing decent people: Jaakkola 1958: 422). In its reminder to the townsfolk that they should keep the peace at Christmas, the Kokkola administrative court also announced in 1789 that mumming was prohibited in the town (Nikander 1945: 295). The Mayor and Council of Helsinki, likewise, decided on December 18, 1797 to prohibit the wearing of disguise on penalty of being fined 20 silver talers: Koska tässä kaupungissa ja sen alueella on juurtunut käytäntöön paha tapa, että joulun, uudenvuodenpäivän ja loppiaisen aikana kaduilla, pihoissa ja taloissa liikkuu valepukuisia henkilöitä tähtien kera sekä ns. joulupukkeja… (Möller 1955: 62–63). (… because a bad custom has taken root in this town and region in that persons dressed in disguise and bearing stars, and so-called Christmas mummers [joulupukkeja] may be seen in the streets, yards and houses at Christmas, on New Year’s Day and at Epiphany….) I use the term “festive tours and visits” to refer specifically to a tradition-cultural phenomenon which was a form of entertainment and ritual behaviour popular in agrarian communities in days gone by, and still exists in some places today in rural centres in Finland and Karelia. At certain traditional festive seasons and on special days, it was permissible for people, either alone or in groups, to call uninvited at houses in the home or neighbouring villages wearing a mask or fancy dress, or at least behaving in an uncharacteristic manner. They would then entertain their hosts with speeches, songs or other performances, make fun of their hosts, parody serious ceremonies, tease the young men and women, frighten the children, invent their own behavioural code, and demand and receive refreshments. If the visitors were adult men, the rowdy performance would be enhanced by beer and spirits, but if they were children or young people, the jesting would culminate in attempts to identify the people behind the masks and the handing round of sweets. This tradition is thus a broader concept than “masks and mumming”. Al- though masks and fancy dress are often worn, they are not necessarily always the primary consideration. The main thing is the interaction violating the everyday norms of the village community, and the fact that everything takes place according to rules approved by the community. For example, the visiting is confined to the traditional festive seasons, days, and hours of the day. Since these traditions are known to all, households are ready to receive visitors on these occasions and have laid on food and drink. They can also assume that the people behind the masks are friends or acquaintances.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 333

1. c. The Material The visiting tradition was chosen as one of the folk culture items for mapping in Finland, as in Central Europe, back in the 1930s. After the Second World War, in the 1960s, the atlas project was revived and the present author was personally given the role of assistant in this work. In collating reports of traditional phenomena, I browsed through literature, articles in the press and above all manuscripts and recordings in language and tradition archives spanning a period of about a hundred years. In 1963, I then sent an unstructured questionnaire to members of the correspondent network of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKSÄ: the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society), followed by a supplementary enquiry in 1968. I also received information on the visiting tradition that ended the Christmas season in a response to a request for information made on the radio in 1970, and from an enquiry among schoolchildren conducted prior to fieldwork, as well as from the local press in the target area. These sources provided a fairly reliable picture of the life of the tradition during the time in question. Following this, between 1973 and 1975, people visiting on January 7 or 13 (a day known as Nuutti, or Knut)3 were interviewed, photographed and filmed in a number of parishes in western Fin- land, and a short illustrated picture book was published based on this material (Bregenh¿j and Vento 1975). A television documentary was also made in the same area. By the time I was ready to complete the maps and commentaries (see maps 5.2Ð5.4), I had a total of some 1,900 literary and archive references as well as 500 replies to the enquiries conducted in the 1960s. The corpus in question, used as my primary source of information, covers the present geographical area of Finland plus the areas of ancient Finnish-Karelian settlement now on the other side of the eastern border in Russian Karelia, Ingria and the Tver region. It more or less reflects the traditions known in the Finnish cultural world as it existed before the world wars and the deportations. Most (68%) of the reports are from western Finland, about 13% come from the present eastern Fin- land, and 19% come from the region now in Russia. The analytical model in use when the archive material was collected served as the basis for the typology of ritual visiting explained in detail in the following section.

3 Regarding Knut traditions, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tradi- tions in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, as well as the article on Åland elsewhere in this volume.

334 Urpo Vento

Miikkulanpäiv 3. Pääsiäskausi eli Nikolaos (Easter season) St Nicholas’ Day (6.12) Laskiainen Shrovetide 2. Joulukausi 1. Syyskausi (Christmas season) (Autumn season) Joulukausi Tuomaan Pääsiäinen Pyhäinmiesten päivästä Easter päiva (uusi kekri) Nuutin päivään All Saints’ Day Christmas season, (the new kekri) from St Thomas’ Day (1.11. or 2.11) to St Knut’s Day (21.12.-13.1.) Martin tai Katariinan päivä: St Martin’s Nuutin päivä or St Catherine’s St Knut’s Day (10.11 or 25.11) (7.1. or 13.1.) Map 5.2: Mumming in Finland: A Calendar of Ceremonial Tours and Visits. (Map: Urpo Vento.) (From Vento 2000.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 335

Map 5.3: Mumming in Finland: Touring Songs and Plays. (Map: Urpo Vento.) (From Vento 2000.)

336 Urpo Vento

Map 5.4: Mumming in Finland: Visitor Threats. (Map: Urpo Vento.) (From Vento 2000.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 337

2. General Features of Ritual Visiting Traditions in Fin- land and Karelia The spontaneous literary descriptions that have been produced over the decades are seldom exhaustive commentaries, and do not provide direct answers to all the researcher’s questions. Having a large corpus of material to draw on nonetheless helped to create an overall picture of the traditions. In doing so, particular attention was paid to the following: Ð the term used for the custom, the place and date where it took place Ð the annual actualisation date Ð the area covered, any means of transport, the rules for visiting Ð the age and gender of the participants Ð the members of the group, with or without masks Ð the role characters played (for example, human, animal, or supernatural beings) and the means of masking (masks, costumes involving fur, straw, cloth, horns, tail, beards, and so on) Ð attributes (weapons, tools, vessels, musical instruments, and so on) Ð refreshments (beer, schnapps, cakes, sweets, and so on) and demand for payment (food, drink, goods, or money) Ð ceremonial rites (inspection; washing; sweeping; threatening; frightening; harassing; and/ or tricking) Ð dramatic performances (dialogue; requesting; thanking; scolding songs; tableaux; music; dance and so on)

The same terms might be used to apply to other customs that differed greatly in their manifestation. Indeed, similar practices might accompany a variety of feast days. In drawing up a typology, it was thus necessary to be content with picking out the features that appeared most often in the reports, and those which were assumed to be indicative of, say, the historical layers of customs. I personally relied primarily on the following basic facts: firstly, the number and age of participants, the group make-up and the roles played; secondly, the masking of appearance, the use of role costume or the lack of a mask; and thirdly, the ceremonial attributes and behaviour. I thus arrived at the following six basic types of ritual visiting, characterised, on the one hand, by the group make-up and main role figures, and, on the other, by their appearance with or without masks and their role behaviour: 1. Role character appears alone 2. Role character appears with an escort (without masks) 3. Role character appears with a band of escorts (note: it is not always possible or even necessary to distinguish between Types 2 and 3) 4. A dramatic group appears in costume 5. A group appears disguised in masks with no specific roles 6. A visitor or group appears observing ritual customs with no masks or costumes

338 Urpo Vento

In Types 1Ð3, the main figure is a single character more or less resembling a human or animal who behaves in ritual manner. Such figures are sometimes es- corted by a person or group in normal dress. The central figures are often named after the festive season or day in question, and their mythical habitus probably reflects both folk beliefs and humour. In the old literary archive descriptions, these types account for 23% of the total as opposed to only 4.5% in the questionnaire replies from 1968. Type 4 refers to a dramatic group in which all the members are assigned clear roles and appropriate costumes. The group either performs a play rehearsed in advance (such as the tiernapojat [cf. the Star Play], the song-play about the Star Boys, also known in Finland as the tähtipojat, which forms a regular feature of the Finnish Christmas4), or improvises a theatrical event (such as a parody of a trial) using stimuli provided by the hosts. Cases in which a group consisting of various role characters merely calls at a house, behaving and speaking according to character, are open to interpretation. In the old archival reports, 10% of the accounts represented this folk-play type, while they made up only 3.5% of the accounts in the 1968 enquiry. Type 5 differs from Types 1Ð4 in that the participants are masked solely for the purpose of making them anonymous. There may nevertheless be common types such as comic married or engaged couples, artisans, Negroes, Arabs, and so on. The most important thing, however, is that they wear costumes and masks that render their wearers unrecognisable, their dress, behaviour and props involving attributes designed to entertain the spectators. Sometimes the masked visitors remain silent, merely gesturing, so as not to be recognised by their voices. This type represented 40% of all the reports in the older archival material, compared with no less than 82% in the 1968 enquiry. The prevalence of this type in the most recent material does not necessarily mean that the identification game represents something new in tradition. It has simply remained popular and withstood the passing of time in a changing world. As Type 6, I have classified those groups whose members do not wear masks or costumes but behave in a way that is deliberately ritual. They may utter threats (suggesting that they will smash the oven, for example5), and playfully make moves to carry out their threats using symbolic tools, or they may execute other playful jests or sing. This type accounts for 27% of the older archival reports and used to play a dominant role in the harvest festival known as kekri or köyri (set at Hallowe’en or on All-Hallows’ Day), and then in the Tapani or Tapanin päivä (St Stephen’s Day/ Boxing Day), visiting in eastern Finland. The ceremonial behaviour during these types of visits succeeds without the need for masks and costumes if the participants are adults who have been drinking beer and liquor.

4 See further the information on the Star Play given in the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions (especially from Sweden, Denmark and Norway), and also the article by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this book specifically dealing with the Norwegian material. 5 See further the article on this subject by Urpo Vento elsewhere in this volume.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 339

Researchers over time have classified ritual-visiting practices from many perspectives, depending on which “element”, “motif” or “act” interests them most, and on the frame of reference at the time of writing.6 Herbert Wetter, for example, when analysing German traditions in the 1930s (see Wetter 1933: 26Ð37), came to the conclusion that the Heischeelement/ -motiv (refreshments and the demanding thereof) was the common denominator of the practices he studied. In seeking natural criteria for classifying ritual visiting, he then focussed on their calendary actualisation and character (Termingebundenheit, Termincharakter), allowing for medieval or classical heritage, cult background, beginning, ending and transition times, eating and drinking habits, and so on. As his second classification criterion, he took the formal manifestation of ritual visiting (Erscheinungsform, Eigenform). The Finnish manifestations I examined would fit well into the first category. Herbert Halpert, who classified the Anglo-Saxon mumming traditions, examined the phenomenon both as a form of touring from house to house and also in other contexts, in both cases drawing a distinction between “informal” and “formal” visiting. As he saw it, there are three informal visit alternatives: a) the house visit, (b) the visitation by inquisitors, and (c) begging. He further divided visits requiring a formal and theatrical performance into three sub-categories: a) the Renaissance dumb-show or masque, b) the dance, and c) the folk play. The mumming observed by Halpert and colleagues in Newfoundland, like that in Finland, was primarily informal. One salient feature of such mumming was the attempt by the hosts to guess the identity of the visitors, something also regularly encountered in Finland (Halpert and Story 1969: 36Ð38). Another similar feature is that the behaviour of the bands of unmasked singing drinkers touring from house to house between Christmas and Twelfth Night in the Newfoundland fishing village studied by Halpert was distinctly uninhibited (Halpert and Story 1969: 76Ð103).7

3. An Overview of Mask and Mumming Customs in Finland and Karelia Following The Old Farming Calendar Matti Sarmela has said of the interactive systems at play in the old nineteenth-century Finnish-Karelian agrarian communities that socialising was clearly weighted towards two festive periods: the first lasting from Michael- mas (September 29) to All Hallows’ (November 1), and the second set around Christmas, New Year and Epiphany (Sarmela 1969: 25Ð85). This also applied

6 See further the introduction to this volume where the various approaches used in recent years are outlined. 7 See also the introduction to this volume on another more recent typology of festive practices designed by Thomas Pettitt: see Pettitt 1990 and 1995.

340 Urpo Vento to the festive visiting tradition, which culminated in these autumn and winter seasons. The customs in spring and summer tended to be local; only at around Shrovetide and Easter was there any major children’s visiting, something that occurred essentially in the Swedish-speaking coastal areas and the surrounding regions. Of the reports in the basic material, a good 80% apply specifically to the Christmas season, just under 15% referring to the time around All Hal- lows’, and only 5% to other major days in the annual round. In the following pages, I will refer to the various types of visiting as Types 1Ð6. It is noteworthy that the practices of the Christmas season display the clear influence of the Western tradition passed on by the Swedish-speaking population. These would appear to have merged with an older, Eastern tradition of “Baltic–Finnish” and “KarelianÐRussian” origin. I will therefore also give a few references to corresponding practices in Estonia and sometimes also go slightly farther afield in the following. Because the autumn festivals formed a prelude to the Christmas festivals, they will be taken first here, rather than last as in some of the other surveys.

3. a. The Autumn Season Ð The End of the Old Farming Year 3. a. i. September 29: Michael the Archangel’s Day, Michaelmas (Mikko) Until 1816, Michaelmas (Mikko) was the general hiring day for servants and hence an important date in the farming year. Only on the Karelian Isthmus are people known to have travelled round wearing masks (Type 5) at Michaelmas. Interestingly enough, Mihkli sandid is also known in north Estonia (Tedre 1969Ð1974: IV, 120Ð121).8 In Finland, the Michaelmas tradition had already merged with All Hallows’ in the nineteenth century. On both sides of the Gulf of Finland there would appear to have been a period between Mikko and Katri (St Catherine’s Day: November 25) known as jakoaika (the time of the division) and hingede aeg (Estonian: the time of the spirits) when the end of the crop and grazing season was celebrated (Vilkuna 1969: 283Ð284).9 These festivals were not ascribed to a particular date in the calendar until they merged with the Catholic saints’ day calendar. Interesting information about autumnal working festivals, however, is also to be found in south-west Finland where merry festivities called raiskolliset (trashing?) were held at different farms each day to mark the end of the threshing season and the chopping of straw as animal roughage (see Harva 1935: 62Ð65). The guests would arrive at the house in question wearing masks, some disguised, for example, as bizarre betrothed couples. Elsewhere you might see a woman carrying a man on her back, or someone got up as a hunchback or a frightening goat with horns. There are records from two parishes in Ladoga Karelia telling how,

8 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 9 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 341 in the nineteenth century, the farmer hosting the harvest work party (each farm would help the others in turn) would secretly place a masked figure at the end of a strip of field and the mowers would vie to see who could reach it first. The first to recognise it and reach the “figure” were then rewarded with liquor.

3. a. ii. November 1: All-Hallows’ Day/ Halloween, and November 2: All Souls’ Day (Kekri/ Keyri/ Köyri) In eastern Finland and Karelia, kekri continued to be the biggest feast day in the year and a popular day for ritual visiting right up to the early twentieth century; from then onwards the Western and Christian Christmas tradition gradually took over and attracted traditional rites. A frightening character (Type 1) going round from house to house alone was common in the old kekri tradition and acquired various dialect names (such as kekri, kekritär/ köyriätär [the female of kekri], and other names such as kekrikummitus [kekri ghost], kekrikurki [kekri crane], kekrimörkö [kekri bogey] or kekripukki/ köyrpukki [kekri goat]). This figure, wrapped in a sheepskin coat or sleigh rug, might carry a head protruding from a fur sleeve made of an axe or shears and wooden spoons (see figs 5.1 and 5.2). Some accounts remain of characters with escort(s) (Types 2Ð3), and likewise of drama groups (Type 4), but touring the same regions as the single figures were also masked groups of which corresponding names were used in the plural (Type 5). Most descriptions, however, tell of men travelling round from morning to night as kekri, dressed in ordinary clothes and visiting either alone or in a group. Armed with sticks, hay poles or knives, they would playfully threaten to smash the oven unless they were given liquor. On entering the house they might state their business by saying: “Annetaanko ryyppy vai kaadetaanko uuni?” (Do I get some liquor or do I have to hit the oven?), or “Köyriä vai uunia?” (Köyri or oven?). Then the householder would play along by replying, “Älkää hiidessä, pannaan ryypyksi!” (No, damn it, we’ll hit the bottle!), or “Ei toki talvea vasten anneta uunia särkeä!” (Can’t have the oven smashed with winter coming!).10 In the Swedish-speaking parishes on the west coast, it was also common for boys and young men to go round from house to house at All Hallows’ and be given refreshments as favours from the girls. In principle, the same juxtaposition of pagan and Christian elements can be discerned in the imported American Halloween tradition as that found in the Finnish-Karelian kekri and All Hallows’. As noted in the other survey chapters, in recent years, the global commercial media have helped introduce the Nordic countries to the foreign images of pumpkin lanterns and children going round dressed as witches or ghosts in masquerades on the last day of October. Ac- cording to a report by Carola Ekrem, Halloween did not really arrive in Finland until the 1990s, when Halloween merchandise began to make its appearance in

10 See further Urpo Vento’s more detailed study of this tradition elsewhere in this volume. 342 Urpo Vento

Fig. 5.1: A köyriätär (a female kekri being) from North Savo, Maaninka, Finland, in 1928. (Photo: Ahti Rytkönen.) (Courte- sy of Museovirasto, Kuva-arkisto, Helsinki [the National Board of Antiquities, Archives of Prints and Photographs, Finland].)

Fig. 5.2: A drawing of a köyrpukki (kekri goat) from North Savo, Siilinjärvi, Finland, in 1936. (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

(Trans. of accompanying report: One dark evening, it came in shaking its peculiar head. It looked hideous. We were still only bare-bottomed little tots and ran shrieking for [the safety of] the oven. The monster tried to come after us, shaking its head backwards and forwards or sideways, and sharpening its beak in between. Up on the stove, we listened with our hearts in our mouths: could the monster catch us up there? But the adults shunned it too, when it made straight for them. We children thought it was real, until one time when it fell apart. We had an old pauper living with us. He was in the corner by the door. I reckon he was a bit soft in the head. Anyway, he grabbed a piece of firewood and struck the monster on the neck. The monster’s head fell off and we saw it was made of an axe, shears, and two wooden spoons. The monster itself shed its skin which was my father’s sheepskin coat, and out came our farmhand, Pekka.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 343 hamburger restaurants and shops. The theme was then taken up in the press, advertisements, films and television programmes. In the autumn of 1997, even the Finnish Post Office was marketing the custom by publishing “Happy Hal- loween” cards containing with ghost motifs. The innovation, however, appears to have taken root most strongly in the island province of Åland, and to have been embraced most actively by Swedish speakers in other parts of Finland as well.11 Ekrem has also published a representative sample of the debate which has taken place in the press which often disapproves of the confusing of a pagan carnival with a day in the church year which is dedicated to the remembrance of the dead (Ekrem 2001: 20Ð28).

3. a. iii. November 10: St Martin’s Day (Martin päivä) and November 25: St Catherine’s Day (Katrin päivä) St Martin’s Day was a dominant feast day corresponding to kekri which was also known throughout Estonia.12 It was mainly a day dedicated to masked, singing and hospitality visits (Types 1Ð6) favoured mainly by men and boys at the end of the farming year (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VI, 9Ð122). In former times, martit or martin santit (Martins or St Martin’s) also went round the Finnish villages of western Ingria and the islands in the Gulf of Finland (Lavansaari and Seiskari), the fishing population of which was in close contact with the coastal villages of Estonia. In Estonia, Katrin päivä (St Catherine’s Day: No- vember 25) was a parallel day marking the end of the festive autumn season. On this day, groups of girls and boys dressed as girls and women going round singing and jesting (Types 1Ð6) were known throughout the country. Admit- tedly, kadrisandid (Catherine mummers) were not as popular in northern Esto- nia as the corresponding mardisandid (Martin mummers).13 There is also data on a custom of Estonian origin taking place at this time in the villages of Ingria (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VI, 160Ð223).

3. b. The Christmas Season 3. b. i. December 6: St Nicholas’ Day (Miikkulan päivä) St Nicholas’ Day was a feast day dedicated to the patron saint of the Orthodox village church in west Ingria and south-east Estonia. On this day, girls would go round performing a play in song (Type 6). The name they used for this (kiletoi) points to the corresponding koljada tradition of the Russians. In Europe, of course, St Nicholas is known as a figure who travels round bringing gifts and who subsequently lent features to the international Father Christmas of today.

11 See further the article by Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch on mumming traditions in Åland elsewhere in this volume. 12 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 13 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 344 Urpo Vento

3. b. ii. December 13: St Lucia’s Day (Lucian päivä) St Lucia’s Day was the first day for the performance of the song play about the Star Boys (Type 4) which was taken around the coastal towns of Ostrobothnia throughout the Christmas period by the stjärngossar (Star Boys).14 Lucia has long been celebrated at school parties, Christmas parties and among the Swedish-speaking Finns as a girl in a white dress with a crown of candles on her head.15 I would not, however, class her as part of the ritual visiting tradition in Finland . There are, nonetheless, reports from the western islands of Estonia of masked revellers called luutsit, lutsu mardid (“lucias”, or “lucia marts”: Type 5) who, armed with switches of twigs and brooms, went round frightening the children and jesting (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VI, 274Ð279).

3. b. iii. December 9–15: St Anna’s Day (Annan päivä) In the town of Raahe on the west coast of Finland, the young men and girls would dress up in the morning as a bizarre band that would gather with noisy musical instruments beneath the windows of townsfolk by the name of Anna. They were usually invited in for coffee (Paulaharju 1925: 67Ð68).16

3. b. iv. December 21: St Thomas’ Day (Tuomaan päivä) On St Thomas’ Day and the day before, people in the bilingual (Finnish and Swedish) parishes of central Ostrobothnia would travel at dusk from house to house, either alone or in groups, dressed in fur coats turned inside out and wearing masks tied on with straw, demanding liquor and beating the children (Types 1Ð5). The names of these mummers (Palla-Jaakko, piiskangubbe, piiskanpaavo, Risu-Tuomas) and the language they spoke were a mixture of Finnish and Swedish. If they were satisfied with the food and drink offered them, they would forget about the beating. It is noteworthy that there are also reports from the Estonian island of Saaremaa of masked men (toomad, joulutoomad), either alone or in groups, going round tasting the freshly-brewed seasonal beer on this day. With them they carried toobripuud or poles such as those used to carry water and beer tubs (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VII, 14Ð21).17 Ceremonial performance and begging have long been a common custom in Europe during the week before Christmas. In Finland in the days of the old agrarian society, the itinerants at this time would tend to be the poor in need of

14 On the Star Boy plays, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway elsewhere in this volume, and especially the article by Ane Ohrvik on Nor- wegian traditions. 15 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway elsewhere in this volume. 16 On such name traditions (including Anna), see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 17 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 345 assistance, or the clergy, artisans, smiths, shoemakers, tailors and tradesmen claiming their wages. Supplying them with food and drink was a way of fur- thering relations within the community. It was during this same week that the performers of the Star Play in Swedish (stjärngossar, -gubbar, -pojkar) travelled from house to house in Ostrobothnia. The same applied to Finnish- speaking boys in and around the school towns of eastern and northern Finland. The names for these in Finnish (seerna-, sierna-, tiernapojat) indicate the role of the schools and the Swedish-speaking gentry in spreading this tradition (Type 4).18 In parts of western Finland, south Karelia and Ingria, other disguised mummers were afoot during Christmas week (Type 5).

3. b. v. December 24Ð25: Christmas Eve (Jouluaatto) and Christmas Day (Joulupäivä) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were naturally highlights in the Christian year and visiting was usually frowned upon in the folk tradition. There are, nonetheless, numerous reports of masked and dressed-up mummers at this time. Going round alone or with an escort or group (Types 1Ð3), these mummers would dress up as pukit, kurjet, äijät, muorit or kasakat (goats, cranes, old men, old women, or Cossacks, the latter involving hobby-horses of a kind), and especially in the Swedish-speaking parishes appeared as stjärngossar (Type 4). In Ostrobothnia, particularly, it was popular among both the Finnish- and the Swedish-speaking population to go visiting in bizarre disguise, dressed in old rags and often with reverse gender symbols (Type 5). In some cases, the mummers were again specifically the local poor, who thus got a share of the Christmas fare. In southern Ostrobothnia, men who had already consumed their Christmas liquor might also go round in their ordinary clothes, immediately stating their business at the door: “Nyt sopis, jonka pullossa on?” (Anyone got anything in a bottle?: Type 6). In Ladoga Karelia and Olonets, the children also went from house to house on Christmas morning singing religious songs in the Russian manner. Once again, as will be shown in the next chapter, in Estonia, one finds the same animal figures belonging to the Christ- mas tradition as those found in Finland (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VII, 67Ð74, and 121Ð129).19

3. b. vi. December 26: St Stephen’s Day (Tapanin päivä or Tapani) Throughout Europe, St Stephen’s Day marked the beginning of the Christmas merry-making, of which visiting was a natural part. There were practices actualised particularly on this day, but in Finland and Karelia, St Stephen’s also meant the start of a longer period lasting two weeks up until Epiphany and

18 On the Star Boy plays, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and especially Ane Ohrvik’s article on the subject elsewhere in this book. 19 See further the Survey of Estonian mumming traditions elsewhere in this book. 346 Urpo Vento

Fig. 5.3: A tapanipukki (Tapani goat) or nuuttipukki (Nuutti goat), in Tammela, Finland, in 1928. The costume, made from a large long- haired fur coat, goat’s horns, and a sauna switch as a tail, as it appeared in some villages in Satakunta and Häme. (Photo: Esko Aaltonen.) (Courtesy of Museovirasto, Kuva- arkisto, Helsinki [the National Board of Antiquities, Archives of Prints and Photographs, Finland].)

St Knut’s Day during which it was permissible to visit people masked and uninvited on any day. In the southern parts of western Finland, St Stephen’s itself was the day for visits from characters called tapanipukit (Tapani goats: see fig. 5.3), tapanit (Tapanis), tapanipojat (Tapani boys) or the like (Type 1), dressed in furs and straw, who frightened the children but amused the adults. These mummers might be accompanied by an escort or a whole band of men, and sometimes they would sing (Types 2Ð3). Longer distances might be travelled by horse, and as the journey proceeded, the mummers might be joined by other thirsty men. Sometimes the tours were called tapaninajo (Tapani rides), as were the sleigh rides and visits to relatives that were also an integral part of the day. The St Stephen’s Day horse tradition was also reflected in the “horses and riders” that toured a few parishes of south Häme with their escorts (see fig. 5.4). The man would then “ride” a horse-shaped construction covered with a white sheet with artificial rider’s legs dangling down each side. He would then hold the reins in his hands and imitate the movements of the steed with his legs. The groom would usually do all the talking with the hosts and would pretend to calm the horse down if it got too wild. St Stephen’s was the main day for the tiernapojat/ stjärngossar (Star Boys: Type 4) in the bilingual coastal villages of southern Finland. In the inland Finnish-speaking villages, there were often also, at the end of the nineteenth century, dramatic groups known as tapanipojat (Tapani boys). These would feature animal and human figures (pukki, Tapani, Aaroni) clad in furs, and characters from the “Three Kings” play: kuningas, murjaani, Kupe and sotilaat (a King, a Moor, “Kupe”, and soldiers).20 Also in the characters’ repertoire

20 Regarding this tradition, see also the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Denmark and Norway elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 347

Fig. 5.4: A valko (St Stephen’s Day White Horse), Tammela, Finland, in 1928. (Photo: Esko Aaltonen.) (Courtesy of Museovirasto, Kuva-arkisto, Helsinki [the National Board of Antiquities, Archives of Prints and Photographs, Finland].)

(Trans. of accompanying report: The valko was made to look like a horse. First, a frame was made of spruce or juniper ribs, and that was then covered with white sheets. A man could get inside it, so it could move like a horse and rider. The valko was usually led by another man when they went from house to house as dusk was falling. The valko knocked on the door with its hoof and asked whether it could come in. Inside, it began doing its tricks, leaping up on its hind legs, limping and dancing. It was often given oats and sometimes money, too.) were legend and broadsheet songs about Stehvaanus (Stephen/ Staffan). Some- times the masked singers were dressed in imitation old soldiers’ uniforms and spoke a so-called “foreign” language among themselves so that they would not be identified. However, the Tapani singers might also be masked simply to make themselves unidentifiable (Type 5), just like the other groups travelling round after dark in western and southern Finland known as pukit, äijät, vaarit, muorit, ämmät, tapanit and paronit (goats, old men, grandads, grannies, old women, Tapanis, and barons) and other such names, no doubt indicating that they were dressed up in old-fashioned clothes. Only a hundred years ago, the Nordic Tapani singing was still the part of the tradition of both Swedish- and Finnish-speaking young men. Their repertoire in Swedish included medieval legend songs, while variations on these were sung in Finnish. In the nineteenth century, there was also a wealth of repertoire available in printed broadsheets. The singers, who set out on their rounds on St Stephen’s Day morning, were not usually masked. In south-west Finland, they might make a point of visiting houses where the head of the household was called Tapani. The host then had to offer the singers something to drink Ð a tapanin kousa (Tapani tankard) Ð in honour of his name day. The singers would often follow their request for refreshment with the symbolic 348 Urpo Vento question “Onko Tapani kotona?” (Is Tapani at home?). If they were served liquor or beer, they would sing the traditional thanking songs. If they were refused admission or the refreshments were not to their liking, they would sing a song wishing the host bad luck or perform some other kind of mischief. In central and eastern Finland, as far as central Ostrobothnia and Ladoga-Karelia, the men would set out on horseback or on foot early in the morning without any songs, but on arriving at a house would ask the same question: “Onko Tahvana kotona?” (Is Tahvana at home?). In other words, “Do we get anything to drink here?” In Ostrobothnia, the demand was expressed in more outspoken tones: “Tapania taikka tantari poikki!” (A Tapani, or we’ll smash the oven!). In other words, the threat familiar from the kekri tradition was also made on St Stephen’s Day.21 As at kekri (All Hallows’), the boys of bilingual Ostrobothnia would also do the rounds on St Stephen’s Day, demanding refreshments and collecting a tapaninlankaa (Tapani thread) from the girls as a favour to put in their caps, or lumps of cheese to thread on a string round their necks. An example of an opening statement recorded in Swedish is: “Staffas är en sjuker man, öl och brännvin behöver han” (Tapani is an ailing man, beer and liquor are what he needs). For the older men on Finland’s west coast, St Stephen’s was also an opportunity for social drinking. The men are said to have gathered together on Christmas evening, ready to set off on their rounds the moment midnight struck. The first male visitor to cross the threshold on St Stephen’s Day was thought to bring the household good luck.22 St Stephen’s Day rides in a horse-drawn sleigh and informal visits to friends and relatives became more common in the twentieth century. Although the ritual visiting tradition has lost its significance as a popular entertainment and sleighs have been replaced by cars, going visiting on St Stephen’s Day continues to be a modern family ritual.

3. b. vii. December 27: St John’s Day, the Third Day of Christmas (Johanneksen päivä, or Kolmas joulupäivä), and December 28: Innocents’ Day, the Fourth Day of Christmas (Viattomien lasten päivä, or Neljäs joulupäivä) St John’s Day and Innocents’ Day were tacked onto the religious Christmas feast in Finland and Sweden until 1776, and retained their traditional character long after Christmas had officially been reduced to a two-day feast. These extra days are mentioned in places as being marked out by visits from jouluämmät, and jouluäijät (old Christmas men and women) in disguise (Type 5), but were also part of the ritual visiting period that lasted all through the Christmas season.

21 See further the article on this tradition by Urpo Vento elsewhere in this volume. 22 Similar “First Footing” traditions are known in Scotland and northern England, among other places. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 349

The most interesting of the ritual visiting customs between Christmas and New Year, however, is the riukujuhla or “pole feast” of Häme (Types 3 and 6), observed in a number of parishes on the fourth, fifth or some other minor holy day of Christmas, or on the day after Epiphany. On this occasion, the village men would meet, arm themselves with a beam, fence poles or a long pole and carry with them a wooden tub or other vessels in order to beg for sahti (strong home-brewed ale). It is natural to question whether the tradition might have some connection with the earlier-noted Tuomas pole visits of Estonia (see above section 3. b. iv.). Sometimes the men took with them a character dressed as a karhu (bear) and little boys who rang bells to announce that the mummers were coming. On receiving beer, the men would write a kuitti (receipt) on the cottage door and sing their thanks to the master and mistress of the household. But if no beer was forthcoming, they would höyläsivät (shave off) a mutka (bend) in the pole, indicating a futile visit, also singing a mocking song or once again threatening to smash the oven.23 In south Karelia, too, there would be hunkerinajajia (hunger?) folk abroad on the third day of Christmas asking for food and drink by asking “Onko Hunkeri kotona?” (Is Hunkeri at home?).

3. b. viii. December 31: St Sylvester’s Day, New Year’s Eve (Sylvest- werin päivä) and January 1: New Year’s Day (Uudenvuodenpäivä) St Sylvester’s Day and New Year’s Day, in the middle of the festive season running from Christmas to Epiphany, have also been popular days for ritual visiting in Europe. In Estonia, New Year’s Day was the dominant mumming date in the Christmas season, and all possible variants on the tradition would be manifest (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VIII, 14Ð16, and 31Ð60).24 In Finland, by contrast, there are few reports of ceremonial visiting on the last and first days of the year, although the days do count as part of the festive Christmas season. However, there are occasional mentions in western Finland of characters dressed as (or carrying) “cranes” or “goats”, and likewise of masked groups (Types 1Ð5).

3. b. ix. January 5: Twelfth Night (Loppiaisaatto or Trettondedags- afton) and January 6: Three Kings Day, Epiphany (Loppiainen or Trettondedag) Twelfth Night and Epiphany have generally served as the closing feast of the religious Christmas season and the culmination of the merry-making. Epiph- any, or “Three Kings’ Day” has naturally been the day for the Star Play and songs and informal masking (see Bregenh¿j 1974: 79Ð90), although in Finland it has been greatly overshadowed by the following day, Nuutti (St Knut’s Day:

23 See further the article on this tradition by Urpo Vento elsewhere in this volume. 24 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 350 Urpo Vento

January 7: see the following section). In the bilingual provinces of western and southern Finland, the tiernapojat or stjärngossar (Star Boys: Type 4) naturally went round performing and begging gifts on this day.25 In some parts of Häme, riu’unvetäjät (pole-pullers), now in straw costumes, begged for home-brewed ale on the following day at revels held on Hiivanuutti (yeast-/ dregs- Nuutti) to which women, too, were admitted. People would also gather at this time in normal dress (Type 6) for a riukujuhla (pole feast) and to drink the dregs of the Christmas ale. This custom has sometimes been known as hanojen kolistaminen (tap-rattling) and tynnyrinpesiäiset (barrel-washing). Some nineteenth- century village accounts also mention typical animal figures as appearing at Epiphany (Types 1Ð3). Indeed, informal visiting in disguise was also known at this time in both western Finland and in Karelia, Olonets and Ingria (Type 5). The eastern names for the custom often point to corresponding Russian traditions (see section 3. b. xi. below). In Estonia, it was the custom on Twelfth Night (kolmekuningapäev [Three Kings’ Day]) for people to go round in animal guise, and the men would then also go about as “Christmas Tuomases” and such like in search of beer (Hiiemäe 1981Ð1995: VIII, 211Ð224).26

3. b. x. January 7: St Knut’s Day, the Day after Epiphany (the “old” Nuutti), and January 13: the Twentieth Day after Christmas (the “new” Nuutti)27 When speaking of Nuutti28, literary sources do not always specify whether they mean January 7 (the day after Epiphany), or January 13, set one week later in the calendar as early as in the seventeenth century. Most of the ritual visiting tradition ending the festive season has become attached to Hiivanuutti (yeast-/ dregs- Nuutti), the day after Epiphany, or in some places the second day after Epiphany (January 8). The following days also carry such playful names as Nuutinnuutti (Knut of Knut), Rahkalakki (Quark-cap), Kurnuutti, and Tyhjätappi (Empty-tap). The tendency to prolong the festive season was obvious (Vilkuna 1969: 26Ð30) because ritual visits were, in places, permissible as late as Candlemas, on February 2. On one island in the eastern Gulf of Fin- land, the following day (February 3) was also known as Hiivanuutti. This name for the day after Epiphany has also spread to northern Estonia, where it also has other names alluding to the visiting tradition, as it has in, for example, Hungary (regel Monday, or regelö [itinerant singer]: see Dömötör 1959) and Britain (Plough Monday, Straw Bear Tuesday: see Wright-Lones 1938: 93Ð104).29

25 On the Star Plays, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Den- mark and Norway, and especially the article by Ane Ohrvik on the tradition in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 26 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 27 See further the case study of this tradition by Maria Kulmanen elsewhere in this volume. 28 Note: The spelling of the word knuutti/ knuuti/ Nuutti/ Nuuti varies by local dialect. 29 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 351

West of a line running from Vaasa in Finland to Vyborg (now in Russia) ritual visiting concentrated for the most part on St Knut’s Day which ended the two- or three-week festive season. It is thus hardly surprising that in certain core areas, these rituals have remained alive right up until the present day, now adapted as a children’s tradition and as events of a local heritage nature.30 There are only isolated references from various parts of the region mentioning role characters visiting alone (Type 1). In contrast, figures in animal or human guise with one or more escorts (Types 1Ð3) have been common. Sometimes the leather-clad “goat”, often with horns and a beard, was clearly got up as a devil with one cleft foot. The character, known as Nuutiherra or Nuutiparooni (Lord/ Baron Nuutti) and assigned more human features, was pulled by the men from house to house on a sled or sleigh, with vessels for collecting beer to be consumed together later. The “Baron”, complete with false whiskers and a Roman nose and given to lewd behaviour, might be wearing a birchbark cap with a tuft and carrying a kalu (“tool”, penis) between his legs which he would “heristellä vaimoväelle” (waggle at the womenfolk).31 Otherwise, a “nuutti” with blackened face might sweep the trapdoor into the cellar free of straw, singing the request: “Antakaa Nuutille olutta tammisesta tynnyristä, koivusen tapin takaa” (Pray give the nuutti beer from an oaken barrel, from behind a tap of birch). Representing the goodwill and youth tradition associated with Christmas was the “bride” (lappbrud) visiting of Swedish-speaking Ostroboth- nia in which the village boys rode round the village on St Knut’s (January 13) with a destitute girl dressed up as a bride. For the evening, the boys would have arranged a dance and some folk musicians, and people would be allowed to dance with the “bride” for a fee.32 It might be noted that mock weddings were also held at other times in the Finnish-speaking regions of Ostrobothnia and in central Finland (see Sarmela 2000: 133 [map 35]). Descriptions of ritual Nuutti visiting by men in the latter half of the nineteenth century often speak of groups in fancy dress that performed simple song-plays with traditional texts but improvised parts of them to suit the occasion (Type 4). The groups varied in size, ranging from a couple dressed as a fur-clad pukki (goat: see figs 5.3 and 5.5Ð5.8) and a straw-clad and straw- hatted “nuutti” to a large company made up of traditional characters plus “shepherds”, “servants”, “ladies”, “doctors” and so on. In some of the villages in south-east Häme, the men’s nuutinajo (St Knut’s ride, or horse-sleigh ride: see figs 5.9 and 5.10 aÐb) assumed a very theatrical nature: among the cast of this company of military bearing were a “nuutti”, nuutin morsian (a Nuutti bride), kenraali (a General), kapteeni (a Captain), vääpeli (a Sergeant-Major),

30 On the role of mumming as local heritage, see further the articles by Paul Smith and Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume. 31 On such figures in Finnish tradition, see further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 32 On such bridal figures, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and especially the article by Eva Knuts. 352 Urpo Vento

Fig. 5.5: A drawing of a nuuttipukki (Nuutti goat) from Hämeenkyrö, western Finland, from 1926. (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

(Trans. of accompanying report: On the evening of Nuutti [St Knut’s], someone in our village is dressed as a nuuttipukki [Nuutti goat]. He dresses in a sleigh rug, with the woollen side out. The rug is fastened at the waist with a leather belt, and a sauna switch is fastened to the belt as a tail. A mask is made for his face and goat’s horns are attached above his ears. The hair and beard are made of flax. Round his neck is a little bell and a straw truncheon is hidden in his chest so he can beat off anyone who tries to finger his beard. Then in the evening, two young men set off, leading the goat round the village streets. On the way, the goat shakes its bell so that people know it is coming. One of the escorts goes into the houses, asking for permission to come in. When the goat is asked: “Where are the guests from?” it replies, “From bone, flesh and skin.”)

Fig. 5.6: Adult boys from Niinimäki prepare to visit neighbouring houses and villages: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Mouhijärvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 353

Fig. 5.7: Nuuttipukit (Nuutti goats) in the farmyard at Uotila: Nuut- tipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Mouhijärvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjal- lisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

Fig. 5.8: Boys having fun with the Uotila girls: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuut- ti goat traditions) from Mouhi- järvi, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].) (Translation of accompanying report: On the evening of the day after Epiphany, that is “Old Nuutti”, we had agreed to visit a house in Mouhijärvi, the head of which was a local heritage man who had sent notes to the Folklore Ar- chive of the Finnish Literature Society. A peculiar company consisting of unmarried sons from the house and village soon appeared in the yard. The central figure was a horned “goat” dressed in miserable rags and wearing a fiendish mask made of wood, leather and plastic. His companions were men hidden beneath fur-lined coats, grotesque masks or false beards. They were carrying satchels and sticks, and hanging from their belts were bones, sauna switches, truncheons, carrots and ladles. The masking had clearly been done with great expertise. We followed the men to a few of the houses in the village and observed the way in which they behaved. The “goat” was clumsy in its movements, said nothing, merely rattled its gnarled stick and looked frightening. By contrast, the others made a considerable din. The responsibility for entertaining the hosts with some bold humour lay with the men pretending to be a bickering couple. They primarily had their attention primarily on the girls serving the home-made beer.) vallesmanni (a bailiff), kirjuri (a clerk), pappi (a priest), välskäri (an army surgeon), kuppari (a cupper), viuluniekka (a fiddler), rumpali (a drummer), kaurankantaja (an oat-bearer), and the village men-folk serving as a lautakun- ta (jury). The company would then stage a mock trial,33 a wedding, a medical inspection or the like, enjoying themselves immensely and at the expense of

33 On comparable mock trials in early Iceland, see further Gunnell 1995a: 88. 354 Urpo Vento

Figs 5.9Ð5.10 aÐb: Nuutinajajia (Nuutti Riders/ Horse-sleigh Riders) from south-east Häme, Iitti, Finland, in 1926. (Photo: Aino Oksanen.) (Courtesy of Museovirasto, Kuva-arkisto, Hel- sinki [the National Board of Antiquities, Archives of Prints and Photographs, Finland].)

(Accompanying text: The photos illustrate a joking sketch acted out by men in the village of Kalaksue in southern Finland. Aino Oksanen, who studied the local dialect here in 1926Ð30, documented the events of St Knut’s Day by interviewing old men and by photo- graphing a reconstructed performance with the help of the village men. The costumes of the “Nuutti riders” were made from simple straw belts and decorations. The old man in the photo on the right with a sheaf of straw on his back is a “Nuutti bride”. The play was a parody of military proceedings, weddings and medical inspections, and the “inspections” were aimed particularly at the young women of the house. According to Oksanen, the “Nuutti Ride” involving drunken men became so bawdy in the late nineteenth century that the groups started causing general offence meaning that the tradition gradually came to an end.)

the householders. The men cast as the general, priest, army surgeon and cupper were known for their “gift of the gab”, since the onus of entertaining the company lay mainly with them. These men were not disguised behind masks but they did dress for the part, using straw, colourful streamers and paper medals, and carried wooden swords, cupping horns and other tools of their trade. On entering the house, they would sing an arrangement of an old song reminding Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 355 the hosts of the custom of eating and drinking on St Knut’s and ending with a request for five jugs of beer, a measure of oats for the drummer and a pound of tobacco for the nuuttis. At the end of the performance the “Sergeant-Major” would chalk a receipt on the wall for refreshments rendered or, had insufficient refreshment been supplied, a “tally” to be paid next year. The company would also sing traditional verses of thanks or complaint. Throughout the area in which the St Knut’s tradition was known it was generally the practice to visit in groups, disguised behind masks (Type 5: see figs 5.11 and 5.12). There were traditional terms for the motley crowd, which often included various familiar characters: knuutipukit/ nuutipukit/ nuuttipukit (Nuutti goats: see figs 5.3 and 5.5Ð5.8), nuutit (Knuts), joulumuorit (Christmas madams, or mademoiselles), and so on. Sometimes a group of masked young people going round as hiivanuuttina (see above: January 8) might perform a traditional Nuutti song: there are numerous mentions to this effect in the archives and publications but no precise details about the group’s make-up or the

Fig. 5.11: Some Oriental visitors: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Tyrvää, western Fin- land, in 1973. (Photo: Carsten Bregenh¿j.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].) 356 Urpo Vento

Fig. 5.12: Miscellaneous masked visitors in a house museum: Nuuttipukkeja (Nuutti goat traditions) from Tyrvää, western Finland, in 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].) practice. Men without masks but behaving in ritual fashion as nuutinlaulajat, tynnyrinpesijät, tynnyrinkylvettäjät, riu’unvetäjät (Nuutti singers, barrel washers, barrel bathers, pole pullers) and so on might call, asking for the now yeasty Christmas beer which households would save for them (Type 6). In the Swe- dish-speaking coastal parishes, this custom was known as sopa/ köra ut julen (sweeping/ driving Christmas out),34 and sometimes the men would ride round the houses pretending to rukkeja voitelemassa (oil the spinning wheels) as the women returned to their chores once the festive season was over. As noted above in section 3. b. vii., in central Häme, the riukujuhla (pole festival) was celebrated either on the day after Epiphany or one week later. Once the men had drunk their own beer, they set off together in search of drink in the village. They would take a hay pole with them, and playfully threatened to smash the oven if no beer was forthcoming.35 In south Karelia, men behaving in a similar manner might command: “Kaikki pöytään tai pöytä ulos!” (Either the table is filled or the table goes!). Visiting neighbours less formally as nuuttis was commonly known as Nuutinajo (Knut’s riding). Visitors would then be served whatever was left over from Christmas.

34 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 35 See further the more detailed article about this practice by Urpo Vento elsewhere in this book. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 357

3. b. xi. December 24Ð26 Ð January 1 Ð January 6, 7 or 13: The Christmas Season in General The Christmas season as a whole, and especially the twelve-day period between Christmas and Epiphany, may be examined as an entire entity occupying a special place in the festive calendar of Europe. Ritual visiting was permitted on several days within a certain time span in the Finnish-Karelian tradition area, in the east from Ingria to Russian Karelia (the closest models are to be found in the north Russian cultural region), and in the west in the core area of the Nordic St Stephen’s and St Knut’s traditions. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, there are well over a hundred vernacular names for the twelve-day period between Christmas and Epiphany (such as Zwölftentage, Rauchnächte, Zwissennächte, Unternächte, Lostage and Perchentage). They all reflect the special nature of the period (see further ADV 1937: 39, and 46Ð 47). In fact, many nations have always had an annual period for feasting, usually set at around the end of the calendar year and the growing season, when the everyday behavioural norms no longer applied and abnormal conduct was permitted. One explanation for this is that the Indo-European calendar, based on the moon, had to allow for the difference of twelve days between the solar and the lunar year. This “twelve-day phenomenon” would thus explain the rites and frolicking that accompanied the Saturnalia festival of the Romans, the dodekahemeron of the Medieval Church, and likewise the Nordic midwinter feasting and the “time of the spirits” of the Finns (see Frazer 1911–1915: VI, 307Ð411; and van Gennep 1960: 178Ð188).36 In practice, the period lasting about a week when it was fitting to go visiting may have fallen on different days in the Christmas season, depending on the region and locality. There are examples from other parts of Europe, too, of the tradition concentrating on either the days between Christmas and New Year or between New Year and Epiphany.37 It might be noted that characters in animal, supernatural or human form (goats, cranes, horses, asses, elephants, bears, wolves, chickens, angels, giants, death, Cossacks, soldiers, big-heads) were known throughout the Finnish- Karelia region. The “goats”, “cranes” and “bears” touring round the villages or making their appearance only in places frequented by young people were often accompanied by a keeper or a band of escorts (Type 1Ð3). As has been noted above, in the nineteenth-century, stjärngossar (Star Boys) did their rounds throughout the Christmas season, especially in the coastal towns and the rural Swedish-speaking regions (Type 4). Indeed, informal parties disguised by masks were found all over the place from west to east (Type 5). In addition to the animal figures already mentioned, the groups would, of course, include the characters needed for a mock wedding (a bride, bridegroom, bridesmaid, priest and possibly organist); representatives of various occupations (for example, a

36 See also Emily Lyle’s chapter on the twelve days of Christmas in Lyle 1990: 48Ð51. 37 See ASV 1950Ð1962: II, 192, 195Ð196, and 199Ð200; and Wright-Lones 1938: II, 88Ð90. 358 Urpo Vento sweep, shoemaker, doctor, soldier or brush seller); or other unusual characters (such as a lame person, a princess, a foreigner, a Negro or a gypsy). The names for the masked visitors were the same as those mentioned above in the discussion of set-day ritual visiting in western Finland. Those in the eastern regions, by contrast, reflect the Russian influence. In the Vyborg region, for example, they were known as ropakot or röpäköt; in Ladoga Karelia, Olo- nets and north Karelia as £muutat, £muutot, muutit, huhl’akat, huhl’akot, huuhelníkat, kuhl’akot, kukl’akat, kukl’äköt and kuksakat; in the Veps villages as kul’ikod or kul’ikat; in western Ingria as igri££at, igri££ä (pl.), or igru£kat; and in Tver Karelia as t£uuda or t£uudat (pl.). In Orthodox Ladoga Karelia and Olonets, priests and older people would also go round from house to house singing religious songs between Christmas and Epiphany, and they, too, would be given money or something else in return (Type 6).

3. b. xi. January 25: St Paul’s Day (Paavalin päivä) According to some reports, on St Paul’s Day, there used to be fairs in the Vaasa region, and in the evenings young girls and boys would dress up as markkinapukit (fair goats) and go clowning around.

3. c. The Spring Season 3. c. i. Shrovetide Unlike in the Catholic countries and certain other more southerly Scandinavian areas (such as Denmark in particular), Shrovetide was not a popular time for mumming in Finland, but there are reports from a few bilingual parishes on the west coast of characters called noitaämmä, pukki or laskiaisporsas (a “witch hag”, goat or “Shrove pig”: Type 1) turning up at houses at this time. Further- more, in south Ostrobothnia, little girls from poor families would go round begging as “brides” in the same way as nuuttis (Types 3Ð4). Masked young people (Type 5) are also known to have gone visiting on the coast and islands during this period.

3. c. ii. Easter Little girls dressed up as påskhäxor and påsktroll (Easter witches and trolls: Types 1 and 5: see fig. 5.13) and going round from house to house begging for sweets and so on at Easter used to be a tradition confined primarily to the Swedish-speaking population.38 Over the past few decades, however, the custom has spread among Finnish-speaking children in the suburbs of Helsinki, for example. In the process, the girls knocking at the door on Easter Saturday

38 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, and Fredrik Skott’s article on these traditions elsewhere in this book. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 359

Fig. 5.13: Girls in headscarves with brooms and coffee pots: Pääsiäisnoidat, or påskhäxor (Easter witches) from Nordsjö (now Vuosaari), a Swedish-speaking area of Helsinki, 1966. (Photo: Bo Lönnqvist.) (Courtesy of the Folk Culture Archive of Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland.)

(the so-called pääsiäisnoidat) have incorporated in their visit another custom, whereby children would visit their grandparents or godparents, for example, carrying decorated birch or willow twigs, and wishing them health and happi- ness. This was originally a Karelian Orthodox tradition connected with Palm Sunday that has merged with the western “witch” visiting of Easter.

3. c. iii. April 23: St George’s Day (Yrjön or Jyrin päivä) St George’s Day was a particular festival for women and was known in Ortho- dox western Ingria. On that day, the married women of the village would gather to eat and drink beer they had brewed together. They would also go round the village in the company of the same animal figures (“cranes” and “cows” for example) as those that would have accompanied them during their Christmas visits (Type 3). It might be noted that the Russian, Vote and Setu women south of the Gulf of Finland also celebrated in a similar way (Loorits 1940: 18; and Ariste 1969: 59).

3. c. iv. May 1: Vappu or Valborg According to certain sources, it was customary in certain Swedish-speaking parishes of Ostrobothnia (Korsholm, Nedervetil, and Solv) for people to go round villages dressed in unusual clothing in the early evening of Vappu’s name day. On these occasions, the boys would even ride horses draped in white sheets and red horse blankets (SLS 533: 555Ð560). 360 Urpo Vento

Whatever the case, by the latter half of the nineteenth century, May 1 was beginning to develop into a day for general merry-making and political demonstrations, especially in urban environments in Finland. The student celebrations that had their origins in the old university towns then spread all over Finland during the twentieth century.39 At around the same time, Vappu was hailed by the workers’ movement as a day for engendering a spirit of solidarity, with workers marching in processions to squares and other open areas with red flags and banners to sing and to make speeches. Vapun aatto (April 30) has since been transformed into a spring carnival in Lutheran Fin- land. On that day, the students nowadays dress up in boiler suits bearing the emblems of their universities, colleges or sponsors. They don their white student caps and congregate with bags full of rattling bottles on shorelines, in parks and in their student club-houses. At the same time, other young people and, indeed, anyone of frivolous disposition might buy masks, red noses, funny hats, streamers, paper flowers, walking sticks and the like from market stalls to attract attention in the streets, squares and restaurants. The jollity then continues on May 1, which is a joint carnival day for families with children, a time when the amusement parks and summer restaurants open up for the summer (Lehtonen 1979: 122Ð26).

3. d. The Summer Season 3. d. i. June 24: St John’s Day (Juhannus) St John’s Day was another movable feast in Finland designed to coincide with the first Saturday after the summer solstice. At this time, children’s bridal visits (involving the midsommarbrud, or blombrud, that is Midsummer bride or Flower bride: Type 3) used to be carried out in the Swedish-speaking islands of the south-west and in Ostrobothnia. Meanwhile, in Finnish-speaking Ostro- bothnia, young people also gathered for mock weddings known as lastenhäät (children’s weddings), pennihäät (penny weddings) or pikkuhäät (little weddings), but this custom was not tied to any particular day, and the gatherings were not preceded by a begging tour (Sarmela 1994: 112).40 There are, however, a few rare reports from the manor-house culture of eastern Finland of shepherd boys and girls clad in rushes and flowers performing to the gentry (Type 5) and receiving “pientä rahaa kourallisittain” (handfuls of little coins) in return (Niemi 1904: 253).

39 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway on comparable student traditions at around this time. 40 See further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume on such mock wedding traditions in other countries, and especially the article by Eva Knuts. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 361

3. d. ii. June 29: St Peter’s Day (Pietarin päivä) St Peter’s Day was in some Ingrian villages a saint’s day on which the girls would go round the houses singing kiletoi (refrain: “kiletoi, kaletoi”) songs and being served refreshments (Type 6).

4. Non-Calendrical Traditions 4. a. Wedding Guests in Rural Societies Mumming and ritual visiting in Finland and Karelia were not solely confined to certain special days in the year. Nonetheless, they have always been associated with some kind of festive occasion Ð either a wedding or a special day in the working year. The non-calendaric nature of weddings is, however, only relative, since celebrations involving the family, kin and village community were, quite naturally, preferably held at a time that interrupted the natural economy as little as possible. On the other hand, visiting uninvited on special feast days was sensible, since households would then have something to offer their guests, gatecrashers included. Wedding festivities in Finland had many stages and might last several days. As at Christmas, when the Christian and family rites initially took precedence and the “pagan” merry-making was not unleashed until St Stephen’s Day (the second day of Christmas), so too at weddings, when the second day often turned into a rowdy village festival complete with jesting of all kinds. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the programme for the second day of a wedding in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia might, for example, include a björndansen (bear dance), that is, audacious jesting at the wedding house by men dressed in black sheepskins. Masked guests (skråbockarna) are last known to have been seen at weddings in the parish of Vöyri in 1925. Dressed in straw hats, furs, and with blackened faces, these men, who were decked about with bells, flagons and sauna switches, would entertain the wedding guests and beg for food or drink for their sacks. On the second day of the wedding, the bridal couple would then often be accompanied by men and boys dressed up as women or two men representing a comic bridal couple, the woman carrying a coffee roaster in which she would collect unirahaa (dream money) from young people of courting age (Lönnqvist 1973: 274–276).41 In parts of south-west Finland, too, it was the custom in the nineteenth century for strangely-dressed folk to arrive at the wedding house on the second day to dance and be offered drink. Known as kyösit (visitors), they sometimes carried a doll reminiscent of a baby boy on their backs, and sometimes they had

41 On wedding mumming activities, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume, as well as the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike. 362 Urpo Vento with them a “crane” such as that familiar from the Christmas visits: a man wrapped in covers with a false nose on a stick moved by pulling a string (Harva 1935: 101). On the morning of the second wedding day, the guests would then be awoken by a party of three, one of whom was called makausrahojen kokoaja (the collector of the bedding fee). He would be carrying a long pole with a reindeer bell on one end and a boot on the other, and with him would be a fiddler and a drummer. Having woken the wedding guests, they would extend the boot to the sleepers, saying: “Antakaa makausrahaa!” (Pay the bedding fee!). It might be noted that wedding guests in Estonia, too, were taxed, for example, by having to “auction” their clothes; they could later buy them back and at the same time make a donation to the wedding couple. Towards the end of the wedding feast, the ceremony was parodied by guests dressing a man up as the bride and a woman as the bridegroom. Guests were also “cupped”, “doctored”, “reinforced with iron” and so on, against payment. The masked gatecrashers who arrived in the evening were also given food and drink (Tedre 1973: 95Ð 104, fig. 23).42 Counterparts to the animal figures of these wedding jests are, of course, also to be found in the tradition of the Germanic and Slav peoples.43 Similar models of ritual behaviour are also to be found on the special days in the working year. The feast following the slaying of a bear, for example, was often staged as a wedding ceremony with a dressed bride and bridegroom, and the bear-feast guests would be served liquor and beer (Vilkuna 1963: 11). In the bear-slaying pageant of the Ob-Ugrian Khanty, the men, who were wearing masks, performed ritual jests, dancing and singing (Honko 1993: 127Ð31; and Sarmela 2000: 46Ð53). Elsewhere, the fishing folk of the islands in the Gulf of Finland also held notbröllop (net weddings) at which they also served gatecrashers. In south Karelia, the same verses as those sung by the ritual visitors of south-west Finland on St Stephen’s and St Knut’s were heard in praise of the host and hostess when the corn had been harvested, and also at housewarm- ings (Vilkuna 1963, 38: 69Ð73, and 143Ð146).

4. b. Polttarit:44 Hen Parties Before Weddings During the past few decades, it has become increasingly common in Helsinki to see groups of young women dressed in strange outfits parading the bride-to-be in public places. This custom might be seen as a transitional rite organised by the bride’s friends involving a modicum of teasing and a desire to be seen in the city streets. After going around, the group ends up either at a res- taurant or at some other chosen place to continue its sometimes rowdy merry- making.45

42 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 43 See Gavazzi 1967: 185; HAD: I, 896; Skrodenis 1967: 130; and Zelenin 1927: 354Ð355. 44 Cf. the German Polterabend, meaning “a party on the night before a wedding”. 45 For similar traditions elsewhere, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, and in particular, the article by Eva Knuts on wedding traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 363

It might be noted that stag parties are also held by men in modern Finland, as in other countries. However, although large quantities of alcohol are consumed and the rules of everyday life broken at these gatherings, ritual parading in the streets like that which takes place in hen parties is rare (see fig. 9.10).

4. c. Penkinpainajaiset, penkkarit or bänkskuddarfest: Rites Accom- panying the Last Day at School. School comes to an end in the last year of the Finnish upper-secondary school with a matriculation exam which takes place in the middle of spring. Before this national exam, the last day of normal school work is set aside for penkinpainajaiset/ penkkarit/ bänkskuddarfest (Sw.), a high-spirited spree which takes place both in the school and outside it (see fig. 5.14). The students (known as Abis from the Latin word Abitur) go from classroom to classroom singing and disrupting lessons, sometimes wearing fancy dress (boiler suits, sportswear, striped prisoners’ clothes, silly hats, wigs and so on). Songs laced with pointed humour are also made up about the teachers and Abis, and these are performed. The Abis from the different schools in the town then drive round and round the town centre bawling out at people from the backs of lorries, the sides of which are hung with jocular pictures and banners. In the evening, the youngsters then meet to eat, drink and dance at restaurants or on the school premises, and on these occasions, there are usually some teachers present. The names for the “festival” were coined in the early twentieth century and originally referred simply to an evening get-together on the last day of school. It might be noted, however, that the growing consumption of alcohol among the students has to some extent altered the attitude of teachers to this rite.46 The last day of school in the small towns and rural regions often differs from the way it is celebrated in Helsinki. In these parts, the Abis often call at junior schools, day nurseries, old people’s homes, municipal offices and so on during their lorry rides. In the Turku, Pori and Oulu regions, they may also take the principal or their class teacher to school on a horse, in a wheelbarrow or by some other means of transport, often dressed up in strange clothes. In western Finland, the tradition is that teachers are given a noisy awakening in the early hours of the morning and then served coffee either at home or at a filling station café (Saarikoski 1994: 125–27). In her doctoral dissertation, Helena Saarikoski defines the “school-ending” tradition as a rite marking a break with the status of the schoolchild, and a transition to the new status of candidate for university. At the same time, it represents preparation for the new status of matriculated student, with an element of the authority granted by the special day. For the school community, on the other hand, it can be seen as a recurring, annual calendary rite that also bears

46 On school traditions, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, as well as the articles by Terry Gunnell and Christine Eike (dealing with comparable Icelandic school traditions and elements of humour in Norwegian graduation traditions). 364 Urpo Vento

Fig. 5.14: Penkinpainajaiset/ penkkarit (pre-graduation mumming) in a Helsinki school, in 1981. The participants (Abis) are dressed in striped prisoners’ clothes on their last official schoolday. (Photo: Pekka Elomaa.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].) the features of a reversal or rebellious rite (Saarikoski 1994: 28Ð33): on the last day of school, everyday norms of law and order no longer apply, meaning that wild behaviour is permissible in the same way that it was in the old visiting rites at the turn of the year referred to elsewhere in this book.

5. Conclusion The material on Finland’s festive traditions covers a period of about a hundred years. Much (46%) of the material was recorded in the 1920s and 1930s, when Finland was still a strongly agrarian country and the old rural village culture was the subject of active documentation. The aim of the collectors at that time was primarily to amass material on past eras and their vanishing traditions. The two decades after Finland became independent in 1917 saw various changes taking place in both the country’s economic structure and its customs. Com- munications improved, along with the roads and railways; the mechanisation of agriculture reduced the need for farm labour; and the towns and expanding industry acted as magnets for the adult population. Prohibition (later repealed in 1932) was in force and the temperance movement frowned upon men who drank on the traditional feast days. Alongside this, youth societies started organising evening get-togethers with various entertainments and dancing. The result was a reduction in ritual drinking among men, resulting in earlier adult customs being replaced by innocent children’s customs. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia 365

From the late 1960s onwards, the local heritage movement in western Fin- land has worked on reviving the old mumming tradition. This has been encouraged in the rural centres by youth society activists, teachers and the local press. With the liberalisation of the culture surrounding alcohol, restaurants and village halls have thus become meeting places for groups wearing masks and fancy dress, and there is often a prize for the best costume. While it is nowadays considered improper for adults to go round from door to door uninvited and in disguise, it is now acceptable, even in the towns, for children to do the same thing, knocking on neighbours’ doors at the end of the Christmas season and at Easter. While the visits by thirsty men around All Hallows’ ended decades ago, over the past few years there have been growing signs of Hallow- een customs taking place among Finnish children, possibly promoted by the media and the teaching of English in schools. In general, it might be stated that the commercial entertainments available all year round (restaurants, boat cruises, holidays in the sun and city breaks, spas and skiing centres, and sports and cultural events) and the numerous television channels available in the home have taken the place of the spontaneous entertainments of the village communities in Finland, just as they have done elsewhere. At the same time, however, it might be argued that the commercial services employed by Finnish firms for their pikkujoulu (Christmas parties) come close to the entertaining and neighbourly relations practised in agrarian Finland in earlier times.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 367 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia A Survey Ülo Tedre

1. Introduction 1. a. Estonia Ð A Brief Description The Estonians, who live on the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipus (see map 6.1), are estimated to be one of the native nations of Europe: according to archaeological data, they have been living in these parts for over 7,000 years. The Estonians also belong to the Balto-Finnish peoples, their close relatives being the Livonians (now virtually extinct), the Vepsians (vanishing), the Votjacs (virtually extinct), the Karelians and the Finns. As a people, the Estonians were ancient cultivators who never established a formal state of their own. However, in the early thirteenth century, records tell of them vainly fighting a twenty-year war against the Germans who introduced Christianity and a new, feudal ruling class to the country. After the eventual fall of the Teutonic Order in the sixteenth century, Estonia was occupied, re-occupied and divided up several times by Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Po- land, Sweden eventually becoming the new dominant ruling power. Following this, in 1710, towards the end of the Great Northern War (1699Ð1721), Estonia was taken over by Russia which introduced a new Landestaat (feudal) form of rule during the nineteenth century. In the course of the revolutions that followed the First World War, Estonia at last gained its independence. Un- fortunately, this only lasted from 1918 to 1940 when Russian troops re-occupied Estonia (as well as Lithuania and Latvia) in accordance with a GermanÐ Russian secret agreement (the so-called MolotovÐRibbentrop Pact). It was not until 1991 that Estonia became independent again with the fall of the Soviet Union. As can be expected, each of the countries mentioned above (and especially Germany and the Nordic countries) had influence on the culture and folklore of Estonia, and, as part of this, on the shape of Estonian mumming traditions which this chapter will be analysing.

368 Ülo Tedre

Map 6.1: Map of Estonia. (Map by Tõnno Jonuks.)

Estonian parishes Vi Ð Virumaa Rap Ð Rapla Pha – Püha Ksi Ð Kursi Hlj Ð Haljala Ris Ð Risti Pöi – Pöide Lai Ð Laiuse Iis Ð Iisaku Tln Ð Tallinn (town) Vll Ð Valjala MMg Ð Maarja-Magdaleena Jõh – Jõhvi Nõo – Nõo Kad Ð Kadrina Lä – Läänemaa Pä – Pärnumaa Ote – Otepää Lüg – Lüganuse Han Ð Hanila Aud Ð Audru Pal Ð Palamuse Nrv Ð Narva (town) Hps Ð Haapsalu (town) Hää – Häädemeeste Puh Ð Puhja Rak Ð Rakvere Kir Ð Kirbla Hls Ð Halliste Ran Ð Rannu Rkv Ð Rakvere (town) Kse Ð Karuse Khn Ð Kihnu Rõn – Rõngu Sim Ð Simuna Kul Ð Kullamaa Krk Ð Karksi San Ð Sangaste Vai Ð Vaivara Lih Ð Lihula Mih Ð Mihkli TMr Ð Tartu-Maarja VJg Ð Viru-Jaagupi LNg – Lääne-Nigula Pär – Pärnu Trm Ð Torma VNg Ð Viru-Nigula Mar Ð Martna PJg – Pärnu-Jaagupi Trt Ð Tartu (town) VMr – Väike-Maarja Noa Ð Noarootsi Prn – Pärnu (town) Võn – Võnnu Rid Ð Ridala Saa Ð Saarde Jä – Järvamaa Var Ð Varbla Tor Ð Tori Võ – Võrumaa Amb Ð Ambla Vig Ð Vigala Tõs – Tõstamaa Har Ð Hargla Ann Ð Anna Vän – Vändra Kan Ð Kanepi JJn – Järva-Jaani Hi Ð Hiiumaa Krl Ð Karula JMd – Järva-Madise Emm Ð Emmaste Vl Ð Viljandimaa Plv – Põlva Koe Ð Koeru Käi – Käina Hel Ð Helme Räp – Räpina Pai Ð Paide Phl – Pühalepa KJa Ð Kolga-Jaani Rõu – Rõuge Pee Ð Peetri Rei Ð Reigi Kõp – Kõpu Urv Ð Urvaste Pil Ð Pilistvere Vas Ð Vastseliina Ha Ð Harjumaa Sa Ð Saaremaa Plt – Põltsamaa Vru – Võru (town) Hag Ð Hageri Ans – Anseküla Pst Ð Paistu HJn Ð Harju-Jaani Jaa Ð Jaani SJn Ð Suure-Jaani Se Ð Setumaa HMd Ð Harju-Madise Jäm – Jämaja Trv Ð Tarvastu Jõe – Jõelähtme Kaa Ð Kaarma Vil Ð Viljandi Kra Ð Kraasna (Estonian Jür – Jüri Kär – Kärla Vln Ð Viljandi (town) settlement in Russia) Juu Ð Juuru Khk Ð Kihelkonna Lut Ð Lutsi (Estonian settle- Kei Ð Keila Kre Ð Kuressaare (town) Ta Ð Tartumaa ment in Latvia) Kos Ð Kose Krj Ð Karja Äks – Äksi Kuu Ð Kuusalu Muh Ð Muhu Kam Ð Kambja Nis Ð Nissi Mus Ð Mustjala Kod Ð Kodavere

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 369

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks, Mumming and Disguise in Estonia As will be explained in this section, outside a few references to medieval masking during Christmas and Lent in the Hanseatic cities of Tallinn (Reval) and Tartu (Dorpat),1 the earliest evidence of mask and mumming traditions in Es- tonia appears relatively late. It might be said that it comes indirectly with the first reference to the Estonian festival of Kadripäev (St Catherine’s Day) which appeared in a church book written in 1694 by Heinrich Göseken, a priest working in Kullamaa, in western Estonia (Sjögren 1849: 462Ð464). Nonetheless, the first real record of mummers being associated with St Catherine’s Eve does not appear until 1781, in Hupel’s Der nordische Miscellaneen (Hupel 1781: 234). This information is then repeated in Hupel’s dictionary (1780; 2nd edition: 1818). It might be noted that F. J. Wiedemann also reports the existence of both “kadrid” (St Catherine’s Eve mummers) and “mardid” (St Martin’s Eve mummers) in his dictionary from 1869 (Wiedemann 1869: 195 and 635). He then makes note of the “näärisokk” (New Year Goat) in his Aus dem innerem und äusserem Leben der Ehsten (1876: 348), where he, of course, also speaks about the mardid (367) and kadrid (369).2 Official academic “awareness” of other mumming traditions does seem to have not come until later. However, as will be noted below, it must always be borne in mind that the collection of folklore in Estonia did not begin until 1872, systematic collection only starting in 1888 with the work of Hurt. It seems that the collectors first became aware of the kadrid tradition, and that they were somewhat surprised by the fact that females were also going around in disguise. The lateness and scarcity of these early records however, should not be taken to mean that other mumming traditions did not exist, more that the German collectors probably had difficulty gaining information about them.

1. c. The Material3 As noted above, the first real collection of Estonian folklore was carried out during the first half of the nineteenth century by the Balto-German intellectuals known as “Estophils” who were trying to encourage the Estonians to start ap-

1 See Mänd 2005: 108–118 on records mentioning running “schoduvel” (devil figures) in association with Lent in Dorpat from 1387 and 1445 (109); and a ban on people “breaking into houses” around the time of the feast of the Three Kings in Dorpat in 1509 (probably a form of house visiting, although no mention is made of disguise: 117). Other records from Reval make references to a masked man who went around at night hitting people in 1460, and carnival “mummers” appearing in 1522 (118). See also Mänd 2005: 147–159 on a May Count tradition existing among the merchants in Reval in the sixteenth century. On this tradition, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden and Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 2 See also Russwurm 1855: 96 and 104, where Russwurm talks of the julgans (Christmas Goose) and julbuck (Christmas Goat), as well as the mardid and kadrid. 3 Regarding the archive references in this survey: Capital letters refer to the collector or the institution which organised the collecting work, thus H = Jakob Hurt; E = Matthias J. Eisen; EÜS =

370 Ülo Tedre preciating and developing their own culture. Ípetatud Eesti Selts/ Gelernte Estnische Gesellschaft (The Learned Estonian Society) was established for this purpose in Tartu in 1838, followed by Eestimaa Kirjandusühing/ Ehst- ländische Literaturgesellschaft (The Society of Estonian Literature) which came into being in Tallinn in 1842. There was good will behind these efforts, but the results were limited because the Estonian peasants simply did not trust the Germans. However, the ending of serfdom and the opportunity to buy their own farms increased the Estonian peasants’ self-consciousness. In 1842, the Estonians created Eesti Kirjameeste Selts (The Society of Estonian Writers) which, among other things, aimed to collect folklore. In 1893, however, the society was closed down owing to inner conflicts and the complaints of the so-called “venestajad” (“Russianisers”: the Russian authorities and some Esto- nians) who had been trying to stifle movements in support of the Estonian language and culture. Nonetheless, during the time of its existence, this society was able to collect more information than both of the other two societies put together. In 1888, Jakob Hurt (1839Ð1907), an Estonian pastor working in St Peters- burg, started a massive campaign of collection, beginning with a number of articles and letters published in newspapers. Hurt had about 1,400 co-workers who archived a total of 261,589 records (about 122,000 pages). Another pastor, Matthias J. Eisen (1857Ð1934), also collected folklore at this time, although he never equalled the results of Hurt. The third great collector of the period was Oskar Kallas (1868Ð1946) who collected mainly folk songs and tunes with the help of students between 1904Ð1910. During the period of first Estonian Re- public (1918Ð1940), Kallas initiated the establishment of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv (ERA: The Estonian Folklore Archives) in which all the earlier manuscripts were concentrated. This institution, situated in Tartu, now initiated complementary collection campaigns. During the Soviet era (1940Ð1991), the ERA became a department of Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum (The Estonian State Literary Museum). Collection work continued following the instructions of Oskar Loorits (1890Ð1961), the first Head of the Archives who had organised all the Estonian folklore collections

Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts (The Estonian Students Society); AES = Akadeemiline Emakeele Selts (The Academic Estonian Mother Tongue Society); E, Stk = Eiseni Stipendiaatide Kogu (The Eisen Sti- pendiates’ collection) and so on. See further Korb et al., The Estonian Folklore Archives (1990). As a rule, Roman numbers refer to the series (in accordance with the paper format used for collecting). In this regard, the Eisen Collection (E) is an exception. Here the Roman number refers to a special volume. The Arabic number which follows usually refers to volume, booklet or collection. The next number (following a comma) is a page reference, the number in the brackets referring to text number on the respective page. Following this come details of the place (parish or town) from where the record originates and the year of recording. Thus: E, St K 39, 264Ð265 (37): Kihelkonna, 1926 means: Eiseni Stipendiaatide Kogu, volume/ booklet 39, pages 264Ð265, text no. 37, recorded from Kihelkonna (a parish in Saaremaa), in 1926. E XI 39 (101) Tartu-Maarja refers to the Eisen Collection, volume 11, page 39, text 101, recorded in parish of Tartu-Maarja. E 57639 (26) Kadrina refers to the Eisen Collection, page 57639 (Eisen numbered his main collection consecu- tively from 1 Ð), text no. 26, recorded in Kadrina.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 371 into one. However, the collecting situation itself had now changed. Deporta- tions, emigration, urbanisation (and escapes from the new Soviet kolkhozes [cooperative farms]) had mixed up the population. A massive influx of Rus- sians added further confusion. Furthermore, less and less people existed who would have known of the old traditions in each area. It thus became difficult to get specific information about phenomena which had previously been fixed (including mumming activities). It seems that specific local traditions vanished, to be replaced by stereotypes involving generally known clichés. For this reason, when studying the original mumming traditions in Estonia, con- centration on records dating back to the second of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century is unavoidable.

2. General Features of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia As indicated above, the purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of those traditions referred to in Estonian as sanditamine (mumming). The author un- derstands this term to refer to ritual-ceremonial visits which occurred in the former agrarian society but still occur in some places even today on certain calendar days, mainly in villages, but often also in a generally wider area. The participants of these traditions in the past were more or less disguised. Masks in the literal meaning, however, were only used exceptionally, mainly in the twentieth century and mostly in towns. Typically, Estonian mummers were offered food or drink, or given gifts. In earlier periods and in villages, they received food stuffs, but in the twentieth century and in towns, children in particular would be given sweets or money. As regards early work on this subject, it might be noted that although Esto- nian mumming traditions have been Ð and in some places, still are Ð very widespread, they have remained largely outside the main interest of researchers. Nonetheless, there are printed sources from the nineteenth century containing records that show awareness of the existence of these traditions, and also some descriptions of local performances. In the twentieth century, however, one finds little more than short overviews. This chapter therefore aims to provide the first ever detailed overview of the tradition. Owing to the limited number of previous papers, it is hard to avoid being somewhat descriptive here. The following survey is based on the collections of the Estonian Folklore Archives (ERA) in the Estonian Literary Museum, and on the manuscripts of the dialect collections in Eesti Keele Instituut (EKI: The Institute of the Esto- nian Language) in Tallinn. Recorded material has not been taken into account (the transcription of the sound material would have taken more time than was available for this project). For that reason this survey includes little material from after the time that sound recording become the most common method of

372 Ülo Tedre collection in the seventies. In order to ease referencing, the material referred to here has been summed up in an overall register based around the various mumming characters that appear on different calendar days. The accounts have been numbered, and references are made to these numbers. The register in question can found at the ERA. It is also in the author’s possession. The survey in question describes: a) the area of distribution (by parish); b) the participants in the tradition (the number, their sex, and age); c) the disguise or masking used by the participants; d) the interaction between the participants and the host families they visit; e) the nature of the offerings or gifts given by the host family Ð as far as the source material reveals these details. Some local collectors limited themselves to general descriptions (which allow us to map the distribution area of the tradition), but remain slightly vague about other aspects of it. Fortunately, the overall number of records makes up for the shortcomings in some tradition descriptions, since different records tend to emphasise different aspects of the traditions. The mumming traditions will be analysed by festive calendar day, starting with the period preceding Christmas before moving on to the Christmas period itself. As will be seen in the following references, each festival has been assigned a number.

3. An Overview of Mask and Mumming Customs in Es- tonia Following The Old Farming Calendar 3. a. The Period before Christmas Christmas, or jõulud, is one of the oldest Estonian festivals. The Estonian name, however, is an old Scandinavian loan (Mägiste 2000: 589). Since the same name is known by all Baltic-Finns, the loan must be old, dating back to the pre-Christian period before the separation of the Baltic-Finns from the others. In south-east Estonia, an earlier name of the festival has been maintained (talsipühad: winter festival). Apparently, the festival was originally a festive day celebrating the winter solstice which later came to be connected with the Christian calendar. Over the centuries, Christmas has served as a real holiday period of rest for Estonians. The exhausting autumn work (which ended with threshing at home and on the local manor) was over, and the spring chores had not yet begun. Food was more plentiful than usual since the crops had recently been harvested. The Christmas period was also longer than most holidays, running in earlier times from St Thomas’ Day (December 21) until St Knut’s Day (January 7 or 14: see Hiiemäe 1998: 253–254; and 1995: 15–16); and in later times until

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 373

Epiphany (January 6). Sometimes Christmas did not end until Candlemas (February 2: see Hiiemäe 1998: 253–254; and Lätt 1970: 60–62).

3. a. i. November 30: St Andrew’s Day (Andrusepäev) (1) In Estonia, the start of the Christmas period, and especially those expectations and preparations connected to it, was actually associated with St Andrew’s Day (Hiiemäe 1998: 237–238; and 1994: 252). Indeed, one popular poem refers specifically to this idea: Andres, aus mees, annab jõulud,/ Toomas, tore mees, toob jõulud,/ Peeter, pikk mees, peab jõulud,/ Nuut, hiivapulk, viib jõulud! (Eesti Vanasõnad [EV: Estonian Proverbs] 1980: I, 130Ð131, type no. 322; and Eesti rahvalaulud [Estonian Folk Songs] 1969: I, 77Ð78). (Andrew, a honest man, will give us Christmas,/ Thomas, a great man, will bring us Christmas,/ Peter, a long man, will celebrate Christmas,/ Knut, the yeast-pin, will take it away!) This is why the first figures to be examined here are the visiting mummers of St Andrew’s Day. They have been called santmardid (in Ruhnu); andrused/ andresed (the island of Saaremaa); and andrisandid/ andresandid (Rõuge). The tradition is only known in Ruhnu and west Saaremaa (14 records) and in Rõuge (3 records) (see map 6.2). The records are dated from 1933Ð1977 (see also Hiiemäe 1998: 239). The records in question come from Ruhnu (1), Karja (1), Kihelkonna (3), Jämaja (9), and Rõuge (3). The best description comes from Ruhnu: Enamasti käivad poisid. Vitsaga koputavad akna pääle. Kui pererahvas tahab, laseb sisse. Mängivad ja tantsivad. Antakse õlut. Hirmutavad lapsi, käsevad midagi pääst lugeda. Pahupidi kasukad on seljas, meresaapad jalas, pahupidi müts pääs, õlgedest rihm ümber ja kalakessid pääs (1.1). (For the main part, only boys go around. They knock on the window with a twig. If the family wishes, they are let in. They play and dance. Beer is offered. They scare the children, and ask them to read something by heart. The boys wear furs turned inside out, sea boots, caps turned inside out, plaited straw belts and fish bags on their heads.) Their male sex is only mentioned in a few records (1.3, 6, and 9). One record, though, mentions men’s clothes being put on, implying that in this case, girls must have been involved (1.14). However, wandering around as andresed has probably got mixed up with mummers of St Martin’s Eve (see section 3. e. ii. below) who also wish luck to the family with their crops, dairies and sheep. Most of the records also describe the visits of andresed in plural, suggesting they moved around in groups. Unfortunately, their number is hardly ever mentioned. It would seem that this was not fixed but depended on the number of eager participants. No group leader is ever mentioned. In terms of appearance, the andresed wore old rags (1.10Ð12). One record

374 Ülo Tedre

Map 6.2: Mumming in Estonia: Andrused (St Andrew’s mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) states that their faces were blackened and that they had a wire-fixed tail (1.6). Another mentions everyday clothes (1.5). Often they are compared to the St Martin’s Eve mummers (1.1 and 6Ð8: see section 3. e. ii below). One record says that the andresed used to go around with a poker (1.2), while another de- nies this (1.5). Nonetheless, a well-known saying in Saaremaa refers clearly to such a poker in connection with this festival: Mart tuleb kaseotstega,/ Kadri kadakatega,/ Lutsi luuavarrega,/ Andres ahjuhargiga,/ Toomas tooripuuga (EV 1983: 279Ð280, type no. 64444). (Mart comes with a birch, Kadri with a juniper, Lutsi with a broom, Andres with a poker, and Toomas with a cowlstaff [a tool used for carrying water].) Record 1.3 then states the following: Andrusepäev: siis keidi mööda küla, mihed keisid, vett oli toobriga seljas pidand olema. Toodud vett tuppa suur igavene toobritäis ja pane kus sa tahad. Oli ka vaada- tud järel, kas käsitöösid ka tehtud on (1.3). (On St Andrew’s Day, the men used to go around the village; they had to have water with them in a large wooden bucket. They brought the bucket of water into the house, and put it wherever they wanted! They also checked if handicrafts had been made.) The informant (aged 70) in question here has nonetheless made a mistake: instead of St Andrew’s Day, he is actually describing the St Thomas’ Day tradition (see section 3. a. iii. below). Only a few records (1.1 and 3) describe the actual activities of St Andrew’s Day. In addition to the costumes and properties, however, dancing (1.12) is

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 375 mentioned. It is also noted that the andresed were offered beer (1.1), apples (1.7), peas (1.10), “verepallid” or “verekäkid” (the latter being balls or dumplings mixed with blood (1.10Ð12). Money is only mentioned once (1.12). The tradition has no parallels in terms of pattern or example outside Esto- nia.4 However, it is possible to see traces of other types of mumming here, especially in Saaremaa. It might be noted that St Andrew’s Day is celebrated about a week later than St Catherine’s Day (see section 3. e. iii. below), a girls’ mumming day in Estonia; and about two weeks before St Lucia’s Day (see the following section), which is also directly associated with girls’ mumming. In between these two, St Andrew’s Day was a very suitable occasion for boys or men to go visiting. Apparently, as noted above, going andresed was also connected to Christmas preparations. Nonetheless, the tradition does not seem to be very old. For example, Wiedemann’s large work, Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten (1876), contains a thorough review of the earlier printed sources, but gives no information about the andresed as a type of mummer. However, it might also be remembered that the tradition was known in so few parishes that the Balto- German amateur researchers may easily have missed it. This might also explain the relatively late recording of the tradition. Indeed, the fact that there is so little data encourages two kinds of explanation: either the tradition is comparatively recent (from the nineteenth century) as suggested above, or it is an ancient tradition that was starting to disappear in the nineteenth century. The evacuations from the parishes where the tradition was known during the Sec- ond World War did not help to preserve the custom. All that can be stated is that the tradition has now vanished. Only a few elderly persons are aware of it. It does not actively occur any more. Finally, it is worth noting briefly three unspecified records about the andrisandid from south-east Estonia (1.15Ð17) which tell how they visited houses (on Christmas Eve) passing out gifts to the poor. According to the popular folkloristic data, this is actually a Latvian tradition, and the records in question were clearly collected in villages of mixed population (two out of three clearly state that the tradition was carried out by Latvians). It might be noted that in Estonia this tradition is practically unknown.

3. a. ii. December 13: St Lucia’s Day (Luutsinapäev) (2)5 Those mummers going around on St Lucia’s Day (also referred to as lutsia-, lutsi- and lutsepäev) were called either lutsid or luutsid (with a single or double u: other forms are lutsid, lutsed, lutsiijad, lutsinad, or luutsinad, luutsijad, luutsid, and once, by mistake, lustid, meaning literally “fun”: see Hiiemäe

4 See, however, the information on Norwegian and Swedish Anders traditions in the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 5 On this tradition, see also the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume (especially those from Sweden, and Finland and Karelia).

376 Ülo Tedre

Map 6.3: Mumming in Estonia: Lutsid (Lucia mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.)

1998: 243Ð244). There are 29 unprinted records from 1924Ð1980 (see map 6.3) from the islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa: from Käina (1), Karja (4), Mustjala (2), Kihelkonna (10), Anseküla (2), Jämaja (1), Kärla (1), Kaarma (3) and Pöide (2). Two other records from west Estonia (Hanila and Tori) seem to have also been collected from informants coming from Saaremaa. For the main part, the records do not mention the sex of the lutsid; presumably it was expected the collector would already be aware of this. However, a few records do state directly or indirectly (for example, by giving the participants’ first names or comparing them to the female kadrisandid [see section 3. e. iii. below]) that lutsid were women or girls (2.10Ð13, 15, 18, 21 and 25Ð27). Some records just mention young people (2.4, 23Ð24 and 29). One quite unclear account (of the lutsid visiting houses at Epiphany) mentions that the lutsid were “mehed puha, külapoisid” (all men, “village guys”: 2.28). Another says that the lutsid were men in cross-dress (2.11). Apart from this, however, it seems that, as a rule, lutsid was a tradition carried out, at least initially, by girls and women. Little data exists about the disguise of the lutsid. A white dress (fur) is mentioned in three cases (2.14, 21 and 27), while others talk of “teistmoodi riides” (a different dress: 2.4) or thick fur (2.8), or suggest that they were dressed “ükskeik mis riided olid üll” (in no special way: 2.13). On the other hand, there are also records talking of decorative fine clothes (2.15 and 25Ð26), and especially hats decorated with many laces, chains and wood shavings (2.15, 18 and 27). The one exception is a record which tells of a lutsi carrying a big, long tail (2.20). In this context, it might be noted that there was also one record from Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 377 west Saaremaa (noted in the previous section) which talks of an andres with a tail (1.6). Possibly this use of tails was a local masking tradition. Some records also state that the lutsid had a mask (2.13), that their faces were covered (2.20), or that they had gauze covering their faces (2.27). It is also widely stated that the lutsid had besoms (brooms) with them (2.2, 4, 6Ð9, 11Ð12, 14, 19, 23Ð24 and 26). Certainly, if the record contains information about the lutsid cleaning the floor with birch (2.3) or juniper twigs (2.25), then the action must clearly refer to brooms. The replacement of “brooms” with “twigs” might have taken place either during the visit itself or in the memory of the informant. Nonetheless, the function of the object is the same. A completely different meaning, however, is attached to the rods of the lutsid (2.13 and 27). The appearance of this object refers rather to a healing birching of the host family (as in the St Martin’s Eve tradition: see section 3. e. ii. below). Only one record states clearly that the lutsid visited houses alone (2.10: “Lutsiia oli ka keind änamasti üksikult”). The idea of the lutsid as a single mummer, however, is implied in records stating for example that “luts tuleb” (a luts comes: 2.2Ð5, 7Ð8 and 19). For the most part, the lutsid are talked about in the plural, even though the precise number is not given (see 2.4, 6, 9, 11Ð16, 18, 20–21 and 23–29). Only two records talk of so-called “leaders” of the lutsid: one mentions the “lutsi isa” (Father Lutsi: 2.26) who was not supposed to be a male figure but a woman dressed like a man. The other record mentions a “lutsiema” (Mother Lutsi), or a so-called “esik” (2.27). This, too, is an obvious loan from the St Martin’s Eve and St Catherine’s Eve traditions (see sections 3. e. iiÐiii. below). The blending of these three traditions is quite understandable: the calendar days are close to each other, and both the lutsid and kadrid were girls (as noted above). Other loans from the mardid and kadrisandid are the wishing of good luck by the “Mother Lutsi”, and the birching of the family members (2.27). The element of dancing (2.13, 15, 18 and 28) seems to refer to these traditions. The romping around and making of practical jokes (2.12 and 21) might, on the contrary, have connections to the other Christmas mummers (see section 3. b. below). A single record telling of singing (probably the song was a new end-rhymed folk song) and the playing of a parlour game (2.29) points to a change in the tradition which is associated with Estonian village-parties. According to tradition, all autumnal work had to be completed by St Lucia’s Day, allowing preparation for Christmas to start (2.29). Indeed, the lutsid were also seen as announcers of the Christmas, announcing when Christmas came (2.25 and 27). Apparently, they also had to check the clean- liness of the rooms (2.9) and sweep the floor (2.4, 8, 11Ð12, 19 and 23Ð26), all of which can be seen as references to the approach of Christmas. The idea of them frightening children (2.2Ð4 and 21) and asking them to read something by heart (2.13 and 18) nonetheless shows influences from autumn mumming traditions (see section 3. e. below), as does the idea of asking the 378 Ülo Tedre female head of the family whether the yarn had been spun and how much thread the family had (2.8). Of course, though, many mummers scared children, and getting frightened is a natural reaction on the part of small children when faced by a masked figure. Several records provide information about the general treatment of the lutsid. They were supposedly offered apples (2.12), flour balls (blood dumplings: 2.15), nuts and beer (2.23), and cookies, beer, apples and nuts (2.29). One record also contains information about a bag in which the gifts were collected (2.15). These gifts were then distributed among the last family visited (2.15). This feature is another loan from the kadrisandid (the St Catherine’s Eve mummers: see section 3. e. iii. below). Obvious parallels to the Estonian lutsi tradition can be found particularly in Sweden.6 Even if the only common denominators of the Swedish and Estonian lutsid seem to be the sex of the participants (women or girls) and the white clothes, it may still be presumed that certain influences and/ or examples might have come from the other side of the Baltic Sea. The inhabitants of west Saare- maa, being fishermen and sailors, definitely had contacts with the Swedes. Probably, it is more a question of an influential example rather than the direct loan of a tradition. The age of the tradition should be connected to that of the St Andrew’s Day mummers: in other words, it should be dated to the nineteenth century (although, of course, somewhat older origins are possible). Nowadays, the local lutsi tradition seems to have been forgotten. In some towns, however, inhabitants have tried to revive the tradition by leaning directly towards the modern Swedish-Finnish models (including the singing of the “Santa Lucia” song). There is no information yet about whether the tradition has become vital for these societies.

3. a. iii. December 21: St Thomas’ Day (Toomapäev/ Toomas) (3) With the arrival of St Thomas’ Day, Christmas had firmly begun in Estonia (Hiiemäe 1998: 247–252). Christmas preparations included cleaning the house (or, as they called it, “musta tooma välja ajamine” [riding out the Black Tho- mas]) and making the beer (“toomas tuleb sisse valge müts pääs ja toob jõulud” [Toomas comes in with a white cap7 on, and brings along Christmas], or “Toomas tuleb, toop kaenlas” [Toomas comes with a pint”8]). Visiting farms as mummers is connected to the latter saying. The participants of the Estonian St Thomas mumming tradition are called toomased, toomad or Jõulu-toomad (3.7Ð10, 40 and 57), and in some exceptions must toomas (Black Thomas: 3.54). Generally, people talked about “toomaks käimine” (going for toomas), although one record mentions “toomast vaatama minema” (going to see toomas: 3.25). All in all, there are

6 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 7 The “white cap” referred to the beer foam: E, St K 39, 264/265 (37): Kihelkonna, 1926. 8 This means that beer was made at this time: E IXI 39 (101) Tartu-Maarja ja E 57639 (26) Kadrina. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 379

Map 6.4: Mumming in Estonia: Toomased (Thomas mumming). (Map: Ülo Tedre.)

57 records concerning Toomas from 1930Ð1978 (see map 6.4), most coming from the island of Saaremaa: from Keila (1), Saaremaa (1), Karja (4), Must- jala (27), Kihelkonna (13), Anseküla (1), Jämaja (1), Kuressaare (2), Kärla (2), Kaarma (2), and Tõstamaa (1). Two records from outside of Saaremaa suggest that a wider recognition of the tradition existed in earlier times, although, of course, it is possible that the informants in question might have been former inhabitants of Saaremaa. One obvious confusion with nuudipäev (St Knut’s Day: see section 3. c. i. below) also occurs in record 3.22, which states that the toomased visit houses three days after Christmas to search for the taps of beer barrels. It seems that men (3.1, 17Ð19, 27, 35Ð36 and 46Ð47) or young men (3.4, 10Ð 12, 19 and 45) were the main bearers of the toomas tradition. One record states that the old farm-owners went around as toomas (3.43). Some records mention youngsters without specifying their sex (3.2 and 34). Only one record (3.39) states directly that the group also included young girls, while another account says that toomas was a cross-dressed woman (3.8). The participation of women nonetheless seems to have been rare (unless the informants’ memories have failed them). Most of the records, however, talk about toomased in the plural. It can thus be concluded that the tradition was carried out in groups: according to one record (3.17), the group consisted of ten to eleven men. However, three records (3.3 and 5Ð6) underline that a man visited houses alone. One record (3.44) states that while there were many people going around, some of them were merely the companions of the real toomas. A unique record (3.14) offers further information that might help explain this fact, suggesting that only those 380 Ülo Tedre men called Toomas used to go around, and then only to the farms where they knew that other men called Toomas lived.9 The conclusions that can be drawn about this comparatively consistent tradition are quite clear: on St Thomas’ Day, it was mostly men that used to go around, initially older men and then, later on, when the tradition became more playful, younger men took over the tradition. Women then joined the mummers in the final period of the living tradition (if they did actually ever come along, and this was not simply a trick of the informants’ memories). The records about the disguise of the toomased are somewhat contradictory. Most emphasise their white clothes (white shirts and white trousers: see 3.2, 4, 9, 11, 14Ð16, 19, 21, 23, 27, 29Ð31 and 33). One record (3.37) mentions a white cap, which might be placed alongside the saying that “Jõulutoomas tuleb, valge müts peas” (Christmas Thomas comes with a white cap on his head: Eesti vanasõnad 1980, 516, nr 2740). Two records (3.23 and 31) mention a red belt. One record (3.2) then tells about “paberist nägu ees” (a paper face the mummers had), that is, a paper mask. Another record (3.36) talks of mummers being disguised without giving any specification about whether this involved a mask or costume. Two records (3.42 and 46) state that they had “suured näud ja abemed ees” (big faces and beards), which points to a mask. Certain other records of description like the following point to a blending with the costumes of the mardisandid (St Martin’s Eve mummers: see section 3. e. ii. below): “koduselt riides, pealtnäha vanad-habemikud” (casually dressed, old and bearded (3.42), with reversed furs (3.45), dressed in old clothes (3.49), or dressed differently with big beards (3.40). In this last record, one can assume influence from the Santa Claus10 tradition (during the Soviet era, people seem to have avoided directly mentioning such traditions which hinted at religious belief). Three records differing from all the others state that the mummers blackened their faces with soot (3.1 and 35) or “olid ennast mustaks määrinud” (had blackened themselves: 3.54). Presumably, these Mustad Toomad (Black Thomases) were associated with the big cleaning operation which was performed during St Thomas Day and included the cleaning of ovens (the oven being cleaned of soot, and split stones replaced with new ones), and thus ended up with a symbolic or actual taking out of “Black Thomas”.11

9 It is possible that this tradition has links to the name-day tradition which used to be known in Es- tonia, but which has unfortunately been studied very little. Corresponding information can be found in Eesti rahvakalender: Hiiemäe 1981–1995: II, 21 and 28–30 (Maarja: Maria); III, 21–22 (Jüri: George); IV, 34–36 (Jaan: Johan), 241–242 (Jaagup: Jacob), and 271 (Anna); V, 134 and 143 (Mihkel: Michael); VI, 31Ð32 (Mart: Martin), 179 (Kadri: Catherine); and 251Ð253 (Andres: An- dreas); VII, 16Ð18 (Toomas: Thomas); and VIII, 204 (Nuut: Knut). For parallels to such a tradition, see the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume with regard to Anders, Mats, and other such name-day traditions. 10 See further section 3. b. i. below. 11 Cleaning as a symbolic “expelling of Black Thomas” is well-known in continental Estonia. The physical expelling of Tahma-Toomas (Soot-Thomas, in the form of a straw or rag doll) was mostly carried out after Christmas, around the New Year. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 381

Disguise here included a cowlstaff or yoke (used for carrying water), or some bludgeon or log of wood (3.3, 5Ð6, 9, 14Ð21, 23, 26, 28, 30, 32Ð33, 39, 42–46, 52–53 and 55). According to one record, “punase lõngaga märgid peale siutud, kust saadik ükski pää akkas – jõulud, nääripää, kolmekuninga pää ja küünlapää” (a red thread was tied around the cowlstaff showing the exact time when Christmas began, when New Year came and when Epiphany and Candlemas Day would come: 3.9). Something else associated with the tradition is that the toomased would announce that Christmas was coming in three days (3.7, 12 and 16) or simply wish people a merry Christmas (3.16). The cowlstaff was also used to mark the rhythm during the dancing that would take place during the visit (3.16, 37, 41 and 46) or simply to strike the floor (3.19). Another feature is that the toomased would also carry a beer-flagon with them which points to one of their original functions, since beer would be offered to a family who then had to refill the empty flagon (3.36, 41Ð43 and 51).12 This action is referred to as toomast tooma (bringing toomas: 3.43). In short, the main function of visiting houses as toomased was to check out whether the beer was ready (3.33 and 38) or, as some put it, toomast vaatamas käimine (to go to see toomas: 3.25), or simply taste the beer (3.3, 4, 10Ð12, 14, 21Ð24, 28, 30, 34, 45Ð46, 48, 52, 54 and 56). It is thus natural that records mention the offering of beer (3.7, 15Ð16, 18Ð20, 29, 37, 41 and 44). One record from Keila in 1943 (3.1), which mentions that “Sel päeval läksid mehed… 1903, aasta talvel tahmase näuga kõrtsi, Toomast valgeks jooma” (on that day, in the winter of 1903, men went to the pub with blackened faces “to drink Toomas white”), belongs here. If the informant’s memory has not failed them, then going to have a drink in a pub was quite exceptional, if not unique, although here probably a non-ritual visit. As noted above, there are also some records suggesting that the customs of St Thomas’ Day have blended with those of St Martin’s Eve. However, it is again also possible that the memory of the informant has failed them: most Es- tonian mumming traditions have now vanished and those that have remained longest, which are related to St Martin’s and St Catherine’s Eve (see sections 3. e. iiÐiii. below), may well have influenced the recollections of other similar traditions. One must thus take into account the possibility that instead of a blending of traditions, there was actually some confusion in the informants’ minds. This might apply to those records telling of the singing of toomas (3.10, 19 and 29), dancing (3.16, 37, 41 and 46), and checks of whether handwork has been completed (“kas on lõngavihti kaela visata”: 3.35), all of which are more characteristic of the behaviour of St Martin’s Eve mummers. Wishing people good luck in finding a bride (3.29), wishing them a happy New Year (3.43),

12 There was an Estonian tradition of taking newly-brewed beer (“laotise viimine”) to relatives and friends which was known all over the country. In this case, the new beer was carried in a mug, and after the mug had been emptied by the relative or friend, he or she then put some bread (or socks, stockings or laces) into the empty mug, as a means of showing gratitude. That tradition took place during the period between St Thomas’ Day and Christmas Eve. 382 Ülo Tedre and asking them for nuts (3.34) all refer to New Year Boy traditions (see section 3. b. below). Asking trick questions (3.42) and the making of jokes (3.44) also fit many other kinds of mumming, but do not contradict the toomas traditions either. Today, the toomas tradition described above has vanished. Several records state, for example, that “Enne sõda ikka kadusid… eesti ajal oli küll veel” (It was gone before the war… It still existed during the first Estonian Republic: 3.19); “Umbes 20 aastat tagasi /s.o. 1938), kui käidi veel…” (They still went around about 20 years ago: i.e. in 1938: 3.36); “Toomad käisid umbes 50 aastat tagasi” (so. 1908) (The toomad used to go around about 50 years ago: i.e. in 1908: 3.41); or “Toomad keisid veel eesti ajal, aga siis juba haksid vähemaks jääma” (The toomad used to visit houses during the Estonian era but it happened less and less: 3.44). Taking into account the fact that the toomas tradition only persists in the memory of older people, its consistency is impressive. It might be concluded that the tradition must have been generally well known in the youth of these informants. Toomas was the last type of mummer to announce the coming of Christmas. It might be noted, however, that all of the mummers announcing the coming of Christmas were known in the west-Estonian islands, mostly in Saaremaa and then mainly in the western part of the island. It is open to question whether the traditions derive from popular Estonian metaphorical sayings (such as the statement that “Andres ahjuhargiga, Lutsi luuaga, Toomas toobripuuga” [Andres comes with the poker, Lutsi comes with a besom, and Toomas comes with a cowlstaff”]); or whether, on the contrary, the saying derives from the mumming traditions. Whatever the answer, the sayings clearly originate in Saaremaa, and it is probable that the traditions are not very old. Furthermore, all the name characters seem to be secular; there is nothing in their appearance or behaviour that binds them to the names of the saints. There is thus no reason to attach the traditions to Catholicism. In all probability, the traditions are much younger, based on the examples of the St Martin’s and St Catherine’s Eve mummers (see sections 3. e. iiÐiii. below), and aimed at emphasising the importance of the coming of Christmas. There is no answer yet, however, as to why the traditions have concentrated in the west of Saaremaa. It must also be stressed that those mummers announcing the coming of Christmas vanished before the demise of the actual Christmas mummers (some of whom are still known today).

3. b. The Christmas Period 3. b. i. Jõuluvana/ Näärivana (Santa Claus) According to Estonian Christmas traditions, Christmas Eve was spent alone with the members of one’s own family. The comparatively recent figure of the gift-bringing Santa Claus (jõuluvana) initially only appeared before (or after) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 383

Fig. 6.1: Näärivana (Father Freeze) at the Estonian Literary Museum in 1978. (Photo: Hal- lik.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rahva- luule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folk- lore Archives].)

Christmas at the Christmas parties that took place outside the home in schools or village houses. In homes, his visits were only marked by the gifts he left behind. Santa Claus (also called näärivana, or “Father Freeze” during the Soviet era) is essentially an international (and literary) character. In Estonia, his popularity was brought about by public, social and commercial events. The Santa Claus disguise has kept to a strict form: the red, white-rimmed coat, and the red, white-rimmed woollen hat, with a white beard reaching down to the chest, a sack of gifts on the back and a twig in the belt (see fig. 6.1). For the most part, the father or grandfather of the family would perform the role of Santa Claus.13 During the last decades of the Soviet era, it was also possible to order a so-called “professional” Santa Claus (in the form of “Father Freeze”). This would tend to occur at New Year parties in working places. The performance of all of these Santa Claus figures would always include the question: “Kas siin häid lapsi ka on?” (Are there any good children here?). If the answer was in the affirmative, Santa Claus would then call on the children (or other receivers of

13 In later times, some good friend or relative of the family would be asked to take on the role. 384 Ülo Tedre gifts, or the participants of the party) by name, and ask them to recite either a song or a poem off by heart, or to perform some other action that was prepared beforehand. Once this act was over, the child would be praised and handed a gift, this gift-giving often being made more exciting by “Father Freeze” having to search for the parcel in his big sack, wondering where it had gone. As noted above, the character of Santa Claus is a comparatively recent development in Estonia, his popularity having been promoted by children’s literature and the big shopping centres. Indeed, the big shops often have papier-mâché Santa Claus figures in their windows equipped with the regular attributes (a sledge and a stick, for example). Those centres which can afford it also have Santa Claus figures walking around among the crowds advertising Christmas goods. Initially, Santa Claus was only known in towns. Before the Soviet occupation, this figure was hardly known in many countryside villages. Paradoxically, it was the Soviet era with its various aspects of standardisation (which included the New Year’s party and “Father Freeze”) that spread the tradition of Santa Claus (in his “Father Freeze” form) around the Estonian countryside (in the kolkhozes [cooperative farms]). In short, the figure has no genuine roots in Es- tonian tradition. It is a totally loaned figure, and, in fact, not even loaned but rather received or enforced. The content of the tradition and its so-called ideology is totally out of place within the Estonian Christmas tradition. In general, it might be said that the spread of Santa Claus was assisted by both the strict Soviet standardisation and the overall adjustment of the tradition towards children. Since there were children in almost every family, it is natural that families did their best to have a Santa Claus figure visit them. Even though Santa Claus is known practically all over Estonia today, there are comparatively few records about this figure. Presumably, collectors made no special attempt to record the Santa Claus tradition; the information about the tradition is thus quite accidental and does not give an overall picture of its actual dimensions. Indeed, it should also be borne in mind that during the So- viet era both Christmas and Santa Claus were taboo subjects. As an enforced tradition brought about by the official ideology, “Father Freeze” did not receive much attention from the collectors who were primarily looking for “old” customs. This also reflected a sign of resistance, or at least a distancing from the Soviet ideology. All in all, as noted above, Christmas Eve in Estonia essentially took the form of an intimate family party which was only disturbed by the figure of San- ta Claus in the twentieth century. Records from the middle of the nineteenth century inform us that the same thing applied to Christmas Day: people stayed at home, although, as usual, there were exceptions. Most traditional visits in Estonia began on the following day, Boxing Day. These included the ritual- ceremonial visits, both those involving disguise and those without. The Estonian Christmas period has three “key points”: Christmas itself, the New Year period and then Epiphany (or St Knut’s Day: Hiiemäe 1998: 253). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 385

The mummers connected with these days differ by name but not really by appearance, behaviour or function. The mummers of this period will thus be examined by type rather than in relation to the different folk calendar days.

3. b. ii. The Jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys) (4) The jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys) went around on Christmas Eve (4.15 and 24), on the nights of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (4.14), but for the most part on the morning of Christmas Day (4.1, 4, 6Ð10, 13, 16Ð17, 21, 23 and 25) or indefinitely during Christmas period and between the holidays (4.2Ð3, 5, 11Ð12, 18Ð20 and 22). There are twenty five records of the jõulupoisid from 1888Ð1977 (see map 6.5 and fig. 6.2). It comes as no surprise that they come from west Estonia (including the islands). They were generally called jõu- lupoisid (4.1, 4Ð5, 8Ð9, 15Ð16, 18 and 21) or jõulupoisikesed, but also pühapoisid (meaning both “saint’s” and “holy [day]” boys): 4.6) or pühade- poisid (4.7). In some cases, jõulupoisid and uue aasta poisid (4.19 and 22) or nääripoisid (New Year Boys: 4.24) were used alternately (näärid referring to the New Year period as a whole, uus aasta meaning New Year). Most records (4.2Ð5, 11Ð12, 14 and 24) mention that the visitors were boys. Others emphasise the youth of the boys (4.8 and 21) or talk of “pisikesed poisid” (little boys: 4.15) or “väikesed poisid” (small boys: 4.17). In one record, the mummers were said to be 14Ð15 years old (4.13). However, elsewhere, young men (4.1 and 9) or youngsters are mentioned (4.10). One record notes that in earlier times, young men used to visit houses (4.16). However “nowadays” (that is the

Map 6.5: Mumming in Estonia: Jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) 386 Ülo Tedre

Fig. 6.2: Two poorly dressed Christmas-time wanderers, Saarde parish, Tali commune, Estonia, in 1930. (Courtesy of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Archives].)

1880s), this was carried out by little boys. Only two records (4.20 and 25) talk of men being mummers. There is no information about special disguise or masking being used. Only two records from Karja contain information about attributes. One states the following: Jõulude aegu käinud poisid külas, õlenuudid käes ja andsid pererahvale peksa ise öeldes: terveks, terveks, teravaks! (4.12) (During Christmas, boys used to go around the village. They had straw knouts in their hands and they hit family members saying: “Become healthy and smart!”) Another record from Pöide states: Erilise lugupidamise sees olid nn jõulupoisid, need käisid salkade viisi talust tallu, külast külla ja mõnikord isegi vallast valda. Tülid ja kaklemised olid tundmata. Ka nn pühade vahel võis igal aja jõulupoisse oodata, kes – lõõtsapillid kaenlas ja õle- kubud seljas – pererahva hariliku töö seisma panid ja tantsu lahti päästsid (4.18). (The so-called jõulupoisid were especially respected. They used to go around in groups from farm to farm, from village to village and even from commune to com- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 387

mune. They danced, drank and ate. Fights and disputes were unknown. One might also expect the visit of the jõulupoisid at any time during the “between-holiday” period. They had accordions and a bundle of straw along with them; they stopped the everyday work of the household and started to dance.) Here traditions have again become mixed together (unless the informant is mistaken). The straw knout, or whip, refers back to the mummers of St Knut’s Day who used to “pühkisid õllevaadi punnid kokku” (wipe the beer-barrel pegs) with their straw knouts, a metaphor refering to the finishing of the Christ- mas beer (see section 3. c. i. below). Meanwhile the idea of hitting people with twigs and the wishing of good health refers to the mummers of St Martin’s Eve (see section 3. e. ii. below). The “bundle of straw” refers to the custom of bringing in the straw “kolmeks ööks ja kaheks päevaks” (for three nights and two days). A dialogue then took place between the person who brought in the straw and those inside in which the straw was identified with Christmas (Hiiemäe 1998: 256–257). The heaving of the straw would thus refer to the beginning or continuation of Christmas. The record in question is unique but not necessarily made-up or the result of forgetfulness. There are comparatively few records providing information about the aim of the visit of the jõulupoisid who, for the most part, moved around in groups (only a few records [4.1, 23 and 25] say they came alone or in pairs). Those few which mention an aim refer to a mixture of a magical-ritual function and entertainment. The jõulupoisid wished people a merry Christmas (4.9 and 13), good luck (4.25), and other good things such as milk, butter or calves (4.15, cf. the wishes of the New Year nääripoisid in section 3. b. iii. below). Several records also mention them singing behind the door or under the window (4.4Ð 5, 8, 14 and 19). They also danced and made jokes (4.11, 18 and 22), and had a musical instrument (an accordion) with them (4.11 and 17Ð18). More recent records state directly that: “See oli nendel /s.o. jõulupoistel/ joomaaeg, ega nad muul ajal joonud” (It was their [i.e. the jõulupoisid’s] drinking period; they did not drink at any other time: 4.3). With regard to the offerings received by the jõulupoisid, older records talk of feeding them, offering them Christmas beer and sausage (4.5, 7 and 25), and the giving of nuts by girls (4.8Ð9, 13 and 20). The giving of mittens and socks has been mentioned (4.7 and 10), but this is mostly attached to the figure of the so-called goat (see section 3. b. iv. below). There is also mention of “kõiksugu andeid” (all kinds of gifts: 4.6) or the condition that “midagi pidi kinkima” (something had to be given: 4.23). Recent records emphasise the offering of beer (4.8, 11, 17 and 20). The next question that must be asked is when the tradition disappeared. Those records that date back to the nineteenth century use the present tense when speaking about the jõulupoisid. Records from the twentieth century, on the other hand, are already using the past tense. One record (4.11) provides a temporal borderline for the tradition stating that it was known until the First World War. Today, the jõulupoisid have been totally replaced by the 388 Ülo Tedre nääripoisid (see the following section) which are still familiar in some places.

3. b. iii. The Nääripoisid (New Year Boys) (5) The nääripoisid (New Year Boys) aimed at being the first guests at New Year14 and also good-luck wishers. This tradition has a basis in earlier folk beliefs, stating that if the first visitor was female, she brought bad luck or spoiled the house’s fortune, and that the older the woman was, the bigger the misfortune. This is the reason for why boys or young men used to go around the village wishing and bringing good luck (Hiiemäe 1998: 295–296). 146 records about this tradition exist from 1872Ð1986. The tradition is known all over the country but is most popular in western Estonia and especially in Saaremaa (see map 6.6). Even though there are plenty of records concerning these figures, they tend to be quite general in nature. Most mention the fact that the visiting mummers were called nääripoisid (5.1Ð2, 14, 22Ð23, 25, 28Ð29, 34Ð37, 39Ð42, 44Ð47, 49Ð56, 58Ð60, 62Ð63, 65Ð67, 69Ð71, 74Ð77, 81, 83Ð86, 89Ð90, 92Ð93, 95, 97Ð 98, 100, 102Ð106, 108Ð119, 124, 126, 132, 137 and 146) or, tautologically, uueaastapoisid (5.24, 26Ð27, 30Ð33, 48, 72, 78, 88, 101, 120, 123, 125, 130 and 134).15 Another term, Nääri–Jaak (Jack-of-the-New-Year), was also widespread (5.11, 38, 138, 141, 143 and 145). An accidental term seems to have been uue aasta sõbrad (the friends of New Year: 5.15). In one other record (5.33), the nääripoisid are also identified with the näärisokud (New Year Goats). The term näärimees (New Year Man: 5.38), meanwhile, probably represents a transition from the official näärivana (“Father Freeze”: see section 3 b. i. above).16 Usually the records talk of the nääripoisid going around in groups; indeed, the term nääripoisid usually occurs in the plural form (5.1, 3Ð4, 6Ð8, 10, 12Ð 17, 19Ð36, 39Ð46, 48Ð53, 55, 57Ð67, 70Ð93, 95, 97, 99, 100, 102Ð115, 117Ð 118, 120Ð122, 125, 127Ð131, 135Ð137, 140, 144 and 146). However, many records also describe these figures as going around alone, or sometimes in twos or threes (5.2Ð3, 18, 37Ð38, 47, 54, 56, 68Ð69, 94, 98, 101, 119, 123Ð124, 126,

14 Cf. the Scottish tradition of “First Footing”: see Campbell 2005: 536; Ross 2000: 126; and Hole 1978: 104Ð107. 15 In this context, it might be noted that among several so-called “transmissions” of the Estonian St Martin’s Eve mumming activities (see section 3. e. ii. below) are a group of somewhat rare figures known as the näärisandid (New Year mummers, described in 15.34) whose masks and song are very reminiscent of the St Martin’s Eve mummers. Even the song they sing is a direct adaption, the word mart (Martin) being replaced by näärid (New Year). 16 Along with these “human” figures, a number of animal figures appeared at this time in certain parishes. One local collector in 1956 comments: “Torgu ja Mustjala kandis käis uue aasta poiss. Valjala ja Püha kihelkonnas uue aasta ani, pikka kaila ja nookaga… Pöide kandis aga uue aasta sokk…” (In Torgu and Mustjala, there was a nääripoiss. In Valjala and Püha parish, there was this uue aasta ani [New Year Goose] with a long neck and bill… In Pöide, there was the uue aasta sokk [New Year Goat]…”: 5.125). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 389

Map 6.6: Mumming in Estonia: Nääripoisid (New Year Boys). (Map: Ülo Tedre.)

132, 134, 138, 141Ð143 and 145). It is impossible to detect any regional preferences in this respect. For the main part, the nääripoisid visited houses on New Year’s Day. Only a few records specify that the nääripoisid came after midnight, in other words, when the new day (and year) was beginning (5.7, 15, 43, 46, 49, 63, 66, 70Ð71, 73, 80Ð81, 102, 108Ð109, 123, 128 and 134Ð135). An even more specific time is given in one record (5.58) which states that they used to come around at one o’clock. Another unique record (5.65) informs us that the boys did not start their visit before four o’clock; before that they were just not let in. Plenty of records, however, state that the boys came on the morning of New Year’s Day, sometimes arriving with a note early in the morning (5.8, 13, 17, 19, 20Ð21, 35Ð37, 41, 55Ð57, 64, 72, 78, 83, 85, 103, 114, 124, 126, 130Ð131, 136Ð138, 140Ð142 and 145). It is also often stated that they went around throughout the night (5.6, 34, 38, 40, 42, 51, 60Ð61, 79, 86, 111 and 112). Considering the general simplified nature of the records on the one hand and the indefinite quality of the terms “morning”, “day-time” and “night” in everyday language, all that one can be sure of is that going nääripoisid started with the arrival of näärid (New Year’s Day) at midnight. The question of whether the visit started at one or at four o’clock is a regional matter. As the mummers visited all the families in their home village as well as those in neighbouring villages, the visits usually went on until New Year’s Day. Another question is that of exactly who made up the mummers group. They had to be of the male sex for obvious reasons. As noted above, people argued that: 390 Ülo Tedre

Kui uue aasta hommikul esimesena naisterahvas majasse tuleb – viib uue aasta õnne ära. Abi selle vastu: naisterahvale tulevad ukse peal püksid kaela visata. Kui meesterahvas tuleb, on hää õnn uuel aastal. (5.10; see also 4, 14, 19, 75, 91, 101 and 135). (If the first visitor on New Year’s Day is a woman, she’ll take away the luck of the house. A piece of good advice [if a woman arrives] is that some men’s trousers should be thrown at her neck in the doorway [to avoid the bad luck]. If the first one to arrive is a man, the house will have good luck throughout the coming year.) Different records, however, give different ages for the mummers. Some state that they were children (5.20 and 115), while others talk of “poisikesed” (boys: 5.3, 13, 17 and 126); “pisikesed poisid” (small boys: 5.80 and 124); “väikesed poisid” (little boys: 5.91 and 99); “poisid” (only boys: 5.4, 57, 61, 67, 127, 129, 135 and 136); or “naabripoisid” (boys from the neighbourhood: 5.82). Others state simply that the nääripoisid were “noored” (youngsters: 5.12); “noorme- hed” (young men: 5.8, 19, 26, 30, 64, 68, 73, 107, 140 and 144); or “nooremad ja tragimad mehed” (younger and more eager men: 5.43). Yet others mention “meesterahvas” (male beings: 5.9, 138) or “mehed” (men: 5.6, 10, 16, 21, 126, 128 and 135). In one case, “mees, kes väga vana ei ole ega väga noor” (a man, neither too young nor too old) is mentioned (5.18). One record even talks of an old man (5.141). The memories, however, are contradictory. One account from Muhu and Kaarma in 1960 states: “Kui ma noor olin, siis käisid nääride aegas önne soovimas väiksed poisid… Nüüd iljemal ajal on käinud suuremad, nooremad mehed” (When I was young, little boys used to come and wish good luck during the New Year period… Later, nowadays, younger and bigger men have come: 5.20 and 99). Another record from Püha a few years earlier states: “Nääripäeval käivad nääripoisid, uie aasta õnne soovijad… Suured poisid, noored mehed käisid. Nüüd käivad pisiksed poisid” (On New Year’s Day, the nääripoisid come, and they wish good luck for next year… Big boys, young men came. Nowadays, little boys come to visit: 5.113). Considering the name of the tradition (nääripoisid: New Year Boys) and the belief that the good-luck wish would be more influential if the wisher was a young male being,17 it might be concluded that the initial form of the good-luck wishers must have been small boys. Several records identify the nääripoisid with the näärisokk (the New Year Goat: see the following section) or state that they were companions of the näärisokk (5.41, 48, 49, 66, 75, 95, 120 and 122). At the same time, the records emphasise that “Esiti käisid ikka sokud; uieaastapoisid – see uiem komme” (The goats came first; the nääripoisid is a newer tradition: 5.33), and “Nääripäeval käisid nääripoisid. Lapsed käisid. See pole nii vana komme olnd” (The nääripoisid used to come during the New Year’s Day. They were children. It was not a very old tradition: 5.115).

17 This belief is actually an inverted form of the original image: it was believed that the older the first female guest was, the worse the luck would be in the household over the following year. The rule has thus come to stress the opposite image: the younger the first male visitor, the better. This belief also applied to the first person you met (as when you were going fishing or hunting). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 391

As a rule, the nääripoisid were not disguised. Only one record (5.134) mentions a covered face. Five records (5.1, 74, 108, 110 and 112), however, contain information about a straw headdress, and another three (5.2, 7 and 110) mention a straw coat or dress. Elsewhere, mention is made of reversed furs (with a straw belt) (5.5 and 112) and a white dress (showing the influence of Lucia customs: see section 3. a. ii. above) (5.39). One record (5.125) talks of a crown, something which is described as “õlgedest valmistatud mitme keerusarvega peakatet” (straw headgear with several screwed horns). A number of records (5.23, 31, 34, 47, 83, 85, 87Ð89, 95Ð96, 98, 100, 102Ð103, 108Ð109 and 112), however, mention a straw knout (cf. the Knut’s Day tradition of the nuudid: see section 3. c. i. below) with which the nääripoisid used to hit the household, and especially the sleepers. The purpose of hitting them was supposedly to make them hard-working and lively. Several records suggest indirectly that there was competition between groups of nääripoisid to reach houses first, since only those who came first were given gifts (5.33, 36, 42, 45, 49, 54, 89 and 119). Late-comers were told: “Käidud juba. Ja need pidid söömata-joomata lahku- ma” (They’ve already been here. So guests who came later had to leave without food or drink: 5.19). Only one record mentions a dialogue between the nääripoisid and the family of the kind associated with the St Martin’s Eve mummers (see section 3. e. ii. below): Nääride laupa õhta tuli kedagid ukse taha ning koputas ja küsis luba sisse tulla. Seest aga küsiti: kes ta on. Kui väljast tuli vastus, et ta on uusaasta, siis küsiti veel, mida uusaasta toob, kas head või santi, mitu vasikat, mitmed kaksikud talled, mitu seapõr- sast jne. Kui ukse taga olija kõik küsimused oli vastand, siis lasti ta sisse ning anti taale õlut juua, et vili kasvaks; liha süea, et lihapuudus käde ei tuleks, samuti piima, võid jne. Siis käis “uusaasta” kõik ruumid läbi ning läks siis edasi teise perese (5.94). (On New Year’s Eve, someone appeared outside the door and knocked and asked if he could come in. From inside, they asked who it was. If the answer from outside was that it was “the New Year”, the family inside would ask what the New Year brought, whether it was good or bad, how many calves, how many twin lambs, how many pigs and so on. When the one outside the door had answered all the questions, he was let in and offered beer for a good harvest and meat to avoid a lack of meat, as well as milk, butter and so on. Then “the New Year” went through all the rooms and on to another family.) This is an improvisational game-like development of the usual visit of nääripoisid which began either with the wishing of a happy New Year (5.2, 5Ð 8, 12, 15Ð18, 20Ð21, 26Ð27, 29, 35, 86, 124Ð125, 129, 134 and 144) or simply good luck (5.19, 24Ð25, 36, 38, 52, 57Ð58, 60, 64, 68, 73, 76Ð77, 99, 104, 113Ð 114, 133, 135Ð138, 140, 142Ð143 and 145). In Saaremaa, especially, a spell-like wish would be sung to the family: Tere oomikut, näärioomikust, ead õnne uie aasta vasta! Tüdrukud mehele, kanad munele, obestel iirud varsad, lammastel laugid talled, lehmadel leedid vasikad, seale seitse põrsast! Vanad tüdrukud vasta pöhituult! (5.98) 392 Ülo Tedre

(Good morning, New Year morning, good luck next year! Girls to marry, hens to lay eggs, horses to have mouse-dun colts, sheep to have white-headed lambs, cows to have cream-coloured calves, pigs to have seven pigs. Spinsters against a northern wind!) In performance, this chant would vary in wording and in the number of single wishes (5.86, 88, 102, 110 and 120). The shortest seems to be: “Ead uut aastat! Tüdrukud mehele, kanad munele!” (Happy New Year! May the girls get married and hens lay eggs!: 5.100 and 122). Such a wish stresses the visible activities of the animals. However, there was also one wish which emphasises the number of animals: “Tere omikust, nääri! Seale seitse põrsast, kanale ka- heksa poega, lehmale vasiktall!” (Good morning, New Year morning! Seven piglets to each pig, eight chicks to a hen, and may the cow get a female calf!: 5.37). This wish varies in both form and extension. The wish for the daughters’/ girls’ good luck in marrying and hens’ luck in laying eggs (“tütred/ tüdrukud mehele, kanad munele”), however, seems to appear in most of the congratulations. Another form of the wish-congratulation (for example, “lammastel kaksikud talled, seale kaksteist põrsast”, wishing that the sheep get twin lambs and the pig twelve piglets: 5.48, 39, 43 and 120) ranges from a very short wish to longer wishes (5.26, 31, 33, 37, 40, 49, 83, 113 and 139). Sometimes the motifs in the first and second kinds of wish-congratulation blend. In some wish-congratulations, the contents are similar but the wording different, as in “Tütred mehele, kanad munele, head loomaõnne ja põllukasu ning kõige rohkem nisu! Hobesele laugik varss, lehmale leedik vasikas, lammastele kaksikud talled!” (Girls marry, hens lay eggs! Good luck with animals, good harvest luck and much wheat! May the horse get a colt with a white spot, the cow get a cream-coloured calf, and sheep twin lambs!: 5.213; see also 97). Two wishes from Mustjala which, exceptionally, mention boys as well as girls and the farm are worth special mention. The first runs as follows: “Tere, ead uut aastat! Tüdrukud mehele, kanad munele ja poisid kosja ja lammastele kaksikud talled!” (A good New Year’s morning! May the girls get married, the hens lay eggs, the boys propose, and sheep get twin lambs!: 5.36). Another wish “sends” the boys to tend a herd (5.39), but this may be a mistake made either by the informant or the collector. Yet another exceptional wish from Jõelähtme runs: “Tere teile! Head uut aastat; rahu, tervist, head elu, rikkaks saada ja vanaks elada!” (Happy New Year! Peace, health, a good life; may you get rich and live a long life!: 5.3). One wish from Karja states: “Ead uut aastat! Vilja kasvu, looma kasvu, noortele ruudiks saamist!” (Happy New Year! May the crops grow, the animals grow, and the young (girls) get married!: 5.25). One wish-congratulation recorded in the nineteenth century is even more unique. This is also more metaphorical than the later examples, and runs as follows: Jumal andku hääd õnne uue aasta sees! Sigigu kanapojukesed ja karujaluksed! Üks mingu õuest, üheksa tulgu õue! Tütred mehele, kanad munele! Pere-emmele ja –taa- dile valge peaga poegi! Vanadele raudlasna ja kergukella! (5.91) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 393

(May God give you good luck at New Year! May the hens and other animals get plenty of offspring! May one leave the yard and another nine come! May girls marry, and hens lay eggs! May the mother and father of the family have “white-haired” sons! A spade and a church bell for the old ones!) The word “karujaluksed” here obviously refers to all domestic animals (as opposed to chickens). The talk of “leaving the yard” might refer both to getting married and leaving the family as well as dying; it might also refer to the departure of hired hands. “Coming to the yard”, on the other hand, might mean both the arrival of a newly married bride and births (hardly ever the hiring of new hands). The words “raudlasna” (a spade) and “kergukella” (church bells) obviously refer to funerals. It is noteworthy that this particular wish already contains the earlier-noted formula “May the girls marry and hens lay eggs!” which runs throughout all later records of wishes found over the course of the century. Another record written down fifty years later contains a number of the wishes noted above: Tere hommikut! Hääd uue aasta õnne! Tüdrukud mehele, kanad munele, tuhat tuti- kat, sada sarvikut, viiskümmend villhända, kuuskümmend komberjalga! Sigigu siuksed, kasugu karujaluksed! Üks õuest mingu,üheksa õue tulgu! (5.112). (Good morning! Good New Year luck! Girls to marry, hens to lay eggs! Have a thousand hens, a hundred cows, fifty sheep, sixty horses! May the animals multiply and grow! May one leave the yard and another nine come!) Here one finds various metaphors from old songs being used, as in the cases of the words “villhänd”, and “komberjalg” (see also Eesti rahvalaulud 1969: I, 235 and 236–237), which mean respectively “lamb” and “horse”. One particular text from Audru, however, is rather peculiar: here, a nääripoiss delivers his wishes separately to each member of the family (probably under the influence of the St Martin’s Eve mummers: see section 3. e. ii. below). On entering the room, the boy gives a general greeting: “Tere hommikust, tere hommikust! Pikka iga, rahu, tervist, pisut lapsi, palju leiba!” (Good morning, good morning! Long life, peace and health, a few children and much bread!). Next he turns to the father, saying: “Rikkaks saada, vanaks elada, põllul vilja kasvada, meres kala püüda!” (May you get rich, live long, grow grain in the fields and catch fish in the sea!). Next comes the mother, to whom he says: “Kümned lehmad lüpsikule, pisukesi lapsi ja palju leiba (~ üheksa last ja üks särk)” (Ten cows to milk, young children and much bread [or nine children and one shirt]!). Then he turns to “Leeni” (probably the daughter of the family), saying: “Viied viinad, kuued kosjad, sajad seitsmendad sõnumed!” (Five proposal bottles of spirit,18 six proposals, and one hundred and seven pieces of news!). To “Peedu”, the son of the family, he says: “Tervist, jõudu töötegijale!” (Health and strength to the worker!) (5.132).

18 In Estonian peasant society, making a marriage proposal included offering vodka to the girl’s parents on the proposal visit. “Five proposal bottles of spirit” thus means that the nääripoiss wished for the girl to have five men to propose to her. 394 Ülo Tedre

In the more recent traditions where the nääripoisid and näärisokud (New Year Goats) traditions have blended, the boys make demands rather than give blessings, saying: “Meie, uue aasta poisid uue aasta õnne toojad! Kes ei anna sokul juuva – selle põld ei kanna vilja!” (We nääripoisid are the bringers of New Year luck! Those who will not give drink to us will get no harvest from their fields!: 5.48). While the form of the wish-congratulations followed the basic poetic rules of the old runo songs19 (using both alliteration and parallelism), the latter greetings were based on more recent song tradition. The message, “Oh palu, ristiinime, et lammas sünniks sinine” (Oh, you Christian people, ask for a blue lamb20: 5.146), uttered by one set of nääripoisid was totally improvised. It has nothing to do with their traditional activities. Before the time of first Estonian Republic in 1918, there are only two records containing the congratulations of the nääripoisid (5.3 and 91). In the 1930s, there are five (5.36Ð37, 83, 112 and 146), and during the Soviet era, twenty one (5.25Ð26, 31, 33, 39Ð40, 48Ð49, 86, 88, 96Ð98, 100, 102, 120Ð123, 132 and 139). It is thus quite astonishing how long the old formulas have been maintained in the tradition. Considering another aspect of nääripoisid behaviour, the nääripoisid carrying straw knouts, sometimes with tufts attached to them (5.47 and 89), are mostly known in the middle of Saaremaa. These performers, however, are no longer young children or boys but rather youngsters or young men. They used to hit the family members with the knouts in order them to “liven them up” (see 5.34, 88, 98, 102Ð103 and 109), their actions being accompanied by the oral formula: “Erguks, erguks, erguks, nooreks, vanad valud kadugu!” (Be lively and young; may the old pains go away!: 5.88; see also 98). In some places, a wish-congratulation has been added (5.96), or the formula has gained a humorous tone, as in the words: “Erguks, erguks, koerakerbuks!” (Become lively; become a dog’s flea!: 5.102). This tradition shows influence once again from the St Martin’s Eve mummers who used to hit family members with a twig to bestow health on them (see section 3. e. ii. below). There are also some records which state that the nääripoisid hit sleepers with their knouts (5.83 and 108), or threatened to hit people if they were not given gifts (5.83 and 85). The nääripoisid were usually given food and drink, and the very first boy (to enter) was given gifts. These gifts took the form of mittens, stockings or a belt (5.14, 18, 49, 53Ð54, 60, 70Ð74, 84, 86, 117, 137Ð138, 141Ð142 and 145), or, additionally, a specially made bag of tobacco (5.36, 42, 45, 58, 65, 69, 77,

19 The runo song metre (the Finnish Kalevala verse form, known in Estonian as Regivärss) is said to be the oldest poetic system known by all Balto-Finnish nations (except for the Vepsians and Livonians). It involves a four-foot trochee which is based on alternating long and short syllables. The words of the verse are bound together by alliteration and assonance, and the verses are then bound by parallelism. The old song metre (which goes back to c. 1000 in Finland) survived for a long time when the respective functions associated with its use (such as weddings, games and mumming) were preserved. 20 The idea of the “blue lamb” is based on a joke in the rhyme. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 395

83, 93 and 110). A single record states that “toe socks” (socks like mittens) were made for them (5.59). This is yet another clear borrowing from the St Martin’s Eve mumming tradition. It has also been emphasised above that only the first nääripoiss to arrive (5.42, 54, 65Ð66, 71Ð73, 80Ð81, 86 and 89), or the first one to write the number of the year on the house wall, door or oven (5.45: see further below) got gifts. Certain gifts have roots in more archaic, ritual tradition, as with the offering of a special cake (kakk, also called “nääris”: 5.1, 56, 91, 99–100, 108, 112, 116 and 119), beer (in the case of boys), or vodka (in the case of men): this was necessary to guarantee the “realisation” of the wish-congratulation (5.2–3, 14, 27, 29, 35, 52, 60, 63Ð64, 78Ð79, 129, 133, 137 and 140). The giving of money (coins) also comes under the heading of a “ritual gift”. This is known in older records dating back to the Czarist period (5.56, 80Ð81, 112 and 124). The most traditional gifts were nuts (on a string: so-called “nut rings”). It is also often stressed that the nuts were given by girls, while mittens and socks were given by the matron of the household, and tobacco bags only given by girls as a rule (see 5.14, 27Ð28, 35, 44, 49, 52, 60, 66, 71Ð72, 74, 76,Ð79, 83, 93, 105, 109Ð110, 113, 125, 138, 141Ð142 and 145).21 The stated aim of the nääripoisid was “jänu juua ja peotäis pähkleid” (to get a good drink and a palmful of nuts: 5.19). While the first boy got his gifts, the rest of the company had to be satisfied with nuts. The next group of boys were told “Käisid juba!” (They’ve been here already!), and they had to leave without food or drink (5.19; see also 5.36). One exceptional record about gifts comes from Pöide: Uie aasta hommikust ööd hakasid nääripoisid käima, pisikesed poisid keisid, möni keis üksi ja möned keisid kaks-kolm koos, igal ühel leivaviilukas käes. Uksest sisse tulles üteldi: tere hommikust head uut aastat, head õnne. Ja igaüks pani oma leiva- viiluka söömalaua peale. Poistele anti süüa ja pähkid, olnud üksi ehk kaksi, ja igale mehele anti 2 kopikat raha ka ja leigeti jälle uus viilukas leiba… ja tänati poissa ka önne soovima tulemast. Siis marsiti teise perese, nii pailu kut jöudis, see oli äri, pois- te teeenistus… (5.124). (The nääripoisid started to visit at the very start of New Year’s Day: small boys; some came alone and some came in twos or threes, and everyone had a piece of bread in their hand. They said when they came in from the door: “Good morning! Happy New Year! Good luck!” And every one of them put his slice of bread on the table. The boys were given food and nuts, if there were one or two of them. Every one got two kopeks and a new slice of bread was cut for them… and they were thanked for coming. They then marched over to the next family, as many of them as they could. It was a kind of business, their means of earning….) As noted in this quote, the boys used to go around with a slice of bread, and youngsters with a mug which was emptied and then re-filled by the master of the house (5.51, 55 and 135). All of this is reminiscent of the bringing of beer

21 One record (5.80) states that those women who had become married and the girls who had been confirmed during the year had to give the boys gifts. 396 Ülo Tedre

Fig. 6.3: Dates written on a door by the nääripoisid (New Year Boys), Uustalu farm, Anepesa village, Kärla, Estonia, in 1959. (Photo: O. Kõiva.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Archives].) in the Jõulu-Toomas (Christmas Thomas) tradition (see section 3. a. iii. above). As noted above, in addition to the performance of the wish-congratulation, the task of the nääripoisid was to write the number of the new year on the door, on the oven, or on the wall (door: 5.9, 12, 16, 24Ð27, 30, 45, 47, 50Ð52, 63Ð64, 82Ð83, 89, 120 and 122; oven: 42, 45 and 52; wall: 43 and 45; and an indefinite place: 22 and 55: see fig. 6.3). One humorous note about this appears in a record stating that if the boys were not let in, they would re-write the number of the old year on the door (5.54). A number of collected records note, however, that whenever the new number was written (whether it was that of the coming or the previous year), the previously existing numbers were not wiped off by the visitors (5.22).22

22 A similar tradition is known, among other places, in Nieder-Österreich in Austria, where the visiting “Three Kings” traditionally add chalked year numbers to the wall when they arrive. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 397

This tradition was still alive during the 1960s. Today, it has near enough vanished, mostly because of the decrease in the number of rural inhabitants, migration to towns and the small number of children. Some informants claimed, however, that “see pole nii vana komme olnud” (it is not such an old tradition: 5.115), and this seems to be backed up by other information. The word näärid (New Year), for example, seems to be a comparatively recent loan from Low-German (Liin 1964: 43). Admittedly, S. H. Vestring’s dictionary (from the latter half of the eighteenth century; the exact date is uncertain): states: “Neari Pääv, der Neujahrstag” (Neari Pääv, New Year’s Day: see Vestring 1998), but the Hupel dictionary from 1818 uses när and neär but not näärid. It might also be noted that as an official custom, New Year’s Day was only moved to January 1 by the Pope in 1681. In all likelihood, Estonian peasants did not get used to the new holiday until the first half of the eighteenth century. Probably, the nääripoisid tradition as described above grew out from the older tradition of the jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys: see section 3. b. ii. above). As fortune-telling, watching for omens and magical-ritual customs concerning the New Year were concentrated around Christmas or the New Year in Estonia,23 it comes as no surprise that that the nääripoisid tradition blossomed and then buried the tradition of the jõulupoisid (Christmas Boys). It might also be noted that the tradition has taken over motifs of other visiting groups of mummers, such as the sokud (goats: see following section), the toomased (Thomas mummers: see section 3. a. iii. above), and the mardid (St Martin’s Eve mummers: see section 3. e. ii. below).

3. b. iv. The Sokk (Goat) at Christmas and New Year (6 and 7) Certain other visitors of the New Year period seem to date back to older Christ- mas traditions. This applies especially to the figure of the sokk (male goat). 71 records exist concerning a jõulusokk (Christmas Goat), most of them from the 1930s (see map 6.7). The records in question cover the whole country except for north-east Estonia (the former Virumaa). More records come from west Es- tonia which also provides the most recent records. The character in question has different names, mostly jõulusokk (Christmas Goat) but also jõulupukk (gen. puka or puki meaning the same thing), as in Finland and many parts of Scandinavia (6.7Ð11, 13Ð15, 17Ð18, 23, 53, 58Ð61, 64 and 68Ð69).24 Other names like sikk (male goat: 6.4, 30, 54 and 66), pokk (a variation of pukk: 6.16 and 24), oenas (ram: 6.41), kits (another Estonian term for goat: 6.1), and the local loan-word from Reigi, iulbaken (6.12) have also been used. In this context, the statement from Käina that “Näärisokk oli jõulude ajal ja ka vana-aasta õhtal” (the näärisokk [New Year’s Goat] appeared during Christmas time and on New Year’s Eve: 6.20) is worth noting.

23 The same occurs in all of the other Nordic countries. 24 See further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and especially those from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland and Karelia. 398 Ülo Tedre

Map 6.7: Mumming in Estonia: Jõulusokk (Christmas Goats). (Map: Ülo Tedre.)

The jõulusokk was performed by males: boys (6.55 and 64), young men (6.26Ð27, 29 and 70), men (6.59 and 65) and, exceptionally, an older man (6.66) or older people (6.16). For the main part, the sex of these mummers remains unclear. However, there is not a single record in existence stating that it was a woman or a girl. Few records talk about the number of sokk either. One mentions 30Ð40 boys being in a group (6.15), and another that there were several people together (6.63), while a third notes several goats being together in a group (6.40). More records talk of a boy or man who leads the goat by a rope (6.14, 16, 18, 34 and 36). Some records just mention the companions of the goat (6.39). Those records mentioning “goats” in the plural (6.1, 3, 6, 8, 22, 24, 26–27, 29, 31, 40, 44Ð45, 55 and 63) are in a minority compared to those records which speak about one goat (6.2, 4Ð5, 7, 9Ð21, 25, 30, 32Ð35, 37Ð39, 43, 47, 51, 54, 57Ð58, 61Ð62, 65, 67 and 70). Many records, however, make no mention of the number of the goats (6.23, 35, 41Ð43, 46, 53, 56, 59, 60, 64Ð65, 68Ð69 and 71). The period when the goat used to visit houses also differs: Christmas Eve (6.39, 46Ð47, 56, 59 and 67) and the very early morning of Christmas Day (6.5, 22, 24, 26Ð27 and 70) might be regarded as being the same time; everything depends on the time of the beginning and ending of the visits. The goat might also come on the evening of Christmas Day (6.18), on Boxing Day (6.21 and 66), and on the evening of December 27 (6.33). There is also one indefinite record stating simply that the goat came during Christmas and New Year (6.71), which points clearly to a blending of the Christmas Goat and New Year Goat traditions. Another related mistake appears in 6.40 which states that the Christmas Goat came on the night of New Year’s Day. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 399

Figs 6.4 aÐb: Johannes Liiv demonstrating a näärisokk (New Year Goat): Ahuvara farm, Haapsalu region, Kirbla parish, Keskküla, Estonia, in 1969. (Photo: H. Tampere.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Archives].)

The main equipment involved in the disguise of the Estonian goat involved either a horse collar which was held between the performer’s legs (with a rope attached to either end of the collar which went over the performer’s shoulders: see figs 6.4 aÐb), or a pole which was held in the hands and had a goat’s head fixed on the end of it (with a wooden or straw scalp) equipped with horns (either real ones, or false ones made of straw or wood), and an old whisk at the other end which served as a tail (see figs 6.5 aÐb and 6.6). A reversed fur, a piece of cloth or a sheet was placed over the construction. While little mention seems to be made of clacking jaws, later records show that most inventiveness came in the making of the goat’s head: a candle might be put inside a wooden head, the eye sockets then being covered with coloured paper or glass. Other- wise, a torch might be put behind the eyes, or light bulbs actually used as eyes. The visit of a goat figure has a number of features which would originally have been associated with fertility magic. Nowadays, however, only a number of indirect hints of these associations remain. For example, some accounts note that the goats used to prophesy a good future for the household (6.44Ð45). An- other account notes that the goat threw some straw up to the ceiling, symbolically pointing to good luck in the harvest (6.8). Other ritual characteristics can be seen behind the playful dancing and jumping of the goat. According to the records of the tradition, “soku tegemine” (lit. “doing the goat”) meant entertainment and having fun. People note how the goats used to 400 Ülo Tedre

Figs 6.5 aÐb: A näärisokk (Estonian New Year Goat), Pöide parish, Estonia, in 1975. (Photo: V. Kutsar.) (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian National Museum].)

Fig. 6.6: A näärisokk (Estonian New Year Goat), in Nõmme, Estonia, 1926. (Made from parts bought to the Estonian National Museum.) (Photo: K. Grepp.) (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian National Museum].) make a goat’s voice (6.12Ð14, 16, 22, 34, 36, 40, 45 and 70); play around and make tricks (6.3, 8, 30, 43, 51 and 54); butt people (6.38 and 70); sing (6.45 and 47); and dip their old whisk-tails into water, sprinkling people, especially girls and children (6.4, 22, 33, 37, 43, 47, 54 and 70). Some records state clearly that the goats made jokes (6.19, 51, 53, 58Ð59, 66Ð67 and 69). It is noteworthy that the goats often engaged with children in particular. Accounts tell how they had books in their hands and asked children to read (6.7); or threw nuts, beans, apples and sweets to them (6.61 and 63). Other reports tell how Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 401 they played tricks on children (6.9); beat them with their tails (6.12 and 22); or gave the children in a sauna “jõuluhanesid” (lit. Christmas geese: that is, hit them with twigs: 6.10). It thus appears, once again, that a certain blending of traditions has taken place here: a mixture of the old Christmas tradition and the more recent Santa Claus tradition. The last record points quite clearly to this. However, one also notices influences from the customs of the St Martin’s Eve mummers (see section 3. e. ii. below) in that the goats are said in one case to bring a bag along with them in order to collect food stuffs or grain for a mutual dinner, or for making beer later at a “goat party” (6.40). For the main part, the sokk was offered beer (6.6, 14Ð19, 25 and 40). On the islands, however, the goats were also given “oats” to eat, that is nuts (6.25, 39, 40 and 42). It is mentioned, furthermore, that the goats got something both to eat and to drink (6.33, 58, 60 and 64), or got just bread (6.62), sausage and sour beer (6.66), or sweets (6.67). Some records merely talk of “offerings” (6.44– 45 and 57), something that also applies to the mardisandid (St Martins mummers: see section 3. e. ii. below). It might be noted that according to a number of records, the sokk and hani (the goat and goose) moved around together (6.23, 55, 57, 59Ð65, 67 and 69). In very general temporal terms (“during Christmas time and New Year period”), several different animal types seem to have appeared together: a goat and a bear (6.1); a goat, a stork and a goose (6.2); a goat (“pukk”), a stork and a tont (bogeyman: 6.7); a goat, a stork and a tönk (another local word meaning a bogeyman: 6.50); a goat and a stork (6.51); and, finally, a goat, a bear, a stork and a goose (6.53 and 68). In some cases, one hears more precisely of a Christ- mas Goat and a New Year Bear (6.19 and 37), and a Christmas Goat, a New Year Stork and an Epiphany Bear (6.25 and 27). Three records (6.31, 49 and 52 from Kihelkonna, Tori and Halliste between 1937 and 1939) state that the goats and other animals were simply figures made up by the old people. In total, there are 306 records telling of a New Year Goat from the period running from 1872 to 1989, 10 of them coming from the Czarist period, 157 from the time of the first Estonian Republic, and 139 from the Soviet period (see map 6.8). The records in question come from all over the country, a third of them from coming from the island of Saaremaa.25 The main name for this figure is näärisokk (New Year Goat), or simply sokk (a goat), or sikk or näärisikk (New Year Goat26: 7.8, 10, 13Ð14, 26, 40Ð41, 106, 288Ð292, 294 and 300), and pukk (7.32, 42Ð43, 46, 50, 52, 54Ð60 and 63) meaning the same thing. As noted above, another word used is kits (also meaning goat: 7.30, 38Ð 39, 215 and 222). This figure, however, does not always appear as a parallel or substitute name for the sokk, but rather as an independent character whose appearance, performance and behaviour overlapped with that of the sokk. Only

25 This all depended on both the popularity of the tradition and the intensity of the collection. The Saaremaa tradition, generally seen as being older, was collected more eagerly. 26 Sikk and näärisikk were slightly different terms for a goat, näärisikk meaning more specifically “New Year Goat”. 402 Ülo Tedre

Map 6.8: Mumming in Estonia: Näärisokk (New Year Goats). (Map: Ülo Tedre.) once do we find a record talking of a jäär (ram) (7.34), which might be placed alongside the other single reference to an oinas (ram) which appears in connection with a jõulusokk (Christmas Goat) figure (7.177, 172 and 259). The figure of the New Year Goat was usually made and performed by males: young boys, boys or “külapoisid” (local boys from the village: 7.1, 11, 15Ð16, 26, 30, 46, 60, 64, 83, 85, 88, 114, 124, 129, 134, 136, 147, 171, 181, 197, 228, 233, 242, 265Ð266 and 298); young men (7.48, 72, 74, 78, 81, 89, 101Ð103, 111, 114Ð115, 143, 157, 175, 218 and 258); or men (7.4, 22, 45, 61, 93, 96Ð98, 116, 119, 123, 252, 280, 284, 291 and 306). Only a few records talk of an older man (7.133, 177, 202 and 229), and only one record mentions a child (appearing at the child’s own home: 7.25). Often the descriptions simply state that the costume was made by “some person” (7.20, 29, 31, 43, 58, 62, 77, 117, 130, 150, 200, 240, 267, 268, 271, 282, 290 and 302). There is admittedly one example where a female servant took on the role of the goat (7.234), but she only did it to please the children of her master’s family. Another very exceptional record tells about older people going in for goats (7.28). It is nonetheless difficult to connect the age of the goat performers to any geographic or temporal features. Certainly, though, the oldest record from 1872 talks of men and most records from Saaremaa talk of boys or young men. The next matter for discussion is exactly when the goats used to go around. One might affirm that definitions like the “New Year’s Eve”, “New Year’s night” and “New Year’s morning” all refer to one and the same time, namely the night preceding New Year’s Day, after midnight. The differences would appear to lie in the memory of the informer. The exact time also seems to de- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 403 pend also on the location of the house in the village. Of more interest are the irregularities that occur: several records talk of the New Year Goat coming over Christmas (7.12, 19, 39, 85, 174, 231 and 286), between Christmas and Epiphany (7.4), or between New Year and Epiphany (7.92). It is also mentioned that these figures came on New Year’s Day (7.9, 20, 24, 152 and 237), or New Year (7.38, 47, 64, 123 and 190). One record even states that they used to come on annepäev (St Anne’s Day: 7.99). 27 Here the close connection between the Christmas Goat and the New Year Goat can again be seen. Two records (7.25 and 302) note, however, that performing a goat was not connected with any holidays; the first account, however, is describing children’s entertainment, while the other seems to be inauthentic. When discussing this figure, collectors tend to emphasise the appearance of the goat, but give fewer descriptions of exactly how the goat(s) used to go around. If they do take up this aspect, the wording is often unclear. For example, one record might simply state that on New Year’s night, they used to make goats, and went from house to house. This, however, can be interpreted in many different ways: perhaps there was one goat or one goat per visit (followed by other goat visits), or several goats going around together. It is thus difficult to say in many cases whether there was one goat or many. Nonetheless, it does appear that in continental Estonia there used to be a single goat, while on the islands the goats formed a bigger group or had several companions. As with the Christmas Goat, we often hear of pairing with other figures at New Year. One record talks of a goat and a bear coming together (7.107); another talks of a goat, bear and someone else (7.11); a third mentions a goat, a bear and a master (7.110); and yet another notes a goat and a bear master (7.207). It can be assumed that the absent-mindedness of the collector or the informer resulted in the bear not being mentioned in the last account, since a goat has no need of a bear-master. Elsewhere, it is said that a goat and a stork appeared together (7.218Ð219, 237 and 258). Other records talk of three disguised characters: a goat, a bear and a stork (7.39, 103, 198, 209, 244, 247, 260 and 262), and a goat, a bear, a stork and a master (7.38, 92 and 97). A step towards more modern times is seen in a record of the same kind mentioning a kits (a nanny-goat: the same disguise but a smaller person with a higher voice), a bear and a photographer (7.215). The record, from 1973, notes that the “photos” had been drawn beforehand and that they were given to family members immediately after the “photos” were “taken”. Other isolated records talk of a goat, a stork, a “rider” (a disguise involving two men) and village boys appearing together (7.58); another group involving a goat, a stork, a goose and a horse (7.65); goats, a bear and geese (7.132); goats, bears with masters, geese and a cock (7.140); goats and bears (7.234); and goats, a goose, a stork and village boys (7.202).

27 In western Estonia, annepäev was the day after the Christmas holidays (Hiiemäe 1998: 302). The following days might be called Anne lapsepäev (Anne’s child’s day) and so on, depending on how long the “days off” could be stretched out, and how much beer was left over. 404 Ülo Tedre

In Saaremaa in particular, it was common for the goat or goats to be accompanied by differently named companions: herdsmen (7.274); a goat boy (7.28, 158); pullers (7.126); leaders (7.240); wedding guests (7.271); a goat’s master with boys (7.129 and 157); a knout man (7.300); two leaders (7.277 and 298); a master (7.46, 60 and 177); or indefinitely identified companions including “boys” (124, 156 and 199), “four to five boys” (7.136 and 206), “men” (7.128, 204, 230 and 249); a bunch of young men (7.48 and 51); or just “companions” (7.30, 68, 72, 74 and 83). It might be noted that the companions could be the nääripoisid (New Year Men: see 7.20, 52, 142, 163 and 185); and indeed, sometimes the nääripoisid were identified with the goats (7.202 and 215). When the goat figures appear as a group of two or three, the companion was a herdsman (7.13, 22, 66, 120, 134, 141, and 144Ð145); boys (7.85); a nääripoiss (7.187); a “master” (7.297); or a drover (7.193). Again, the companions are sometimes referred to indefinitely: records talk of “someone else” coming besides the goat (7.275); “companions” (7.214); “a bunch of others” (7.44); “comrades” (7.19, 49 and 51); “men” (7.179); “little boys” (7.147); “followers with a musician” (7.154); or just “other people” (7.250). In general, the goat was seen as a bringer of good luck (7.12, 137, 176, 178, 194, 199 and 230), and either the goat or its companion would commonly wish the household or the family good news and success (7.2, 23, 37, 40, 48, 59, 74, 114, 129, 139, 160, 171, 182, 185, 190, 196, 217, 245, 249, 277 and 298). Wishes for good luck with animals, crops, brides and grooms have over time transformed into general wishes for a happy New Year (7.23, 42Ð43, 101, 114, 127, 143, 149, 152, 175, 182, 224 and 275). Several records also make note of emotions associated with the goats’ visits: for example, if the goats did not come, the family was annoyed that the goats considered them to be bad (see 7.85 and 89). After the earlier function of bringing good luck began to fade, it appears that the performance surrounding the goat’s appearance began to dominate the proceedings. For example, the goats are said to bleat or make a “goat’s voice” under the window when entering the room and while they were inside the house (7.4, 8, 24, 100 and 122). In the house itself, they also used to butt the family, especially girls (7.4, 6, 15, 40, 44, 69, 89, 127, 133Ð134, 137, 142Ð143, 148, 150Ð151, 160, 169, 183, 185, 206, 222, 291 and 306)28 or even each other if a whole “herd of goats” was going around (7.31, 131, 137, 152 and 153). The most widespread trick was that of dipping their tails (i.e. an old whisk) into the water bucket and sprinkling family members with it, once again especially girls (7.8, 15, 30, 32, 46, 51, 74, 80, 86, 88, 90, 91, 93, 110, 119, 124, 140, 143, 146, 156, 177, 198, 217, 219Ð221, 230, 232, 234, 241, 243, 245, 247Ð249, 252, 253, 264Ð266, 279, 291, 294, 296 and 306). Interestingly enough, one record states that the water sprinkling itself was “the blessing of the house” (7.279). Certain other records sound rather odd, and say, for example, that the water

28 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on erotic aspects of mumming elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 405 was sprinkled with straw horns which were dipped into the bucket (7.267Ð 268). The records in question were collected by school pupils (in Pärnu- Jaagupi in 1930); possibly the collectors here were careless, since the descriptions make no mention of any goat’s tails at all, and thus the collectors may have simply assumed that the means for sprinkling water was horns. However, this is highly unlikely, since straw absorbs water and the comical effect would have been missed entirely. Another angle can be observed in those records which state that sprinkling occurred when the family members did not offer the visitors anything, or did not give gifts (7.52, 219, 233, 298). The same thing has been claimed about butting, as in one account that “Nad poksisid pererah- vast ja ennem ei jätnud järele, kui neile nõutud asi anti. Enamasti anti näärisokkudele õlut” (They butted the family members and did not give up until they were given what they wanted. For the most part, they were given beer: 7.271). It was also believed by some that if the goat(s) were not offered anything, they would take away the luck of the household (7.22 and 137). Several records note even more aggressive behaviour: “Sokk… jooksis um- ber kõik, sa ju tead, kui elajas tuas on” (The Goat… used to overrun the place: you know what it is like when an animal happens to come inside the house: 7.124; see also 242); or “ajas teisi taga, pusis, kaevas” (it used to chase others and butt and pierce them with the horns: 7.15; see also 7.19). Records also make particular note of the goat’s activities with children: it chased them (7.119 and 306); scared them (7.234, 253, 257, 278, 284, 293 and 306); chased girls (7.45 and 58); or frightened the shy (7.100). In some places, the New Year Goat seems to have taken over the functions of the St Martin’s and St Catherine’s Eve mummers (see sections 3. e. ii. and iii. below), singing from behind the doors asking to be let in (“Laske sokud sisse”: Let the goats in: 7.149 and 252), and checking reading skills of children or the crocheting skills of girls (7.223). Much more understandable are the elements of blending of the functions of näärisokk (New Year Goat) and nääripoisid (New Year Man). As with the second figure, the goats sometimes had to write down the date on the door (or the chimney) with chalk or soot when visiting the family (7.45, 61, 135, 152, 154, 192, 215 and 225: see the previous section), and gave a fertility verse: “Tüdrukud mehele, poisid kosja, sead sigima, kanad munema!” (May the girls marry, the boys go courting, the pigs multiply, and the hens lay eggs!: 7.187), or “Sigigu sikuksed, kasugu karujaluksed, kanad munele, üks õuest mingu, üheksa õue tulgu” (May the goats multiply, and other animals; may one leave and nine come into the yard: 7.188, also 49, 158 and 171). In one record, presented as a memory of the informant’s mother, the näärisokk is even identified with a Santa Claus figure: it gives presents to children and listens to their little verses (7.285). One isolated record also says that the goats’ task was to foresee the following year’s harvest by throwing straw at the ceiling (7.201). Another single record states that the goat and its companion performed a kingsepa mäng (Shoemaker game). (7.240), where the goat tries to poke the straw figure (the 406 Ülo Tedre

Shoemaker) with a stick and the master (facing him) tries to misdirect it.29 One text from Karuse (1968) gives a very detailed account of the overall proceedings, involving many of the features noted above: Kui poisid sisse tulid, siis küsisid: “Kas võeramaa loomi ka näha tahate?” Sokud olid, mitu tükki, ukse taga. Kui peremees lubas, tulid sisse, puksisid ja tegid oma nal’la. Pill oli ka ühes. Peaaegu korrast käisid kõik talud läbi. Igas kohas, kus suits tõusis. Kui vahele jäeti, siis üteldi, et nii kui põimivad või peavad alvas. See läks öö läbi, omikuvalgeni (7.85). (When the boys came in, they asked: “Do you want to see some foreign animals?” The goats were behind the door. If the father of the house allowed it, they came in, butted, and played their tricks. They had an instrument with them, too. They visited all the families; everywhere there were people. If they missed anywhere, people would say that they were being choosy or that they considered these families bad. The visit went on all night, up until dawn.) Another record from Mustjala (1976) runs as follows: Õhta sai… olime vanaeidega põhkus… äkki üks pisike vanamees tuleb uksest sise, all kampsun üll, käed sedasi rinna ees, teritab. Vanamees võttis – istus laua taga, lu- ges piiblit – võttis tere vastu ja. Näd oo söäpögeneead – siis oli juba söda väljas – näd oo söäpögeneead, et jälle ehk saaks öömaea. Vanamees ütleb sedasi: Jah, noh, kus te siis lähetegid öösse änam. Et öömaea ka saab. – Ä ma pole üksi, mool on loomi kaa. Vanaeit ütleb: Püha Jeesus, kus me’s need loomad nüid täna öese paneme! Vana ütles sedasi, et tee uks lahti, lase nad tuba tulla! …Tegi ukse lahti ja olid sokud sihel kaa, igavene kari oli neid, üks neli-viis tükki… kukkusid puksima, kukkusid jummima seel sihel. Äkist kellu löi kaksteisend – oh sa püha Jeesus, loogad jäid sin- nasamasele seina ääre ja pistasid ise uksest välja. Mitte ühel es ole änam aega vaata. Vaada, kellu oli kaksteisend, siis tahtasid nääripoisteks minna… (7.167). (We were already asleep; it was night. Suddenly a little old man came in and greeted us. He said that they were war refugees and asked for a place to stay for the night. This was allowed. However, then he said that he was not alone; he had animals with him. Where should we put these animals? They were let in: they were goats, a whole flock of them, four or five. They began to butt people. Suddenly, the clock turned twelve Ð and oh dear Jesus, they left their horse collars there and ran out of the door Ð they all wanted to go off for the nääripoisid.) Such detailed, concrete descriptions, however, are rare. Mostly simply state that the goat “tembutab, teeb nalja” (played tricks: 7.2, 33, 69, 83, 115, 203, 218, 222, 244, 258, 280 and 297); that it jumped, bumped and danced (7.2, 16, 70, 163 and 209); or that it danced and sang (7.225). For the main part, the goats and their companions tended to be offered something. Some records mention this in very general terms, stating that they got something to eat and drink (7.175, 197, 297, 22, 57, 140, 202 and 185). However, certain more interesting accounts state that the goats demanded or received peas or beans (7.27Ð28, 133, 137, 153, 182 and 187), peas and beans being seen in the past as ritual food for those persons who had been in contact

29 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume for similar Christmas “poking” games. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 407 with the Other World (for example, for those who were holding a wake over a body). This raises the question of whether the luck-bringing goats were seen as representatives or the mediators of the other world.30 In western Estonia, however, the goats were usually given nuts (7.9, 68, 88, 129, 132, 133, 135, 153, 174, 182, 190, 195, 205, 206, 211 and 250) which were referred to as “oats” (7.82), or “coated oats” (7.68). Besides nuts, apples were also given (7.45, 49, 59, 137, 161, 187, 202 and 209), and sweets (7.9, 19, 99, 38, 115, 137, 139, 185, 187, 205 and 285). The nature of the other food stuffs (such as bread, white bread or sausage) is hardly ever mentioned. There are, however, several isolated records which state that the goats had a big bag hanging from their necks (7.98 and 187–188) for gifts or “oats” (7.10), or grain for malt (7.125).31 More important than food, however, was the offering of beer which was known all over the country (7.11, 16, 45, 48Ð49, 52, 57Ð59, 98Ð99, 110, 115, 129, 132Ð133, 135, 153, 161, 166, 175, 202, 205, 271, 282 and 298). Later records add mentions of vodka to those of beer (7.22, 38, 71, 216, 249 and 291). Only a few records mention just liquor (7.250, 255 and 298), although an isolated record talks of wine (7.48). One also finds general mentions of how the visitors were offered something to drink (7.185), and notes in which a distinction is drawn between the master of the house, who is offered drinks, and the mother of the house, who is offered food (7.28). Certain later records suggest slightly negatively (but probably correctly) that people went around as goats only to get beer (7.135, 158, 211, 216, 245 and 280), or note that they importuned beer when going around as goats (7.164, 214 and 233). Other evidence of a blending of traditions is seen in records which state that the goat had a small beer flagon (7.188) or a beer mug (7.296) with it. Explanations are missing here, but it can be understood that, as in the Toomas traditions (see section 3. a. iii. above), the flagon was supposed to be emptied with the family and then refilled by the master of the house before the goats left. One of the goats’ more common tricks was to bring a vodka bottle containing pure water which was offered to the hosts. In Saaremaa, however, the tradition was that gifts were made for the goats: mittens (7.129); mittens and socks or stockings (7.1, 7, 27, 108, 168, 174, 190 and 195); mittens and garters (7.136 and 144); or mittens, stockings and garters (7.28). Traditionally, these were tied to the goat’s horns. One also notes a single record which states again that only the very first goat was given mittens and socks, while those who came later were only offered beer (7.168). Another exceptional, but probably old record states that any daughter of the family who had been confirmed during the year had to give mittens to the goat, while a young wife who had been married into the family during the year had to give the goat some garters and a pair of mittens (7.177). Another traditional gift seems to have been a tobacco pouch which was embroidered by the girls (7.190). It is also noted (as with other offerings) that the goat did not stop its jokes and tricks until it was given its gifts

30 On such ideas, see further Eike 1980. 31 In this record, it is stated that to get the grain, the goat had to have a special certificate with him. 408 Ülo Tedre

(7.183, 188, 219, 233, 271, 301 and 306). Also related to that same idea is the record that the goat sprinkled water with its tail when (or if) it was given nothing or until it was given something (7.289). Quite exceptional seems to be the record stating that the accompanying boys but not the goat itself were given gifts (7.142). Only a few records (from the post-war years) state that the goats were not given gifts (7.146, 148 and 275). Another aspect that needs to be considered is the suggestion noted above that there were certain sexual and age restrictions for those participating in the tradition. Only one record (from the parish of Karja), however, makes any suggestion of social limits: Sokuks käisid vaesemad inimesed, vabadikud ja popsid. Teised seda ei harrastanud. Olen ise sokuks käinud küll ja küll. Mäletan, et ükskord sain ühe ööga kümme paari sukke ja kindaid ja samapalju paelu. Hommikuks oli terve küla läbi käidud (7.28). (Goats were poorer people, cottagers. Others did not go in for it. I have done it many times. I remember that once I got ten pairs of mittens and garters in one night. I had been all round the village before dawn.) With regard to the dating of the tradition, certain isolated records state that the informants themselves never saw the the New Year Goats, but that their parents spoke about them (7.5, 283 and 285); that the tradition took place in the old days (7.79, 164, 172 and 281); that it took place in a neighbouring village (7.18); that it occurred during the first Estonian Republic (7.53), or before the war (7.210); that they used to come until 1939 and appeared again in 1970Ð72 (7.251); that the last time they came was around the 1950s (7.211); and they used to visit until “the present” (1956) except during the war years (7.209).32 Influences of folkloristic work also appear in a record from Märjamaa (1950) stating that school pupils have started to go round again as the New Year Goat (7.35). There are only a few records which totally deny the existence of such traditions. These come from Kuusalu (7.17), Märjamaa (7.34, 36), Mustjala (7.165), Jämaja (7.180), and Vändra (7.276). Another record from Iisaku (1955) notes simply that there was no such tradition in the old days (7.3). Nonetheless, most of these accounts seem to be random records since affirmative accounts also occur in the parishes in question, especially in the cases from Saaremaa. In this context, it is worth noting the opinion expressed by one collector in 1903: See mood on 50 aasta eest suurem olnud, mis vist lätlastelt Saaremaale toodavaks võiks arvata, kes kaua aastaid Saaremaal metsatöös olid (7.113). (This tradition seems to have been popular about 50 years ago, probably thanks to the Latvians who used to work here in the woods). The truthfulness of such an opinion must nonetheless be regarded as somewhat doubtful. However, it is true that people from Saaremaa spread the popularity

32 On the influence of the wars on traditions, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume (with regard to Shetland traditions). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 409 of the tradition around in continental Estonia since they regularly used to work outside Saaremaa as ditchers and bricklayers (7.27).

3. b. v. The kolmekuningapäeva sokk (Epiphany Goat) (8) There are only seven records from Estonia telling of the Epiphany Goat. These come from all over the country between the years 1927 and 1956. In general, neither the disguise nor the performance of these figures differ from those described above. The only difference is that offerings are not mentioned as often. In fact, only one record states that the goat was given bread, nuts, eggs and so on (8.1). In general, one might hazard a guess that the jõulusokk (Christmas Goat) was the initial character living behind all of these goat figures. It was only when the New Year period began to distinguish itself clearly from the Christ- mas period (see section 3. b. above) that the näärisokk (New Year Goat) came to dominate the scene. The goat as a fertility symbol was well-suited to a transitional ritual of the kind associated with turn-of-the-year customs.

3. b. vi. The Jõuluhani (Christmas Goose) (9 and 11)33 Indirectly related to the traditions noted above is another custom from Estonia, whereby being struck on bare skin with a twig while you are in the sauna was known as a jõuluhani (Christmas Goose). A typical record runs as follows: Jõuluhani on tuntud minu teada Põhja-Eestis, kus ta veel praegugi /a. 1930/ vana kombena tarvitusel. Jõuluhane antakse saunas, kus inimesed parajasti jõulu eel viht- levad või pesevad. See on nagu mingisugune heatahtlik vingerpussi mängimine teistele. Muidugi keegi ei taha jõuluhane saada, vaid püüab selle eest, kui vähegi või- malik, kõrvale hoida. Jõuluhane andmine on harilikult kadaka-, kuuse-, või kase- raoga või -vitsaga löömine vastu paljaid kintse või paljast tagumikku. Sealjuures räägitakse, et hani hammustas (11.2). (To my mind, the Christmas Goose is known in north Estonia, where it still exists [1939] as an old tradition. A “Christmas Goose” would be given in the sauna where people were washing themselves before the Christmas. It is like playing a good-will trick on others. Of course, no one wants to get it; everyone tries to avoid it. Giving the Christmas Goose means hitting someone with a twig of juniper, fir or birch on their naked thigh or back. At the same time, the person doing the hitting states that “the goose is biting”.) There are thirty-three accounts of this kind from between c. 1890 and 1957, mostly from western Estonia. The tradition is mentioned as early as 1855 by Russwurm who refers to it as a custom carried out by coastal Swedes. Russwurm calls the twigs julgås or julgans (cf. jõuluhani, a Christmas goose: Russwurm 1855). As a rule, the custom took the form of a game within the family, the “Christmas Goose” usually

33 For some reason, there is no group 10 in the classification system. 410 Ülo Tedre being given by the father of the family. Only two records state that the “geese” were actually strangers: one record states that the geese “were waiting” and “got gifts” (11.28), something that hints at a blending with disguised geese; while another records state that the “geese” – in this case, boys – were lurking around the sauna when the girls were washing themselves (11.30). Usually, the “goose” hitting with the twig would make a goose voice or say: “Näkk, näkk, näkk!” However, sometimes there were also sayings like “Mida valusam, seda teravam tervis uuel aastal!” (The more it hurts, the sharper your health will be next year!: 11.4). In general, the idea behind the custom is unknown, but in some places it was associated with bringing luck and peace (11.6 and 21) or giving health and strength (11.31Ð32). Elsewhere, the custom has become linked with an imaginary figure of horror for children, something used as a means of threatening undisciplined children or those who were learning poorly (11.11, 14–16, 20, and 23–24). The “giving of the goose” then took place not only on Christmas Eve but also on New Year’s Eve (11.2, 4, 5 and 18), and even during Easter (11.29). Obviously the goose disguise and the housing-visiting tradition around the villages has grown out of such a domestic custom. The very first printed information concerning such a tradition seems to date back to 1872 (Holzmayer 1872: 56). After that, there are a total of seventy-eight reports from all over the country about the nature of the Christmas Goose disguise as it existed between 1887 and 1986. Most come from western Estonia where the tradition survived for a longer time. Interestingly enough, the goose disguise tended to be carried out by women or girls (9.5, 32, 51, 59Ð60, 64, 67Ð69, 71Ð72, 74Ð75 and 78), mostly from eastern Estonia. In western Estonia, and especially in Saaremaa, the picture is more colourful. Here, it was men (9.14, 16, 28, 34 and 51), young boys (9.35, 48, 54 and 79), young people (9.50), or simply “children” (during the fading of the custom: 9.24 and 52–53) who went round as the “geese”. The time at which the goose visit took place varied. Accounts mention “three days before Christmas” (9.79); Christmas Eve at twelve o’clock (9.14, 39, 48 and 51); the evening of Christmas Eve (9.27, 29Ð30, 35, 43 and 46); the morning of Christmas Day (9.26); the evening of the Christmas Day (9.53); December 27 (9.47); the evening of New Year’s Eve (9.50); and New Year’s Day (9.61). Most of the records, however, refer to Christmas Eve which was the most likely day for the visits to have taken place. The fact that the jõuluhani tradition also took place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day underlines the fact that there was little real distinction between the jõuluhani and nääri- hani (New Year Goose: see the following section). As regards the nature of the disguised group, the goose either came alone (9.51) or with a group (9.53). These isolated records, however, do not give a detailed picture of the actual visits. There are, however, more records telling about the goose appearing as one of a group of several masked figures: a Christmas Goat and a jõuluhani (9.57, 58 and 70), and also a New Year Goat and a jõuluhani appearing on New Year’s Eve (9.50); a goat, a bear and a goose Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 411

(9.2); a goat (pukk) and a goose (9.76); a goat, a goose, a stork and a horse (9.6); and goats (pukk), bears, geese and storks (9.77). The goose disguise was simple: the figure had an inside-out fur coat around it, with a stick through the sleeve for the neck and bill, and an old whisk for the tail, one hand holding the bill, while the other held the twig to “hanede and- miseks” (give the goose: 9.5, 56, 62, 75 and 78). A white fur (9.9) or a white sheet (9.32) could also be used to suggest the idea of a goose. Like the goat figure, the goose (as with the general thrashing tradition) was seen as bringing good luck and fortune (9.57Ð58). More concretely, it was believed that goose “pecking” was seen both as bringing luck to people and animals, and as a means of keeping away bad spirits (9.13). For the main part, however, the geese engaged with children: they might ask them to read something (9.1, 8Ð9, 26, 43 and 53), but otherwise, they mostly frightened and threatened the children (9.7, 25Ð27, 31Ð32, 40, 51, 55, 61, 73 and 77). Accord- ing to several records, the goose also woke up sleepers (9.26); pecked those who were inside the room (9.23, 28, 30 and 60); or threatened to hit them with a twig (9.56, 62, 69, 72 and 75). The latter activity, of course, can be attached to the idea of “giving the goose” in the sauna but might also be viewed as a variation on pecking as a form of luck-bringing. There are also a few records saying that the goose dipped its tail into a water bucket and sprinkled people (9.1, 12, 38 and 41), something which is clearly a transition from the goat tradition (see section 3. b. iv. above). At the same time, mention is also made of water being thrown at the goose, accompanied by the statement that “Ega hani vett karda!” (A goose is not afraid of water!), or “Ega hani või veeta elada!” (A goose can not live without water!: 9.60, 63, 65Ð66, 69Ð70, 72 and 78). There is also one exceptional record saying that the goose simply made a goose sound outside the window (9.46). In terms of offerings, the goose, like the goat, would also ask for and be offered beer (9.9, 11, 14, 29, 37, 43 and 54). The geese might also demand “compensation” gifts if it was to avoid hitting people with its twig (9.5, 56, 69, 75 and 78). Such gifts might also protect people from being pecked (9.15 and 23). In Saaremaa, the two goose traditions have clearly blended in that the disguised geese used to “tease” (hit with twigs or peck) those washing themselves in the sauna (9.29Ð30, 32Ð33, 51, 54Ð55 and 77). Some beer would then be brought to the sauna for these geese. Besides beer, the geese were also said to have been offered nuts (9.43 and 53); Christmas food (9.16); and snacks (9.71). Some records mention “gifts” somewhat indefinitely (9.2, 57–58, 63 and 66). Nowadays, the jõuluhani tradition has vanished and is only preserved in people’s memories. One record comes from Kuressaare from 1935, stating that the informant’s father has no memory of the tradition (9.44). Another from the parish of Karjala in 1959 notes that the geese have not visited for a long time (9.13–33); while one account from Pöide in 1961 says that there have been no geese for twenty years. Finally, a record from Mustjala in 1975 says that there have been no geese around for a long time, but people have talked about them. 412 Ülo Tedre

3. b. vii. Näärihani (The New Year Goose) (9) Fourteen records from western Estonia (mostly from the islands) from 1892Ð 1978 tell of New Year Geese. The figure is generally known as a näärihani (New Year Goose) (referring to the New Year period: 9.85, 88, 89 and 91Ð93); a uueaastahani (New Year Goose, the name now referring to the first day of the year or simply the beginning of a new year: 9.83); or simply a hani (goose: 9.81, 82, 86 and 90), although the expression jõuluhani (Christmas Goose) could also be used (9.87 and 94), as in the record which states that “Mõnes kohas käis jõuluhani ka uuel aastal lapsi vitsaga hirmutamas” (In some places, the Christmas Goose also came to scare the children with a twig on New Year’s Day: 9.94). As regards the time of the visits, the New Year Geese used to visit families on the evening of New Year’s Eve (9. 84–85 and 87); on the morning of New Year’s Day (9.81); generally some time on New Year’s Day (9.92–93); on the evening of New Year’s Day (9.86); or, indefinitely, at the beginning of the New Year (9.86), or “in the New Year” (9.83, 92 and 94). Concerning the make up of the group, only one record gives any information about the sex of the mummer, stating that it was a man (9.91). Another record says that the custom was performed by youngsters (9.85). According to two records, there were several geese in a group (9.85 and 87). On the basis of the limited extant information, it seems that the masking of the näärihani was generally similar to that of the Christmas Goose, and involves similar offerings (as has been noted above). However, the tradition also includes good wishes for the New Year (9.91). It may thus be concluded that, as with the development of the Christmas Goat in Estonia, the character of the näärihani developed out of the Christmas Goose.34 One record from Karuse (1938) must be highlighted, since here the tradition of the Christmas Goose is clearly associated with a particular social stratum: Jõulu aned – niisugused vaesed inimesed perest peresse armust saamas, kerjamas. Enne jõule keisid. Öeldi: “Jõulu aned tulevad. (Christmas Geese: these were such poor people going from house to house and begging for gifts. They came before Christmas, and it was said that “the Christmas geese were coming.) There is no reason to doubt this record collected by the otherwise trustworthy collector V. Eensaar. The question relates more to the informant who either seems to have misunderstood the question or simply wanted to answer something without really knowing the tradition. In general, this must be seen as a very exceptional record with no parallels. However, it is not impossible that the Christmas Geese, following the examples of the St Catherine’s Eve and St

34 It might be noted that there is only one record of geese apearing at Epiphany (9.95). In translation, the record simply states: “On the Epiphany, they made the Epiphany Goose and visited families.” Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 413

Martin’s Eve mummers (see sections 3. e. ii. and iii. below) really did collect offerings. The main question is, why should people dress up as geese? There seems to be no information about any exceptionally sacred position held by a goose. It must be noted, however, that the figure of the goose often appears in the older layer of Estonia’s lyrical-epic songs.35 This might be one explanation for why the goose has been selected as one of the disguised figures to appear among the Estonian Christmas mummers.

3. b. viii. Karu (The Bear) (12) The figure of a bear appeared among mummers in Estonia both at Christmas and during New Year and Epiphany. There are twenty-one records on the jõulukaru (Christmas Bear) spread sparsely all over Estonia from the period of 1929Ð1964, only one record coming from Saaremaa. Twenty-seven records tell of the näärikaru (New Year Bear) from 1927Ð1975, mostly from western Estonia; while records dealing with the kolmekuningapäevakaru (Epiphany Bear) from 1938Ð1968 come from the two parishes of Hanila and Karuse in western Estonia. The bear figure was usually performed by a (young) man or men (12.3, 9, 14, 20, 22Ð23, 36, 40, 44Ð45 and 49). Only one record claims indirectly that the bear was performed by a spinster (12.53). Other records talk of “young people” (12.19 and 27); a “human being” (12.17 and 32); a “person” (9.48); or just “someone” (12.4, 5, 8 and 15). From the general descriptions of the bear activities, however, it must be concluded that the figure was mostly performed by men. Only one record states directly that the bear came alone at Epiphany (12.51), and the same is implied by other accounts from Hanila and Karuse dealing with Epiphany (12.49Ð53). On those occasions when the bear was alone in a larger group, the choice of companions usually seems to have been quite colourful. The group usually included a bear master (12.5, [6], 14, 20, 22, 25, 29, 32, 36Ð38, 40 and 48) or bear-dancers (12.9, 13, 17, 31 and 34), but there could also be “other men” (12.13), such as a musician and someone with a bag (12.39). The usual companion of the bear was a goat (here called a pukk or kits), either a Christmas or a New Year Goat (12.8, 19, 23, 28Ð30, 37, 42 and 52) with its own boys (12.37), or nääripoisid (12.40). Often the New Year Bear would be accompanied by both a stork and a goat (sokk, kits and pukk: 12.25Ð 26, 31, 39, 42 and 46Ð47); a goose and a goat (12.33); even just a stork (12.45). There are, however, some records which state that the group involved all possible disguised characters: a goat, a bear, a stork and a goose (12.8 and 21); a goat, a bear, a goose and a cock (12.34); or simply a bear and other animals and birds (12.35). One record states that a bear and wolves came to scare people (12.17). This, however, must be an obvious mistake since there is no

35 See Eesti rahvalaulud 1969: I, 77Ð78, 349Ð350, II 1951Ð53, 137 and 247, III 1957Ð1960, 197. 414 Ülo Tedre information about wolf disguise in any other Estonian records, and a wolf would have been a particularly frightening and unpleasant animal for the peasants.36 One record states, however, that two bears came together (12.31); while a more indefinite reference talks simply about bears in the plural (12.19, 34 and 44). There are also several intriguing records which mention a goat and a bear (12.16); talk of bear-dancer coming with a New Year Goat (12.6 and 38); or tell how the bear gets “sarved pähe ja saba taha” (horns and a tail) in the course of disguising (12.2). Such records about mixed traditions do not have any clear regional background. It can nonetheless be claimed that the goat tradition seems to be the strongest (without necessarily being older). Some records note furthermore that bear was performed at home as a means of having fun, rather than as a figure that went around in the village (12.2, 7 and 50). As regards the nature of the bear disguise, people usually used an inside-out fur coat, as the following account explains: Karul on pahupidi kasukas seljas. Jalad pannakse kasuka käistesse ja teine kasuk pannakse ülemise kehaosa ümber. Kätte pannakse pahempidi kindad ja pähe müts (12.13; see also 32). (The bear had an inside-out fur coat on. The legs were put into the sleeves, and another fur was put around the body. Then the mittens were worn inside-out and a hat.) Another description runs as follows: “Mees kahe kasuka sees. Näokatet ka. Laud pandi selja peale. Tantsitaja võis siis nuiaga lüüa peale luau kui karu läks vihaseks” (A man wearing two furs. He had a mask, too. A board was put in the back. The dancing-master could hit it with a stick when the bear got angry: 12.14; see also 140). One participant comments that: “Karu elu oli raske, ei taht keegi. Kaks kasukat oli selgas ja tuad palavad, siis läks nahk märjase ja mine väl’la – saad külma” (The life of a bear was difficult; no one wanted to be a bear. Wearing two furs in hot rooms, then going out again Ð you could catch cold like that: 12.30) This may be the reason for why some figures only used one fur (12.2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 20, 25, 27, 43, 45 and 48). Another variation was that pillows could be used for protection instead of a board. Reports state, for example, that “Karule oli pandud hästi pehme padi, mis on ka paks, selja peale, mille pihta siis tantsitaja suure poomiga peksab” (The bear had a very soft pillow on its back, so the dancing-master could hit it with a stick…: 12.36); or “Karul oli padjalasu selgas, see oli kasuka all. Sellepärast ta /s.o. tantsitaja/ ka senna lüüa võis” (The bear had pillows on its back; that’s why the dancing master could hit it” (12.50). Usually, the bear also had a rope tied around it, one end of which was in the master’s hand. Bear figures of this kind used to visit houses at the same time as the other

36 Note, however, the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Finland and Karelia, and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. Both bear and wolf figures appear in written sources from these areas in the early Middle Ages (in the form of the figures of the so-called úlfhe∂nir and berserkir, and the disguised performing bear figure in ∏i∂riks saga): see further Gunnell 1995a: 66Ð76 and 363Ð364. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 415 mummers: on the evening of Christmas Eve (12.2 and 5); on the morning of Christmas Day (12.9); on the morning of December 27 (12.12); “during the holidays” (12.3); during Christmas and the New Year (12.14); on New Year’s Eve (12.34 and 44); in the evening of New Year’s Eve (12.26); on the night of New Year’s Day (12.23); in the early morning of New Year’s Day (12.45); in the morning of New Year’s Day (12.24); on New Year’s Day (12.41); or in the evening of New Year’s Day (12.33). Thus, the jõulukaru (Christmas Bear) would visit families throughout the Christmas period until December 27; while the näärikaru (New Year Bear) mostly appeared during the night of New Year’s Day, from the evening until the morning (while the names vary, the time seems to remain the same). The exact time of the visit of the kolmekuningakaru (Epiphany Bear) is only given in one record which simply states that it appeared “kolmekuningapäe lauba õhtu” (on the eve of Epiphany: 12.50). The main aim of the bears and their companions seems to have been to create entertainment and play tricks. The bear itself might dance alone or with a girl that it had caught (12.10). It might also chase other people and try to catch them (12.4), and then, if it caught them, it would try to throw them into the straw on the floor (12.42). Elsewhere, accounts talk of the bear messing up the beds (12.13); threatening to scatter everything all over the room if it was not given gifts (12.27); and smudging both people and clothes with its dirty paws (12.36). The following accounts provide more detailed examples of bear visits. One states: Teine poiss on taltsutaja, tal on kepp käes ja karu nööripidi järele võtnud. Taltsutaja laseb karul rahvale tantsida. Karu tahab selle eest võid, mune ja saia. Talle antakse. Ta tahab ka tüdrukut magada. Talle lubatakse kui tantsib veel ilusti. Karu tantsib, siis antakse üks poiss kätte, karu võtab kohe ümbert kinni ja heidab ühes poisiga pikali… (12.20). (Another boy is the master: he has a stick in his hand and the bear is on the other end of the rope. The master makes the bear dance. The bear wants eggs, butter, and white bread for its dancing. It is given what it wants. It also wants a girl to sleep with. It is promised one if it dances well. The bear dances, but then it is given a boy. The bear grabs the boy’s waist and they fall down on the floor….37 Two others run as follows: Üks paneb omale karvase kasuka selga, maski ette ja siis tolgendab neljakäpukil mööda tuba ringi. Kui ta hästi ei tee vigurid, selleks on siis suur pikk poom, millega karut peksetakse. Kui tants on läbi, siis peab iga peremees andma karutansu heaks midagi; kui midagi ei anta, siis saab “Näärikaru” vihaseks ja lõhub kõik, mis iganes ette juhtub… (12.27). (One person puts on a hairy fur, and a mask as well, and goes crawling round the room. If it does not play tricks well, then there is this long stick to beat it with. If the

37 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on erotic aspects of mumming elsewhere in this volume. 416 Ülo Tedre

dance is over, then the master of each house have to give something to the bear, because otherwise the “New Year Bear” will get angry and scatter everything all over the place….) … peale kella 12, siis tuli mees sisse ja küsis pererahva käest: “Kas tahate näha väl’lamaa looma?” Talsutaja oli ja poiss oli, see läks sisse ja talsutaja tuli sisse ja aeas karul kaeru peale. Kaerad olid pähkled. Tüdrukute käest aeas pähkleid peale – need olid siis need kaerad. Talsutamise jaoks oli üks löömariist… 3–4 tolli jämedune … kaigas… sellega andis siis karule paar müksu. Karu hakkas siis tantsima… Kä- pakil maas ta keis nel’la jala peal. Kui ta tansitas teda, siis oli kahe jala peal…Karu hakkas niisugust äält tegema, siis talsutaja sai aru, mis karu tahtis ja ta küsis siis karule juua. See oli ükskõik kuidas – kas andsid tal pudelist viina või klaasi vi toobiga õlut ka. Taltsutaja andis karule kätte… (12.50). (… after 12 o’clock, a man would come in and ask if you wanted to see a strange animal? There was this master and a boy, and the master asked for nuts for the bear. Nuts meant oats. He asked for nuts from the girls. He had a stick to tame the bear. He hit the bear with the stick, and then the bear crawled. When it danced, it was on two feet. Then the bear made a certain noise and the master knew what the bear wanted. Then he asked for a drink for the bear. It was in a bottle, a glass or a beer mug. The master gave it to the bear….) The children were afraid, of course (12.8, 15 and 50), but, as noted above, the main aim of the bears was not to frighten people (unlike the geese noted earlier). Like other mummers, the bears had to be offered something. As one of the accounts quoted above notes, for the most part they were given nuts, once again also referred to as “oats” (12.9, 25, 39 and 51); apples (12.16 and 39); honey, “ka mett – karu tahab magusat” (since a bear wants something sweet: 12.41); butter, eggs and white bread (12.20); or simply “food” (12.22 and 27). The offerings certainly also included beer (12.23, 25, 27, 50 and 51) or vodka (12.25 and 50). Only one record talks generally of “gifts” (12.22). In another record from 1939, however, mention is made of the bear being given sweets and cookies (12.25). Although the figure of the bear tended to be performed essentially as a form of entertainment, it is possible to detect an early religious background to the custom in the fact that the bear was said by some to cure infertility (12.39). Also noteworthy is a record telling of how the bear was taken into the cowshed and stable in order to deter bad spirits and help with the growth of the animals (12.20). This account has a serious content despite its amusing background. For the main part, this custom has now vanished, at least in its form as an entertainment designed for both adults and youngsters. According to existing records, performing the bear was never an activity designed for children. As regards the dating, one notes a record from 1968 stating that the custom took place in the childhood of the informant, but no longer occurred (12.51). An- other informant notes that the custom had vanished, but had recently returned (12.31; see also 49). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 417

3. b. ix. Kurg (The Stork) (13) The last widespread type of animal disguise used during the Christmas period was that of the kurg (stork). Sixteen records from between 1930 and 1960 talk of the jõulukurg (Christmas Stork), while another thirty from 1929 to 1968 mention the näärikurg (New Year Stork). Fourteen from 1923 to 1968 mention the kolmekuningapäevakurg (Epiphany Stork). Only a few records note exactly who used to go around as the kurg: some state that the stork was performed by an old man (13.6 and 23) or simply “a man” (13.17); but most of those informants who mention the performers are of the opinion that the storks were young men (13.25, 28Ð29, 33 and 42). For the most part, however, the records lack any exact statement about the actual sex of stork mummers. There are, nonetheless, no references about females going in for the stork disguise, something which might have been presumed in the case of such a bird disguise (see also the previous section). Only a few records note that the stork was mainly designed as a means of entertainment within the home and immediate family (13.4 and 45). The stork disguise was simple: it involved an inside-out fur coat (13.2, 4, 7, 13Ð14, 18, 20, 23, 34Ð35, 46, 49, 50 and 55Ð57), with one of the sleeves going under the fur, while another symbolised the neck (13.4, 7, 14, 18, 20, 34Ð35, 40, 46, 49, 50 and 55), the performer sometimes carrying a stick or two to form a beak (see earlier examples given above and 13.5). A tail is also mentioned (13.40Ð41), or simply an old whisk which served as a tail (13.18, 41). In some places, the disguise is clearly designed to be as naturalistic as possible: a red stick sometimes served as a beak (13.10 and 12); and red stockings might be worn in order to imitate the stork’s legs (13.10). Other accounts talk of tight trousers being used (13.7), or a piece of cloth running around the pole or stick which was used as a neck (13.3). In other places, however, the disguise is considerably more simplified: a white cloth might be wrapped around the person performing the stork (13.10 and 30) or over his/ her head (13.17), one arm then stretching out from under the cloth, with a stick serving as a beak being held in the hand (13.17: see figs 6.7 aÐc). It has also been mentioned that the stork looked like a goose figure, only the beak was much longer (13.8), or it had a long wooden beak (13.28Ð29). As suggested above, the beak might involve some elaboration: in some cases it would consist of two movable parts which, if pulled by a rope, made a clacking noise (13.30) and scared the hosts.38 One reference to the use of a straw hat as a means of signifying a stork remains unclear (13.38). As regards the activity itself, the storks would visit houses either alone or in pairs (13.6Ð7, 9, 13, 17, 21Ð22, 26, 47Ð50, 53Ð55, 57 and 60);39 or come to-

38 In comparison, see also the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume for descriptions of the “clacking jaws” used for goat and even horse figures elsewhere in the Nordic countries. See also the various descriptions of British ritual animal figures in Cawte 1978. 39 Some accounts state that they went in pairs simply for the company. 418 Ülo Tedre

Fig. 6.7 aÐc: E. Holmik preparing the body of a stork for a jõulukurg (Christmas Stork) tradition, Karsnojarski region, Parti- zanski, Estonia. (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuse- um [The Estonian National Museum].) gether with other disguised characters. In the latter connection, records mainly mention the stork going around with goats and a bear (13.18Ð19, 28Ð30, 32, 39Ð40 and 43Ð44); or simply with a goat (13.33, 35Ð37, 42, 52 and 58Ð59). However, other combinations are noted, involving a goat, a stork and a goose (13.1, 20, 23 and 31); a goat, a bear, a goose and a stork (13.15Ð16); a goat, a stork and a bogeyman (13.2); a stork, a goose and a horse (13.3); and a goat (sokk, or pukk), a stork and a tönk (a local bogeyman: 13.11). As in the case of certain other traditions, the stork’s activities involved some examination of children reading skills (13.2 and 14),40 as well as generally working to scare them (13.4 and 13, 41). Also relatively widespread, however,

40 In one case, it is noted that a child that was unable to read properly was punished (see 13.14). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 419 was another activity based on the more recent popular belief that storks brought babies: in these cases, the stork brought along a rag doll which was slipped into the bed of a married couple or a girl (13.1, 12, 17, 32, 40, 45, 54 and 59). Only once is it mentioned that the doll was given to a “newly married woman” (in other words, a wife who had not yet had any children: 13.32). An- other related belief was that if the stork entered the house with its left foot first, it would bring along “peenikest peret” (“small fry”: 13.36–37). These were the more “specific” sides of stork’s activities. However, otherwise, the stork, like the other Christmas mummers, engaged in romping and scuffling around: it chased the girls (13.20);41 pushed younger children into the straw on the floor (13.39); pecked at those who were sleeping (13.47Ð48) or who tried to run away from it (13.46); pecked at the host family if gifts were not given (13.35); stuck its beak into a beer mug showing its desire for a drink (13.55); and pecked at food on the table (nuts and other gifts: 13.57). Another record which states that stork used to “bounce” and sing (13.10) would seem to be referring to the playing of tricks which was so common to mummers all over Europe. One particular peculiarity of this disguise, however, was seen in the way the figures often imitated the stork noise, calling out “Kaak! Kaak!” (13.10) or “Kurluuks!” (13.55) when the bird entered the room. Those records telling of how the stork used to visit the sauna (13.9), or brought peas (13.10), once again refer indirectly to older religious images known in Estonia. The sauna was a place where people were born, where they were brought when they were suffering from diseases, and where they died. Peas and beans, meanwhile, were an old ritual food for people who had been holding a wake, as has been noted earlier. The storks, however, were offered beer (13.9, and 22); beer and liquor (13.18); nuts (13.18, 22 and 31); apples (13.31); candy and cookies (13.18); or just gifts (13.1), the latter record not going into any specifics. The kind of “berries” the stork is said to wish for in another record (13.51) also remains unclear. Another reference to gifts can be seen in the mention of a kotimees (bag-man) accompanying the stork in one account (13.31), although in this particular record, it might be noted that the stork was also accompanied by a goat and stork. In one other record from Lutsi in Latvia, the stork was said to be put into a bag and have water poured over it (13.60). This tradition, however, probably reflects Latvian influences or a blending with the actions of the goose figure, since pouring water over the goose mummers was quite common. The religious images associated with the figure of the stork (the idea of the “soul bird”, or the bird as a representative of the Other World [see Loorits 1949: 348]) underline the fact that the stork disguise was well-suited for an important transitional period like Christmas, and as such, suggest that the custom might be old. The elements of romping around and playing tricks, something shared with other mummers, are obviously a more recent feature, related to the

41 On such activities, see further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on eroticism in mumming activities elsewhere in this volume. 420 Ülo Tedre fact that Christmas time was the end of the so-called “soul period” (see Loorits 1957: 186). One notes that the spirits of the forefathers were commonly welcomed into the sauna and that the stork specificially visited the sauna, too. The comment that old men tended to take on the stork’s disguise is also significant in this context. Nonetheless, those few references that might point to the fact that the age and a certain ritualistic aspect of the tradition have nowadays become buried beneath the more recent aspects of the tradition which underline that today it is essentially a form of entertainment for young people.

3. b. x. The Tönk (14) According to the database of dialect vocabulary in Eesti Keele Instituut (The Institute of Estonian Language), tönk means something blunt, short or worn- out, and at the same time something that is going badly. On the island of Kihnu, however, tönk means a bogeyman, or a human being dressed in a scary fashion. Performing the tönk was a popular custom at weddings,42 work parties and over the Christmas period. The figures of the jõulutönk (Christmas tönk) and nääritönk (New Year tönk) were most widely known in the islands and western Estonia where fifteen records concerning tönk activities come from 1929Ð1975 (14.15, an exception, comes from Vändra). No clear records exist stating exactly who performed the tönk. On the basis of the generalised data, however, it might be argued that tönk mumming was usually carried out by men. In general, the disguise used for the tönk was similar to that of the other Christmas mummers: it had horns (14.1, 6 and 9Ð10); a tail (14.9); a beard under its chin (14.6 and 9); a dirty face (14.10); a beak (14.1 and 7Ð8) or a wooden clacking beak (14.9Ð10); was a bird (14.15); or was simply “dressed like St Martin’s Eve mummers” (14.12). In one account, the St Catherine’s Eve mummers (see section 3. e. iii. below) told people that they would be coming back “in two weeks time” as Christmas tönks (14.3). In this case, however, we are obviously dealing with a misunderstanding or a mistake since the time difference between the two festivals is actually four weeks. In general, the date on which time people carried out tönk activities is indefinite. Christmas time (14.9); Epiphany (14.5); and Candlemas (seen as the last day of Christmas: 14.4) are all mentioned. For the main part, the name used refers to Christmas. However, as noted above, tönk appearances would also take place at work parties and weddings (14.11Ð13), and during the hay-making season (14.13). For the main part, the tönk is mostly a kind of bogeyman for children (14.2, 6, 9Ð10 and 13). Children are said to face the threat of being taken away by the tönk (14.2), which was meaner than the St Martin’s Eve mummers (14.1: see further section 3. e. ii. below). In some places, the tönk was simply called a

42 For comparable wedding customs, see the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Nor- way, Sweden, Finland and Karelia, and the North Atlantic (Shetland) elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 421 lastetönk (children’s tönk: 14.11). As with certain other disguised figures, the tönks would often check on the children’s reading skills (14.8–9). Apart from this element of frightening children Ð folk pedagogy of a kind Ð the other main function of the tönk was obviously that of entertaining people. Indeed, one Christmas tönk song (from Saaremaa and Muhu) which did not use the old runo system (see above) but rather the more recent system of end-rhyme refers specifically to this entertainment function: Olgem rõõmsad, õllekingid, juba laulvad jõulutöngid! Need on tulnud teitid vaatma, jõulupäivi mööda saatma, õnnistavad elumaja, soovivad, mis iial vaja! Põhud paran- dal neil pingiks, sest naad hüitaks jõulutöngiks. Kui te-ep too mull’ õllekappa, siis mina suren teie tuppa. Kirbud mulle kerstu teevad, täid ja lussud lusti löövad (14,5; see also 4). (Let us be happy,/ the Christmas tönks are singing!/ They have come to see you,/ to pass the Christmas days;/ they bless the house/ and wish for whatever you need!/ The straw on the floor is their bench/ because they are the Christmas tönks./ If you don’t bring me the beer jar,/ I will die here. /The fleas make a coffin for me,/ lice and bed- bugs will have fun!) Even though it is not mentioned directly in the records, the offering of beer can be considered self-evident in this custom, as with the other Christmas mumming customs, and, in general, in spite of its peculiar name, this is clearly where the tönk belongs if one considers its appearance and performance. It may be presumed that carrying out tönk activities was nonetheless a rather recent tradition which only took shape at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century, perhaps not even until the twentieth century itself. Today, the tradition seems to have vanished.

3. b. xi. Other Christmas and New Year Figures (15) In addition to the mumming figures mentioned above, folklore records provide us with information about several other figures and disguises that used to appear around Estonia at this time. Unfortunately, the reports of these figures are rather thin on the ground, and sometimes it seems that the new name simply disguises a variation on an old figure. For the main part, the attributes are the same: a fur skin, a cloth on a pole, and real or wooden horns and so on, even though the type of figure is not named. Often, when the company of the mummers was bigger than the number of available traditional figures, it would seem that people used to improvise, creating new disguises and new characters. As an example of such, one can point in particular to the figure of the jõuluhobune (Christmas Horse: 15.1, 10, 22 and 28) from 1930Ð1948 which used to go around either during the Christmas period (15.1), or on New Year’s Eve (15.22).43 This figure was usually performed by two men, one acting as the

43 For similar figures in the rest of the Nordic area, see the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions from Denmark, the North Atlantic, Sweden, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. 422 Ülo Tedre head and front legs of the horse while the other formed the body and hind legs (15.1, 10 and 28). Sometimes a third man might act as a rider (15.28). Excep- tionally, the horse was performed by a boy (15.22). Quite naturally, the horse was covered by a carpet, a fur or a piece of cloth. It also had a straw tail with which it would hit the hosts if they did not offer beer and vodka quickly enough. It is noteworthy that the horse is usually mentioned along with other mummers, for example, a goat, a goose and a stork (15.10). In other records, the name of the figure is accompanied by words meaning “as well”, “also” or “too”, thus implying the presence of other mummers. Another rare character is the jõulukukk (Christmas Cock: 15.2Ð3, 15 and 19), which in the years between 1930 and 1956 was seen on Christmas Eve (15.2Ð3); New Year’s Eve (15.15); and at Epiphany (15.19). In Väike-Maarja, the function of the cock was quite exceptional: here it distributed presents and foresaw the next year’s harvest (15.2Ð3). Elsewhere the cock was mentioned in the final place amongside other mummers, as in a list naming the goat, bear, bear-master, Christmas Goose and cock (15.15). The disguise of the cock was like that of other birds, except that it had a shorter beak. Its performance included an act of pecking at “pahad” (the bad ones), or sprinkling water with its tail of juniper (15.15). Like all the other figures, the cock was offered food and drink. Little information exists about the so-called jõulumardid (Christmas Mar- tin’s mummers: 15.4 and 27). In general, they appear to have been very similar to their namesakes (see section 3. e. ii. below): one account from Väike-Maarja in 1930 states that “Jõulu teasel pühal käidi perest peresse. Käijatel olid lähkrid õlle korjamiseks kaasas. Nad laulnud nagu mardisandis” (On December 27, they used to go from house to house. They had a beer flagon with them. They sang like the St Martin’s Eve mummers: 15.4). Another, from Tori in 1930, comments that “Riietatud mardisantidena, käidi teiste akende taga jõulu- laupäeval” (They were disguised like the St Martin’s Eve mummers, and used to sing songs under other people’s windows on Christmas Eve: 15.27). In Val- ga, however, a figure called the Christmas märt (a variation of the name “Mart”), with clothes made of long straw was known (15.32). This account adds that in order to guarantee a good harvest and good growth for the pigs, a big sausage like a horse’s collar was thrown around the märt’s neck. Similar to this report is another from Paldiski which comments that: Kolmekuningapäeval (õhtupoolikul) mässiti inimene õlgede sisse ja tehti talle õlge- dest nuut kätte. See… käis mööda küla ja käis sees peaaegu igas talus. Kus inimesed veel õlgedel pikutasid, anti neile tublisti nuuti. (At Epiphany [in the afternoon], someone would be wrapped in straw and a straw knout put in his hand. He used to go around in the village and visit nearly every house. Where there were people still lying in the straw [on the floor], they would get a good deal of punishment from the knout.) Yet another figure, the tont (a bogeyman) seems to have been a variation on the tönk, as the following account from Paldiski in 1940 suggests: “Jõulu tehti Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 423 tonti, kurge ja pukki. Pandi pahampidi kasukad selga. Raamat oli käes, pani lapsi lugema” (At Christmas time, a tont, stork and goat [pukk] were made. They put on reversed fur coats. Had a book in hand, and asked the children to read: 15.6). The jõululutsid or jõululuts (Christmas lutsi, cf. Lucia: see section 3. a. ii. above) have already been noted (15.8, from Pühalepa in 1931). This figure too seems to have varied, since the informant states simply that “nendest ei tea muud, et nokka pole olnud ja niisama hirmutasid” (I know nothing about them, but they did not have a beak, and just frightened the children). In Martna, an informant speaks about a goat figure and a rider who appear on the morning of New Year’s Day. Here, however, the goat has gained a strange addition in that: Siis ka ratsutaja. Selleks seoti väike puuhobuse moodi ese istmiku külge ja niiviisi kujutati ratsanikku. Ratsanik sõitis muidugi omal jalgadel (15.9). (To make the rider, they tied a small object which was reminiscent of a wooden horse around someone’s backside…. He, of course, rode along on his own two legs.) This particular record is quite recent. Possibly the comparatively rare horse disguise had already been forgotten here leaving only some memory of the “rider” which was now associated with the more popular goat. Another figure mentioned is the näärioinas (New Year Ram) which is connected by the informant in question to a näärikaru (New Year Bear: see section 3. b. viii. above). The disguise was rather complicated, involving a wooden ram’s head, red paper in the eye sockets, movable jaws, a burning candle in the mouth, a rough carpet around the body, and an old whisk as a tail. The oinas (ram) was expected to be more entertaining than the näärikaru, and had to dance for people. As with certain other figures, if nothing was given to it, the ram would dip its tail into water and sprinkle everyone until the “palk sai maksetud” (payment was covered: 15.11). Obviously, this oinas was a local variation on the bear or a goat. A single record from Helme talks of a jõulusiitsi (Christmas “siitsi”) which was decorated with spruce twigs and came to chase the other people. Whoever happened to get in its way was punished (15.31). In Kihnu, figures given the local dialect terms öök (15.20) and pöök (15.21) served as two children’s bogeymen associated with the Christmas period, and seem to be variations of the tönk which were known in Kihnu. They are said to have a traditional disguise consisting of a reversed fur with a beard and wooden jaws. Their connection with the tönk is seen in the fact that one informant ends their description of the öök by saying: “siis lapsi narriti, et tönk tuleb” (then the children were teased that tönk would come!: 15.20). The figure of the jõuluelevant (Christmas Elephant) is quite exceptional (15.14), both in terms of name and appearance. This figure was made of straw and people supposedly used to go around with it asking for nuts (Karuse 1938). The description, however, does not reveal whether the elephant ever actually left the home. Of course, a single record of this kind is no evidence of a wider 424 Ülo Tedre tradition. It simply reflects a common Estonian Christmas habit: that people dressed up as animal characters to collect gifts. Another related game that took place within individual families seems to have been that of making a jõuluorikas (Christmas Pig: 15.12Ð13 and 23Ð24). This occurred during the Christmas period (15.12Ð13); at Christmas Eve (15.23); or on December 27 (15.24). Straw or hay would usually be brought into the house for Christmas. Then the orikas would be made in the following way: the clothes of one (or two) of the family members (sometimes a female) would be stuffed with hay.44 After that, the orikas would be beaten with straw knouts (known as pass). The reason for this has not been mentioned, but the activity is obviously some kind of ritual, perhaps for the prosperity of the cattle. An analogous tradition was the making of the jõulujõmm (jõmm meaning a “sturdy, heavy thing”, or a stocky or ostentatious person: 15.26), where the trousers of a small boy would be stuffed with hay, although there is no note about him being beaten. According to one record, making the jõulujõmm was “tuntuim jõulunali” (the most well-known Christmas entertainment: 15.25). Of all the the disguises of the Christmas period, the most exceptional must be that of Death, who is described in the following way: Inime võttis sirbi kätte, küünla hammaste vahele, rõivastus valgeisse rõivaisse… valge rätik pääs, nägu määrit jahuga. (Someone took a scythe and put a burning candle between their teeth, then dressed in white clothes and a white scarf, and had their face whitened with flour.) The record in question comes from Lutsi in 1933, and obviously refers to a Catholic image (15.33).45 Several records describe other mummers who used to come only on the eve of Epiphany, or on Epiphany itself. First of all, there were the figures of the kolm tarka (Three Kings), three men who went from house to house wishing people a merry Epiphany (15.18).46 These Biblical figures were known in Saaremaa where we find the greatest number of special disguises. Unfortunate- ly, however, there is no detailed information about the actual appearance of the Wise Men here. Another Epiphany figure, also known in Saaremaa, was the kuul (a dialect term, cf. the Estonian for turkey, kalkun), which was similar in appearance to the other bird figures (15.17). One interesting comment about the kuul is made here, however: after the visit it would go out, remove its fur and come back to drink beer. As the informant notes: “Üks kiba ölut jäi ikka kolmekuninga ajaks, siis kuuludel oli ia juua” (Some beer was always left for Epiphany, so that the

44 Regarding such figures, see further the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus on mumming in effigy elsewhere in this volume. 45 Lutsi was a region in Latvia known for its small Catholic Estonian population. See further Kallas 1894. 46 On the figures of the Three Kings, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. See, in particular, the article by Ane Ohrvik on the traditions in Norway. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 425 kuul would have something to drink). It can nonetheless be concluded from the previous sentence that going around as a kuul was a common thing to do in this area, even if this is the only record concerning the figure. Another record tells how, on the eve of the Epiphany, a jahimees (hunter) figure would come around with several jänes (hares) and koer (dogs, that is, little boys). The “hunter” had a wooden gun and would shoot a hare in every family (15.16). The record in question says nothing, however, about the appearance of the man or the offerings given to him. Yet another record tells of a man who fixed goat horns to his straw hat, dipped a whisk first into water and then ash, and chased the girls (15.29Ð30). The reason for his activities remains unclear, as does the nature of the offerings.

3. b. x. Other Localised Christmas and New Year Figures (16Ð17) Finally, it is worth adding a few notes about certain Christmas mumming disguises which were limited to particular geographical locations. The tabanisandid (also known as tabaniajajad) were mummers connected to St Stephen’s Day (26.12), a festival which is otherwise little known in Esto- nia.47 The exceptional accounts, however, occur in several villages in the parish of Kuusalu on the northern coast of Estonia. According to local tradition, the villagers here descend from Finns who probably moved here during or after the Northern War (1700Ð1721), when the Estonian population was reduced largely as a result of plague and the violence of Russian troops. All that remains of the tabanisandid tradition are the name and a few songs. One record simply states that the tabanisandid are now unknown (16.6). In the few records that do exist of the tradition, these figures are hopelessly mixed up or identified with the St Martin’s Eve mummers (see section 3. e. ii. below), as in the report that the tabanisandid … käisid söökisid ja jookisid küla peal otsimas. Siis kogutud ühte talusse kokku ja söödud toidud koos ära. Tantsitud ka. Vanasti mängitud torupilli (16.9). (… looked for food and drinks in the village. They then gathered in a house and ate all the food together. Danced too. They used to play the bagpipe in the old days.) The oldest known record (a manuscript) says nothing about the sex of the tabanisandid, but it may be assumed that they must have been men as they “käisid perest peresse, lähkrid seljas õlut ajamas” (visited families with a beer flagon: 16.1). Furthermore, another later record says that “mehed käisid viina norimas” (the men used to demand liquor: 16.10). As noted above, the songs that remain testify to the tradition, in that they are called “Tabani sandi laul” (the song of tabanisant: 16.23). The disguises used by this figure once again

47 See further, however, the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia on the figure of Tapani (Staffan), and other tapani traditions. 426 Ülo Tedre seem to have been based around a reversed fur (16.10). It naturally also seems that these figures used to visit houses on December 26 (St Stephen’s Day: 16.1, 10). No precise time is given. However, one record also says they came after Christmas (16.9). On the basis of the song fragments and the fact that “Stephan” (cf. Staffan in the other Nordic countries) was the saint of horses, one might guess that the purpose of the tradition was to promote “horse prosperity”.48 According to Forselius (see Boecler 1685: 28; and Hiiemäe 1998: 289), in the parish of Harju-Risti in 1684, there was also once a related custom of riding and bleeding horses. About 200 years later, Kreutzwald does not seem to have known the tradition at all (Boecler and Kreutzwald 1854: 95Ð96). On the other hand, Vilberg, in his description of the customs in Kuusalu at the beginning of the twentieth century (see Reiman 1913: 263Ð279), states that horses were taken inside buildings and offered beer. They even had their ears washed with beer. He notes that in the evening, the tabanisandid would come in with reversed furs and covered faces, asking for beer and vodka. The tabanisandid, however, were not allowed to cross a certain border that existed in the house: the line of the so-called tabaniõrs (tabani rafter), a ceiling beam running from wall to wall. If the tabanid crossed this border, they would be driven out with a beating. From Vilberg’s description, it appears that this custom was still comparatively alive in many places before the First World War. The data from later archive material, however, points to the tradition fading away quickly. Obvi- ously the background support for it was too limited. Another tradition, the kristoslaavitajad (a term coming from Russian meaning “Honour to Christ”) appears in 37 records from the period 1927–1980 (some records have been discarded here because it is difficult to separate the authentic material from copies or fakes). The name of the tradition exists in a number of variations: krestoslaavitajad (17.37); krõstoslaavitajad (17.27 and 29); kristos-, or krõstoslavtajad (17.10 and 31); kristoslavitaja (17.11Ð12 and 14); kristotaja (17.32 and 34); and viinagraaditaja (17.26). Both the custom and these terms are more or less adapted Russian loans. The visitors in question here varied, ranging from children of 5Ð6 years (17.8, 16Ð17, 20, 22Ð23, 30 and 33Ð34); to children and old men (17.28 and 32); little boys (17.4, 21, 25 and 31); boys (17.2, 9 and12); young people (17.16Ð17 and 35); or simply “Russian boys” (17.15 and 18). They used to go around in groups of up to 6 singers (17.6, 7, 27 and 35), and are said to come at various times: on Christ- mas night (17.5, 11 and 35); during the night of Christmas Eve (17.3, 20, 25 and 27); on the morning of the Christmas Day (17.9, 10, 22 and 31); during the night of Christmas Day (17.6); on the morning of New Year’s Day (17.2); and simply at night at Christmas time (17.33). No information is given about their disguise (on two occasions, strange clothes are mentioned: see 17.26 and 37) over and above the general attributes: in short, the kristoslaavitajad carried

48 Regarding the Stephen/ Staffan traditions, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 427

Fig. 6.8: Folk calendar holiday traditions in Es- tonia: A väzdo, the paper lantern children used to carry along with them when making “krõs- toslaavitamine” in front of the windows on Saturday nights: Setumaa, 1935. (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian Na- tional Museum].) lanterns made of coloured paper containing a burning candle (17.9, 11Ð12, 15, 17, 20Ð21, 23 and 27: see fig. 6.8); a star of Bethlehem with a candle in it on a pole (17.3, 13, 16 and 27); or a cross and a candle in their hands (17.2 and 33). On one occasion, mention is made of an oven brush and a baker’s peel (used for taking bread out of the oven: 17.26), although this might reflect a misunderstanding about objects commonly carried by Russian mummers. As regards other activities, a song of spiritual content would often be sung outside the window or inside the house (see 17.29 and 35) telling about the birth of Jesus. Another song text (17.1) exists showing influence on the kristoslaavitajad from the St Martin’s Eve songs (asking for gifts: on the St Martin’s traditions, see section 3. e. ii. below). Another relationship to the mardi customs can also be seen in a tradition in which the kristoslaavitajad were expected to be invited to join the family at the table. Otherwise they would curse the family (17.24). It also seems to have been a widely spread custom for money to be offered to the singers (17.2Ð3, 6Ð11, 14, 25, 27, 30Ð32 and 34Ð36); although in one case this is accompanied by an ironic comment that it was “suitsuraha” (for the teenagers to buy tobacco: 17.17). Records also tell about particular gifts, children being given money, and older people food and liquor (17.14 and 33). This offering of food stuffs points again to a blending with the St Martin’s Eve cus- 428 Ülo Tedre toms, singers being given white bread (17.8 and 30); Christmas food (17.11); and sweets (17.16). Some records simply state that “igasugu andeid” (all kinds of gifts were given: 17.22) or that “midagi anti” (something was given: 17.18). It might be noted, however, that even though Orthodoxy also exists in other Estonian regions, the kristoslaavitajad custom is an adapted Russian Orthodox tradition which was only encountered in Setumaa, in the south-eastern part of Estonia.49 In this context, it is also worth mentioning that some records mention Russians in the tradition (17.15, 18, 26 and 29), and the fact that song was in Russian (17.34). These, then, are all the mumming figures known to have appeared in Esto- nia during the Christmas period. By the time the data concerning these disguises was collected by the Estonian folklore archives, these traditions had clearly become essentially a matter of entertainment. However, as has been noted, in one or two cases, there are traces of an earlier ritual-religious background. Nowadays, however, most of these traditions have either vanished or are in the process of vanishing.

3. c. The Period Following Christmas: 3. c. i. January 7: St Knut’s Day (Nuudipäev) (18)50 Nuudipäev was the last day of the Christmas period (Hiiemäe 1998: 307). Since it was a relatively little known festival in Estonia, nuudipäev was sometimes identified with Epiphany (18.5, 9, 34) which was more widely known as the day which ends the Christmas period. There was also a belief that nuudipäev referred to each extra day after the calendar holiday, a kind of pro- longing of the holidays (18.32). It is thus no wonder that the day following Christmas or New Year’s Day should also be considered to be a nuudipäev (18.12 and 14). The same could apply to Innocents’ Day (December 29: 18.20 and 26). It is noteworthy that only 34 records from period of 1924Ð1980 refer to the correct date. As a rule, St Knut’s Day was mainly known in western Estonia, and especially in Hiiumaa and Saaremaa. On St Knut’s Day, the so-called nuudid would go around in the village (18.6, 10, 13, 19 and 22Ð26). Other records refer to paha nuut (a bad nuut: 18.15) or nuudipoisid (Knut boys: 18.20). In many cases, the records lack any special term for the visitors appearing at this time. Supposedly, the nuudid were groups of boys (18.4, 15 and 20), young men (18.3, 4, 8, 14 and 17), men (18.1, 15 and 22Ð23) and old men (18.29). Accord- ing to one record (18.16), however, women also used to go around “naised

49 It should be remembered that the Setu people who live in Setumaa on the regions around the RussianÐEstonian border are an independent ethnic Orthodox group and thus not typically “Estonian”. 50 On Knut’s Day, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 429 valges riides” (dressed in white clothes) on St Knut’s Day. This unique record from the parish of Karja in 1980 probably reflects the nuudid being naturally mistaken for the lutsid (from Lucia: see section 3. a. ii. above), since both traditions involving Christmas mummers had vanished by that time: first came the lutsid and then the nuudid. More problematic, however, is a record from the parish of Mustjala in 1974 which claims that in the village of Ninase too, women used to go around as nuudid carrying a straw sheaf with them (18.25). As the record notes, “ühest perest tulid, läksid teise perese jälle, panid see ölevihu maha ja istusid peele ja jöid ja läksid teise perese jälle” (they came from one family and went to another. They put the sheaf on the floor, took a seat, drank and went out again). The reason for women taking part was apparently because there were no old people left in Ninase. Could it then be that women were trying to preserve a tradition which was initially carried out here by the old (men)? This is nonetheless the only trustworthy record about female nuudid. The records make no mention of any specific disguise or mask being used by the nuudid. However, it is noted in one case that a willow twist (18.2) or a straw knout (18.15) was wrapped around the waist. Nonetheless, the records do emphasise that the nuudid often carried such straw knouts in their hands or at their backs (18.2Ð4, 12Ð14, 17 and 19Ð22), and that they sometimes used these (18.1, 5, 7Ð8, 27Ð28 and 31). According to one record (18.31), the knout was made of pea straw. The function behind the nuudi visits was to underline the end of the holidays, and involved two main activities: that of finishing the beer, and then the so-called “väljapeksmine” (beating out) of the holidays.51 The former is clearly shown in those records which state that the nuudid came to look for the beer-barrel taps (18.10Ð11, 15, 19 and 21Ð22); that the taps were wrapped in the straw knouts (18.19 and 22); or collected in a bag carried around the neck of a mummer (18.15 and 21). The collecting of the taps naturally turned into an act of drinking the last beer together (18.4, 23, 26 and 29), or even a search for the beer (18.8–9 and 12). In some cases, so-called “mahalaskmine” (pouring down) of the beer would accompany the collecting of the taps (18.13 and 25), something which must probably be taken as a metaphor. It is hard to believe that the beer was actually wasted, considering the general economic mind-set of the Estonians. More probably, the beer was simply drunk together: indeed, the rhyme “Me käime perest perese ja aame õlut keresse” (We go from family to family and drink beer!) is characteristic of the nuudid. As regards the “beating out” of the holidays, it is not clear exactly how this was carried out; the records simply mention the pühade ära ajamine (driving out) of the holidays (18.3 and 8); the jõulude välja peksmine (beating out) of the holidays (18.4 and 30); and the külaliste ja põhkude (beating out of the guests and the

51 See further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, especially those from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland and Karelia on the element of “knocking out” Christmas at this time. 430 Ülo Tedre straw, in other words, the holidays: 18.20). Especially interesting in this context are several records suggesting that nuut (Knut) “peksab õlle välja, annab taari asemele” (beats out the beer and brings sour beer in its place: 18.7 and 20) and that “paha nuut peksab lihapudi välja ja annab taaripudi asemele” (bad nuut beats out the meat and replaces it with sour beer: 18.27). Once again, the meat and beer symbolise the holiday period since during Christmas the peasant’s menu would be more plentiful than usual. It comes as no surprise that the symbolic beating out of the holidays turned into another activity of the group beating the first person they met on their way with their knouts (18.2). It is also recorded that members of the host family (18.5) or members of the group (18.28 and 31) were beaten with knouts. A variation on this was that the first one to get too drunk was beaten (18.12). It seems that when the custom started fading, people would also go to the village taverns and beat one another with knouts (18.1), or dance and eat (18.8 and 12). Records from Mustjala say simply that on St Knut’s Day, the old and young danced a “Mustjala rong” (a wedding dance which is led through the household by an older man or woman: 18.18Ð19 and 22). The lyrics of a single nuudi song have also been recorded (18.24). The general opinion, however, was simply that the nuudid took away Christmas (18.33). As noted above, the tradition has now disappeared. Record 18.6 which states that “Vanaste peeti nuuti, minu isa on seda rääkin, et nuudiks käidi” (They used to go around as the nuudid; my father used to say that they went around as the nuudid) is fairly typical.

3. d. Spring and Summer There are very few mentions of mummers appearing in Estonia during the spring and none concerning the summer. Certainly, the Estonian folklore archives briefly mention mummers appearing at Shrovetide and on St Michael’s Day (September 29), but unfortunately, we lack of any concrete descriptions of these customs. It is said that common Shrovetide songs were sung by the Shrovetide mummers,52 and that the St Michael’s Day mummers performed parts of Martinmas songs (using the name mihkel instead of mart: see further section 3. e. ii. below on St Martin’s Eve: H II 14, 39Ð40 (54): Ambla, 1888). However, as noted above, the records of these customs are few and far between. If they are to be trusted as genuine, then they present two possibilities: either they are chance creations (written down by the collector) or vestiges of a vanishing tradition connected with the last Christmas mummers (in the case of the Shrovetide mummers) and the earliest “soul mummers” (in the case of St Michael’s Day mummers: see the following section). The likelihood is that these accounts are simply rarities.

52 See H III 21, 262–4 (4): Kursi, 1894; E 16825 (1): Audru, 1895; and E 82446–7 (2): Vändra, 1933. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 431

3. e. Autumn 3. e. i. Hingesandid (Soul Mummers) (19) As in other countries, the hingesandid (soul mummers) were associated with the autumn celebration of the hingede aeg/ hingeaeg (soul period) in Estonia which was celebrated up until the end of nineteenth century, and in some places even into the twentieth century. This was a time for remembering the dead relatives (see Hiiemäe 1998: 197), and generally started on St Michael’s Day (September 29), although the end of the celebration varied in parishes, ranging in time from St Martin’s Day (November 10) to St Catherine’s Day (November 25). It might even go on as late as Christmas. Going “soul mumming” was only known only in Mulgimaa (the counties of South Pärnu and Viljandi), to be more precise in the parishes of Saarde, Halliste, Karksi, Viljandi, Tarvastu, Paistu and Helme. The centre of the custom seems to have been the parish of Paistu. The records come from the period 1922Ð1971 (most of the material having been collected during fieldwork expeditions in 1935, 1936, 1944, 1961 and 1970). Most records simply contain the memories of older people. Some, though, were collected by people who saw the mummers themselves. It might be noted, however, that no mummers were numbered among the informants. The hingesandid had no limits with regard to age or sex. Several records state that girls and boys used to go around together (19.14, 32, 37, 41Ð42, 48, 53 and 57). Others talk of “only boys” (19.16); young people (19.31); young and old people (19.25 and 63); middle-aged persons (19.24); men and women (19.9 and 40); and women (19.7 and 55). For the most part, the sex and age of the mummers is not mentioned. As a rule, the hingesandid wore white undershirts over their overcoats or were simply covered in white sheets (19.1Ð3, 7Ð14, 16Ð18, 20, 22Ð26, 28Ð29, 31, 36Ð37, 39Ð42, 46Ð48, 50Ð57, 59Ð61 and 63). Those acting evil spirits wore black (19.3, 31 and 37), although sometimes no distinction was made between the two types: some wore white, and some black (19.4). A red belt (19.61) and a golden ribbon around the head (19.7) are mentioned on separate occasions, but being unique records, these can not be taken as typical. The use of the white clothes is obviously explained by the earlier use of shrouds as grave clothes: it was not until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the dead began to be dressed in their best clothes (which, in the case of men, were usually black). Notes that the mummers were dressed casually (19.27) or wore reversed furs (19.57) are probably exceptional (and late). Other equipment, however, included a twig (19.3, 11Ð12, 40, 50 and 61). The actual period of visiting remains indefinite. In general, it was during the aforementioned “soul period”. Concrete data in this respect, however, is rare: people talk of two weeks before St Martin’s Day (19.26, 52 and 54); a week before St Martin’s Day (19.41); and between St Martin’s and St Catherine’s Day (19.53). Others simply say that they used to come “every night” (19.53); “on Saturday, Sunday and Thursday evening” (19.36); and “on Thursday 432 Ülo Tedre evening” (19.25). One record which states that they used to come in the evenings of the first and last day of the “soul period” is probably unique (19.62). In terms of function, the visit of the hingesandid at the end of the “soul period” is often associated with “hingede välja ajamine” (driving out the spirits) (19.12), or “hingede ärasaatmine” (sending the souls away: 19.40). One interesting record states that the hingesandid deliberately used to visit those families where someone had recently died (19.17). In terms of activity, the mummers are said to “kiunuvad peenikese häälega” (whimper with a thin voice: 19.3, 20 and 27); to make an awful voice (19.28); or even scream “uu-uu” or “käuks-käuks”(19.53 and 63) outside the door. In- side the house, they would scream for certain types of food, particularly “kop- su-käkki” (lung dumplings: 19.3, 61, 40 and 43). The descriptions of activities that took place inside the house vary. Some records say that the hingesandid bruised the people in the house (19.8Ð9, 38, 51 and 59), or hit them with their twigs (19.3, 9, 11, 12 and 40). One record tells of people being caught in a bag and taken out (19.4). It is also mentioned that the mummers danced (19.42, 47 and 59), or danced and jumped (19.23). A few records also state that the “souls” did not sing (19.18, 25 and 27–28); speak (19.23); or ask anything (19.25, 50 and 63). One notes that they had no song of their own (19.43). Most records, however, mention a song or singing (19.1, 4, 7, 13, 17, 30Ð33, 35, 37Ð 38, 40, 44Ð48, 50Ð52, 54, 58 and 62). The song in question usually involves some traces of runo-songs (see note 19), and is a so-called “transitional form” of song in which the hingesandid ask for large dumplings (19.30 and 32Ð33), and mention that they are going to climb into “… the wheelbarrow of Kella- Ritsu” (“Kella-Ritsu” meaning something like “Bell-Richard”: 19.1, 14, 25, 30–31, 33, 35 and 52). In one variation (19.38), the name “Rits” has become “Pullerits”. Since Kella-Rits was the bell-ringer of the church in Paistu in the 1880s (19.45), the song must have been created in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It has also borrowed some lines from the St Martin and St Catherine songs (see sections 3. e. ii. and iii. below), and developed via improvisation in several directions, the mummer being sorry for himself (19.38); praising souls (19.46 and 52); or threatening the household (19.31 and 51). Singing outside or inside the door in this way seems to have been an obligatory part of mummers’ performance. The model was obviously other singing visitors like those who came on St Martin’s or St Catherine’s Eve. Records about gifts being given at this time are ambiguous. In some places, the mummers were given nothing (19.7, 18, 24 and 38); while elsewhere it is mentioned that something had to be given (19.9, 13, 51, 53 and 58). For the main part, the visitors received large dumplings (19.17, 34, 40Ð41 and 58); un- leavened barley bread (19.22, 34, 40, 53 and 63); apples (19.22, 34, 47 and 53); or something to eat on the spot (19.39 and 48). They were rarely given money (19.58). If they did get money, however, they would use this to organise a party (19.53). As usual, there were ways of ensuring they were given something. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 433

One record states that the hingesandid would hit people with twigs if they were given nothing (19.13). Another says that the “head hinged – valgesse riietatud” (good souls in white) brought along white bread and sweets which they shared (19.3). Loorits sees the “soul mumming” custom as being a modernised version of an old soul cult (Loorits 1957: 190). Tampere is nonetheless more precise when he states that: … mitmed tunnused näitavad, et säärane komme ja sellega seotud laulukesedki on hilise tekkega, nähtavasti pärit XIX saj. lõpupoolest, kui usk hingede koduskäimisse hakkas juba kaduma ning ainet naljadeks andma (Tampere 1956Ð1965: II, 14Ð15). (… several characteristics indicate that the custom and the songs associated with it are of recent origin, probably from the end of the nineteenth century when the belief in souls visiting homes started vanishing, and was replaced by jokes.) There is good reason to share Tampere’s opinion. Records sometimes mention that the custom “on uuem asi” (is a newer thing: 19. 47), but add that it “kadus moest pärast /esimest/ maailmasõda” (disappeared after the [First] World War: 19.3). It seems that the final years when “soul mumming” actually took place might have been around 1920 (19.37) or 1925 (19.36). In general, it seems that going “soul mumming” was both a local and a recent form of a broader, nationwide mumming tradition. On one hand, it testifies to the strength of the mumming tradition in Estonia. On the other, it demonstrates how an old tradition will unavoidably give way in the face of the modern style of living. In this sense, the custom is educational: it shows that even in the second half of the nineteenth century, a new tradition of visiting houses and collecting gifts as mummers could still be established and maintained, albeit for a short time. Both the formation of the tradition and its acceptance by the people in question must be seen as quite remarkable.

3. e. ii. November 9: The Mardisandid (St Martin’s Eve Mummers)53 As noted at the start of this chapter, the oldest and most known Estonian mummers seem to be the mardid (St Martin’s Eve mummers) and the kadrid (St Catherine’s Eve mummers). Both customs were known in every parish, and at present, they are still very much alive. It is most reasonable to examine the former tradition in three temporal stages: before the First World War, between

53 The author wishes to note that there will be no numbered references to original records in the following sections (unlike those above). This is because the material on the mardid (St Martin’s) and kadrid (St Catherine’s) mummers is far too extensive for an overall register to be made. How- ever, a general, more detailed review of the most popular traditions can be found in Hiiemäe’s Eesti rahvakalender, VI (1981Ð1995), 9–247. Pages 9–27 then give a general introduction to St Martin’s Day; 28–159 providing original records on the subject, of which 33–122 deal with the St Martin’s Day mummers. Pages 160–174 then provide an introduction to St Catherine’s Day; 175Ð247 providing original records on the subject, of which 178–219 deal with the St Catherine’s Eve mummers. 434 Ülo Tedre the wars, and after the Second World War when it mostly appears as a children’s tradition or a club-like folkloric phenomenon. As regards the actual dating of the St Martin’s Eve tradition, it might be noted that St Martin’s Day was, on one hand, the final day of so-called “business year” on farms, and, on the other, the common end-point of the earlier- noted “soul period” (see above, and also Hiiemäe 1998: 209–24). According to Loorits, the “soul period” was a certain “taboo” or sacred time for all Fenno- Ugrians (except the Khanty and Mansi). It was the time at which the spirits of forefathers were expected to visit those who were living. It is worth noting in this connection that the name of the death omen or death spirit, marras or mar- dus, sounds very similar to mardi-päev (St Martin’s Day: cf. the Finnish marraskuu and the Estonian mardikuu, meaning November). It thus seems quite likely that the mardisandid were also thought to represent the souls of the dead.54 Descriptions of the “voyage” of the mardid are referred to in the Martinmas songs which tell of how the mardid came from far away; from high places; and from heaven (see also Valk 1995b: 509Ð513). However, when the old belief in returning souls began to vanish in the middle of the nineteenth century, going around as mardid changed from so-called “ritual” play into a village youth game (see further below). This simultaneous change from ritual into game and social custom is quite remarkable in Estonian conditions. The name of the activity varied, ranging from mardiks käimine (lit. going mardi) to mardiks or marti jooksmine or ajamine (lit. running/ driving for mart), while the performers were called mart (or märt), mardisant and sandimart (also santmart or “begging mummers”). The activity itself took place in the evening before St Martin’s Day’s, always in darkness, and often all through the night. A few individual records from the end of the nineteenth century state that gifts were collected on several consecutive nights (a week before or after St Martin’s Day). Some records state that the tõemardi (lit. true marts) or naljamardi (fun marts) would visit households on St Martin’s Eve, while the so-called sandimardi (begging marts) or the poor (the wives of landless peasants and cottagers) would visit houses on the evening of St Martin’s Day. Initially, only young men would go around as mardid. The number of the participants was nonetheless unlimited (although they would not go alone). Their disguise consisted of reversed furs, flaxen beards, faces blackened with soot, straw belts and hats. Disguising yourself with a rye sheaf with the help of straw was also known. On some occasions, a straw tail was also used. How- ever, the general rule was that the mardid had black faces (see fig. 6.9) and were ugly (as opposed to the kadrid on St Catherine’s Eve, who were “saksa sandid” [white, clean, pretty, fair mummers]55). The idea of turning yourself

54 As regards mummers possibly representing spirits, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in the North Atlantic (on the figure of Gr¥la and other beings in Shetland); Nor- way (the various Christmas spirits); and Sweden and Finland (the Easter witches) elsewhere in this volume. See also the article by Fridrik Skott on the Easter witches. 55 It might be noted that the word saksa here is a deliberate reference to the social stratification of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 435

Fig. 6.9: Folk calendar holiday traditions in Es- tonia: Masks of the heads of a mardi group (galfava), made of sheep skin, with a horsehair beard, from the island of Suure-Pakri, Estonia, in 1926. (Photo: F. Aastast.) (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian National Museum].) into an animal seems to belong to an older layer of the mardi custom. In the records, bears, goats, a horse, a ram and a stork are mentioned (the latter preferably appearing with the kadrid). Another old tradition seems to be the idea of a Mart family led by Mardi-isa (Father Mart) or Vana Mart (Old Mart) and Mardi-ema (Mother Mart) who was often a young man dressed like a woman (the young man being called “mardinoorik”). All the others would then take on the roles of the Mardi lapsed (children of the mardid).56 When the ritual character of the tradition was replaced by that of having fun, the family was replaced by representatives of different occupations, such as a chimney-sweep,

Estonian society at the time in which the “sakslased” (the Germans), who were the ruling class, had manors and both a good life and good clothes. Thus, things that were fair and beautiful were often given the adjective “saksa”, meaning simply “German” or “German-like”. 56 It might be noted that in terms of costume, “Father Mart” (and in some places all the mummers) had a twig in his hand and a bag around his neck for gifts. Some records also state that the group had a horse and wagon (or sledge) with them to carry the gifts if a wider excursion was planned. 436 Ülo Tedre

Figs 6.10 aÐb: Marti and kadrid mummers traditions, in Tartu, 1979. (Photo: H. Pärdi.) (Cour- tesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian National Museum].) a fortune-teller, a doctor and a shoemaker. The presence of an offical figure (such as a soldier or policeman) among the mummers was also seen as a good omen. When the element of fun started dominating in the mart tradition, girls began joining the young men (from the end of the nineteenth century). On such occasions, the mardid would also make use of cross-dressing. Another change was apparent before the First World War in that records from around that time Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 437 start indicating that children were also joining the groups of mart mummers. Then, as noted earlier, between the two wars, the tradition quite rapidly transformed into a children’s custom (see figs 6.10 aÐb). In this connection, one has to take into account that by this time the old ritual function of the tradition had completely vanished, the growing element of entertainment being now accompanied by the development of more modern forms (above all, the use of village halls). At the same time, masking became simpler: for example, it became possible to buy different kinds of masks from shops. The fact that the custom is now mostly celebrated in towns rather than in the countryside underlines still further the process of urbanisation which commenced in the Soviet period and is still proceeding. This is also seen in the aforementioned connection with children. It might be noted, however, that during the years of the Russian occupation, going around as mardi was reduced since the date was a little too close to the date of the October Revolution, and the police or “miilits” would often trouble the masked mummers. This gave additional emphasis to the later kadrid tradition (see the following section). Going around as mardid was inseparably connected to singing. All the activities of mardid were accompanied or commented on by a song. The Martin- mas song itself, which had several parts, could consist of a couple of hundred verses. It might also be argued that the overall action of the Mart mummers was, in essence, a dramatic performance or a kind of Martinmas opera. The Martinmas song was an old Balto-Finnic runo-song (see note 19). Both the custom and the song were also acquired by the minority nations of Estonia: that is to say, the coastal Swedes who left Estonia on the 1940s and the Russians living around Lake Peipus, as well as the Setus (see note 49 above). Both the tradition and the song can also be traced amongst the Ingrians and the South Karelians. The typical Mart performance was conducted as follows: The mardid would gather in front of the door of a household and start to sing. The song in question is a so-called “greeting song” consisting of a request to let the mardid in, because “mardi küüned külmetavad,/ mardi varbad valutavad” (the nails of a mart are freezing/ the toes of a mart are aching), a verse which has been retained in the Martinmas song up to the present day. It goes on to describe their journey57 and (improvised) motives for coming which vary by parish. (They are often associated with wedding songs, and especially the arrival of a wedding party.) In south-west Estonia, the song would also be preceded by a prose dialogue. The marts would then ask in chorus: “Kas on luba luuri lüüa/ mardi palvet paluda. Pai pereisake, pai pereemake, ütle ikka ja, ja on parem kui ei!” (Can we perform a mart begging song, dear Master, dear Mistress? Please say yes; yes is better than no!). Often, this request was humorously elaborated, as in the following example:

57 For parallels to such a “journey”, see the descriptions of Shetland and Faroese mumming in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic, and the details concerning the Norwegian julebukk figures in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway. 438 Ülo Tedre

Pai pereisa, kas mäletad, kui me jaanipäeva aegu jää peal valget mära vahetasime, sa lubasid mulle kolm tündret rukist, ütlid: tule märdiks! Nüüd tullin märdiks… . (Dear Master, do you remember when we changed our horses on the ice near St John’s Day? Then you promised me three barrels of rye if I came as a mart!) The father of the household would then answer (usually in the affirmative), and the song would begin.58 The door would then be opened and the mardid would all come in together. An “arrival” song would follow, involving a request to light up the fire. In the lighted room, the “Father” of the mardid would throw some grains (sometimes peas) taken from his mitten onto the floor, accompanied by a spell (“siia viskan viljaõnne” [Here I throw good luck for crops], and so on). Next, “Father Mart” (and all the other mardid) would hit all the family members three times with a twig which was a standard piece of equipment, saying “Tooreks, terveks; tervist, tervist!” (Get well! Stay well and healthy!).59 Next, the dancing song of the mardid began, accompanied by jumping and bumping (records say nothing about actual dancing). A dancing song of this kind was usually associated with asking for gifts (which had often already been demanded) which, of course, was also carried out in the form of a song. Next the mardid, still singing (sporadically), would examine whether the household had been well kept (for example, whether the buckets were full of water, and the fireplaces and floor clean). If anything was found to be wrong, the girls of the family would be punished by being beaten with twigs on their soles. This “checking song” would be preceded or followed (mainly in western Estonia) by “Mother Mart” singing a ketruslaul (spinning song), stating that “mardil on palju peret,/ küll ketran – ei jõua / ikka paistab paljas perse / hiilgab ihu punane” (the Mart family is so big;/ I spin but not enough./ There is always a naked backside,/ red skin is gleaming!). “Mother Mart” then would then get a piece of cloth and “Father Mart” would be given a mauk (a hank, now thought of as a wish rather than an actual gift). Simultaneously, the mistress of the household would bring gifts to be put into the bag around “Father Mart”’s neck: bread, meat, sausage and dumplings. These gifts were received with a thanking song, for the main part connected to a farewell song. The mardid would then thank the family and wish them good luck, either separately or as a whole, good crops being wished for the father; luck with cattle for the mother; luck with horses for the son; luck with a bridegroom for the daughter; a good relationship with the parents-in-law for the young daughter-in-law; and a good appearance, decent tools or something else personal for the hired-hands and maids. As the above suggests, it was believed that the mardid brought fertility and

58 On such repartee, see further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on talking to mummers elsewhere in this volume. 59 As has been noted above, such blows for health are encountered in other Estonian calendar day customs. They are connected with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday customs, as well as the mumming traditions that take place at Christmas and on St Catherine’s Eve: see Hiiemäe 1998: 85, 89, 226, 259 and 275. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 439 good luck to the fields. One proverb runs: “Mart üle maa, Kadri üle karja!” (Mart over the land and fields, Kadri over the cattle!). The use of straw in the Mart costumes, several aspects of the performance (the throwing of grains, fertility-magic jumping and the so-called “mart dancing”), and, of course, the songs too would appear to have developed out of this. By the same token, if the mardid were not let in, they would leave with evil sayings, such as the statement: “Susi sittugu supipotti” (May the wolf shit into your soup kettle!). If they received nothing for their performance, they would curse the fields, the cattle, the children and the entire family, for example with the words: “Saagu su sugu surema/ õed-vennad hulkuma/ kälitsed kära pidama/ sõsarikud sõimlema!” (May your family die, and your sisters and brothers have to wander and struggle!). In some places, physical revenge might be performed, wood being piled behind the door; a trough or a wagon being taken up onto the roof, or flax thrown into the well, for example. Such activities are related to the kinds of revenge “bundlers”60 might carry out on farm-owners, and also the wedding pranks which were carried out by so-called pulmapoisid (wedding boys) and lapulised who were uninvited strangers that appeared at weddings.61 Such behaviour probably represents a later layer of the tradition at a time when it had become essentially a matter of fun and entertainment. In the case of the old ritual tradition, a curse would have been seen as a harsh enough punishment. At the end of the performance and at some point after the circuit had been completed, the collected gifts would be eaten together in the village pub or at a pre-arranged farm. In western Estonia, such a mardi party would turn into a large-scale mardipulmad (mardi wedding), whereby “Father Mart” would make an agreement at some earlier point with a local head of a farm (referred to as the “Mardi Grandfather”) about the brewing of beer (in some places, the mardid had to bring some malt themselves). The food for the gathering would then come from the collected gifts. Some records also state that the gift-givers would be invited to the party. Certain individual records also state that those who had not been in the group of mummers might also come to the party with their own food. A “wedding” of this kind might last for two or three days. It can be assumed from descriptions that the wedding aspects of the party were very much a parody: in the Mart weddings, the bridegroom was “Father Mart” while

60 In Estonia, Sweden, Norway and Shetland (and possibly other neighbouring countries), there used to exist a summer custom whereby teenage girls (both the daughters of farmers and serving girls who would often be sleeping in an outer store-house) could be visited by young men at night. (In Norway, this custom was referred to as “nattfriing” (night courting). The boys would not always stay all night, and the visit was not supposed to include sexual intercourse. In Estonia, the visiting boys were referred to as “ehalised” or “ehalkäijad”, meaning “those who come at twilight” or “those who come at sunset”, but here translated as “bundlers”. Naturally, the local farmers were not very fond of such customs, and would do their best to keep such boys away. Hence, the call for revenge on farmers who were too stringent. 61 For similar customs elsewhere, see the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour in mumming traditions, and also the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden, Fin- land and Karelia, and especially the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 440 Ülo Tedre

“Mother Mart” was usually the bride. According to Hiiemäe, such weddings had an old and rather wide background (see Hiiemäe 1998: 221), related to the Finnish custom of jumihäät (häät meaning wedding). Considering the nature of these final parties, it is also plausible that going mumming might have been regarded as a kind of initiation rite (although, of course, there are no traces of this left in the modern tradition). Whether this was true or not, it is clear that some mumming was related to a great fertility rite (as noted above).62 In the nineteenth century, real begging began appearing alongside the more light-hearted tradition (mostly in south-west and western Estonia). Those so-called santmardid (begging mummers) did not usually move around on St Martin’s Eve but rather a little earlier or later (in some places two or three times a week). As noted earlier, these beggars were essentially wives of cottagers who were trying to make a living (very sporadically, “viinutamine” [the offering of vodka] is mentioned as being necessary for getting gifts). Probably going around as the santmardid was based on the mardid tradition. It might also be noted that no special sandi songs seem to have been known (if we exclude the general sandi songs which were simple widely-known folk songs). Quite possibly, they would sing parts of the Martinmas songs. It seems that the sanditamine tradition continued in some places until the First World War.

3. e. iii. November 24: The Kadrisandid (St Catherine’s Eve Mum- mers) The so-called kadrid or kadrisandid (St Catherine’s Eve mummers) would visit households on St Catherine’s Eve, the name of the activity being either kadriks käima (going around as kadri) or kadrit jooksma (running kadri). As noted earlier, St Martin’s Day and St Catherine’s Day are parallel festive days, and the same applies to the mardid and kadrid traditions. While the mardid tended initially to be young men, the kadrid were girls. There are no records concerning other traditions which show such obvious parallels in the sexes. One notes furthermore the saying mentioned earlier that “Mart on üle maa, Kadri üle karja” (Mart over the land, Kadri over the cattle) referring to the belief that the mardid brought crop luck, and the kadrid luck with cattle (see Hi- iemäe 1998: 224–237). The clothes worn by the kadrid were initially white (a white shirt and white trousers: see figs 6.11 and 6.12). As with the “soul mummers” noted earlier, white clothes reflect the whiteness of the old grave shrouds and underline the possible role of the kadrid as representatives of the dead. It has been emphasised earlier that the kadrid were seen as “saksa sandid” (white, clean, pretty, fair mummers, as opposed to the dirty mart mummers: see the previous sec-

62 The chant-like songs alone give an impression of seriousness. The affection the general public felt for them is proven by the reception of the cantata cycle Kalendrilaulud (Estonian Calendar Songs: 1969) composed by the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, which involves material from both Martinmas and the St Catherine’s song cycle. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 441

Fig. 6.11 (above): A group of kadrid, Hääde- meeste parish, Estonia, November 25, 1953. (Photo: Al. Jaakson.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rah- valuule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Ar- chives].)

Fig. 6.12 (right): Kadrid mummers from the village of Sudiste, Karksi, Estonia, in 1969. (Photo: Pugal.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Archives].) tion). Here, too, however, it can be noted that over time, the old ritual aspects of the tradition diminished and the element of entertainment increased. In the same way, the gender limitations decreased over time, and young men started to appear in the company of the kadrid. Participants also started cross-dressing. Records from the end of the nineteenth century also talk of the kadrid as having wide-edged hats with long paper ribbons, something that would have made the recognition of the mummers difficult, if not impossible. The white dresses also came to be replaced by modern costumes, but the demand for purity, cleanlin- ness and beauty remained. As with the mardid tradition, the arrival of the twentieth century led to the kadrid becoming essentially a children’s custom (see figs 6.11Ð14). Another visual change was that between the First and Second World Wars when Esto- nia was a free republic, mummers started using masks bought in shops, even though during the ensuing Soviet period (1940Ð1991), they were again mainly made at home. Another result of the Soviet occupation was the movement of the tradition from the countryside to the towns, and the earlier-noted comparative increase in the popularity of the the kadri mummers (owing to the proximity of St Martin’s Day to the date of the October Revolution). As with the mardid, the kadri mummers often appeared as a family, now led by Kadri-ema (Mother Kadri). This meant, of course, that there also had to be a Kadri-isa (Father Kadri), who had a long flaxen or straw beard, a stick and a fur hat. The other mummers were then said to be the kadrilapsed (kadri children). Once again, as with the mardid, a few independent records talk of a man 442 Ülo Tedre

Fig. 6.13: The Kadri festival at Holstre school, Holstre, Viljandi county, Paistu parish, Estonia, 1982. (Photo: V. Ojala.) (Courtesy of the Eesti Rahva Muuseum [The Estonian National Museum].) wearing an official uniform (a soldier) going around with the family who might also carry cloth or rag dolls to represent the “babies”. When collecting the gifts, they would also imitate the crying of a baby to justify their asking for gifts which were needed for covering and feeding “a big family”. In some places, they would also take a water bottle to spray the host family unexpectedly, the water now representing “kadri piss” (an idea based on the widely known Esto- nian calendar-saying about “kadri kusemine” [Kadri urinating] referring to the first thaw which is supposed to occur close to St Catherine’s Day, following the snow of St Martin’s Day. Naturally, these old weather sayings have nowadays lost their validity. Several records state that the kadri mummers did not come alone but had masked companions in the shape of birds and animals. In this regard, reports talk mainly of a goose (especially in western Estonia), a stork, a goat, or a goat and a horse. As has been suggested earlier, it is possible that these masked animal figures have more ancient roots than the kadrid. With regard to their appearance, see section 3. b. on Christmas mummers earlier in this chapter. Some kadri records, however, also talk of a straw goose. Loorits claims that: Aus dem germanische Brauchtum überhommen sind die aus stroh angefertigten Fruchtbarkeitspuppen, die in Verbindung mit den lustigen Umzügen der Dorfjugend am abend vor Martini (10. Nov) und Katharinä (25. Nov) noch ziemlich lebendig ge- blieben sind (Loorits 1951: 92). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 443

Figs 6.14 aÐc: Kadrid mummers. Students of Estonian philology, Pälsoni dormitory, Tartu State University. Photo: E. Kärdla.) (Courtesy of Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv [the Estonian Folklore Ar- chives].) 444 Ülo Tedre

With regard to the amusing processions of the village youth on St Martin’s Eve (No- vember 10) and St Catherine's Eve (November 25), the fertility dolls made of straw (which have been taken over from the German custom) have remained fairly alive. Loorits may be right about the loan, but it should be remembered that the records concerning the carrying of the straw doll are only sporadic. Of course, it is possible that this reflects a forgotten custom which has only remained alive in a few places. As with the mardid, going around as kadrid was accompanied by singing. Furthermore, the individual features of the performance and the songs of the kadrid clearly correspond to those of the St Martin’s Eve mummers: the kadrid also sowed grains on the floor and greeted household members with twig blows. Then “Mother Kadri” would spin and the children would dance. In order to get their gifts, they would recite a Kadri “passport”, demanding: Süld vorsti, küünar käkki, kaks arssinat hapukapsast, tapetud siga, lahitud lammas, nuumat veis, tegu haput leiba, kaks tegu kaku-leiba, kültu (=külimit) kaunavilja, tünder türgiube, kaksteistkümmend silmavalgust (= küünalt)! (E 33244–5: Risti, 1987). (A fathom of sausage, an ell of dumplings, two ells of sauerkraut, a slaughtered pig and a sheep, a fattened ox, a week’s production of bread and a scone, a peck of le- guminous plants, a barrel of French beans, and twelve candles!) The rhyme and the use of metaphor here is noteworthy. Furthermore, the kadri “begging song” contains the motif telling of how “Kadri vingub villasida/ nuutsub linanuustikuida” (Kadri begs for wool and flax) which does not appear in the Martinmas song. Otherwise, the two songs are very similar. In some places, they are totally identical, except for the fact that the name Mart or Mardi has been replaced by the name Kadri (as well as the respective refrain in the southern Estonian songs). In terms of gifts, the kadrid were usually given food stuffs, but besides this, they also received wool and thread, something girls needed for the preparation of their dowries. As with the mardid, the kadri tradition changed at the end of nineteenth century when the new nalja-kadrid (fun kadri) started going around, continuing the old ritual but now essentially in order to have fun; the true kadrid (known as tõekadri), meanwhile, were once again the poor or the wives of the poor who went around alone at this time offering drinks. In return for a swig of vodka, they would get food, wool or flax. It might be noted, however, that kadri gifts also included peas, which, as has been noted earlier, had various associations with death (those waking over a dead body commonly eating salted peas). This might be an indirect reference to the unworldliness of the kadrid. As with the mardi gifts, the collected kadri gifts were usually eaten commu- nally (according to most records). Otherwise they might be distributed amongst the participants. Relatively common was a party (mainly in western Estonia) which was called the kadrijoodud or kadripulmad (kadri wedding; cf. the mardi wedding noted above). In the former case, “Mother Kadri” would Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 445 have the role of the bride, “Father Kadri” then becoming the bridegroom. Pea soup would be offered, and the “wedding” would last for two days. As a rule, the guests at these gatherings would also include the gift-givers as well as other people who had not been participants in the kadri visit (probably other young men and women of the village). It was thus yet another gathering of the village youth involving singing and dancing. There are, however, less records of kadri weddings than there are of mardi weddings. None of the extant kadri records, however, includes activities that seem actually to parody the characteristics of the real weddings. The mardid and kadrid seem to be the most widespread and thus also the oldest figures in the Estonian mumming tradition. Admittedly, Loorits claims that “Die Umzüge der sog. Martini- und Katherinä-Bettler (mardi- ja kadrisandid) sind bei der Esten, Liven und Letten eine niederdeutsche Sittenentleh- nung” (The processions of Estonians, Livonians and Latvians going around as St Martin and St Catherine “beggars” (mardid and kadrid) is a loan from Low German tradition: Loorits 1958: 92). However, there is good reason to question this argument. Firstly, as has been noted, the songs accompanying the mumming are in the old, genuine style. Secondly the songs seem to have been created especially for mumming. Furthermore, many sections of the songs, especially the fertility blessings of the whole family in the farewell section, seem to be genuine magical chants by nature; indeed parallels can be found in other magical chants. In addition to this, these songs clearly have their own melodies which are not found in other song types. Neither the age and aim of the visit, nor the gifts of the Estonian and German mummers overlap with each other. It thus appears to be a genuine ancient Estonian peasant tradition (see also Tam- pere 1956Ð1965: II, 11Ð15, and 20Ð21). It can be stated quite firmly that a belief in spirits and souls lies behind the tradition of the hingesandid (soul mummers), the mardid and the kadrid. As has been noted, “soul mumming” itself is quite a late phenomenon and was locally restricted. It might be assumed that the hingesandid appeared when the kadrid and mardid changed into a form of youth entertainment, even though the belief in souls remained. Perhaps it was a kind of counterbalance.

4. Modern and Non-Calendrical traditions As in the neighbouring Nordic countries,63 Halloween64 has now arrived in Es- tonia, although it is still celebrated more in the towns than in the countryside. As in America, the tradition centres on children going around wearing ghost-like masks and sometimes carrying lanterns which can be made out of pumpkins. As with many children’s traditions today, this is sometimes organ-

63 See the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 64 As in other countries, the word “Halloween” is also used in Estonian. 446 Ülo Tedre ised by kindergartens and schools which sometimes organise competitions in making masks and turnip lanterns.65 With regard to other modern traditions involving masks, it might be noted that costumed pre-graduation traditions (known as tutipäev [Rosette Day]) similar to those known in the other Nordic countries 66 also take place in Esto- nian upper-secondary schools. These customs, which are well-known in Esto- nian schools, might occur as early as a hundred days before the final exams take place. On the other hand, they might also occur on the last day of school. At root, the tutipäev tradition is one of the oldest “school calendar” festivities, but the means of celebrating has changed greatly over time. In 1960s, graduating boys and girls would dress up in their finest clothes, and then process through the school buildings holding each other’s hands before going on into town. The girls would wear white rosettes. For the most part, there tended to be a special site in town that the students would then go to in order to carry out particular activities. After the 1970s, the sprinkling of water became one of the major features of the tutipäev festival, and this in itself was another old mumming tradition (see, for example, section 3. b. iv. above) which had been adapted to fit the present-day school festive year. In the 1990s, however, the Esto- nian schools seem to have had enough of the water sprinkling which often attracted negative attention from the media and did damage to school buildings. It was therefore officially banned. With regard to the costumes used in these traditions, these have now also changed. In the 1980s, those graduating began dressing up like primary school pupils, wearing kneesocks, short skirts or shorts, and taking along toys which they played with like happy, carefree innocents (see fig. 6.15). Such child-like “disguises” are still known today and, of course, give the participants free rein to play various kinds of tricks and generally enjoy themselves, at the same time as marking them all out as a group. In many places, the tutipäev festivities have now become a significant local event.67 With regard to the other modern widespread Nordic traditions of stag and hen parties involving costume and disguise,68 these must be regarded as relatively new phenomena in Estonian cultural tradition (only starting to appear over the last ten years). Every now and then, one might spy a group of costumed young men or women enjoying themselves in the town centre but it is not a common activity. It has yet to be studied thoroughly.

65 See http://www.folklore.ee/Berta/tahtpaev-halloween.php (last visited March 1, 2007). 66 See the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and also the articles by Terry Gunnell and Christine Eike, both of which deal with school traditions of this kind. 67 See further http://www.folklore.ee/Berta/tahtpaev-tutipaev.php (last visited March 1, 2007). 68 On such traditions, see further the other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume, and particularly the article by Eva Knuts. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia 447

Fig. 6.15: Upper-secondary school pre-graduation tutipäev celebrations in Estonia. (Photo: Maris Leponiemi.) (Courtesy of Maris Leponiemi.)

5. Conclusion From the above, it can be concluded that Estonian mumming was initially closely bound up with folk belief. Its earliest function seems to have been to bring luck (in the form of fertility) to those households visited by mummers. It is not until the second half of the nineteenth century that entertainment became a central function, and this gradually took over the whole nature of the tradition. In the case of the mardi and kadri traditions, mumming became a real performance, a kind of folk theatre: the main format and key scenes were well known to both performers and audience but both the scenes and the lines could be altered with improvisation (depending on the nature of the situation in each case). As society and social life developed, however, the entertainment function of the mumming tradition became socially questionable. Thus mumming became a children’s tradition and gradually began to live up to the negative name connected with begging that it had attained. For example, children were, of course, essentially begging for sweets, and both their performances and their singing acts were often very weak. Naturally, the effect of folkloristic studies on the process should not be forgotten: in some places it is clear that comparatively “genuine” mumming is still carried out in more recent times. How- ever, such performances tend to have been copied from the archive records, rather than deriving from a living tradition, and should thus be regarded as “revitalised” traditions rather than “inherited” customs. Nonetheless, it seems that the Christmas mummers (those who visited families between Christmas Eve and Epiphany69) in Estonia initially all formed

69 Note that this does not include the tabanisandid and kristoslaavitajad. 448 Ülo Tedre part of the same tradition.The later division into Christmas mummers, New Year mummers and Epiphany mummers was a result of the separation of the calendrical holidays and is a relatively recent phenomenon. It can also be argued that the large amount of data and the distribution of the records in Estonia encourage the belief that the earliest disguises in the country must have taken the form of birds and animals, the very oldest disguise apparently being that of either a sokk or a pukk (a goat). It is not impossible that such a disguise was already in use before the conversion to Christianity. While the figures of the goose, stork and bear are more recent than the sokk, they are still older than the figures in human-like disguises. Concerning the background of the latter, and especially the pre-Christmas mummers like the andresed, lutsid and toomased, it is necessary to consider the influence of Swedish tradition,70 as well as the influence and examples of the local St Martin’s Eve and St Catherine’s Eve mummers. It appears that the height of the Christmas mumming tradition in Estonia seems to have been in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, the tradition began to vanish quickly. It was replaced by the arrival of the international figure of Santa Claus (taking the form of näärivana, or “Fa- ther Freeze” in Estonia as a result of Russian influences during the Soviet era). As regards distribution and number of examples, it might be noted that the Christmas mumming tradition seems to have been especially well known in the islands of western Estonia. In the eastern regions, it was much less known. The direct loans from other countries, the tabanisandid in Kuusalu and the kristoslaavitajad in Setumaa, remained local and specific; they were unable to penetrate into the wider mumming tradition. It might also be said that Christmas mumming was essentially a tradition that belonged to the village youth (especially boys). Finally, it seems clear that, as in other countries, calendrical holidays and mumming were closely connected in Estonia: the role of the mummers was first of all connected to announcing the coming of the holidays; secondly a means of marking the so-called “presence” of these holidays; and finally served to announce the ending of the festivals in question. It might also be said that they underline the overall importance of Christmas time in Estonian folk tradition.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following source is referred to in this survey: ERA: Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv (Estonian Folklore Archives; now contained in the Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum [Estonian Literary Museum])

70 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 449 Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland A Survey Adriënne Heijnen

1. Introduction 1. a. Greenland Ð A Brief Description Greenland, in Greenlandic Kalaallit Nunaat (Land of the Greenlanders), covers an immense area of 2,166,086 km2 and is the largest island in the world (see map 7.1). 81% of the island is covered by inland ice (Statistics Greenland 2005: 61). The climate is thus Arctic, but owing to the enormous size of the country, the mean temperature varies. In the north, the temperature in January can range between Ð15¡ C and Ð30¡ C, while in July it is around +5¡ C. In the far south, on the other hand, temperatures in January often measure around Ð15¡ C, while in July they reach between +8¡ and +10¡ C (Nuttall 2005: 779). The country is extremely scarcely populated with no more than 56,969 inhabitants (January 2005). Urbanisation is nonetheless a common trend: today only 9,883 Greenlanders live in the smaller settlements scattered along the coast-line, and this number is constantly being reduced. Around 88% of the overall population is Inuit, while the rest have a primarily Danish background (Statistics Greenland 20051). Greenland still forms part of the kingdom of Denmark but received Home Rule in 1979 and since then, although still economically dependent, it represents a self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark. The official religion of the country is thus the Evangelical Lutheran church, although, in practice, present-day Christianity in Greenland takes the form of a blend of the Inuit and Lutheran religions (Nuttall 2005: 781). While the official language of Greenland is Greenlandic (Kalaallisut), the Greenlanders belong to three different cultural and linguistic groups: the Ki- taamiut (West Greenlanders), who inhabit the west coast stretching from the Nanortalik district in the south to the Upernavik district in the north-west; the Tunumiut, or Iit (East Greenlanders), who live in the districts of Ammassalik and Ittoqqortoormiit; and the Inughuit (the Polar Inuit) of northern Greenland, who live in Avanersuaq (sometimes referred to as Thule) (Nuttall 2005: 780). The settlement history of Greenland dates back to around 2500 BC and is

1 Gr¿nlands Statistik: http://www.statgreen.gl. (last visited March 1, 2007).

450 Adriënne Heijnen

Map 7.1: Map of Greenland. (Map: Adriënne Heijnen.)

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 451 characterised by different periods of migration by various groups from the west. Archaeologists refer to the first inhabitants of Greenland as the Palaeo- Eskimos. In the context of a discussion of masks and mumming practices, the Dorset culture, which is the archaeological designation for the last phase of the Palaeo-Eskimo culture (900 BCÐAD 1500), is most interesting. Several beautifully made artefacts have survived from these people, among them being a 15 cm. wooden block found in Upernavik in the late nineteenth century which is richly decorated with carved faces. Actual masks belonging to the Dorset culture have also been found. While these were discovered in north-eastern Canada rather than in Greenland, they underline that the creation and use of masks has a long history in the Arctic.2 The last group of Inuit to enter Greenland is referred to as the Thule culture. These people wandered all the way from Alaska, arriving in Greenland in around AD 1250. For a short period of time, they lived alongside the Dorset people. The Thule people, who are the ancestors of the contemporary Inuit, were known for using dog sledges, kayaks and umiak, large, open skin boats which were often rowed by women, and were able to move large loads and many people.3 A few centuries before the Thule people arrived on the island, Greenland was discovered by the Europeans. Eiríkur ∏órvaldsson (Eric the Red), who had been born in Norway but had settled in Iceland, was apparently the first Euro- pean to land on Greenland in 982. He explored Greenland for a few years, and then convinced a number of other Icelanders to settle there. Several folk stories (see, for example, Rosing 1984: 37Ð49) and various archaeological artefacts underline the fact that contact, both peaceful and violent, took place between the Nordic inhabitants of the settlements and the Inuit population, but in general it seems that the two groups lived parallel lives in different regions. The two Norse settlements Eystrabyggd (Eastern Settlement), situated where Nuuk municipality is found nowadays, and Vestrabyggd (Western Settlement), located where the present-day municipalities of Nanortalik and Qaqortoq are found, probably numbered in their heyday about 4Ð5,000 inhabitants. These settlements disappeared around 500 years later. Scientists have come up with various reasons for this, such as illness, a worsening climate, plundering by pirates or violent conflicts with the Inuit population (Seaver 1996). Although all contact with the Norse settlements was lost after 1410, the idea that there might still be Norse people living in Greenland eventually drew Nordic missionaries back to the island in the early eighteenth century.

2 See also Kaalund 1979: 10 and 21; and M¿bjerg and Rosing 2001: 31. 3 Thule: SILA: The Greenland Research Centre, Online Publication: http://www.natmus.dk/ sw18632.asp and http://www.natmus.dk/sw18658.asp (last visited March 1, 2007).

452 Adriënne Heijnen

1. b. The Earliest References Concerning Masks and Disguise in Greenland The extant knowledge on early practices of disguise and the application and production of masks in Greenland derives from the missionaries that came from Scandinavia in the eighteenth century, along with various accounts by polar explorers and tradesmen, archaeological excavations, and ethnographic studies and collections. As noted in the previous section, during the eighteenth century, Danish and German (Neu-Herrnhut) missionary and trading colonies were gradually established along the entire west coast of Greenland. The descriptions of the daily life of the Greenlandic Inuit written by these western tradesmen and missionaries during this period are naturally coloured by Christian and cultural convictions and refer only sporadically to festivals, rituals and ceremonies (Thalbitzer 1924: 236). Hans Egede (1686Ð1758) is the most famous of these early writers. Born in Harrestad, now situated in Norway but at that time under Danish sovereignty, Egede received a degree in theology from the University of K¿benhavn (Copenhagen). When the Danish king Fredrik IV decided to initiate missionary activities in Greenland in 1721, Egede was appointed Royal Missionary. Egede then travelled to Greenland with his wife and their two sons, the aim being to preach the Christian faith to the Norse settlers, who he thought had survived (Kent 2005: 544Ð545). When he did not encounter any survivors of the Norse settlements, Egede began converting the Greenlandic Inuit. Convinced in his Lutheran faith, Egede’s missionary activities were aimed at removing what he saw as being “heathen” practices and customs from the everyday life of the Inuit (see, for example, Egede 1925: 216Ð217). At a later stage, however, Egede became more moderate, partly under the influence of his sons who rapidly acquired the local language after playing with Inuit children and had a more open attitude towards their local customs and practices. When Poul Egede succeeded his father as bishop, he made an addition to his father’s work Relationer fra Gr¿nland 1721Ð1736 og Det gamle Gr¿nlands nye Perlustration 1741 (References from Greenland and Old Greenland’s New Perlustration) in the form of a personal journal with the name Continuation af Den Gr¿nlandske Mission forfattet i Form af en Journal fra Anno 1734 til 1740 (The Continuation of the Greenlandic Mission Written in Form of a Journal from Anno 1734 to 1740). This journal provides some valuable insights into the mythological life of the Greenlandic Inuit as it was performed in rituals and ceremonial activities. Other aspects of Greenlandic beliefs and practices at the time are illustrated in the fragments of a diary kept between 1770 and 1778 by Hans Egede Saaby, the son of Hans Egede’s youngest daughter (Saabye 1942). Only a few wooden masks are known from West Greenland. Scholars thus assume that wooden masks have never been widespread alongside the west coast, although the extended missionary activity might have had some influence on this. One of the rare references to West Greenlandic masks is found in

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 453 the book Moderna Eskimåer (Modern Eskimos) by the Swede, Ossian Elg- ström, published in 1916. Elgström travelled to West Greenland in the summer of 1915. Acquainted with the masks that the linguist and ethnographer William Thalbitzer had earlier collected in East Greenland, in Ammassalik4 in the winter of 1905Ð1906, he asked the people of Sisimiut whether dance masks were also found there. Elgström was then shown a wooden mask from the settlement of Kangaamiut that was only partly finished and therefore still weighed five to six kilos. Elgström assumed that finished masks were difficult to find because the local clergyman in Sisimiut had collected and destroyed them. He then took a photograph of the half-finished wooden mask, which is shown in his book (Elgström 1916: 146). In spite of this, Elgström was unable to figure out the purpose for which masks were used in this area. He was informed that more masks were to be found in Napasoq, a settlement which he had visited earlier, but that those were made of skin instead of wood. When Elgström later arrived in Nuuk, he had the opportunity of seeing some of these masks, which formed part of the collection of the botanist Morten Porsild (Elgström 1916: 145). Porsild had a keen interest in ethnology and the material culture of the Inuit. He describes his collection in his book Studies on the Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland (1915), and also reflects on the question of whether masks were actually so uncommon in West Greenland: I doubt whether masks are really unknown in West Greenland. Here it is customary on Twelfth-night for children and young people to run about from house to house in strange grotesque disguises: skins with the hair outside, women in men’s clothing, sometimes with large phallus-like appendages attached. They perform odd dances, must not talk, but only produce indistinct or inarticulate sounds such as hm! el. l. Usually they wear grotesque masks made of skin; on one occasion I saw one elab- orately carved in wood. These masks do not at all resemble European shrove-tide masks which, though known to most of them, they have no desire to use for this purpose, but they far more closely resemble masks from Alaska. I have not been able to obtain any information as to the age of the custom; it is merely said to be “very old” (Porsild 1915: 248). Porsild draws thus our attention to the fact that the Inuit had a variety of ways of disguising themselves, and they did not only use wooden masks. Masks of skin could also be used to transform people’s appearances, and, as will be described in section 2 below, the same applied to thongs, pins and soot from lamps. East Greenland has a different story to that of the west coast. It was first explored by westerners in the late nineteenth century, at a time when the practice of modern ethnography was slowly beginning to take shape. The work of Franz Boas among the Canadian Inuit inspired the early scholars to study Greenlan- dic life. Many studies of Greenlandic customs and rituals and masks take Am- massalik as their point of departure, largely because of its relative isolation.

4 Ammassalik (old spelling: Angmassalik) is today frequently referred to by the East Greenlandic name of Tasiilaq.

454 Adriënne Heijnen

Ammassalik was first encountered by a non-Inuit (the Danish officer Gustav Holm) in 1884, and scholars were attracted by the romantic idea that Inuit culture in its most pure and original form could be studied here. Holm went on to explore Greenland’s east coast in an umiak and collected several items for Na- tionalmuseet (The National Museum of Denmark), among them being a few ornamented facial masks with grim expressions and distended mouths (Kaalund 1980: 39). Holm says nothing about the use of these masks but describes how, during the winter of 1884Ð1885, he attended several dances in which the performers were disguised. He also gives observations of the festive gathering of Uajartek: 5 Adlagdlak […] dressed up as a woman. He was padded so as to look like a pregnant woman, and the hood was stuffed so that it looked as if it contained a baby. His hair was tied up in a top-knot; his eyebrows and cheeks were blackened with soot, and a thin seal-thong was stretched under his nose and over both ears. Thus disguised he ran around and terrified the company. This game is called uajartek (Holm 1914: 129). Ten years after the settlement was found, the Danish state established a colony in Ammassalik. The missionary Frederik Carl Peter Rüttel then moved to the settlement in order to Christianise the Inuit, and Ujuaat (or Johan Petersen, which was his Danish Christian name), who had served as a Greenlandic- Danish interpreter for Holm, opened a commercial trading post here. Petersen collected several masks, which now are found in Nationalmuseet in K¿benhavn. He was also the first person to report the use of a mask during a so-called Uajeertoq game which he attended one evening, just before Christmas, in the year 1894. He writes: Tornakkunster kunde angakokken ikke holde den aften, som han undskyldte sig, på grund af, “at der låe friske sæler i huset”. Det var unægtelig en stor skuffelse, men vi blev dog holdt skadel¿se med trommesange og andet. Blandt andet havde en af fangere klædt sig ud i en fantastisk dragt og bar maske for ansigtet. [Note:] Uâjêrtoq- legen, hvor f.eks. en mand i en naragtig, komisk udklædning forskrækker de andre og løber rundt efter dem under spektakel og råb (Petersen 1957: 19, 161). (The angakkoq’s performance6 could not be held that evening, and the apology was that there were fresh seals in the house. That was undeniably a huge disappointment, but we received compensation through drum songs and other entertainment. One of the hunters had put on a fantastic costume and wore a mask on his face. [Note:] It is a Uâjêrtoq [old spelling] game where, for example, a man in a comical and funny disguise, frightens the others and runs after them amidst shouting and noise.)7 While Petersen attended evening performances and collected masks, Rüttel, according to the French anthropologist Robert Gessain, forbade drum songs, dances and masks. Gessain writes that Rüttel demanded that all objects which he considered heathen should be thrown into the fire or the sea. Those who did

5 Uajartek means “he is playing, capering or teasing the other sex”. 6 Tornak (Danish text) refers to the shaman’s helping spirits. 7 Unless otherwise stated, all the translations in this survey are those of the author.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 455 not comply with Rüttel’s demands were not allowed to buy guns, ammunition, iron and tobacco at Petersen’s trading post (Gessain 1984: 83). The diary which Rüttel has written about his life in Ammassalik between 1894 and 1904 nonetheless sheds a different light on his manner of evangelising in the local community. Although Rüttel tried to avoid encouraging all that he considered to be non-Christian, he had a keen interest in attending drum dances and other ritual performances. For example, in August 1896, Rüttel learned that plans had been made for a drum dance in Sermilik. He did not forbid the drum dance, perhaps because he was not in a position to do so. Instead, several days in advance, he ordered an umiak to make sure that he would be able to attend and undertook the rather difficult journey to the dance together with his wife Helga Rüttel (1917: 68–73). Rüttel’s influence was, of course, far reaching. He worked hard on converting the Inuit, on preaching Christian ethical rules and trying to convince the local people to distance themselves from beliefs and practices that opposed these rules. However, in contrast to what Robert Gessain wants us to believe, Rüt- tel’s diary never mentions that he attempted to persuade people to destroy non-Christian objects. Certainly Rüttel asked people to give him their amulets when they came to him to be baptised, but it seems that rather than destroying them, he collected these amulets and studied them as curiosa (Rüttel 1917: 138; 176; and 194). In 1902, for example, he writes: Den 25de og 26de fik jeg en del Amuletter udleverede, hvorved jeg fik min Samling af den Slags Rariteter for¿get. Det er just ikke Kostbarheder, der bliver brugt som Amuletter! Et gammelt indt¿rret Ravnehoved med tilh¿rende Kl¿r f. Ex.! Dog synes gamle, lidt sjældne Perler at have været noget i Kurs (Rüttel 1917: 194). (On the 25th and 26th, I received several amulets, whereby I enlarged my collection of curiosa of this kind. Precious goods are not the only things to be used as amulets! An old arid head of a raven, together with the claws, for example! However, old, somewhat rare pearls also seem to have been popular.) The amulet, made of an arid head and claws of a raven is now part of the collection of Nationalmuseet in K¿benhavn. Gessain, who visited Ammassalik for the first time in 1934Ð1935 and returned several times during the years after, argues that Rüttel’s presence led to masks being presented to foreigners simply as children’s toys or representative art objects, when in fact they had been continuing to fulfil an important ritual function at the performances of the Uaajeertoq games in the winter houses that were situated away from the Danish colony (Gessain 1984: 83). William Thal- bitzer, who spent the winter of 1905Ð1906 in Ammassalik together with his wife Ellen Locher Thalbitzer, a talented sculptor, also stresses the negative influences that the active missionary enterprise had on what Thalbitzer refers to as the “spiritual traditions of the Ammassalik Eskimos” (Thalbitzer 1910: 447). Thalbitzer mentions the clear reduction in number of shamans (Greenlan- dic: angakkut; sing.: angakkoq) as an indication of this. When the Danish colony was established, there had been around twelve angakkut, approximately

456 Adriënne Heijnen one for every thirty-four inhabitants. However, by the time Thalbitzer came to stay in the settlement to conduct research on language and culture, there were only five angakkut left. Thalbitzer remarks quite sadly: It is merely a question of time when the Eskimo culture on the isolated coast of Am- massalik will be levelled to the ground and the defenceless human flock up there will be just as denationalised and demoralized as many other primitive peoples have been by the complacent teaching of the Christian mission. Once more will a beautiful and interesting culture, widely different from the European culture, be blotted out of existence. It is a sad fact, and doubly sad when one considers that the idea of nationality has nowhere been so ardently preached and so readily accepted as in that quarter of the globe, which is the focus of the Christian mission (Thalbitzer 1910: 464). The Danish botanist Christian Kruuse, who lived in Ammassalik from 1898 to 1902, just before Thalbitzer arrived, nonetheless accepted the view presented by the local people that masks no longer had a ritual function and were only toys used to frighten children. According to him, only a few Inuit were able to carve masks, and those who could were eager to give them away in exchange for adequate compensation (Gessain 1984: 83). Kruuse brought back several masks that came to form part of the collections of both Nationalmuseet in K¿benhavn and Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu (Greenland’s Na- tional Museum and Archives: see fig. 7.1). Forty-seven other artefacts which Kruuse collected can be found in the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin. While the museum has six Greenlandic masks, none of these came from Kruuse. Two were collected by Bernhard Hantzsch and acquired by the museum in 1912, while the other four were collected by Christian Leden and came to the museum in 1912, 1926 and 1928.8

1. c. The Material Around the 1930s, more systematic studies were made of Greenlandic masks, but by this time the masks had also become a popular collector’s item. Many were thus constructed for their market value rather than for ritual purposes. Among the later explorers who collected masks and other items are Knud Ras- mussen and the Danish archaeologist Therkel Mathiassen, both of whom joined the so-called “Seventh Thule Expedition”. Mathiassen, who worked as curator at Nationalmuseet in K¿benhavn, collected many interesting masks and artefacts, such as the wooden nose shown in fig. 7.2. These items still form part of the museum’s collection. Another important ethnographic collection in Denmark is found at Moesgård Museum in Århus, which contains two wooden masks made in around the 1970s and received from a private collector, and three masks of skin, collected by George Nellemann in 1950 (see figs 7.3 aÐc). Another important collection of Greenlandic masks and photographs of

8 Personal communication by Peter Bolz, curator of the museum’s North America Collection, dated July 13, 2006.

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 457

Fig. 7.2 (above): A wooden nose from Greenland. (Photo: Nationalmuseet.) (Courtesy of National- museet, K¿benhavn.)

Fig. 7.1 (left): A wooden mask from Greenland, collected by Christian Kruuse in Ammassalik. (Kruuse received the mask from a man called Akernilik, who stated that the mask was very old.) Information included in the database regarding this mask states that the mask, which contains remnants of thread in the holes on each side, was only used to frighten children. (Photo: Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu.) (Courtesy of Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu [the Greenland National Museum and Archives].)

Greenlandic ritual and everyday life can be found at Musée de l’Homme in Paris, France. The main part of this collection comes from the earlier-mentioned French expeditions to Greenland which took place in 1934Ð1935 and 1936Ð1937. These two expeditions were carried out by Fredy Matter, Michel Perez, Paul-Emile Victor and Robert Gessain, who began their work by learning the local language. Gessain stresses that their knowledge of the language and open attitude towards local customs helped them establish relationships of trust with the inhabitants, thereby allowing them to gain an enhanced understanding of the social and religious meaning of the masks they collected. Further masks are also found in Dutch collections, especially that of Mu- seon in Den Haag, and Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (The National Museum of Ethnology) in Leiden. The metereologist Henk van Lohuizen and the biolo- gist Niko Tinbergen, who explored East Greenland in 1932Ð1933, just before the first French expedition arrived, also collected both skin and wooden masks. According to Gert Nooter, one of the masks they acquired portrays Niko Tin- bergen himself.9 Nooter, who worked first as curator at Museon and then later

9 Note in the Museon database

458 Adriënne Heijnen

Figs 7.3 aÐc: Skin masks from Greenland, collected by George Nellemann. (Photo: Moes- gård Museum.) (Courtesy of Moesgård Mu- seum, Århus.) at Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, spent long periods in East Greenland, mainly in Tiniteqilaaq, between 1965 and 1986. He collected several interesting contemporary masks made, for example, of salt dough combined with red plastic Christmas balls, and papier-mâché. Museum für Völkerkunde (The Museum of Ethnology) in Wien (Vienna) also has several Greenlandic masks which are both older and more recent. The older masks were collected by the economist and amateur ethnologist Rudolf

Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 459

Trebitsch, who visited West Greenland for two and a half months during the summer of 1906. Trebitsch brought back 581 objects from West Greenland and added to these 74 objects from East Greenland (Trebitsch 1910). These objects were initially included in the collection of Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum (The Natural History Museum) in Wien. The masks from a more recent date were purchased by Eugen Philippovich in South and East Greenland and included in the museum’s collection in 1990.10 Costumes of disguise are not found in the museum collections due to the fact that no special costumes were made for festive or ritual occasions (Buijs and Petersen 2004: 83Ð107). Instead, people dressed in old rags or everyday clothes were adapted or combined in uncommon ways (see figs 7.6 and 7.7). They might select clothes which were too big for them and then stuffed these (Kleivan 1960: 9). The outfits were often cross-gendered. Men might dress themselves in women’s clothes and then stuff the clothes in order to create big bottoms and breasts, while a woman might take on a man’s clothes and attach an imitation penis to her outfit. Although Greenlandic rituals and practices have never been investigated as thoroughly as the traditions among the Inuit groups in Canada, a number of scholars and writers have discussed how masks and other artefacts might be used in everyday life, concentrating on different angles and different periods. The work of William Thalbitzer (1912 and 1924) is detailed and carefully constructed, reflecting Thalbitzer’s background as a linguist with strong ethnological interests. Rosing (1957 and 1967) provides very valuable inside knowledge and also a lively personal view of how he experienced masked dances as a child, when he spent part of his youth in East Greenland. The work of Kleivan (1960) and Nellemann (1960) concentrates on ethnographic observations of the Mitaartut celebration which is still important in present-day Greenland. The accounts by Nooter (1975) of how he and his family experienced a number of celebrations and rituals are also extremely lively and detailed, demonstrating a strong engagement with Greenlandic every day life.11 The studies by Kaalund (1979 and 1980) and Geertsen (1994), meanwhile, are written more from an art-historical point of view, Kaalund knowing how to combine a sharp observational eye for the artistic with useful details about the religious and everyday context of the artefacts she presents. Finally, Nuttall (1992 and 2005), speaking Greenlandic and having conducted ethnographic investiga- tions for many years, gives a solid and sound account of present-day practices of disguise in a sociological and cosmological context. As with the work of Kleivan, Nuttall is especially interesting because he deals with other regions than East Greenland.

10 Personal communication by Gerard van Bussel, Curator of the Nord- und zentralamerikanische Abteilung Museum für Völkerkunde, Wien, October 2, 2006. 11 In 1984, Nooter even changed his Dutch name to the Greenlandic Gerti. 460 Adriënne Heijnen

2. General Features of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland Greenlandic masks are made of a variety of materials. Driftwood was very important in this regard, but the skin of dogs, sharks and seals was also used, especially in those areas where access to wood was limited (Rosing 1957: 246). Masks made of such skin were sometimes formed like bags and could then be put over the head (see figs 7.4 aÐb). They often also had amulets sewn into the hem-lines in order to prevent evil-minded spirits from penetrating the different entrances into the face (Kaalund 1980: 34). For details like teeth, ivory and sea mammal bone were added to wooden masks, while eyebrows, moustaches and beards on skin masks were often represented by pieces of fur taken from seals, dogs, and occasionally musk-ox (see figs 7.3 aÐc). Feathers of ducks and small pieces of leather or skin might also be used for the same purpose (Gessain 1984: 85). Many wooden masks also had patterns of furrows on the cheeks and the forehead. Similar patterns are found on the skin masks, although in this case they are highlighted with different colours of leather. As was noted above, in later times, masks were made for a variety of purposes. However, it is clear that some of the masks in the various collections were used in performances and ceremonies. Such masks might contain holes for strings to fasten them behind the head. They might also have a handhold attached to them (see fig. 7.5), or a place for fingers at the back. Masks that could be held in the hand tended to be used in ritual play, as in the playful imitation of shamanistic séances. Other masks, mostly made of driftwood, took the form of “house masks”, which were hung on the wall and represented the spirit of the house. These masks had a protective value because it was believed that strangers would lose their power on looking at them (Rosing 1967; and Kaalund 1980: 35). Other masks in the collections are essentially portrait masks and several of these represent foreign researchers who studied local Inuit life, as in the case of the earlier mentioned portrait mask of Niko Tin- bergen, which is found in Museon in Den Haag. Yet another type of mask was made by children. Indeed, several small masks and figures are known to have been used as toys (Kaalund 1980: 35; and Thalbitzer 1912: 63, 115Ð116, and 644Ð649). The closer we come to our own times, the more various the masks become. The creativity regarding the use of material in these masks is especially impressive. Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden has a mask in its collection (dated 1970) which portrays Gert Nooter, the curator at Museon and Rijksmu- seum voor Volkenkunde, with a pipe. The mask in question was made from salt dough by the Greenlandic woman Kornelia Kajagmat and has a green and grey thread on the back to hang it up on the wall. Another interesting mask from the same collection (also dated 1970) is made of papier-mâché. The mask is painted black, and has white lines on the chin, cheeks and forehead and black-red hair on top. Because of the hairstyle, it is evident that the mask represents a Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 461

Figs 7.4 aÐb (above): A mask made of skin from Greenland. The mask is shaped like a bag, so that it can be put over the head. (Photo: Nu- natta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu.) (Courtesy of Nunatta Katersugaasivia Alla- gaateqarfialu [the Greenland National Mu- seum and Archives].)

Fig. 7.5 (right): A double hand-mask from Greenland. (Photo: Nationalmuseet.) (Courte- sy of Nationalmuseet, K¿benhavn.) 462 Adriënne Heijnen woman, the white lines then probably referring to tattoo markings, a regular feature of the Greenlandic masks over the centuries. Elsewhere in the same collection is a mask made of fired blue-coloured clay which was made between 1950 and 1975 by a student of a school in Upernavik as part of a handicraft class. The mask has markings on the face which, again, probably refer to tattoos. Other interesting masks collected by Nooter in this period are two masks made in 1973 from foam that had been used as package material for a radio (Kaalund 1980: 42 and 45). Soot from seal lamps and blubber, which were both used in particular as a means of colouring the wooden masks, were also put directly on the face as a form of disguise during play and ritual, and sometimes, small pieces of leather might be attached to the cheeks or chin. Moreover, facial expression could be transformed by the use of wooden noses which were fastened around the head with leather strips (see fig. 7.2). Wooden pins could then be put in the mouth, and thongs wrapped around the cheeks. The use of grimace was another means of changing the human face and a great tool for entertainment. During his several journeys to East Greenland, Gessain took photographs of a number of people making faces, thereby transforming their expression in a simple but efficient way. The photographs in question form part of the collection of Musée de l’Homme in Paris. Regarding these means of disguising the face, Gessain suggests that they were used by the Greenlanders as a means of misleading the missionaries who had forbidden the use of masks (Gessain 1984: 83). On the other hand, the Greenlandic artist and writer Jens Rosing states that the use of leather, soot, blubber and thongs resulted first and foremost from practical considerations: Masks, especially those made of wood, limited both the movement and sight of the performer. Soot, blubber, thongs, pieces of leather and grimaces, on the other hand, gave people the freedom to perform in any way they liked (Rosing 1967: 34). A more permanent way of transforming the face and the body amongst the Greenlanders was tattooing. This practice was widely spread among the Inuit, and has a long history. In 1972, the mummified remains of six adult women and two children were found in a grave near the abandoned settlement of Qi- lakitsoq in North Greenland. C-14 research dated the mummies to the year 1475 (+/Ð50 years). Infra-red photographs then showed that the women had tattoos on their chins, cheeks and foreheads. On their foreheads, the stripes run upwards in a curved line from the brim of the nose to the sides, making a V-shape (Kromann et al. 1989: 169Ð170). Hans Egede mentions that tattooing was also a common practice in his time. In Det gamle Gr¿nlands ny Perlustra- tion eller Naturel-Historie of 1741, he writes: Det er en Slags Zirath iblant det Gr¿nlandske Kvinde Ki¿n, at de imellem ¯jene og paa Hagen, Arme og Hænder, ja Been og Laar, giøre sig sorte Strege i Huden med en Syenaal og sverted Traad. Og endskiønt samme synes os at være en heslig Pry- delse, saa holde de dog for, at det er meget galant; hvis Ansigt ey saaledes er borde- Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 463

ret, dens Hovet, sige de, bliver til en Thran Bøtte, som skal sættes under Lampen, naar de kommer i Himmelen eller Sjælens Land (Egede 1925: 370). (It is a kind of beautification among the Greenlandic women that, in between the eyes, and on the chin, arms and hands, and yes their legs and thighs, they make black marks in the skin with a sewing needle and black thread. And even though this seems to us a hideous undertaking, they consider it very charming. If the face is not embroidered in this way, they say their head will become a dripping bowl for seal-oil to be placed under the lamp when they come to the land of the souls.) While Kaalund suggests that the carved furrows found on the wooden masks might be part of a death cult which is expressed through the application of a skeleton design, she also mentions, as Thalbitzer (1912: 636 and 640) did long before her, that they represent tattoo markings and probably symbolise different stages in the life of a woman: when a girl had her first menstruation; when a woman gave birth to a child; and when her son hunted his first seal (Kaalund 1980: 38). It is assumed that at least prior to 1721 (the year in which Hans Egede arrived in Greenland) men were also commonly tattooed (Kromann et al. 1985: 127). This supports the idea that the furrows found on male masks might also refer to tattooed patterns. A story told personally by Johan Petersen to Thalbitzer at the start of the twentieth century confirms this. In his youth in West Greenland, Petersen had met an East Greenlander who had been tattooed between his eyebrows in order to prevent a shark he had once harpooned from recognising and pursuing him (Thalbitzer 1912: 608). Scholars have argued that the aforementioned practices of masking and disguise imply the concealment of a person’s identity on two different levels. Rosing, for example, stresses that putting on a mask or other forms of disguise hides the identity of the person from his or her friends or fellow villagers. Ac- cording to Rosing, the mask is so extraordinary that if a person’s best friend puts it on, he would be unrecognisable; even his movements would appear alien (Rosing 1967: 30). Kaalund meanwhile emphasises the need to conceal the wearer’s identity from the spirits so that they cannot recognise the person who contacts and challenges them (Kaalund 1980: 34). This idea can be seen in the above example of the East Greenlander who tattooed his face to prevent a shark from recognising him, and also in the work on festive clothing and national costumes in twentieth-century Greenland by Buijs and Petersen (2004). Buijs and Petersen describe how the identity of children whose siblings had died at a young age was hidden from the spirits by the use of uncommon clothing. Children might, for example, be given two different boots to wear at the same time, one for the summer made of waterproof leather, and the other for the winter made of seal-fur (Buijs and Petersen 2004: 86). Girls might also be dressed in boy’s clothes for the same purpose (Rosing 1946: 102). It appears to be believed that those persons who put on a mask or other disguise did this not only to conceal their identity, but also, in part, to become another being. In this context, it is worth noting that the Inuit, at the time when masks still had a ritual meaning, ascribed inua to the mask. According to 464 Adriënne Heijnen

Rosing, inua means “the human in the object”. Inua is the result of the maker wanting to integrate a part of him- or herself into the object or tool created. Generally speaking, inua refers to the idea of the “agency of the object”, a kind of living force which is ascribed to the object and makes the object able to “act”. In the context of masks, inua refers to the power that the mask has of transforming the identity of the person who puts on the mask (Thalbitzer 1930: 87Ð88; and Rosing 1998: 155). Nonetheless, despite the transformation that masking brings about, it is believed that the “original” identity of the mask-bearers continues to be latently present, since the mask bearers have the ability to return to their “human” state of being. This reversal of identity from human to “spirit” and back again is crucial. A mask should not only be put on; it should also be taken off because staying among the spirits would mean dying in ordinary life. In short, according to Greenlandic belief, practices of disguise, with or without masks, could situate a person in a particular relationship to the spiritual world. If nothing else, masks and disguise had the ability to turn an everyday surrounding into a spiritual experience. In order to understand the role of masks and mumming in Greenland, it is thus important to have some insight into Inuit cosmology where the shaman (angakkoq) had a central position. The angakkoq was ascribed the power of being able to secure hunting success, heal the sick, make married but childless women pregnant, and remove the snow-masses that blocked the way to hunting fields (Thalbitzer 1910: 456Ð457). Gustav Holm attended a shamanistic séance in Ammassalik when he discovered the Inuit group living there in 1884. Because this population had not yet come into contact with missionary activities (unlike the rest of Greenland), Holm’s account of Greenlandic shamanism in pre-Christian times is particularly important. He describes the séance in the following way: Efter en Times Ventetid, under hvilken Angakok’en laa Ganske rolig i Mørke bagved paa Brixen, gjordes al Ting rede. Nye, knastørre Vandskind bleve hænget for Husindgangen og andre Skind for Vinduet over D¿ren, medens de andre Vinduer ikke tildækkedes, i det mindste ikke det, ud for hvilket vi sad. Et dobbelt sammenlagt Skind blev omhyggeligt lagt foran Dørforhænget, efter at Gulvet var fejet og alt Smuds, der laa mellem Gulvstenene, fjærnet. En stor, flad Sten blev henlagt til højre for Døren, saa at den dækkede Hulningerne i Gulvstenene. Efter at Trommnn var bl¿det [F¿rend Trommen benyttes, fugtes den altid for at give smukkere Klang],12 blev den tillige med Trommestok henlagt paa den flade Sten, og en lang Kobberem blev efter alle Kunstens Regler gjort myg ved Gnidning og Strækning. Endelig kom Sanimuinak. Han gik som i Dr¿mme uden at se til h¿jre eller venstre, satte sig paa Gulvskindet og anbragte Trommen og Stenen, de laa paa, lidt n¿jagtigere. Hans lage Haar blev bundet sammen bag paa og en Rem trykket ned over Panden, hvorpaa den Mand, der havde tilberedt Kobberemmen, bagbandt ham lige fra Hænderne op til Albuerne og snørede Remmen, saa Hænderne bleve ganske blaa. Under denne Proces stønnede og pustede Angekok’en, som om han laa under for en svær Magt. Da han saà, at jeg med Interesse fulgte Surringen af Armene, sagde han til mig i en ynkelig Tone, at jeg kunde jo se, at det vilde være umuligt for ham at løsne dem. Der

12 This note is found originally in Holm’s text. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 465 blev anvist mig Plads paa et Skind paa Gulvet, medens alle de ¿vrige efterhaanden kr¿b op paa Brixene, og alle Lamperne slukkedes. Strax paakaldtes Aanderne ved Raabet: ”Goi! goi, goi, goi, goi!…” snart af én Stemme, snart af flere, snart fra den ene Kant af Huset, snart fra den anden; imidlertid pustede, stønnede og sukkede Angakok’en stærkt. Pludselig begyndte Vandskin- det for indgangen at rasle som bevæget af en stærk Vind; Trommen lod sig høre først kun med enkelte Slag, men efterhaanden hurtigere; der h¿rtes St¿j og Lyd af alle Slags; raslende, susende, klaprende, snart som Maskinværksteder, snart som Loko- motiver og snart som store, flyvende Væsener, og under den forfærdeligste Larm rystedes undertiden Brix og Vindueskarm. Snart hørte man Angekok’en stønne, sukke, klage, skrige, hvine, hviske, snart h¿rte man Aander, nogle med grove Stem- mer, nogle med spæde, nogle læspende eller pibende; ofte hørtes en djævelsk, skrat- tende og haanende Latter. Stemmerne l¿d snart oven fra, snart under Jorden, snart i den ene Ende af Huset, snart i den anden og snart uden for Huset eller i Husgangen. Raab af: “Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!” tabte sig som i den fjærneste Afgrund. Med en umaadelig Færdighed brugtes Trommen, i det den ofte gik rundt i Huset og især dvælede over mit Hoved. Til Trommen lød ofte dæmpet Sang som fra Underverdenen, medens til andre Tider en smuk Kvindesang tonede fra Baggrunden. Efter en ¿red¿vende, klaprende, raslende, susende Larm, blev det pludseligt ganske stille, thi det frygtede Uhyre Amortortok kom nu travende ind. Man siger, at det har sorte Arme, og at enhver, der kommer til at r¿re ved det, bliver sort og maa d¿. Det gik med tunge Skridt omkring i Huset og paa Brixen og brølede: “A-mo! A-mo!” og alle flygtede til de fjærneste Kroge paa Brixen af Frygt for, at Uhyret skulde komme til at røre ved dem. Det dvælede i Særdeleshed hos mig, brølede mig ind i Ørene og søgte at rive Skin- det, hvor jeg paa sad, fra mig for at faa mig op i en Krog til de andre Folk men op- naaede kun at rive Skindet i Stykker. Efter dette Uhyre kom et andet, der skreg som en Ræv. En af Aanderne udtalte, at der lugtede, som om der var Kavdlunak’er til Ste- de, og forhørte sig meget omstændelig om os. For øvrigt forstodes ikke noget af Aandernes sprog (Holm 1887: 3000Ð303) (After an hour’s wait, while the angakkoq lay in the dark, quietly and calmly on the bed, everything was prepared. New bone-dry sealskin was hung in front of the entrance and other skin clothes were used to cover some of the windows and the door. The windows close to where we were sitting were left uncovered. After the floor around the entry had been swept and scrubbed carefully and all dirt removed from between the flagstones, a double rug was positioned in front of the door curtain. A big flat stone was put in front of the door on the right to cover the opening in the flag stones. After the drum had been moistened [the drum is always moistened before use, because that will give it a more beautiful sound], it was placed together with the drum sticks on the flat stone. A long thong was softened by rubbing and stretching. Finally Sanimuinak [the angakkoq] appeared. He walked as if in a dream, like a martyr, and looked neither left nor right. He sat down on the fur on the floor and arranged the flat stone and the drum carefully. His hair was tied at the back and the thong pressed over his forehead. The man who had prepared the thong tied the angakkoq with the belt from the hands to the elbows and laced the thong so the hands turned blue. During this process, the angakkoq groaned and panted, as if he had succumbed to a great power. When he saw that I followed the binding of his arms with interest, he told me in a pitiful voice that I could easily see that it was impossible for him to loosen his hands. I was directed to a place on a fur on the floor where it was coldest to sit, while all the others crawled on the beds. Then the lamps were extinguished, first the one farthest to the left of the angakkoq, then the next in line so that the one farthest to the right was extinguished last. The spirits were summoned through calling, “Goi! Goi goi goi,” first in one voice, 466 Adriënne Heijnen

and then in more, beginning at one side of the house, and then coming from other directions. At the same time, the angakkoq panted and groaned forcefully. Suddenly, the curtain of sealskin began to flap as if it was being moved by a strong wind. The drum started to move, first slowly, and then faster. This was followed by a noise and roar of a different kind: flapping, whistling, singing and rattling. The sounds re- sembled those associated with machine rooms, locomotives, or huge flying creatures. The bed and the window frames rattled with a terrible noise. Then one could hear the angakkoq, who had succumbed to a powerful force. He groaned, grumbled, screamed and screeched. Subsequently, you heard spirits, some with a rough voice, others with a frail one, and yet others with lisping or squeaking voices. Often a devilish, bellowing and scornful laughter was heard. The voices seemed to come from above, from down under the earth, first from one side of the house, and then from the other, from outside the house or the entry. The calls, “Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!” disappeared in the deepest precipice. The drum was played with incredible dexterity. It went around in the house and stayed especially above my head. Singing was often heard accompanying the drum, sometimes deadened as if it came from the underworld. Beautiful singing by women was heard occasionally in the background. After a deafening, rattling noise, it suddenly turned silent, and now the feared ogre, Amortoktok, entered. It has […] black arms, and whoever touches it will become black and die. It moved with heavy steps through the house and the bed and roared: “A-mo! A-mo!” Everyone fled to the farmost corner of the bed, frightened that the ogre would touch them. It lingered especially around me, roared in my ears and attempted to rip the skin on which I sat to chase me into the corner where the others were, but all that it achieved was that the skin was torn apart. After this creature, another entered which squeaked like a raven. One of the tartok mentioned that it smelled like Kavdlunak (white men) were present.) This description of Gustav Holm’s experience of a shamanistic séance in Am- massalik has been quoted at length because it effectively demonstrates a number of key aspects of the angakkoq’s performance as his soul undertakes the voyage to the world of the spirits in order to solve problems in society: the drum that seems to move by itself, the terrible noise, the flapping curtains, and the angakkoq’s helping spirits that enter the house. Rosing, who was raised in the 1930s in Ammassalik, points out how masks were sometimes used in this kind of performance to represent the angakkoq’s helping spirits: Når der rigtig var kommet liv i tromme og forhængsskind, spurgte man manden: “Ingnásalivun?” = “Skal vi fange ild?”, og når der kort tid efter blev svaret ja, blev én eller flere lamper tændt, og der sad “hjælpeånden” klædt i en springpels eller i helpels med maske for ansigtet; som skæg havde manden halefjerene af en ravn. Man anmodede “hjælpeånden” om at berette, og med livlige armbevægelser og fordrejet stemme fortalte den om sin herres flugt… (Rosing 1967: 32). (When the drums and the curtains had really come to life, people asked: “Shall we light a fire?” And when, after a short time, a positive answer came, one or more lamps were lit. And there was the helping spirit, sitting in a suit of sealskin with a mask for his face and a beard made of the tail feathers of a raven. People asked the helping spirit to tell the story, and with expressive movements of the arms and in a feigned voice, he told them of his master’s voyage….) It might be noted that masks were not worn by the angakkut (pl.) themselves, although other devices like thongs were used to tie their arms, hands and feet Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 467

(Thalbitzer 1912: 639). The most likely reason for this is that the angakkut are seen as being mediators between the human and the spiritual world, and thus belong to both worlds. They are able to see the spirits, to communicate with them and to make them interfere or stop interfering in human life. The angakkut could thus integrate several identities without disintegrating their own personalities. This was a heavy task, and could only be undertaken after a long period of training and initiation under the guidance of an older angakkoq (Thalbitzer 1910).13 Holm’s and Rosing’s descriptions of shamanistic séances underline how the masks do not stand alone but form part of a larger performance which plays upon all the senses. In the rituals described, sounds also have a major role to play. Holm experiences a cacophony of sounds: there is whistling, rustling, flapping, squeaking, screaming, singing, groaning and panting. Voices are heard loudly and softly from down beneath the earth, and from up in the sky. Sight is controlled by the windows and door being carefully covered and by the lamps being extinguished. Some light, however, is allowed to come in through the window close to where Holm is situated, and in the example given by Rosing, one or two lamps are relit, creating a kind of twilight whereby the helping spirits become visible. The sense of touch is also important as a boundary maker when the helping spirit, Amortoktok, appears. As noted above, if the spirit touches one of the persons present, it is believed he or she will turn as black as the spirit itself and die. Touch is thus the marker between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Through smell, the spirits also know that there are white men present. These kinds of performances represent what Victor Turner calls “orchestra- tions of media”. Sounds, smells, touch, movements, gestures, facial expressions and attributes do not all communicate the same message in different ways; they rather contribute their own individual generic message to the overall message conveyed in the performance (Turner 1986: 24). It should be added, however, that these performances were not only a matter of communicating messages or “designs for living” as Turner puts it; they were also thought to create direct access to the world of the spirits.

13 Thalbitzer describes the initiation process of shamans at Ammassalik in detail. In his account, the older angakkoq teaches a disciple to fetch a special kind of sea-weed from the beach at low-tide and use it to wash his or her whole body. The novice is then sent deep into the mountains to seek a large flat grindstone. When he or she has found this stone, a smaller stone needs to be carefully selected to rub against the surface of the grindstone. After rubbing the two stones together for hours, the novice receives the vision that he or she is eaten by the bear of the lake. The bear then spits the novice out again, after which after the novice returns to consciousness. The novice’s skeleton then clothes itself in flesh again and his or her garments come rushing up. Over the following summers, the novice goes on rubbing the stone and thereby, on different occasions, acquires attendant spirits that are said to be his or her very own, and whose names are only known by the up-and-coming angakkoq and which only he or she may use (Thalbitzer 1910: 452Ð454). When, after five to ten years, the novice becomes a fully fledged angakkoq, these attendant spirits aid the angakkoq as he or she undertakes journeys to the world of the spirits in order to solve problems in the society (Thalbitzer 1910: 456Ð457). Several of these helping spirits, some common to most angakkut, while others are more personal, attend shamanistic séances. 468 Adriënne Heijnen

In present-day Greenland, the masks and the other forms of disguise mentioned above are especially visible in those celebrations which take place after Christmas, which are called Mitaartut in West Greenland, and in East Green- land either Kongepingasit or Uaajarneq. These will be discussed in the following section.

3. An Overview of Seasonal Mask and Mumming Customs in Greenland The early accounts of Greenland’s social and religious life do not mention the existence of any large annual feasts like those known among the Inuit in Alaska and parts of Canada (Kleivan 1960: 6). However, gatherings and feasts have regularly been held throughout the whole of Greenland. In wintertime, the Inuit traditionally gathered together in winter-houses and engaged in rituals and feasts. In present-day Greenland, the winter half of the year is still the period in which celebrations are concentrated. This does not mean, however, that people did not gather together in summer time. Hans Christian Gull¿v has recently written an article where he discusses the so-called aasiviit (sing.: aasivik), central summer camps where people assembled on their way to hunting areas. Several early accounts indicate that these assemblies were used to exchange goods, meet up with other members of the family or find a spouse. They also gave people an opportunity to consult an angakkoq and engage in drum dances, games and rituals (Gull¿v 2006; Graah 1932: 117; and Glahn 1921: 42). The summer camps disappeared around the beginning of the nineteenth century, due to the establishment of Danish colonies along the coast which caused many people to abandon their nomadic lifestyle (Gull¿v 2006: 213). The winter celebrations are nonetheless those which have been described most thoroughly, and Mitaartut is the tradition that is still in existence nowadays. The name Mitaartut (sing.: Mitaartoq) means “soot-smeared or masked persons”. The disguise in question often involves cross-dressing and has an erotic character.14 Many scholars have written about Mitaartut, presenting accounts which vary in accordance with the time and place of the feast they observed. The following detailed account, which is worth quoting at length, was written by Inge Kleivan who observed the festival in 1954 at Qeqertarsuatsiaat (Fiskenæsset), a trading station of 200 people in South Greenland. As will become apparent, there are some interesting parallels here with the Nordic mumming traditions discussed elsewhere in this book. Indeed, as other scholars have noted (Bregenh¿j 1974: 85Ð87), the dating suggests direct connections

14 See further the article on eroticism in mumming by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 469 with the Danish Helligtrekonger mumming customs set at the end of the Christmas period:15 They began on January 5th, Twelfth Night, and were very active during the next day or so; interest in them gradually subsided and by the end of January it was over. These mitârtut always acted individually. In daytime children and young girls were performers; in the evening and night it was the young unmarried men. Some had their faces and hands completely blackened; others wore masks of pieces of dehaired skin or of cardboard. They were dressed either in old rags or in clothing much too big for them. Usually it was donned back to front and stuffed, so the mitârtoq appeared to be of tremendous girth. Most of them had an imitation penis attached to their dress, made of a piece of paper or dehaired skin, rolled up into a tube, or a long strip of skin. One mitârtoq had an empty meat can dangling between his legs; another had a seal bladder hanging, inflated and filled with water which slowly dripped out. In one hand the mitârtut carried a stock, and in the other most of them had the wing of a large bird which, having been rubbed well against a sooty stove, left a mark at the slightest touch. In both appearance and behaviour there was a curious blend of laughable and terrifying elements. Children dressed as mitârtut ran around from house to house, wielding stick and wing and chasing the inhabitants until at last, in order to escape they gave the mitâr- tut presents in the form of sweets, cakes, figs etc. To show his appreciation the mitâr- toq began to dance with stiff comical movements of a sexual character, the spectators howling with delight. While all this was going on the mitârtoq was persistently solemn and made no sound whatever, even when people did what they could to make him laugh. If they succeeded, the game was up; he would have to listen to such sarcastic and humorous remarks about his failure as a performer that he had no choice but to go home. On his round of the houses the mitârtoq always had a train of jeering children behind him, and occasionally he would turn and face them when they became too an- noying. Screaming shrilly they then fled in all directions, pursued by the mitârtoq who tried to hit them with the stick or smear them with the bird wing. The few girls acting the part of mitârtut, dressed up as men, took turns in frequent- ing a small open space in front of the cooper’s workshop where people were wont to meet for a chat. There, without uttering a single word they were able to entertain large numbers by their queer, improvised dances. Usually the dancing consisted of clumsy hopping, head wagging and hip swaying in slow rhythm, at the same time wielding the stick and the wing dangerously close to the onlookers, who tried to hide one behind the other. Then suddenly the mitârtoq, waving her arms wildly would begin a furious chase of the people who tried to escape by running round and round the little cooperage. Handicapped by her disguise the mitârtoq was rarely able to over- take anybody […] After dark it was the young men’s turn to dress up as mitârtut. […] The young are those who are no longer children, i.e. they have been confirmed, and are not old, which means that they are not married. This distinction was observed punctiliously […]. If a group of young people caught sight of a dark figure some distance away they joined hands and fled headlong. But if they found they were not being pursued they resumed their walk, keeping a careful look-out for a real mitârtoq. […] The mitârtoq’s particular quarry was the girls, and if he caught one she was overturned on the snow, cuddled and kissed and smeared with soot (Kleivan 1960: 9Ð10).16

15 See further the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions with regard to Twelfth Night mumming (often connected with the figure of Knut/ Nuutti), and especially the surveys of Danish, Swedish, Finnish and North Atlantic mumming. 16 Similar behaviour in terms of mummers rolling people in snow is known in Finland. 470 Adriënne Heijnen

The anthropologist Mark Nuttall describes how Mitaartut was celebrated in the beginning of 1990s in Kangersuatsiaq, located in north-west Greenland, just south of Upernavik. In his article, Nuttall emphasises the social meaning of Mitaartut by focusing on how Mitaartut acts out relations between dangerous strangers and the settlement’s inhabitants.17 In Kangersuatsiaq, as in Qeqertar- suatsiaat, Mitaartut follows Christmas and the New Year. Here, however, on December 24, 25, and 26, and again at New Year, groups of people commonly go from house to house for coffee and cake. Ideally, every house must be visited at least once during this period, something that offers parallels to the mumming customs in the Shetland Islands.18 These customs contrast with those visits which take place at other times of the year and are often confined to kin and other close associates. Christmas and New Year are also times when people who do not normally drink consume alcohol, and when children stay up late. It is in this liminal period, when social rules are less strictly followed, or simply reversed, that Mitaartut takes place. Nuttall describes how men, women and children dress in grotesque ways, using a variety of materials: masks made of seal or dog skin, pieces of cloth, pillow-cases and sacks, and also cheap plastic masks which are sold especially for the occasion. As he notes, by means of disguise, a person’s sex is reversed or made ambiguous or reversed and sexual characteristics are emphasised (Nuttall 1994: 110Ð111). Contrary to the customs from Qeqertarsuatsiaat from the 1950s that Kleivan describes, Mitaartut in Kangersuatsiaq in the 1990s mostly took place indoors, and here the mitaartut often involved more than one person. Even more parallels with the Nordic mumming traditions can be seen in Nuttall’s description, starting with the fact that these visitors knock loudly on the door with sticks and brooms.19 Nuttall notes how this immediately creates tension inside the house because, in this society, it is only strangers that knock. When the mitaartut enter the house, they remain silent and the hosts try to guess who they are by posing questions such as: “Who has come in?” The longer the mitaartut remain silent, the bolder the questions become and the mitaartut, in turn, react by making threats with gestures and sticks. This causes screams and laughter, and continues until the identity of the visitor is guessed and the mitaartut, who then reveal their true faces, receive coffee and cake, tea or cigarettes, but only after they have danced for the hosts (Nuttall 1994: 111Ð112). Jens Eli Nathan Davidsen (born in 1963) who was raised in Itilleq, near Si- simiut in West Greenland, has informed me that he still remembers how he, as

17 This idea is, of course, apparent in all of the customs examined in this volume. See especially, however, the article by Hanne Pico Larsen and the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and the North Atlantic (Shetland) elsewhere in this volume. See also Bregenh¿j 1974 and Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming). 18 Similar parallels are found in the Shetland “open house” customs which take place at around the same time as the Shetland mumming: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 19 See the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions with regard to the Knut and Helligtre- konger customs, especially those dealing with Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 471

Fig. 7.6: Mitaartut in Ilulis- sat, Greenland, in 1904. (Photo: Dr. Ragnar Wilhelm Gerard Bentzen.) (Courtesy of Dansk Polarcenter.) a child of five or six years old, was terrified when a man disguised as a mitaartoq chased him. Davidsen could not establish the identity of the man, and still recalls his childhood experience of climbing a steep cliff in panic in order to flee from the mitaartoq. His mother (born in 1927) says that she does not wish to participate in Mitaartut due to the mitaartut sometimes being dangerous beings. Disguised people are often totally unrecognisable, and this might encourage them to feel free to act aggressively, using a dog whip or stick to hit other people. Jens Davidsen also told me how men, women and children dressed as mitaartut will often gather together when walking the streets of Sisimiut, but only enter the houses in pairs (see figs 7.6Ð7.8.). In Sisimiut, he added, Mitaartut is celebrated only on Twelfth Night, whereas in North Greenland, it takes a whole week and also involves drum dances. Indeed, the Mitaartut celebrations are also known to last for longer periods of time in other parts of Greenland, as occurred until the 1980s in South Greenland, where it was held between New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night.20 The precise temporal connection between Twelfth Night and Mitaartut thus seems to be relatively recent. East Greenland has a slightly different story to tell. The West-Greenland catechist Hansêrak, who accompanied Gustav Holm on his expedition to Am- massalik, notes in his diary several games and rituals in which people are disguised. He comments regarding Mitaartut: “Uvagut mitârtunik oqartaravta qavangarnitsat uvâjêrtunik oqartarput” (We [i.e. the West Greenlanders] call them mitârtut; the East Greenlanders call them uvâjêrtut: Hansêrak 1892: 124;

20 Personal communication from Bolatta Vahl (born in 1974), dated October 20, 2006. 472 Adriënne Heijnen

Figs 7.7 aÐb: Mitaartut in Sisimiut and Ilulissat in the 1950s. (Photo: George Nellemann.) (Courtesy of George Nellemann.)

Fig. 7.8: Two children dressed as mitaartut in Nuuk, in January, 2006. (Note the stuffed clothes.) (Photo: Bolatta Vahl.) (Courtesy of Bolatta Vahl.) Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 473 quoted in Kleivan 1960: 13). Uvaajartut (modern spelling) covers a variety of performances which often relate to Greenlandic mythology. Kleivan states that both men and women would take part in these performances and that every person had his or her favourite role. These might be caricatures of everyday types but were also mythological figures. The performers were naked or disguised. Some wore masks while others were blackened with soot, and sometimes faces were distorted with thongs and pins which were put in the mouth (Kleivan 1960: 12). One of Thalbitzer’s informants stated that masks were often used in these performances before the Europeans arrived, and then (as Rosing describes above) represented the helping spirits of the angakkut (Thalbitzer 1912: 639). Mette Labansen (born in 1965), who was raised in Tasiilaq (Ammassalik) in East Greenland, told me that the celebrations on January 6 in this region of Greenland are called Uaajarneq. She says that Uaajarneq differs from Mitaar- tut in that not everyone participates: here it is only the old and poor. She thus considers it to be a begging feast which provides the old and poor with a possibility to get some help in their difficult lives.21 Gert Nooter, who collected items and conducted research in Tiniteqilaaq in South-East Greenland between the 1960s and 1980s, distinguishes between the begging feast held on New Year’s Eve in these parts, and the Kongepingasit which takes place on January 6. The latter resembles the West-Greenlandic Mitaartut and also the Danish Helligtrekonger mumming custom,22 something seen in the fact that the word Kongepingasit is a combination of the Danish word konge (king) and then pingasit, the East-Greenlandic word for three (Nooter 1975: 161), thus referring to the Three Kings. In his article, which has the somewhat confusing title of “Mitârtut, winter feast in Greenland” (1975), Nooter presents a personal and lively account of how he and his family experienced the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Tiniteqilaaq. He recounts how, on the last day of the year in 1968, the hunters stayed at home because the weather was bad. Many people then made imiek, a liquor made of yeast, sugar and raisins. At around five o’clock in the afternoon, undisguised children, both boys and girls between seven and fourteen years, began to move around from house to house. Before they entered a house, they gave the wall a hard blow with a staff. They then received small items, such as sweets. At around seven o’clock in the evening, teenagers older than fourteen years took over. They, too, were undisguised and made a loud bang before entering, but in this case usually by setting off a powder-filled shot cartridge. They then received both sweets and cigarettes. After this, it was the turn of the adults. Many of them had rifles and they too fired shots to announce their arrival. According to custom, when these people entered a house, they received whatever they pointed at. Nooter men-

21 Personal communication from Mette Labansen, dated October 15, 2006. Once again, parallels can be seen here to traditions known elsewhere all over in the Nordic countries. 22 Once again, see further Bregenh¿j 1974, and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 474 Adriënne Heijnen tions one example from New Year’s Eve, 1959, when a man whose marriage was childless entered the house of his pregnant sister-in-law and pointed at her abdomen. He then received her child when it was born. This, of course, needs also to be seen in the context of the fact that the adoption of other people’s children is common in Greenland, and that there was a relationship between the two families. In many cases, the ritual initiates a reciprocal relationship. While a person is obliged to give whatever the visitor points at, the host can always later make a return visit to the receiver and then ask for whatever he or she wants from the other’s belongings (Nooter 1975: 160–161).23 As Nooter indicates, it was not common for the visitors in East Greenland to dress up or disguise themselves when they came round on these visits on New Year’s Eve. Here disguise was associated more with Twelfth Night. As in Qeqertarsuatsiaat (see the description by Kleivan given above), the inhabitants of Tiniteqilaaq only used disguise on Twelfth Night, or Kongepingasit. Nooter describes in detail the disguises which the inhabitants used on January 6, 1968. Once again, his account is worth quoting at length: Five of the nine mitârtut wore masks and one had tied a string under his nose. Two had stuffed their clothing to give the effect of advanced pregnancy and their partners wore a sham penis, one of them even made of a whole seal skin. Two mitârtut, who had paired off, were dressed in women’s Sunday clothing, at least partially. [Then there was also] a pair of royal regalia. The decoration of the European-suit jackets consisted of plastic strips which came from the toy-chest of the author’s children. This pair said they lost the third king in the dark somewhere on the way. Seven of the nine mitârtut had used soot in making up. Red rubber gloves (Imak brand) imported from Denmark were worn by four of the men. [One man who was dressed as a woman] had socks from the Sunday fur boots on both legs, and had stuffed into them the legs of trousers over which he wore the shorter trousers decorated with strips of coloured leather belonging to the Sunday suit. On top, he wore two shirts covered by an everyday-cotton amout (the modern version of a traditional Greenland garment in which a child can be carried on the back). In the amout instead of a child, [the man] had put the rotting and stinking months-old head of a seal. His face was slightly blackened with soot, his nose tied up. On his head he had a knitted cap and on his ears two Christmas-tree balls. […] The two youths […] had on a head-dress into which birds had been incorporated. […] one […] had a cardboard mask with a face indicated by soot and the nose covered by white paper. Originally, it carried two cardboard tubes from batteries which he had pasted on for the ears. At the top of the mask he had the feathers of three white grouse (Lagopus mutus L.). The front of his sweater was stuffed with a filling, his hands were covered with the red rubber gloves and he wore very large trousers, the left leg wound above the knee with rope, the right leg tied in several places in the same way, and different things on each foot: a rubber boot on one and a kamik on the other. On his completely blackened face his companion had the skin and feathers of a black-throated diver (Gavia arctica arctica L.). He had woollen gloves on his hands and a large jacket covering many pieces of clothing. Sticking out of his very large trousers was a large penis made of paper, sealskin, and string. Both

23 Thalbitzer mentions a related celebration in West Greenland called Qinusaqattaaufik (the begging feast), where the beggars were called mitaartut. He says that the celebration was held “not so very long ago” (Thalbitzer 1924: 246). Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 475

his legs were wound with rope, and he, too, had a rubber boot on one foot and a kamik on the other. In his right hand he carried a long stick with a sharp point. [Two of the other mitârtut] were masked. […] one […] wore a mask, made of bread dough and baked in the oven, with teeth made of bits of wood and the eyes of pierced plastic Christmas-tree balls. Around his waist he had a rope on which a rolled-up depilated sealskin (matamek) was mounted as a penis. Below that he wore pants and matching shoes. Both of the partners wore a knitted cap on their heads (Nooter 1975: 164). This example demonstrates how older and newer attributes were now being used in combination. The masks, string, soot, penises, different boots, stuffed bellies and the cross-dressing nonetheless represent a continuation from earlier periods, and other regions and rituals. However, the use of the plastic Christ- mas-tree balls, cardboard tubes taken from batteries, European suit jackets decorated with plastic strips from a toy-chest, red rubber gloves and the mask made from bread dough are all new developments. The creativity of the participants and the spontaneous use of various objects, clothes and even body parts that are at hand are also vividly present in Nooter’s description of a visit that was paid to him by some inhabitants of Tiniteqilaaq a week after Kongepingasit:24 Erinartek Jonathansen came to my house, accompanied by his wife. His half-brother, Lars Jonathansen, was already there, and shortly afterwards two other Greenlanders arrived to pay me a visit. The conversation limped badly; I had the impression that neither Lars nor Erinartek felt at ease. Suddenly, Erinartek took a piece of string and tightened it under his nose. He, then, stuck a piece of wood in his mouth, which completely distorted his face. Next, he opened his pants, pulled out his penis, took hold of my battery powered electric razor, and pretended to shave his pubic hair. Lastly, he pulled out one hair and waved it under the noses of the other visitors. During his ‘act’ the reaction of the Greenlanders varied between keeping a straight face to avoid laughing and finally bursting out of laughter. The main cause of the laughter was the gibberish Ð mainly supposed to sound like broken Danish Ð that Erinartek spouted the while, as well as his attempts to attract my wife (Nooter 1975: 167).

4. Conclusions As noted above, the name Kongepingasit underlines that this particular celebration integrates both local and foreign aspects, especially the incorporation of customs from the Nordic countries. Bregenh¿j (1974) even goes so far in suggesting that many of the Greenlandic celebrations around Christmas can be seen essentially as reminiscences of older Danish Christmas traditions, combined with characteristics of customs celebrated among the Neu-Herrnhut, who conducted missionary activity in South Greenland between 1733 and 1900 (Traeger 2005: 1540Ð1542). Bregenh¿j criticises Kleivan for not having

24 See further the article on eroticism in mumming by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 476 Adriënne Heijnen taken into account the Danish customs, although it must be admitted that Kleivan has tried to establish connections between Mitaartut and Inuit Cana- dian and Scandinavian performances and also mentions the influence of the Neu-Herrnhut (Kleivan 1960). According to Bregenh¿j, Kleivan (1960), who suggests that the cult of the Mother of the Sea (see below) forms the background of Mitaartut, would have reached a different conclusion if she had been more familiar with Danish customs and had made a better analysis of the interaction between the disguised and the non-disguised persons in the celebrations (Bregenh¿j 1974: 85). In this context, it is interesting to remember that, as has been noted above, in a number of regions, Mitaartut has only recently come to be celebrated on January 6. Furthermore, Nooter observes that only two mitaartut pass from house to house, rather than three (as you would expect for the Three Kings), something that Jens Davidsen also notes in connection with Mi- taartut celebrations in Sisimiut. When Nooter asked the people why there were only two figures, they either told him that they had lost one on the way or said they did not know (Nooter 1975: 162 and 165). Others mentioned that the mitaartut represent tupilait (ill-intended spirits) rather than the Magi. The different footwear would support this idea: often, each foot of a tupilak (sing.) looks different because a tupilak is composed of various parts of an animal (Nooter 1975: 165). There are indications that in his account of these traditions Bregenh¿j is too eager to adopt a diffusionist view. The above discussion, when viewed alongside the strong, sexual component of the ritual (something which Bregenh¿j sees as being the only Greenlandic feature of the custom and relates to the natural joy that Greenlanders have for sexual activities) suggests that Danish and other foreign elements have become integrated into rituals and cosmologies that were already present in Greenlandic society. As noted above, Kleivan relates the strikingly sexual component of both Mitaartut and disguise celebrations to the cult of the Mother of the Sea (called Sassuma Arnaa, Arnaqquas- saaq or Arnap Naalagaa in Western Greenland, Ímap Ukûa in East Greenland, and Sedna or Nuliajuk among the Inuit of Northern Canada: Roepstorff 2003: 118). The myth of Sassuma Arnaa is the story of an orphan girl who is expelled from a local community and, together with her dog, is thrown into the sea from a boat. Her fingers are cut off as she struggles to hold onto the boat and her fingers are then transformed into various types of sea animals. All of these animals dwell with her in a house at the bottom of the sea. When animals then disappear from the human world, it is said that this is because she is retaining them in her house as a punishment for improper behaviour among the Inuit. This improper behaviour is transformed into dirt which gathers in Sassuma Arnaa’s hair, and makes her furious. In order to convince her to release the animals again, an angakkoq needs to travel to her to clean and comb her hair. Sassuma Arnaa was thus supposed to have a central role in hunting. Kleivan suggests that whenever hunting was difficult, the Inuit would perform rituals Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 477 and ritual plays which had a strong sexual component, such as kamíngaor- titsinek (the game of “the Extinguishing of the Lamps”) in order to convince Sassuma Arnaa to let the animals go (Kleivan 1960: 20). Kamíngaortitsinek was described by Hans Egede in his diary in January 1729:25 Den 15de reisede jeg paa Embedes vegne ud til Grønlænderne paa den gamle Colo- nies ¯e, og forblev der indtil den 19de, og imidlertid underviiste dem af Guds Ord. Udi et af Husene var jeg denne gang foraarsaged at forrette en liden Execution paa nogle, om hvilte jeg for kort tilforne havde hørt, at de nyeligen havde havd en sæd- vanlig Hore-Leeg for dem, som er af denne Beskaffenhed : Mænd og gifte Kvinder samle sig tilsammen, som til et Assembleé, hvor da én af Mandfolkene gaaer frem paa Gulved, og tager en Tromme at slaae paa, og synger en Hore-Vise, og dermed inviterer een af Kvinderne til en Hore-Leeg med sig, hvorefter han legger Trommen ned paa Gulved, og gaaer bag et Skillerum, som de til det Brug har opslaget ved den ene Ende af Huset. Hvilken af Kvinderne, der nu haver Lyst at leege med ham, gaaer Undseelse, bag efter, og naar de ere klar, træder strax en anden frem, og gør ligesaa, og saa fremdeles. Men til denne Hore-Leeg komme ikke de unge og ugifte, hos hvilke der er større Blufærdighed; Gifte Folk, mene de, staaer sligt vel an, uden at de blues derover. Der jeg nu kom til huset, hvor de havde ¿vet dette Spill, og tilspurgte dem derom, nægtede de det i begyndelsen, men jeg overbeviiste dennem det ved andre, som havde været nærværende, skjældte dem ud for deres Utugt, og at de vilde inbilde mig, at de troede, og dog bleve fremturende udi deres forige onde Sædvane. Og paa det jeg funde give min Straff og Trudsel dis bedre Eftertryf, loed jeg dem, ved én af mine Folk, katte paa deres bare krop, hvilket de med Taalmodighed optog, og lovede, ikke at ville gi¿re det mere (Hans Egede 1925: 216Ð217). (On the 15th,, I travelled for professional reasons to the Greenlanders on the islands of the Old Colony and stayed there until the 19th. In the meantime, I taught them the word of God. This time, I was forced to carry out a punishment outside one of the houses where I had earlier heard that they had newly engaged in some customary whore-play, which has the following nature: Men and married women gather together as if for an assembly, whereby one of the men advances to the middle of the floor, takes a drum to play on, and sings a whore-song. He thereby invites one of the women to take part in whore-play with him, and puts the drum down on the floor, and goes behind a curtain or partition of skins which has been set up for this purpose at one end of the house. Whosoever of the women is in the mood to play with him follows him, and when they have finished, another immediately advances, and acts in the same way, and so on. The young and unmarried do not attend this whore-play; they demonstrate greater decency; but married people, they assume, enjoy this greatly, without any shame. When I came to the house where they had performed this game, and I asked them about it, they at first denied it, but I convinced them [to admit it] with the help of others who had been near. I scolded them for their whoring, and for trying to delude me by saying they believe [in the word of God] but nevertheless continue with their earlier bad habits. In order to give more weight to my reprimands and threats I had one of my men flog them on their bare bodies, something which they took with much patience, promising never to do it again.) The striking sexual character of these performances was also mentioned by the missionary H. C. Glahn who writes in 1771 that in Greenland, men’s sexual re-

25 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on eroticism in mumming elsewhere in this book. 478 Adriënne Heijnen lations with other men’s wives were considered to be a sacred act by means of which they believed they could ward off impending misfortune (Glahn 1771: 275Ð276; and 322Ð23). Marcel Mauss and Henri Beuchat later placed more emphasis on the activity as a means of strengthening social bonds in society. As part of their discussion of winter solstice festivities among the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, they write: The essential ritual among the central and eastern Eskimo consists Ð or, at least, once consisted Ð of extinguishing and then simultaneously relighting all lamps of the settlement. […] We should add that these different festivities are always and everywhere accompanied, quite significantly, by the phenomenon of sexual licence […]. Communal sex is a form of communion, perhaps the most intimate form there is. When it occurs it produces a fusion of individual personalities, something which we can see is far removed from the state of individualization and isolation in which small family groups lived dispersed during the summer (Mauss and Beuchat 1979: 59Ð60). There seems to be a connection between such activities and the later Mitaartut. However, nowadays, sexuality does not only occur as part of the Mitaartut celebrations in Greenland. It also forms a strong component in modern Green- landic theatre which is reviving and reinventing drum dances and other masked dances. It was interesting to hear from Mette Labansen, a professional Green- landic dancer who was raised in East Greenland, that she, during her performances, attempts to come into contact with Ímap Ukûa (a name for the Mother of the Sea: see above). For Mette Labansen, Ímap Ukûa represents movement, energy and the essence of nature, or perhaps even the essence of being in general. Of course, Labansen’s performances are reconstructions carried out in other contexts than those which occurred in earlier times. Nonetheless, Green- landic professional dancers often draw upon their experiences of masking and disguise from their childhood. Each dancer paints their own personal mask and they feel that their personality is transformed as soon as they put make-up on their face. Labansen disguises her face by donning black and red make-up which she says resembles soot and blood, thereby symbolising life, death and love. The personal pattern which she paints on her face derives from a wooden mask which hung on the wall in her parental home (see figs 7.9 aÐb). Her father has also made a wooden pin for her, similar to those used in the older performances described above, and she puts this into her mouth to distort her face whenever she performs (see fig. 7.10). In the performance I attended, Labansen told the public that the wooden pin symbolises male testicles, and that the stripe she marks on her nose when she removes some of her black make-up stands for a penis. She adds that the stripes she shapes on her chin represent the pubic hair of a vagina. Her mask thus expresses the interdependence of man and woman, life, death and love, in the sense of the repetition of life. Although the sexual component is very striking in many such performances today (both professional and traditional), it is, of course, not the only key feature to be found in Greenlandic disguise rituals. Time after time, people’s self-restraint is also challenged. This is perhaps most striking in the Uvaajartut Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 479

Figs 7.9 aÐb: The personal masks of the professional Greenlandic mask dancers, Mette Labansen and Jens Davidsen. The performance in question took place during the Culture Night at The North Atlantic House in København, October 13, 2006. (Photo: Adriënne Heijnen.)

Fig. 7.10: A wooden pin, used by Mette La- bansen in her performances of Greenlandic dances, made by her father. (Photo: Adriënne Heijnen.) mythical performances which were mentioned above in section 3. The performance of the myth of Nalíkáteeq (the old woman who lives on the way to the moon and dances for her guests to eat their lungs as soon as they smile: see Rasmussen 1921–1925: 85) demonstrates this clearly. Jens Rosing’s poetic description of how Nalíkáteeq was performed in the 1930s effectively illustrates the simultaneous humour and horror of the “masked” man: Skindtapeterne, hele sælskind, hæver sig af slagskyggerne langs væggene – og se, en krans af “dyremakser” med øjne stirrer ud i rummet, belyst af de mange lamper. På tørrestativerne hænger klædningsstykker og senetråd – og fra gryderne høres en sagte boblen. Mange – mere eller mindre nøgne – mennesker sidder på briksen; et gyldent skær leger i musklerne, og de kraftige ansigter, indrammet af ravnsort hår, griber stemningen i hengiven mimik. 480 Adriënne Heijnen

Midt på gulvet hopper og hujer et mærkeligt genfærd af et menneske. Ansigtet er snøret op med remme, og i munden sidder en spilepind, hvis virkning forstærkes ved snøringen. Ud af ham raller ord og toner i en usammenhængende strøm, ispækket langtrukne strofer – snart som fra en tudende hund, snart som spædbarnegråd. Et væld af lyde bæres op mod tagspærene, og trommens akkompagnement er så vold- somt, at man uvilkårlig åbner munden for ikke at få sprængt en anden trommehinde. Med ét smider manden trommen, springer i vejret og omklamrer den nærmeste sok- kel – længe duver trommen mod gulvfliserne. Han slipper sit tag i soklen, idet han ust¿der en hvinende lyd; det er som en meteor, der farer gennem himmelrummet mod et ukendt mål. Atter griber han trommen og gebærder sig med front mod tilskuerne, vrider sig og prøver at få de alvorlige ansigter til at le. Tilskuerne anstrenger sig til det yderste for at holde sig alvorlige, ja, blanke dråber springer fra deres pan- der. Thi foruden at ansigtet, som før nævnt, er snøret op, er det bemalet med sod og tran, og håret sidder i en top, der vugger og nikker i takt med danserens bevægelser. En pjaltet kvindepels med vid halslinning dækker kroppen, maven er stoppet ud til en sprængefærdig vom. Ophængt i et mavebælte dasker i skrævet på ham skindet af et hundehoved med rødbrun ”maske” og med to hvide pletter over øjnene (taragtuvalik). På benene slasker et par strømpeløse kamikker. Dansen bliver vildere og vildere. Hundehovedet ”bjæffer” mod tilskuerne som for at muntre dem op til et smil. ”Kællingen” vrider sig indsmigrende, og sangen er fuld af lokkeklang. ”Mat’ta – mat’ta” lyder ordene. Med ét eksploderer én i et latterbrøl og springer op i briksen; det hele opløses i sprutten fra folk, der forsøger at holde latteren tilbage. ”Kællingen” klasker trommen mod gulvet, og i et spring – trækkende et langtrukkent hyl efter sig – hævner han midt i et kaos af latterhulkende mennesker. Skånselsløst lader han trommestikken, en ekstra svær pind, hagle ned over de krumbøjede rygge. Det vilde jag koger gennem huset – ”akâ–akâ–av–av” hulk og latter i en altfortærende heksekedel (Rosing 1957: 241Ð242). (Sealskin, whole sealskins, appear from the shadows alongside the wall, and look!: A garland of animal masks with eyes that stare into the room is lit up by many lamps. Clothes and sewing thread hang at the driers, and from the cooking pots come the sound of soft bubbling. Many more or less naked people are sitting on the bed: a golden glow plays with their muscles, and the coarse faces, framed by raven black hair, create ambience in their devoted expressions. In the middle of the floor, a strange human apparition jumps and jeers. The face is deformed from being tied with thongs, and there is a long pin in his mouth, the effect of which is enforced by the thong. Words and tones flow from him in an incoherent stream, larded with longwinded strophes Ð first like a howling dog, then like the cry of a baby. A cacophony of sounds rises up to the rafters, and the drum accompaniment is so powerful that you automatically open your mouth in order to avoid bursting another eardrum. In one move, the man throws the drum away, jumps up in the air and clings to the nearest pillar Ð for a long time the drum vibrates against the tile floor. He loses his grip on the pillar, while heaving up a howling sound; it is like a meteorite that flies through the sky towards an unknown goal. Again he takes up the drum, makes gestures towards the public, twists and tries to make the serious faces laugh. His spectators do their uttermost to stay serious; but, yes, blank drops are breaking out on their foreheads. The face is not only tied with thongs; it is also painted with soot and oil, and the hair is pulled into a bun which sways and wiggles to the rhythm of the dancer’s movement. A ragged women’s fur with a wide neck- band covers the dancer’s body. The belly is stuffed like a paunch. A skin with a dog’s head with a red brown mask and two white spots above the eyes (taragtuvalik) is attached to a belly belt and swings in front of his crotch. Around the legs flap a couple Masks and Mumming Traditions in Greenland 481

of stockingless kamiks. The dance becomes wilder. The dog’s head “yaps” at the spectators as if it wants to provoke a smile. The “bitch” twists seductively and the song is filled with tempting sounds: “Mat’ta – mat’ta”. All of a sudden, someone bursts into laughter and jumps on the bed. Then everyone splutters with laughter. The “bitch” slaps the drum on the floor, and then in one jump Ð with a long howl, he ends up in the middle of this chaotic group of convul- sively laughing people. Mercilessly, he lets the drum stick, an extra heavy pin, hail down on the bowed backs. The wild rush boils in the house: “Akâ–akâ–av–av”, sob- bing and laughing in an all-consuming witches’ cauldron.) In the Nalíkáteeq performance, the performer who acts out “the woman who lives on the way to the moon” challenges the self-control of the public. In Kleivan’s description of Mitaartut, however, it is the public who force the mitaartut to break the atmosphere and leave their role. This element of self-control in Greenlandic society, which Kleivan also points out (Kleivan 1960: 21Ð 22), is particularly interesting when seen in the light of Jean Briggs’ books Never in Anger: A Portrait of an Eskimo Family (1971) and Inuit Morality Play: The Emotional Education of a Three Year Old (1998), both of which deal with the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. Briggs points out that the central theme of socialisation among the Inuit is the control of temper. She herself was ostra- cised for three months from the group of people she was researching, simply because she was unable to control herself. The way in which these Inuit taught their children control was to encourage them to do precisely the opposite of what they might wish to do. In addition to placing people in a social and cosmological context, the Greenlandic rituals of disguise seem to serve as a means of challenging people to explore the opposite of desired behaviour in daily life. They also serve as a means of socialisation, while simultaneously freeing people for short periods of time from the pressures that social norms might contain. According to Briggs, these rituals create and support values, engender and manage attach- ments and conflicts, and teach and maintain an alert, experimental, constantly testing approach to social relationships. Briggs finds that dramatic play of this kind is an essential force in Inuit social life (Briggs 1998). It might be argued that the Greenlandic rituals and celebrations of mumming and disguise examined above effectively support this idea. 482 Adriënne Heijnen

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 483

II ARTICLES

Themes in Masks and Mumming

484 Hanne Pico Larsen

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 485

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿1

Hanne Pico Larsen

In Denmark today, it is only possible to encounter adults wearing masks on four small islands, all of which are located in the south-central part of the country.2 The old tradition, in all its simplicity, involves townsfolk who dress up in masked disguises and go out to visit neighbours who await their visitors in so-called “åbne huse” (open houses).3 The hosts write down how many visitors they receive during the evening, and try to guess who is behind each mask, either while the masked visitors are still present or after they have moved on to visit another house. This is the activity that I refer to as the “guessing-game” in the following. Sometimes the identity of one masked visitor might be revealed, while another mask continues to keep its owner’s identity well hidden. As part of the visit, the masked guests will sometimes receive the food and drinks offered by their hosts (using a straw to avoid taking off their masks if they drink), but at other times, they refuse these offerings.4 On three of the four Danish islands, the masked revellers are only out and about on Twelfth Night. However, on ®r¿, the fourth island, while people on the western part of the island go house visiting on Twelfth Night, those on the eastern part of the island wait until Shrove Monday.5 ®r¿ is special in another sense as well, because the people behind the masks here are expected to talk, whereas on the islands of Agers¿ and Om¿, they remain mute (see figs 3.12Ð3.19). Indeed, the utterings of the ®r¿ mummers are even allowed

1 This article is based on the author’s MA thesis at the University of California, Berkeley: How to Talk with a Mask: A Case Study of Dialogues with Masks (Larsen 2002). All unattributed quotes and descriptions are from the author’s own fieldnotes and based on first-hand observations and interviews made in K¿benhavn and on ®r¿ in 2001 and 2002. Unless otherwise stated, all translations are made by the present author. 2 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 3 See Bregenh¿j 1974 for a detailed examination of this tradition as it existed in Agers¿ in the 1970s. “Åbent hus” is the local term for houses where people gather together and wait for the masked mummers to come. They light a candle in the window and maybe have the door ajar to signal that they are ready to receive the mummers. People in these open houses maybe have dinner or coffee together while they sit and wait for the mummers to come between 9 p.m. and midnight. See further the Surveys of Masks and Mummimg Traditions in the North Atlantic (Shetland) and Greenland for parallels. 4 See also Bregenh¿j 1974: 92, 116Ð118 and 180Ð182. This pattern corresponds to the Informal Visit described in Herbert Halpert’s “typology of mumming” (Halpert 1969: 36–37). See also the introduction to this volume. 5 Although the celebration of Lent in Denmark was abolished with the Reformation in 1536, the authorities had no luck with getting rid of Shrovetide: see further under the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and the North Atlantic (Iceland and the Faroe Islands) elsewhere in this volume.

486 Hanne Pico Larsen to be a little coarse.6 Here, the mummers also bring along a skit to perform as a subject to kick-start the dialogue.7 The guises that are considered to be the most entertaining are those that have a very specific idea and purpose (see fig. 3.13).8 These traditions, all well studied and documented,9 are very important for the islanders’ maintenance of a sense of local identity. On all four islands, the mummers and their fellow players (the hosts) have thus protected and cherished the old traditions and their local, distinctive characters for as long as possible. For some time I have been studying the dialogue that takes place between the Shrovetide mummers and their hosts in the town of ®r¿sk¿bing on the island of ®r¿, and especially the distinctive local feature that I refer to as “mask-talk” (see fig. 8.1).10 I have asked my informants about exactly what the masked visitors say and how they say it, and, in turn, about how the hosts respond. Furthermore I have tried to map out the rules and the reciprocal agree- ments displayed in these “mask dialogues”. It seems obvious to me that the “talking masks” of Ærø are worth listening to because their dialogues disclose aspects of the social and cultural patterns of which the mummers form a part, and from whence the performances gain their meaning. I have found that it is particularly important to listen to what the hosts say. Embedded in their attempts to guess the identity of the masks, they express opinions about the validity of the masked figures, and in that way, the tradition is held in check. From an outsider’s perspective, however, it might seem that the tradition is getting ever more inbred or narrowly defined. In this article, I mean to explain the rules of ®r¿ “mask-talk” and distinguish between the actual dialogue, the speech disguise and the guessing game. I will also explain the other rules of the ®r¿sk¿bing tradition, summarise a

6 On Als, the masks are also allowed to talk as much as they like, as long as they distort their voices. According to Carsten Bregenh¿j, the custom on ®r¿ where people dress up, pay their neighbours a visit and say a few things from behind the mask comes from Als. The story explaining this runs as follows: In 1862 a tailor came from Als to live on ®r¿, and made clothes for his neighbour, who was a farmer. However, the farmer never paid the tailor back on time, and one year, tired of not getting paid for his work, the tailor disguised himself on Twelfth Night. He then visited the farmer and gave him a piece of his mind. The farmer did not find out who the stranger was until much later (see Bregenh¿j 1997: 287). See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Den- mark. 7 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic for comparable traditions on Fair Isle, Shetland. 8 See also Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming). 9 See Bregenh¿j 1974, 1997 and 2007a and b for studies on Twelfth Night traditions on Agers¿ and Shrovetide on ®r¿; Storm 1989 for a study of Twelfth Night traditions on Om¿; and Fisher M¿ller on the Twelfth Night activities on ®r¿. The island of Als is also mentioned in Kristensen 1909; and Ussing 1926, but no overall study of the area and the tradition in Als exists. I have personally discussed Shrovetide traditions on ®r¿ in my MA thesis at the University of Berkeley, California (Larsen 2002). 10 What I refer to as “mask-talk” is the language spoken by both the masks and the people participating in the dialogue: the hosts. On such traditional banter, see, for example, the articles by Urpo Vento and Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume.

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 487

Fig. 8.1: Mask talk on ®r¿, Denmark, in 2002. (Photo: Hanne Pico Larsen.) skit, and finally give an example of the guessing-game in order to prove that discourse analysis can effectively be applied to the speech of the masked visitors as a research tool.11

Premises In the summer of 2001, an informant described the tradition of the “talking masks” in Ærøskøbing for me. She made me understand how important the “mask-talk” is, and how important it is in this tradition to know exactly how to talk to the masks. She pointed out that if the hosts in the “open houses” do not have the right set of skills, the mummers will simply go right past the door.12

11 By “discourse”, I mean “language in use”, a process that is socially situated. According to C. N. Candlin: “Discourse is about acting upon worlds, something which both constructs and is constructed by a set of social practices within these worlds, and in so doing both reproduces and constructs afresh particular social-discursive practices, and is constrained or encouraged by larger movements in the overarching social formation” (Candlin, 1997: ix–xiv). 12 As one person noted: “Og så er det jo også noget med, at det der afgører om det bliver sjovt, det ved jeg så i hvert fald fra min mor, det er jo så sjovt at sætte sig hos dem der kan, det er ikke alle der kan finde ud af at snakke med de her masker, at det er jo noget med om man er god til det, og spørger rigtigt, og der gælder det jo så om at placere sig, eller gå der hen hvor der er åbent hus, nej, nej, man bliver faktisk inviteret til åbent hus som gæst, til at oplevede det. Men der er det jo så væsentligt, at man er sammen med nogen, der er gode til at snakke med dem.” (What is decisive for whether or not it is going to be fun is whether the participants master it [i.e. the communication with the mummers]. At least that is what I know from my mum. It is not everybody who can figure out how to talk to the masks, and to be good you have to ask the questions in the right way. It is essential that you are with somebody else who is good at talking to them, because it is not as easy as that, I think: Larsen 2002: Appendix 1, ll. 214Ð220).

488 Hanne Pico Larsen

Unfortunately, a researcher cannot expect or force her/ his informants to be aware of, and articulate issues and conditions about which they are not normally aware, or may only be aware of in the local context (see Cicourel 1992: 293). My informant could not account for the rules that she had unconsciously touched upon. The two specific rules that I was able to tease out of her applied only to the masked figures, namely the importance of their ability to speak in dialect and their ability to keep up a conversation in a distorted voice. In order to meet my own demands, namely to make a “thick description” (Geertz 1973) of this phenomenon which would enable me to understand “mask-talk” a little better, I went to ®r¿sk¿bing in February 2002 in order to celebrate Shrove Monday with the locals. Placed in a friendly “open house” with experienced hosts, I witnessed the dialogues with many masks, and the guessing-game that followed. The particular dialogue I am concentrating on in this article is one in which the interaction between those wearing masks and those who are unmasked has a hollow ring that is obvious even to me. From the resonant dissonances in this case, I have been able to tease out evidence regarding the reciprocal agree- ments between those who are masked and those who are without masks. It is clearly of great importance that participants follow these rules and that both parties live up to these demands in order to create a successful dialogue within the framework of these house visits. The result of the analysis revealed that it is not only important how things are said, and what is said, but also by whom. It also showed that the rules are so difficult to follow that the tradition seems to involve only an exclusive number of people, and that it is impossible to participate if one has not been born into the tradition.

Speech Disguise, Dialogue and the Guessing-Game The distorted voice and the dialect in which the masked dialogue is conducted has been touched upon by many researchers who have studied masks and mumming in areas where masks are allowed to talk.13 However, nobody seems to have ever really listened to exactly what the masked figures had to say (over and above their statements about where they have come from14). The lack of documentation concerning the dialogue within the context of mumming can be attributed to the fact that collectors have been limited in their view, focussing only on the custom itself, on the topsy-turvy behaviour of the players, and the more obvious masking and costumes, rather than on the actual dialogue that sometimes takes place. Possibly it seemed too obvious for collectors to document, or more likely, understanding what the dialogues have been all about

13 See, for example, Halpert and Story 1969: 37, 67, 110, 131, and 182; and Robertson 1994: 44Ð 46. 14 See, for example, Gunnell 1995a: 117, 165, 169; 2001a: 40Ð41; and 2007a (forthcoming).

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 489 was too much of a guessing-game for the researchers, since the dialogues tend to be full of inside jokes and veiled references that are hard to understand, especially to an outsider, owing to the disguised nature of this speech. Further- more, appropriate understanding of a conversational exchange of this kind requires background knowledge that goes far beyond the local talk and its immediate settings (Cicourel 1992; and Hymes 1962). Without a thick ethnographic understanding of the relevant context within which the sequence of talk interest is imbedded, it might be difficult to analyse anything of the masked dialogue. However, I believe it is possible to get quite a long way, especially if we listen carefully to what is actually being said behind the obvious “I know you; do you know me?” ritual. Another point I would like to add is that to my mind, the disguising of the voice is just as interesting and important as the actual costume. Indeed, in such mumming activities, the disguised voice forms part of the mask, not least because the voice can give away personal and gender identity as much as clothing or individual gait (see Robertson 1984: 44Ð 46; see also Gunnell 2007a forthcoming). I distinguish between the dialogue, the speech disguise, and the guessing-game here, and do not just subordinate the speech disguise to the rules of the guessing-game found within the dialogue, simply because speech disguise in this tradition is a prerequisite for entering an understanding of the guessing- game. In my opinion, the speech disguise is about how things are being said, while the dialogue is about what is being said, and the guessing-game is an element within the dialogue that lies beneath everything else. It is a kind of extra layer, but is sometimes more obvious than the other layers of the interaction. As Dell Hymes has noted (Hymes 1962: 26), there are various forms of speech disguise that can complicate understanding: dialect, argots, jargon, variety, vernacular, and level. All of these are commonly employed in the ®r¿ “mask-talk”. Fulfilling the rules for the speech disguise secures the game aspect for those who understand, and functions to keep the uninitiated out of the game. ®r¿ is a good example of a place where such restrictions can be effectively used: the island has seven dialects, and no newcomer will ever be able to master or distinguish between them. So what do the “good mummer” and “good host” say? Once she/ he has a successful physical disguise and their speech disguise is under control, all the good mummer needs is an entertaining, relevant and engaging skit to perform so their hosts can take it (and them) “seriously” enough to engage in a “real” dialogue with the masked figures. Engagement is what characterises the “good host”: a good host plays along with the masked visitors, and engages in the “serious” dialogue, apparently sincerely interested in what is going on. The mummers in ®r¿sk¿bing usually make up a skit that refers back to occurrences in the local community or within the country as a whole. They twist and turn the debate, and very often invite their hosts to take an active part in the game, asking them to express their opinions.

490 Hanne Pico Larsen

Further layers can be seen in the use of flirting and humour. Flirting and other forms of ambiguous talk are important elements in the dialogue.15 The same applies to rudeness which is yet another element, suggesting that the house visit can be a welcome invitation for the mummer and host to speak their minds. Humour is nonetheless very hard to penetrate and nail down for the outsider. What exactly are they laughing at? It is not always the case that all participants share in the laughter. Humour and laughter are by-products of the house visit, and because of their nature and the manner in which they come into existence, they are almost always improvised and spontaneous.16 The humour also depends on the participants’ worldview, their norms, ages and personalities, and probably also the quantity of alcohol consumed by both parties. How- ever, to secure the laughter, the following elements must be included: surprise, the breaking of norms, and exaggeration (Bregenh¿j 1996: 200). All of these features disturb norms of behaviour, enabling the skit to provoke the curiosity of the hosts. It must thus have some psychological striking power, balancing on the edge of the acceptable without getting out of control (see Bregenh¿j 1996: 200). The main function of the dialogue undertaken is to get the mummers to talk, thereby giving their hosts clues as to their real identity. The hosts consider the whole game to be successful if the identity of the masks are revealed, whereas the mummers would prefer to go away unrevealed. The feeling of a successful climax to the game is thus very seldom shared between the hosts and the mummers, since most mummers tend to leave the “open house” still wearing their masks. This means that the two parties never get to know each other’s reactions to the result of the guessing game. To summarise the basic rules that need to be fulfilled to secure a successful dialogue (including the guessing-game): A successful disguise is needed, including perfect speech disguise that can fool all participants into engaging in a dialogue of a “serious” kind that makes both hosts and mummers talk and challenge one another. The dialogue must also contain the element of talking back and walking along a fine line between fun, ambiguity, and rudeness, something that still allows the participants to laugh. Many aspects must therefore fit together.

Further Rules and an Example There are, however, even more rules and restrictions involved in the ®r¿s- k¿bing mumming tradition. As noted earlier, the game only involves a small number of people. ®r¿sk¿bing has 1100 inhabitants, and I estimate the number

15 See further the article on eroticism in mumming by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this book. 16 See further Bregenh¿j 1996: 192Ð193; and the article by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume.

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 491 of participants to be only around 200Ð300 people. What is the reason for this? On the basis of fieldwork, it is clear that the mummers always take a certain route, and that route involves only the four to six streets of the old inner-city. This means that in order to have an “open house” for mummers, you have to live in one of these streets. In order to be in an “open house” at this time, you either have to own a house in this part of town or hope for an invitation from good friends living in that area. Furthermore, being both a host and a mummer takes a lot of practice. Most masks and hosts told me how they have been “født ind i traditionen” (born into the tradition), having been able to observe the game from close quarters since childhood. Most mummers started practising with experienced family members or friends at the age of 15Ð16 in order to get a grip on the game. Last but not least, it is clear that both the masked visitors and their hosts have to be real islanders in order to be able to understand and participate in the dialogue, and conduct a dialogue in line with the required rules. Attempts to open up the tradition have been made in the past, but they have all failed. A few years ago, people in ®r¿sk¿bing tried to incorporate the people living in the new part of the town by “at løbe” (lit. running)17 for two evenings in a row, but this was not successful: the masks did not go out twice, and those who did were disappointed to find that many families on the outskirts of the town did not know the game, and had not opened their houses to visitors. There have also been attempts to create big “open houses” in restaurants and schools. However, this failed as well since only a few mummers showed up at these sites. This was probably because the necessary intimate feeling between the mummers and their hosts would have disappeared. The last rule that must be discussed here is that of alcohol consumption. The mummers drink, and they tend to get a little tipsy. However, the rule appears to be that they never get so drunk that they cannot control the skit and the dialogue. Furthermore, the hosts do not try to make them drink against their will, since that is not considered “fair play.” The group of three young men that I observed during my fieldwork served as a very good test of all the rules and regulations mentioned above. They were all in their twenties, and were all born on the island, even though they now live on the mainland. None of them were from families that practised the tradition, but they felt that it would be a good idea to go back to the island and participate in the tradition, both in order to have fun and to keep the tradition alive. It was their first time as mummers. They had thought long and hard about their skit, and planned it very carefully. I met them in the morning before the big evening, and they told me about the skit, and the reactions they would try to provoke. Dressed as three salesmen, they would come to the “open houses” and try to make people sign a contract. They would say that with the help of the mayor, they had picked up a most attractive piece of land outside the town where they

17 At l¿be fastelavn (to run Shrovetide) means going from house to house. It also implies the aspect of being fooled.

492 Hanne Pico Larsen wanted to build a big hotel and a Ferris wheel, in order to attract as many tourists as possible. Why this theme? Because all three of them had been living away from the island, and had come to feel that the people back home were becoming a little too conservative and closed. From the top of the Ferris wheel, the islanders would be able to see Ð and come in contact with Ð the surrounding world. The reference to the Ferris wheel, a trope of popular amusement, was also a means of addressing the controversial matter of tourism. As might be expected, these three young men were playing against the odds: they did not live on the island and they had never tried this before. Further- more, they were going to perform a skit that was so provocative that the elder part of the population would be bound to disapprove of it, something reflected in the fact that on ®r¿ tourists and newcomers often have a hard time “fitting in”. Furthermore, Ærø is a beautiful place with wonderful nature, and the idea of a new luxury hotel was an obvious provocation. Finally, contrary to tradition, the subject of the skit contained no news, but instead introduced a subject that was most delicate: worth noting in the transcript given below is the fact that none of the hosts says a single word about the skit itself. Another indication that the skit was not being very well received is the following incident which took place during the visit: Three times before the skit was even launched, the hostess offered the three mummers a drink, this being a recognised marker meaning “game over”. The skit then lasted for sixteen minutes, and in the end, the three mummers were practically begging to be recognised, and for some form of recognition, almost giving away their identity by dropping hints to help the hosts. The ten people in the “open house” attempted to play the game, but to them it was just not “real.” It might be noted that the hosts were old, and had at least thirty years of experience as both masks and hosts. They required a much higher level of competence in order to be impressed. It is not easy and maybe even a bit dangerous to try to counterbalance something like real success. The reason why I picked this case is that it was obvious to everyone that it was definitely not a successful house visit, as will be seen in the following: In general, there was not much to laugh at; at the very least the laughs were not shared. Everything went wrong. The mummers simply did not know how to behave: they behaved in the wrong way, they failed to disguise their voices, and their physical disguises were not up to standard (see fig. 8.2). The young men also failed to coordinate their game to ensure that it had striking power. They were too drunk, and too inexperienced. At the same time, it might be suggested that the hosts were themselves not very toler- ant because they did not give the masks any big chances or much room. They mocked the mummers, laughed at them and even tried to throw them out. In short, the result was all very predictable, because the mummers were not born into the tradition, and most of the hosts were. Ironically, the three mummers thought they had done a splendid job, and probably aimed to come back the following year. The people in the “open house” had another opinion. First they tried to make their guesses, but then,

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 493

Fig. 8.2: Two of the three drunken salesmen from ®r¿, Denmark (2002), one only wearing a half-mask. (Photo: Hanne Pico Larsen.) little by little, the young mummers and their pitiful performance were torn to pieces as the following transcript of the conversation that took place after the mummers had left shows. (Key statements have been put into bold print. Eng- lish translation follows.)

(Mens værtinden følger maskerne ud, begynder resten af gruppen at gætte på masker- nes identitet.) A: Han har vist ondt hele dagen. B: (Peger i retningen af sofaen, hvor de 2 af maskerne har siddet) Det var Klaus. C: (Peger i retning af samme sofa) Var det det? B: Ja, var det ikke? C: Nej det tror jeg ik’ da. (Værtinden kommer tilbage og spørger:) D: Nå, hvem var det da? B: Det var Klaus, kan det passe? C: Nej, for han sagde, at jeg havde spillet for ham, og jeg har ikke spillet for Klaus. E: (Peger i retningen af sofaen) Nej det var ham der med skægget, der kun havde halvmaske på, der sad der, der sagde at du havde spillet for ham. Han havde sådan noget lyst skæg… A: (Ketty laver sin stemme om) “Ja, jeg ved da godt hvor Tot bor.” C: (Peger i retning af sofaen igen) Nej, det var ham dér, der sad der. E: Ja, han havde sådan noget lyst skæg, han sagde at du havde spillet for ham. C: Ja, ja, jeg ved sgu stadig ikke hvem det er. F: Ja, han havde kun en halv-maske på. Vi burde kunne kende ham. C: Men de snakkede ikke rigtigt jo.

494 Hanne Pico Larsen

A: Nej! G: Nej! E: Nej! F: Nej, de var ikke ®r¿boer. E: Nej, de var ikke rigtige… men ham der, jeg synes at jeg kender ham, men jeg kan fandme ikke huske… D: Det kan ikke være Hans… Hans Laursen? B: Hans? D: Hans, Klaus’s. B: Nej, det tror jeg ikke, men han kunne godt ligne Klaus i st¿rrelsen. A: De kendte godt nok navnene på os alle sammen. G: Ja, de kendte os. F: Ja, men derfor kan de jo godt være tilflyttere alligevel. E: Ja, det kan de da, men det der lyse skæg, jeg synes jeg kender det… F: Men det var da ikke lyst, det var da r¿dt. C: Men det var vel maske-skæg. E : Nej det var sgu ej, han havde halv-maske på, han havde ganske lyst skæg og… C: Nej, han lavede jo heller ikke sin stemme om jo selvfølgelig, så… B: Nej! G: Jamen var det en herre? A: Ja ja. C: (Peger i retning af sofaen) Ja, ham der i midten han snakkede jydsk en overgang synes jeg. F: Ja, det gjorde han også. (Alle griner) A: (Peger i retning af sofaen) Ja, men jeg tror ham der, der sad der, jeg tror snarere at han var ®r¿bo, ham der. F: Tror du? B: Det var heller ikke Hattesen, vel? A: Nej.

(ENGLISH TRANSLATION: While the hostess follows the three mummers to the front door, the rest of the group start their guessing-game: A: He’ll have a hangover all day tomorrow. B: (Pointing towards a sofa) That was Klaus. C: Was it? B: Yes. Wasn’t it? C: No, I don’t think so. (The hostess comes back and asks:) D: Well, who was it then? B: It was Klaus, I think. C: No, because he said that I played for him, and I haven’t played for Klaus.18 E: (Pointing towards a sofa) No, it was the one with the beard sitting there only wearing a half-mask. He was the one who said that you had played for him. He had a beard that was a bit blondish.

18 C is a musician.

Talking about the Talking Masks of ®r¿ 495

A: (Changes her voice) “Yes, I know well where Tot19 lives.” C: (Pointing again towards the sofa) No, it was him, the one who sat there. E: Yes, he had such a fair beard; he said you had played for him. C: Yes, yes, but I still don’t know who he was. F: Yes, he was only wearing a half-mask; we ought to be able to recognise him. C: But they didn’t talk right, though. A: No! G: No! E: No! F: No, they were not from ®r¿. E: No, they were not real…. But him, I think I know him… but damn, I can’t remember…. D: Couldn’t it be Hans… Hans Laursen? B: Hans? D: Hans, Klaus’ son. B: No, I don’t think so, but he might look like Klaus, size-wise. A: Well, but they did know all our names. G: Yes, they knew us. F: Yes, but they could be newcomers anyway. E: Yes they could be. But that fair beard…. F: It wasn’t fair. It was red. C: It was probably a mask-beard [a fake beard] anyway. E: Damn, no. He was wearing a half-mask, and that beard…. C: Well, he didn’t change his voice either. B: No! G: Was it three gentlemen? A: Yes. C: And the one in the middle spoke Jyllandic20 at some point. F: He did. (They all laugh.) A: (Pointing) Yes, but the one who sat there, I think he was from ®r¿. F: You think so? B: It wasn’t Hattensen, right? A: No.)

The group goes on like this for a short while and then gives up. The conversation nonetheless contains enough information to allow us to decode the opinion of the hosts: their masked visitors were too drunk; not real; and finally probably not from ®r¿ or newcomers to the island, because since they were only wearing half-masks, the group ought to recognise them if they were local. The mummers admittedly knew the hosts, but what did that matter if the hosts did not know the mummers? On top of all that, they did not change their voices, and one of them spoke the wrong dialect. Finally, the skit was simply too awful to be mentioned.

19 This is E’s nickname. 20 From the mainland of Denmark (Jylland). 496 Hanne Pico Larsen

Conclusion This short analysis of part of the dialogue that went on after a mumming session from ®r¿sk¿bing, together with a thick description of the tradition, indicates that what is important is not only what things are said, but also how things are said, and by whom. Making clear use of these aspects, the tradition is strong enough to separate insiders from outsiders and maintain a social order that might not be expressed in any other way. It underlines the facts that the tradition is more stubborn than the people who are trying to maintain it; that the rules of the dialogue are so deeply rooted that even though it is important for the people to practise the tradition to ensure that it does not vanish, they cannot prevent this from happening if all participants have trouble following such complicated rules. It is important for the people of ®r¿ that the mumming traditions continue, and that the mummers speak their minds. It is also important that there are people around who know how to talk back to their masked visitors. However, the tradition clearly can not be enacted by just anyone who wants to participate. Talking as a masked visitor or to such a visitor requires much insight and training, and in an isolated society like the one in ®r¿sk¿bing, this training is very difficult to keep up with. It might be argued that by its nature, the tradition tends to exclude more people than it includes.

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 497 Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway Past and Present Christine Eike

Norway is said to be a serious country. This impression, often uttered by foreigners, is probably connected with this country’s Pietism1 and the Chris- tian tradition of a couple of centuries ago when alcohol, dance and all kinds of entertainment were regarded as being sinful and pagan in many areas of Norway. There was nonetheless another mainstream of thought that began running alongside this in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Norway. In the years following the first Norwegian constitutional law of 1814, people were working to build a new nation.2 As part of this process, “genuine” Norwegian folk customs and tales were collected (the older the better). This information was collected from the oldest informants available in each community, the aim being to save this potentially “ancient” material from being forgotten for ever. Here too, however, the emphasis was on rather serious business: cults, religious worship and belief. Researchers and collectors often connected such customs with pagan fertility rites, something which simultaneously underlined the fact that this young nation was agricultural, and that the folk customs were essentially the customs of peasants. This focus was strongly followed by Nils Lid (see, for example, Lid 1928a; and 1933), among others. It is noteworthy that when Lid sent out his questionnaire concerning Jolebukk og Brud- laupsbukk (Christmas Goats and Wedding Goats) in 1937, those who answered often stated that they regretted they could not trace any fertility gods behind their local community’s masks and mummers. All they could see was fun and amusement. In spite of the emphasis placed on ancient seriousness, a great deal of folk humour can be spotted in the records of Norwegian folk customs, even in those older records where people were not invited to express their opinions of the humorous side of these traditions, or their experiences of it. Fortunately, the more recent material that has been collected is less worried about mentioning laughter and amusement. In order to limit the discussion here, I will concentrate on humour in which disguise plays a central role. By “disguise” here, I refer to people putting on masks or merely dressing up and changing clothes, thereby temporarily alter-

1 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 2 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway.

498 Christine Eike

Fig. 9.1: Two old women in masks, Oslo, 1945Ð1950. (Courtesy of Mj¿smuseet, Gj¿vik.) ing their roles and identity (see fig. 9.1). I will also concentrate on “ritualised humour”, by which I mean the humour that appears in connection with calendar customs or life festivals, traditions which provide a framework for the activities so that they can be understood as amusing, both by actors and onlookers (Hertzberg Johnsen 1997: 65). By ritual, I refer both to performances in “privileged spaces and times, set off from the periods and areas reserved for work, food and sleep” (Turner 1992: 25); and also a pattern of actions with transferred meaning (Bregenh¿j 1996: 192), or a type of formalised action which takes place in certain situations (Bjarne Hodne 2006: 32).3 For the most part, I will leave private practical jokes and spontaneous outbursts of dressing up out of the discussion, even though a great deal of humour can obviously be involved in such situations. The concentra- tion will be placed on those activities which, in one way or another, can be called “traditions”. One can say, in short, that we know that masking or disguise must be a tradition when the informants give it a certain name, a name that is shared and understood by others in the same community. (On the definition of humour, see section 2 below.)

3 On different definitions of ritual and ritualisation in cultural studies past and present, see Amund- sen 2006: 7Ð28.

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 499

1. A Brief Survey of the Traditions: Period and Type The material I will be analysing primarily consists of the following: a) Older records from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century found mainly in NFS (Norsk folkeminnesamling) and the series Norsk Folkemin- nelags skrifter (1923Ð ), as well as in the answers to two questionnaires sent out by Nils Lid in the 1930s (OoS 1931; and OoS 1937). b) Newer records: answers to questionnaires sent out in the 1990s and the questionnaire sent out in 2000 in connection with the Masks and Mumming project that lies behind this book.

Before going into this material, it is necessary to give a brief summary of those disguise traditions where humour (amusement) tends to be found:

1. a. Disguise Traditions in Traditional Society In the traditional society of Norway, there were two main periods where people commonly “had fun” with each other: at Christmas and at weddings.

1. a. i. Christmas At Christmas, youngsters, and sometimes also grown-ups, would often play tricks on others which occasionally went far beyond the limits of what we might regard as being amusing. In this context, there was one particular tradition which occurred on December 26, and was called å måke Stefan, or å moke Staffan (lit. cleaning the manure on Stephen’s Day) but in reality involved all kinds of practical jokes.4 Records do not mention masks in connection with this tradition, and thus I will not do much more than mention it. As the general Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway indicates, the main mummers in Norway at Christmas were called julebukker or julegeiter (male and female forms of Christmas Goat) or something similar, their general riotous behaviour often underlining their basic comic function (see figs 1.1Ð1.7 and maps 1.2 aÐ1.3 b). The visitors might also leave figures that went by the same name in front of people’s houses: something Nils-Arvid Bringéus calls “mumming in effigy” (see Bringéus 2002; and Bringéus’ article elsewhere in this present volume).5 Yet others came in disguise to whip those who had been sleeping too long (a tradition referred to as julskåka, meaning “the Christmas rod or whip”).

4 See Eike 1980: 246Ð248; and also Weiser-Aall 1954: 47 and 85, note 171. 5 Similar figures (called, for example, Gullmund in Vestfold and Telemark) were also put in front of the people’s houses or in others’ beds in some places at Easter. At the same time, people could whip each other (also in disguise, or at least with some degree of secrecy to take others by surprise). They might also hold a competition to see who would whip whom (see Lid 1933: 96 and section 2 below).

500 Christine Eike

Quite another story is seen in a comic figure commonly connected with the stjernespill: the Star Play, performed by the stjernegutter (Star Boys: see figs 13.1Ð13.6 and maps 1.4 aÐb). It is quite obvious that Joseph with his hunchback and stiff leg was assigned a humorous role in this play.6 He caused gaiety while beating time with his axe, sneezing, singing, dancing and collecting money and edible commodities in his hat, making use of comical remarks and mime (see, for example, a record from Bergen in the 1880s in Edvardsen 1993: 135Ð136). Records of this comic Joseph, who is related to all comic figures in popular plays from the Italian commedia dell’arte onwards and also has roots in medieval religious dramas, mostly come from Bergen (from 1824 until the 1880s),7 but several others come from M¿re og Romsdal and Sogn og Fjor- dane.

1. a. ii. Weddings At Norwegian weddings, there used to be a custom similar to the Christmas å måke Stefan (å moke Staffan). In this case it was referred to as spikk (practical jokes): in other words, people often had fun playing practical jokes and tricks on others, and at weddings it seems that this behaviour could also involve a sort of disguise or mask (see figs 1.12Ð1.13 and 9.2Ð9.5). This would often take place when the more serious part of the wedding ceremony and the feast was over. Then people would drag heavy items such as a horse into the house or maybe a boat into the yard, so that others, sometimes the bridegroom, would have to remove these themselves, or pay a fee. Other accounts describe how such practical jokes might also involve the guests’ beds being filled with ants. In some places, the cook and the Master of Ceremonies would also have to en- dure all sorts of practical jokes, especially at the end of the wedding when the “angry” guests might dress them up in strange and amusing clothes. There are quite a few records from the western part of Norway about this kind of practical joke (see maps 1.6 aÐb). Some disguise traditions at weddings were particularly carnival-like, involving the guests, often youngsters, in performing a brief skit or a whole play (see the distribution maps noted above). Here the guests would, for example, satirise the bride and bridegroom. They would be “married” by a “vicar”, and there might even be a “judge”. Some of the guests might dress up, for example, as a tramp or sheet metal maker who was accompanied by a “wife”. They could also come as the militia and do a “session” picking out women as soldiers. They might also bring along a fiddle and an organ or some other weird instru-

6 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, especially those from Norway, Den- mark, Sweden, and Finland and Karelia, and also Ane Ohrvik’s article on the Star Boys elsewhere in this volume. In other countries, this role was taken by another figure, such as the blackened “King of Morieland” or “Moria”: see, for example, Gunnell 1995a: 117–120. 7 Bergen was one of Norway’s main doorways to the outside world. This indicates that this aspect of the tradition probably came from abroad.

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 501

Fig. 9.2: A group of mummers going skotring in Rylandsholmen, Bremanger, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, around 1920. (Courtesy of Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane.) ments (see figs 1.12 and 9.3). At one wedding in 1890, a young man in a wolf skin is even described as having danced with a bear-keeper, who tamed him with a stick (record from Fåberg, Oppland: OoS 1937). Often these visitors would make fun while the bride and bridegroom sat at the dinner table. A disguised pair might then play doctors or tell the newly married couple’s fortune. These disguised visitors, sometimes called bryllupsbukker (Wedding Goats), sometimes etterbrur (imitation brides), or just utkledninger (disguised ones), would then receive drinks (brandy or beer) and some money for their performance (answers to OoS 1937; see also maps 1.6 aÐb). In some areas (see the aforementioned maps) the bride and bridegroom would be dressed up after the formal feast was over, and then the bridesmaids and the bridegroom’s followers would engage in some form of competition. For example, the bridegroom’s followers might try to kidnap the bride or steal some of her things. They might even dress her up with horns, or a tail or tie a bell to her leg. Records of the latter custom are found in Nordland and Troms. Finally, in a number of areas there was another tradition whereby uninvited guests would come to the wedding farm, supposedly as “watchers” or “spies”, often dressed up in all sorts of amusing clothes, and give the bridal couple all sorts of entertaining presents (see figs 1.12 and 9.2Ð9.5). (In western Norway, this tradition was called skotring, in other parts, ettegangarar, kikkarar, glankara, tittere and so on. All of these names indicate the idea of “watching”

502 Christine Eike

Fig. 9.3: This photograph appears to show a group of maskers going skotring in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway, in the first half of the twentieth century. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) (Courtesy of Sunnfjord Museum.)

Fig. 9.4: This photograph appears to show a group of maskers going skotring in Stardalen, J¿lster, Norway, in the first half of the twentieth century. (Photo: Anton ¯ygard.) (Courtesy of Sunnfjord Museum.)

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 503

Fig. 9.5: Skotring at a Norwegian wedding in Jondalen, in 1993 (Photo: Gunhild F¿rland.) (Courtesy of Gunhild F¿rland.) or “spying”).8 These figures would be accompanied by a lot of noise. They would also talk very freely in distorted voices (it was important to conceal your identity), and might have a leader who was the person in the group who was the best speaker. They were usually given food and drink (traditionally brandy). It was viewed as being a shame not to let them eat and drink sufficiently. Furthermore, it was expected that the bride should be on view for them. Some- times these disguised figures were seen as mischief-makers and there could be some quarrelling and fighting around them, but for the most part the tradition was seen as being simply a lot of fun (see Weiser-Aall 1954: 38Ð39; S¿dal 1969: 102; and the examples given in section 2 below). One song tells about two young men who appeared at a wedding at Seljord, Telemark, in 1810, dressed in animal skins, and playing a lot of practical jokes on the guests, frightening some of them. It is probable they were uninvited guests of the kind noted above, but if so, they were rather malicious ones (NFS: Kr. Bugge 3: 82Ð83).

8 See distribution maps 1.6 aÐb. There are interesting parallels to this tradition in Shetland and the border area of northern and southern Ireland where disguised visitors would come to weddings in straw costumes, or more recently in Shetland, in any form of disguise: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic. See also the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in Sweden with regard to the tradition of Knutgubbar appearing at weddings. Similar traditions are also mentioned in the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia and Finland and Karelia.

504 Christine Eike

1. b. Disguise Traditions In Modern Society In modern Norwegian society, some of the old traditions are obviously still going strong. In most of the more recent records (the answers to the questionnaire NEG Nr. 185, sent out in 20009), people often speak about the fun they experienced in connection with the tradition. While older records also tell about the julebukker as spirits (see Eike 1980: 261Ð265; and 267Ð268), the newer records seem to have lost this dimension. They concentrate on something else. It is also clear that “the watchers” in disguise at weddings are still maintaining their position, especially in Hordaland, where it is nowadays seen as being a great honour to have as many skotrarar at your wedding as possible. Indeed, some people say that this is the most amusing tradition they have participated in or experienced as spectators. Worth noting, however, is that disguised visitors only appear at traditional weddings in Hordaland, not at weddings where the reception takes place at hotels (oral sources from Anne Lutro, Ullensvang, and Gunhild F¿rland, Jondal, in the years 2001Ð2003; see also the examples given in section 2 below). Of course, several new costumed traditions have come into being in the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. For example, the Christmas nisse (Santa Claus or Father Christmas as he is known in English-speaking countries) is now about one hundred years old in Norway (Weiser-Aall 1954). This figure, however, is very rarely regarded as a comic figure when acted. He tends more often to be experienced as something exciting. In the eighties, there was also an attempt to introduce the Carnival á la Rio into Norway, especially in Oslo in the summer.10 This “tradition” nonetheless died out rather quickly. In spite of this, “carnivals” of one kind or another are held in Norwegian kindergartens and in some schools, often in February. Grown-ups say that children think this is a lot of fun. In their answers to questionnaire NEG 2000 (NR 185), quite a few people talk about carnivals, or masquerades at parties (see figs 9.6 and 9.7), either arranged by certain local associations (something that seems to have developed in post-war society, and is possibly now dying out), or forming an element of private parties (a development of the tradition into the private sphere, something which seems to be continuing). A number of records underline the fun associated with these forms of entertainment. The Norwegian school graduation disguise tradition which takes place at the final upper-secondary level of school, and is called russeskikker11 involves pupils dressing for the main part in red clothes and behaving in what is regarded as being opposite to normal behaviour. This tradition also developed in Nor-

9 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 10 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume for information about a similar development in Denmark. 11 The word russ is a shortened form of the Latin word depositurus.

Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 505

Fig. 9.6: Karneval in Melhus, S¿r-Tr¿ndelag, Norway: February 8, 1958. (Courtesy of Schr¿der- arkivet, Tr¿ndelag Folkemuseum.)

Fig: 9.7: Karneval in Melhus, S¿r-Tr¿ndelag, Norway: February 8, 1958. (Courtesy of Schr¿der- arkivet, Tr¿ndelag Folkemuseum.)

506 Christine Eike way throughout the twentieth century.12 As noted above, in this tradition, norms are turned upside down, practical jokes are played on others (on the authorities, and pupils from lower classes or other types of schools), and, last but not least, russ-students have to pass certain tests to be able to call themselves eliteruss. Most of the rules for these tests are very much exaggerated or absurd, often having sexual overtones and involving the consumption of a great deal of alcohol. This tradition has become even more bizarre in recent years. The parallels with disguise traditions are seen not only in the russ-“uniform” (see fig. 1.10) but also in the fact that many of the activities take place in public, where they are meant to draw attention away from the spectators to the “costumed” youngsters. Furthermore, on May 17, the Norwegian National Day, the russ march in a kind of procession (russetog), putting on various kinds of shows (see figs 9.8 and 9.9). In the 1990s, stag and hen parties involving a large amount of disguise came into being in Norway.13 This also seems to have developed over the years, and has become more and more common with today’s young people. At such gatherings, the prospective bride or bridegroom are dressed up in as ugly, funny, provocative, striking, or strange a fashion as possible. Usually the bride or bridegroom do not know about the plans for the day beforehand and are meant to be taken by surprise by their friends who do all the planning. The dressed-up brides- and bridegrooms-to-be are then exhibited to the public. One might say they are held up to ridicule, both because of their abnormal clothing and because they have to do all kinds of ridiculous, often erotic activities in public (see fig. 9.10). All of this, of course, is meant to be amusing (see Hylland 1995). In the last three or four years around the turn of the millennium, yet another new custom has come into being in Norway with all its variants, that is to say the American Halloween (see Ohrvik 2001 and 2006; and Lilja 2001 on Swe- dish parallels). When Halloween is celebrated in the shape of private parties or parties run in connection with the Norwegian russeskikker, it can be assumed that the aim is to provide amusement for those who dress up, just like any other masquerade (see further section 2 below). So far, little is known about how children experience the tradition of going around houses “trick or treating” in Norway, since this particular custom is still far too new (see fig. 1.11). On the other hand, people who have been visited in this way have expressed negative opinions about it, suggesting for the main part that “trick or treating” in Nor- way is not seen as being terribly amusing for those who are visited (Ohrvik 2001: 237Ð238, and the examples given in section 2 below).

12 See Hjemdal 1999; Sande 2000; and Eike 2001. See further the article on Icelandic pre-graduation disguise traditions by Terry Gunnell, and also the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions for similar developments in other Nordic countries (and Estonia). 13 See further the article by Eva Knuts on wedding traditions elsewhere in this volume. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 507

Fig. 9.8: Russe students in Gj¿vik, in 1951. (Courtesy of Mj¿smuseet, Gj¿vik.)

Fig. 9.9: Russe students in Gj¿vik, in 1991. (Photo Gunnar Eike.) (Courtesy of Gunnar Eike.) 508 Christine Eike

Fig. 9.10: A masked young man fending off a battery of eggs thrown by bystanders as part of his stag-party activities in Turku, Finland, 2002. (Photo: Christine Eike.)

2. An Analysis of the Humour in Norwegian Disguise Traditions 2. a. Humour: Synonymous Words A great deal has been said and written about humour and laughter, starting with the early Greek philosophers, and ending with our own modern thera- peutic society, where humour and laughter are said to be good for your health. Paul E. McGhee (1979: 6Ð8) lists a number of related terms which are “commonly used to describe qualities of events associated with humor”, words like “ridiculous”, “ludicrous”, “funny”, “amusing”, “mirthful” and so on. However, most scientists agree today that even though we have words for the experience, humour itself cannot be defined once and for all: it is a complex phenomenon, as complex as life. Every attempted definition tends to stress one aspect of the phenomenon at the cost of others. Therefore, instead of attempting to join the list of people who try to define humour, my intention here is first and foremost to let the records speak for themselves. When the records tell us that something is, or was “fun”, it must have been humorous for the participants, in one form or another. The Norwegian words I have been looking for in the records are the following (all of them of the same kind as the words listed by McGhee): Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 509 i. In the older records: moro, skape moro, morosam, morsomt, det morosamste eg visste, more seg, halde moro og leven, for at more, skaffe julemoro, or similar words such as: komisk, gap og gaman, kommers, løyer, løgje, påfunn, spetakkel, gjøre spillop- per, prettor, splintestykkje, gjera spik, drive gjøn, rive av seg vittigheter, få latteren i gang, de voksne lo, m¿tt med moro og latter. ii. In the more recent records: morsomt, ha det moro, moro, more seg, ekstra moro, gikk ut på moro, moroa, morosame sprell, mye latter og moro, liv og moro, latter og tull, artig, g¿y, be- friende og festlig, for forn¿yelsens skyld, komisk, avveksling og underholdning, ablegøyer, slå noen skrøner, spille et puss, gjera et peik, begynne å le, ha det gildt.

The use of such words in the records shows that there is no doubt that both the people who were acting in disguise and their audience had “fun” and thought that the activities were amusing. In the answers to questionnaire NEG 2000 (nr. 185) people most often use the words moro and morsom (meaning “fun” and amusing), underlining that the experience is essentially little more than this.

2. b. Fun for Whom? This brings us to the first difficulty: “fun” for whom? The earlier records, which mostly come from the first part of the twentieth century, are quite clear on this point: the julebukk used to frighten children, both when people talked about it and when it was “acted” in what children saw as a scary manner. In- deed, the oldest known Norwegian record dealing with this figure states that the rågeit/ raageit (pole-goat14) was a mask used to frighten children (see Jen- s¿n 1646). Furthermore, it was often said that such fear was a good thing because it kept children inside the house and made them obey: it was an early form of pedagogy, so to speak. I have written elsewhere about how children (and sometimes also grown- ups) could Ð and still can Ð experience masks as actual spirits (Eike 1980: 270Ð 272 and notes 47Ð53). And in fact, the new material collected in 2000/01 states several times that children are still not always happy about masks and the disguise of others. For example, NEG 2000: 3480715 says that they never went as julebukker (pl.) to one woman because they knew she had been frightened as a child. Pedagogical methods have nonetheless improved somewhat, as can be seen when informant 34810 states that parents tried to calm down scared children when the jolebukker came, so that the children could regard them as something good. Other records referring to children’s fear of masked visitors in

14 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 15 When referring to material collected from this questionnaire, numbers are used instead of names to ensure anonymity. 510 Christine Eike more recent times are NEG 2000: 34787 and 35029 (on the nisse, or Santa Claus); 34816 (on the wedding “watchers”);16 34865 (again on the nisse);17 and 34765,18 where the informant tells about an experience with the julegeit (Christmas Goat) which made a frightening and lasting impression on his young soul. 34944 also tells about her mixture of excitement and fear about the nisse (Santa Claus) as a child.19 On the whole, the feelings, especially in the older records, are somewhat ambiguous: a mixture of amusement and fear, as the following example clearly demonstrates:

16 “Da sprang vi ungane, litt redde og spenningsylt som vi var, rundt og ropte: ’Kikerar hev kom- mi’.” (Then we children ran around, a little afraid and excited as we were, yelling, “The watchers have come!”) 17 “Da vi var unger ventet vi med skrekkblandet fryd på nissen. For selv om vi etter hvert skj¿nte at det var noen som kledde seg ut, så kunne han jo være temmelig skremmende. Ramlinga på trap- pa julekvelden var så spennende at vi holdt pusten. Vi var alltid redde for ikke å ha vært snille nok. I dag ser jeg at nissen n¿dig vil skremme ungene, og er veldig forsiktig. Men det var litt artig da årets nisse likevel tok onkel på 19 år litt hardt i armen og ville ”ta ham”. Slik skal jo nissen være – litt skremmende og uforutsigbar.” (When we were young, we waited for the nisse [Santa Claus] with mixed feelings of dread and delight. Even though we gradually understood that he was someone in costume, he could still be quite frightening. The thudding on the steps on Christmas Eve was so exciting that we held our breath. We were always scared of not having been good enough. Today I can see that the nisse tries not to frighten the children, and is very careful. But it was a little odd when the nisse of the year took their 19-year-old uncle a little roughly by the arm, meaning to “take him away”. That is how the nisse should be Ð a little frightening and unexpected.) 18 “Jeg var vel seks–sju år. Det var i romjula og vi ungene i grenda var samlet i den store stua på en av gårdene. Der var det en ”gammelungkar” som fant ut at han skulle fortelle om julgeita og hensikten var trolig at vi barna skulle tro på historia og bli redde. Han satt i den halvmørke stua og fortalte, og stillheten og alvoret preget oss barna. Vi lyttet intenst og så for oss julgeita som fartet mellom gardene på sin skumle ferd. Omsider var klokka kommet så langt på kveld at jeg måtte gå heim. Jeg la ikke merke til at ”ungkaren” var borte. Da jeg passerte nåva på våningshuset kom en skikkelse opp fra kjellernedgangen og ga fra seg stygge lyder. I m¿rket skimtet jeg et raggete skinn og to svære horn. Jeg ble livredd og løp det raskeste jeg maktet de 75 meterne til min egen heim. Jeg var overbevist om at jeg hadde sett selveste julgeita. Senere fikk jeg høre at det var ”ungkaren” som hadde vært i uthuset og ikledd seg et gammelt bukkeskinn og sto i kjellernedgangen og ventet på at et ”offer” skulle komme. Hendelsen satte et dypt inntrykk i min unge sjel og huskes godt i dag, nær 60 år etter.” (I was six or seven years old. It was between Christmas and New Year, and the kids in the area had met up in the main room of one of the farms. There was an “older bachelor” there, and he decided to tell us about the julegeit, and the plan was probably to make us believe the story and be afraid. He sat in the dim room, and talked, and the silence and the seriousness affected us children. We listened intently, and in our minds could see the julgeit on its spooky round between farms. Even- tually it was so late in the evening that I had to go home. I didn’t notice that the bachelor had left. As I passed the corner of the farmhouse, a figure appeared up the cellar steps making ugly noises. In the darkness, I could distinguish a shaggy skin and two large horns. I was scared to death and ran as fast as I could all the 75 metres to my own home. I was convinced I had seen the real julgeit. Later I heard that it was the bachelor who had been in the outhouse, and dressed himself up in an old goatskin and then waited on the cellar steps for the arrival of a “victim”. This event made such a deep impression on my young soul that I can still remember it today, nearly 60 years later.) 19 “Ettersom jeg selv var forferdelig redd for folk med masker da jeg var liten, har jeg aldri hatt noe nært forhold til dette å kle seg ut, til og med julenissen var av en eller annen grunn forferdelig skummel, men likevel ville jeg ha den. Del er vel det som i dag kalles skrekkblandet fryd, men jeg husker det ikke som udelt positivt.” (Since I was so terrified of people with masks when I was small, I have never really liked disguises; even the nisse [Santa Claus] was for one reason or another awfully scary, although I wanted him to appear. It is partly what people today refer to as a mixture of fright and delight, but I never remember it as anything really positive.) Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 511

Dæ mæ tykje må væra lide moro, tote dei forritia va dæ jillaste dei viste – dæfor holt dei på sæd å sjikk mæ julejeid å bokk så vist som jula komm – Mine foreldra fortæle at dei utklædde hadde på sæg ei fæl hætta mæ hodn på – Bestefar å andre gamle fortæle, då va hu mest lig figru på indianer totempåle – Fyst tog dei øve akslen ein hårete sjennkavai. Bokkehodn va der på hætta som dei trædde ner øve håve, å breie svarte øire som sto tværs ud – å store fæle øre – Uda ein gabonne kjæpt, mæ breie kvide tænna – laga å trespile – hang ner på brøste ei lang tonga skåren uda eldrøtt tøi. Hætta va raggete, påsydd kjyrerompe å hestetagl. Nå dæ blei mørkt, stelde dei to seg op sia om sia någa steg fra ei dørstrapp å mægra. Så blei der leven enne. Dei vågsne gabte i tåde på kværandre: Nå kjæme Julejeida å bokjen, å ud for dei på dørsteinen, lo å bar seg så dæ hadde go sjek – Det støste bodn va modige å va mæ, men harholt seg i dei voksne – men dei menste sætte i et skreg, for enn å kraub anna sænja. Jeid å bokk stangast någe før læde så tonga slengde att a framm, å nå dei hadde våre der någa menutta, jekk dei te neste mans dør, å for på dæ vis garen ront te moro for alle. Dei blei ikje snakka te, hel traktert, å va dæ månelyst, sto dei lengre frå hus, jedna mæ ei flornåv, for at ikkje bodn sko få misstru – for mest heila åre va bodn lyog bara mora nebnde julebokk å jeid – Julebokk va alti f¿rr brugt te ein, som sp¿gefull sjelsor Ð Dei voksne holt for bod- nan komedien hemmelig å jøimte plaggan i skrin på østalopt på høgaste hane- bjelke. (From Hidra, Vest-Agder: OoS 1937.) (What we might think is little fun, the older people thought was the most splendid thing they knew Ð therefore they kept the custom of going julegeit and bukk just as surely as Christmas would come. My parents said that the disguised ones had an ugly hat with horns on. Grandfather and other old people said that then it was most like a totem pole. First they put on a fur skin. The goat’s horns were on the hat which covered their heads, and broad black eyes were protruding Ð and big ugly ears. Out of a gaping mouth with broad white teeth Ð made out of wooden sticks Ð there was a long tongue of red cloth hanging down the chest. The hat was shaggy, with a cow’s tail and some horsehair sewn on to it. When it got dark, the two of them got into position, side by side, by some doorsteps and bleated. Then it got lively. The grown ups shouted, “Now the julegeit and bukk are coming!”, and they hurried out onto the doorstep, laughing and carrying on a great deal. The oldest children were courageous and took part, but kept a firm grip on some grown-ups. But the smallest ones started screaming and crept under the bed. The julebukk and geit pretended to butt so that the tongue waved back and forth, and when they had been there for a few minutes, they went to the next person’s house. In this manner, they travelled between farms entertaining everybody. They were not talked to or served [food or drink] and if there was moonlight, they stood farther away from the houses, often at the corner of the cowshed, so that children’s suspicion would not be aroused Ð for most of the year the children became obedi- ent the moment their mother mentioned the julebukk and geit Ð the term julebukk in the past was always used as a kind of teasing insult Ð. The grown-ups kept this comedy a secret from the children and hid the clothes in the loft on the highest beam.) The same record states that the pair of goats went around to the farms “te moro for alle” (to entertain everybody). However, this custom also made the children obey, it says. Several records mention the fact that the grown-ups laughed while children, and sometimes also women, were frightened to death. This is, of course, no surprise when one considers how ugly the masks and disguises 512 Christine Eike could be (see figs 1.1Ð1.7).20 A record referred to by Nils Lid (1928a: 42 from Vestnes, M¿re og Romsdal, in 1904) says that the goat with horns, a beard and a fur skin came creeping in on all fours “til Skræk og Gammen” (for fright and amusement). At other times, though, the spectators just acted as if they were afraid, as the following account shows: Når bukken eller jeita kom hoppa og dansa di og holdt et svare leven. Forsamlingen tede sig som rædde, hujet og skrek. Bukken fik øl, dram, julegotter (from Nord i Ra- na, Nordland: OoS 1937). (When the bukk or the geit came, they jumped and danced and made a lot of noise. The spectators pretended to be frightened, screaming and shouting. The bukk got ale, or a dram, or Christmas goodies.) As Marina Warner notes, it is a worldwide phenomenon that the grotesque gives “above all an experience of conflicting feelings: horror and derision, amusement and fright all at once” (Warner 1998: 256). One explanation of this ambivalence and ambiguity might be found in what researchers say is a development of children’s humour. As MacGhee points out: For example, an infant may laugh at its mother wearing a mask if she was seen putting it on, but cry if she walks into the room already wearing it…. an important factor in this regard may simply be whether the child interprets the situation to be a safe (often translated to mean familiar) or threatening one. Any arousing event, such as a strange mask, in a threatening context is likely to lead to crying, whereas the same event in the absence of any threat should produce laughter (McGhee 1979: 163Ð164). However, it is also quite obvious that fun can be a way of coping with fear. Another ambiguity can also be spotted in the records. Some of the masked visitors’ practical jokes are very similar to old types of folk punishment, or “rough music”. The following account comes from Hjartdal in Telemark (OoS 1937): Då eg var liten kom oftast jolebukkane natt til 2dre joledag – ”ute i annandagsotta” sa folk. Då bruka dei ofte å setja ein dott i skorsteinspipa til folk skulde fyra upp på gruva. Dei bruka ogso å klæde ut ymse mannaskapningar utanfor dørene. Kunde dei då finne tok i gongeklæde av ymist slag, stoppa dei deste fulle av snø eller halm. (When I was little, the jolebukker would usually come during the night before Box- ing Day – “out on Boxing Day evening,” people said. Then they used to block up the chimney when people were about to light up the open fire. They also used to dress up various human-like figures and put them in front of the door. If they could find any outdoor-clothes, they would fill them with snow or straw.)21 Many sayings connected with names associated with the masks might be understood as threats, or terms of abuse, but also simply as jokes. The sayings Ð

20 Records from Hurdal, Akershus; Tyristrand, Buskerud; and Siratun, Vest-Agder: OoS 1937; see also Lid 1928a: 39 from Ringebu, Oppland. 21 Regarding similar customs in Sweden, see further the article on “mumming in effigy” by Nils-Arvid Bringéus elsewhere in this volume. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 513 and actions Ð that occurred when one broke the accepted code of behaviour at traditional feasts could also indicate the old types of punishments noted above (see also Weiser-Aall 1954: 33Ð48; and Eike 1980: 258Ð260). To give one example from Kvam in Nord-Tr¿ndelag: Ordet jolegeit lever på folketunga i bygda. Ho såg etter at kvar hadde vedskjalet fullt av ved til jolehelga. Var det einkvan som hadde lite ved i skjolet, fekk han hysa jo- legeita, sa ein. Vart det lite med ved i skjolet kom ho og gjorde ymse prettor der. Det var vel helst ein eller annan ungdomen i grannelaget som agerte jolegeit (OoS 1937). (The term jolegeit [dialect form of julegeit] is still known in the parish. She used to make sure that everybody had a shed full of firewood for the Christmas period. If there was anybody who did not have enough firewood, people would say they “had to shelter the jolegeit”. If there was little firewood, she would come and play dirty tricks there. Most likely the jolegeit was performed by some youngster in the neighbourhood.) The traditional whipping of people at Christmas or at Easter in Norway indicates the same kind of ambiguity: a form of joke-punishment. An account from Beiarn in Nordland states that a broom would be fastened to anyone who slept on the morning of December 24. They had to carry the implement with which they were whipped. This was seen as being dangerous because in the evening the julebukk or julegeit would come along, climb up on the roof, look through the chimney and then bury the one with the broom in the snow.22 The following record about Easter comes from Hemne in S¿r-Tr¿ndelag: Men det var nokko dei kalla ”Langfredagsris”. Galen ungdom kledde seg ut med maskor og stygge kle og drog i jennom heile grenda i stor f¿lje. Det skulde vera natta til langfredag. Dei gekk ind i kvart eit hus og saa skulde alle, men helst unge kvinfolk ha ris av ei stor bj¿rkasvei eller ein vanleg riskvist. Somme n¿gde seg med aa slaa eit par rapp over sjinnafelden paa senga. Men andre kunde ta det mer grundigt. Gam- le folk har fortalt at ei og onnor som var serleg lei i kjeften fikk ris paa blanke baken. Men ellest var vel dette og oftast berre morro (OoS 1937). (There was something they called “Good Friday whipping”. Crazy youngsters would disguise themselves in masks and ugly clothes and go around the entire neighbourhood in big groups. This should be the night before Good Friday. They would go into every house and everybody, especially young women, was supposed to get whipped with a big birch rod or with twigs. Some were satisfied with beating through the fur rug on the bed. Others took it more seriously. Old people said that

22 The account runs as follows: “Når så julaften kom var det farlig for den som gikk og bar på skå- ka, soplimen eller stokken. Kom nemlig julbokkjen eller julgjeita, tok de den som bar julskåka. De kraup opp på taket og så ned gjennom ljoren. Da var det ikke greit for den som gikk og bar på skåka. Julbokkjen kom ned i stua og tok karen ut i sneen og grov ham ned der, eller han fikk en annen avstraffelse i stedet (Eriksen 1958: 87). (On Christmas evening, it would be dangerous for the person having to carry the whip, broom or stick. Because then the julebukk would come and take the person carrying the julskåka or Christmas whip. They would creep up on to the roof and look down the chimney. That wouldn’t be good for the person with the whip: the julebukk would come into the room, and take that man out into the snow and bury him there; either that or he would get another kind of punishment instead.) 514 Christine Eike

those who had an especially bad tongue would get a spanking on their bare bottoms. However, otherwise this was usually just done for fun.) Similar records come from Valdres in Oppland (Hermundstad 1950: 103) and from Hardanger in Hordaland (Opedal 1937: 81). More recent records imply the same ambiguity. One recorder from Kvæ- fjord in Troms still remembers juleskåk (Christmas whipping), which was carried out during the night before Christmas Eve. Then both youngsters and grown-ups were allowed to play tricks on other people, but they had to remain unknown. There are, however, differences to the old tradition. As the informant notes, some of the practical jokes from earlier times (like moving objects and animals, even putting them on the roof, or placing a load of firewood in front of the door) would nowadays be regarded as malicious damage; today’s jokes thus tend to be more innocent (NEG 2000: 34785.) Another recent account from Verdal in Nord-Tr¿ndelag says that uninvited guests who came to weddings in disguise could cause damage with their “jokes”, which meant that eventually it became illegal to come as “watchers” (NEG 2000: 34816.) The new disguise traditions in Norwegian society present yet another type of ambiguity which is “fun” on the one hand, but a form of humiliation or trial on the other. As noted earlier, there are two major traditions of this kind nowadays: stag and hen parties and school graduation traditions. The dressing up of the bride or bridegroom at stag and hen parties and all the tasks they have to fulfil can sometimes be more humiliating than amusing for the couple, and are not always terribly amusing for the spectators either (see Hylland 1995: 94Ð96). To give one example: in this case, the bride, the sister of the informant, was dressed and painted in as ugly and provocative a manner as possible, and then had to sell obscene articles at a shopping centre: Et stort poeng med utdrikningslaget for brorparten av jentene som planla det, var at det skulle være pinlig for min søster, de er av den oppfatning at man i ettertid ikke skal se tilbake på det som koselig. Med ”pinlig” oppfatter jeg det som om det er ting med seksuell undertone, og ting de kanskje selv ikke hadde turt… (NEG 1994: 31438). (One of the main points for the girls who planned it was that this should be embarrassing for my sister. People don’t think you should remember this later as having been anything nice. By “embarrassing”, I mean things that have sexual overtones, things they would not dare to do themselves….) People note that there is a lot of alcohol involved in these traditions, and that the aim is to make a fool of the bride and bridegroom by rigging them out in strange clothes (NEG 1994: 31421), or making them do things with sexual connotations (NEG 1994: 31438). One record from 1994 states that it was important to embarrass the bridegroom in order to test his courage (NEG 1994: 31444). The bridegroom in question was later dressed up in aerobics clothes meant for girls, and was forced to participate in aerobics exercises. Also worth noting is the following answer to the NEG nr. 185 questionnaire from 2000: Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 515

Dette har plutselig blitt ”in” de siste 10–15 årene. Jentene startet forsiktig, men guttene har vært røffe med hverandre hele tida. Ofte blir bruden/ brudgommen kledd ut som brud. Men så fælt som mulig! De kan bli satt til oppgaver som f. eks. selge kyss til 5 kr. (Det er de snille….) Det er ofte mye alkohol med i spillet i utdrikningslag. Det avholdes gjerne 1Ð2 uker f¿r bryllupet. Mange utdrikningslag har gått langt over streken og er ikke morsom hverken for brud/ brudgom eller publikum. Men enkelte kan være svært kreative, og f. eks. ha et tema for festen, f. eks. at alle kler seg likt (cowboy, ballett, smoking etc.) (NEG 2000: 34809). (This has all of a sudden become the “in” thing in the last 10–15 years. The girls started rather cautiously but the guys have always been rough with each other. Often the bride or bridegroom would be dressed up as brides. But as ugly as possible! They might have to do tests like selling kisses for 5 crowns. [Those are the nice tests ….] There is often a lot of alcohol involved in stag and hen parties. They are often held one or two weeks before the wedding. Many stag and hen parties have definitely gone over the limit, and are not funny for the bride/ bridegroom or the general public. But some can be creative and, for example, have a theme for the party where everyone dresses alike [in cowboy or ballet costumes, smoking jackets etc].) NEG 2000: 34812 states also how many stag and hen parties today tend to involve more and more persons being dressed up in grotesque and ugly costumes, and the main person being made a fool of. The strange clothes that the future bride and bridegroom are equipped with that evening have become a signal for licence, whereby the party is allowed to do all of these strange things in public. We encounter a similar pattern in modern upper-secondary-school graduation traditions in Norway today. Here, too, the donning of the “uniform” or “costume” seems to have an effect on the participants. In this case, the pupils dress in red, blue, black, green, white or orange uniforms (see figs 1.10 and 9.8Ð9.9), all depending on which school they are leaving, as the following account shows: Neste skritt på stigen var russefeiringen. Der kler man seg i røde, blå, sorte, grønne, hvite eller oransje kjeledresser med tilhørende lue, alt etter hvilken linje på skolen man avslutter. Dette er en markering på endt videregående skole og foregår hoved- sakelig i mai måned. Jeg husker fra min russetid at det slett ikke var alle som ”taklet” å få på seg russedresser. De ble på en måte fri for all moral og prinsipper de egentlig stod for. Liksom som om dressen befridde dem fra alle hemninger og fornuftig sans. Selve russedressen er vel egentlig til for at russen skal få en lik ”identitet”, føle at de er en del av noe stort. Dessuten ville vi vel ha snudd oss to ganger, dersom folk, i helt vanlige klær, oppførte seg som russen til tider gjør. Greit å vite hvorfor på en måte (NEG 2000: 34775). (The next step was the russ celebrations. Then people dress themselves up in red, blue, black, green, white or orange boiler suits with accompanying student caps, everything in accordance with which course or studies you have completed when you graduate. It marks the end of upper-secondary school and mainly takes place in May. I remember from my time as a russ that not everybody could cope when they got into their russ-costumes. They were then sort of freed from all the moral and principles they stood for. As if the dress liberated them from all restraints or common sense. The russ-costume itself is probably meant to create a kind of shared identity 516 Christine Eike

for all of them, to make them feel part of something big. Moreover, we would probably all look twice if people wearing normal clothes behaved like the russ do sometimes. In a way, it’s good to know why they are doing it.) As noted earlier, the procession of school leavers on the Norwegian National Day (May 17) is meant to be amusing and entertaining, but it is receiving ever more negative responses from both spectators and newspapers (see, for example, NEG 2000: 34769). Indeed, the celebration has become so exaggerated that some headteachers have forbidden their pupils to come to school wearing their russ-uniforms, as the following report states: Mange steder har feiringen og alle påfunnene vært slik at rektorer i allefall har for- budt bruk av draktene på skolen. De gjør også så mange galne ting som går ut over andre. Kasting av egg, mel og andre matvarer. Tagging på skoler, andre former for bråk. Vi lurer på om denne uniformeringen gjør at russen glemmer alle former for folkeskikk. I vår by er det også skikk at enkelte springer nakne midt i byen en for- middag for å få en knute, eller de kryper nakne på stadion under fotballkamp 17.mai. En annen form for ”uniformering”! Vi synes det går alt for langt. Dette med bruk av rusdrikk er også mer og mer godtatt (NEG 2000: 34800; see also Eike 2001: 68–78). (In many places, the celebrations and everything associated with them have reached the point where the headteachers have banned the wearing of the costumes in school. They do so many crazy things that others have to pay for. They throw eggs, flour and other kinds of food. They spray paint on school buildings and make other forms of mischief. We wonder if the uniform makes the russ forget all good manners. In our town, some people run naked through the middle of the town in the morning to get a knute [a knot Ð a special sign put on their caps], or they might crawl naked at the football stadium on May 17: yet another way of getting into “uniform”! We think they go far too far. Also alcohol seems to be becoming more and more accepted.) To give another example: Jeg synes russefeiringa kan være en fin tid, men med dagens feiring går det langt over grensen. Det er ikke normalt at en russ krabber rundt på gulvet på et kjøpesenter og biter voksne folk i bena så de har merker lenge etterpå, slik det skjedde på CC Marten på Gjøvik i vår. Det er vel helt sykt, spør du meg. Det får gå an at de løper nakne over Mjøsbrua…. Den største forandringen er, tror jeg, at nå går det i mye fyll og festing og de tror at bare de er russ, så kan de gjøre hva de vil. Kjører småunger inn i åsen og setter dem igjen, dukker dem under vann, spyler dem med illeluktende veske og slike ting (NEG 1997 Ð NR 174: 32680). (I think the russ-celebration can be a fine time, but today’s celebrations are going way over the limit. It isn’t normal for a russ to crawl along the floor in the shopping centre, biting grown-ups in the leg so they have marks for a long time afterwards, as it happened at CC Marten in Gjøvik this spring. It’s quite sick, if you ask me. It is sufficient that they run across the bridge over Lake Mjøsa naked…. The biggest change, I think, is that there is a lot of drunkenness and revelry now, and they think that when they are a russ they can do what they like: drive small children up onto the hillside and leave them there, push them under water, or splash them with stinking liquid and things like that.) As can be seen, popular forms of humour contain a lot of aggression. Perhaps Konrad Lorenz (1963: 276Ð277) was right when he stated that smiling or Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 517 laughing was originally nothing more than the baring of teeth meant to show one’s strength or size. Clearly, laughing or even smiling can be both friendly (thereby also inclusive of others) Ð and hostile (exclusive).

2. c. What is Amusing? The older Norwegian records dealing with masks at Christmas make few attempts to explain what was so amusing about people wearing disguise. Often, they just make statements like the following: Julebukfylgje gaar berre for aa ha moro og laga moro der dei kjem (Etnedal, Oppland OoS 1937). (The julebukk-company sets out to have fun and cause merriment wherever they go.) It seems to be that simply the act of dressing up in as ugly, old and/ or strange clothes as possible and then behaving oddly was seen as being “fun” or amusing. The same applied to making as much noise as possible; behaving like an animal (butting and bleating like a julebukk, that is, like a goat); splashing water all over people; dancing strange dances; changing roles or cross-dressing (girls wearing boys’ clothes and vice versa); and distorting your voice and introducing each other with unusual names (on the latter, see, for example, NFS: Kr. Bugge 5: 95Ð96 about a custom in Valdres and in Norwegian towns around 1909). The julebukk was supposed to act like a stranger, but also to be comical, as several records note. Furthermore, it seems that role-play was important, as the following record from Trysil in Hedmark, shows: Dei ”vende bort” målet sitt, gav seg ut for langfarande og freista halde ”rolla” si i det lengste. For borna kunne dei nok gå for langframmande, men far og mor kjende dei att straks dei kom i døra. Det vart samtale så morosam dei kunne få ho til, det var om å gjera vera ”snartenkt” (Floden 1968: 286–287). (They distorted their voices, pretended to come from a remote place23 and tried to keep up their roles for as long as possible. The children could take them as strangers from far off, but father and mother would recognise them as soon as they came to the door. They made their conversation as amusing as possible: it was important to have a glib tongue.)24 Simply concealing your own identity was “amusing”: some records note that a struggle often took place because the hosts wanted to discover the identity of their masked visitors who were distorting their voices and making lively and amusing conversation (see, for example, Mo, Telemark: OoS 1937). Some-

23 On this element of pretending to be figures (often supernatural) that come from some distance away, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and the North Atlan- tic. 24 On this feature, see further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on “mask-talk” elsewhere in this volume. 518 Christine Eike times the mumming company are said to have had a leader whose job was to act as spokesman and make people laugh at his witty remarks. The end of the Christmas period25 was also sometimes marked in an amusing way, as the following account states: ”Han Knut jaga jula ut” (6/1). Daa kunde det henda, at einkvan ”komersmakar” gav seg til aa fara gard etter gard og ”jaga jula ut. ” – faa den siste joledrammen! Gamle Ola Eiriksson Grane i Vefsn var aarviss ”Knut” i mange aar til stor morro, der han for (from Vefsn, Nordland: OoS 1931). (Knut chases out Christmas [6/1]. Then it could happen that one prankster or another would go round farms to “chase out Christmas” – to get the last drops of the Christ- mas alcohol. Old Ola Eiriksson Grane in Vefsn was a “Knut” for years, and people had lots of fun wherever he came.) As can be seen in this account and those to do with school traditions, merely drinking a large amount of alcohol was regarded as being great fun, especially if the masked figures were youngsters. The whipping which took place at both Christmas and Easter would obviously also make a lot of people laugh. One example from Hadsel in Nordland runs as follows: Nokre unge sprake gutar kledde seg ut og med eit ris i handa for dei med maske jo- lenatta inn i framande hus og vilde gje ”jul-skåka”. Dei for frå rum til rum og dengde og ende ikkje fyrr dei kom åt sjølvfolket. Det heile løyste seg upp i latter, og på slu- ten vanka det både dram og noko attåt. (Dei valde seg alltid ut hus der dei viste dei var velkomne.) Dette var so seint som 1908Ð12, og sovidt eg hugser kallast desse for ”Julsveinan” (OoS 1931). (Some lively young lads dressed themselves up in disguise with masks and a bunch of twigs in their hands, and came into other people’s houses on Christmas night, wanting to give julskåka. They hurried from one room to another thrashing and did not stop until they came to the farm owners. The whole thing broke up in laughter, and in the end they got a dram and something to eat. [They always chose houses where they knew they would be welcome.] This was done as late as 1908Ð12, and as far as I remember they were called “Julsveinan” [Christmas Lads]). As noted earlier, it would also be fun at Easter to take other people by surprise by putting a straw or wooden figure called Gullmund in their beds or in front of their doors.26 In Vestfold, this formed a kind of competition between girls and boys. It seems here that teasing each other, both at Christmas and at weddings, was something else that was regarded as “fun”. People clearly enjoyed making fools of others, but usually not in any malicious manner. It seems that this was therefore more of an inclusive than an exclusive game activity in a community. From Gudbrandsdalen in Oppland, there are references to an old custom called Trono-leiken27 which shows similar tendencies. In some places this

25 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 26 See further the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus elsewhere in this volume for related customs. 27 For possibly related customs (to do with traner/ tranor [cranes]), see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 519 would take place on March 24, Good Friday, or January 13. The barbaric fashion in which the participants created noise and merriment is effectively illustrated in the following record: Trono va utklædd som kvinnfolk, i ei lo’e gjeitskinntrøye, med store hønn paa hugude og ei kalvrompe baka’te – tess styggare, tess grummare. Attaat Tronon skulde de vera ein ”Skjeggjemann”, ein som ha eit avraa’e stort, graat skjegg og derte ha hamsa paa se de fælaste, han raakaa paa, te klæ’bona. Han og Trono skulde nok vera som parfolk og ”Skjeggjemann” va den som førde or’e der døm fór, og skulde de bli retteleg moro ’taa, laut han vera lentog og vel forr se te aa finne paa eitkvart saa leiken ikje dovna av. De va avtaala kvar Tronoleiken skulde begjynde, og der samla de se ein heil haug med folk som fylgde Tronon og Skjeggjemanne. Heile rei’e gjekk gar’tals med ein spelmann fyri, og kvar døm kom vart det grovt te stim og staak og det vart slikt hus paa kvar gar d¿m kom inn, at de bar uto. Trono sj¿l og Skjeggje- mann tok se over med mest kva de skulde vera og spaaraa ingen; leiken vart ofte har’leg vill og aagaalous og va ikje alle ti’enn korkje fin hell heilt ut søm’leg, tess villar og verre stime og staake gjekk, tess gjildare Tronokvell va de. Denne leiken ser ut te aa ha halde se framette te umkring 1825 (Kleiven 1915: 152). (Trono was rigged out as a woman in a goatskin, with big horns on his head and a calf tail at the back Ð the uglier, the better. Trono should be accompanied by a “Beard Man”, a figure who had a huge grey beard and was dressed in the most horrible clothes he could find. He and Trono should be like a pair, and Beard Man was the one who acted as their spokesman wherever they went, and if they wanted to have a great deal of fun, he had to be jocose and inventive so that the game could continue. They made an agreement where the Trono-game should start, and loads of people would follow Trono and Beard Man. The whole procession would then go around the farms with a fiddler in front of them, and wherever they came there would be a lot of noise and bustle, and everywhere they would wreak havoc in a rather mischievous way. Trono herself and Beard Man took a great deal of liberties and did not spare anyone; the game was often wonderfully wild and ruthless and was not always very nice or decent either: the wilder and the worse the noise and bustle were, the better the Trono evening was. This game seems to have gone on until about 1825.) The last comments seem also to imply certain erotic behaviour, something well known in masking customs all around the world.28 It might be noted that the earlier Norwegian records rarely mention such sexual overtones, probably owing to puritanical attitudes on the part of some of the older informants. The earlier Norwegian records talk specifically about the fun and the amusement that took place in connection with masks and other forms of disguise at weddings (see figs 1.12Ð1.13 and 9.2Ð9.5). While Christmas mumming (the julebukk and julegeit) often had serious overtones in Norway because they were still closely linked to spirits by the same name (see section 1. b. above), those accounts dealing with masks at weddings leave no doubt about the priorities: merriment came first. The disguised guests, often men, would be given a special supply of strong alcohol in order to increase the degree of amusement. They might then come up with all sorts of original ideas, like

28 See further the article on eroticism in mumming by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 520 Christine Eike dancing with a little corner cupboard on their backs, the door opening and closing as the dance went on (as, for example, occurred in Grong, Nord-Tr¿ndelag: OoS 1937). One record from Hardanger from the late nineteenth century gives a lively picture of what these figures could do: Tredje Dags Morgen eller Fridagen, som den kaldtes, blev alle Gjæsterne beværtede paa Sengen i Lighed med de foregaaende. Denne Dag gik det især lystigt til, da man nu var fri for alle paabudne Seremonier og Skikke. Spillemanden spilled op til Dans, hvori baade unge og gamle deltog af Hjertens Lyst. Der blev nu spist og drukket, danset og turet af alle Kræfter, og baade Brudefolk og Værtfolk gjorde sig al mulig Flid for at alt kunde blive saa morsomt som muligt. Altslags Paafund kommer den Dag til Udførelse, og jo galere jo bedre. Somme klæder sig ud som Negre, tatere eller rene Bergtrold og holder med stor H¿itidelighed sit Indtog i Brudehuset, andre forklæder sig som Soldater og Officerer med uhyre Maver, der skal kommandere dem, atter andre fælder store Træer og slæber ind i Brudehuset, ja tildels rev man endog ned hele Kværnhus og bar ind i Stuen og opførte dem paa nyt der med Kværne og Kværnkadl og fulde Greier. I slige Tilfælde maatte Brudgommen frem og akkor- dere med Bygningsmændene eller hvem det nu var om at gjøre Stuen ryddig igjen, og efter mange og lange Underhandlinger enedes man da om et bestemt Vederlag, helst bestaaende af Brændevin eller Øl, hvorefeter Huset eller Træstokkene eller hvad det nu kunde være slæbtes udigjen. Brudgommen maatte altid give efter og in- drømme de urimeligste Forlangender, til stor Gamen for de andre Gjæster… Da alle endelig er komne til Ro, sniger der sig endel Tyve omkring, ransager alle Soveværel- ser og stjæler hele Sække fulde med Støvler og Sko. Fjerdedags Morgen, da Gjæs- terne staar op, har de allesammen mistet sine Sko; mens de nu leder efter dem, h¿rer de Latter og St¿i ude i Gaarden, og ved at se did erfarer de, at en selvbestaltet Lens- mand oplæser Kondisjonerne for Salget af en hel Del Sko, som derefter opraabes og udsælges til vedkommende Eiermand i dyre Domme (Haukenæs 1885: 164–165). (On the third day, the “free day” as they called it, the guests were served in bed, as occurred on the other days. On this day, the merriment reached a peak, because now you were free from all the prescribed ceremonies and customs. The fiddler started playing for a dance and both young and old would participate with great joy. They drank and ate and danced and feasted as much as they could; both the bride and bridegroom and the hosts would make a great effort to ensure that everything was as much fun as possible. All sorts of ideas are acted out on this day: the crazier the better. Some dress up as Negroes, travellers or pure mountain trolls and make their entry to the wedding house farm with great solemnity; others dress up as soldiers and officers, those who command them having big stomachs, while yet others cut down big trees and drag them into the wedding house; yes, sometimes they even tore down whole water mills and built them up again in the living room with the mill, the mill- stone and everything. In these cases the bridegroom had to negotiate with those who did the building, or whoever, to clean up the room again, and after many long discussions, they agreed upon a price, preferably spirits and beer, whereupon the building, the logs or whatever would be dragged out again. The bridegroom always had to give in and agree to the most unreasonable demands, which was great fun for the other guests…. When everybody eventually goes to bed, a few thieves come sneaking around, searching the bedrooms and stealing whole sacks full of shoes and boots. On the morning of the fourth day, when everybody gets up, everyone has lost their shoes; and while they are searching for them, they hear noise and laughter out in the yard. Looking in this direction, they see a self-elected bailiff reading the conditions for the sale of a whole pile of shoes, which then are called out and sold back to the owner for a high price.) Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 521

As noted earlier, the wedding mummers could perform a whole play, and this too was regarded as a witty activity. In Eksingedalen in Hordaland (OoS 1937), the mummers had an etterbrur, a mock-bride and bridegroom who were rigged out in as ugly and inventive a fashion as possible, in order to ensure that nobody would know who they were.29 Then a mock priest would marry them and make a speech which had to be as funny, witty and as full of nonsense as possible. Indeed the record states that it was an art, an honour even, to perform this ceremony, ensuring that the guests had fun. In the end, the priest would wish the “couple” the opposite of what one would usually wish a real couple. They could also make fun of a court session. It is obvious that the ceremony itself was being satirised, everything being turned upside down, as regularly occurs in carnival activities in other places in Europe. Several records from Sogn og Fjordane and S¿r- and Nord-Tr¿ndelag also provide hints that certain particular people were known for putting on a good show, for example, acting tramps selling objects. It was also regarded as great entertainment if someone came disguised in old clothes, dancing merrily and then contriving to carry out cures on the prospective wedding couple, and tell their fortune (Kyrkjeb¿, Sogn og Fjordane: OoS 1937). From Kvam, in Nord-Tr¿ndelag (OoS 1937), one account tells how some of the guests would sneak over to the neighbouring farm, and there dress up (for example, in military costume), before holding a session where they would order both the bride and the most distinguished ladies to join the cavalry, making them try out a gallop while the fiddler played. Once again, we see here the way in which turning roles and norms upside down was seen as particular fun. Indeed, the wedding mummers could also turn things around by coming as an orchestra with all sorts of weird instruments. At one wedding, they are said to have had fun with one person dressing up as a bear, the previous informant writes. All of this was done for the purpose of entertaining the guests, he says. To give another example from Stryn in Sogn og Fjordane (OoS 1937), some of the guests, young men in disguise, are said to come often as goats with horns and animal skins, playing all sorts of practical jokes such as dragging an entire boat up to the wedding farm, just for the fun of it. Finally, in Troms, people are described as dressing up the bride and bridegroom in all sorts of ugly and exaggerated clothes, cross-dressing them being a particular part of the fun (Hilles¿y, and Lenvik OoS 1937). In the records given above, some of the guests are obviously the actors. However, there are also a large number of records dealing with those uninvited guests who would come to the wedding farm as “watchers”: the custom called skotring in the western part of Norway (see section 1. a. ii. above). It is possible to sense an old pattern of social control here (see Eike 1980: 260), but the records themselves underline the key importance of “fun”. In Ringebu in Opp-

29 On such mock weddings, see further the article by Eva Knuts elsewhere in this volume, and also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark (regarding the figure of the Julebisp). 522 Christine Eike land (OoS 1937), for example, these figures would come dressed up as comically as their imagination would allow. They would then be welcomed and treated with food and drink, everybody having a lot of fun with them. We are informed that uninvited guests in Hardanger (Granvin: OoS 1937), who were often cross-dressed in ugly clothes and masks, would come not only to take part in the dance but also to have fun with the guests and make them all laugh. It is also worth quoting the following record from Hemne, S¿r-Tr¿ndelag: Å gå i bryllaupsgarden som ettergangar var vanleg i gammal tid, og skikken heldt seg ned mot siste hundreårsskiftet. Ettergangarne var folk utafor ”bauslaget” og slekta. Dei kom gjerne til gards når dansen tok til. Ofte var dei utkledde som fille- fantar og kunne ha dyremasker med horn. Dei vart sette til bords og måtte få både mat og skjenk. Fritalande kunne dei vera, men det var ikkje manns fakter ”å legg vet- te sitt attåt” det som ein ettergangar sa, så han kunne prate vekk. På den måten kunne ein galning eller ein eitil få sagt ting som han elles måtte teie med. Ettergangarane skulle og vera med i dansen, og det vart fortalt artige stubbar om slik dans. Somtid vart det slåsting og, men jamnast var det berre moro, slik det var tenkt (Sødal 1969: 102). (In the old days, it was common for people to go to the wedding farm as ettergangar, and this custom was kept alive until the turn of the last century [the nineteenth/ twentieth]. The ettergangar were people from outside the usual area of invited guests and the family. They usually came to the farm when the dance started. Often they were rigged out as tramps, and they could wear animal masks and horns. They would be seated at the table and had to get both food and drink. They could talk freely, but it was not usual to attach too much importance to what they said, so they could say what they liked. A madman could say things he would otherwise have to keep quiet about.30 The ettergangar should also participate in the dance: many amusing stories were told about this. Sometimes they could fight, but usually it was just good fun, as it should be.) More recent records, however, are more specific about what the “fun” involved with masks and mumming consists of. The following analysis and quotations are all based on the answers to questionnaire NEG (nr. 185) from 2000/ 200131 which, as noted earlier, deals with all sorts of disguise ranging from the traditional julebukk customs and skotring at weddings, to masquerades (both official and private), carnival activities and stag and hen parties. First of all, in these accounts, it is striking that the feature of amusement, entertainment and fun is mentioned considerably more often from the stand- point of the performer, that is the person in disguise, than from that of the spectator. The first priority here is definitely the fact that disguising oneself conceals one’s identity. In other words, remaining unknown, being anonymous, and thereby fooling others and seeing their resulting reaction is seen

30 An interesting parallel to this is seen in the Icelandic saga, ∏orleifs πáttur jarlsskálds (The Tale of ∏orleifur the Earl’s Poet), where a poet makes use of a julebukk-like disguise at a banquet to curse a Norwegian ruler: see Gunnell 1995a: 81, 85 and 126. Similar ideas are expressed by Shet- land islanders: see Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming). 31 I would like to stress particular thanks to Ane Ohrvik for providing me with the answers to this questionnaire which she and NEG composed and sent out. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 523 as a very important feature in “having fun” (mentioned, for example, in answers 34815, 34806, 34793, 34859, 34814, 34865, 34765, 34789, 34805, 34790 and 34945). Very often, the feeling involved is described as being one of joy at feeling different; changing identity; being somebody else and thereby gaining great liberty; and at being released from stiff conventions (34771, 34793, 34814, 34865, 34776, 34779, 34789, 35012, 35026 and 34944). The preparations for the mumming game and the secrecy which follows while preparing to “fool” others are also often mentioned (34775, 34806, 34793, 34779, 34776, 34789, 34790, 34791, 34940, 35029 and 34944). The same applies to the “game” itself with its ritualised rules: traditional customs such as those of going julebukk and skotring in a traditional way are said to be “great fun”. In this sense, at Christmas, it is important that the masked visitors distort their voices, talk freely, are cheeky and make jokes, or sing in exaggerated voices (34775, 34825, 34859, 34811, 34789, 34945, and 34944). In terms of weddings, people stress how the disguised visitors have fun with the newly married couple by imitating them, making caricatures of them, and surprising them with various kinds of amusing presents (34793, 34773, 34791 and 34790). The aspect of these traditions that might be seen as exclusive of others (underlining who is “out”) seems at the same time for the main part to have an inclusive element for the community itself: in other words, teasing, and mobbing others is often described as being “fun” (34792, 34775, 34785, 34793 and 34791). The definitely inclusive part of the tradition which is also mentioned as being “fun” is that of the way the activity builds bridges between all ages and all classes: everybody can take part, and everybody can be together. This applies to public masquerades and carnivals (34803), but is also mentioned in connection with the julebukk tradition as a means of strengthening team spirit between friends and neighbours (35068, 34806, 34771, 34774 and 34810). In- cluded in this is the fact that children get particular attention from grown-ups when disguising themselves as julebukker (34806). The use of imagination when preparing or using a costume and the bonus of receiving a prize for the best costume in a masquerade are also regarded as being good fun. Certain elderly people refer to a carnival in a home for the elderly as being especially amusing, because it allowed you to play again and be childish (34814). This feeling of playing roles and doing unusual things is emphasised several times. This brings us to those aspects mentioned as being fun for the spectators: first of all, the guessing of the identity of the masked visitors, and then, eventually, the removal of the mask; the excitement of the unknown being made known, and the surprise at discovering who is hidden behind the mask; and the release of tension (34810, 34774, 34765, 34798, 34790, 34825 and 34859). This last feature, of course, does not apply to the more recent forms of mumming in which the children at Christmas only slightly paint their faces, but do not really make any attempt to conceal anything, something that might eventu- 524 Christine Eike ally lead to the end of this seasonal custom.32 Furthermore, one has to take into account the fact that in urban societies people commonly do not know each other, which means there is little point in making others guess who they are. On the other hand, when a mask is used in private parties or at masquerades where small communities participate, the guessing once again makes sense. Another feature is that the use of creativity when a costume is invented naturally also gives joy to the spectators. One record describing the julebukk custom mentions that it was fun to see grown ups putting on fancy dress and watching them sing and play for others, seeing them change roles and do different things from usual (34804). It is worth giving some examples to illustrate the ideas mentioned above: respondent 34774, a male from Kongsvinger in Hedmark, born in 1928, makes the following reflections on Christmas customs past and present: Barnejulebukker gikk som regel med tanke på å få noe godis i posen eller veska som de bar med seg. Samme formålet har de få som går nå for tiden også. Jeg tror at hold- ningen til skikken har endret seg til negativ retning. F¿r var det avveksling og litt underholdning forbundet med bukkebes¿k av voksne. Ofte hadde bukkene med seg et trekkspill og skapte litt liv rundt seg. Det var også nesten selvfølge at de ble på- spandert en juledram, og at de hadde noe å by på til gjengjeld. Spennende var det å prøve å gjette hvem personen bak maska var. I dag føler jeg at en er litt utrygg ved å få besøk av maskerte personer. En vet ikke hva som er hensikten med bes¿ket, og ofte er de groteske og skremmende i maske- ringa. Det er for primitivt og vulgært når det gjelder fantasifulle masker. Ofte var det noen hederlige unntak ved at enkelte hadde lagt an på stilige klær og pene masker. De samme personer eller hele følget gikk kanskje med tanke på å fjerne maskene for å slå seg til ei stund etter å ha gjort seg ”kostbare” til å begynne med. Det kunne være bare moro og hyggelig å få vennebesøk på den måten. (Children usually went out as julebukker to get some goodies in the bags which they carried with them. The few that go today have the same purpose. I think that the attitude towards the custom has had a negative development. Earlier it made a change and was a form of entertainment when grown ups visited as julebukker. Often they had an accordion and made things lively around them. It went without saying that they were treated to a Christmas dram, and they gave something in exchange. It was exciting to guess who the person behind the mask was. Today I feel a little unsafe when visited by masked people. You don’t know what the purpose is, and often the masks are grotesque and frightening. It is too primitive and vulgar when it is a matter of fantastic masks. There often used to be certain good exceptions. Some aimed at smart clothes and beautiful masks. The same persons or even the whole company might perhaps go out with the intention of taking off their masks and sitting down somewhere, after having required a lot of urging to do so. It was just fun; it was really nice to get visited by friends in this way.) 34793, a female from Kvinnherad in Hordaland born in 1925 writes: Julebukk, Kvinnherad. Poenget og moroa var å kle seg ut slik at ingen kjende deg att! I dag har skikken auka sterkt på, og det kan vera store gruppar som går frå hus til

32 See the various other national Surveys of Masks and Mumming traditions, and also the article by Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch on traditions in the Åland Islands elsewhere in this volume. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 525

hus, med sine ryggsekker/ plastposar, for å samla ”gotteri”. Ofte m/ innøvde jule- sangar. Denne skikken er meir utbredd på Stord, der også vaksne kan kle seg fint ut som julebukk, elles deltar barn frå 3–4 år og oppover, til stor glede for mange. Poenget er å ikkje bli gjenkjendt. Som anonym kan du tillata mange morosame ”sprell”. Tradisjonen er ”uskyldig” og medfører moro, ikkje minst for deltakarne – det utviklar fantasien! (Julebukk, Kvinnherad. The main point and the fun were to disguise yourself in such a way that nobody recognised you! Today the custom has greatly increased, and there are large groups going from house to house, with their rucksacks/ plastic bags, to collect “goodies”. Often with rehearsed Christmas songs. This custom is more common on [the island of] Stord, where grown-ups can also dress up as julebukk; otherwise children from 3Ð4 years upwards participate to the joy and pleasure of everyone. The point is not to get recognised. When anonymous, you can carry out many funny pranks. The tradition is innocent and causes much fun, not least for the participants Ð it develops your imagination!) Regarding the wedding tradition, 34790, a male from Tingvoll in M¿re og Romsdal born in 1927 writes: Etteganger: I det store og heile vart det sett på som positivt å få Ettegangarar, og bru- defolket såg det som ei lita ære at nokon hugsa dei på denne måten. For det det vart alltid mykje liv å moro når desse ”gjestane” kom. og alle gjorde da kva dei kunne for å greie og avsløre kven det var. Difor var det styggeleg moro så lenge ein greidde å halde seg ukjendt. Kom avsløringa var det best å trekke seg attende…. Halve moroa for ettergangarane var ”vorspielet” før dei dro ut. Det kunne faktisk gå over fleire kveldar med maske og kostyme arbeid. Og så var det viktigt at ikkje uvedkomande fekk vete om det. (Etteganger: On the whole it was regarded as positive to get Ettegangarar. The couple thought it an honour to be paid attention to in this way because there was always much fun and life when these “guests” arrived, and everybody did what they could to find out who they were. Therefore it was real fun as long as you managed to remain unknown. Once revealed, it was best to withdraw…. Half the fun for the ettegangar was the warming-up before they went. Actually this could extend for several evenings with all the mask and costume work. And it was important that outsiders did not get to know about it.) Respondent 34791, a woman born in 1938, writes at length about the same custom from Voss in Hordaland, saying that her best and most amusing childhood memories are of all the comic and inventive ideas of the skotrarar at traditional weddings, where these uninvited guests would be welcomed by the guests themselves with great applause. Finally, we have a record about a carnival in an old people’s home, written by respondent 34814, a woman born in Oslo in 1919: Karneval på eldresenteret: Det startet med at noen av oss fikk lyst til å begynne med karneval – de fleste var redde for å dumme seg ut – typisk – men da de senere hørte hvor morsomt vi ”barns- lige” hadde hatt det – ble det noen helt flotte kvelder i senteret vårt – med musikk og dans, bevertning og moro – den eldste var over 90 år. – Når man kler seg ut og utgir seg for en annen – så tror jeg man frigjør seg og oplever seg selv på en ny måte – ? – Det blir en ny og oplivende atmosfære – en paryk og litt sminke forandrer jo en 526 Christine Eike

person fullstendig. Jeg mottok gamle venner ved inngangen til Sentret og ble ikke gjenkjendt før det var gått en god stund. Alle virket så frigjorte – og jeg tror det sprer glede med slike anledninger. Neste februar trår vi til igjen – tross alder og svak- heter Ð (Carnival at the Old People’s Home: It all started when some of us wanted to start a carnival Ð most people were afraid to make fools of themselves Ð typical Ð but then later, when they heard how much fun we “childish” ones had had – there were some splendid evenings at our centre – with music and dance, food and drinks and fun Ð the oldest was over 90 years old. Ð When you put on fancy dress and pretend to be somebody else Ð then, I think, you free yourself and experience yourself in a new way Ð a new and vitalising atmosphere comes into being Ð a wig and some face paint changes a person totally. I received some old friends at the entrance to the Home and was not recognised for a great span of time. Everybody seemed so free Ð and I think this causes a lot of joy at these occasions. Next February we’ll start again – in spite of age and weaknesses –)

2. d. Why are Disguise and Masks Amusing? Most records, understandably, do not mention why people think it is “fun” or amusing to dress up, to come in disguise, or to wear masks. It is mostly an unconscious decision for both participants and spectators. It is necessary to draw on other research to find out more about what is going on here. Nonetheless, the findings of researchers in other countries are very relevant to the conditions in Norway, essentially because we are dealing here with some very fundamental human phenomena. As I have stressed, the two main periods connected with masks and disguise in Norway are Christmas and weddings, both of which reflect a kind of crisis: the first a calendrical crisis, a crisis which takes place at the darkest period of the year; and the latter a life-crisis where individuals pass on into a new stage in life. Both periods have many of the features attributed to “liminality”, a term based on the French ethnologist and folklorist Arnold van Gennep’s concept of the “liminal phase” from his book Rites de passage (1909).33 Liminality was later adopted and further developed by the anthropologist Victor Turner. Turner builds on the central of the three phases of van Gennep’s rites of passage: the threshold, the phase and state of being “betwixt and between”, in moments that are in and out of time, and in and out of the secular social structure (Turner 1995: 94Ð96, 166Ð168; 1992: 25Ð26). Here we commonly find, among other things, aspects of transition, masking, totality, homogeneity, equality, anonymity, ambiguity, status reversal, and humiliation. Instead of experiencing the usual situation that exists in a structured and often very hierarchical society, we at such times step into a society of equals, gaining a shared feeling of what Turner calls communitas. In these transitional periods, the neophyte (in life-crisis rites) is rendered “down into some kind of human prima materia”

33 See further the articles by Mari Kulmanen, Kristín Einarsdóttir and Terry Gunnell elsewhere in this volume, all of which employ these concepts in connection with mumming activities. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 527

(Turner 1995: 170) “to be fashioned anew and endowed with additional powers to enable them to cope with their new station in life” (Turner 1995: 95). In calendrical rites, we often find mock role-play that breaks down all roles, and induces status reversal, thereby liberating both men and women from their usual status (Turner 1995: 188), a condition which can be experienced both as ecstatic and a release (Turner 195: 188; 201). In other words, the loss of identity and opening up of fixed personality which is found in mumming customs can be experienced (depending on conditions and framework) either as something that is threatening and dangerous which causes fright, or as something that is humorous and amusing which causes joy and pleasure by offering all the possibilities daily life does not provide. If this is experienced as a release it will be “fun”. The Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin stresses that medieval laughter in carnival was a victory over fright (Bachtin 1991: 98), a game that provides a very different world and life, a free and all-embracing life, a utopia which offers renewal and rebirth with great potential for the future. To Bakhtin’s mind, the mask, one of the most complex motifs of popular folk culture, is connected with the joy of change and restructuring, happy relativity, and a happy negation of identity and unambiguousness. It is connected with transition, metamorphosis, and violations of natural boundaries by making fun of them. The mask, according to Bakhtin, embodies the principle of game in life (Bachtin 1991: 49). Henri Bergson (1910: 40Ð44), on the other hand, maintains that a disguise and mask make us laugh because they make us realise the stiffness that all forms of clothing give the body, creating a mechanical distor- tion of life. For Bergson, laughter has the function of correcting all mechanical stiffness in life. Furthermore, in his eyes, laughter lacks sympathy or love: laughter frightens the victim by humiliating him/ her, and there is a great deal of malice involved. To Bergson’s mind, nature thus uses wickedness for a good purpose (Bergson 1910: 169Ð172). For my own part, I would like to add that it is quite obvious that some types of popular costume and disguise are mostly regarded as amusing, while others are never greeted with laughter. Returning to Norway, the Jonsokbryllup, the children’s mock-weddings performed at St Hans (St John’s Eve) or midsummer (see map 1.5 and figs 1.8 and 1.9),34 are never described as being amusing or fun. The festival is said to have been “kjekk – den kjekkaste dagen i året” (the nicest day of the year) or the greatest time of the year mainly because then children could dress up beautifully like grown-ups. Only once in the records is the mock wedding described as amusing (“noko av det løgnaste eg har vore med på”: lit. “one of the most amusing things I have taken part in”), in reference to a time when grown ups celebrated the children’s feast in 1945 in Stana, Hardanger. To mark this midsummer feast which took place after peace had returned to Norway, the adults planned something unusual, in other words they intended to act out “a real wedding”, with a “priest” and the entire accompany-

34 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 528 Christine Eike ing ceremony. In this case, grown ups took on children’s roles, acting like them, but, of course, making use of speech and more, something that was a little more advanced than children would normally be able to manage. This was obviously seen as being very funny, since the whole procession was trying to oppress their laughter as the “ceremony” was performed (Odda: a man born in 1915: 34782). In other words, this particular occasion was quite different from the usual custom involving children, where grown ups only give a helping hand, but do not play the roles of bride and bridegroom themselves. Another figure that is not described as amusing is the Norwegian nisse (Santa Claus). The same applies to those children walking around as St Lucia and her followers on December 13.35 Many people say that this latter custom is “en vakker skikk” (a beautiful custom), but not something that is “fun” or amusing. It is probably too solemn, and perhaps too institutionalised today. In short, “good” elements like the children representing midsummer, flowers and love; the gift-giving old man with a beard (to some extent a de- scendant of St Nicholas); and those children representing the light-giving, beneficent St Lucia do not seem to awaken people’s sense of humour, neither among the participants nor the spectators. What needs to be present for a disguise to be amusing seems to be the opposite side: the “bad”, the slightly devilish, or the “old fool”: Harlequin, Pantalone and the burlesque. This feature was, of course, already true in all folk theatre as far back as the time of the medieval plays performed in front of churches in Germany, France and Eng- land, and it is still true in our own times. In many ways, Bergson is correct. No wonder the Devil on the European mainland often became a comic figure, since he borrowed many of his attributes from the age-old folk masks of the Middle Ages.

3. Conclusion Masks and disguise and their comic attributes have changed over time and so have their functions. While traditional mumming customs were mostly found in rural districts in the past, disguise in Norway is now mainly an urban phenomenon which has spread out from the towns in the form of traditions like the stag and hen parties, Halloween or school graduation traditions. In past times, masks stood at the gateway of the sacred realm. In modern times, they have become almost totally secularised. Furthermore, nowadays, the individual is the centre of attention, rather than society or the community. Personal limits are tried and norms transgressed for the sake of the individual. The individual persona is in a way stripped, put in the pillory, and held up to ridicule to be moulded anew. This should come as no surprise when we consider that since

35 On this tradition, see further the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Disguise as Ritualised Humour in Norway 529 the 1960s we have become ever more occupied with demands of self-realisation, the claim of “becoming oneself” becoming a new kind of “religion”. We are more than ever aware that personality and individuality is a process, highly dependant on personal choice, not a fixed and frozen status quo, a role defined by the surrounding society or imposed on us by the elder members of the community. Reintegration (the third and final phase of van Gennep’s rites de passage) is therefore today no longer a reincorporation into a higher level of society, but rather the idea that an individual has grown in experience. What is nonetheless surprising is the fact that the Norwegian school pre-graduation traditions, mostly developed as an urban phenomenon in a technologically “complex” society during the twentieth century, contain such striking likenesses to the aspects of liminality and communitas (see section 2. d. above) of the transitional phase in technologically “simpler” societies.36 Among other things one can point to the features of nakedness, uniforms, and close comradeship within the group. Other parallels can be seen in the elements of ritual humiliation in stag and hen parties. Nonetheless, some attributes remain consistent. The age-old popular humour caused by the misplacement of food, and the emphasis on drink and sexual organs is still highly present in today’s russeskikker in Norwegian schools and stag and hen parties. As Carsten Bregenh¿j has noted, humour and the comical consist of three elements: surprise, the breaking of norms, and exaggeration (Bregenh¿j 1996: 200). Disguise and the use of masks in public were, and are, signals to the fact that other rules now dominate; that one can do abnormal things; and that everything is different. They define time and space as a playground; a could-be or would-be reality. The rules experienced here are fundamentally different from those encountered in normal, daily life since everything is turned upside down. Nonetheless, rules still exist, not least because the interaction between the masked visitors and those visited, between those in disguise and their audience, has a clear pattern, and can therefore be called a ritualised action.37 Masking is also a time of creativity. One changes identity by putting on other clothes or a mask. In a sense, one goes back to the “womb” to re-emerge as something different, both as an individual and as a member of a community. Masks are also an archetype: they are found at all times and in all places. They represent links to our forefathers in times gone past; and to other people all around the globe, both past and present. Masks and disguise do not spring from boredom. Nor do they have a simple function of pastime and entertainment. With all their ambiguity, their possibilities of the sacred and the anti-sacred, of seriousness and play, and of awe and laughter, they touch a chord of pulsat- ing life in all its complexity. As we know, tears and laughter are a shared characteristic of the entire human species. In a similar way, the mask has the

36 See further the article by Terry Gunnell on Icelandic pre-graduation traditions elsewhere in this volume. 37 See further the article on “mask-talk” by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume. 530 Christine Eike potential of both tragedy and comedy, which are but two sides of the same thing: human transformation.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following questionnaires are referred to in this survey: OoS (Ord og Sed) questionnaires: 1931: Tradisjon um overnaturlege skapnader. 1937: Jolebukk og brudlaupsbukk. NEG (Norsk Etnologisk Gransking) questionnaires: 1994: (særemne) nr. 28: Utdrikningslag 1997: nr. 174: Russetid – russeklær 2000: nr. 185: Utkledning og masker

Eros in Disguise 531 Eros in Disguise Eroticism in Mumming Interaction1 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

Mumming is known in Finland in only a few places, primarily in the western region that was longest under Swedish rule and hence subjected to most Nordic influence (Bregenh¿j-Vento 1975: 16), although there used to be a smuutta tradition of Eastern origin in north Karelia, near the border with Russia.2 In the beginning of January 1973 and 1974, I was able to observe the nuutipukki3 tradition (lit. Nuutti goat tradition, referring to the mumming that takes place on St Knut’s [Nuutti] Eve or Day).4 I worked with Carsten Bregenh¿j and a fieldwork team from Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKS: the Finnish Litera- ture Society) in the villages of Kiikka and Keikyä, which have belonged to the municipality of Äetsä in south-west Finland since 1981. There I photographed mummers who appeared in the village streets as soon as dusk began to fall. I still recall how incredible it seemed as the headlights of our car picked out the first disguised children in January 1973: it showed that mumming really was a living, spontaneous tradition! My first interviewees were young adults whose mumming we were able to follow for the space of one evening. One thing I noted, even then, was that these young women had tremendous fun dressing up. The following year, my husband and I had a chance to go round with a group of adult mummers on our own (fig. 10. 1), and it was soon obvious to me that there was definitely a playful charge among the members of the group expressing the fun they expected to get from acting erotically. In January 2002, nearly thirty years later, I was able to supplement my observations with further interviews conducted in the same region. Obviously, having a little erotic fun in the course of mumming is by no means confined to Finland, but since I wish to focus on the way people behave and what they say, I will be concentrating on my personal field experiences.

1 All translations from the Finnish in this article are by Susan Sinisalo. 2 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this book. 3 As noted in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia, the spelling of this word varies: elsewhere one sees, for example, spellings like knuutipukki, nuutipukki and nuuttipukki. 4 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia, and the article by Mari Kulmanen elsewhere in this volume.

532 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

Dressing Up Masking oneself as a mummer is an attempt to become an “other”. By this I mean that the mummer brings out personal attributes that are normally hidden or latent in a day-to-day environment. In getting ready for the evening, the mummers dress in out-of-the-ordinary clothes, such as a coat turned inside out, a long, old-fashioned skirt and frilly blouse, or their father’s sheepskin coat. Completing the outfit is a colourful home-made mask of cardboard, a nylon stocking, or the sleeve of a vest (see figs 10.1 and 10.2). The preparations help to turn thoughts away from everyday reality to the roles the performers wish to assume. Since the mummers have ready-made traditional models from previous years to choose from, as a rule they do not need long to prepare. Indeed, they will have been saving their old clothes with a view to future mumming. People often impressed upon me that their decision to join the group had been spontaneous. The following is an excerpt from the dialogue between the young women from our contact family who dressed up as lascivious ladies, their dressers and the author. It was recorded in 1973:

AK-B: Komeat on kuteet. Emäntä: Ja kuulkaa ihan niin viiden minuutin aikana… 2. nuuttipukki (keskeyttäen): … Äsken juuri sanottiin, että mennäänpä… naapurissa käymään ja…. 3. nuuttipukki: Yhtäkkiä vedettiin vaatteet päälle. (Naurua.) AK-B: Minkä takia te kierrätte? 1. nuuttipukki: Se on se huvi. On hienoa, kun siellä nauretaan. (Naurua.)

Fig. 10.1: Ready for the rounds: Maritta Vainiomäki, a female friend of hers dressed as a man, Liisa Vainiomäki and Carsten Bregenhøj, in Keikyä parish, Finland: January 7, 1974. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

Eros in Disguise 533

Fig. 10.2: Liisa Vainiomäki dresses her daughter Maritta up to go around with two female friends: Keikyä parish, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j.) (Courte- sy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

Emäntä: Ne ovat muuten vanhojapiikoja, niin heillekin joku huvi. (Yleinen naurunrähäkkä.) 1. nuuttipukki: Mutta älä nyt ihan heti, niin kaikkia esittele. (Naurua.) AK-B: No mutta kyllä tässä nyt on hyvät mahdollisuudet, kun tuon näköisenä lähtee. (Kaikki puhuvat ja nauravat yhteen ääneen.) 1. nuuttipukki: Ei kun minä luulen, että häipyvät kaikki. Isäntä: Kyllä nyt häviävät loputkin mahdollisuudet, kun menee, vai? 2. nuuttipukki: tai… 3. nuuttipukki: Kyllä jos tunnetaan (SKSÄ 20, 3–6: 1973).

(AK-B: Magnificent clothes you’ve got! Hostess: And all in the space of five minutes… 2nd mummer (interrupting): … Someone just said, “Why don’t we go … and see what’s happening next door…?” 3rd mummer: And we just threw these clothes on. (Laughter.) AK-B: Why do you go mumming? 1st mummer: ’Cos it’s fun. It’s great when people laugh. (Laughter.) Hostess: These poor old maids Ð need a spot of fun. (General gust of laughter.) 1st mummer: But take care you don«t give them your all. (Laughter.) AK-B: Well I reckon you’ve got a good chance, looking like that. (People all speaking and laughing at once.) 1st mummer: No, I expect they’ll all vanish into thin air. Host: Your last chances, you mean? 2nd or 3rd mummer: Yes, once they realise who we are.)

These young women (aged about 15Ð25) had dressed up as women but had emphasised their feminine charms with long skirts, lacy blouses and false plaits,

534 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j and slightly overdone their lascivious curves. Indeed, overacting is all part of the fun of mumming: One of the comments I overheard at a house we visited was: “Sill on vähä liian suuret tisut, kyllä on vähän liian isot tisut on tolla….” (lit: Her tits are a bit too big; her tits really are too big….) On the basis of our observations and subsequent interviews, it was clearly common in this region to dress up in clothes belonging to the opposite sex. The conversation just reported continued as follows:

AK-B: Onko tavallista, että on naamarit mukana? Kaikki: Tottakai. 1. nuuttipukki: Katsotaan heti kasvonpiirteet että…. 2. nuuttipukki: Ettei tunneta. Sehän tässä jännittävää onkin, etteivät ihmiset tunne. 1. nuuttipukki: Oikein se on hienoa, kun toiset pelkäävät että… kun ei tiedä mikä tuolla sisällä (Yleinen naurunrähäkkä.) Isäntä: Paljon tehdään sillä tavalla, että mies vaatetetaan naiseksi ja nainen mieheksi… (SKSÄ 20, 3–6.1973).

(AK-B: Is it common to wear a mask? All: Of course. 1st mummer: Your face is the first thing they look at…. 2nd mummer: So people don’t recognise you. That’s what makes it so exciting – not knowing what’s inside. 1st mummer: It’s really great when people are anxious that… when they do not know what is inside!!! (General outburst of guffaws.) Host: Often a man will dress up as a woman and a woman as a man.)

Cross-dressing of this kind is a very common mumming model throughout the Nordic countries and elsewhere in the world wherever there are house-visiting traditions (see Bregenh¿j 1974: 28; and Gunnell 1995a: 151), or masking in general is known (Tokofsky 1997: 537). Furthermore, when a woman dresses up as a man (see fig. 10.1), she naturally begins to behave like a man as well: she might smoke; accept a glass of schnapps if offered (as one of our interviewees reported her mother as doing, even though in fact she was only pretending to drink from the bottle offered to her); or ask someone to dance at the mummers’ ball. As the performers note, masculine behaviour “saatiin sitten se rooli näyttämään paremmin todelta” (made the role look more real: SKSÄ 19: 1973). Another way of underlining masculinity might be for a woman to hide a soft, old carrot in her trousers because the audience might try to check whether she really was a man, even though touching the mummers was usually prohibited. If the women have fun dressing up as men, there are even more erotic overtones when a man is disguised as a woman (see figs 3.7 and 10.1). The reason is no doubt that men have far fewer opportunities to play at being women in everyday life. Indeed, such behaviour has even been branded as perverted, whereas ever since the advent of the trouser suit in the 1960s, for example, women’s fashions have regularly incorporated features that are clearly masculine. One Finnish mummer I interviewed who was in the habit of dressing up

Eros in Disguise 535 as a woman said it was “nautinnollinen hetki” (a most gratifying moment) when someone he knew tried to find out who “she” really was and failed to realise “she” was a man. He said he got most fun of all from being “rohkea, kypsä nainen” (a brazen, mature woman) whose feminine traits he could exag- gerate in his clothing, make-up and behaviour: this might mean thrusting his breasts and pelvis forward or raising his skirts. When I interviewed the same man again in January 2002, he was very happy and amused to recall dressing up as a woman a couple of decades before. His wife also laughed, saying that she too had fun dressing up as a man and misleading people at the dance. In a more serious vein, she then went on to say that going round as a mummer had also helped her to behave just as she pleases even when she is not wearing a mask (TKU/A/02/12 B and TKU/A/02/13 A).

Mumming Behaviour How does an adult mummer behave? In the visit we observed, the boldest of the three women Ð the one nearest in age to an old maid Ð threw her arms around the head of the household at the end of their visit. Although hugging was not considered improper in the Finland of the 1970s, it had not yet become a natural element of everyday conduct; furthermore, the woman was clearly younger than the man, and unmarried. Behaviour permissible for a mummer would thus have violated the normal conventions of the time (see figs 10.3Ð 10.6; cf. figs 3.19, 5.8 and 6.14). The sustained laughter from the man’s wife, and her comment, “Kato nyt, voi hyvänen aika!” (Just look at that! Would you believe it!), proved that she, too, felt the gesture was rather bold and therefore amusing. When we personally went visiting with an adult group in 1974, dressed as mummers and without a camera, we found the atmosphere very free and easy. Members of the households we visited (and other mummers too) might equally invite us to give them a hug or sit on their knees. The dialogue was captured on a tape recorder hidden in my husband’s clothes. The youngest member of our group was the fifteen-year-old daughter of our contact family, who kept flaunt- ing her enormous padded breasts. The host family and the young men of about twenty who were visiting them commented on her posturing with expressions like the following: “Toi on aika vamppi toi yks” (That one there’s a real vamp!); “On ne läskitkin menny oikeaan kohtaan!” (She’s plump in all the right places!); “Älkää vaan tota meiän isää vikitelkö” (No making eyes at our old man now!); and “Kutiaaks niitä, vai oletko sä kiimassa?” (Feeling itchy are they [the breasts], or have you just got the hots?). The householders were in stitches throughout our visit which lasted maybe just under half an hour. Indeed, our contact family had told us when we set off that: “Kyllä meillä on hauskojakin paikkoja, kun sillä lailla ihmiset nauraa, että ne meinaa kuolla!” (Some of the places we go to are such fun, people nearly

536 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

Fig. 10.3: A Nuutti mummer takes the hostess Fig. 10.4: Joking with the daughter of the for a dance: Mouhijärvi parish, Finland, Janu- house: On mummers’ night, social intercourse ary 7, 1973. (Photo: Urpo Vento.) (Courtesy of was important. You could test anybody, and in Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folk- return find yourself the victim of various tests lore Archive of the Finnish Literature Socie- of wit: Mouhijärvi parish, Finland, January 7, ty].) 1973. (Photo: Susan Daughtry.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folk- lore Archive of the Finnish Literature Socie- ty].) die laughing!), referring to the fact that the mummers usually knew which houses were worth visiting. I noted in my field diary that two of the young lads ended up rolling about on the floor with laughter (SKSÄ 3: 1974). The mummers usually know the houses that will give them a good reception and appreciate the jesting peculiar to this particular evening. The interviews we made in January 2002 confirmed the observations of 1973 and 1974: there was definitely a sexual undercurrent running beneath the actions and conversations of the mummers and the hosts, and both parties quite obviously expected it.5 This element might take the form of silent flirting (TKU/A/02/12 A) or some other overture, such as a mummer popping a sweet into the host’s mouth (TKU/A/02/8). The situation might be summed up in views like the following: semmoista seikkailua kaikin puolin se on, että semmoista mitä ei voi niin kuin nor- maalisti tehdä. Kun tuntemattomana mennään, niin silloin voi aina tapahtua mitä jännää hyvänsä (TKU/A/02/11).

5 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on talking with masks, and that by Christine Eike on “Disguise as Ritualised Humour” elsewhere in this volume.

Eros in Disguise 537

Fig. 10.5: A female mummer gives her host a hug in the presence of his wife: The host couple were cracking up with laughter as Maritta Vainiomäki and her two friends performed in the roles of buxom women: Keikyä parish, Finland, January 7, 1973. (Photo: Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

Fig. 10.6: Drinking, flirting, fast repartee and bursts of laughter are key features of mumming activities: The mummers have chosen this farm in the parish of Mouhijärvi, Finland, because of its hospitality and ample supply of the local brew called “Sahti”: January 7, 1973. (Photograph: Urpo Vento.) (Courtesy of Suomalaisen Kirjallisuu- den Seura [the Folklore Archive of the Finnish Literature Society].)

538 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

(all in all, it was quite an escapade; the kind of thing you can’t normally do. All sorts of thrilling things can happen when you’re in disguise.) In addition to the above, there could also be an erotic charge running within the mumming group itself. For young adults of dating age, mumming could also be a rare and welcome opportunity for social intercourse. As Henry Glassie (1983: 117) notes when analysing the Irish Strawboys tradition:6 Mumming expanded the community’s pool of marriageable people, uprooted the hedge dividing men and women, and cleared the way for the drama’s climax: the wedding…. Some of the most entertaining memories of many of our interviewees, who are now in their sixties and seventies, were of encounters that occurred way back in their youth, as they moved between houses in disguise. They talk, for example of “catch me if you can” games played with the local boys who were trying to find out who was behind the masks. One of the interviewees nevertheless admits: “Olimme itsekin vähän kiinnostuneita näistä nuorista miehistä” (I must admit that we were a little bit interested in the young men as well: TKU/A/02/ 13 B). Another recalled that the trip from one house to the next offered the boys and girls of the same age who were in mixed groups a chance to meet, adding that: Voin vakuuttaa että /flirttiä/ oli paljonkin… siinä vapautui hiljainen satakuntalai- nen… hienovaraista kuitenkin, ei voi rinnastaa nykyajan filmeihin (TKU/A/02/9). (Lots of flirting went on, I can assure you…. That shy boy from Satakunta could really come to life… but it was all very prim and proper. Nothing like you see in the films today.)

What Makes It Such Fun? What made it so much fun for groups of adult mummers to go round from house to house? Carsten Bregenh¿j (1981: 35–43) uses the concepts of “gift” and “return gift” when analysing the encounters between mummers and householders. The arrival of the mummers on the appointed day of the year is an eagerly awaited pleasure, and in this sense both a gift to the household and a measure of the householder’s popularity. If the playful interaction is mutually successful, the visit provides a great deal of entertainment, satisfying all expectations. In return, the laughter of their audience is the best and most sought- after gift that the mummers can receive. As the mummer in my first example stated: “Se on hienoa, kun siellä nauretaan” (It’s great when people laugh: SKSÄ20, 3–6:1973). But why do they laugh?7 Inversion, or cross-dressing (a man dressed up as

6 On the Strawboys, see further Gailey 1969: 74Ð75, and various references in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic. On Irish mumming, see also the article by Séamas Ó Catháin elsewhere in this volume. 7 See further the discussion of ritualised humour in the article by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume.

Eros in Disguise 539 a woman, and vice versa) possibly amuses the role-changer and her/ his fellow mummers themselves most of all, since the audience are not supposed to realise it. However, the inversion is not only reflected in the costumes, but also in the mummer’s behaviour, as she/ he pretends to be a “kypsä, rohkea nainen” (brazen, mature woman) or a man who takes the initiative, and hence it is also seen in the resulting interaction between the hosts and the mummers. Often, as noted above, the role is deliberately overacted. Indeed, slight overacting and a violation of the agreed rules of propriety appear to be taken for granted in the behaviour of the adult mummers and members of the household alike. As in many other mumming traditions discussed in this volume, the mummers of Äetsä say little to prevent their voices from giving them away, but the comments by their hosts may well be daring, going beyond the confines of everyday Finnish behaviour. There are nevertheless certain jointly accepted rules and limits to the behaviour, the repartee and the laughter, and these may vary greatly from one era to another. My observations in the early 1970s and the even earlier memories of the people I interviewed all have to be placed within the social and cultural context of the times in question in order to be fully understood. We have to ask ourselves what sort of repartee was permissible and fitting at any given time or place. We have some knowledge of the rules of behaviour and courting in past decades, but this knowledge becomes more uncertain the farther back in time we go. And in fact we know very little about what people could say and could not say in different situations. At the same time, as Satu Apo has noted, the erotic genres of folklore, such as songs, anecdotes, and fairytales, “leave little room for the imagination in their outspoken naturalism” (Apo 1984: 41) These genres are unashamedly sexual. Examples from the Danish island of Agers¿ noted by Carsten Bregenh¿j support these statements about the sexual tone of the conversations that can take place between adult mummers and their hosts. In January 2000, Carsten met a family that was visited by most of the mummers in the island community, the majority of whom are adults. In this particular tradition,8 the mummers do not speak, but that makes the hosts all the more eager to make them laugh, thus causing them to make sounds, and possibly speak after all, something that will make them finally remove their masks (see figs 3.2Ð3.3, 3.7 and 3.14Ð3.19). The family tend to have guests on helligkongers aften (Epiphany Eve: January 5); and will have got in a crate of soft drinks and beer, along with something stronger which will be on the table for anyone that wants it. The particular conversation I have picked out was led by the host, and occurred while his wife was handing round drinks and paper towels for the mummers to use to dry their faces, since it gets very hot inside a rubber or plastic mask. At some point in the evening, two mummers dressed up as girls knocked on the door of the

8 On this tradition, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and especially the article by Hanne Pico Larsen article on “mask-talk” elsewhere in this volume. See also Carsten Bregenhøj’s detailed study of the tradition in Bregenhøj 1974.

540 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j house. Their arrival was accompanied by the following exchange and laughter. (Here I will only quote what the host [“Bo”] and his wife [“Fruen”] said):

Bo: Ajjj, hvor er I flotte! Fruen: Altså de ser meget friske ud, men det kunne jo godt väre de trængte til… Bo: De kommer lige fra Indianas… tror jeg… Mask. gest.: […] Bo: Neej, Hawaii, Hawaii, ja, Hawaii, hallo mand! Hawaii, der ville jeg da også gerne bo nu, på denne årstid. Fruen: Bo, der står da Rhodos. Bo: Nåh, ja, ja, men det er da lige ved siden af hverandre… Fruen: Va? Bo: Solen skinner da hele året, sådan et sted, jo. Bare se her, kokosnødderne, de falder også ned på faderne her. […] Fruen: Aj, hvor er de fine […] Bo: Kan I ikke hyre en lejlighed til mig på Hawaii eller Rhodos eller hvor det nu er henne? […] Fruen: [protesterer på de maskeredes vegne] … noget sjov…. […] Bo: Nå, sådan en kavaler som mig, kunne jeg ikke komme lidt på besøg hos de unge damer, va? […] Og ta dem med i byen? Fruen: Boo!! Bo: Nå; nå mor … (Latter, Bo's replik drukner i latter.) (Carsten Bregenh¿j: private collection of tape recordings.)

(Host: My goodness, you do look good! Wife: Well, you look bright enough, but maybe you feel in need of some slight refreshment…? Host: They’re from the land of the Injuns. No, Hawaii… Hawaii; they’re from Hawaii! I wish I could be living there at this time of the year! Wife: But it says Rhodes on her shirt! Host: Well, so what: they’re right next door to each other. Wife: What? Host (commenting on the picture on the T-shirt): The sun shines all year around there. Just look at those coconuts falling off the trees.

Eros in Disguise 541

Wife: My goodness you’re fine…. Host: Couldn’t you rent me a place over there in Hawaii or Rhodes or wherever it is? Wife (making a protest on the mummers’ behalf): … Now that’s going a bit too far! Host: Well, you know…. A smart guy like me…. Couldn’t I pay you young ladies a little visit? And take them on a spree? (At this point, the wife shouts out her husband’s name, “Bo!” in a tone suggesting that the jesting has gone far enough and should stop.) Host: Oh come off it, Ma! (The rest of the conversation is drowned in laughter.)

The above exchange shows how the general merry-making begins to turn into flirting and reaches such proportions that the wife wants to put a stop to it (see, for example, fig. 3.19). It might be noted that this particular family is very popular with the mummers precisely because they always give the mummers a good reception and enjoy the fun that occurs. However, they are not alone: in addition to them, friends and relatives will call on them to see the mummers in action and enjoy a drink or two. Some of the mummers will also remove their masks and join the audience, and as the evening wears on, the atmosphere will get thicker and thicker. However, because there are children present (they might also be among the mummers), someone (such as the host’s wife in the case given above) will have to make sure things do not get out of hand. Carsten Bregenh¿j describes his earlier visit to the island as follows: On my first visit to witness the mumming tradition of Agers¿ (1970), I was staying at the teacher’s house. For this event, the teacher also had other outside guests, among them a girl in her early teens. As the evening progressed, I suggested that she and I should go mumming together. We visited different houses wherever the light was on.9 At the time, there was a bakery on the island and the baker’s home was lit up. We entered and the baker, his wife and a male guest were sitting in the living room. In accordance with the festive character of the evening, a number of bottles were on the coffee table. The hosts laughed as we entered. The baker’s wife who dominated the situation, rose from the sofa and approached to inspect us. She noted out loud that we were a couple, and I understood that some hair in my moustache had gone through the nylon stocking I was wearing as a mask. Then the following dialogue ensued: The hostess said, “Er I to sammen?” (Are you two together?) In answer, we shook our heads. She then continued, “Er I forlovede?” (Are you engaged?) At the coffee table, the men laughed at our gestures and headshakes. The repetition of an already answered question indicated that the baker’s wife had something up her sleeve. She persisted, “Er I gift?” (Are you married?) The required silence among Agers¿ mummers was an unexpected disadvantage. The growing intimacy of the questions and the spectators’ hilarity boded a surprise climax: The baker’s wife then asked my partner, “Må jeg godt låne ham I aften?” (Can I borrow him for the night?) (Carsten Bregenh¿j: oral communication.) 9 See further Hanne Pico Larsen’s account of this tradition elsewhere in this volume.

542 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

In both of the above examples, the repartee demonstrates how far normal behavioural limits may be violated on an “evening of opportunity” like this. The winner in the game is whoever succeeds in raising the most laughs with her or his verbal wit or daring behaviour. As noted earlier, the audaciousness of the exchanges may come close to the borders of propriety, but there is always a “games master” of some kind: ultimately someone will always call a halt. The laughter indicates that everyone is aware of what is going on.

Erotic Folklore This present article has offered a vignette of the years when the mumming tradition was still alive in the Keikyä region of south-west Finland. It has focussed on the erotic jesting that took place during visits by adult mummers. I have therefore largely ignored various other features that were occurring at the same time, such as visits by child mummers, the preparations made by the hosts for the evening, the expectant atmosphere, the refreshments offered in the form of fruit, cakes and sweets, and the additional conversations and recollections that seasoned the late-night hours when the mummers had removed their masks and were mulling over the events of the evening. Of course, the researcher cannot be present all the time. None of the events I have described is entirely unique, for the forms and functions of the tradition I have described have also been known at different times and in different parts of Finland, and likewise in other parts of the world in connection with various calendar feasts. However, Kiikka, Keikyä and the region around them have long been known in Finland for their cultivation of erotic games such as “choosing pairs” and “marrying games” (Sarmela 1969: 142). Also originating in the same region is a description that dates back to the early nineteenth century of a so-called “paroni” (Baron),10 who was a man that was dressed up to be “niin rivoksi kuin mahdollista oli” (as lewd as can be). This man’s performance on nuutiniltana (Nuuti Night, January 7), is described as follows: Miesjoukko veti paronia reessä ympäri kylää; keppinä hänellä oli rautakanki. Passari kävi kysymässä, jos paronia sisälle päästetään, piti puhetta ja kaasi viinaa paronin suuhun ja sahtia, jota pulloihin ja leileihin kustakin paikasta annettiin. Sisälle tultua tervehti paroni ja heristeli vaimoväelle oljista tehtyä suurta kuin orhiin kaluansa ja kauppasi nuuskatoosastansa tuhkaa. Ð Saalistansa jakoivat sitte jossakin saunassa niin kauan kuin kesti. Näin joulu lopetettiin (Bregenhøj and Vento 1975: 19; SKS: Huittinen: H. A. Reinholm). (A band of men pulled the Baron around the village on a sleigh; he carried an iron bar as a stick. His servant knocked on the door and asked whether the Baron might be admitted. He made a speech and poured alcohol into the Baron’s mouth, and the

10 Also referred to as Nuutiherra or Nuutiparooni (Lord/ Baron Nuutti): see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia. Eros in Disguise 543

home-made ale with which each house filled the bottles and flagons. On entering, the Baron greeted the household and waved his straw cock, as big as a stallion’s, at the womenfolk, offering to sell them ash from his snuff box. Ð They then drank their booty in a sauna somewhere until it was all gone. And that was the end of Christ- mas.) Drinking and bold sexual behaviour were clearly acceptable elements of mumming at that time. The Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia by Urpo Vento elsewhere in this book demonstrates the continuity of this tradition and its variations in Finland, and underlines those elements which have persisted from one year to the next. As is noted there, as in other parts of the Nordic area, the mummers’ roles in Finland varied from animals to supernatural beings (such as the Lapp stallo, who was equipped in a similar way to the Baron: see Gunnell 1995a: 105);11 and from recognisable local characters to mummers who sought to remain anonymous by means of a simple home-made mask and improvised costume (see, for example, Bregenh¿j and Vento 1975: 12). As in many other traditions, part of the fun was focussed on trying to identify the visitors, who did their best to remain anonymous. Teasing and playful threats of various kinds have been part of the mumming tradition from time immemorial, and often culminate in frolics of a sexual nature. The following description recorded in Sweden in 1931 (also noted in Fredrik Skott’s article elsewhere in this volume) applies to Easter traditions,12 but displays elements that are familiar in Finnish mumming and various peripatetic traditions: Om påskkvällen klädde de ut sig och gick till varandra med påskbrev. Det var ungdomen som höll på med sådant. Karlarna klädde ut sig till käringar och kvinnorna till gubbar. Så gick de efter vägarna och raljerade… De voro ute för att skrämma folk. Voro på fönster och dörrar och krafsade, så kunde de t.ex. frakta en åkkärra el. dylikt till “trampen”. Somliga anställde jakt efter dem. Fick man tag i någon av de »utklädda», gav man sig inte med mindre än att man fick se vem det var. Värst voro om flickor blevo fångade, ty då fördes ett väldigt skämt med dem. Det var väl gott om de inte rev trasorna av dem. De blevo »kringkända» och »kringklämda». Man kastade ”påskbrev”…. (DAG: IFGH 2583: 45: Södra Ny, Värmland). (On Easter night, people put on masks and visit one another, bearing “Easter letters”. This custom was kept up by young people. The men dressed as women and the women as men. Then they went around the roads making fun…. They went around scaring people. There they were at the windows and doors, scratching, and they might, for instance, take a cart or something like that out onto the road. Some people started hunting them. If anyone caught one of the mummers, they wouldn’t give in until they could see who it was. It was worst when girls were captured, because then they played around with them awfully. They were lucky if their rags weren’t pulled

11 See also the short story “Grylen” (the Gryla) by the Faroese author William Heinesen for another account of a similarly “phallic” figure: see Heinesen 1970 and 1983. 12 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. See also Fredrik Skott’s articles on Easter mumming in Sweden, both in this volume and elsewhere (Skott 2002b). 544 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

off. They were “felt all over” and “squeezed all around”. An “Easter letter” was thrown….) Role-change, jesting, playful threatening, and a desire to tease and reveal the mummers’ identities, especially if they are girls, are elements familiar not only from mumming traditions on St Knut’s Day (January 7) but also on other occasions. Sometimes the threatening would be accompanied by elements of shaming or revenge, as in the Swedish tradition in which masked male and female effigies dressed up as mummers and bearing suggestive messages are sent to houses (Bringéus 2002: 9–10; and Bringéus’ article in this volume),13 but such special features are often confined to specific localities. The events of Mumming Night form part of a tradition in which much of the fun lies in the anonymity afforded by masking and the success of non-verbal behaviour. It is also an interactive tradition which calls for at least two participants. As a form of erotic folklore, mumming activities of this kind have several features in common with riddles, for example. These, too, are a form of verbal exchange requiring two participants. Furthermore, riddles, like masking traditions, are a form of maleÐfemale interaction. From time immemorial, mixed groups of young adults have regularly cultivated forms of open and daring humour, and riddles of a sexual nature. These, however, were not considered suitable to be asked anywhere; they were told by certain types of people in certain situations. Sexual riddles, for example, are reported to have been a means of both teasing members of the opposite sex and generating an erotic charge (Kai- vola-Bregenh¿j 2001). The most common sexual riddles were those in which the question evoked erotic images (for example, “Reikä soikee, keskeltä vähän märkä. Ympärillä vähän karvoja. Mikä se on?” [An oblong hole, a bit wet in the middle, some hair all around. What is it?]), but in fact had a surprisingly innocent answer (“Silmä” [An eye]). The sexual riddle comes close to the borders of decency, but in the end proves to both the riddler and the riddlee that it has not in fact overstepped the line. To some extent, the same thing applies to the eroticism of the mumming tradition: The adult mummer can violate the everyday rules of good behaviour but must remember that in a village community where everyone knows everyone else she or he may well be recognised. The mummer’s identity will often be the subject of great conjecture after their departure and may remain so for many days. People will ask one another who was who. They might check the relevant car registration numbers and even make test phone calls to relatives. Mumming can be tremendous fun for mummers and hosts alike, but it must also withstand the light of day when the party is over. In other words, it must keep to a certain degree of law and order.

13 See also the article on “Disguise as Ritualised Humour” by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume. Eros in Disguise 545

The Process of Change My return to Keikyä and Kiikka to observe the mumming in January 2002 proved that, with only a few exceptions, the tradition had now been taken over by the children. As Mari Kulmanen testifies in her article elsewhere in this volume, virtually no signs remain of the original mumming tradition (which involved adult mummers, the serving of alcohol, careful masking and attempts made by the hosts to guess the identity of the mummers) over and above the element of guessing. There are also indications of a gradual process of change having taken place in the advertisements in the local press inviting people to “traditional” mummers’ balls and fancy dress parties (Kor- pela 2002: 6Ð7). The practice of travelling round alone or in small groups has thus gradually been replaced by a public event, but nonetheless one that is still linked to Knut’s Night/ Nuutti. Furthermore, the prize offered for the best mummer proves that the tradition was still valued in the late 1980s. It was stressed, however, that “Mikä tahansa pukki ei kuitenkaan käy, vaan pukin on oltava mahdollisimman perinteinen naamareineen ja sarvineen” (Not just any mummer will do; the mummer must keep as close to the tradition as possible, complete with mask and horns:14 Kulmanen 2002: 21). This was also stressed by the family we visited in Keikyä in the early 1970s, and when we were making the film in 1984. This family always made its own masks, and went to a great deal of trouble in doing so, and the masks had to be just as they had always been. Our film team also attended the mummers’ ball in Keikyä where some of the revellers wore home-made masks, but very few actually kept to the old style. The masking of the child mummers in 2002 was of a completely different kind to that which used to occur, since now it seemed that any fantasy creature was considered suitable, and there were no signs of any traditional home-made masks. One of the schoolchildren wrote the following about her own experiences of the mumming tradition: “Minä olin lapsena kummitus, peikko, pelle ja punahilkka. Siskoni olio yleensä vampyyri ja haamu” (When I was a child, I was a ghost, a goblin, a clown and Little Red Riding Hood. My sister was a vampire and a ghost: TKU/0/02/9/A). In 2002, it was also considered acceptable to be virtually unmasked. There were still a few tradition-oriented adults about, but their costumes spoke especially of a desire to revive a tradition that was now vanishing. The custom of touring round still existed, although, possibly because of the bad weather, very few were actually out on the road. A questionnaire we conducted in two schools yielded replies such as the following which reflects the change in attitude: “Minun vanhemmat ei tykkää nuutipukeista eikä heitä päästetä sisälle” (My parents don’t like mummers and they won’t let them in: TKU/0/02/7/B). Although most of the schoolchildren,

14 As noted in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia, the Finnish name for a mummer is nuuttipukki (with variable spellings), indicating that the mask originally had animal horns, in this case those of a pukki (goat). 546 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j now teenagers, could no longer be bothered to dress up, they insisted (maybe in answer to their teacher’s question) that they still wished to preserve the tradition. One said: Toivon tulevaisuudessa, että minunkin lapset haluaisivat pukeutua nuutipukeiksi ja kiertää ovelta ovelle ja laulaa ja ansaita pipaparin, karkkia tai rahaa (TKU/0/02/7/F). (I hope that one day my children will want to dress up as mummers, too, and go round from door to door, singing and earning themselves biscuits, sweets or coins.) Thirty years ago mumming was a tradition practised by adults and children alike in and around Keikyä and Kiikka. The children would set out early in the evening, and as darkness fell, it was the turn of the older mummers. By the 1980s, however, the tradition fostered by young people and adults was showing signs of becoming an attraction at evening social events as well as in the home. The announcements of forthcoming events in the local papers admittedly indicate that anything “traditional” was held in high esteem. However, in place of the interaction between mummers and their hosts, the focus was now on the prize awarded for the best fancy dress. Our own contact family, where mummers could be sure of finding both suitable masking requisites and the necessary playful spirit, moved away from Keikyä, and with it went one of the pillars that had been supporting the adult local tradition for years. The liberalisation of sexual mores with the passing of the decades may be one reason why teasing of an erotic nature and exaggerated, playful behaviour no longer motivated adults and young people to dress up and travel round from one familiar household to another at that time. Mumming acquired new manifestations as it became a tradition of children and their parents who drove them from house to house. Nonetheless, the day set aside for masking has not changed, and the tradition is known only in areas where it always existed before. In honour of the day, village clubs still hold get-togethers and invite mummers to come and perform. The older folk then sit reminiscing about the days when they themselves would have been out mumming. How the tradition develops in the hands of the urbanised adults returning to their native regions, and those of others inspired by the people who are now reappraising their own local heritage, remains to be seen. It seemed in 2002 that while these people were seeking out the oldest features of the tradition (markedly archaic dress), they were also open to new manifestations (such as poetry recitations by groups of mummers). The fact that masking is still regarded as fun also forges a link with the past. Only time will tell which aspects of the tradition will retain a foothold and gain continuity and which will disappear. Eros in Disguise 547

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following archive records are referred to in this survey: SKSÄ (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki: sound archive) archive records: SKSÄ 20: 1973 SKSÄ 3:1974 TKU (Kultuurien Laitoksen Arkistot, Turku) archive records: TKU A 02/9 TKU A 02/12 TKU A 02/13

548 Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 549

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings Changes in Time and Space Eva Knuts

Mock Brides and Hen Parties My doctoral thesis concerned weddings, and thus when I was considering a subject for this article, it was natural for me to write about disguise traditions that are/were in some way connected to weddings. There is, of course, a wide range of material to choose from, but I have decided to concentrate on mumming traditions involving such features which are mostly carried out by girls and women. I find it particularly interesting to look at mumming involving female participants because almost all other disguise traditions described in the records of the past are implicitly carried out by boys and men. I mean to concentrate especially on two quite different Swedish traditions: that of the “mock bride”, and that which appears in modern and latter-day hen parties. The expression “mock bride” refers to someone playing a bride, in other words, using the form of the bride at a wedding. Mock brides in folk traditions had a variety of different functions, forms and reputations, as will be shown in the following pages. Hen parties are another kind of modern mumming where a wedding is centrally involved, but now in a somewhat different way. These parties are a form of mumming that takes place before a wedding and are carried out by the friends of the bride-to-be. Sometimes, here too, the bride will be dressed up like a mock bride, in the sense of a caricature of a bride. How- ever, there are also other themes that can be chosen at hen parties which have different connections to weddings. While mock brides are rarely found anymore in their original function, hen parties continue to be active, even though they have changed form during the roughly one hundred years that they have existed (see below). In the following article I mean to try to give a picture of the mock brides both as they appeared in the past and as they function in the present-day hen parties, and hope to draw some parallels between them and “real weddings” (another type of costumed performance).

550 Eva Knuts

Mock Brides It is a good idea to start with the question of the actual function of mock brides in earlier folk tradition. The form of these traditions clearly seems to vary in time and space, but considering the material available to me,1 it is possible to isolate four main forms of mock-bride tradition: a) A single girl dressed as bride (usually a rather young girl). b) A girl with a partner. When there was a couple, their role was often to open and lead the dance at the celebration. c) Mock weddings that occur during seasonal festivities, involving musicians, a “priest” and so on, where the couple might be actually “married” to each other as part of the proceedings. d) Girls walking around and receiving gifts collectively in the role of mock brides, the gifts then being used for a party.2

In other words, the mock bride could act alone or in a collective. Her age could also range from three years old to that of an adult. She might also be given the main attributes connected with a real wedding bride.3 Often she would be dressed by friends, parents or other people, and sometimes the local church would even lend her the bridal crown used by real brides at their weddings (Granlund 1970: 41; Bringéus 1976: 215). These mock brides (sometimes accompanied by a groom, priest and so on) could then walk around a village and show their beauty, and then receive money, food or other gifts. Sometimes the bride would walk alone and keep what she got for herself, but more often it would be a collective activity in which the gifts would be used for a shared banquet or a feast. As Bringéus notes, sometimes in the past, the mock bridal couple might have the function of serving as “party openers” or “toastmasters” at such a collective gathering: Seden är att varje byalag väljer vart år tvenne par som ombestyra förfriskningar till den aftonen och kläda majstång. Dessa bekransas med blommor, och börja dansen kring majstången, varefter det dansas hela natten (Bringeus 1976: 216). (The custom is that every year, each village would choose two couples to arrange the refreshments for the evening and make the midsummer pole. They wore garlands of flowers and started the dance, after which people would continue to dance the whole night.)

1 See the references given in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden. 2 On such mock-wedding traditions, see further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions elsewhere, especially those from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland and Karelia, and also the reviews of academic research into such traditions given in these chapters. 3 Even though fashions have changed over time and local variations have occurred, some features have always been in demand. For example, according to Resare, the bride always used to have a crown and/ or garland, as well as a veil, and was decorated with ribbons and jewellery (Resare 1988). These are objects which symbolise a bride and which are regularly mentioned as forming the “costume” of the mock bride.

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 551

Whitsun Mock brides of the kind described above occurred in Sweden at Whitsun, Easter and midsummer (midsommar), as well as on certain other festive occasions, such as the well-known feast of St Lucia.4 I will begin here with a brief presentation of the Whitsun bride tradition, which some scholars say is the oldest and most original mock bride tradition in Sweden (see, for example, Bro- berg 1956). In one early account from Vadsbo, Västergötland in 1746, a church warden made a particular complaint about a girl who had disturbed order in the church by dressing up as a Whitsun bride. The account (noted earlier in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden) is one of the oldest records in Sweden to mention a mock bride, and runs as follows: Androg Kyrckowerden Hendrick Matthesson från Juhla klagomål öfwer en piga från prästegården i Ullerfwad wid namn Annika, at hon förledne Pingestdag kom till Juh- la by före messan, men wille intet följa med det öfriga folket till kyrckan, utan blef qwar i byen under Gudstjenstens förrättande tillika med en annan hop ungdom, som hon lockat med sig, the ther hafwa fördt ett oanständigt wäsende under sielfwa Gudstjensten med en så kallad Pingestbruds utspökande med mera, begärandes at jag wille lägga handen här wid, at hon må blifwa befordrat til en tillbörlig näpst här före (Bergstrand 1934: 112). (The vicar Hendrick Matthesson from Juhla made an accusation against a maid by the name of Annika from the vicarage in Ullerfwad, saying that last Whit Sunday she came to Juhla before the Communion service, but would not join the others going to church. Instead she remained in the village during the service, together with another group of youngsters that she had enticed to come with her. During the service there was a scandalous disturbance with a so-called “Whitsun bride”. He demanded that she ought to be properly castigated.) It must be remembered that Whitsun was an important festival for the church.5 That might be one of the reasons for why Whitsun brides gained a bad reputation as compared to the midsommar brides who were regarded as having a much more respectable position. Furthermore, midsummer was (and still is) a more profane feast.

4 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden. 5 John Granlund (1970) argues that the Whitsun bride in Sweden was connected to medieval nun- neries, suggesting that “hon är en skapelse av brudmystiken, ett folkligt utflöde ur eller en folklig iscensättning i anslutning till liturgien, som med Kristi uppståndelse avslutar passionstidens många och långa fastedagar, in qvibus ablatus est sponsu, som det står i Luk 5:35. Nu vid pingst träder Kristi brud fram för att höra brudgummens egna ord: vobiscum sum… usque ad consummationem saeculi. Math. 28:20” (… she is a creation of the mystique surrounding the bride, a folk development or a folk reaction to the liturgy in which Christ’s resurrection brings to an end the period of the Passion with its numerous and lengthy days of fasting, in qvibus ablatus est sponsu, as Luke 5: 35 states. Now, at Whitsun, Christ’s bride steps forth to hear the words of her bridegroom: vobiscum sum… usque ad consummationem saeculi. Math. 28:20: Granlund 1970: 60). Granlund also suggests that the distribution of the tradition can be explained by it having originated in the nun- neries of Alvastra, Vadstena and Skenninge. The sources, however, are too few for this to explain all the aspects of this tradition. Indeed, in the reference from 1746, the church is cited as having been totally opposed to the figure of the Whitsun bride.

552 Eva Knuts

In Sweden, there were two areas where Whitsun brides occurred: a southern area including the province of Skåne, south Halland and west Blekinge; and another area of distribution farther to the north including Västergötland, north Småland, and north Västergötland. There are also a few records from Närke and west Södermanland. Most frequent are the records from Västergötland. As noted above, one of the first Swedish records comes from 1746. The custom had disappeared in some places by the beginning of the twentieth century, but many records are still available from 1870Ð1880 showing that the tradition was still active at that time (Bringéus 1976: 18; IFGH 4851: 5; and ULMA 16303). Whitsun brides, however, are not only known in Sweden. They also occurred in Denmark, as the following account by Moth demonstrates: brud /en/ kaldes en lille pige, som gåer i skole, og pyntes om sommeren med blomster til brud og gåer så omkring i de småe købstæder, med de andre skolesystre, og synger for penge (Moth, quoted in Granlund 1970: 44). (The bride was a small girl who goes to school and is dressed up as a summer bride with flowers, and walks around the small towns with her school-friends, singing for money.) Furthermore, the custom of “bringing” the Whitsun brides or, as they are sometimes called, “Queens”, is also known to have occurred in Germany, Austria, Holland and Hungary (Granlund 1970: 56). As noted above, the Whitsun bride could be a small child, but the role could also be taken by relatively grown-up women. In those Swedish records dealing with mock brides that tell of children participating, it might be noted that poverty is often given as an explanation for why the children dressed up in this role. Walking around as a mock bride does not seem to have been an activity commonly undertaken by the healthy children of farmers. In many records, we read comments like “Min mamma tillät mig inte vara Pingst- brud” (My mother did not allow me to be a Whitsun bride), or “Det va utå fattigmamseller (ej böndernas barn) som klädde ut sig” (It was poor young girls [not the children of farmers] who dressed up: see, for example, LUF 1553, and LUF 2994). When children were the main participants, the key function was evidently to gather gifts by walking around the village and showing yourself off (if you were alone), or simply by displaying the bride if the activity involved a group (Granlund 1970: 54). When those involved were youths, the main function was somewhat different, in that now it involved the leading of the dance at the pingstvall (Whitsun field). In short, different talents were demanded, depending on the age, status and function of the Whitsun brides (and other mock brides). For example, if the bride (and groom) had to lead the dance, a good pair of dancing feet was naturally called for. Was it an honour or a disgrace to take this role? There is no single answer to this, but most of the Swedish records concerning Whitsun brides speak of

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 553 the bad reputation that the custom had, not least because it was a custom carried out by the lower classes; because begging often formed a central part; and finally, because if young people were involved, the clergy did not approve owing to the implied immorality. In this connection, one notes common expressions like the statement that “Den som klär ut sig till brud blir aldrig gift” (No girl who has been a mock bride will ever be a real bride: see, for example, Tillhagen 1969; LUF 3257; and LUF 183).6 As noted, there are plenty of examples in the records which indicated that being a Whitsun bride is seen as a disgrace. One nineteenth-century account from Skåne says: [Detta pingstbrudpar var] föremål för skämt till ock med för groft gyckel […]. Där- för var det vanligen någon ’slaghök’ till dräng och ’halftosa’ till tös – alltså ett par halft otillräkneliga personer – som mot någon ersättning åtog sig dessa roller (LUF 183: Skåne). ([This Whitsun couple was] the source of some entertainment and rough jesting […]. Thus it was usually a quick-witted farmhand, and a half-crazy country lass Ð in other words a pair of somewhat irresponsible persons Ð who took on these roles for some compensation.) This record indicates that not enough people wanted to take these roles and that they were thus given compensation. The same account7 also suggests that the custom was not merely meant to involve the celebration of a feast, for the bridal couple were sometimes led to bed by musicians and guests. As the informant notes: Att detta hela icke blott gick ut på att fira gille är säkert nog, ty brudparet följdes i säng af spelmän och gäster; dessutom lejdes brudparet bland den klass, som ej har något anseende att förlora. Vidare förekomma i de skildringar, jag hörde, vissa drag, som antyda, att gillet egentligen skulle afslutas med ’äktenskap’. Så t ex berättas att bruden ibland låtit leja sig med villkor att hon, efter att ha blivit ’sjungen i säng’, finge gå sin väg. Vidare berättades, att man ibland brukat dricka brudgummen död- full; men om detta senare skedde för att ’freda’ bruden eller blott och bart av råhet, är ju ej lätt att afgöra (LUF 183). (That this was not only the celebration of a feast is quite certain, because the couple was led to bed by musicians and guests; besides that, the couple was chosen from among a class that had no reputation to lose. Furthermore, in other stories I’ve been told, there were certain other things that suggested that the feast was supposed to end with a “marriage”. For example, it is said that the bride might offer herself as a bride on condition that she would be allowed to go after she had been “sung to bed”. Some

6 One explanation of this is that the costumed bride might have had something to do with a nun- nery, and that she was seen as being “Christ’s bride” (see the previous note). As such, she would need no human bridegroom. Another explanation is that the mock bride’s status was so low that she lacked any degree of respectability. There are so many elements connected with such weddings that a wide range of different explanations are possible. 7 LUF 183 was recorded by Eva Wigström. The first account was printed in 1891, the second, additional comment being based on information given to Wigström in 1900. The record number is the same, but the information was given to Wigström by different informants on different occasions.

554 Eva Knuts

people have also informed me that they would sometimes get the groom dead drunk. But whether this was done in order to save the bride or whether it was simply rough behaviour is not easy to answer.) It is worth noting the comment here that a form of actual marriage actually took place. Indeed, the general tone of this account backs up other records I have read, including one which states that: … sen blev det förbjudet för det kom horeri med i spelet, de gifte ihop brudpar och sen låg det nära tillhands, att de höll ihop hela natten (IFGH 4259). (… it was later forbidden because loose behaviour got involved in the matter; they actually married couples and then it would be likely that they would spend the night together.) In quotations like that referred to above and many others, emphasis is placed on the fact that the mock bride was chosen from among the lower classes (“a class that had no reputation to lose”), and that it was common to pay her for being a bride. In short, this was no mere mock wedding night. It was a travesty of a real wedding, something that the church attempted to ban because of the immorality it seemed to involve, as the following record suggests: I mina förfäders tid hade de firat bröllop där [på pingstängen], då gifte de ihop ett par. Men prästen hade förbjudit det före fars tid, för det gick inte anständigt tillväga (IFGH 915; see also Broberg 1956: 21). (In my ancestors’ time, they had celebrated marriages there [in the Whitsun field] in which they had married one couple. But the priest had it banned in my father’s time because of the immorality that took place.)

The Easter Bride Easter brides were known in a relatively limited area of Sweden, in Bohuslän and on some of the islands in the archipelago outside Bohuslän. Accounts of this tradition, like that which follows, point to the fact that only children dressed up as Easter brides, the main function being to gather gifts, food and money, a little like the Swedish påskkäringar (Easter witches) described in the article by Fredrik Skott elsewhere in this volume: Hon hade två tärnor med. Vi gick i alla fina hus och visade oss. Var vi kom fick vi pengar och gotter, för de tyckte, att det var så stiligt att se oss. Sen gick vi hem och kalasa och lekte och hade roligt. Vi delade lika på det vi fått in (IFGH 4461: 28: Ly- sekil, Bohuslän). (She had two bridesmaids. We went to all the nice houses and showed ourselves. Wherever we went, we got money and sweets, because they thought we were so nice to look at. After that, we went home and had a feast and played games and had fun. We also shared the things we had gathered.) It might be noted that records concerning the Easter tradition in Sweden make no mention of the custom having had a good or bad reputation, largely because

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 555

Fig. 11.1: Two young Easter brides (Astrid Hansson, 11, and Gerd Hansson, 5) at Stora Kornö, Lyse, Bohuslän, Sweden. (Courtesy of Nordiska museet.) of the young age of the participants. It is generally seen as being rather harmless, and a late custom.8 Another typical account of the tradition runs as follows: ’Påskbrud’ klädde de här. De hade en gardin till slöja och en krona, som vi gjorde av tysslingris. Det är lingonris. Och så var det två som ledde henne (IFGH 5696: Skaftö, Bohuslän). (They dressed up an Easter bride here. They used a curtain as a veil and a crown which we made out of “tysslingris” or lingonberry twigs. And two people were leading her.) One photograph from Lyse in Bohuslän (IFGH 190:1: see fig. 11.1) shows two young girls being involved. One of them has some kind of veil, maybe a slightly transparent curtain which runs down below her knees. On her head, she has

8 See, however, Arill (1928: 194) who writes that: “av dessa spridda och stundom motsägelsefulla uppgifter få en redig bild av den bohuslänska påskfesten, är ju inte så lätt. Uråldrigheten och de förkristna dragen är dock tydligt skönjbara” (it is not easy trying to compile a complete picture from these widely dispersed and sometimes contradictory accounts. Nonetheless, their ancient and pagan features are quite obvious). However, there is no firm evidence for this. Many old customs are said to be ancient. See further the discussion of this matter in the Introduction and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden.

556 Eva Knuts a flower garland and there is a bouquet in her hand. The younger girl has no obvious mock bridal dress but holds a basket. It might be assumed that the basket was used to carry the gifts attained from the places they visited. Parallels are seen in the following quotation from Bohuslän: Om påsken var alltid brukligt att några av skolflickorna slogo sig tillsammans o ‘lekte påskbrud’, som det kallades. Den minsta och sötaste valdes till brud. Ikläddes sin bästa klänning (hälst ljus) krona o krans bundos af lingonris, slöjan var en bit gardin, band o granna pappersblommor fästes på henne o på händerna hvita vantar (VFF 1589: 3: Bohuslän: told by a ninety-five-year-old lady in 1927). (At Easter, it was customary for some of the school girls to get together and “play the Easter bride”, as it was called. The smallest and sweetest was chosen as the bride. She was dressed in her best dress [a pale colour was preferred]. The crown and garland were made of lingonberry twigs, the veil made from a piece of a curtain, ribbons and beautiful paper flowers were attached to her, and on her hands she wore white gloves.)9 Another photograph taken in Lysekil, Bohuslän in 1927 (IFGH 190: 9: see fig. 2.15) shows three children in very up-to-date costumes echoing fashions from the late 1920s. The unusual thing about the picture, however, is the inclusion of a boy, because Swedish records never speak of Easter bridegrooms. How- ever, this should serve to remind us that records do not tell us everything. As with the Whitsun tradition, the children in the Easter-bride tradition tended to gather in groups and wander around, showing off the dressed-up bride and getting sweets and money, as the following account told by a lady born in 1847 indicates: Vid påsken hade barnen sitt eget påskekalas. De var en sju, åtta stycken som slog sig tillsammans i var lag. Så sköt de ihop lite kaffe och dopp och några ägg var, och så fick de vara i någon kammare. Då kläddes också någon liten pen tös på en åtta år eller så där till påskbrud /på dialekt/. Hon hade krona, krans och slöja. Kronan och kransen gjordes av vackra tyg- och pappersbitar. Till slöja användes gardin. När bruden var färdigklädd gick de omkring i husen och visade henne. Därvid leddes hon av två flickor medan de övriga följde efter. Så fick de gotter och pengar där de var och visade sig (VFF 1761: 40: Morlanda, Bohuslän). (At Easter, the children had their own Easter feast. There were seven or eight of them who gathered together and made a team. They brought some coffee and cake and some eggs: they could meet in some room. On that occasion, they would dress some nice little girl at around the age of eight to be an Easter bride…. She had a crown, a

9 A similar outfit is described, for example, in IFGH 5696: 39, and in the following account from Kornö, Bohuslän: “Så länge jag kan minnas, å mina föräldrar sa likadant, har vi haft påskbrudar här på Kornö. Vi samla oss, alla flickor, på påskkaffe och valde ut en tös till brud…. En krans av lingonris, för det är ju precis som myrten. Och så gjorde vi rosor av något glanspapper och satte i kransen” (We have had Easter Brides here in Kornö for as long as I can remember, and my parents said the same thing. All of the girls gathered together on Easter evening, and we chose a young girl as a bride…. She had a lingonberry garland as a crown, because it is just like myrtle. And then we made roses out of some shiny paper and put them in the crown: VFF 1011: 4). It is worth noting the age of the mummers in these accounts. Later in this same record, the bride is described as having always been young, never older than fourteen. As noted above, a basket for collecting gifts is mentioned in several descriptions of costumes. See, for example, IFGH 5771: 14.

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 557

garland and a veil. The crown and the garland were made from beautiful cloth and pieces of flowers. A curtain was used as a veil. When the bride was dressed, they walked around the houses and displayed her. She was then led by two girls, and the others followed. They got sweets and money where they were shown off.) A number of records claim that the custom is an old one and that it is connected to other spring feasts, stating, for example, that: “Brudparet hade till uppgift att företräda fruktbarhetens gudamakter, och i festen ingick ett rituellt bröllop” (The bridal pair were expected to represent the divine powers of fertility, a ritual marriage forming part of the festival: Arill 1928: 195). As noted above, in the past, it was common to connect mock weddings to very old, often pre-Christian, customs in this way, but when it comes down to it, solid supporting “evidence” is lacking.

The Midsummer Bride Moving on to midsommar brides in Sweden, it is worth noting immediately the following quotation from 1878 referring to the activities of a certain countess. The fact that the countess is here described as dressing up a young working girl as a midsommar bride underlines what some scholars have stated about the midsommar-bride tradition having often been a custom mainly connected to the upper classes: Samtidigt syslar de grefliga fröknarna uppe i herrgården med också litet hemligt ut- vald bruksflicka för att styra ut henne som midsommarbrud, och intet sparas i deras kära besvär att göra henne intagande och fin med hvit klänning och skära band samt krans och blommor. (1878, Västmanland: ULMA 542). (At the same time, at the mansion, the young countesses are preparing a secretly selected young working girl to be dressed up as a midsummer bride. No inconvenience is spared to make her captivating and pretty in a white dress with pink ribbons along with a garland, veil and flowers.) As noted above, Whitsun was an important feast for the church but midsummer a more profane event, and possibly partly for this reason, the midsommar bride also seems to have had a better reputation in Sweden than Whitsun brides, for example. Another reason is that the midsommar bride was often chosen and dressed up by the whole village; as noted above, even the upper classes were involved. The old and young celebrated these festivities together and parents could have control over what went on in the feast. Furthermore, it was common for more people to be involved than just a bride. It was more like a mock wedding involving many participants. The midsommar brides also had a wider geographic distribution area than the other mock brides, if one that was a little more fragmented. In general, there were two different areas where midsommar brides occurred: in east Blekinge and south-east Småland, and in an area running from Dalarna northwards. In

558 Eva Knuts this northern area, the midsommar-bride custom took the form of a mumming tradition involving small children, and had the same function as that of the Easter brides: in other words, the aim was to collect gifts. In the south, the traditions involving midsommar brides and couples were performed essentially by youths, and their function, once again, was primarily to lead the dance.10 There is unfortunately not enough space here to discuss the various matrimonial customs from different parts of Sweden in any detail to see if there are any connections with these traditions, but, to put it briefly, in northern parts, parents had less control over whom young people married because they had another way of living and using natural resources; they did not have to be as careful about matters of inheritance as those living in the south of Sweden (see Hellspong and Löfgren 1972: 232–241). Interestingly enough, one also notes that the strong sexual connotations found in records about mock brides from the south of Sweden are less obvious in the accounts of midsummer brides from the north of Sweden. However, in the northern parts of Sweden, with their summer pasture culture,11 it was not uncommon for young men and women to sleep together as part of the so-called nattfrieri (lit. night courting) tradition.12 In short, young people had the opportunity to spend time with the opposite sex without interference from adults, something that would have led to a more relaxed moral attitude towards mixed-gender social interactions.

Mock Brides on Other Occasions In addition to the above, there are a number of other calendar festivals and occasions in Sweden in which mock weddings and mock brides have formed a part of the festivities.13 All of these, however, tend to be local affairs, except in the case of Lucia, which is a highly complex and somewhat confusing festival (see figs 1.5, 2.3 and 2.5). In many accounts,14 Lucia is also referred to as being a “bride”. However, these traditions are somewhat different to the other mock

10 Other examples of midsummer brides can be found in the Jonsokbryllup tradition in Norway and the several accounts of midsummer brides on the island of Åland: see especially the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, the article by Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund- Pötzsch elsewhere in this volume, and Lutro 1998. 11 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, and the other national surveys. 12 See, for example, Löfgren 1969; and Marwick 2000: 86 on parallels in Shetland and Norway. See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia for details of a comparable tradition in Finland. 13 As examples, one can mention Matsmässa (St Matthew’s Day: February 24) in Gagnef, Dalarna, which is celebrated with mock brides and couples (see Hagberg 1913); and the Majbrud (May bride) described from Västergötland, where a girl could be dressed up in garlands, with a crown and silk ribbons (see Celander 1936: 68). Granlund (1971: 50Ð52) also notes that a trettondagsbrud (Twelfth Night bride) occurred in Småland and that a tjugondagsbrud (Twentieth-Day bride: January 13) is mentioned in Västergötland and the Swedish-speaking parts of Österbotten, Finland. From the same area, a Fettisdagsbrud (Pancake Day Bride, often called a Lappbrud, or Lapp bride) is also mentioned (see Granlund 1970: 52Ð53). 14 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden.

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 559

Fig. 11.2: Girls and some “bakers” celebrating Lucia: Göteborg, Sweden, in 1910. (Photo: Hildur Svensson.) (Courtesy of Göteborgs stadsmuseum.) bride customs, and have had different functions. Worth noting, for example, is one photograph of the tradition taken in around 1910 in Göteborg (DAGF 173: see fig. 11.2), depicting three women wearing long dresses, with flower garlands in their hair. One of them also has flowers around her neck. In the background, there are two women dressed like bakers with baker’s caps and moustaches. If it were not for the bakers, this might be a photograph of a real wedding. However, the central difference between Lucia and the other mock bride traditions is that the “modern” Lucia bride was/is essentially a giver rather than a taker: she offered people early breakfasts.

Hen Parties I would now like to move on to another mumming tradition much more closely associated with weddings (if in a somewhat different way); in other words, hen

560 Eva Knuts parties. The earliest references to such activities in Sweden come from the eightteenth century in records of so-called mökvällar (lit. virgin nights). Even earlier than this, there is an addition which was made to a local law concerning social visits that was passed in Uppsala in 1649. This states: Intet brudgumme- eller brudbadsgästabud skulle härefter tillåtas. Brott häremot skulle straffas med 40 marker. Dock skulle brudgummen få taga två unga karlar med sig i badstugan, sammalunda bruden två jungfrur (from Hellspong 1969: 106). (No groom or bride-to-be bath-feasts will be allowed. Any infringement of this law will receive a fine of 40 marker. However, the groom may take two men into the bathroom with him, and the bride-to-be two young women.) Mökvällar were feasts held by the parents of the bride-to-be in those farmhouses where the wedding guests were accommodated. They were feasts involving both sexes, unlike today when hen parties are a strictly female business (see Hellspong 1988: 111). The original feast was associated with a bridal bath, where the bride took a bath with her virgin friends, and indeed visiting the baths is still often a part of the modern Swedish hen party.15 Clearly the clergy did not approve of this custom of mökvällar at all, not least because of problems with alcohol. As Hellspong notes, these gatherings could often go on late into the night, and might result in the wedding guests behaving in a disorderly fashion at the service the next day (Hellspong 1988: 111). The origin of “modern” Swedish hen parties like those known today, however, can be found in the female emancipation movement from around the turn of the century. The first records of such modern hen parties occur in academic and artistic settings. They did not become common until after the First World War. In fact, even now, in letters sent to DAG from the countryside, many people say that they have never seen, let alone participated in a hen party. Such activities are clearly more common in the cities and southern parts of Sweden. With regard to their character, hen parties are more ceremonial than stag parties (the latter having involved little ceremony until recent years). The hen party, for example, often involves kidnapping, blindfolding the bride-to-be and putting her into embarrassing situations, and very often, from an early point, included disguise and mumming. One photograph taken in 1903 in Sala, Väst- manland (Hellspong 1969: 114), for example, shows four women dressed up as men in full evening dress, with students’ caps. Two of them have “moustaches”. On such occasions, the disguises, like those in the earlier mentioned mock marriage traditions, were often connected to real weddings in one way or another. Another photograph (DAGF 216: 4: see fig. 11.3) was taken in 1957. The costume it shows is very typical of one of the main types of disguise used at hen parties, especially in the 1950s and 60s: the figure has a crown made out

15 See Hellspong 1988: 112, and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden. On stag party traditions in Norway, see further the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume.

Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 561

Fig. 11.3: A participant in a hen party in Sweden: Vrigstad, Småland, in 1957. (Cour- tesy of Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg.) of a kitchen grater and a bouquet made of a wooden rolling-pin and ladles, all of these objects stressing the later household duties that were going to greet the wife. Other disguises used at the time might be those of baby girls or children’s nurses, the bride-to-be then being driven around in a pram by her friends (Hell- spong 1969: 116). Once again, like the mock wedding activities mentioned above, what we often see here is a travesty of a wedding, the bride-to-be taking the role of a mock bride, using a veil made, for example, from a curtain; a dress that is oversized or too small; and perhaps also too much make-up. It might be noted, furthermore, that sexual allusions have become more and more common in later Swedish traditions, the brides sometimes being dressed in cat-suits, high heels and other “sexy” clothes. They may also have to sell kisses, condoms or flowers while wearing their costumes, as the following informant notes: Nu var det dags för nästa utstyrsel. Jag skulle sälja blommor på stan. Men inte vilka som helst utan de som fanns på mitt blommiga klänningstyg. Gissa om köparna klippte strategiskt (DAGF 155:3). (Now it was time for the next prank. I was supposed to sell flowers in town. Not just any old flowers but the ones on the material of my dress. You can guess how strategically the buyers cut them out.) Other costumes might make reference to aspects of the bride’s life. Further- more, as in the photograph from 1903 noted above, it is still common for the female groups to dress up as men. Sometimes half of the participants dress up as men and the other half as women. In another photograph taken in the countryside in Essunga, Västergötland in 1951 (see fig. 11.4), several women are shown dressed up as men, for example, as farmers in full evening dress, as a 562 Eva Knuts

Fig. 11.4: Women dressed up as men for a Swedish hen party: Essunga, Västergötland, in 1951. (Courtesy of Margareta Svahn.) bus-conductor and, of course, as a bridegroom. Indeed, there is almost always a bridegroom in such pictures. Very commonly, one also finds gipsy women appearing, perhaps because of the connotation of fortune-telling involved in such activities (see also DAGF 136: 3). The element of masking as part of hen parties, however, seems to be on the wane in modern-day Sweden, its role now being replaced by other more private group activities such as singing onto a disc, collecting photographs of the bride, or attending a scrap-book session (see further Knuts 2006 and 2007 forthcoming16).

Summary To summarise, one can say that the mock bride tradition in Sweden belongs especially to the nineteenth century, when it was related to calendar customs and involved the participants dressing up in as fine a fashion as possible. Hen parties, on the other hand, were associated with a life festival (weddings), and were especially connected with the twentieth century. Unlike the mock weddings, they stressed the grotesque and ridiculous. In this article, I have been discussing disguise or costume traditions connected with weddings in Sweden. As noted above, the mock brides were essentially a mumming tradition that came from a society where the woman who did

16 It might be noted that the author successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Något gammalt något nytt …” – Skapandet av bröllopsföreställningar (“Something Old, Something New …” – The Creation of Wedding Performances) in 2006. Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 563 not get married had a life of humiliating dependence to look forward to: a non-married woman at that time had very little place in society. Thus, getting married was still an important activity at the time when the old mock bride traditions occurred. Being an honourable bride was seen as an ideal. Hen parties, on the other hand, occurred at a time when Swedish society was moving towards greater equality between the sexes. One might expect that the women who arranged the first hen parties wanted to have the same rights as men (who, of course, had their own stag parties at that time). One way of demonstrating this was to dress up and behave like men, at least during the course of the hen party. Stag parties as we know them are first described in Sweden in the early twentieth century, and from the start involved a group of men drinking too much (especially the bridegroom, who was supposed to be drunk). As a custom, this has an origin in the academic and military male world. The unmarried friends of the groom took the initiative in such feasts, which could take on an almost sadistic character. In many ways, they were a kind of rite of separation, underlining the fact that the bridegroom was no longer one of the group (Hell- spong 1969:117). Getting married is a sacrament, a ritual known to all. It has a form that is easily dramatised. The real wedding bride of the past was also intended to be beautiful. It is a simple matter to imagine the impact a bride might have had in her full silver bridal finery, dressed up in a silver crown, with a veil, flowers and so on (Resare 1988). The priest’s formal service, however, often involved jokes, and along with the involvement of musicians and such like, underlines the fact that this was meant to be happy feast. One can imagine that there was always a great deal of laughter and fun. However, there could also be elements of disgrace, and dirty jokes. It was thus a vulnerable position for the bride- to-be. There were, for example, several visual aspects in the ceremony that were meant to indicate whether the bride was a virgin or not. Indeed, the crown could only be worn if you were virgo intacta. A reed patch or a yellow knitted cap could be the punishment for someone who had “legat bort sig” (lit. “been lain away”: see further Frykman 1977; and Hazelius-Berg 1969: 156). In other words, even if you did get married, the ceremony in church was meant to be humiliating if you were a woman with a doubtful reputation. Both marriage and the mumming activities concerning weddings are complex subjects. The records show totally different attitudes towards the mock bride, who can be seen as being either a kind of whore or a Madonna-like figure. The various figures reflect the two most widespread female archetypes: one disgraceful (but thrilling) and the other desirable (but maybe less exciting). The mock brides, however, were generally seen as being “nice”. They did not do any harm (compared with many of the other disguised figures mentioned in the Swedish records17). They were not disguised with masks, furs or soot. They

17 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 564 Eva Knuts were dressed in “wedding” finery, and, as has been noted above, often used the most recent fashions of the year. What might be seen as more offensive, on the other hand, are the sexual connotations that could come up among the youths involved, and also the begging involving children that took place. Even though the records might not tell us much about the sexual elements, one can imagine the jokes with sexual undertones that might have occurred on these mumming occasions. In short, as some references make clear (see, for example, LUF 183), it was believed that no “good” girl would act in the way that some mock brides had to do when they took on their disguised roles. All the same, the form in general was meant to be beautiful; it was basically “nice” to look at.18 Another element that might be considered with regard to these traditions, is that when you are about to get married, you are standing between two worlds. One day you are an innocent virgin, and the next maybe a housewife. In the same way, when you disguise yourself in any way, you are effectively also standing between two worlds, stepping out of one form into another and then coming back again, perhaps slightly changed in one way or another after the experience. In many ways, both mumming and weddings might thus be regarded as rites de passage like those described by van Gennep (1960). The same might also apply to the hen parties. Certainly, at stag parties, men commonly drank themselves into another state or form. Admittedly, such behaviour was/ is not considered proper for women. However, the disguises that were taken on at hen parties had the same function, allowing women to act in ways that they normally did not. The mock brides and hen parties are thus two examples of Swedish disguise traditions which have changed a great deal over time. As this book demonstrates, over the years, disguises in most traditions have grown tamer, less scary and upsetting.19 Halloween may well be an exception,20 but even there the disguises in Sweden seem to be getting “cuter” all the time. Things were different in the past. Some of the earlier mock brides seem to have offered a degree of provocation to society, leading to many of them being banned by the clergy and others. The same might be said for the hen parties. These, too, have regularly been directly aimed at provoking a reaction.

18 See further the conclusion of the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. 19 It might be noted that there are several examples of modern revitalisation of the customs involving the dressing up of mock brides and/ or couples. For example, in Evertsberg, Dalarna, a couple is dressed up almost every midsummer (see Dys 2003). Bringing old customs back to life can serve as a means for a community to express solidarity, and to suggest that it has customs rooted in time and space. On this idea, see further the articles by Paul Smith and Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume. 20 See the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. Mock Brides, Hen Parties and Weddings 565

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources is referred to in this survey: DAG (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg): Records: DAGF, IFGH and VFF LUF (Folklivsarkivet, Lund): Records: LUF SOFI, FA (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen, Uppsala): Records ULMA Nm (Nordiska museet): Records: EU 566 Eva Knuts

Easter Witches in Sweden 567

Local Case Studies

568 Fredrik Skott

Easter Witches in Sweden 569 Easter Witches in Sweden

Fredrik Skott

On October 3, 1747, the farmhand Jonas Andersson was brought before court in Husby parish in Uppland, Sweden. He was accused of calling the maid Anna Olofsdotter a “trollpacka” (approx. “sorceress”). The background of the matter was that some children of the parish had earlier found a type of slimy mould called trollsmör (lit. witch butter; in Latin: Fuligo septica), which was popularly connected to witches and witchcraft. Together with the children, Jonas had made a fire out of some dry sprigs of wood. They then threw the fungus into the fire with the purpose of forcing the supposed sorceress that was thought to be the cause of the “witch butter” to reveal herself in front of everybody’s eyes. Anna Olofsdotter had observed all of this, and decided to play a joke on the children. She rapidly changed her dress, put an apron over her shoulders and drew her hair in front of her eyes, in order to avoid being recognised and to look like a witch. She then ran out at the children, shouting: “det swider, det swider” (It burns! It burns!). The children were terrified because they thought that a real witch had appeared, and quickly ran away. The farmhand Jonas must have also been scared, because he started spreading a rumour about how Anna really was a witch. The case was raised at the district court and later also at the Svea hovrätt (Court of Appeal). In the end, the farmhand was sentenced to four days’ imprisonment on bread and water for spreading the rumour.1 If the events described above had taken place in the western instead of the eastern parts of Sweden, Anna would probably had been called a “påskkäring” (approx. Easter witch or Easter hag) instead of a trollpacka. In the middle of the nineteenth century, at least, påskkäring was the prevalent name used in these parts for those who were supposed to know witchcraft and visit Black Sabbaths along with with the Devil (Ejdestam 1939: 27Ð30). The name is de- rived from the belief that witches were especially active during Easter. Nowa- days in Sweden, påskkäring is also the most common name to be applied to those young children who dress up as witches and wander the streets on Maun- dy Thursday, or Easter Saturday. My intention in this article is to examine this particular disguise (or mumming) tradition. Of course, the aforementioned attempt by the maid Anna to look like a witch has little to do with the fact that children nowadays dress up or disguise

1 ULA: KLHA VIII AI: 4, Court in Husby, October 3, 1747; and ULA: County Administrative Board of Kopparberg, County Secretariat DII: 58, letter from the Svea hovrätt to the County Governor of Kopparberg, February 27, 1748.

570 Fredrik Skott themselves as witches. However, the case indicates at least that the possibility (albeit not always an entirely successful one) existed of people joking about or trying to imitate witches in Sweden at a time when the belief in witchcraft was still very much alive (cf. Östling 2002: 158–160). The similarities and differences between the “real witches” and the disguised and/ or costumed children is something that has received very little examination. However, several theories concerning the påskkäring tradition, its origin, distribution and age have appeared over time, primarily in general surveys of Swedish calendar customs. Usually scholars have claimed that an important condition for the origin of this tradition must have been that the belief in witches and witchcraft was no longer common or widespread in Sweden. For the same reason, Albert Eskeröd, among others, supposed that the tradition probably originated in cities, places where he thought the belief in witches would have been most likely to fade away first. Other scholars have presented more specific theories. Some Swe- dish folklorists, for example, have suggested that the custom probably arose in the suburbs of Stockholm during the first part of the twentieth century. Thus, in the words of Albert Eskeröd, the custom is considered to represent “en dy- ning i skämtets form av den gamla och vilt svallande häxtron” (light, humorous echoes of the old, serious and prevalent belief in witches).2 My intention in this paper is not to write the Swedish history of the påsk- käringar (pl.).3 Instead, I mean to focus on the origin and spread of the custom as it existed in the nineteenth century. Using earlier folklore records, I will attempt to illustrate the connections between the belief in witches, those narratives about them, and the custom of dressing up as witches. My point of departure is the belief in witchcraft and witches in Sweden.

Blåkulla and the “Easter Witches” As far as one can see, there has always been a belief in magic in the Nordic countries. Maleficium (referring to Black Magic) is often mentioned in the earliest written sources (Ankarloo 1987: 248). Before that, both the early Ice- landic poem Hávamál (st. 155) and one of the Swedish national law codes, Västgötalagen, mention flying witches.4 At the end of the sixteenth century, a new kind of more religiously marked form of witch trial arose, both in Sweden and in other neighbouring countries. At that time, the witches’ participation in Black Sabbaths and their pacts with the Devil became the dominant form of accusation (see Ankarloo 1971: 48Ð49; and 1987: 252). Entering into a pact with the Devil was regarded as a direct attack on God,

2 Eskeröd 1953: 56; Aarsrud 1988: 43; Bringéus 1976: 134–135; and 1999: 50; and Ronström 1988: 79Ð82. 3 In another article about the påskkäringar, I have discussed the change in the mumming tradition between the middle of the nineteenth century and the end of the twentieth: see Skott 2002b. 4 See Eddadigte I, 1964: 38; Holmbäck and Wessén 1946: 110 and 126; and Sahlgren 1915: 25.

Easter Witches in Sweden 571 and consequently such beliefs contributed to the mobilisation of the church and the state against witchcraft. Those assumed to be witches were thought to be part of a larger conspiracy, which was regarded as a threat to the kingdom itself. For this reason, the courts also began to search actively for fellow crimi- nals associated with the “witches”. The trials became a near epidemic, resulting in a very large number of persons being suspected of witchcraft. During the great Swedish witch craze of the 1660s and 1670s, several thousand people were tried, and a couple of hundred executed for these imagined crimes. From the end of the seventeenth century, however, the number of trials involving accusations of attendance at a witches’ Sabbath gradually decreased, coming to a near end at the beginning of the eighteenth century. From regarding the legends of the witches’ Sabbaths as accounts of real events, the courts gradually began to consider them as the work of illusions inspired by the Devil, or simply hallucinations suffered by those accused. The last execution took place in 1704. However, it was not until 1779 that the death sentence for witchcraft in Sweden was eventually repealed.5 There are obvious close points of similarity between the main parts of those narratives that deal with witches participating in the Black Sabbaths. In Swe- den, the witches’ Sabbaths were often thought to occur at a place called Blå- kulla (the equivalent of Brockenberg in German legends), which is often described as a mountain or a house. Witches were then thought to fly to Blåkulla on brooms, poles, cattle or even humans. Their means of transport were supposed to be greased with a kind of ointment stored in a horn which the witches acquired directly from the Devil. The journey from their homes was often thought to begin with the uttering of a charm, and to take place via travel through chimneys or keyholes. Once they reached their destination, the witches were believed to hand over gifts like edible objects or even living children to Satan or his wife. Most things that happen at Blåkulla are the opposite to the way in which they occur in the real world, and often centre around a feast or a wedding (Ankarloo 1971:217Ð223; and Skott 1999). In Sweden, the journey was often thought to take place at Easter, and it was this that resulted in the witches being called påskkäringar (Easter witches) in the western parts of Sweden.6 Despite the change in the ideas held by the authorities about narratives dealing with the witches’ journeys to Blåkulla during the late seventeenth century, beliefs in witches as well as Blåkulla survived amongst a large part of the population. Some relatively extensive witchcraft trials still took place during the eighteenth century, for example, in Värmland during the 1720s; in Dalarna in the 1760s; and in Dalsland in the 1770s (Aarsrud 1988: 25; and Skott 1999).

5 See Ankarloo 1971, and 1987; Oja 1999; and Skott 1999. 6 For translations of legends showing this belief, see, for example, Kvideland and Sehmsdorf 1988: 183Ð184; and Lindow 1978: 163Ð176. In print, the word påskkäring first appears in 1807 in a dictionary (SAOB 1898–: 2901). Per-Anders Östling (2002: 152, note 268) has discovered the word in a court record from 1771. He also thinks that påskkäring is probably a noa-word for a witch.

572 Fredrik Skott

Even as late as in the 1850s, rumours about journeys to the Devil’s Sabbath were still flourishing in Dalarna. These rumours led to the appointment of a commission which was given the task of investigating “de vidskepliga företeelserna” (the superstitious phenomena). Admittedly the commission cleared everybody of suspicion in this case. However, it is obvious that the major part of the population in this area still believed that the Devil’s Sabbaths really took place (see Wall 1987). Indeed, trials containing accusations about superstitions and black magic are even known to have occurred in the nineteenth century. For example, a woman in the parish of Ör in Dalsland was warned about making use of prophecies and witchcraft in 1864 (Aarsrud 1988: 26). Even though the general belief in magic and Blåkulla went on gradually fading away, even in the middle of the nineteenth century we still find countless records in the Swedish folklore archives showing how (primarily) older people in the countryside still believed in Blåkulla and witches. For example, the folklore collections contain many narratives about how people would hide brooms so that they could not be used as a means of transport to Blåkulla; how they lit påskeldar (Easter fires); and how they would fire guns to frighten the witches, or paint crosses on the doors to their cow-houses so that the “real” witches would not harm the cows, and so on. Records in which the informants themselves claim to have actually caught sight of witches are not especially rare. Moreover, narratives recorded in the beginning of the twentieth century about “real” witches and their activities are still relatively numerous. Indeed, Per- Anders Östling (2002: 319) goes as far as claiming that almost every motif from the era of the witchcraft trials can be found in the later folklore collections. In short, he is implying that the oral tradition about witches in Sweden was extremely stable and conservative. In spite of its religious seriousness, Easter in Sweden was full of jokes. At some time (according to earlier scholars, only when the belief in witches was no longer widespread), a number of playful customs connected to the witches and their attributes came into being. In parts of southern and middle of Sweden, dolls and effigies which were supposed to represent witches could be put outside houses in order to play jokes on or frighten the inhabitants.7 In some parts of Sweden, another common custom was to hang witches’ attributes made out of paper and other materials on other people’s backs as a joke (Skott 2002b: 190Ð191). It was probably also during the nineteenth century that the custom of dressing up or disguising as påskkäringar originated. If we consider distribution maps based on excerpts from older folklore records, it is obvious that the tradition was already common in large parts of western Sweden during the latter part of the nineteenth century (see map 12.1, cf. map 2.9).

7 On such effigies, see further the articles by Christine Eike and Nils-Arvid Bringéus, as well as the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Norway and Denmark elsewhere in this volume.

Easter Witches in Sweden 573

Map 12.1: Distribution of the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as påskkäringar (Easter witches) in Sweden during the nineteenth century. (Map: Fredrik Skott.)

Easter Witches in the Nineteenth Century Altogether there are about one hundred folklore records, mainly from western Sweden, dealing with the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as påskkäringar during the nineteenth century. According to these records, the mumming tradition almost always took place on Easter Saturday, and involved both males and females. In those cases where the participants of the tradition are described as dressing up as female figures, they were referred to as påskkäringar. Male figures, on the other hand, were sometimes referred to as påsktroll or påskgubbar (Easter trolls: see fig. 2.14). The mummers are often described as being older children or youths. In a few records they are said to be older youths or even adults. The participants’ appearance also varied. According to the extant folklore records, they often attempted to look like “real” witches (see figs 2.13, 12.1 and 12.2; cf. fig. 5.13). Thus, they dressed up as old peasant women with long skirts and scarves. Their clothes are normally described as being old or ragged.

574 Fredrik Skott

Fig. 12.1 Påskkäringar (Easter witches) in Varberg, Halland, Sweden, in 1916. (Photo: Mathilda Ranch.) (Courtesy of Länsmuseet Varberg.)

The påskkäringar would also often paint their faces with soot to avoid being recognised. In other cases, the participants would wear a so-called skåpukan- sikte (mask). These masks are described in very similar terms to those used for other Swedish disguise traditions. They might be made, for example, of cloth, paper or, in later times, of papier mâché, with hair, a beard and eyebrows made of moss (cf. Aarsrud 1988: 8Ð9). Most probably a person could use the same mask when dressing up as a påskkäring and/ or for a Lucia or Knut tradition.8 Factory-made masks were not available in the cities until the beginning of the twentieth century (Anon 1895: 7). As has been pointed out earlier, the masks were primarily used to avoid being recognised. However, it is also possible that the påskkäringar used masks to add further to their appearance as “real” witches, which were, of course, considered to be ugly and frightening. The fact that the participants’ clothes are normally described as being “old or ragged” offers further close similarities with the Knut, Lucia or Shrove Tuesday mumming traditions in Sweden,9 all of which often involved some degree of cross-dressing. In their attempts to imitate “real” witches, those in costume would also bring along brooms or poles (see fig. 12.2), which, among other things, were also believed to serve the “real” witches as a means of transport. As noted above, according to the witch legends, they would also use a

8 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 9 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

Easter Witches in Sweden 575

Fig. 12.2: Påskkäringar in Karlstad, Värmland, Sweden, in 1946. (Photo: Helge Kjellin.) (Courtesy of Värmlands museum.) form of ointment stored in a horn, which gave them the power of flight. For this reason, the mummers would sometimes also bring along horns with them. In addition to this, the folklore records indicate that the mummers sometimes carried coffee pots with them (see fig. 2.13), once again items that seem to have been associated with witches from the nineteenth century onwards. It might be argued that the coffee pot symbolises the provisions that, according to the legends, the witches brought with them to Blåkulla as gifts for the Devil or his wife. It is also possible that the coffee pot symbolises the feast that is described in several legends about the witches’ Sabbath (Ankarloo 1971: 221; and Skott 1999: 117). However, it might also have had a practical purpose: when the mummers were given gifts, it is possible that they used the pot to store the received offerings. In addition to this, there are a few cases in which the mummers are actually said to have dressed themselves as the Devil, placing horns on their heads and knees (IFGH 2637: 34; and IFGH 2469: 18Ð20). During the nineteenth century, the påskkäringar commonly used to distribute or throw so-called påskbrev (Easter letters), consisting of painted and folded drawings. They were most often homemade, but, as early as in the 1890s, could be bought ready-made in certain stationer’s shops (see ÅP 1889; and Ödman 1887: 63–64). Common subjects of the letters were witches, eggs and other things connected with Easter. The letter usually contained a verse addressed to “påsktrollet” (the Easter troll) or something of the kind. These

576 Fredrik Skott verses varied but were often formulated as invitations to people to participate in the witches’ Sabbath at Blåkulla, as in the following examples: Sopa, raka jag nu sänder, tag den uti dina händer. Rider du fort, så kommer du fort, till Blåkulla port! (I send you a broom, a rake;/ take it in your hands./ Ride fast,/ and you will soon reach/ the gate of Blåkulla.) Sopa, raka, smörjehorn, sänder jag dig till resedon. Far fort min vän, kom snart igen! Det önskas av en trogen vän! (IFGH 5628: 34; and Ödman 1887: 63–64.) (Broom, rake and ointment horn/ I send you for your trip./ Go fast, my friend,/ come back soon!/ This is the wish of a loyal friend!) Ideally, the letter should be delivered anonymously. The mummers would therefore commonly open the outer door of a house they were visiting and throw the letter in. Immediately afterwards, the påskkäring would run away, trying not to get caught by the inhabitants of the house. It is worth underlining, therefore, that those who threw påskbrev usually did not enter the houses. Nor did they beg or collect anything, unlike most of the participants in other traditional Swedish disguise traditions.10 Kristina Olsson, born 1849 in Stora Kil, Värmland, told a folklore collector about how påskbrev were delivered when she was young: På påskkvällen klädde de ut sig ”bedrövligt”. Då voro de unga ute och sprang ”påsk- käring” och ”påskgubbe”. Ett par stycken gick ut i sällskap men så träffade de ihop med andra, så att de till slut kunde bli ett helt böke. De förvrängde rösten och hade alla slags läten. Den ene kunde komma dragande med en sopkvast mellan benen, en annan hade en stör o.s.v. Kvinnorna voro utklädda till karlar och karlarna till kvin- nor. Somliga hade skrudat ut sig i kalvskinn, andra i fårskinn. Man hade klippt sön- der ett skinn, så att det passade för ansiktet med hål för mun och ögon. Så kanske man hade satt fast ett par horn över huvudet. Ja, de voro så ”utspökade” så att de kunde ha skrämt vetet av människor. De höllo på från gård till gård. Så hade de påskbrev med sig, som de kastade in i farstun. Med detsamma de hade kastat från sig påskbre- vet slog de ett kraftigt slag i dörren eller i väggen. Ju större ”rammel” de kunde åstadkomma, ju bättre var det. När de hade väsnats ett slag, sprang de så mycket de orkade därifrån. Det var inte meningen att någon skulle få fatt på dem. Men man sök- te få fatt i dem och förföljde dem långa stycken. Lyckades det, så blev det ju skämt och roligt. Jag minns några utklädda flickor som hade sökt rädda sig undan förföl- jelse i en pråm. De förföljande hade upptäckt flickorna och sköt utan vidare ut prå- men i vattnet. Där stod nu flickorna hjälplösa emedan de inte hade åror eller något

10 Once again, it is worth comparing the behaviour here to that connected with the throwing of straw images into farms: see further the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus elsewhere in this volume, and the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

Easter Witches in Sweden 577

att hjälpa sig fram med. Där fick de stå i timmar innan man kom och räddade dem. Sådana där utklädda tyckte man, att man kunde hantera hur som helst, om man lyckades få tag i dem (Stora Kil, Värmland: IFGH 2469: 18–20). (On the evening of Easter Eve, they dressed up in awful clothes. Then the young ones were out as “Easter witches” and “Easter trolls”. A few would go out in each party but then they met others so that in the end they could become a large group. They distorted their voices and made all kinds of noise. One would drag a broom between his legs; another had a pole, etc. The women were dressed up as men and the men as women. Some wore calf skins and others wore sheepskin. They had cut out the skin so it fitted their faces with holes in front of the mouth and eyes. Then one might have a pair of horns stuck above his head. They were so “spookily dressed up” that they could have frightened people to death. They walked to one house after another. They brought along “Easter letters” which they threw into the halls. The moment they had thrown in the “Easter letters”, they would powerfully bang on the door or a wall. The louder the “crash” they could make, the better. When they had made noises for a while, they ran away as fast as they could. People weren’t meant to get hold of them, but you did try, and chased them a long way. If you succeeded in catching them it was fun, a real joke. I remember some disguised girls who tried to save themselves from being caught in a barge. The pursuers discovered the girls and pushed the barge out in the water. Then the girls were helpless because they didn’t have any oars or anything else to help themselves with. They had to stand there for several hours until someone rescued them. People thought they could treat those who were dressed up as they wished if they caught them.) As can be seen here, those that threw påskbrev were often dressed up as witches to avoid being recognised. However, this was not a necessity. Like the custom of dressing up as påskkäringar, that of sending påskbrev has hardly been examined in any depth. Some scholars, however, claim that the tradition is probably a recent phenomenon which originated in the cities.11 In an article concerning the celebration of Easter in Åmål, Dalsland, a depiction is given of a påskbrev which is said to be 150 years old. Since the article was printed in the 1930s, this would mean the aforementioned “Easter letter” must have been made in the latter part of the eighteenth century (Forsberg 1934: 78Ð85). Chris- tian Aarsrud (1988: 40Ð44) has also discovered one Easter letter made before the middle of the nineteenth century. Through mapping older folklore records, Julius Ejdestam (1939; cf. Mattsson 1973: 13) has revealed that the tradition was widespread in the western parts of Sweden during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Throwing påskbrev, however, was not a necessary activity for the påskkäringar. According to earlier folklore records, it was almost as common for påskkäringar simply to walk around villages, trying to frighten people. Furthermore, it is often stated that these youths played all sorts of tricks on Easter Saturday. Katarina Nilsson, of Östra Emtervik in Värmland, says the following about the tradition as it was in her youth: De unga brukade kläda ut sig på påskkvällen och spela spratt med varandra och i går- darna. De klädde ut sig ”eländigt”. De voro ute för att rida till ”Blåkulla”. Och de

11 Cf. Aarsrud 1988; von Sydow 1916: 60; and Svensson 1938: 70. 578 Fredrik Skott

klädde ut sig till käringar och gubbar; flickorna till anskrämliga gubbar och pojkarna till käringar. Somliga hade fula ”skråbukansikte” på sig. […] Nej, ungdomen hade sina upptåg. De jamade som kattor och ”vände bort rösten”. Ett omtyckt nöje var att repa efter väggarna med käppar och ställa till oljud på fönstren, ja t.o.m. att placera en sten genom skorstenen. Träffade de på en kärra eller vagn på gården kunde det falla dem in att stjälpa den. Alla sådana där upptåg hittade de på. Det var inte alla gårdar som voro trakterade av att få sådana påhälsningar, men det var ingenting att göra åt saken. Och blev man arg och lät veta detta, så kunde det bli ännu värre nästa års påskkväll (IFGH 2472: 42–44: Östra Emterik, Värmland). (The young people used to dress up themselves on Easter Sunday and play tricks on each other and in the farmyards. They dressed up in “wretched” clothes. They were out riding to Blåkulla. And they dressed up as old women and men, the girls as hideous men and the boys as old women. Some of them wore ugly masks. […] Yes, the youths had their tricks. They mewed like cats and “distorted” their voices. It was very popular to scratch along the walls with sticks and make noises at the windows. Yes, they might even put stones down the chimneys. If they came across a cart or a wagon, they could overturn it. They made up all sorts of tricks like that. Not every farmyard was pleased to get visited like that, but you couldn’t do anything about it. And if you were angry and let them know, it could be even worse the next Easter Saturday.) As with other nineteenth-century mumming traditions in the western parts of Sweden, such as the Knutgubbar (Knut men) or lussegubbar (Lusse men),12 it is said that the Easter mummers would sometimes simply visit houses instead of throwing påskbrev. The purpose then was to frighten the hosts and/ or obtain cookies, sweets or, perhaps more commonly, schnapps: De skulle föreställa att de voro riktiga häxor. Pojkarna klädde sig i fruntimmersklä- der och flickorna i karkläder, så gick de i gårdarna och förde skoj. De klädde på sig gamla trasor och sotade sig i ansiktet, så kunde de ha dragit en vänstersko på högra foten och tvärt om. Så gick de till grannarna undan för undan. De tog fatt i husfolket och dansade med dem. Så fick de fägnad. De förvrängde rösten, så att ingen skulle känna igen dem (IFGH 2655: 39: Nedre Ullerud, Värmland). (They tried to imitate real witches. The boys dressed up in women’s clothes and the girls in men’s clothes. Then they visited houses and joked. They used old rags and painted their faces with soot. And they might put a right shoe on their left foot and vice versa. Then they walked to the neighbours one by one. The mummers grabbed hold of the hosts and danced with them. Then they received food and drink. They distorted their voices in order not to be recognised.) Irrespective of whether the mummers threw påskbrev into houses or not, unmasking was an essential part of the tradition. As noted, the mummers were supposed to be anonymous. When they visited houses, they were silent or distorted their voices. Often it is said that the hosts would try to expose the mummers by asking questions. As one person commented: “Frågade man, var de var ifrån, så var de så långt bortifrån, från Grönland och Island” (If you asked them where they came from, it was always from a long way away, from Green-

12 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume. Easter Witches in Sweden 579 land or Iceland: IFGH 5890: 41).13 However, more often people say that the hosts would try to expose the mummers by force, while they defended themselves with the brooms or poles they had brought with them (cf. IFGH 1198: 25; and 2637: 34): Somliga anställde jakt efter dem. Fick man tag i någon av de ”utklädda”, gav man sig inte med mindre än att man fick se vem det var. Värst voro om flickor blevo fång- ade, ty då fördes ett väldigt skämt med dem. Det var väl gott om de inte rev trasorna av dem. De blevo ”kringkända” och ”kringklämda” (IFGH 2583: 45: Södra Ny, Värmland). (Some people started hunting them. If anyone caught one of the mummers, they wouldn’t give in until they could see who it was. It was worst when girls were captured, because then they played around with them awfully. They were lucky if their rags weren’t pulled off. They were “felt all over” and “squeezed all around”.14) The Easter mumming tradition in Sweden should thus be considered as a form of interplay between the visitors and their hosts like many other mumming traditions.15 The custom can also be regarded as a more or less accepted revolt against the world of grown-ups and everyday hierarchies of power (cf. Klein 1995: 30Ð33; and af Klintberg 1999: 25). On Easter Saturday, young people were allowed to do things that would normally not be accepted, like, for example, messing windows with tar (VFF 651:12), or begging for money and schnapps, and not least walking around villages dressed up as witches and frightening older people.

Beliefs, Customs and Legends As is evident from the examples given above, the påskkäringar with their clothes, coffee pots, brooms and horns, did their best to imitate “real” witches, like those described in the contemporary legends of the time. Over and above this, the mummers would also try to imitate the actions of the witches (cf. af Klintberg 1999; and Dégh and Vázsonyi 1983). As noted above, in the legends and seventeenth-century court records, one reads that witches were sometimes supposed to fly up through chimneys on their way to the meetings with the Devil in Blåkulla. Echoes of this are seen in certain folklore records which tell of påskkäringar sometimes climbing up onto roofs and pouring ash down chimneys (IFGH 2722: 54; cf. af Klintberg 1986: 227; and Skott 1999: 116).

13 For comparable traditions about mummers talking of coming from elsewhere, see also the articles by Hanne Pico Larsen and Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir, as well as the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in the North Atlantic (on Shetland and the Faroes) elsewhere in this book. See also Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming). 14 For further discussion of this sort of erotic play in mumming traditions, see the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 15 For further discussion of the element of interplay in mumming traditions, see the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this book. 580 Fredrik Skott

One somewhat unclear record from Värmland says how the dressed-up påskkäringar went inside cowhouses and cut the cattle, something which was supposed to be common behaviour by those “real” witches described in legends (IFGH 706: 6; cf. Skott 1999: 117). Another record from Västergötland tells how the mummers went inside cowhouses with the intention of making owners believe that “real” witches had been there: Om påsk klädde de ut sig till påskkäringar och tog hästarna och red på dem, så de blev svettiga, eller slog åtminstone vatten på dem, så de såg blöta ut, och sen trodde folket i gården att trolltyg ridit dem (IFGH 2867: 6: Marbäck, Västergötland). (At Easter they disguised themselves as Easter witches. They took the horses and rode them until they perspired, or poured water over them so that they looked all wet. Then their owners believed that witches had ridden them.) By acting the role of the witches known about in contemporary legends, the costumed påskkäringar of the nineteenth century were clearly trying to frighten the inhabitants of the houses they visited. Indeed, many narratives from earlier Swedish folklore records give evidence of the fact that they actually succeeded in this aim, frightening both children and older people, as the following two accounts demonstrate: På påskkvällen klädde flickor och pojkar ut sig å gick påskkäring och påskgubbe. De hade sopkvast med sig som de repade på fönster och dörrar med, så att de höll på att skrämma livet ur barnen. Å enfaldiga äldre blev också förskrämda (IFGH 2988: 35: Åmål, Dalsland). (On Easter Saturday the boys and girls would dress themselves up and walk around as Easter witches and Easter trolls. They brought brooms that they utilised to scratch windows and doors. They almost frightened the children to death. And the simple- minded old people were also scared.) Påskkäringar och påskgubbar. Det var ungdomar i 20–25-års åldern, som klädde ut sig. Flickorna hade långa kjolar och dukar över håret. De målade sig på pannan, kin- den och hakan och hade kaffekittel och sop. Pojkarna tog på sig gammalt och målade sig de med. Ofta for de till Skee med någon som de fick åka med och gick hem och skrämde folk. En gång hade de skrämt prästen i Skee så han gick hem och gjorde en predikan om trollkäringar (IFGH 5766: 20–21: Strömstad, Bohuslän). (Easter witches and Easter trolls. These were disguised youths about 20 to 25 years old. The girls used long skirts and headcloths. They painted themselves on their foreheads, cheeks and chins and had a coffee pot and a broom. The boys wore something old and they too painted themselves. Often they went to Skee parish with someone, visited houses and frightened people. Once they scared the priest in Skee so much that he went home and wrote a sermon about witches.) As pointed out earlier, several trials involving accusations of journeys to Blåkulla, superstition and black magic still took place in Sweden in the middle of the nineteenth century. Such trials, however, were uncommon and should be considered as isolated cases. Furthermore, none of those accused in these trials were ever convicted of witchcraft. In spite of the fact that many records exist from even the beginning of the twentieth century showing that older people Easter Witches in Sweden 581 still believed in witches and Blåkulla, one cannot really claim that the belief in “real” witches was still common or widespread during the late nineteenth century. The main reason for why many scholars have classified the påskkäring tradition as being a recent phenomenon in Sweden was because they suppose a condition for its origin must have been that the belief in “real” witches and witchcraft was no longer common or widespread.16 That the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as witches is not a recent phenomenon is obvious from the above, but the origin of the tradition is still unknown. Could the custom of people disguising themselves as witches have originated in times when the belief in witches was still more or less widespread? It is difficult to try to settle the origin of traditions (and in Sweden, such approaches tend to be regarded as old-fashioned). Very often, such attempts are quite impossible considering the paucity of the extant source material. This is especially applicable in the case of the påskkäringar. Nonetheless, it seems very likely that the tradition was already widespread in the western parts of Sweden at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and possibly even earlier. Nils-Petrus Ödman, for instance, claims in his description of the mummers in Karlstad and Åmål in the late nineteenth century that the tradition “lär ha mycket gamla anor” (is said to have a long history: Ödman 1887: 63–64). The folklore records also provide many indications that the custom existed in a number of western Swedish provinces at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For example, one informant born in 1872 says that the tradition had existed “länge, hela min tid och på mina föräldrars tid med” (for a long time, all my life, and in my parents’ times as well: IFGH 5766: 20–21). A large number of informants born between the 1840s and the 1870s from Bohuslän, Dalsland and Värmland also draw attention to the fact that the tradition existed before their time. Of course, drawing conclusions about the age of the tradition from folklore records of this kind is untrustworthy. However, as noted above, one can at least assume that the tradition was widespread in the western parts of Sweden at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The informants probably would have known if the tradition had originated in their youth and also if their parents and maybe also their grandparents had disguised themselves when they were young. Further indications of the tradition’s existence at the beginning of the nineteenth century can be found in court records from that time. For instance, it was argued in certain parish meetings in northern Halland in the 1820s that fines should be imposed on those that went around as stjärngossar (Star Boys) during Christmas or “wid Påsktider bruka upptåg med utklädning” (dressed up themselves at Easter: SLHD: Copy of the minutes of public parish meetings, Tölö Assembly, December 19, 1828).17

16 See Aarsrud 1988: 12; Bringéus 1973: 134, and 1999:50; and Eskeröd 1953. 17 See SLHD (Svensk lokalhistorisk databas: http://www.lokalhistoria.nu/ [last visited March 1, 2007]). Worth noting in this connection is that in northern parts of Halland, other mumming traditions used to exist at Easter during the nineteenth century. It is uncertain if these court records deal with påskkäringar or something else. 582 Fredrik Skott

In spite of the present lack of evidence, it must thus be regarded as highly probable that the custom of people dressing up or disguising themselves as witches in Sweden originated in the eighteenth or very early nineteenth century, at a time when the belief in witches and witchcraft was probably still common among a large part of the population. However, the belief in witches is not necessarily contradictory to the idea of people disguising themselves as witches. Indeed, many mumming traditions in Sweden as well as elsewhere are distinguished by the connections they show between beliefs in supernatural beings, narratives about them, and the customs involving disguises associated with such beings. One can mention, for example, the festival of Samhain (Hallowe’en) in Scotland and Ireland, a time when the barriers between this world and the next came down, when the dead walked abroad, and when encounters between mortals and otherworld beings took place. At the same time, people disguised as ghosts and hobgoblins walked around in the villages.18 A Swedish example of the same kind is that of Lucia night (December 12), which was also thought to be a period when evil spirits were particularly active. On the same night, masked youths in the western parts of the country tried to imitate the supernatural beings that occurred in legends. They walked around in the villages masked and dressed in rags, frightening people and demanding gifts or “offerings”.19 Further examples can be seen in the Norwegian julebukk, the Faroese gr¥lur, and the Shetland gr¿liks and skeklers.20 As Lily Weiser- Aall, Christine Eike and Terry Gunnell have noted,21 all of these figures could take the form of masked figures, but it was also believed that they were living supernatural beings.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources are referred to in this survey: DAG (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Göteborg): Records: DAGF, IFGH, and VFF LUF (Folklivsarkivet, Lund): Records: LUF SOFI, FA (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen, Uppsala): Records: ULMA Nm (Nordiska museet): Records: EU ULA (Landsarkivet i Uppsala): Court records

18 See Lysaght 2001: 199; af Klintberg 1999: 24; and Lilja 1998 and 2001. 19 See af Klintberg 1999: 24; Bergstrand 1935; and Strömberg 1996. 20 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway and the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 21 See Weiser-Aall 1954: 48; Eike 1980; and Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming).

“May the Star Come in?” 583 “May the Star Come in?” The Process of Tradition in Grimstad, Norway1 Ane Ohrvik

In an attempt to define cultural history, the British historian Peter Burke maintains that “… cultural history has no essence. It can only be defined in terms of its own history” (Burke 1997: 1). I have been tempted to make the same claim concerning tradition: tradition has no essence. It can only be defined in terms of its own history. Using this viewpoint, I wish to clarify the process of tradition. In addition, this viewpoint allows for an analytic focus on the agency of those involved in the formation and transmission of tradition (Bendix 1989a: 139Ð140). Tradition as an analytic term will, therefore, in this context denote those processes that take place in the present and involve a selective and symbolic construction of the past in the present. All tradition undergoes continuous development, being in this sense “…a model of the past and […] inseparable from the interpretation of tradition in the present” (Handler and Linnekin 1984: 276). This process always involves a particular “someone” who makes the act of interpreting tradition, choosing which contents will be transmitted and utilised, and this someone I will call an agent.2 Broadly speaking, one can divide tradition into three parts: actions (rituals), artefacts (objects), and performances (or narratives). The narratives created here are often essential to the process of tradition (Selberg 2002: 13). These narratives often relate to the history of the tradition, the performers in the tradition, the contents of the tradition, and indeed, potentially, everything that concerns the tradition in question. The following discussion will deal primarily with the history of one specific tradition: that of the stjernegutter (Star Boys) 3 in Grimstad, Norway.4 During the Christmas and New Year holidays, young boys in Grimstad in Aust-Agder annually perform a short play based on the Biblical story of the birth of Christ. The historical narratives, or rather, the historical narrative seen in connection with these stjernegutter plays a vital role in the creation of the present-day tradition.

1 This article was translated into English by Jean Aase. This also applies to the quotations made in the text. 2 In many cases, the agent can also be characterised as an entrepreneur (Ohrvik: 2006). 3 On these traditions, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Swe- den, Denmark, and Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this book. 4 This article builds on topics and perspectives I have dealt with in my MA thesis on the stjernegutter tradition in Grimstad in southern Norway (Ohrvik: 2000).

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I mean to concentrate first and foremost on who creates this tradition in Grimstad, how the process of formation is carried out and, finally, what it is that is actually created. In order to illustrate these questions, focus will be placed on the agency of the tradition. The material on which this study is based was collected in fieldwork that I carried out in Grimstad during Christmas and New Year, 1997, 1998 and 1999 as part of the work on my MA thesis. During these periods and afterwards, interviews were conducted, observations carried out, and newspaper articles, videos, photographs, and various written sources collected. This material was also supplemented by NEG questionnaire nr. 185 on “Utkledning og masker” (Masks and Mummers) sent out to all parts of Norway by NEG5 in 2000. This survey provided background material on a national level. To start with, I will try to provide a picture of the cultural-historical, societal and social context of which the stjernegutter tradition can be considered a part, broadly speaking. This is because the past plays a vital and important role in relation to the present-day tradition. How this history has been interpreted and used by the agents has a direct bearing on which performances and narratives are formed in connection with the tradition, and which specific expressions the tradition acquires. The agents connected to present-day traditions may be recognised perhaps first and foremost from the formation of a narrative, a narrative in which the past is interpreted and created.

Church Plays and Street Plays in Europe In solemn procession the priests who impersonated the three wise men would move up the centre aisle of the church; one pointed with his sceptre at a star that was carried on a pole or was moved through the church on a wire. At the altar, the procession halted before the manger, where the Magi sacrificed to the newborn babe. As they fell on their knees in prayer, an angel appeared before them in the shape of a boy clad in white (Marker and Marker 1996: 4). This description stems from a liturgical play performed in a church in Denmark in the seventeenth century. It illustrates both how plays were conducted at this time and precisely what ritual heritage today’s Norwegian stjernegutter (and the Swedish and Finnish stjärngossar, and Danish stjernedrenge) can be said to be a part of. Dramatised elements of the liturgy were common as part of the divine

5 NEG is an abbreviation for Norsk Etnologisk Gransking (Norwegian Ethnological Research). Since 1946, this institution has conducted an active programme of collecting source material on everyday life and festive customs in Norway (see the Survey on Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway). In 2000, a questionnaire was sent to NEG’s permanent group of informants around the country asking for their own experiences of masks and mumming traditions. The questionnaire was prepared by Christine Eike and the present author, assisted and inspired by Terry Gunnell and Carsten Bregenh¿j. The informants participating in the study were of a representative distribution and variety with regard to age, place of residence, gender, and social background.

“May the Star Come in?” 585 services in Christian churches in the Holy Land as early as in AD 400, but were developed and given a more important role in the service in England and France around 960 (see Tydeman 1978: 32Ð45). The plays were performed by priests, cardinals and other members of the clergy who dramatised certain key stories from the Bible, centring on the period around Easter and Christmas. These performances were organised according to the liturgical calendar that determined which ritual celebrations were to be held on stated days throughout the church year. The most popular biblical stories to be dramatised were those taken from the New Testament. As the British historian Edward Muir emphasises, these stories played an important and central role in Church feasts throughout the year: The ritual commemoration of the life of Christ in the liturgy kept time with the passing seasons, creating a festive counterpoint to work, making the mission of Christ, relived each year in the church’s feasts, as much a part of the universal order as the waning and waxing of the moon or the apparent movements of the planets. Every year the most momentous events in the story of the New Testament were retold and recelebrated in the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. The marvellous narrative of Christ’s singular life, confined in historical time to thirty-three years, replayed itself each year through the liturgy (Muir 1997: 58). Throughout the Middle Ages, these plays expanded (for the main part outside Scandinavia: see Gunnell 1995a: 326Ð329; and Davidson 1990), gaining in time a vast number of performers. The church plays performed during Epiph- any dramatising Christ’s birth might include not only Joseph and the Virgin Mary (always played by a man), but also the figures of Herod, Judas, the Three Wise Men and a crowd of shepherds. A turning point for these plays in mainland Europe occurred sometime in the fourteenth century, as the plays in many parts were relocated from the church proper out into the open air near the church walls and the churchyard, and rewritten for presentation in the local language rather than Latin.6 The reason why the plays were moved from inside the church and out into the open is difficult to determine. One possible explanation is that the plays had become extremely popular among the members of the congregation while at the same time they were being increasingly criticised by leading members of the clergy due to their form and content. Some of these plays had grown into huge and spectacular presentations that occupied most of the interior space of the church when they were performed. The undesirable “popularisation” of the message

6 This development was not a jointly European or a homogeneous process. The process of development and change described here had both regional and local differences. Unfortunately, such differences cannot be described in detail here due to limited space. Nonetheless, it is clear that the liturgical plays did actually undergo an alteration process like that which took place in many regions in Europe. In the late Middle Ages, when the Reformation was beginning to gain a solid footing, the liturgical plays disappeared in many parts of Europe (see Wiers-Jenssen 1993; Young 1933; Tydeman 1978: 22Ð45; and Wickham 1987: 11Ð54).

586 Ane Ohrvik of the Bible combined with this objectionable monopolisation of church space may have combined in the criticism aimed at stopping the plays.7 When the plays were no longer liable to religious control or the limitations represented by the use of the church interior, they were at last freed from the liturgical order of the church service. They could now develop with a more popular form and content. The relocation of the plays from holy to profane surroundings in streets and squares Ð with common people playing the parts Ð was of great influence in this process. The biblical content of the plays was retained, but was gradually and increasingly influenced by popular traditions. Humorous, comic and more burlesque alterations were added as the plays pro- gressively came to be the “property” of the common people and more open to influence from popular traditions. This is the context in which we find the growing tradition of mystery, passion and miracle plays in France, Germany, England and Spain, for example.8

Popular Plays The earliest source for a medieval church play in Norway is dated to 1562 and relates to Bergen. It concerns an open-air play performed in the cemetery ad- jacent to the churchyard of Bergen Cathedral. The subject of the play was the Fall of Adam, which was dramatised complete with comic scenes similar to those found elsewhere in Europe as part of the various mystery, passion and miracle plays (Wiers-Jenssen 1993). As noted above, no discovery has of yet been made of sources relative to Norway telling of liturgical dramas taking place inside the church.9 From the seventeenth century onwards, however, there are many sources describing popular plays performed by school boys during the Christmas and New Year holidays. These plays have often been linked with Ð and interpreted as remnants of Ð earlier medieval church plays that took place further south.

7 An argument of this kind is emphasised by, among others, Hans Wiers-Jenssen, who writes: “Anskuelsesundervisningen til troens befæstelse hadde faat et kraftig islæt av underholdning og øienlyst, den opbyggelige belæring var begynt at overskygges av de agerendes og de tilskuendes lyst ved ageren, lyst til spænding og sensation. Ogsaa i dramaets indhold var der trængt ind ele- menter, som man trods al rummelighet ikke fandt helt passende indenfor kirkens ramme. Flere og flere strenge r¿ster l¿ftet sig, ikke mot det liturgiske skuespil i sin almindelighet, men mot den form, den nu hadde antat” (The visual instruction for the consolidation of faith had been infused with a powerful element of entertainment and spectacle, while instruction for edification had begun to be overshadowed by the actors’ and the spectators’ interest in the play and their desire for excitement and sensation. The content of the drama had also been penetrated by elements which, despite all possible liberality, were not found to be suitable within the framework of the church. Increasingly severe voices were raised, not against liturgical plays in general, but against the form that they had now assumed: Wiers-Jenssen 1993: 14). 8 See Burke 1978; Tydeman 1978; and Wickham 1987, for example. 9 Nonetheless, see Gunnell 1995a: 326Ð329 on the fact that the Norwegians must have been well aware of developments in liturgical drama in England from an early point.

“May the Star Come in?” 587

At the same time as liturgical dramas were moving away from the church proper in medieval times, different kinds of popular religious plays were also being performed in Europe. A small proportion of these consisted of Christmas and New Year songs which were sung by young boys who wandered from house to house, singing in exchange for gifts such as food or money. In Ger- man-speaking regions, this custom was termed das Ansingen, the groups consisting of school boys and choir boys who “sang in” the New Year in return for contributions towards their schooling. The earliest substantiated source for this comes from Switzerland and the western regions of Germany in the fourteenth century, typically enough in the form of official bans by the authorities who considered the activity to be little more than an advanced form of begging. One type of this Ansingen tradition was the Sternsingen. This tradition consisted of young school boys in costume that walked about carrying a lighted star on a pole and, in return for various gifts, singing dramatised elements from the evangelic text about the Wise Men searching for the Christ child (Celander 1950: 18Ð32).10 In Norway, as in the rest of Scandinavia, similar forms of plays were performed by school boys. These were primarily boys from the Latin schools Ð the country’s various cathedral schools – who had been granted the privilege of being allowed to å gå med stjerna (walk with the star) and collect money. The stjernespill (Star Play), as it was called, was thus originally a decorous tradition forming part of the cathedral school boys’ educational process, and was confined to the cities of Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiania (Oslo) in Norway.11 In the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries, the only cathedral schools in Norway were found in these towns. The earliest record of activity connected to these schools and the stjernegutter in Scandinavia stems from Bergen and confirms the privilege that had been granted to the cathedral school boys. The source indicates that a conflict had arisen and that journeyman tailors had been fined because they “om helligtrekonger omgik med en stjerne uten øvrighetens tilladelse” (had wandered on Twelfth Night with a star without the permission of the authorities: Wiers-Jenssen 1921: 36). This positive attitude towards the Twelfth Night play Ð even though it was still in a controlled form and only concerned specific players, as in this case Ð cannot be said to represent the authorities’ customary attitude towards the stjernespill. Opinions concerning the stjernespill varied at both regional and local levels, and these opinions changed over time. Prohibition of the stjernespill was often based on religious or legal grounds. In a legal sense, the argument was that the

10 The boys participating in these plays in German-speaking regions were called die heiligen drei Könige, Sternsinger or Sterndreher (Celander 1950: 32). 11 Cathedral schools were founded in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim in the twelfth century and in Stavanger in the thirteenth century. In the seventeenth century, the cathedral school in Stavanger was moved to Kristiansand, but later re-opened in Stavanger. In addition to these schools, a cathedral school was founded in Hamar in the Middle Ages (probably in the twelfth century) and later re-established in the nineteenth century (see, for example, Aas 1925: 1Ð180 and 1932: 1Ð623; Berggrav 1953: 1–209; Bergh 1953: 1–180; Erichsen 1906: 1–242; and Øverås 1952: 1–623).

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Fig. 13.1: A Christmas cavalcade in Norway in the nineteenth century. The central part of the illustration depicts disguised people carrying a star. (Xylograph copy of a drawing by Wilhelm Otto Peters, in Nordstjernen, 13, 148 [1886].) stjernespill involved begging for money, and that it disturbed the general peace and quiet of the Christmas holiday. This can be illustrated with the following example from Trondheim in 1787, in which the legal authorities, represented by police chief Klingenberg, warned Trondheim’s inhabitants against breaking the law and disturbing the peace: Uagtet de Foranstaltninger der Aarlig haver været føyed, for at forekomme og hæmme den Uorden, paa denne Aarets Tid, at omløbe med Stjerner, paa Gaderne og i Invaanernes Huuse, er samme dog ikke aldeles hævet; og da saadant strider mod Kongelig Anordning, God Politie og den offentlige Rolighed, saa advares alle og enhver herved, at entholde sig fra den Uskik, om de ikke ville vente at blive paagrebne og straffede” (Supphellen 1997: 374). (Despite all those measures devised for the Aversion and Restraint of that Disorder which occurs at this time of year, consisting of uninhibited running about with stars in public thoroughfares and private residences, the said running is as yet not discontinued; and since this same is contrary to Royal Ordinance, Proper Behaviour and Public Order, all and sundry are hereby warned to desist from the said Nuisance on pain of Arrest and Punishment.)

“May the Star Come in?” 589

Fig. 13.2: “Helligtrekonger”: Children dressed up as the Three Kings carrying a star, on the west coast of Norway. (Xylograph copy of a drawing by Gerhard August Schneider, in Illustreret Tidende, 490, 175 [1869].)

The religious contention was that the stjernespill did not present the biblical stories with proper respect and piety and, moreover, that it was the responsibility of the church to proclaim the word of God to the people, not the people themselves. In 1826, the clergyman of Nykirken in Bergen based his opposition on such a religious position when he warned against the worsening of the religious content in the plays: “Religieusiteten snarere herved taber end vinder, idet det som staaer i Forbindelse med Religionen, fremstilles som en Farce” (Religiosity will rather lose than gain because of these measures, since all that is connected with religion is presented as a farce: Bjarne Hodne 1982: 36). Those who expressed positive attitudes about the stjernespill held the tradition to be harmless, emphasising the aesthetic expression of the play and its beneficial value for those boys who were able to finance portions of their schooling by means of this activity. In spite of the criticism, it was customary to see young school boys in costume wandering from house to house with lighted stars throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (see figs 13.1 and 13.2). The stjernespill were among the popular religious plays of the time and were performed in several of Norway’s coastal towns such as Kristiansund, Bergen, Farsund, Tunsberg, Oslo and Fredrikstad (Edvardsen 1993: 119Ð149). As has been noted above, however, prior to 1800 this activity was for the most part

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Fig. 13.3: Stjernegutter (Star Boys) in Bergen, Norway, on one of the last occasions the stjernegutter performed the play here, at Christmas in 1924. (Photo: Andrew William M. Peders.) (Courtesy of Norsk folkemuseum.) linked to the country’s various cathedral schools. It is nevertheless interesting to note that towards the end of the seventeenth century and at the beginning of the eighteenth century, a significant process of democratisation must have taken place concerning the stjernegutter. In the interesting and important collection of source material concerning this tradition contained in the book Stjernespill og stjernesang i Norge, the folklorist Erik Henning Edvardsen (1993a and 1993b) has shown how the stjernegutter gradually began performing in increasing numbers of towns and cities along the coast of Norway, regardless of whether the town had a cathedral school or not. On the basis of the registers of stjernespill songs and dialogues as well as written reminiscences describing these episodes, it is possible to place stjernespill all along the Nor- wegian coastline, from east to west and north to south.12 Furthermore, the

12 One can find records of this from, for example, Fredrikstad, Moss (¯stfold), Oslo (Oslo), Dram- men (Buskerud), T¿nsberg, Sandefjord, Larvik (Vestfold), Ris¿r, Grimstad (Aust-Agder), Mandal, Farsund, Flekkefjord (Vest-Agder), Egersund (Rogaland), Bergen (Hordaland), Ålesund, Kristian-

“May the Star Come in?” 591 available sources show that the claim that the stjernespill was a tradition restricted to larger towns does not hold true. Even though this was largely a town tradition, instances of stjernegutter activities can also be found in rural inland areas, fjordside villages and islands all along the Norwegian coast (see maps 1.4 aÐb). Various source materials show too that the earlier stjernespill were more wide-ranging than those of the present-day tradition. In addition to the Three Wise Men, the cast also included the Virgin Mary, Joseph, Herod and several shepherds. The plays also consisted of dialogues between the different performers in addition to singing (Edvardsen 1993: 113Ð170).13 Towards the end of the 1880s and beginning of the 1900s, however, these plays disappeared from most Norwegian cities (see fig. 13.3). Whether this was due to the prohibitions that were advanced and the persecution to which the authorities subjected these plays; to changes in the standard of living among the general public; or to quite different factors cannot easily be determined.

The Star Boys in Grimstad Paradoxically enough, the earliest source material on stjernespill in Grimstad occurs during a period of time when few sources tell of stjernespill in other areas of Norway. The personal memoirs of old people concerning the second half of the 1800s provide a relatively good picture of how the stjernespill was performed. The following description was written by a man telling of his experiences as a stjernegutt (Star Boy) in the 1880s: Saa gik vi fra Hus til Hus og spurgte om Stjernen måtte komme ind, og som regel fikk vi et gunstig svar. Saa sang vi Ð jeg husker f¿rste vers, det l¿d saa: God aften her inde – baade Mand og Kvinde – Vi ønsker eder alle en glædelig Nytaarsfest – at jesus vor Frelser maate være eders Gjest. Traktamentet var som regel Fattigmands- bakkels, men det hendte visstnok at vi fik 1 skilling eller en halv skilling (Edvardsen, 1993: 124). (We walked from house to house, asking if the star might be allowed inside, and we usually received a favourable answer. And then we sang Ð I remember the first verse was like this: Good evening to you Ð both man and woman Ð A Happy New Year to all Ð With our Saviour in your house. We were usually given Christmas cookies, but sometimes we got a half- or even a whole shilling.) In addition to such personal memoirs, the local newspaper, the Grimstad Adressetidende, has published articles about the stjernegutter during most of the 1900s and up to the present-day. A systematic review of the volumes of the sund (M¿re og Romsdal), Trondheim (S¿r-Tr¿ndelag), Troms¿ (Troms), Hammerfest, Vard¿ and Vads¿ (Finnmark) (Edvardsen 1993: 113Ð154). 13 A more detailed description of the content of the different Norwegian stjernespill can be found in Haakon Hougen’s “Stjernesanger” in Hougen 1993: 56–108.

592 Ane Ohrvik newspaper back to 1873 shows that the tradition was first mentioned in 1932. Nonetheless, as the above quotation and that which follows show, the stjernegutter must have been a well-known feature of town life for a long time. An account from the Grimstad Adressetidende (January 7, 1932) reads: “Igår var det Hellig 3 konger aften og de tradisjonelle stjerne-gutter var ute med stjernen og sang den morsomme sang. Her var også bra med julebukker på strøket i går aften” (Yesterday was Twelfth Night and the traditional stjernegutter were out with their star singing their pleasant little song. There were also many Christmas Goats around town yesterday evening). The newspaper story indicates both the continuity of the tradition during the 1900s and how and where the stjernegutter performed. Grimstad has a relatively short history as a town, having been granted its charter in 1816 when it had about four hundred inhabitants. It was thus quite a young town at the time at which the earliest source material concerning stjernegutter in Grimstad appeared. However, any assertion that Grimstad needed to have had legal status as a town in order to have a stjernespill does not hold true. As has been shown above, the stjernespill had spread beyond the boundaries of towns to be performed in rural settings as well. Since earlier sources are no longer available, any speculation as to when the play was first performed in Grimstad must remain little more than speculation. One plausible explanation might be that the stjernespill in Grimstad was inspired by similar performances in nearby towns along Norway’s southern coast – and quite possibly as a result of the democratisation process to which these stjernespill were subject. At present (in 2007), the stjernegutter tradition can only be found in two places in Norway: in Grimstad (Aust-Agder) on the country’s southern coast, and on the islands of Vigra, Giske and Valder¿y (M¿re og Romsdal) on its north-western coast. My examination here will concentrate on the tradition in Grimstad. The stjernegutter of Grimstad usually perform their play during the evening between the second and twelfth days of Christmas. The latter day, January 6 or Epiphany, is in Christian tradition the day which commemorates the manifestation of Christ to the Three Wise Men. During this period, the stjernegutter visit private homes in the most built-up residential areas of Grimstad. The stjernegutter also accept bookings to perform at private functions. Each year, a total of nine boys usually actively participate as stjernegutter, with one or two reserves in case any of the others can not take part. These boys are divided into three teams, known as stjernelag (star teams), which visit different neighbour- hoods in the town. There are never more than three boys taking part in any one performance. The stjernegutter tradition in Grimstad consists of youngsters about ten years of age who dress up as and play the parts of the Three Wise Men seeking the newborn Christ child (see figs 13.4Ð13.6). They wear black trousers, white shirts and black neckties. Around their waists they tie single red silk scarves “May the Star Come in?” 593

Fig. 13.4: Stjernegutter in Grimstad: Christ- mas, c. 1951. The costumes worn by the boys in the picture are very similar to what the boys wear today. White shirts, black trousers and neckties, conical hats, moustaches and red scarves are still the key elements of the costume. From the left: Torleif M. Pedersen, Johan B. Svenevig and Carsten S. Due. (Courtesy of Carsten S. Due.) which hang down along their left legs. On their heads, they wear conical- shaped, white-and-red paper hats decorated with angels and stars. The boys carry along with them a large star made of wood and paper, decorated with white and red paper and with the same angels and stars as on the hats. The star is about 1.5 m. in diameter, larger than the boys themselves, and a lighted candle is placed inside it before each performance. The boys also paint moustaches and beards on their faces with the soot from burnt cork. Their guise does not conceal their identities, nor is that the intention. In this tradition, unlike many other Nordic disguise traditions, recognition is rather an important feature. The play has very little dialogue; what is most important is the boys’ singing. While the song is sung, all lights are turned off in the room in which they perform and the candle in the star is lit. The star is turned while they perform and money is collected. As noted above, each play has three participants who represent the Three Wise Men. During the performance, however, one of the boys changes his role from that of a Wise Man to that of “Judas med pungen” (Judas with the bag of silver)14 when the collection begins. The sum collected is then donated every year to the humanitarian Catholic organisation Mor Teresa (Mother Theresa). During a stjernegutter performance, there might be anything from one to one hundred spectators present, all depending on whether the performance is held in a private home or at larger private or public functions.

14 This figure, who of course has little to do with the Wise Men or Jesus’ birth, offers some intriguing parallels to the same figure who appears with some Shetland groups of mummers, and also in Scottish Galoshins plays: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic, and Emily Lyle’s article on Galoshins plays elsewhere in this volume. 594 Ane Ohrvik

Fig. 13.5: Stjernegutter house visiting in Grimstad, Norway at Christmas, in 1997. Each team of stjernegutter spends from three to ten nights of their Christmas holiday carrying out such house visits. (Photo: Arthur Sand.) (Photograph courtesy of Arthur Sand, Universitetet i Oslo.)

Fig. 13.6: New stjernegutter recruits posing for the local newspaper in Grimstad in December, 2002. (Photo: Karin Engh.) (Photograph courtesy of Grimstad Adressetidende.) “May the Star Come in?” 595

This, then, is how the tradition is expressed at present. When studying the activities of agents, it is necessary to examine the organisation of tradition as a subject of careful planning and execution. It is no secret that the cultural expressions with which we are surrounded are the subjects of, and the results of, the initiatives, commitments and exertions of associations, organisations and individuals (Ohrvik 2006). This is an undeniable fact. A cultural historian is interested in determining how this happens. When viewed from this perspective, the tradition in Grimstad offers a number of intriguing features. As has been mentioned above, it is the agents whose activities are linked to the stjernegutter tradition that will be examined here. I use the term “agent activity” to refer to those persons whose actual initiative, commitment and exer- tion contribute to the transmission and renewal of the tradition. Over the past fifty years, specific persons in Grimstad have directed this particular activity, and have voluntarily and through their own initiative and interest taken the special responsibility upon themselves to ensure the maintenance and continuation of the tradition. These are well-known persons with leading positions in the local society. As journalists, teachers and persons interested in local history, they have lent their support for many years to the general spread of information in the local community about the stjernegutter. They have also been instrumental and have taken an active part in the training of new stjernegutter. It is precisely this combination of social position and personal interest in the stjernegutter which has proved decisive for the local residents’ opinion of the agents. One characteristic of the agents involved seems to be a combination of some amount of historical knowledge and years of interest, and these are considered to be requirements for future agents in this tradition. These requirements have been primarily set by those agents at present working actively with the training of new boys, people who wish to preserve the tradition in the future. Exactly who becomes an agent depends, however, on an individual’s own interests and initiatives. There is no form of “selection” as such. When I was carrying out my fieldwork in Grimstad, there were two active persons who could be called agents. One of these, a man in his fifties, had worked with the tradition for several decades. The other person involved, a thirty-year-old teacher, had only recently started working with the tradition and could in many respects be called an “apprentice” to the older and more experienced agent. The different activities that these agents carried out showed very clearly that the process of tradition implied specific interpretations of the tradition’s history.15

15 In my MA thesis, I identified four groups of tradition carriers, in addition to the stjernegutter themselves: the families, the Grimstad Primary School, Grimstad Adressetidende and the previously-mentioned agents. In the transmission of the tradition, these groups appeared to have different levels of importance and significance. My choosing to concentrate on the agents in this connection is based on the special status, position and consequence they have in the process of transmission, as well as on a need to simplify somewhat the presentation of the tradition. This notwith- standing, a more detailed discussion of agent activity will involve the other groups to a greater or lesser degree. 596 Ane Ohrvik

Cognitive and Material Constructions Broadly speaking, the constituting and forming of the tradition in Grimstad can be said to lie on two levels: the cognitive and conceptual level, and the material and artefactual level. A great degree of standardisation can be found on both levels. On the cognitive level, it appears that it is important to retain control not only of the way in which the story about the stjernegutter is formed and how the ritual is carried out, but also of how the tradition is understood among the inhabitants of the town. On the material level, conservation, preservation and consistency appear to be important with a view towards retaining whatever is seen as being original, authentic and historical with regard to the artefacts used by the stjernegutter. For the agents, the most important aspect of the stjernegutter tradition at the conceptual level may perhaps have to do with the cultural heritage that they conceive of as being advanced. With this in mind, the agents carry out relatively extensive informative activities in which they make use of different media to impart facts about the stjernegutter tradition. Circulars distributed among the inhabitants of Grimstad, newspaper articles written about the tradition, and instruction given in primary schools are some of the most important elements in this activity. The sum total of this activity contributes to the forming of a narrative: the narrative about the stjernegutter tradition (Amundsen 2006: 20Ð22). One of the agents wrote a circular in the late 1990s in connection with the stjernegutter performances which were to be presented for those visited. The circular outlined the historical background of the tradition: ”Å gå med stjerna” er en tradisjon som har holdt seg i Grimstad i generasjoner. Skikken har sitt utspill i et gammelt katolsk kirkespill som forestiller juleevangeliet med vekt på de hellige tre konger og deres reise til Betlehem. I tidligere tider var det vanlig at kirken dramatiserte og spilte deler av påske- og juleevangeliet i kirkene. Så tidlig som i det 11. og 12. århundre ble slike spill fremført, komponert og spilt av de geistlige innenfor kirken. Et tegn på dette i stjernegutt-tradisjonen er de røde ”kardi- nalskjerfene” som guttene bærer rundt livet og som går ned langs det ene benet (Ohr- vik 2000: 122). (“Walking with the star” is a tradition which has existed in Grimstad for generations. The custom has its beginning in the ancient Catholic Church plays which presented the Christmas gospel with an emphasis on the Three Wise Men and their journey to Bethlehem. In olden days, it was usual for the church to dramatise and perform parts of the Easter and Christmas gospels in the churches. As early as in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, plays of this kind were arranged, composed and performed by the clergy of the church. One symbol of this in the Star-Boy tradition is the red “cardinal scarves” which the boys wear around their waists and which hang down their legs.) This text obviously places the historical background many hundreds of years back in time. As has been shown in the brief overview of liturgical drama, popular religious plays and the latter-day stjernespill given above, certain common historical features and relations can be found between them even if a direct link is missing. What is of interest here is how the past is interpreted and used. In “May the Star Come in?” 597 the quotation from the information circular, continuity is created by means of a direct link made between the expressions of tradition in the past and the present. The red “cardinal scarves” are considered to be tangible remnants of the clerical dramatisations in the churches. These then act as “indicators” of the history and cultural heritage of the stjernegutter tradition Ð its origin Ð and contribute to the visualisation of the past and explanation of present-day expression. The narrative that is formed proves and thus acts as a foundation for the legitimacy and continuation of the present-day tradition. The narrative created here also wipes out a break in the continuity of the tradition. The narrative does not make allowances for the fact that there are no source materials for the local historical tradition linked to the stjernegutter having existed in Grimstad any earlier than the 1880s. The narrative nonetheless provides a local setting in that it describes the stjernegutter, and the result is that the medieval church plays themselves become a part of the local tradition in Grimstad. Furthermore, the narrative has an aim: the story of the stjernegutter is fixed to Grimstad as a place (Amundsen 2002a: 167). The information which probably reaches most inhabitants of Grimstad takes the form of articles which are published relatively often in the local newspaper. It is most commonly one of the agents that sends the material for these articles to the newspaper, and gets the newspaper to print them. These articles present the same historical narrative about the stjernegutter as that shown in the example mentioned above. Once again, the historical background is placed in connection with the medieval liturgical dramas, the later street plays and the stjernespill.16 In this context, it is interesting to note that the most expansive historical articles about the tradition are those that come from a later date. In earlier times, the articles are written more in the form of records and reports. They often contain little more than a few lines stating that the stjernegutter are going to “gå med stjerna” (walk with the star) now or in the near future.17 One simple reason for writing longer newspaper articles nowadays is that there may now be a general need for information and more facts about the tradition, facts that were not necessary in earlier years. However, I believe that the explanation is more wide-ranging than that. One of the agents himself justified the spread of information by saying that it answered a need people had to reach back in time and concentrate on locally-based historical traditions.18 This increased interest for “historical information”, however, does not necessarily have anything to do with an earlier lack of historical knowledge, but rather with an increased interest in the past and in history in present-day society. Just as past

16 See Grimstad Adressetidende for December 12, 1991, December 23, 1995 and December 13, 1997. The presentation is stylistic and systematic in its discussion of the historical circumstances, with little variation from one year to the next. It almost looks as if the articles have been largely reproduced, the new additional elements being the names and pictures of the boys who will be the stjernegutter for the year in question. 17 This is shown in, among others, the newspaper articles in Grimstad Adressetidende, January 1, 1937, January 4, 1950 and January 7, 1967. 18 Interview with a male informant from Grimstad, September 20, 1998. 598 Ane Ohrvik times and history have become important elements in the construction of modern life in a completely different manner to that which existed before, so too can the fear of the opposite Ð the lack of history Ð be experienced as a threat.19 The need to place the stjernegutter tradition in a historical universe, while simultaneously legitimising and securing its existence in present-day Grimstad, are probably important reasons for why the newspaper articles have become increasingly longer in past years and why the agents’ informative activities have become so energetic. The past has become important for the distribution and support of a local collective identity. Worth noting is that the narrative that is formed around the tradition does not contain the historical as an integral quality in itself. However, specific historical qualities are made visible and included in the transmission. One of these specific qualities is the independence of the tradition. This idea is often raised as a feature that is positive and worthy of preservation. Both the agents and other persons who have interest in the tradition often tell stories from the Second World War dealing with the stjernegutter as examples demonstrating the tradition’s ability to survive, its pride and its independence. These stories centre on the theme of how the stjernegutter continued to gå med stjerna (walk with the star) during the war despite the Nazis’ total evening curfew, and their extreme dislike of the tradition which they banned. After nightfall during the Christmas holidays, these young boys would allegedly creep from house to house with their star, secretly visiting private homes with their stjernespill, thereby keeping the tradition alive during the years of occupation. I have not been able to ascertain the truth of these stories because they are not first-hand accounts. This does not make them less interesting, however. The stories portray brave young lads who would not let bans, threats or dangerous and violent opponents, the forces of the occupation, stop them from “å gi Grimstad deres stjerne” (giving Grimstad her star). At the same time, in these accounts, the tradition becomes a force in itself, a force in which the performers are less important. No-one knows the names of the stjernegutter from this period of time, and that may be one reason for the shift in focus. It is primarily the tradition that gains extra significance here because it experienced the war and showed a robust instinct for self-preservation despite wartime hos- tilities. The stories are representative of some of the different types of resistance stories dealing with the war years in Norway, and symbolise very clearly a view of the stjernegutter as belonging to an independent and free tradition. The fact that the present-day tradition has been continued and has retained its

19 Anne Eriksen argues in favour of this when she points out that “Å kjenne sine røtter dreier seg ikke bare om kunnskap som kan være interessant i seg selv, men om svar på eksistensielle spørsmål og om den dypeste form for tilh¿righet, den som gir betydning og forklaring utover det egne, korte livet. Den historieløse vil altså utsette seg for den fare å ikke høre med i dette meningsunivers.” (Being aware of one’s roots has to do not only with knowledge that can have interest in itself, but also with answers to existential questions and the deepest form of belonging, that which gives meaning and enlightenment over and above one’s own short life. In other words, those who lack history run the risk of not belonging in this universe of meaning: Eriksen 1999: 23). “May the Star Come in?” 599 consistently independent and “free” spirit was stressed by one of the agents who talked of his fear that Christian organisations might take over the tradition and use it in their own fund-raising campaigns.20 Preserving and communicating this perception of the tradition’s qualities as spiritually independent and free is regarded by the agent as being of vital importance. Since it is not owned by any one person, it can be said to be owned by “everyone”. In this way, the stories link specific qualities to the stjernegutter which cross Ð but at the same time also take on tangible, if seemingly uncontroversial Ð attitudes to political, economic and religious factors. In later years, it has been customary for one of the agents to visit the fifth form of the school from which the stjernegutter are recruited, in order to talk about the tradition. On this occasion, the tradition is discussed and those boys who are to “walk with the star” are instructed as to how this is done. The story told about the tradition is similar to that communicated through the circulars and in the newspaper. In addition, the pupils are also often told of the agent’s personal experiences as a stjernegutt. This makes recent history come to life, and the tradition becomes part of a historically experienced universe. This is not, however, the first occasion on which the pupils are told about the tradition. They receive information about the stjernegutter and the tradition in Grimstad as early as in the first form. This aids in consolidating the stories about the tradition in the pupils’ consciousness from a very early point. This specific expression of the tradition and the artefacts linked to the stjernegutter contributes to the formation of the historic quality and continuity of the tradition. The oldest star still in use during my period of fieldwork was constructed in about 1900. All the stars constructed in later years have used this one as their formative pattern regarding materials and appearance. Tentative attempts by interfering stjernegutter parents who have wanted to make a more practical and modern star have been rejected in no uncertain terms by the agents. They have the deciding voice on just how the star should look Ð and, especially, on just how it should not look! One father who attempted to use plastic instead of paper as a covering, and also tried to set an electric light instead of a candle inside the star, was reprimanded, the star then being returned to its original condition. Similar attempts to replace the natural cork soot with which the boys paint their faces with modern make-up have been met with the same reaction. In this context, these theatrical features have received a function both as objects for use in the present-day ritual and as items of cultural heritage worthy of preservation. Intense argumentation must be used if any of these are to be modified or destroyed. The materials used have to be traditional, not modern. Such episodes indicate further that the agents’ opinions and conception of the tradition have decisive consequences for the expression of the tradition. They have the power of definition (Bell 1992: 221). The way in which the boys are trained to walk as stjernegutter are subject

20 Interview with a male informant from Grimstad, September 20, 1998. 600 Ane Ohrvik to the same strict instructions: once again, it is the agents who lead as both communicators and instructors. After the stjernegutter were filmed by Norwe- gian television in 1988, a video of the broadcast began to form part of the basis for the ritual instruction. By means of songs, mimicry and movements, the ritual scene is copied and continued in the style, form and content that is considered to be correct. Even though the boys quite naturally stamp their own individuality and distinctive characters on each separate performance, the repli- cated instruction creates important terms for the expression of the tradition. It is precisely this preservation and continuation of the stjernegutter style which is considered as being of vital importance in keeping the tradition “sånn som det alltid har vært” (just as it always has been). The ideas of unchangeable artefacts and the unchangeable ritual all in their own way contribute to the present and the past having unclear boundaries, and to the past coming “tettere inn på livet” (closer into our lives: Selberg 2003: 9–28).

One Narrative? On the basis of the above analysis of the agents’ activity with regard to the stjernegutter tradition; of the study of who forms the tradition; and of how this process takes place and what it is that is actually formed, it might seem that it all develops into one non-controversial narrative. In this process, we find real actors Ð the agents Ð who not only offer but set the terms for the narrative that is presented. An appropriate question then becomes whether there are no other narratives, narratives that are in contrast to these and relate other stories? The answer is both yes and no. During my fieldwork period, certain aspects of the tradition became problematised, and the portrayal of the tradition as free, independent and common property was somewhat challenged. One woman whose own sons had been stjernegutter had some doubts as to who profited from the stjernegutter tradition. She had got the impression that the tradition was most popular in the better residential areas near the centre of town, and that both interest in and access to the tradition were linked to social class.21 It should be mentioned again that the tradition, historically speaking, has its basis in an urban tradition. The stjernegutter have usually not visited residential districts on the outskirts of town because of the greater distances involved. Even so, the woman’s personal impression of the tradition challenges the narrative about the custom being collective common property. As I have shown above, the tradition’s independence from organised religion has also been strongly emphasised by one of the agents. In spite of the tradition’s historic denominational basis in Catholicism, the stress placed on religious independence tempts one to suggest that the religious aspect has been consciously played down. In this connection, it is interesting to register that the

21 Interview with a female informant from Grimstad, January 9, 1998. “May the Star Come in?” 601 funds collected are donated to a Catholic humanitarian organisation, and that two of the people who used to be very active as agents have been practising Catholics. This is not the place for speculation about either conscious or unconscious religiously-based intentions, but it is worth noting that even if the narrative that is presented is unequivocal, it is not necessarily unproblematic when placed under closer examination. These aspects are, nevertheless, not reflected in the narrative or interpreted as expressions that can be negotiated in connection to the valid identities and values linked to the tradition. No obvious intertextual relationship can be found between them.22 So why are these aspects not communicated or referred to in the narrative presented by the agents, a narrative which, in general, acts as the “official” narrative when spread by means of the newspaper, through the circular, and along with the artefacts, and eventually reaches the young stjernegutter?

A Narrative Hegemony? The Norwegian cultural historian Arne Bugge Amundsen points out how some narratives refer to and partly re-interpret each other. He emphasises that while some narratives presuppose each other, others must necessarily be suppressed or excluded. As he says: “Meningsfortolkning forutsetter tale, men også taushet” (The interpretation of meaning presupposes both speech and silence: Amundsen 2002b: 22). This particular kind of process can also be intimated in the formation of the narrative about the stjernegutter tradition. Some of the tradition’s values and qualities are emphasised at the expense of others. Under- standing of the past and the use of this understanding in the formation of the present-day narrative about the stjernegutter also underscores the dynamics of the tradition process. As noted at the start, tradition has no essence in itself, but is continually interpreted and formed through the narrative(s) about it. In addition, it appears that it is the agents who have a hegemony with regard to the narrative itself Ð and that this is not formally disputed. In that respect, the narrative about the stjernegutter lies at a level of position and power, factors which, in their turn, have made it possible to relate the narrative, and also made it available for me to study as a scientist. By virtue of their being agents, they have reached a position from which the narrative can be spread widely with the help of different channels of communication. Furthermore, because they occupy this position, they also have the power of definition. As has been shown above, the tiny factors indicating that the narratives are formed, giving a specific portrayal at the expense of other factors which are suppressed or forgotten, confirm in many ways the fact that we are confronted with a narrative hegemony. And just what is this hegemony concerned with? It is primarily

22 See Berkaak 1999: 3Ð46; Eriksen 2002: 147Ð166; and Hylland 2002: 126Ð146. 602 Ane Ohrvik concerned with the right to control the narratives; and these narratives form a specific tradition with a specific image. The narrative turns on greater axes than just some agents’ forming and spreading of the tradition, however. In reality, it can also be said to point back to the way in which the agents wish to present the town, and to those types of historical identities and values that they desire to be linked with. In this way the narrative of the stjernegutter tradition becomes an interesting source for the study of contemporary self-presentation and identity construction. It is not my intention to place the agents in question here in a position of power in which they most certainly would not recognise themselves. Nor do I wish to suggest that these agents are aware of their position or that they make conscious use of it. What I do wish to show, on the other hand, are some of the ways in which tradition is formed and continued, and the images and background ideas with which this can take place. As a scientist, I must even be aware that in the course of writing this article I have myself contributed to the forming of a narrative Ð and a tradition with a specific image.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following questionnaire is referred to in this survey: NEG (Norsk Etnologisk Gransking) questionnaire: 2000: nr. 185: Utkledning og masker

Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 603 Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland1

Mari Kulmanen

1. Introduction In some regions of western Finland, people celebrate Nuutti (St Knut’s Day) on January 7 (“old” Nuutti) or 13 (“new” Nuutti).2 The roots of the celebration go a long way back in time and are connected to the vast network of Nordic mumming traditions. The Finnish version of the Nordic midwinter mumming tradition originally took its name from two Danish saints called Knut who died as martyrs in the early Middle Ages. In Finland, their name became naturalised as Nuutti. Originally people celebrated Nuutti on the saints’ memorial day, but nowadays there are two different days for celebrating. This change dates back to the eighteenth century, when St Knut’s memorial day was transferred from the day after Epiphany (January 7), where it had traditionally been, to January 13. Some people started to celebrate on the new saint’s day, while others adhered to the traditional date. This date problem became more difficult in the early 1970s when the Finnish government decided that instead of being celebrated on January 6, Epiphany celebrations would now take place on the nearest Saturday. People thus became more and more confused about the correct day on which to celebrate Nuutti and go mumming. Luckily, Epiphany was returned to its original place in 1992, meaning that there was no longer any confusion (Karjalainen, Korhonen and Lehtonen 1989: 36; and Vilkuna 1996: 24Ð 26). In Äetsä, people mostly celebrate on January 7. There have been some other changes apart from the date, but some things are as they have always been. One feature that has not changed is the liminal aspect of the celebration, and it is this I wish to examine in this article. The article is based on a seminar paper delivered in the Department of Folk- loristics at the University of Turku in 2002. It examines the present state of the Nuutti celebrations, drawing on interviews made in the field in 2002 and my own personal field experience. As an aid, it also uses issues of the newpapers Tyrvään Sanomat appearing in January 1989Ð1999 and Lauttakylä-lehti in

1 Translated from Finnish by Susanna Sinisalo. 2 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia, and the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. With regard to comparable Knut traditions and their origins, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Estonia.

604 Mari Kulmanen

January 1995–1999. Both are local papers published in the Äetsä region. I have taken information on earlier times from books and interviews. There have been previous studies of Nuutti in Finland, but none of them from the point of view of liminality.3 A few general treatises have also been published on the subject in Finland, and Urpo Vento has examined it along with other peripatetic traditions (Sarmela 1994: 99Ð104).

2. a. The Research Problem and Terminology Let us now turn to the liminality attached to Nuutti and the changes that have taken place in the way the day is celebrated. Liminality is a border state between two different statuses, either temporal or social. It is a term created by the anthropologist Victor Turner on the basis of the transition rites theory put forward by Arnold van Gennep in his Rites de Passage (written in 1909: Perinnetutkimuksen terminologia 1998: 29). Van Gennep’s term “transition rite” on which the term “liminality” is founded also takes in various calendrical rituals; hence liminality theory can well be applied to the examination of Nuutti. The customs surrounding Nuutti can be classified as either traditional or modern. In between these two clear periods is another one of gradual transition from old to new. By “traditional”, I mean the pre-twentieth-century customs observed by the tradition-bound and to some extent closed rural community, which involved heavy drinking, rampaging and sexual innuendo.4 The tradition was already changing by the beginning of the twentieth century as a result of greater mobility and, later, the arrival of evacuees from Karelia.5 New blood was then infused into the country villages, and not everyone knew one another any longer. The rules within the community also changed, and Nuutti began increasingly to lose its significance as the process of change gathered force. By “modern” Nuutti, I mean the mumming tradition that still exists mainly among children and tradition-oriented adults. Between these two stages, the old and the new, there was a long period of transition lasting nearly a hundred years during which aspects of the celebration gradually changed. It might be noted that I classify the tradition as “traditional” or “modern” on the basis of various

3 Carsten Bregenh¿j (1981) has examined the celebration of Nuutti as a game, and Maris Leponie- mi has applied not only Huizinga’s concept of play but also life-cycle theory to the examination of the Nuutti celebrations at Kustavi. See Maris Leponiemi (then Müürsepp): Ilta Kustavissa – Ta- paustutkimus Nuutinpäivän vietosta nyky-Suomessa 13.01.2001 (unpublished paper given at an undergraduate seminar led by Professor Ilmari Vesterinen at the University of Jyväskylä on April 2, 2001). See also Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj’s article on the erotic aspects of mumming such as those that take place at Nuutti elsewhere in this volume. 4 See also Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj’s article on the erotic aspects of mumming such as those that take place at Nuutti elsewhere in this volume. It might be noted that the field work material behind both articles comes from the same area. 5 After the Second World War, when Finland had been forced to cede territory to the Soviet Union, those people evacuated from these regions were resettled in various parts of Finland.

Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 605

Fig. 14.1: Nuutti Mumming in Äetsä, Finland, 2002: Children now get inspiration for costumes both from both Easter mumming and the Nuutti tradition. (Photo: Mari Kulmanen.) (Courtesy of Kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitoksen arkistot, Turun yliopisto [the Ar- chives of the Turku University School of Cultural Research].) features: The characteristics of the traditional Nuutti are adult mummers, alcohol, careful masking, and attempts by the hosts to guess the identity of the mummers; those of the modern Nuutti are child mummers, the handing out of sweets, the absence of careful masking, and various related events such as mummers’ balls and fancy-dress parties.

2. a. A Fieldwork Trip to Äetsä The more recent fieldwork material on the topic was collected in the municipality of Äetsä in south-west Finland on “old” Nuutti in 2002. Twelve persons were interviewed, all of whom were to some extent familiar with the tradition. Most of the interviewees had also been mumming themselves. Some had lived in the region all their lives, one had moved in, and three called themselves “paluumuuttaja” (returnees), meaning that they were born in the region but had spent years elsewhere before moving back again. On the evening of the day after Epiphany, which is the most common day for mumming in Äetsä, we set off as dusk fell to tour the village streets in the hope of spotting some mummers. We were lucky enough to spot twelve children in all, but saw no adults. Our attention was caught by the fact that not one of the children was dressed so as to be completely unidentifiable; the faces of

606 Mari Kulmanen

Fig. 14.2: Nuutti Mumming in Äetsä, Finland, 2002: The boy to the right in a black-and orange- coloured outfit with a spider-web pattern indicates the Nuutti tradition blending with that of Hallow- een, as well as showing Eastern influences. (Photo: Mari Kul- manen.) (Courtesy of Kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitoksen arkistot, Turun yliopisto [the Archives of the Turku University School of Cultural Research].) all were to some extent uncovered. Most of them, however, had clearly given a lot of thought to their costumes, which were cleverly devised. The costumes varied from those of animals to witches and Oriental beauties to Pippi Lång- strump6 (see figs 14.1 and 14.2). Having toured the streets, we drove to the village hall at Vähähaara to meet the mummers. On arrival, we just caught sight of two adult mummers about to leave, one of whom was dressed in a traditional Nuutti costume, that is a fur coat turned inside out and a birch-bark mask (see figs 5.5Ð5.12 and 11.2Ð11.4 by comparison). Inside we found a couple more adult mummers in traditional costumes and masks. We nevertheless recognised all the masked adults as our informants from the day before. In other words, we did not succeed in sighting any adult mummers that we did not already know, just more children.

6 i.e. Pippi Longstocking, one of the heroes of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s popular books for children.

Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 607

3. The Structure of Liminality Victor Turner defines liminality as the state “betwixt and between” laws, customs and ceremonies (Turner 1970: 95). It is thus a state in which the normal laws and customs of life do not apply. This state may also be conceived of as falling entirely beyond the confines of normal time and space. Persons in this state may wear masks to indicate their liminality, or they may dress in some other abnormal way. Androgyny, anonymity and genderlessness are often features of persons in a liminal state. Liminality may also impose a rule of silence, which helps people to remain anonymous. Turner links this liminal state with a strong experience of community, which he terms “communitas”. Communi- tas is counterbalanced in the community by the structures which regulate, for example, the lives of persons in authority. According to Turner, communitas is a human necessity, and even those individuals whose lives are ruled by structures may, in a liminal state, experience a feeling of community. The absence of structures is, he claims, a vital prerequisite for communitas. Persons in a liminal state can encounter one another free from the constraints of the social system of structures and roles. While in a liminal state, and assuming different roles, the community may also use the chance to rid itself of any enmity en- gendered during the year (see Turner 1970: 95Ð96, 102, 106Ð107, 126, 177, 179Ð180, 183Ð184 and 203). According to Turner, liminality manifests itself in rituals of two kinds. The first consists of rituals in which the status of a member or members of the community changes to higher level. Such rituals are called rites of passage. I do not wish to examine this kind of ritual any further here. The second type takes in rituals in which an existing status quo is turned upside down. These rituals include calendrical rituals such as mumming. According to Turner, these calendrical rituals are: … usually of a collective kind, in which, at certain culturally defined points in the seasonal cycle, groups or categories of persons who habitually occupy low status positions in the social structure are positively enjoined to exercise ritual authority over their superiors: and they, in their turn must accept with good will their ritual degra- dation (Turner 1970: 167). Such rituals are generally observed in the transference from annual periods of want to times of plenty, or vice versa (Turner 1970: 167, and 169). The clearest Finnish example of this could well be kekri, which was celebrated in the autumn, at the end of the agricultural year.7 However, there are also elements of a transfer from plenty to want in Nuutti. After all, the Christmas season and its time of feasting comes to an end with Nuutti. In speaking of liminality, Turner makes frequent reference to the concepts behind Arnold van Gennep’s seminal work Rites de Passage. These concepts

7 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia. Kekri was celebrated in each house after its harvest had been completed. It did not have any permanent date, although in later times it was celebrated at the end of October, thus blending with All Hallows’.

608 Mari Kulmanen are also applicable to the study of Nuutti. In speaking of rites of passage or transition rites, van Gennep divides rites into three stages: separation (separation), transition (marge) and incorporation (agregation). Van Gennep also sub- divides the rites connected with liminality into three categories: preliminal, liminal and postliminal. The preliminal rites apply to separation, the liminal rites to transition and the postliminal rites to incorporation (van Gennep 1960: 10Ð11, and 21). The preliminal rites separate the participants from the ordinary world and transfer them to a liminal state in which the liminal rites take place, and the postliminal rites restore them to reality and the community. Not all parts of the rites of passage are of equal significance, since different aspects are emphasised as befits the occasion (van Gennep 1960: 10Ð11). Rather than the term “rite”, I would prefer to use the word “event” here, since, to my mind, “event” is more applicable than “rite”8 as a means of describing a secular event. From now on, I shall therefore speak of preliminal, liminal and postliminal “events” when describing activities that van Gennep termed as rites. Some of the features which van Gennep mainly attaches to life-cycle rites of passage find clear counterparts in Nuutti. For example, van Gennep describes the initiation of novices as follows: The novices are outside society, and society has no power over them, especially since they are actually sacred and holy, and therefore untouchable and dangerous, just as god would be…. During the novitiate, the young people can steal and pillage at will or feed and adorn themselves at the expense of the community (van Gennep 1960: 114). In many ways, the same description could be given to those who wear masks at Nuutti. Furthermore, according to van Gennep, sexuality can also be used to strengthen the feeling of belonging together and community (van Gennep 1960: 170). As will be noted later, there are also signs of this in the Nuutti celebrations (see the following section).

4. Nuutti: Past and Present The origin of the Nuutti tradition is shrouded in history, but like other similar peripatetic traditions in Scandinavia, Nuutti probably dates back to the pre-Christian era. For example, there is archaeological evidence of animal masks being used in earlier times in the Nordic countries (from runestones, and other artifacts). There is also a detailed description from the court at Constan- tinople which seems to describe Scandinavian warriors celebrating Christmas by performing a masked dance. The description, which dates back to the end of the first millennium, tells how these figures wore masks and furs turned in-

8 From Latin ritus meaning a sacred act (Perinteentutkimuksen terminologia 1998). Although “rite” is also used in speaking of secular acts, I have difficulty using it in this sense and therefore prefer the more neutral “event”.

Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 609 side-out, much like latter-day mummers (see Bregenh¿j 2000b; and Gunnell 1995a: 36Ð92).

4. a. Traditional Nuutti The first literary and oral references to the traditional Nuutti were not recorded until the nineteenth century, by which time the festival had become an end-of-Christmas ritual observed mainly by young men. Traditionally, these young men, called nuuttipukki, Nuuttiparooni or tynnyrinpesijä (Nuutti Goats, Barons or barrel-washers), would tour from house to house on foot or sleigh checking that the Christmas liquor and ale had all been consumed.9 In practice, this meant that the remains of the Christmas food and especially the drink would end up in their stomachs. Nuutti as a ceremony thus also marked the end of the Christmas season. This is reflected in a saying still familiar to many Finns: “Hyvä Tuomas joulun tuopi, paha Nuutti poies viepi” (Good Tuomas brings in Christmas, bad Nuutti takes it away). The young men travelling from house to house were dressed in old clothes, straw, fur coats turned inside out and animal-like masks made of birch-bark. It was also important for the masks to cover their faces completely. Anonymity was one of the most important things in mumming and, as in many other Scan- dinavian mumming traditions, part of the fun was that the hosts would, both during the mumming and afterwards, try to guess who were behind the masks (Hautala 1986: 37Ð38). The style of dress was not quite the same in every region, but the mummers always wore or carried something that singled them out as Nuutti Goats, Barons or barrel-washers. As noted above, it was also the custom to offer the mummers something to drink, usually the dregs of the Christmas spirits or the ale at the bottom of the barrel or keg. If received in a lordly manner, a mummer might thank the household in song for making the spirits and ale, and even bless the house and its generous hosts, wishing them luck in the year ahead (Hautala 1986: 38; and Bregenh¿j and Vento 1975: 23).10 However, the mummer whose request for drink was refused might be very curt with his hosts. One mummer at Tyrvää noted the following: Pukille piti jokaisessa paikassa, missä se kävi, antaa sahtia, mutta jos se oli jo lopus- sa,vei pukki tynnyristä hanan sitä tietä, jota pitkäksi sanotaan (Hautala 1986: 36). (At each of the places visited, the mummer had to be given ale, but if it had all gone by that time, the mummer would take the tap from the barrel and take it along the road.)

9 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume, and also the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j which deals with the figure of the Baron among other things. 10 See also the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia, and in Finland and Karelia with regard to these thanking verses. 610 Mari Kulmanen

During the days that followed a number of people would evidently be seen dashing about the village streets and houses looking for their lost taps. How- ever, there were other forms of reaction. A mummer refused refreshment might also sing a derogatory song about the householders, criticising the people and their stinginess and wishing them bad luck in the year ahead.11 An offended mummer might even threaten that he and his party would not turn up to help with the harvest in the year to come (Hautala 1986: 37; and Bregenh¿j and Vento 1975: 23). The mummer not offered any liquor might even turn violent. Indeed, sometimes the mummers would strike out with the birch switches they carried with them, just for fun: Pukilla oli seiväs takana ja sen nokassa märkä vihta. Se tulla möyrysi sisälle ja pyysi viinaryyppyä; jos ei saanut, niin veteli ympäri korvia sillä märällä vihdalla (Hautala 1986: 36). (The mummer had a pole behind his back with a wet birch switch on top. He came blustering in, demanding a dram of liquor; if he didn’t get it, he would slap the hosts round the ears with the wet switch.) Furthermore, in addition to seeking revenge, the mummer might use his straw switch to ward off any of the womenfolk who got too familiar, as the following quote shows: Kaikilla, mutta erityisesti naisväellä, oli tapana tehdä kiusaa paroonille. Hän saattoi pian menettää tukon takistaan tai lakistaan, vieläpä naamaristaankin noiden veitikoi- den käsiin. Sen estämiseksi oli paroonilla tuo olkipamppu, joka oli kasteltu nestee- seen – virtsaan – jonka laadun selvästi tunsi se, joka sai pampusta hujauksen kasvoi- hinsa (Hautala 1986: 38). (It was the custom for all, and especially the womenfolk, to tease the Baron. He might soon lose a tuft from his coat or cap, and even his mask in the hands of these rascals. To prevent this, the Baron carried a straw truncheon that had been dipped in some liquid Ð urine Ð the nature of which would immediately be clear to anyone who got slapped in the face with it.) The Baron might also carry other straw props of an erotic nature with which to harass the women (Bregenh¿j 1981: 36).12 Indeed, sexual allusions would appear to have been an integral element of the traditional Nuutti, and this tendency for erotic innuendo between the mummers and the hosts seems to have persisted right up into the 1970s (SKSÄ 3.1974). In addition to this rowdy jesting the mummers might also entertain the hosts with a play that was sometimes very advanced (Bregenh¿j and Vento 1975: 22Ð23). When the hosts had provided food and drink for the visitors, the scribe who accompanied the mummers would draw a chalk cross on the wall of the house to show that it had been visited and the mummers well received (see fig. 6.3 for a parallel from Estonia). In other words, Nuutti was satisfied for that year.

11 See further the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this book for parallels in Iceland. 12 See further Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj’s article on eroticism in mumming elsewhere in this volume. Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 611

Outstanding generosity might be acknowledged by drawing pictures of tankards on the wall as well; these would serve as a reminder of the household’s generosity throughout the rest of the winter. Having completed their rounds, the mummers might then congregate at one of the largest houses in the village and there consume the food and drink they had accumulated. Some- times there was dancing, too (Vilkuna 1996: 28).

4. b. Change The change in the celebration of Nuutti was slow and passed through many stages, and there were probably many reasons for it. Finnish society has changed considerably since the nineteenth century. Improved roads and means of transport have resulted in greater mobility, and moral rules have been relaxed as the internal social self-control of the village community has gradually vanished. The attitude of society and consumers to the traditional mummers and to their growing alcohol consumption in the course of the twentieth century also varied and was sometimes a problem. At the end of nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the temperance movement started to win supporters in Finland and the view of alcohol began to change. Earlier, it had been a normal part of the diet, and in some regions it accounted for part of the daily energy intake. The community had also regulated the consumption of alcohol. Usually alcohol was mainly confined to adult men, who drank it for the purpose of getting intoxicated only during the more important festivals. Women and young men, however, got less alcohol even on these special occasions. One of the great festivals when alcohol was drunk in large quantities was Christmas and at the end of that came Nuutti. Under the influence of the temperance movement, many people started to condemn all use of alcohol and thus both Christmas, and Nuutti became “dry” festivals. On the other hand, the Act on Prohibition, passed in 1919, actually made alcohol more attractive and its consumption increased (Apo 2001: 213). Of course, anything that is prohibited is interesting and must be tried. The Prohibition Act was revoked in 1932, but even after this, drinking was still frowned upon by many in Finland (Apo 2001: 213, and 232). A teacher, for instance, might make his or her pupils such strong teetotallers that they would not touch alcohol even when mumming (TKU/A/02/9: Group discussion). In other respects, too, the role of alcohol in the mummers’ refreshments seems to have been reduced. Nonetheless, on the whole, the serving or absence of liquor probably depended to a great extent on both the mummers and the hosts. One interviewee in the early 1970s reported that a couple of decades before, the mummers might be offered large quantities of ale and other drinks (SKSÄ 10.1973, side II), and that even in the 1970s, liquor was sometimes offered to mummers (Kaivola-Bregenhøj: recollection appended to SKSÄ 3.1974, II). Male mummers were also felt to be in particular need of liquor, and the party might then be served stronger drinks (TKU/A/02/8: Leena Hannula). 612 Mari Kulmanen

Even today, I suppose that adult mummers may be offered something stronger to drink if they are not driving. One other reason for the lesser importance of alcohol today is that the style of mumming itself has changed. The most obvious change is in the age of the mummers. Little by little, the mummers were joined by children. Hence it was no longer considered fitting to serve alcohol, and the young mummers were offered apples and cookies instead. Adults continued mumming, but as time went on, their numbers diminished. It is not possible to form any clear picture of the numbers of adult mummers participating at different periods, but it would appear that there were always a number of them. The extent of the mumming also seems to have varied from one area to another, since the tradition was preserved for longer in the remote villages than in the local centres (TKU/A/02/ 14: Liisa Aho). A tight-knit community in which almost everyone knows one another is clearly best for the preservation of the Nuutti tradition (Skråbock- ögon-Naamareita 1991: 5). It is much more fun in familiar surroundings, since part of the attraction of mumming is that the hosts try to guess the faces behind the masks while the mummers seek to remain anonymous, as is noted elsewhere in this book. However, changes also took place in the way people defended this anonymity and in their manner of dress as well. Instead of using furs and goat masks made of birch-bark, people started to use any old clothes they could lay hands on. They still made their own masks, but now the material might be strong paper or old stockings (see figs 10.1Ð10.6). The paper masks would resemble goats with horns and beards of hemp. Until the beginning of the 1980s, the most important thing in masking was still that of avoiding identification. All the revealing parts of the body Ð the face, hands, neck and hair Ð had to be hidden. It was also important for the mummers to change the way in which they walked. To avoid recognition, they also changed their voices or, if they feared they could not do this successfully, they just remained silent. It seems some mummers avoided recognition by baaing like goats.13 As noted above, in the twentieth century there would sometimes be flirting and sexual innuendo between the mummers themselves and between mummers and hosts.14 With girls and boys travelling round together in large groups, it is only natural for tension and excitement to arise between them. Admittedly, at least according to one informant, the tension was of a very respectable nature, consisting mainly of slightly suggestive quips (TKU/A/02/9: Group discussion). Sometimes, however, there was more physical contact as the boys tried to discover the identity of the masked girls. At times such as this, the girls did everything they could to remain anonymous, while the boys did their best to recognise them (TKU/A/02/13 B: Liisa Aho). Mummers and hosts con-

13 On this common aspect of voice changing, see the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions elsewhere in this volume, as well as the articles by Christine Eike (on ritualised humour) and Hanne Pico Larsen (on talking to mummers). 14 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on eroticism in mumming elsewhere in this in this volume. Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 613 tinued to flirt at least until the 1970s. All kinds of jesting, flirting and physical contact were used as means of charging the atmosphere if both parties were in the right mood for it.15 Most of the encounters between mummers and hosts were probably not so erotically charged, however, but flirting and sexual tension would naturally add extra spice to the occasion. Dressing up as a member of the opposite sex was something else that appears to have been moderately popular among our informants. The keenest in this respect were probably young adults or adults, but one little boy we heard of had also been dressed by his grandmother as a sweet little lady. Dressing as a member of the opposite sex was felt to be fun and a relaxing opportunity to cast off one’s own role for a moment and be someone else for a change. It was even more fun if no one suspected who you were. This could go further: At the mummers’ dance, a woman dressed as a man could, and was indeed obliged to ask other women up to dance. It was part of the role. Likewise a man dressed up as a woman could dance with men.16 The role change was complete to the degree that a woman dressed up as a man also had a man’s right to drink and smoke (TKU/A/02/12 B: Marjatta Helenius). As has been noted, during their visit to a house, the mummers might also provide some minor form of entertainment such as a song or a short play. One of our interviewees described how her father, who belonged to a male choir, had been mumming with other members of the choir singing choral songs (TKU/A/02/11: Matti Lehtinen). The songs chosen by the mummers at such times might be ordinary ones such as Christmas carols, but some mummers invented ditties of their own to suit the houses or people they visited; sometimes these were designed to tease a little (Tyrvään Sanomat, January 12, 1999: “Nuutipukkimuistoja yli 60 vuoden takaa”). A misalliance between the son of a wealthy farm and a servant girl might, for example, be the subject of a song. Furthermore, the mummers with their verbal jesting, might also tease the servants about their love affairs (SKSÄ 105, 1874, II).

4. c. Modern Nuutti As has been noted, the modern Nuutti was strongly affected by the confusion between 1972 and 1992 concerning the right day on which to celebrate. In some years, there might also be mummers afoot on no fewer than three days in all (Tyrvään Sanomat, January 4, 1992: “Posti toi, Puhelin soi”). This made life difficult for the hosts, who had to remember to stock up with food and drink for all three days (TKU/A/02/12 B: Marjatta and Pekka Helenius). Some children actually exploited this uncertainty, touring from house to house for several days in the hope of being given more sweets. They might also maximise

15 SKSÄ 3. 1974; Kaivola-Bregenhøj: recollection appended to tape SKSÄ 3. 1974, II; and TKU/ A/02/13 A: Pekka Helenius. 16 TKU/A/02/12 B; TKU/A/02/13 A: Marjatta and Pekka Helenius; and TKU/A/02/14: Liisa Aho. 614 Mari Kulmanen their haul by calling only at terraced (row) houses, which gave them access to many households at a time (TKU/A/02/10: Tiina Rantanen). The children were, furthermore, not always equally satisfied with what they were given, since they did not rate cookies left over from Christmas very highly (TKU/A/ 02/10: Pauli Kylväjä). Usually they were given sweets, fruit or cookies, and, from about the 1980s onwards, money, too. Not everyone approved of money, however, and some preferred to stick to sweets (TKU/A/02/10: Tiina Ran- tanen). The way the mummers dress has also changed with time. It is no longer considered essential to remain anonymous; indeed, both adult and young mummers today may well dispense with the mask and make do with face paints instead. 17 It seems that for girls, especially, it is more important to look pretty or cute than to hide their true selves. Masks may also be bought these days (TKU/ A/02/10: Tiina Rantanen). The influence of other calendar traditions is also evident today in Nuutti costumes. Some children dress as witches and bunnies, as they do for Easter mumming, or ideas may even be borrowed from non-Finnish traditions (see fig. 14.1). At Nuutti in 2002, one boy mumming in Äetsä wore an orange costume with black spider-web patterns, clearly suggesting connections to Hal- loween (see fig. 14.2). Indeed, as has been noted elsewhere in this book, the custom of celebrating Halloween has increasingly entered the Nordic calendar in recent years. Nonetheless, hardly any of the children I saw had masks covering their entire faces. The only one who was unrecognisable because of her sunglasses and veil was a young woman who said she was the wife of Osama Bin Laden.18 Topical motifs have thus also found their way into the way even children dress up. Even among the adults, other things have become more important than anonymity in modern Nuutti mumming. For example, the primary objective of one group of masked women mummers for a number of years was to entertain their hosts by reciting poems or giving some other kind of performance. Naturally they were recognisable by their voices. In other respects, too, the same group would turn the Nuutti traditions upside down by taking along gifts for their hosts, instead of expecting gifts themselves. People were particularly amused to be actually offered things by the mummers (TKU/A/02/8: Leena Hannula; and TKU/A/02/12 A: Kaarina Karjula). It might be noted that child mummers, too, might nowadays entertain their hosts by popping their heads round the door and singing a little children’s song or a Christmas carol in return for what they receive. The Nuutti tradition is usually handed down within the family, and active parents and grandparents bring their children up in the tradition from an early age (see fig. 3.2 for a comparable image from Denmark). The children gain

17 TKU/A/02/9: Irma Pietilä; TKU/A/02/12 A: Kaarina Karjula; and TKU/A/02/14: Liisa Aho. 18 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic (the Faroe Islands) for a parallel to this. Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 615 their first experience of mummers in other people’s homes. Children as young as three are then taken along with groups: the youngest I saw was only about a year old, and looked very cute in her horned hat. Tradition-oriented parents clearly consider it important to pass the tradition on to the next generation. Teachers may also instruct their pupils at school on the right day for mumming, and masks have sometimes been made at school.19 Over the past few years, however, people seem to have lost interest in Nuutti mumming, thereby prompting some tradition-oriented people to organise events to encourage others to celebrate Nuutti and dress up. One new phenomenon is the apparent need to revive the tradition, something that is expressed in the press in particular. Nuutti events are advertised in the paper with commands such as “Varaa aikaa, elvytetään perinnettä” (Make time, revive a tradition: Tyrvään Sanomat, January 10, 1991: advertisement under “Miscellaneous”).20 The word “perinteinen” (traditional) is also often used to advertise fancy-dress events and balls connected with Nuutti (several advertisements in both the Tyrvään Sanomat and the Lauttakylä-lehti). As this shows, various events are now being arranged in an attempt to revive the tradition, such as fancy-dress balls with a prize for the best pukki (goat). Not just any goat is acceptable, however; it must have as traditional a mask as possible and horns.21 People who have been away from their home region for many years and have just moved back seem to be especially interested in conserving the old mumming tradition. In Äetsä, for example, we interviewed three adults who had moved back to their childhood area, and the next day we saw them all mumming in traditional-looking goat costumes with home-made masks and what looked like old clothes. One even had a mask made of birch-bark. A fourth adult we saw said she had moved to the area several years before and wanted to learn the old tradition. She said she had read books about it (TKU/ A/02/12 A: Kaarina Karjula). This interesting example proves that tradition can be learned from books as well. This is particularly true of old folklore. One reason quoted by our interviewees for the waning of tradition was the advent of television and the resulting slackening of neighbourly contacts. Changing customs in general were also thought to have an effect. As they note, people no longer go visiting without being invited, and they are therefore not sure whether it is fitting any more to visit a house as a mummer without in- forming the hosts beforehand.22 The advent of newcomers has also influenced the tradition. Persons from elsewhere do not necessarily understand the custom and their doors remain closed even if mummers call. Some people may even

19 TKU/A/02/9: Group discussion; TKU/A/02/10: Tiina Rantanen; TKU/A/02/12 A: Kaarina Kar- jula; and TKU/A/02/12 B: Marjatta Helenius. 20 See further the articles by Ane Ohrvik and Paul Smith on similar developments in Norway and Newfoundland. 21 Tyrvään Sanomat, January 5, 1989: “Nuutipukit karkeloivat Seukulla”; Tyrvään Sanomat, January 12, 1989: “Nuutipukit yhä voimissaan”; and Tyrvään Sanomat, January 21, 1989: “Posti toi, Puhelin Soi”. 22 TKU/A/02/8: Erkki Hannula; TKU/A/02/8: Leena Hannula; and TKU/A/02/11: Matti Lehtinen. 616 Mari Kulmanen be irritated to find strange children begging for sweets at the door (SKSÄ 20. 1973, I). It was also suggested on one occasion that the shorter Christmas holidays may have made children less keen on mumming (TKU/A/02/9: Group discussion). Another explanation is that children get so many sweets anyway that there is no motivation for them to go mumming. Just dressing up is no longer sufficient fun either, since they would much rather spend an evening watching television or playing games. Yet another reason for the drop in interest is the earlier-noted confusion about the festival days in the 1970s and 1980s: people no longer knew when to expect mummers. In spite of all of this, mummers are on the whole still well-liked if they come, and even eagerly awaited by some.

5. Liminality in the Celebration of Nuutti The celebration of Nuutti may be divided into three phases following Turner’s model noted above: preliminal events (separation), liminal events (transition) and postliminal events (incorporation). The emphasis here is clearly on the liminality proper, and less attention is paid to the pre- and postliminal events. The events of the liminal phase itself are thus more important than those of the other phases, though the pre- and postliminal events clearly add to the fun of mumming.

5. a. Preliminal Events As Turner notes, the transition to the liminal state begins with separation from the normal community, i.e. the preliminal events. In the case of Nuutti, this may be regarded as covering various preparations culminating in the separation from normal life that occurs on masking. The length of the preliminal events will vary from one occasion to another. The preparations may begin several days beforehand or a matter of moments before the mummers set off, and they take the form of choosing or making a costume and mask, choosing and rehearsing any entertainment numbers, deciding on the route to be taken and selecting the mumming party (TKU/A/02/12 A: Kaarina Karjula). Accord- ing to Turner, communitas, which is a feature of liminality, can already be observed at the preparatory stage, since the mummers may make their costumes and masks together, and the very fact of belonging to a mumming “group” is an indication of communitas. Mumming in a group identifies a member of the group as belonging to this group and thereby strengthens his or her relationship with the other members of the group (Szwed 1969: 114). Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 617

5. b. Liminal Events The transition to liminal events and space proper is made as the mummers put on their costumes and masks and set off to tour from house to house. In both the traditional and the modern Nuutti, the mask signifies that the wearer has transferred her-/ himself from a normal to a liminal state. It also makes the wearer an anonymous stranger, and anonymity is one of the key features of Turner’s concept of liminality (Turner 1970: 102). During the transition to the liminal state, the special rules of liminality apply. As Turner underlines, mummers in this liminal state are free from the role expectations normally imposed by the community. They can therefore violate the constraints imposed by the community by demanding food and drink from their hosts. The rules of social decorum no longer apply. Mummers also have access to houses they would not normally visit. They have, furthermore, a right to be treated in a due and fitting manner even though they have not been invited, and even though they are wearing peculiar clothes. In addition, it might be noted that those dressed as members of the opposite sex are treated essentially according to their assumed gender and carry the rights of that gender. As has been pointed out earlier, a woman dressed as a man is offered liquor and cigarettes even though this vio- lates the normal rules of the community. Masked mummers also have the right to harass members of the community and to say things that would not normally be voiced aloud in public. They can even behave aggressively if they are dis- satisfied with their reception or scrutinised too closely, for while in this liminal state, mummers have the same right to inviolability as van Gennep’s novices mentioned above (van Gennep 1960: 114). Considering van Gennep’s novices, it might be borne in mind that the traditional Nuutti may also be thought of as incorporating some aspect of initiation. In the olden days, it was not taken for granted that young men in Finland would consume alcohol in quite the way that it is assumed today. Even at special feasts, the young men would usually receive far less alcohol than the adult men, if any at all. One of the rites of passage from youth to adulthood was thus “initiation drinking”, which was designed to teach the young men how to drink. Normally, such drinking would be controlled by the community, but as mummers the young men were given the opportunity to drink freely, being anonymous and hidden behind their masks in a liminal state. The tradition even gave them unwritten permission to behave in such a way. Otherwise, it might be borne in mind that the same young men already tended to occupy a marginal status in the community; they were no longer children,23 but not yet adults capable of starting a family (see Apo 2001: 104, 162, 164, 227 and 281). Starting a family and becoming a master of a house may have ended the attendance in the actual mumming group, but a man could, of course, still be part of the game, by now taking on the role of the host.24

23 The dividing line was often the Christian confirmation ceremony (Apo 2001: 227). 24 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on the dialogues between hosts and mummers elsewhere in this volume. 618 Mari Kulmanen

In the eyes of the community, masked mummers are “strangers”, and therefore not subject to normal rules (Firestone 1969: 63). They are not invited to come in and sit down in the normal way. Instead, and especially nowadays, they will often remain standing in the hall waiting to be served food and drink. This food and drink was, and still is an integral element of mumming. Offering food and drink is, of course, another factor creating a sense of community. Ad- mittedly, van Gennep associates eating with the incorporation stage (van Gennep 1960: 29), and it may well be part of this if the mummer is identified. In such cases, the mummer must, at least temporarily, resume her or his normal role and abide by the normal rules. Eating and drinking with the hosts may then strengthen the sense of community between mummer and host. Erotic innuendo is another social interaction that can be used as a means of creating a sense of community (van Gennep 1960: 170). Furthermore, sexual remarks that would be impossible in normal life become possible in the liminal state, in which everyone is equal. Since in former times boys from the lower social class had virtually no chances of making overtures to girls of the upper class (Pohjola-Vilkuna 1995: 20, and 95; and TKU/A/02/9: Group discussion), mumming was an excellent opportunity to tease them from behind a mask and otherwise get familiar. Another interesting aspect is that women, too, appear to have been allowed to tease a man who was dressed as a mummer (Hautala 1986: 38). Mumming thus gave young men the chance of a life- time to be free behind their masks. Nowadays the absence of masks has brought about changes both in the mummers’ behaviour and the degree of liminality. Without their masks, modern mummers are recognised immediately, and they must therefore behave according to the normal rules. They cannot act in the same strange way that their predecessors did: in a sense, they have lost their freedom.

5. c. Postliminal Events During the postliminal events (incorporation) the mummers return to the normal world and community. As noted above, mummers both in Finland and elsewhere may at some earlier stage in the proceedings be forced to return to the normal world if they are recognised (TKU/A/02/14: Liisa Aho). Admitted- ly they can continue in the same role as if they had not been identified, but usually, a mummer who has admitted to being a familiar person reverts to her or his normal role. If placed on the spot, and in danger of recognition, a mummer may, of course, beat a hasty retreat so as to avoid having to return to the normal world. Once the mumming is over, however, the return to everyday life is in- evitable. This postliminal period may, for example, include a sauna bath and meal with the other mummers during which the party will recall the amusing and crazy incidents of the evening (TKU/A/02/12 A: Kaarina Karjula). In other respects, too, recalling and telling about the mumming appear to be one of the most important events of the postliminal event. Meanwhile, the hosts also have Changes in the St Knut’s Day Mumming in Äetsä, Finland 619 plenty to think about, wondering who their visitors really were.25 This will often continue amongst the members of the community throughout the days that follow. For the little mummers, and possibly older ones too, another of the most important postliminal activities once everything is over is naturally that of eating the sweets and other delicacies that they have collected, and possibly also offering them to other members of the family.

6. Summary Things that have changed over time in the Nuutti custom: 1. The gender and age of the mummers have changed radically. In the late nineteenth century mummers were young men; nowadays they are mostly young girls. 2. Instead of alcohol, the mummers began to be offered apples and gingerbread cookies, and then later sweets and even money. 3. The traditional mummers wore old clothes, costumes made of straw, coats worn inside out and home-made masks that hid the whole face. Now they buy or make fancy dresses that are sometimes connected with other calendar traditions such as Halloween and Easter. Masks are sometimes bought or face paints used instead. Not all mummers have masks. 4. Because of the change in the style of dress, the guessing part of mumming is disappearing. Children no longer all observe the custom of altering their voices, remaining silent or just saying, “Baa”. Normal manners now are often observed during mumming. 5. Nowadays, some tradition-oriented people have started to revive the old Nuutti traditions. They wear old costumes, birch-bark masks and fur coats turned inside out. Some also hold dances and fancy-dress parties to encourage people to dress up and mask themselves for Nuutti. Sometimes there are competitions for the best costume, but the prize is not for any fine dress. On the contrary, the best dress must be like a traditional mumming costume with a home-made mask and a goat-like appearance. 6. Since there are fewer adult mummers, flirting is no longer part of the fun of mumming in the way it used to be.

Things that have not changed: 1. The traditional mummers might still sing a song or act out a play to entertain their hosts. Nowadays, little mummers may sing a Christmas carol if asked, and sometimes even without being asked. 2. The dates of mumming are now the same as they were in the late nineteenth century.

25 See further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen on talking to and about masks elsewhere in this present volume. 620 Mari Kulmanen

3. Children are still taught the tradition by their parents and grandparents.

It seems that the things that have changed outweigh those that have not. The abandoning of masks itself is clearly a major, radical change. Without their masks, the mummers are virtually no different from the ordinary world and its rules, and they fail to achieve the liminal state and the liberties that masking affords. It is easier to become liberated and separated from the community when behind a mask.26 Masked mummers have traditionally enjoyed certain special liberties, such as the right to be outspoken and to behave contrary to the social norms. One could argue that this freedom has now been lost. Despite many of the other liberties and mummers’ rights that have withstood the test of time, liminality is, at least to some extent, a vanishing feature of the celebration of Nuutti, and the mundane is gaining ascendancy over chaos.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following archive records are referred to in this survey: SKSÄ (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki: sound archive) archive records: SKSÄ 10: 1973 SKSÄ 20: 1973 SKSÄ 19: 1973 SKSÄ 3: 1974 SKSÄ 4: 1974 SKSÄ 105: 1974 TKU (Kultuurien Tutkimuksen Laitoksen Arkistot, Turku) archive records: TKU/A/02/8 TKU/A/02/9 TKU/A/02/10 TKU/A/02/11 TKU/A/02/12 A TKU/A/02/12 B TKU/A/02/13 A TKU/A/02/13 B TKU/A/02/14

26 See further the Introduction and the article on ritualised humour by Christine Eike elsewhere in this volume.

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands 621 Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands Past and Present Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

The Åland Islands – A Brief Description The Åland Islands, situated in the middle of the Baltic Sea, constitute an autonomous region within the Finnish national state. Since the early Middle Ages, the population of the Åland Islands has predominantly been Swedish-speaking with a culture resembling that of Sweden but also displaying many shared features with the Swedish-speaking culture in the coastal regions of Finland. The Åland Islands, together with the rest of present-day Finland, was part of an area Sweden lost to the Russian Empire after the war of 1809. After Finland gained independence in 1917, the question was raised as to whether the islands should belong to Finland or Sweden. In 1921, the League of Nations settled the issue by deciding that Finland should retain sovereignty over the Åland Islands. Fin- land undertook to guarantee the inhabitants of the province their Swedish language, culture and customs. During the twentieth century, an Ålandic regional identity, separate from that of both Sweden and the mainland of Finland, has developed and become more manifest. As part of this, local customs and other markers of identity such as that of Tjugondag Knut (Twentieth Day Knut) are often highlighted and cherished (see, for example, The Åland Islands: An Autonomous Province 2002).

Tjugondag Knut on the Åland Islands As in many other parts of the Nordic countries, the end of the Christmas season on the Åland Islands has traditionally been marked by a custom of dressing up in disguise and visiting friends and neighbours on the eve of St Knut’s Day, that is, on January 13. This so-called Tjugondag Knut mumming has deep roots in Scandinavia. 1 Although the character of the tradition has changed over the centuries, it is still a very popular seasonal activity all over the Åland Islands.

1 See also the information given about Knut’s Day traditions in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Fin- land and Estonia in the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume.

622 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

The Ålandic end of Christmas mumming is nowadays predominantly a tradition for children (the under-twelve year olds). On the day in question, the children dress up in disguise and perform house visits, most commonly by walking around in groups comprising of two to seven children. The mummers are equipped with brooms in order to “sweep” the last of Christmas out of the house while chanting “Tjugondag Knut sopas julen ut” (On Twentieth Day Knut, Christmas is swept out). In return for this little performance, the children are rewarded with sweets and gingerbread. The custom of sweeping Christmas out with a broom has lent the tradition its local name of Julutsopning (Sweep- ing Christmas Out).

Background It is difficult to say exactly how long the Tjugondag Knut mumming has been popular on the Åland Islands. Accounts in Svenska litteratursällskapet i Fin- land: Folkkultursarkivet (SLS: the Swedish Literature Society in Finland: Folk Culture Archives) in Helsinki concerning what took place at the end of the Christmas period on the Åland Islands date the custom to the mid-nineteenth century: “På Knutsdagen kördes julen ut med bultning och sopning” (On Knut’s Day, Christmas was driven out with banging and sweeping), the farmer Matts Mattson (b. 1845) from the parish of Geta recalled (SLS 824: 235). An- other account from Alfred Westerlund (b. 1856) concurs: “På Knutsdagen hade ungdomarna upptåg, sopade ut julen och så vidare” (On Knut’s Day, the youths made merry, swept Christmas out and so on: SLS 824: 263Ð264). Things have changed over time. Up until the mid-twentieth century, another variation on the Christmas mumming tradition seems to have been more prevalent on the Åland Islands, namely, the tradition of att bulta ut julen (banging [or knocking] out Christmas), and even today, some older people are more likely to talk more about “the banging out of Christmas” rather than “the sweeping out of Christ- mas”. Att bulta ut julen was a much more boisterous tradition, often connected with pranks and mischief. It involved groups of teenagers walking around the village, banging the corners of the houses with sticks, firewood-logs or anything else that would make a good noise (Ekström 1985: 34–35). Informants have also reported that tying a piece of string to a windowsill and rubbing it with a sharp stone to make a loud trilling noise was a favourite among young boys on the island of Kökar in the Ålandic archipelago (Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork notes). Whatever the method, the idea was to get the owner of the house so annoyed that he would come out and chase the culprits.2 No disguise

2 There are various parallels to such traditions both in Scandinavia and elsewhere; see the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume (especially that from Esto- nia), and the article by Nils-Arvid Bringéus on “mumming in effigy”. See also Christine Eike’s article on ritualised humour which deals with similar traditions in Norway. Similar pranks used to be played on people at Hallowe’en in Shetland (Terry Gunnell: oral testimony based on fieldwork 2000 and 2001).

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands 623 was used with this variant of the tradition, but the bultarna (bangers) made sure they stayed unrecognised by hiding in the darkness of the late winter evening: Knutskvällen var oerhört rik på spännande upplevelser och äventyr. Så snart mörkret lagt sig tillräckligt tätt över nejden började barnen springa från gård till gård, beväp- nade med ”kålkstakar, klåbbor eller gärdsgårdsstörar”. Med dessa vapen bultade man kraftigt i husknutarna och skrek tillika ”julen ut”. Sen gällde det att vara kvick i vändningarna för att hinna undan den som kom ut för att upptäcka rövarpackä (SLS 824: 263Ð264). (The evening of Knut was immensely rich in exciting experiences and adventures. As soon as darkness had fallen sufficiently over the landscape, the children started running from one farm to the other, armed with “noise-making sticks, logs, and fence poles”. With these weapons, you would bang hard on the corners of the houses and simultaneously shout, “Christmas Out!” Then you had to be nimble to escape the person who came out to find out who the hoodlums were.) It seems that in some places, the sweeping and the banging traditions occurred alongside each other. However, in other places, the bulta ut julen tradition has been reported to have been dominant in the past (Ekström 1985: 33). People with a reputation for being grumpy or easily enraged were the favourite targets of the Tjugondag Knut revellers. Indeed, the banging on the houses could get violent and sometimes even caused damage to the buildings, as the following informant notes: Inte heller tyckte alla om att vi bultade i väggarna. Allt var ju så fattigt och var och en visste att de obrädade väggarna inte blev tätare av att vi dunkade på dem med stora störar så att ”måssåtren” blev gapande stora springor. Gårungar, kanablar, dårpack, snorhyvlar, skitlägggar var en del av de namn vi hörde i mörk- ret efter oss, men då blev det ju extra roligt (SLS 824: 229). (Nor did everybody like the way we banged on the walls. Things were meagre and each and everyone knew that the unboarded walls did not improve with our banging on them with big poles so that the moss used as insulation fell out exposing big cracks. Little scamps, rascals, scallywags, runts, wastrels were some of the names we heard in the darkness behind us, but that only made it even more fun.) In addition to this, Tjugondag Knut night was in some places connected with various other forms of mischief. For example, the pranksters might move the outhouses around or switch the farm animals between two neighbouring farms (Ekström 1985: 35–36). No wonder many an angry farmer would come running after the Tjugondag Knut groups. It must be noted that the bultarna (bangers) were usually slightly older children than those who sweep out Christmas today. They were also predominantly boys. It seems that girls and younger children were more likely to favour the sweeping out of Christmas, although this was not the case everywhere (Ekström 1985: 36). Traditionally, mummers and bultarna alike stayed within their own villages, possibly ex- tending their visits to some of the houses in the neighbouring villages. In the archipelago, the mummers would also mostly keep to their own islands:

624 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch attempting to cross the ice over to other islands in the dark of the winter night would have been a dangerous venture, especially for the younger mummers. In some places in the archipelago, it was customary for the young people who had been sweeping out Christmas to gather in somebody’s home after the Tjugondag Knut mumming to dance and drink coffee. Most of the time, these coffee parties included only the mummers themselves. However, in the parish of Kökar, one of the most remote districts in the Ålandic archipelago, coffee evenings seem to have been arranged on Tjugondag Knut prior to the mumming custom gaining popularity there in the 1920s (Ekström 1985: 46). On the main island of Åland, it has also at times been popular to arrange dances with an orchestra on Tjugondag Knut. During the 1960s, the banging tradition seems to have disappeared altogether. It is possible that physical damage to people’s property was no longer accepted as “seasonal fun”, and that this put an end to the boisterous banging out of Christmas. However, this can hardly be the whole explanation, since many people objected to the damage done even in the old days (Ekström 1985: 47Ð48). A more likely reason is that the adoption of new building materials for houses was an important factor in the abandonment of the Christmas tradition of banging on the corner of houses: hitting a brick wall with a piece of wood simply does not have the desired effect. Furthermore, if any damage appeared in a brick house, it would be of a more serious kind than that which might appear on a house constructed of timber. It is also probable that the tradition of “banging out” Christmas simply lost out in the competition with the wider range of entertainment that is on offer nowadays.

Development and Changes Up Until the Present Several other changes have taken place over this time. The early disguises were usually made out of old fur coats turned inside out, scarves, old clothes, big hats, homemade masks or painted faces. As in many other Nordic mumming traditions described in this book, the main object was to hide one’s identity. Many Åland Islanders remember the annual Tjugandag Knut mumming with fondness. One informant who went mumming in the 1960s reported that she and her friends planned their costumes and where they intended to go many weeks before the actual day. There was a lot of secrecy and excitement involved in the preparations. The hosts usually tried to guess who their disguised guests were. However, as the mummers have become younger and as mumming has started taking place among people who do not know the mummers personally, the element of guessing and consequently also the tradition of dressing up in disguise have both started to wane somewhat.

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands 625

Fig. 15.1: Two girls aged 12 dressed as a gubbe (old man) and a gumma (old woman), in Önningeby, Åland, January 13, 2004. (Photo: Siv Ekström.)

One of the biggest changes in the Tjugondag Knut costumes is therefore that the mummers no longer necessarily dress to hide their identity but instead attempt to look like something specific, in other words disguising themselves according to a theme such as cowboys, trolls, ghosts or witches.3 However, the most popular disguise throughout the ages has simply been that of the gubbe (old man) or gumma (old woman), and this still applies today (see fig. 15.1). Recently, however, commercial rubber masks have started to gain ground. In- creasingly, there is also a trend of not wearing any disguise at all, the only thing marking the person as a mummer perhaps being a funny hat or a little make-up. Another development is that parents are becoming more involved in dressing their children up in disguise. This is especially true when it comes to the youngest children: here the parents are completely in charge of planning, disguising, and sometimes even manufacturing their children’s costumes (Ek- ström: fieldwork observations; and Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork observations).

3 Such changes are of course widespread. See further Kristín Einarsdóttir’s review of Icelandic Ash Wednesday traditions elsewhere in this volume.

626 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

Fig. 15.2: A harvest of sweets received by the “old man” shown in fig. 15.1 after “sweeping out” Christmas in five or six different homes in her home village of Önningeby, Åland: January 13, 2004. (Photo: Siv Ekström.)

The interaction between the mummers and their hosts has undergone a change with the increasing number of ever-younger mummers. People who went mumming in the 1960s and earlier have often testified to the fact that one of the most exciting things about the mumming visits was the dialogue that took place with the grown-up hosts. The grown-ups would try to engage their mysterious guests in dialogue in order to find out who they were or wittily demonstrate that they had a clue about their identity. For example, one female informant remembered the hosts in a particular farm house declaring “det där är nog Södras pojken” (this must be the boy from Södra’s) when they recognised her as the only child of a neighbouring farm (Ekström 1985: 42). The mummers’ task was then to give good answers without giving away their identity. There were thus elements of enjoyment and give and take on both sides.4 However, this type of repartee does not usually take place today with the very young mummers. Another big change is seen in the nature of the gifts that are made to the mummers. Older informants point out that one was sometimes offered a piece of gingerbread or an apple, but they emphasise that the possibility of getting sweetmeats was not the impetus for the mumming (Ekström 1985: 43; and Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork notes). However, for many a young mummer today, the collection of sweets constitutes the focal point in the tradition (see fig. 15.2). This visibly manifests itself in the present-day use by young mummers of big plastic bags in which they carry their winnings. In earlier times, the mummers made sure they had somewhere to put the sweets, but they tried to make it inconspicuous by incorporating it into the overall costume in the form

4 On such repartee, see further the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume.

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands 627 of a handbag or big pockets. One did not want to come across as “begging” for treats (Ekström 1985: 50).5 Another interesting development is that the mumming tradition on the Åland Islands is nowadays maintained not only privately but also officially. It has become a popular tradition for kindergartens to observe Tjugondag Knut by, for instance, inviting children to come dressed in disguise for the day, or by helping children dress up in whatever old clothes the kindergarten has available. Very often the children are also given small bags of sweets as an extra treat (Ekström 1985: 12–13, and 30; and Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork notes). In addition to this, the Tjugondag Knut tradition has now become part of the official culture on the Åland Islands. 6 In an effort to encourage the tradition, a public Tjugondag Knut dance for children is arranged every year at the local market square in the centre of the island’s only town, Mariehamn, at six o’clock in the evening on January 13. The organiser of this event is the local Public Health Foundation (Folkhälsan). This tradition of Tjugondag Knut dances was started in 1975, and has been arranged every year since then (Ek- ström 1985: 30–32). The dance mainly attracts the younger children (the under-seven year olds) who are brought there by their parents. For many mummers, the dance, which lasts about thirty minutes, is seen as being the official start of the mumming activities. After the dance has finished, at around a quarter to seven, the younger mummers are usually taken to visit a few elderly relatives, and that will be the extent of their mumming. Indeed, many parents take their younger children around in cars and visit only relatives and friends even though they might live quite far away. The older children (aged 8Ð13) tend to adhere to the more traditional custom of walking around in the local neigh- bourhoods. Mumming is nonetheless usually restricted to areas fairly close to home, but particularly enterprising mummers are likely to try and cover as much ground as possible and target densely populated districts.

The Last Twenty Years In 1985, Siv Ekström asked Ålandic schoolchildren of different ages in the parish of Jomala to write essays about what they did on Tjugondag Knut. The material collected comprises a total of fifty-four essays written by children from the ages of eight to twelve years old. Around twenty of these children reported dressing up as old men or women. Other popular disguises at the time were cowboys, clowns, gypsy-women, robbers and robots, as the following table indicates:

5 On the stigma of begging and its influence on mumming traditions, see reviews of historical records in the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 6 Interesting comparisons can be made here between the Åland traditions, and those in Newfound- land and southern Norway described by Paul Smith and Ane Ohrvik in their articles elsewhere in this volume.

628 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

Girls Boys Total Old man 6 6 12 Old woman 6 1 7 Cowboy Ð 3 3 Clown 1 2 3 Gypsy woman 3 Ð 3 Robber Ð 3 3 Robot Ð 2 2 33

The number of places visited also varied widely, although most of the children said they visited ten to twenty-five places during the evening. The time spent mumming covered an average of two hours. On the question of why they went mumming, twenty-six children answered that they did it because it was fun, while eleven mentioned the collecting of sweets as the main reason, and ten said they did it both because it was fun and because they got sweets (Ekström 1985: 26Ð29). A new survey carried out in kindergartens all over the Åland Islands after Tjugondag Knut in 2002 shows that the mumming tradition among Ålandic children is clearly alive and well, and still takes place in all Ålandic parishes. However, there are some minor variations. For example, on the island of Tors- holma, in the parish of Brändö, the children went around in two big groups, one containing the younger children, and the other the slightly older ones (8Ð13). Traditionally, the Tjugondag Knut “sweepers” and “bangers” in Brändö made sure not to forget any of the houses in the community. Indeed, including all of the houses in the small island communities was something older people often mentioned as having been of great importance to mummers in their youth. However, this does not seem to be of any great concern to the mummers today (cf. Ekström 1985: 33). In Degerby, in the island parish of Föglö, it is interesting to note that there were very few mummers in the winter of 2002. The explanation given for this was that there were very few children of the right age who lived in the area. Furthermore, it is said that many of the younger children will not go mumming when their older sisters and brothers stop going, since they do not want to go by themselves and the houses with children are far apart. The island parish of Vårdö also shows that there has been a big change from previous years when the children traditionally just went mumming in their own villages (largely because there were obvious limits to how far it was possible for the children to walk during the sometimes very cold winter nights). Nowa- days, as noted above, it is clear that the children are often taken around by car and can thus visit villages all over the island (Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork notes). On the whole, the survey confirms that the mummers seem to be younger than they used to be. One of the explanations is probably that all kindergartens pay attention to the custom in some way, as has been noted above. However, many school children still go until they are twelve or thirteen years of age (Ek- ström: fieldwork notes; and Österlund-Pötzsch: fieldwork notes), but that seems to be the magical limit.

Tjugondag Knut Mumming on the Åland Islands 629

Fig. 15.3: Tjugondag Knut mumming was even depicted on an Ålandic stamp in January 2002 as part of a series of stamps carrying motifs inspired by Ålandic customs and traditions. (Artist: Anni Wikberg.) (Courtesy of Posten Åland.)

Occasionally, though, grown-up people will also go mumming on the Åland Islands. This is mainly done to play a joke on friends, and in such cases maintaining a complete disguise is still vital, as it was in the past. Another interesting development is that some grown-ups seem to utilise the Tjugondag Knut tradition in order to satisfy their curiosity about new developments going on in a particular area.7 A good example was seen when the new housing area of Östernäs was established in Mariehamn in the early 1970s. During the first couple of years, it was noted that the area was visited by a significant number of groups of curious grown-up mummers who would sometimes take new liberties, such as exploring houses and poking at the hosts, something the younger mummers would never do. Although the reason for mumming was different, the grown-up mummers might nonetheless mimic the children’s chanting and sweeping as part of the joke. The hosts, in turn, might then offer their guests the customary sweets as a way of returning the joke (see Ekström 1985: 45). A clear influence from the North American Halloween tradition can also be discerned in the nature and themes of the masks and costumes used by children on the Åland Islands over the last few years. The theme of horror is clearly gaining ground, and the eve of January 13 is now increasingly becoming a time when small witches, ghosts and monsters are on the prowl on the islands. As is the case elsewhere, the children are also commonly dressing up as popular characters, all depending on what is presently in vogue. The winter of 2002, for instance, saw a number of Harry Potters and Pokemon figures wandering around. In short, mumming is still a living tradition on the Åland Islands. However, it is also clearly becoming more commercial and is even seen as an element used to underline local identity: the Ålandic local papers tend to report on the mumming each year, usually in connection with the dance at the square, and in

7 For parallels, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume with regard to some of the modern mumming traditions that still exist on the Danish islands.

630 Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch

January 2002, the Tjugondag Knut mumming was even depicted on a new Ålandic stamp as part of a series of stamps carrying motifs inspired by Ålandic customs and traditions (see fig. 15.3). People are thus well aware of the Tjugondag Knut tradition, and either lock their doors to the mummers or, as the majority of people do, buy sweets and get ready to receive their visitors. Some of the supermarkets on the Åland Islands are following this up, and even encourage the tradition by increasing their supplies of extra large bags of sweets and placing advertisements in papers urging people to stock up on Tjugondag Knut sweets. It seems safe to conclude that regardless of the changes that have taken place in the tradition during the last century, Tjugondag Knut is still very present in public consciousness on the Åland Islands.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following archive records are referred to in this survey: SLS (Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, Helsinki): Folk Culture Archive records: SLS 824: 235 SLS 824: 263 and 264 Önningeby, Jomala, Åland: Ekström private collection: fieldwork notes and photographs. Helsinki: Österlund-Pötzsch private collection: fieldwork notes.

Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 631 Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town Ash Wednesday Traditions in Iceland Past and Present Kristín Einarsdóttir

Iceland stands out from the other Nordic countries (and even the other North Atlantic islands) in that the old mumming traditions known elsewhere seem to have largely died out in the nineteenth century (if not long before that).1 Their place has been taken today by two or three more recent disguise customs that are no less interesting: first of all the modern upper-secondary school traditions connected with initiation and graduation which are discussed elsewhere in this volume,2 and then the somewhat older Ash Wednesday (Öskudagur) traditions which are today well known all over Iceland. It is these latter traditions that I mean to concentrate on in this present article, which will give an overview of the background, development and nature of these customs in recent times. It is based on a four-year study of the tradition past and present which I conducted, involving field work, interviews, archive material, and other material drawn from the television and newspapers (Kristín Einarsdóttir 2003 and 2004). In this study, emphasis has been placed not only on the development of the traditions, but also their nature, reception and social role, along the lines set by more recent researchers such as Halpert and Story (1969) and Carsten Bregenh¿j (1974). As will be shown here, these traditions display a number of interesting and, in some ways, unique characteristics which are well worth further investigation. Iceland was under the Danish rule from 1264 until 1944. It is thus not surprising that many Icelandic customs have their roots in Denmark. In all likelie- hood, they were imported from there via the Danish authorities and Danish merchants who stayed in Iceland with their families, and also via those many Icelandic students who studied in K¿benhavn. Many of these traditions attracted considerable respect from the Icelanders. Incorporation and adoption is most certainly the case when it comes to many of the modern-day Icelandic customs related to the beginning of Lent, as

1 See further the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume, where this question is discussed in more detail. As noted in both cases, there is evidence of a small number of Christmas and New Year mumming traditions in Iceland, but these are few and far between. 2 See the article by Terry Gunnell on this subject elsewhere in this volume; and Gunnell 2006 and 2007b.

632 Kristín Einarsdóttir

Fig. 16.1: An öskupoki (ash bag) and stone of the kind children used to hang on adults on Ash Wednesdays in Iceland. (Photo: Kristín Einarsdóttir.) can be seen particularly in the gradual adoption of the Danish Shrovetide custom of a∂ slá köttinn úr tunnunni (lit. Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel) in several larger towns in Iceland from 1860 and onwards (see fig. 3.20). 3 An- other example can be seen in the modern custom of children “beating” their parents and even other adults out of bed with paper-decorated sticks on the morning of Shrove Tuesday, which also goes back to the nineteenth century. The modern-day custom of children “disguising” themselves and wandering around Icelandic townships on Ash Wednesday, however, is a little different. It seems to be a blending of two traditions, one local and one imported. An earlier Ash Wednesday custom in many areas of Iceland4 (which does not seem to have been known in Denmark but has some parallels in southern Sweden and Ireland (see Danaher 1972: 50; and Klingberg 1998: 22) involved girls hanging small bags containing ash on the backs of boys or men, and men and boys hanging stones on the backs of girls and women (see fig. 16.1). This tradition was known in Iceland at least as far back as the seventeenth century. The principle aim in this custom was to try to make the target carry the bag or stone at least three steps. Other accounts state that the objects should be carried over three thresholds (Árni Björnsson 1993: 570). People would then do their best to avoid such taking place. In 1973, ∏jó∂minjasafni∂ (the National Mu- seum of Iceland) sent out a questionnaire (nr. 31) dealing with various customs related to feasts, and one of the questions asked concerned this particular

3 On these traditions, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and Sweden elsewhere in this volume. 4 The custom is mentioned by ∏jó∂minjasafn’s informants from all over Iceland.

Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 633 custom. The following answer, from a man born in the northern part of Iceland, is quite typical: Aftur var oft talsver∂ur gle∂skapur í sambandi vi∂ öskudaginn. Konur létu karlmenn bera ösku en konur steina. Til var fólk sem var mjög illa vi∂ πennan bur∂. Bæ∂i kynin áttu πa∂ til a∂ leita mjög vandlega hvar sem hugsanlegt var a∂ aska e∂a smá- steinn væri falinn. Verst var a∂ for∂ast öskupokana, stelpurnar fóru sér hægt me∂ bogna títuprjónana, mest πótti vari∂ í a∂ festa πá ne∂an til á lendarnar, πá πóttu πeir dingla svo skemmtilega. ∏a∂ var verra a∂ eiga vi∂ steinana, πeir voru svo har∂ir πó litlir væru. A∂ öllu πessu var oft hin besta skemmtun, einkum me∂al unglinga (∏∏ 3637: Páll Jónsson, born 1899, Austur-Húnavatnss¥sla). (On Ash Wednesday, we often had a lot of fun. Women got men to carry ash in bags, while men made women carry stones. Some people really did not like this at all. Both sexes would search their clothes to see if anyone had been able to hide a stone or a bag anywhere. It was hardest to find the ash bags: the girls were very careful with the bent pins [used to hang the ashbags in the men’s clothes]. It was most fun to hang them on the hips, because there they would wave about in such a funny way. It was more difficult to deal with the stones: they were so hard, even though they were small. All this was often great fun, mostly for the teenagers.) As can be seen in this description, even at this point Ash Wednesday was already marked by “different” behaviour, and especially by a form of division between the old and young (teenagers being those principally involved). It should also be remembered that when this informant was a child, most Icelan- ders lived on farms, each of which commonly housed a large number of people, ranging from family members to relations and farmworkers. Most parents had numerous children, ten to fifteen not being an uncommon number. It might thus be argued that each farm was itself a small community. Children would have usually had a number of playmates on site and would not have had to look further afield for companions (see further Gisli Águst Gunnlaugsson 1997: 102). During the decade after 1880, however, a number of small villages started to appear in Iceland. Up until that time, the only real townships in the country had been Reykjavík and two or three other small communities such as Sey∂is- fjör∂ur, Ísafjör∂ur, Vestmannaeyjar and Akureyri (see map 4.4). The development of towns in Iceland after the end of the nineteenth century was then extremely rapid, especially during the first half of the twentieth century. While 60% of the population were living on farms at the beginning of the twentieth century, we now find farmers only making up about 4.9% of the total population (Hagskinna 1997: 217). This huge social change has also been reflected in the nature of Ash Wednesday customs in Iceland. The aforementioned custom of girls trying to hang ash bags on boys and men and boys and men trying to hang stones on the women clearly belonged to the old farming society of Iceland. The custom changed over time, and especially when increasing numbers of people moved into the townships, where they encountered imported Danish disguise traditions related to Shrovetide in places like Akureyri. The next step involved children hanging ash bags on

634 Kristín Einarsdóttir people walking in the streets. Such traditions were well known in Reykjavík and other larger communities until at least 1970. However, since that time, the ash bag tradition seems to have nearly disappeared, thereby following the old Ash Wednesday stones which seem to have faded out of use at the same time as in the farming society. There are no references of children hanging stones on each other in the townships. So what was the reason for this change in custom? As noted above, comparatively few Icelandic children live on farms today, and an ever-increasing number of Icelandic women are working rather than staying at home: In the year 1960, only 19% of all married women were employed. However, by the late 1990s, the same figure was nearly 80% (Hagskinna 1997: 216). Both of these social changes seem to have had a key role to play in the change in the old ash-bag custom, not least because the fabrics and scraps of material once used for the making of the bags are no longer to be found in homes. In short, Icelandic women no longer make clothes and curtains as they used to. Such items are mostly bought ready-made in shops today, and it is unlikely that any modern Icelander would go out of their way to go to shops especially to buy fabrics to make ash bags for their children. The modern-day form of the Icelandic Ash Wednesday tradition known in most towns seems, at least on the surface, fairly international. Instead of trying to hang bags on people, Icelandic children now go from shop to shop on Ash Wednesday, singing songs and collecting sweets as a reward. They are all in some form of disguise ranging from simple face-paint to complete disguise. This particular custom, nowadays known in almost every community in Ice- land, was clearly imported from Denmark in the late nineteenth century, stemming from Danish Shrovetide carnival traditions (see Troels-Lund 1968Ð1969: VII, 121Ð130).5 These customs have clearly adapted over time. The earliest examples of such Shrovetide disguise customs in Iceland come from the 1860s in both Reykjavík and Akureyri. In the beginning, the custom only seems to have involved boys. One male informant, born in 1856, gave a clear description of the activities as they were known around 1870 in Reykjavík (see Árni Björnsson 1987: 32). In this account, the early Danish links are articularly clear, not least because of the link the account gives between “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel” and disguise traditions. He states that a barrel containing a dead raven would be hung in a classroom, and that the boys would take turns to hit the barrel until it broke. They would then hit the raven until its head came off. The boy who broke the barrel was then called the Tunnukóngur (Barrel King) while the one who knocked the head off the raven was called the Kattarkóngur (Cat King), the title of whom was directly related to the Danish “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel” tradition.6

5 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 6 Cf. the Kattekonge in Denmark and Kattkungen in southern Sweden. See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark and Sweden.

Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 635

Such traditions, however, were not only carried out in the school environment. Boys would also gather together in groups elsewhere in Reykjavík, and try to hit a raven hanging from a rope (not in a barrel), before marching around the town. The so-called Kattarkóngur would usually come last in the procession. The boys with him would then be dressed up as soldiers, with tricorn hats, wooden guns and uniforms decorated with colourful paper strips. The Katta- kóngur himself was adorned with extra epaulettes. In this connection, it might be noted that there was no army in Iceland at this time, so it is a little difficult to say where they got their ideas of costume and procession from. Nonetheless, they marched, and it is worth noting, they also sang songs (Árni Björnsson 1993: 539). The groups would then visit private houses and ask for money. They would also go to shops where they would be given cakes, fruits, raisins and so on. Ap- parently if someone did not open his or her door to them they would sing a song which began with the words: “Hér eru blessu∂ börnin frönsk” (Here are the blessed French children).7 The groups apparently grew in size over over time, and according to accounts, adults started to complain about their activities, ar- guing (as is seen elsewhere at this time) that this was little more than begging. Shortly after 1890, these activities were totally brought to an end in Reykjavík. Indeed, begging was banned in Reykjavik, something that has remained in law ever since (Árni Björnsson 1993: 541). In the late nineteenth century, there do not seem to have been any mumming activities in Reykjavík. They continued elsewhere, however. The custom of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel”, for example, was also known during the last decades of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of twentieth century in both Stykkishólmur, a village in western Iceland, and in Ísafjör∂ur, in the western fjords. Both communities also had traditions of masked balls (Árni Björnsson 1993: 542), and it is from here that we also read of disguised groups going house visiting during the same period, even though the custom was apparently not well liked in Ísafjör∂ur. It is reported that some people would deliberately lock their doors on this night, not allowing the masked groups to enter their houses (Árni Björnsson 1993: 542). Things were somewhat different, however, in Akureyri, a large northern town where the custom fastened and strengthened its roots, thereby providing a centre from which the more recent tradition has developed. Akureyri today has around 15.000 inhabitants and is referred to as the capital of the north. In Akureyri, many folk customs have deep Danish roots. It seems that the custom of mumming at Shrovetide began at around the same time as in Reykjavík, in other words, around 1870, and it has not stopped since then (see fig. 16.2). In- terestingly enough, Stykkishólmur and Ísafjör∂ur, the other communities where disguise traditions existed, are also known to have been strongly influ-

7 It is not known why they sang this particular song. One might speculate that because it is soft and reminiscent of a lullaby. The children might have found it provocative to sing a song of this kind when the grown-ups did not respect the children’s customs as the children thought they ought to.

636 Kristín Einarsdóttir

Fig. 16.2: Ash Wednesday mummers in Akureyri, northern Iceland, 1914. (Courtesy of ∏jó∂minjasafn êslands.) enced by Danish custom. This can be seen not least in many of the older houses in all three of these towns which are built in a Danish style. The rich Danish inhabitants of these communities, and especially the affluent merchants, clearly had a deep influence on society. The “Cat” has been “Knocked Out of the Barrel” in Akureyri since 1870, and changed little in form since that time. Other elements of the associated traditions have altered, however. Two of my female informants, born in Akureyri in 1920, stated that when they were young, girls were also involved but did not wear costumes. They also told me of how they and their friends would react to being locked out. Outside one shop which the merchant always kept locked on this day, they would always sing the same mocking song, something that underlines the old element of “rough music”, or “permission to ridicule” associated with many other mumming traditions (Kristín Einarsdóttir: private collection of interviews). Another informant from Akureyri, a man born in 1944, told me that he and his friends mostly collected money when they went around. In the afternoon, when they had finished, they would divide the money and take a taxi out of the town as far as the money allowed. He stated also that the taxi drivers would not charge as much on this day as they did on other days (Kristín Einarsdóttir: private collection of interviews). Yet another informant from Akureyri, a woman born in 1960, has extremely warm memories of this day in her childhood. Indeed, it is noteworthy how often informants enjoy talking about these traditions which were clearly a high

Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 637 point in their lives. This particular informant described the mumming custom as it was in 1970Ð1980, at a time when it was still almost only connected to Akureyri. She informed me that she first remembered Ash Wednesday when she was six years old, at a time when she was allowed to be in a “li∂” (team) with her sisters and older cousins for the first time. The preparations for these groups supposedly sometimes took weeks, especially when they were at their most “prófessjónal” (professional). Among other things, they had to rehearse songs to sing as they went around the town, something that the older members took charge of. They also had to know how to sing: it was important that they made use of harmonies, something which could become quite an issue. She adds, when asked how many songs they sang: Alveg heila dagskrá, örugglega 10–12 lög, πví ma∂ur fékk au∂vita∂ líka lei∂ á a∂ syngja alltaf sama lagi∂, πannig a∂ ma∂ur skipti sko og einhver ákva∂ hva∂a lag ætti a∂ taka á hverjum sta∂…. Og svo náttúrlega líka kom inn í, πegar ég var or∂inn svolíti∂ eldri, πá vildi ma∂ur hafa πá sem voru mjög gó∂ir a∂ syngja og, sem sagt, besta li∂i∂. Hápunkturinn á li∂sferlinum er πegar vi∂ skátasystur tókum okkur saman og ein var me∂ gítar og betra var∂ πa∂ ekki, skilur∂u, πa∂ er ekki hægt a∂ gera betur en πa∂ (Krístín Einars- dóttir: private collection of interviews). (A whole program; at least 10Ð12 songs, because we got bored always singing the same song, so we often changed the songs, and someone in the group had to decide which song was to be sung at any particular place…. And then of course, when I was a little older, we wanted to have people who were excellent singers in our group; the best team. The high point in our career was when we girl guides got together in a team, and one of us had her guitar – it couldn’t have been any better than that, you see; it wasn’t possible to do any better.) It might be noted that elsewhere in the interview, the above informant describes the custom of “Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel” in a very similar fashion to that given in the earlier-noted account from Reykjavik in 1870. However, the “cat” has now ceased to be a raven and become a bag with sweets in it. She notes furthermore that in the afternoon all the children went back to their homes and divided the sweets, after which they had a wonderful time eating a lot of candy. There are several other points worth particular note in this account. First of all, even though the children here do not remain silent or change their voices when they visit as occurs in many other mumming traditions,8 they still stress their difference by singing rather than speaking. Also worth noting is the general unwritten rule against singing pop songs which I have noted widely in my research. Ash Wednesday in Iceland has obviously been seen as a “home tradition” now with “home songs”, even though there have been some new developments in this area over the last two years (2006 and 2007). I am myself a teacher, and as part of my research I have twice contacted

8 See, for example, Bregenh¿j 1974: 32Ð33; and Halpert 1969: 37Ð38, and the other national Sur- veys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume. 638 Kristín Einarsdóttir teachers in several schools around Iceland, asking them to get their students to write a diary describing their experiences of Ash Wednesday. This was done first in the year 2001, when about 150 answers were received from townships of various sizes, as well as from the Reykjavík suburbs and Akureyri. The children in question were aged from ten to thirteen years old, and they described their Ash Wednesday activities in great detail. In their accounts, the children were also requested to write about their preparations and costumes, as well as note who helped them with their costumes, the songs they sang, and those features of the day which they felt were most fun. Along with the information provided by both my personal fieldwork recorded on tape and videotape and the questionnaires that have been sent out, these accounts offer a very valuable image of the child’s experience of costumed mumming all around Iceland as it occurs today. One of the diaries, written by a ten year old boy, comes from a small village in the northern part of Iceland. This account is quite typical, and worth quoting in full: Á öskudaginn var ágætt. Ég undirbjó mig me∂ πví a∂ spreyja hári∂ á mér svart, fann mér svört föt og svört gleraugu, allt var svart. Ég var me∂ byssu og πá var allt tilbúi∂ fyrir öskudaginn. Á öskudaginn klæddi ég mig i fötin, svartar buxur, svartur bolur, svart belti me∂ silfurerni á, svartur le∂urfrakki, svört sólgleraugu og svört byssa og πá var ég tilbúinn í búninginn. Og svo var πa∂ hópurinn minn, tíu manns ef ég er talinn me∂. Hún Valdís frænka mín hjálpa∂i mér mjög miki∂ me∂ frakkann, annars væri ég glata∂ur. Vi∂ sungum πrjú lög: Augl¥singin um brau∂börn, Hafi∂ bláa hafi∂, og lag sem vi∂ lær∂um í sunnudagaskólanum og vi∂ sungum πau πví a∂ πetta voru töff lög. Vi∂ fórum í nóg af húsum og fyrirtækjum, t.d. fórum vi∂ til Jens sem er n¥i tónlistarkennarinn okkar frá Danmörku, vegager∂ina, orkubúi∂, löggustö∂ina, kaup- félagi∂ og sjoppuna, sparisjó∂inn, pósthúsi∂, Búna∂arbankann, verkstæ∂i∂, pakkhú- si∂, heilsugæslustö∂ina, elliheimili∂, gistihúsi∂ og πa∂ var allssta∂ar teki∂ vel á móti okkur, vi∂ fengum miki∂ af nammi og svolei∂is. Skemmtilegast var a∂ sjá svipinn á fólkinu sem gekk framhjá. Svo var πa∂ balli∂ sem ma∂ur sló köttinn úr tunnunni og a∂ marsera. ∏a∂ var mjög gaman, πannig var minn öskudagur. Bæ, bæ Gunnar Gunnarsson, Ljósabraut 25, Stokkavík (Kristín Einarsdóttir: private collection). (Ash Wednesday was fine. I prepared by spraying my hair black, found black clothes, black sunglasses, everything was black. I had a gun and then everything was ready for Ash Wednesday. In the morning I dressed in black trousers, black t-shirt, a black belt with a silver eagle on it, a black leather coat, and then I was ready in costume. And then there was my team, ten if I am included. Valdís my aunt helped me so much with the coat, I would be lost without her. We sang three songs, the advertisement song about “breadchildren”, “Ocean Blue Ocean”, and a song which we learned in Sunday school. We sang these songs because we think they are cool. We visited enough houses and companies. For example, we visited Jens who is the new music teacher from Denmark, the road company, the power station, the police station, the shop, the bank, and everywhere people seemed to be happy to have us. We got a lot af candy and such. Most fun was seeing the faces of the people who passed us on the street. Afterwards was the dance where we “knocked the cat out of the bar- Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 639

Fig. 16.3: Icelandic Ash Wednesday mummers in 1999. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.)

rel” and marched. That was a lot of fun; that is how my Ash Wednesday was. Bye bye.) Two of the immediate differences that one notices here, considering the disguise customs known in neighbouring countries, are that the mumming activities in Iceland occur during the day rather than in the evening, and that children here rarely visit private homes (especially in the larger towns). This might be related to the fact that few Icelanders are at home by day, so the natural place to pick up “treats” is in town. Nonetheless, it appears that this timing has been in existence from the start in the nineteenth century. My research also shows that the costumes used in Iceland seem to have three main characteristics. The biggest group comprises of those who find their costumes at home, often the night before Ash Wednesday. They go through old clothes and decide what they are “going to be”. For obvious reasons, the roles decided on by such children tend to be hippies, old couples or old people, babies and such like (see fig. 16.3). The next group comprises of those who wear a special mask or wig that they have purchased, and most often have their faces painted. The third group then includes those who wear a complete costume that has been specially bought. They take roles like those of teddy bears, mice, rab- bits, Pippi Långstrump,9 and popular figures from Hollywood movies, like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Scream (see fig. 16.4). Another key feature, is that, unlike the upper-secondary school pre-graduation groups described elsewhere in this volume by Terry Gunnell, the groups do not usually take a joint theme: one

9 i.e. Pippi Longstocking, one of the heroes of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s popular books for children. 640 Kristín Einarsdóttir

Fig. 16.4: Icelandic Ash Wednesday mummers in 1999. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) rarely finds groups of old women or ghosts walking together. On the other hand, it is quite possible one might encounter a three-year old Scream murderer and an ancient hag standing side by side singing a cheerful old Icelandic ditty about cows. Another source of information I have used in my research is the photographs that are annually taken by a photograph shop in Reykjavík. When examining these pictures of children on Ash Wednesday, it is often hard to determine exactly what creature or being they are trying to imitate. This raises the question of whether any form of dramatic imitation is actually involved in these customs over and above the feature of disguise. However, when reading the children’s diaries about experiences, one encounters a strong feeling that they are always pretending to be someone or something, even though it is not always obvious. They may write, for example, “ég var hippi” (I was a hippy), or “ég var gömul kona” (I was an old woman) and so on. Clearly they felt they had momentarily changed identity. This leads us to the question of reception: The children usually state that they are welcome in shops. However, when I went along with a group in 2000, Ash Bags in the Country, Costumes in Town 641

I must say that, superficially at least, the treatment from shop owners was not always good. Some shop owners seemed to be occupied with doing something else when the children came in, perhaps working on their computer or even reading the newspaper. Some had a child or a teenager “on duty” to listen to the children and give them the sweets. Many, however, seemed to enjoy having these strange looking visitors in their shops. Some even dressed themselves in costumes. When I have discussed this interest or lack of interest with my young informants, they often say it is very important to them that the shopkeepers give themselves time to listen and show interest in what the children are doing. Of course, any performing artist needs an interested audience, and there is little doubt that what we have here in these short Icelandic Ash Wednesday presentations is a very basic form of travelling theatre. As with other Nordic countries,10 it might be noted from the newspapers and other sources that the costumes used in the mumming activities in Iceland have changed over the years, closely reflecting the interests that the children have at any given time. On Ash Wednesday in 2002, for example, many children had Harry Potter glasses, along with other merchandise related to the film of this international best seller. A few years earlier, there was a predominance of Star Wars costumes, although these seem to have now slipped out of vogue. Scary rubber masks (not least those related to the Scream movies) are still regularly seen, underlining the fact that “being scary” very much interests many children.11 Horror films have simply replaced the ghost and troll tales known in the folk belief of the past. They nonetheless share the feature that their central figures are meant to belong to the wild and the “outside”. As noted above, one of the particularly interesting features of the modern Ash Wednesday traditions that I focussed on in my research is the central role played by the song, and way in which the children make particular choices when they decide on the songs to sing for the shopkeepers. As one of my informants from Akureyri stresses in a quotation given above, the songs had to be traditional. From the lists of songs I have made over the research period, the songs tend be songs that are learnt in school, that is old Icelandic folksongs and children’s ballads. As noted above, it used to be that pop songs should not be sung. The songs would thus seem to be more conservative than the costumes. Another interesting feature is that many children make up their own texts for well-known tunes, many of which are not approved of by teachers or the shop owners12 but nonetheless represent an important part of child culture. All the same, it might be noted that Icelandic children nowadays do not seem to spend

10 See, for example, the articles by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j, Mari Kulmanen, Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir and Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch elsewhere in this volume. 11 It also underlines the fact that Icelandic children have quite easy access to horror movies, and also the possible indirect influence of Halloween, not least because Ash Wednesday offers local shopkeepers and mask-manufacturers a chance to off-load guises originally intended for Hallow- een at other times of the year. 12 In a sense, it might be argued that these figures are attempting to be the “agents” of the tradition: see further the article on this subject by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume. 642 Kristín Einarsdóttir a lot of time rehearsing the songs: they are often decided on the way into town. Furthermore, the songs may even have to be changed because of younger siblings being forced on the group by anxious parents who need a babysitter for the day (since the schools are closed). The nature of the performance, however, is always the same. The children enter the shop in groups and ask, usually very politely, if they can sing. After receiving permission, they sing, and the shopkeepers listen, often with interest, but sometimes not. The children then get sweets which they put in their bags before leaving for the next shop. The shopkeepers always give the same amount of candy, however good or bad the performance is. However, a good performance receives the benefit of a warmer, broader smile, and a positive comment. It might be noted, though, that there is still an interesting element of reversal here. In the game that takes place in this tradition, the “seller”, that is the shopkeeper, is momentarily transformed into the consumer on his/ her own territory. This creates an interesting state of liminality.13 During the Ash Wednesday performance in the shop, there is thus a question about which of the two parties, the performer or the shopkeeper, is actually “behind” the counter which forms a borderline between the two. To end this article, I would like to quote a short poem that I received from a little girl from Vestmannaeyjar dealing with her Ash Wednesday. It effectively sums up the Icelandic Ash Wednesday tradition that I have been outlining, in just a few words: Á öskudaginn er vo∂a gaman, allir eru í grímubúningum strákarnir eru súpermann e∂a spædermann og sumir kóngssynir me∂ sver∂ en stelpurnar gullfallegar prinsessur og álfkonur sem prinsarnir bjarga. Sí∂an er haldi∂ heim á lei∂ me∂ pokana fulla af nammi og πegar heim er komi∂ bor∂a allir á sig gat (Kristín Einarsdóttir: private collection). (Ash Wednesday is a lot of fun; everyone is wearing a costume. The boys are Superman or Spiderman, and some are princes with swords, and the girls are beautiful princesses and fairies which the princes then save. Then everyone goes home with the bags full of sweets and there we eat until we explode.)

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following questionnaires are referred to in this survey: ∏∏ (∏jó∂háttadeild ∏jó∂minjasafnsins): questionnaire: ∏∏ 31 (1973): Festivals Reykjavík: Kristín Einarsdóttir: fieldwork notes and interviews.

13 On the concept of liminality (being “betwixt and between”), see van Gennep 1960: 11, 18, 21 and 178Ð179; and Turner 1982: 20Ð60.

Elves on the Move 643 Elves on the Move Midwinter Mumming and House-Visiting Traditions in Iceland Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Midwinter mumming and house-visiting traditions have been practised in a few small settlements in Iceland for the better part of the twentieth century, and possibly longer, but until recently have remained completely unnoticed by scholars (see map 17.1). The custom died out in three of the communities in question some decades ago but is to this day still thriving in four fishing villages: first of all in ∏ingeyri in the rather remote western fjords and in Ólafsvík on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in the west part of the country where the tradition is carried out on Twelfth Night (πrettándinn: January 6); and then secondly in Grindavík in the south-west of Iceland and in Hauganes in Eyjafjör∂ur in the north where children go mumming on New Years’s Eve (gamla års kvöld). Of those places where mumming used to exist, Twelfth Night mumming seems to have disappeared from the remote village of Gjögur in the western fjords in the second half of the twentieth century, a little before the village itself ceased to exist; and the same applies to the midwinter mumming custom once practised by young adults in the farming community of Bar∂aströnd on the southern- most part of the western fjord peninsula (see references given below). Mumming between Twelfth Night and the start of the spring fishing season (February 3) is also known to have taken place in Vestmannaeyjar (the West- mann Islands) off the southern coast of Iceland around the start of the twentieth century, but it clearly disappeared soon after that. All the customs noted above are/ were house-visiting traditions, the central aim until recently being to disguise oneself completely. Most often, the customs also centre(d) on role-play, the visitors taking the roles of guests from the wilderness and the “other” world, of álfar (elves) and trolls, and then jólasveinar (Yule Lads) who say they need provisions for the long and difficult journey home after having been on the move during the thirteen days of Christmas (something that applies particularly to the townships of ∏ingeyri and Grindavík: see further below). The present article is based on extensive research of these customs which I started in 2002 and concluded with a BA dissertation in February 2005 (Vil- borg Daví∂sdóttir, 2005). My research involved interviews with people from all of the above-mentioned communities (except Vestmannaeyjar), as well as field work in ∏ingeyri conducted on Twelfth Night in 2003 involving a video camera and the collection of photographs and the role names of some fifty children that went mumming that night. I interviewed thirteen informants myself, most of them senior citizens. Four more were interviewed by Terry Gunnell

644 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Map 17.1: Midwinter Mumming in Iceland in the twentieth century. (Map: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir.) and two students of folkloristics in the University of Iceland in between 2002 and 2004.1 The main emphasis in my own research was placed on describing the Twelfth Night mumming in ∏ingeyri (where I was born myself in 1965), and on giving an overview of the background and development of the tradition from the 1930s up until the present day. In the following pages, I will also briefly describe the mumming traditions known in the other villages as clearly as the memories of my informants allow, but, as has already been stated, should stress that no written sources about these traditions exist, contemporary or otherwise, except for a note in Saga Vestmannaeyja (Sigfús M. Johnsen 1946: 169Ð170) about mumming in Vestmannaeyjar; a short article in Árbók Bar∂a- strandar 2003 describing mumming in Bar∂aströnd (Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir 2003: 67–70); and a short chapter in a recent autobiography (Kristján ∏ór∂arson 2005: 60Ð63). Following the description, I will go on to discuss the possible origins of these customs in Norway and their probable arrival in Iceland at around the start of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, I should also stress that it can not be ruled out that mumming may have been known in remote and isolated places in Iceland, like the western fjords, since medieval times.2

1 The students in question were Jón Kristján Johnsen and Lilja Björk Vilhelmsdóttir. 2 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere this volume, and Gunnell 1995a.

Elves on the Move 645

Twelfth Night Mumming in ∏ingeyri ∏ingeyri is a typical Icelandic fishing village, nestled beneath a mountain by the coast of one of the many deep fjords on the western fjord peninsula in north-west Iceland (see map 17.1). This area was for a long time (as it still is to some degree) isolated by long distances to other townships and also high mountains which make travel difficult, especially during the winter when heavy snows often close the roads and short daylight and frequent storms make travel by air impossible. The village came into being during the last decades of the 1800s, forming itself around a Danish-owned trading station (Gunnar S. Hvammdal 1999: 196). Its inhabitants for the main part of the twentieth century numbered around 480, although during the last decade this number has shrunk to around 330 as a result of the rural Icelandic fishing industry suffering serious blows from reductions in fishing quotas and the commercialisation of the fishery management system in the 1980s. It is impossible to know exactly when midwinter mumming started in ∏ingeyri, but my oldest informant, born in 1916, remembers that as a young child she saw people wearing masks and costumes by the traditional New Year’s Eve bonfire.3 Four other informants born around 1930 say the same thing. Three of them went mumming themselves every year as children, although, strangely enough, this was not on the same night: one went house visiting on Twelfth Night, collecting cookies and sweets from nearby houses in a bag they had brought with them, while the other two disguised themselves on New Year’s Eve, and, together with their friends, may have visited some houses but did not go systematically from door to door, nor did they receive anything from those visited (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2002/I and 2003/I). It might be noted, though, that these people grew up in three different parts of the village, small as it is, the first coming from the foot of the mountain, while the others came from just by the sea. It seems that the mumming traditions may have been different from one end of the village to the other, or even from one home to another. However that may be, by the late 1940s, it seems clear that mumming on New Year’s Eve had disappeared and that most or all of the children went house visiting on Twelfth Night. All of my informants stress that it was very important to hide one’s identity completely. To do that, the children used old and discarded clothes taken from grown-ups, either making face masks from linen or carton paper, or painting their faces. One informant, Soffía Einarsdóttir (born in 1935), remembers being terrified as a child when some mummers visited her home: Ég man πa∂ einu sinni a∂ πá vorum vi∂ krakkarnir heima bara a∂ leika í eldhúsinu – πá var nú litla húsi∂, πar sem a∂ ég fæddist – πa∂ var pínulíti∂ hús, og svo er banka∂ og vi∂ erum πarna a∂ gantast í eldhúsinu og vi∂ náttúrlega rjúkum upp og tökum upp hur∂ina og πa∂ stendur bara flokkur fyrir utan af allavega klæddu fólki og ég var∂ svo vitlaus af hræ∂slu. ∏ó var ég búin a∂ fara í svona.

3 Oral information: Camilla Sigmundsdóttir: November 25, 2004.

646 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

VD: Sjálf? SE: Vissi alveg hva∂ πetta var, en mér brá svona rosalega vi∂ (Vilborg Daví∂sdót- tir 2002/I). (I remember once when we kids were just playing in the kitchen Ð it was in the little house where I was born Ð it was a tiny house, and then there is this knock on the door and we are just playing around in the kitchen, and of course we dashed over to the door and opened it up and there is a whole flock of people outside dressed up in all kinds of clothes and I was scared out of my wits. Even though I’d done this myself. VD: Yourself? SE: Knew quite well what was going on, but I was just so awfully shocked.) According to my informants, adults never went mumming in ∏ingeyri in the past, only children. They started to take part at the age of seven to ten years and continued to do so until they reached the age of confirmation in their fourteenth year. Even so, it is possible that to start with the tradition was practised by young adults and grown-ups, as indeed was the case in the three communities mentioned above where mumming was discontinued some decades ago. Such an idea is backed up by one informant who told me of a visit that a couple of adult mummers made to his farm close to ∏ingeyri when he was a child in the early 1930s.4 The mummers in question were a married middle-aged couple from a neighbouring farm. Interestingly enough, according to the informant noted above, the terrified children thought that the disguised visitors must be álfar (elves) come from the hills as the mummers’ visit took place on either New Year’s Eve or Twelfth Night, times when, according to Icelandic folk belief, the álfar and huldufólk (hidden people) are on the move.5 As Jón Árnason, the primary collector of Ice- landic folklore, states regarding this belief in his folk tale collection êslenzkar πjó∂sögur og æfint¥ri, first published in 1845: […] um jólin hafa πeir [álfarnir] samsæti og veizlur, hljó∂færaslátt og dansfer∂ ¥mist í mannahíb¥lum e∂a í álfabygg∂um, og πar a∂ auki halda πeir fardaga sína um n¥jári∂ og var πá ávallt nokku∂ um d¥r∂ir fyrir πeim, og er einkum sagt a∂ πeir hafi fari∂ á n¥jársnótt úr einum sta∂ í annan vistferlum og búferlum (Jón Árnason, 1954: I, 100Ð101). (… at Christmas time, they [the elves] hold gatherings and festivities, play music and go dancing either in the houses of men or in the land of the elves; their travelling days are also at New Year, and at that time there would always be some festivities, and it is said especially that on New Year’s Eve they would go from one place to another, either for work or moving house.) While Jón Árnason speaks here of New Year’s Eve, it should be noted that most Icelandic folk beliefs concerning Christmas and New Year’s Eve also

4 Oral information: Gunnar S. Hvammdal: December 7, 2004. 5 Note that the words huldufólk and álfar are often interchangeably used for nature spirits in Ice- land. For comparable connections between supernatural figures and mummers, see further the Sur- vey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden (on the Easter Witches); Norway (various examples); and the North Atlantic (the gr¿liks in Shetland) elsewhere in this volume. Elves on the Move 647 apply to Twelfth Night (Árni Björnsson 1996: 401–402). The reason for this is that when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in Iceland in 1700, the earlier date of Christmas was transferred very close to that of Twelfth Night.6 It is in accordance with the above tradition that the children who go house visiting on Twelfth Night in ∏ingeyri have for decades been called “álfar”, no matter whether they dress up as elves, trolls or jólasveinar (Yule Lads), or, increasingly in recent times, as Batman, Superman or even a president of the United States. It is impossible, though, to tell exactly when people start using this general role name for the visiting children. The informants born in the 1930s do not talk of it being used in their childhood, but according to an informant born in the early 1950s, when he went mumming as a child, it was a firmly established custom to talk of álfar who were going back home after visiting the human world during the Christmas season and needed some provisions for the road ahead of them.7 However, it is likely that the participating children themselves are not that aware of the role names many of the grown-ups use when speaking of them today. Indeed, this may even apply to some of the adults themselves. When asked in the beginning of each interview whether there was a name or any special wording used for the Twelfth Night custom, all my informants in ∏ingeyri shook their heads. They could not come up with anything, except for the couple that went out mumming on New Year’s Eve when they were children and talked of a∂ fara á grímu (going with a mask). During the interviews, however, all of my informants used the same phrase again and again: they talked of a∂ fara út a∂ sníkja (going out begging). Then, on the back of old photographs that I borrowed from my informants, I found the word “álfar” frequently written along with the year in which the picture was taken. One informant born in 1952 (and also a number of other younger ones) went somewhat further in stressing the need to decide on a special personal name to use before going out of the house to “go out begging”, because the grown-up hosts would always start the conversation with the álfar by asking for their names.8 The personal names in question were generally taken from Icelandic folk legends about the jólasveinar (Yule Lads) and trolls, although the names of certain internationally famous figures were also remembered, such as

6 For this reason, some Icelanders called Twelfth Night “gömul jól” (Old Christmas), even as late as during the first decades of the twentieth century. The ethnologist Árni Björnsson cites nineteen informants on this practice (born 1885 to 1917) (see Árni Björnsson, 1996: 401–402). Interestingly enough, fourteen of these people come from the northern part of the western fjords, where ∏ingeyri is located. (For parallels to this confusion, see the information about Shetland customs in the Sur- vey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume.) 7 Oral information: Sigmundur ∏ór∂arson: November 24, 2004. There are, of course, clear parallels here with those disguise customs in neighbouring countries which are connected with spirits returning home after Christmas. See, for example, the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic regarding the Faroese gr¥lur who also seem to be associated with the end of winter. 8 Oral information: Sigmundur ∏ór∂arson: November 24, 2004. 648 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Richard Nixon, Mikhail Gorbachov, Fedtmule (the Danish name for Donald Duck’s friend, Goofy), Superman, and, in 2000, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Interestingly enough, even though the roles of álfar were said to have been popular for a long time, no one ever mentioned any first names actually taken from old folk legends dealing with elves, but rather “elf titles” such as Álfadrottning, Álfamey or Álfaprins (meaning respectively Elf Queen, Elven Maiden and Prince of Elves). After the introduction, the hosts in ∏ingeyri in the past (and some still today) would traditionally ask the álfar where they were coming from and where they were heading for. The children were ready for this and would always answer that they were coming from afar, most often mentioning some mountain or a glacier in the western fjords, adding that they were on their way back home. At this point, most adults would bring out a bowl full of cookies, fruits or sweets and invite the children to take one each to put in the bag that they always brought with them. However, not everyone would leave it at that. According to one informant born in 1968, some hosts were “erfi∂ari en a∂rir” (more difficult than others) and would continue for a while with their questioning about the means of travel, the weather conditions in the mountains and so on (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/III).9 A few would even ask the children to sing, something they apparently found rather difficult to do properly without bursting into laughter, not least because it was customary for the mummers to disguise their voices with ingressive speech or by speaking with an extremely high or deep tone.10 Clearly this request was made not only to add to the fun of the “micro- play” taking place on the doorstep, but also as means of trying to guess the identity of the álfar. If and when they managed to guess the identities, however, the ∏ingeyri hosts of the past supposedly never disclosed this knowledge to their young visitors: as one of the older informants put it, you “tala∂i bara vi∂ πá sem álfana” (simply conversed with them as elves: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2002/IV).

From Role Play to Singing As noted above, I carried out field research in ∏ingeyri on Twelfth Night in 2003: Using a video camera, I followed three eleven-year-old children, a boy and two girls, as they “went begging” from one house to another for a couple of hours in the freezing cold (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/Field Research). Comparing what I observed to my own childhood memories and those of the informants, I found that some significant changes have taken place in the

9 See further Hanne Pico Larsen’s article on “mask-talk” elsewhere in this volume. 10 As is noted elsewhere in this volume (see, for example, the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tra- ditions in the North Atlantic with regard to the Shetland mumming traditions), this is a common feature of mumming traditions in the Nordic countries, just as it was in Newfoundland. Elves on the Move 649 custom during the last ten to fifteen years. First of all, the children now start taking part much younger than before, some being as young as two years old, and are then accompanied by their (usually) young parents or older brothers and sisters. Secondly, they generally do not try to disguise their identities with facial masks any longer, but use face paints to a much greater degree than they did in the past. Thirdly, the hosts very often ask the children to sing before they hand out the sweets, and sometimes the children (or their parents if the children are very young) themselves offer to sing for the adults. The combined results of these changes are that the “micro-play” once staged on the doorsteps of each home has now almost entirely disappeared. Instead of rewarding the children for their performances and role play, the hosts now increasingly distribute the candy as a form of payment for the song, or just for receiving a visit by the costumed children. However, it is noteworthy that the children still decide on names for themselves before going out, as can be seen from the fact that, with the assistance of locals, I collected some fifty names of álfar on January 6, 2003. As can be seen from the bar chart given below, the names still tend to be taken from figures of folklore or made up by the children, obviously using the criteria that they are supposed to represent someone “different” and out of the ordinary.

Table 1: The Names Taken By Visiting Álfar in ∏ingeyri, 2003. 25

10 10

Number of children 7 6 5 5

0 Figures from "Different" names Names from Regular names Other folklore movies & books

Among the most popular names used by the visitors are those of Gr¥la and Leppalú∂i, the ugly troll pair that, according to folk belief, spawned the Ice- landic jólasveinar who in days long gone supposedly sneaked onto farms around Christmas in order to steal food (Jón Árnason 1954–1969: I, 207– 210; and III, 283Ð286). The ogress Gr¥la was for some time used as means 650 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Fig. 17.1: Hermione and Harry Potter come to visit: ∏ingeyri, Iceland, 2004. (Photo: Sigmundur ∏ór- ∂arson.) (Courtesy of Sig- mundur ∏ór∂arson.) of disciplining Icelandic children who were regularly told that Gr¥la would come from the mountains to take them away and eat them if they did not behave.11 Other common álfur names are Stúfur (“Shortie”, the youngest son of Gr¥la and Leppalú∂i), Jólastelpa (Christmas Girl), Álfadrottning, Álfamær and Álfabræ∂ur (meaning respectively Elf Queen, Elven Maiden and Elven Broth- ers), and then those of heroes from movies and books such as “Lína Lang- sokkur” (Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Långstrump), Batman and Shrek. In 2004, Harry Potter and Hermione joined the groups, carrying their magic wands (see fig. 17.1). As in the past (see fig. 17.2), the costumes worn by the visiting álfar are almost always made at home, usually from over-sized clothes of grown-ups, and accompanied by scarfs and hats. Of the very few costumes bought ready-made, the most common today are the red and white clothes of the modern global Santa Claus (see fig. 17.3). In the pictures of fifty-four álfar that I collected in 2003, only eleven children can be seen wearing masks (four of which only cover part of the face). Four children wear wigs, but twenty seven have painted their faces, some adding only a few freckles or a red nose. Some, however, covered their faces completely with paint: One girl I filmed, who called herself “draugurinn Móri” (Móri the ghost), used white paint and dark circles around her eyes to represent someone that had risen from the grave. In only two houses out of twenty five were the three children I accompanied in 2003 asked where they were coming from and where they were heading for.

11 On the figure of Gr¥la as a disguised figure in the past in Iceland, and her connection to Faroese and Shetland mumming traditions in the present, see further Gunnell 2001a and 2007a (forthcoming), and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume Elves on the Move 651

Fig. 17.2: Children in the old style of masks in ∏ingeyri, Iceland, in 1973. (Photo: Skarphé∂inn Njáls- son.) (Courtesy of Skarp- hé∂inn Njálsson.)

Even so, this should not be taken to indicate for certain that this element of the tradition has now all but disappeared, since the two girls in question were not actually raised in the village of ∏ingeyri.12 When one of the ∏ingeyri hosts commented that she did not recognise the children as being from ∏ingeyri, they explained their connection with a local family, and were in turn complimented on having come all the way from Ísafjör∂ur to take part in the tradition. Such a scenario would have been unthinkable in this author’s childhood in the 1970s, when, as noted above, the tradition centred around hiding one’s identity and avoiding recognition by all means. The asking for names nonetheless still remains from the earlier tradition, as can be seen from the following bar chart. Furthermore, singing is becoming a routine part of the tradition:

12 The girls visiting were from the neighbouring town of Ísafjör∂ur where mumming is practised on the Monday before Lent. There, singing in every house is a vital part of the mumming tradition, just as it is in the other towns in Iceland where mumming is practised in the week before Lent. In this Lenten tradition, however, role play and pretending to come from afar plays no part at all. See further the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir on the Icelandic Shrovetide mumming tradition elsewhere in this volume. 652 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Table 2: Communication Between Hosts and Visiting Álfar in ∏ingeyri, 2003. 14 13

10 10

8 7 7

Frequency (out of 25) 4 3 2 2

0 Sing a song Asked for Asked for Adressed as Questions Neither names names & to sing álfar about journey questions nor singing

My informants from the older generation all mentioned this change involving singing, saying that nowadays many of the children offer to sing. They claimed, however, that this had not been the case until recently. Nonetheless, according to one informant, singing was required by some hosts as early as in the 1940s. This is backed up by another informant who talks of being asked to sing. Both state, however, that the adults obviously asked them to sing in order to be better able to identify them and amuse themselves (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/I and 2003/III). A third informant, a retired teacher, confesses with a smile that his often long conversations with the álfar that appear on his doorstep have been “partly” a means of figuring out their identity, but more importantly a way to play along with the children and see how they manage to maintain their roles: ∏a∂ held ég var yfirleitt nema bara einhverjir smákrakkar sem a∂ gá∂u πá ekki a∂ sér, hvort sem ma∂ur πekkti πau alveg e∂a ekki en πa∂ var vo∂alega gaman a∂ tala vi∂ πau og er alltaf gaman a∂ tala vi∂ πau πegar πau eru komin í πetta ástand, πví πá eru πau a∂ leika í alvöru, πau eru alveg a∂ leika, alveg komin inn í fallegan ramma a∂ stóru hlutverki […]. ∏á ver∂ur ma∂ur a∂ passa sig og vanda sig og gera ekkert af sér, og leggja ekki fyrir πau erfi∂ar spurningar πannig a∂ ma∂ur sé ekki endilega a∂ sprengja πau en fara svona – kroppa í kringum πau, láta πau a∂eins [hlær] – bæ∂i a∂ hafa gaman af πessu sjálfur (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2002/III). (Usually, it was only the little ones that didn’t take enough care, whether or not one knew who they were or not, but it was immensely entertaining to talk with them, and it is always such fun to talk with them when they have entered this state, because then they are indeed acting, they really are acting, they have entered the beautiful framework of a great role […]. One must be careful and one mustn’t do anything wrong, and one must not to ask them questions that are too difficult for them so that you will not blow their cover; just tease them a little bit, make them just [laughs] Ð just to enjoy yourself too.) Elves on the Move 653

Fig. 17.3: Children disguised as jólasveinar (Yule Lads), in ∏ingeyri, Iceland, in 1994. (Photo: Kristján Gunnarsson.) (Courtesy of Kristján Gunnarsson.)

As the face masks have almost disappeared today, the hosts obviously do not ask the children to sing now as a means of identifying them. Rather, as was previously mentioned, the singing has replaced the role play as the performance which is “paid for” by the hosts with sweets. At least three of the hosts of Twelfth Night 2003 stated very clearly that they wanted to hear a song before they would hand out the goodies, one of them ordering the children to sing by saying “πi∂ fái∂ engan mola fyrr en πi∂ eru∂ búin a∂ syngja fyrir mig!” (you’ll not get any sweets until after you have sung for me!: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir/ 2003 Field Research). I believe there are two main reasons for this development. One is that many of the participants are too young to find it amusing to work at totally disguising their identities. Hence the near disappearance of the masks, disguised voices and role play. The second is the influence of the fast spread of the Ash Wednes- day (Öskudagur) disguise tradition all over Iceland in recent years:13 in this tradition (as noted in note 12 above), the main emphasis is on singing in shops and workplaces, and on receiving sweets in return. For several years now, pictures of children in Ash Wednesday costumes in Reykjavík and in some of the larger towns in Iceland have been broadcast on the evening news programmes on television on the night of Ash Wednesday. It seems quite logical that the children of the tiny village of ∏ingeyri Ð where there is only one small shop and no Ash Wednesday tradition Ð conclude from what they have seen on television that the way other children in Iceland go mumming is probably the proper way in which things should be done.

13 See further the article by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this volume. 654 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Similar Traditions Elsewhere in Iceland The children of ∏ingeyri, however, are not the only ones that go mumming in the darkness of midwinter in Iceland. As noted at the start, Twelfth Night mumming is also practised today in the small town of Ólafsvík (1025 inhabitants in 200414), which is located on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in western Ice- land (see map 17.1). The tradition can be traced back to one Sigurgeir Bjarna- son, born in 1931, who brought it along with him when his family moved from ∏ingeyri to Ólafsvík in 1943. The first time he went mumming in Ólafsvík, on Twelfth Night in 1944, he went on his own and things turned out rather badly: ∏egar ég kom πarna ni∂ur a∂ […] a∂algötunni í Ólafsvík sem var πá, πarna fyrir ne∂an πar sem gamla kaupfélagi∂ var í […] Ólafsvík, πá var svona hálf-a∂falli∂ og πegar ég kom πarna me∂… me∂ staf og hatt og mála∂ur í framan og ég man ekki hvort ég var me∂ grímu, πá var ger∂ur a∂súgur a∂ mér. Ég var me∂ staf og πa∂ enda∂i me∂ πví a∂ ég hrökkla∂ist ni∂ur sandinn og út í sjó. ∏arna var á πessum tíma […] voru engin götuljós í Ólafsvík, svolei∂is a∂ ég gat varist πa∂ a∂ πeir lög∂u ekki í a∂ fara út í sjóinn til πess a∂ ná af mér hatti og grímu og anna∂ sem ég var me∂ (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/I). (When I came down to the mainstreet of Ólafsvík, which at this time was down where the old Co-op was located in […] Ólafsvík, the tide was halfway in and when I came there with… with a staff and a hat and face paint, and I don’t remember whether I had a mask or not, then I was attacked [by other children]. I had a staff and this ended with me fleeing down to the beach and into the sea. At this time, there were no street lights in Ólafsvík, so I could stop them since they didn’t have the guts to go out into the sea to get my hat and mask and the other stuff I had with me.) Thus young Sigurgeir managed to escape from the bullies, and the following year he asked a friend from school to go mumming with him. It was right after that that other children started following suit, he says. The tradition then took root very fast. For decades in Ólafsvík, the main aim was to disguise oneself completely, just as it had been in ∏ingeyri, although according to an informant from Ólafsvík (born in 1971, and now a mother of three young children she has taken mumming in recent years), this has changed, and nowadays, as in ∏ingeyri, “vilja sumir láta börnin syngja fyrir sig” (some ask the children to sing: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/II). No special role name is used here but the children of Ólafsvík talk about a∂ fara a∂ sníkja (going out to beg), and when the hosts open up their doors, the children use a traditional phrase to ask for the sweets, saying: “Viltu gefa mér eitthva∂ gott í gogginn?” (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/II). This loosely translates as: “Will you please give me something sweet to munch on?” Role play does not seem to have been a part of the tradition in Ólafsvík, but the children clearly do dress up as some figure or other, and in the 1970s and 1980s, it seems that, as in ∏ingeyri, the roles of the Icelandic jólaveinar (Christmas Lads) were popular, as was that of their infamous

14 Based on figures on the Hagstofa (Icelandic national statistics) web site at http://www.hagstofa.is (last visited March 1, 2007). Elves on the Move 655 mother, Gr¥la. Today, just as in ∏ingeyri (and in other countries), heroes from cartoons and movies are joining in, some dressed in capes and costumes bought ready-made (imported Halloween costumes), but even so most of the children still dress up in the clothes of the adults, and use hats, home-made masks and face paint for their disguise. The New Year’s Eve mumming of children in Grindavík (2.434 inhabitants in 200415) on the Reykjanes peninsula in the south-west (see map 17.1) is very similar to what has already been described above. According to Sigrún Gu∂mundsdóttir, a retired teacher in Grindavík, born in 1916, the tradition probably started in the late 1950s or early 1960s (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/ I). Whether this is so or not is difficult to verify, since Sigrún had her only child in 1954, something which might explain why she believes the tradition started during her daughter’s childhood. Indeed, according to some of my informants in ∏ingeyri, the children often choose to visit their grandparents and families of school mates and cousins rather than the homes of young, childless couples or those who live alone (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2003/III, and 2003/Field Re- search). Interestingly enough, traditionally, the children in Grindavík are called jólasveinar (Yule Lads) when they go mumming, according to Sigrún’s daughter, Gu∂rún Gu∂steinsdóttir (Terry Gunnell 2004/I). Furthermore, as in ∏ingeyri, they choose names for themselves. Gu∂rún states that when visiting, the children would knock a bit harshly, often with a large staff, and after some conversation aimed at disclosing who were behind the masks, sweets and fruits were offered. The adults greeted the children with a customary question asking their (role) names, by saying: “Hver er jólasveinninn?” (Who is this Yule Lad?). As in ∏ingeyri and Ólafsvík, the costumes are mainly made from discarded clothing and any figure that represents “an outsider” goes. Indeed, Gu∂rún’s son went mumming a few years ago dressed up in drag (Terry Gun- nell 2004/I). The fourth village still practising midwinter mumming in Iceland is the tiny settlement of Hauganes in Eyjafjör∂ur in the northern part of Iceland (158 inhabitants in 200416: see map 17.1). Here children fara a∂ syngja í hús (go house-to-house singing) on New Year’s Eve, dressed up in home-made costumes. All the children in the village gather together after a traditional New Year’s Eve bonfire and go in one large group from house to house, where they sing one, two or three songs at each door, and then receive sweets, cookies or fruit which they collect in their bags. Actually, for some years, the group would only carry one bag and then share the sweets afterwards. However, according to one informant, this practice did not work out, so now every child carries his own bag. According to Jóhann S. Antonsson, an informant born in Hauganes in 1927,

15 Based on figures on the Hagstofa (Icelandic national statistics) web site at http://www.hagstofa.is (last visited March 1, 2007). 16 Based on figures on the Hagstofa (Icelandic national statistics) web site at http://www.hagstofa.is (last visited March 1, 2007). 656 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir a mumming tradition already existed in Hauganes in the 1930s. At that time, the settlement consisted of only a few houses, with around fifty inhabitants in total. Jóhann says that in his childhood, it was mainly boys from eight to thirteen years old that went mumming on New Year’s Eve. They were dressed up in discarded clothes, with home-made masks made of carton paper or cloth. In- terestingly enough, they would also make horns and tails for themselves, which were “búi∂ til úr einhverjum druslum sem var bara vafi∂ saman og gert πétt” (rags which were wound and knotted together to make them hard). They would then go from house to house, knock on doors and greet the hosts who would, as usual, try to figure out their identities and then hand out cookies (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/IV). It seems that singing was not a part of the tradition here either until later; in the 1950s and 1960s only a few hosts would ask for a song, says an informant born in 1949 (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/III). Today, the importance of disguising in Hauganes has diminished greatly, just as it has everywhere else: “manni finnst a∂ minnsta kosti me∂ πau yngstu a∂ πau hugsi nú ekkert út í πa∂” (the youngest children, at least, don’t seem to think about this at all) says Jóhann (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/IV).

Midwinter Mumming In the Past As noted at the start, in the past it seems that midwinter mumming in Iceland was more widespread. Twelfth Night mumming by young adults was certainly practised in the now deserted fishing village of Gjögur on the most isolated part of the western fjord peninsula (see map 17.1) during the first half of the twentieth century. It is impossible to tell exactly when the tradition started but it probably disappeared in the 1960s, if not earlier. Gjögur and neighbouring Djúpavík thrived as fishing stations for herring in the 1930s and 1940s, but soon after the herring disappeared in the 1950s, the people left as well. Lilja Jónsdóttir, an informant born in 1930, herself went mumming here as a teenager accompanied by another girl. Both dressed up in finery as a well-to-do couple, she as a lady while the other girl went as a man in a suit, with a hat and a walking cane. Both had simple masks they had made themselves out of linen, and when people asked them who they were, they, like the mummers in ∏ingeyri, pretended to be álfar (elves), coming from the mountains. Lilja clearly remembers a mummer’s visit when she was a child that caused her considerable fright:17 [M]a∂ur sem hét Trausti [kom] heim til okkar allur kolsvartur í framan og amma heitin var πá lifandi og, og vi∂ vorum náttúrulega mörg πá svo lítil a∂ hún var í litlu herbergi πarna inn af eldhúsinu […] og vi∂ allir, allir minni – minni börnin – vi∂ ruddustum inn til ömmu minnar og loku∂um hur∂inni og fórum og lög∂ustum öll á

17 Note how similar Lilja’s description is to that given above by Soffía Einarsdóttir (b. 1935) from ∏ingeyri. Elves on the Move 657

hur∂ina. Hún vildi sjá, fara fram og sjá πetta fyrirbæri en – en hún komst ekki fram fyrir okkur πví a∂ vi∂ stó∂um bara fyrir hur∂inni. [Hlær]. (Lilja Björk Vilhelmsdóttir 2003/I). There was a man called Trausti who came to our home with his face all blacked up; my grandmother who is now dead was still alive then and many of us were still so little then, and she was in the little room off the kitchen and all of us little children… we rushed in to my grandmother and locked the door… we put our backs against the door. She wanted to see… to go out and see this phenomenon, but… she couldn’t get past us, because we were blocking the door [laughs]). Midwinter mumming by young adults was also practised for the better part of the twentieth century in the farming community of Bar∂aströnd on the south coast of the western fjord peninsular. According to informants of Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir (2003), mumming was known in Bar∂aströnd even before 1900, and only disappeared there as late the 1960s or even 1970s (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/II; see also Kristján ∏ór∂arson 2005: 60Ð63). Here, however, the tradition does not seem to have been attached to any particular day, and had no direct connection with elves, trolls or Christmas. According to two informants from Bar∂aströnd, the brothers Gunnar (born in 1918) and Bjarni ∏orsteinsson (born in 1933), people would fara á grímu (go with a mask)18 any time the fancy took them from October or November until well after New Year, provided the weather was good enough for the moon to light the mummers’ way, which was usually no short distance since they would often visit thirty or so farms, stretched over a distance of some fifteen kilometres (Terry Gunnell 2002/I). On arriving at a farm, the young people would knock loudly on windows, and after being invited in, a guessing game would ensue. The mummers, wearing costumes and home-made masks (see fig. 17.4), did their utmost to remain unknown by changing their voices and stature as the hosts tried every trick to unveil them, some even going as far as trying to snatch the mask off someone’s face (Terry Gunnell 2002/I). When everyone had been identified (or when the hosts gave up guessing), the masks would be taken off and coffee and cakes served to the mummers. When the group left, usually one or two of the hosts would join them, so that the group gradually swelled on the way, involving as many as fifty people by the time it reached the last farm on the traditional route. Often, someone would then produce an accordion or a harmon- ica and everyone would dance (Terry Gunnell 2002/I). Yet another example of a tradition that has disappeared is found in Vest- mannaeyjar off the south coast of Iceland, where midwinter mumming was also practised in the past. The only source about this tradition, however, is the following paragraph from Saga Vestmannaeyja, published in 1946:

18 This expression is used by all four informants from Bar∂aströnd (Terry Gunnell 2002/I and 2002/II; and Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/II). Interestingly enough, the same phrase was also used by two of my informants in ∏ingeyri with regard to the New Year’s Eve tradition which took place there in the 1930s and 1940s. To the best of my knowledge, there is no direct parallel for this expression in any of the other Nordic languages. 658 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

Fig. 17.4: A recreation of the type of masks used in Bar∂aströnd, Iceland (based on descriptions of customs from before 1950). (Photo and recreation: Jónína Hafsteinsdót- tir.) (Courtesy of Jónína Hafsteinsdóttir.)

Milli πrettánda og vertí∂ar tí∂ka∂ist sá sí∂ur í Vestmannaeyjum, sem eigi er annars sta∂ar geti∂ hér, a∂ fólk klæddi sig í grímubúninga, karlar og konur, einkum πó ung- lingar, og fór grímubúi∂ í hópum á vökunni um bæi. Fyrir hópnum fór fylgdarma∂ur, er eigi bar grímu, og gekk hann á undan og ba∂ leyfis fyrir grímufólki∂, a∂ πa∂ mætti koma inn og var πa∂ oftast au∂sótt. Settist grímufólki∂ inni og fór me∂ alls konar tilbur∂um og gáska, en heimilisfólki∂ sko∂a∂i alla í krók og kring og reyndi a∂ πekkja, og var∂ af hin bezta skemmtun, er oftast enda∂i me∂ πví a∂ grímufólkinu var bo∂i∂ a∂ taka af sér grímuna og var πví svo bori∂ kaffi og a∂rar veitingar (Sigfús M. Johnsen 1946: 169Ð170). (There was a tradition in the Westmann Islands, not mentioned in other places, but practised between Twelfth Night and the start of the spring fishing season, that people would dress up in costumes, men and women, and particularly youths, and go about in groups during the evening wake visiting homes. The group was led by a leader who did not wear a mask, and he would go before them and ask for permission for the mummers to enter,19 and this was usually granted immediately. The mummers sat down and behaved in all kinds of ways and with mirth, those who lived at the farm examining them thoroughly from all angles, trying to guess who they were, and this was a great amusement which usually concluded with the mummers being invited to unveil themselves; after that they were offered coffee and other refreshments.) This practice, the author adds, thrived best when the inhabitants of the islands were few and everyone knew each other, but disappeared when more people came to live in the islands right after the start of the last century. This conclusion is quite logical, since everybody would definitely have known everybody in 1901 when the inhabitants of the only town on Vestmannaeyjar numbered only 607.20 The community grew rapidly during the first decades of the twen-

19 It is interesting to note that the practice of asking for permisson for mummers to enter was also known in Newfoundland and in Denmark (see further Chiaramonte, 1969: 82Ð83; and Bregenh¿j, 1974: 93). 20 Based on figures on the Hagstofa (Icelandic national statistics) web site at http://www.hagstofa.is (last visited March 1, 2007). Elves on the Move 659 tieth century with the development of motorboats, reaching an early peak of 3,400 people in 1930, a number which is only about 1000 less than the present population.21 Another reason which might account for the disappearance of the mumming tradition of Vestmannaeyjar, and indeed also those which existed in Gjögur and Bar∂aströnd, ties in with the fact that the mummers in all of these settlements were adults, and “particularly youths”; in other words, young, unmarried men and women. The brothers Gunnar and Bjarni ∏orsteinsson and the two other informants from Bar∂aströnd all comment on this fact, saying that the purpose of “going with a mask” was for young people to meet and have fun since few other opportunites for amusement were to be had, and those who went mumming were “ungt fólk sem var a∂ skjóta sér hvert í ö∂ru” (the young ones who had a crush on each other: Terry Gunnell 2002/I). When asked whether there were similar numbers of young men and women among the mummers, Ingvi Ó. Haraldsson (born in 1937) answers that probably the number of young men was greater but “au∂vita∂ var πa∂ nú hluti af πví a∂ gera πetta skemmtilegt a∂ kven- fólki∂ væri me∂” (of course, it was a necessary part of the fun to involve the womenfolk: Terry Gunnell 2002/II). The mumming tradition was thus a great opportunity for the young to meet and flirt, not least because wearing a mask gives one freedom to behave in ways that would otherwise not be appropriate.22 When dance halls (samkomuhús) later came to be built in various communities and villages all around the country and transportation improved, there were naturally increasing opportunities for young, unmarried people to get together. In short, the mumming tradition was no longer needed. The advent of television in Iceland in the late 1960s might have played a further part in the disappearance of adult mumming. One might speculate that perhaps the mumming traditions in ∏ingeyri, Grindavík and Hauganes were also formerly practised by young adults, but that they lived on because they were taken over by children. This is, of course, impossible to state with any certainty; indeed, it is just as likely that the mummers in these particular villages were children from the very beginning.

Kinship with the Nordic Christmas Goat Nothing is known for certain either about the origins or the beginning of the midwinter mumming traditions in Iceland, with the noticeable exception of the Ólafsvík tradition, as was noted above.23 Even though these villages are scat-

21 Based on figures on the Hagstofa (Icelandic national statistics) web site at http://www.hagstofa.is (last visited March 1, 2007). 22 Regarding this aspect of mumming, see further the article by Anniki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j elsewhere in this volume. 23 See, however, the information given in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 660 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir tered all over Iceland, it is, nonetheless, still possible to find some links between one place and another. Indeed, Grindavík, Gjögur and Vestmannaeyjar, for example, served for a long time as traditional fishing stations, and men (usually young working hands) would come to these places from farms scattered all over the country for the annual fishing season which lasted from January until May. Young men from Bar∂aströnd would, for example, go to Grindavík every January to fish. This continued right up until the 1980s. In- deed, some settled in Grindavík permanently (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2004/II). During my research, I have also discovered links between Hauganes in Eyja- fjör∂ur and ∏ingeyri, since a small group of interrelated people from nearby Dalvík (in Eyjafjör∂ur) moved to ∏ingeyri in the 1920s. Interestingly enough, they were noted for being especially active in the amateur drama society at home (Kristmundur Bjarnason 1984), and in ∏ingeyri they took an active part in annual costume balls until they reached a ripe old age (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2002/I). In both settlements, plays were also regularly put on by amateur actors from the turn of the twentieth century, and in ∏ingeyri midwinter masked balls were held annually for decades (Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir 2002/I; and 2002/V). This might also help to explain why the mumming tradition lived on, since the ground for role play and taking on a mask would have been especially fertile among the villagers. Furthermore, one notes that annual masked balls were also held in Gjögur around the midwinter period for a long time (LBV 2004/ II). They also occurred on Twelfth Night in Vestmannaeyjar (Sigfús M. Johnsen 1946: 171). In spite of this, the question still remains: Where exactly did these mumming traditions come from in the beginning? They obviously belong to the same family as the Nordic and North-European mumming traditions described elsewhere in this volume; numerous similarities show that they are close relatives of the customs in Scandinavia, Shetland and the Faroese Islands. So did mumming perhaps survive in Iceland in isolated places like the western fjords ever since the Middle Ages, without ever being officially noticed or mentioned in written records or folklore?24 This is possible, but in my opinion not very likely. I find it more probable that the more recent mumming and house-visiting traditions were introduced to Icelanders in the last decades of the nineteenth century by Danes and/ or Norwegians. The Danes had a monopoly on trade with Iceland from the seventeenth until the mid-nineteenth century, and most of Iceland’s earliest villages and towns were first formed around Danish trading stations just over a century ago. It might be remembered that the Danish Helligtrekongersl¿b took place on

24 Of course vikivaki dance games involving costumes and masks are known to have existed in the western fjords and both the Reykjanes and Snæfellsnes peninsulas in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (and probably earlier), but as has been noted in the Survey of Masks and Mum- ming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume, this was no longer a house-visiting tradition at that time the records were made (if it ever had been). In between the last records of this tradition and the earliest accounts of the mumming traditions noted above, there is a silence of more than a hundred years. See also Gunnell 2003. Elves on the Move 661

Twelfth Night, and that, too, is a house-visiting tradition centring around the use of total disguise.25 The same applies to the recorded traditions of midwinter mumming in Iceland as they existed until couple of decades ago. Besides this, the Helligtrekongersl¿b is a particularly good example of how traditions can be taken from one country to another, since it was introduced by the Danes to Greenland, where it adopted a very local face, so to speak.26 However, in spite of the obvious connections with the Helligtrekongersl¿b, it might be argued that the similarities between the Icelandic traditions and the Norwegian julebukk/ julegeit (Christmas Goat) mumming traditions are even greater. 27 It is noteworthy that julegeit mummers usually do not stay silent as is the custom of Danish mummers in most cases. Furthermore, the julegeit, like the Icelandic álfar, the jólasveinar, the Faroese gr¥lur and the Shetland gr¿liks28 is a creature of the wilderness: it comes from the mountains, of which there are none in Denmark. As it happens, Norwegians could be found in almost every one of the fjords mentioned above in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. They built and ran a herring station in Reykjafjör∂ur, very close to Gjögur (Sögusmi∂jan 2004), and also had herring stations in ten or twelve places in Eyjafjör∂ur (Sigfús ∏orsteinsson 1996: 27Ð28), Hauganes being one of them. Indeed, the first man to build himself a home in Hauganes was actually a Norwegian called Hans Nielsen Housken (Jóhannes Óli Sæmundsson 1978: 84). The Norwe- gians also built seven whaling stations in the western fjords between 1890 and 1903, all of them operating until some years into the twentieth century. One of these was located just opposite ∏ingeyri in D¥rafjör∂ur (Kjartan Ólafsson 1999: 202). Four whaling boats were based here, and some seventy Norwe- gians and dozens of Icelanders were involved in working side by side at the whaling factory, producing oil and whale meal. While most of the Norwegians left for home in November at the end of the whaling season, some stayed all year, including the director of the whaling station and his family among others. During midwinter there was not much for these people to do apart from looking after the factory and equipment. The Norwegians, however, clearly found themselves a way to pass the time. In 1890, in the same year that the factory houses were constructed, the Norwegians built themselves a dance hall, and here they held dances, inviting girls to come in from the farms in D¥rafjör∂ur. The diaries of one farmer who lived nearby tell of such dances being held three times over a period of six weeks in November and December 1890;29 one of

25 See Bregenh¿j 1974; and the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 26 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Tradition in Greenland elsewhere in this volume. 27 On the Christmas Goat, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. 28 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic. 29 They also tell of the farmer’s great dislike of the fact that local girls were attending the dances, saying that “margt flakkhyski og stelpur komu í kríkaglennu til Nor∂manna um kvöldi∂. A∂ πví 662 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir them occurring on the night of December 26 (Kjartan Ólafsson 1999: 203– 204), which just happens to be the traditional day of the arrival of the julegeit (B¿ 1984: 121Ð122). Although this does not prove that the Norwegians introduced midwinter mumming to the people of D¥rafjör∂ur, it does reveal that there were plenty of young and joyous Norwegians hanging around during the Christmas season to do just this; indeed, it was young and unmarried men of this kind who would typically gå julebukk (go as a Christmas Goat) in Norway at this time. As there is no tradition of goats having any connection with Christmas (or any other season) in Iceland where goats are extremely rare, it is only logical that Icelanders adopting a tradition like this would have applied their own folklore of álfar and jólasveinar to the mumming practice. Indeed, they, like the julegeit were supposed to be on the move at this time of year. Furthermore, in the last decades of the nineteenth century, a new tradition of so-called álfadans (elf-parades) had spread all over Iceland in connection with the New Year, usually organised by the IOGT and other youth movements of the day. This new tradition, which had roots in a popular play called N¥ársnótt (New Year’s Eve) by the Icelandic author Indri∂i Einarsson, entailed people dressing up in their finery as a king, a queen and court of the mystical elves. They would gather together at bonfires on New Year’s Eve or Twelfth Night, dancing a circle dance and singing verses about the álfar and huldufólk (see Árni Björnsson 1996: 403). This tradition, which is still maintained in many towns in Iceland up until this day (among other places, in Ísafjör∂ur in the western fjords), deserves closer attention from folklorists.

Conclusion I will conclude this overview of midwinter mumming in Iceland by pointing out the main changes that have taken place in the tradition as it has developed from the past to the present. Gone are the complete disguise and face masks, and with them both the guessing game and (largely) the role play. Instead of receiving them as a reward for a good disguise and a “micro-play”, the children now get their sweets for visiting dressed up in a costume and, increasingly, for singing a song. Today, hardly any adults go house visiting in disguise; the mummers are nearly always children and young teenagers. Mumming as an opportunity for young, unmarried people to meet and flirt is no longer needed in today’s society. As times change, so do the traditions. They must either develop and adapt to new needs, or wither and disappear. Attitudes to children and upbringing finnur ∏ór∂ur prestur ekki πví πa∂ er ólifna∂ur” (many tramps and girls came to play around with the Norwegians in the night. ∏ór∂ur the priest does not criticise this because it is scandalous behaviour: Kjartan Ólafsson 1999: 203Ð204). Elves on the Move 663 have changed greatly in the past decades, something which may account for ever younger children taking part in the mumming customs. In this author’s childhood in the 1970s, it would have been inconceivable in large seamen’s families with four to seven children for a parent to escort the youngest ones out into the dark night of January 6. Today, there are fewer children in each family and parents are willing, able and even required to spend more time with them than was possible few decades ago. The little ones, too young to understand the purpose of disguise, do not want to be “left out” and so the parents also take them house visiting on Twelfth Night, re-living one of the most enjoyable days of their own childhood at the same time as they spend some much needed “quality-time” with their offspring. Thus, the mumming tradition in ∏ingeyri and elsewhere has adapted to fulfill a new need. As long as this is so, I believe it will continue to thrive in the four villages of Ólafsvík, Grindavík, Hauganes and ∏ingeyri.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, the following interviews and questionnaires are referred to in this survey: Reykjavík: Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir: fieldwork notes and interviews. 2002/I (Gunnar Bjarnason and Soffía Einarsdóttir, ∏ingeyri, July 23, 2002) 2002/III (Gunnar Fri∂finnsson, ∏ingeyri, July 22, 2002) 2002/IV (Nanna Magnúsdóttir, ∏ingeyri, July 23, 2002) 2003/Field work (Video recording, ∏ingeyri, January 6, 2003) 2003/I (Sigurgeir Bjarnason, February 10, 2003) 2003/II (Petrína Sæunn Randversdóttir, February 21, 2003) 2003/III (Sigur∂ur Karl Kristjánsson, ∏ingeyri, January 5, 2003) 2004/I (Sigrún Gu∂mundsdóttir, Grindavík, October 6, 2004) 2004/II (Gísli Kristjánsson from Brei∂alækur, Bar∂aströnd, October 7, 2004) 2004/III (Hilmir Sigur∂sson, Hauganes, in October 2004 and on November 9, 2004) 2004/IV (Jóhann Sigur∂sson Antonsson, Hauganes, November 9, 2004) 2004/V (Nanna Magnúsdóttir, ∏ingeyri, November 9, 2004) Reykjavík: Terry Gunnell: fieldwork notes and interviews. 2002/I (Bjarni ∏orsteinsson and Gunnar ∏orsteinsson, Reykjavík, May 31, 2002) 2002/II (Ingvi Óskar Haraldsson, Reykjavík, May 31, 2002) 2004/I (Gu∂rún Gu∂steinsdóttir, Reykjavík, April 16, 2004) Reykjavík: Lilja Björk Vilhelmsdóttir: fieldwork notes and interviews. 2003/I (Lilja Jónsdóttir from Gjögur, September 11, 2003) 664 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 665

Related Traditions in the Nordic Area

666 Urpo Vento

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 667 “Oven Breakers” Men’s Ritual Visits during the Season of Hallowmas and Christ- mas in Finnish-Karelian Communities Urpo Vento

Until half way through the twentieth century, most Finns lived in the countryside in an agricultural environment. In the old agrarian culture, relatives and the village community formed the basic social and economic units. Eastern and western Finland, however, differed in their cultural make-up. On the isolated farms of Savo and Karelia, men and women belonging to large families worked together, whereas in the densely populated villages of western Finland, villagers tended to help each other reciprocally by coming together as part of neighbourly working parties. Within these societies, the seasonal cycle was defined by church holidays. The most important holidays Ð the Christmas season, Easter, midsummer, and All Hallows’ (mikkeli/ kekri) Ð divided the year roughly into quarters (Sarmela 1969: 229; and 2000: 26Ð32). For salaried workers, these holidays were the only real vacation. The busy autumn culminated at the end of the rainy season with the celebration of kekri (Hallowmas: All Hallows’), an old Finnish and Karelian festival marking the turn of the year which was later linked to the church’s All Saints’ Day (which had earlier always been on November 1). From the year 1816, this day was also set as the servants’ moving day. In western Finland, the holiday season at the turn of the year (according to the Christian and Roman calendars) had already replaced Hallowmas by this time, whereas in the east the kekri tradition remained active until the beginning of the twentieth century. Around one hundred years ago, many turn-of-the-year rites, both old and new, were nonetheless centred around the time between Christmas and Epiphany. The descriptions from the Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKS: The Finnish Literature Society) archive that I have used in the following are mainly reflective of this time. A general review I wrote earlier on the Finnish-Karelian holiday visiting traditions was first published in the second part of Suomen perinneatlas (The Atlas of Finnish Folk Culture: Sarmela 1994), of which a version has also been published in German (Vento 2000: 118Ð124; maps 27Ð31: see here maps 5.2Ð 5.4). In this present context, the target of my study is specifically the practice of a ritual visit tradition carried out by the men of a village community. On certain holidays, this tradition was used to justify uninvited visits, the demand for treats, and the consumption of plenty of beer and alcohol, as well as quite exceptional behaviour. I will be leaving out of this particular article the popular

668 Urpo Vento visits of masked visitors and the recognition games associated with them which were dealt with earlier in this volume.1 Instead, I mean to study, among other things, the apparently impudent performance of adult men as “oven breakers” and the ritual teamwork involved in the visit situation. In this context, the consumption of alcohol freed the visiting men from their everyday roles in the same manner as masks would have, and encouraged even the shy to perform. Recognisable and performing in their own clothes, these men might nonetheless bring a human/ animal character role player with them, as well as real or symbolic tools. Vessels for collecting drinks, and cowbells were among the other traditional requisites. Although the visitors were known to the people of the farms they visited, in the actual visiting situation, the “outsiders” changed at first into “actors” and then more or less improvised on the basis of their role. It might be noted that the visitors’ hosts were also supposed to be ready to join in the game.2

“The Oven-Breaking Play” As I discuss what I call the “oven-breaking play,” I must retrace the research steps I took when I presented my undergraduate thesis on this subject in the spring of 1964. It was a subject I later returned to in an article, the subtitle of which was “Kuka ymmärtäisi leikkiä” (Who Would Understand the Game?: Vento 1978). Until this time, many different interpretations had been presented of the men’s tradition of ceremonially touring farms during the Hallowmas and Christmas seasons, demanding to be treated to beer and spirits in the face of a threat to break the stove or oven of the farmhouse (see figs 18.1 and 18.2). These interpretations all attempted to find a real practical origin of the tradition. For this purpose, the view of “oven breaking” as merely a grown men’s game was inadequate. With regard to the time setting, especially in Savo and Kainuu, the visits of “oven breakers” were a part of Hallowmas morning and day activities, but in the eastern and western half of mainly Savo-Karelian areas, the custom was linked to the Christmas season, mostly occurring on St Stephen’s Day (Tapani: Boxing Day) or on other post-Christmas holidays. In- deed, in some parishes, men participated in visiting festivities on both Hallow- mas and St Stephen’s Day. The script of the visitors’ “play” was very simple, as can be seen in the following two summarised descriptions of the events in villages in Savo (eastern Finland) on kekri Day: Kekrin aamuna oli tapana nousta kello neljän aikaan ja teurastaa lammas. Se paistet- tiin heti ja syötiin pimeän aikana. Tämän jälkeen lähti talon miesväki naapuritaloon

1 For further information about these and other ritual visits in Finland, see the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this book, as well as the articles by Mari Kulmanen and Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j. 2 On such interaction, see, for example, the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume.

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 669

Fig. 18.1: An oven built in 1837, from Laihia, Österbotten (Ostrobothnia), Finland. (From Koleh- mainen and Laine 1981: Drawing by Alfred Kolehmainen.)

Fig. 18.2: An oven from Ristiina, South Savo, Finland. (From Kolehmainen and Laine 1981: Drawing by Alfred Kolehmainen.)

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mukanaan kolme metriä pitkät koivuiset kanget. Kun miehet saapuivat naapuritalon tupaan, asettivat he mitään puhumatta kankensa uunin suun alle. Tämän nähdessään isäntä sanoi miehille: ”Soh, soh, lähtekääpäs kamariin!” Siellä hän tarjosi heille viinaryypyt. Sen jälkeen isäntä liittyi sakkiin, ja niin käytiin kylän kaikissa taloissa (Kuopio: informant born in 1884: SKS). (On Hallowmas morning, it was the custom to get up at four a.m. and slaughter a lamb. It was cooked immediately and eaten while it was still dark. After eating, the men of the farm left for the neighbour’s farm carrying three-metre birch poles with them. When the men arrived at the neighbour’s farm house, they silently placed their poles underneath the opening of the oven. Seeing this, the master of the farm said to the men: “No, no, let’s go into the chamber!” There he offered them drinks of alcohol. After that, the master of the farm joined the group and they visited all of the farms in the village in the same way.) Kun rengit olivat ennen taloissa aikuisia miehiä, niin ne juopottelivat koko kekrin- päivän. Joku lähti ensin naapuritalon rengin luo, ja lähtivät sitten yhdessä kulkemaan talosta taloon. Joka paikassa ne hakivat pihalta seipäitä ja työnsivät niitä uuniin ja uunin taakse, Rupesivat muka kaatamaan uunia ja aina vilkuilivat isäntään. Jos ei isäntä pitänyt kiirettä ryyppyjen antamisella, niin kysyivät: ”Tuleeko ne ryypyt vai säretäänkö uuni?” Silloin isäntä haki viinapulloja ja kehotti: ”Tulkaahan nyt ryypylle, älkääkä särkekö uunia.” Ja niin kierrettiin koko kylä (Pielavesi; informant born in 1869; SKS). (In the past, when the labourers on a farm were adult men, they boozed all day at Hallowmas. First, somebody left to get the farmhands of a neighbouring farm, and then they left together to go from farm to farm. Everywhere they picked up stakes and pushed them into and behind the oven. They pretended to overturn and break the oven and always cast looks at the master of the farm. If the master of the farm didn’t hurry and give them drinks, they asked: “Are the drinks coming, or shall we break the oven?” Then the man of the farm got the liquor bottle and urged: “Come and have a shot now. Don’t break the oven.” And they toured the whole village like that.) The dialogue between the guests and their hosts traditionally involved a wink, via which both parties showed they understood the matter in question. A pole or stick was first pushed without saying a word into the oven or its air passage. At the same time, the visitors made threats, such as “Kaadetaanko uuni?” (Shall we turn the oven over?); “Onko viinaa vai säretäänkö uuni?” (Is there any liquor, or shall we break the oven?); “Köyriä vai uunia?” (Hallowmas or the oven?); “Onko isäntä kotona vai säretäänkö uuni?” (Is the master of the farm at home, or shall we break the oven?); and “Nyt säretään uuni?” (Now we’re going to break the oven!). And the master of the farm then joined in the game by stating: “Älä säre, tule ryypylle!” (Don’t break it! Come and have a drink!); “Älä hyvä mies pura uunia!” (Good man, don’t take apart the oven!); or “Eihän talvea vasten uunia anneta särkeä!” (We won’t let you break the oven – the winter’s coming!).

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 671

As noted above, men were also out and about during the Christmas season (usually early in the morning on St Stephen’s Day), trying to get into houses before fires were lit in the living rooms. As they came inside, they asked, “Onko tahvana kotona vai säretäänkö kiuas?” (Is Stephen at home, or shall we break the oven?); “Onko tapani kotona taikka käännän muurit maahan?” (Is Stephen at home, or should I throw the oven to the ground?); or “Onko isän- nällä suun avausta vai pitääkö särkeä uuni?” (Does the master of the farm have anything to quench our thirsts, or do we have to break the oven?). If there wasn’t a fire in the oven, the men just put their sticks into the opening of the oven and pretended to overturn it. In Ladoga Karelia, the visitors brought along birch logs that they had taken from outside, and they called out from the doorway: “Onko joulu kotona, tahvana talossa taikka minä uunin sären?” (Is Christ- mas at home, and Stephen in the house, or shall I break the oven?); or “Onko tahvana talossa ja pönttö pöydän päässä, muuten uuni säretään?” (Is Stephen in the house and the container on the table? Otherwise we’ll break the oven!). In Ostrobothnia, in a region in which there was a settlement of people from Savo, the men’s lines included the words: “Tapania tai tantari poikki!” (Stephen, or break the bar [the supporting rod at the mouth of the oven]!); or “Tahvania tai takka toiseen nurkkaan!” (Stephen, or we’ll move the fire place to the other corner!) In Sweden and Finland, Christmas used to be a four-day celebration. Offi- cially, it became a two-day holiday in 1776, but a third day of Christmas (St John’s Day: December 27), known as gubbajulen or gubbarnas helg (Old Men’s Christmas) and a fourth day (Holy Innocents’ Day: December 28), known as keskispyhä (Middle Holiday), or käringjul (Old Ladies’ Christmas) preserved the special nature of these days in name and tradition. On the holy days after Christmas in many parishes in Häme, men organised a special riukujuhla (pole festival), which occurred locally on slightly different days.3 At this time, they went around to the farms with a small tree, log, or pole to which bells were sometimes attached. In addition to the pole, vessels for beer offerings were also carried. In some places, this pole was also used to threaten the oven. The pole was also used in mock ceremonies, in which it was thrashed with tools: it was supposedly being planed or whittled, with an accompanying text talking of “mutkaa pois” (cutting the bend away) or a declaration that it was a useless visit if the farm had run out of beer. Along with these figures, there was also occasionally a man dressed in leather as a bear, a figure to which the master of the farm had to offer liquor. If the offering was satisfactory, the men wrote a kuitti (receipt) on the door and performed a traditional “thank you” song. However, a bad offering was avenged by leaving a tree branch in the house or by singing mocking songs which contained bad wishes for the farm.4

3 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia. 4 For parallels to such songs, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia.

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Stephen’s Inquirers, Singers, and Kegwashers In Savo and Karelia, a threat of oven breaking was not always associated with men’s ceremonial visits on the morning of St Stephen’s Day. Here, on the other hand, the commonly-asked question when entering the farm (“Onko tapani kotona?”: Is Stephen home?) was a euphemism for a request to be treated with alcohol. If guests were welcomed and offerings had been prepared, the hosts answered affirmatively: “No kotonahan se on!” (Well, of course he’s at home!); “Tahvana on pöydän päässä istumassa” (Stephen is sitting at the head of the table); or, making a reference to the host, “Tuolla perällä hän istuu” (He’s sitting up there at the end). If such a welcome were not the case, the hosts answered: “Tahvana meni pärepuuhun” (Stephen went up the shingle tree/ out); “Se meni uunin päälle” (He went on top of the oven); “Jo se meni Venäjän puolelle” (He’s already gone over to the Russian side); “Tahvana on tuvan takana” (Stephen’s behind the farm); or “Tahvana tapettiin, lihat syötiin, luut lapettiin” (Stephen’s been killed: the meat’s been eaten, and the bones sucked). Visitors who wanted treats here travelled either on foot or by horse, but the custom was usually called tapanin ajo (The St Stephen’s Day ride), no matter how they went about.5 Over time, tapanin ajo became a simple horse- or car-ride to visit relatives which was practised all over Finland from the 1930s. At the beginning of the twentieth century, on St Stephen’s Day morning, men’s and boys’ caroling was still included in festivities. Participants here would go about without masks, but did wear special costumes. In the Swedish- speaking areas of the coast, the singers went about performing a medieval ballad based on the legend of St Stephen, “Staffan var en stalledräng”. By that time, the lines of the ballad had also been translated from Swedish into Finnish in both the Kalevala meter and a rhymed form. The programme of the St Stephen’s Day singers in the nineteenth century was even printed on sheets of paper. In both language areas (Finnish and Swedish), singers would perform a request for treats by symbolically asking: “Onko tapani kotona?”/ “Är Staffan hemma?” (Is Stephen at home?). In the south-western archipelago, it has been noted that the Swedish-speaking singers’ lines also contained the occasional (and uncommon) threat that “Om vi int får Staffansbullan full, ska vi stöt bon- das muren kull” (If we don’t get our St Stephen’s Day cups filled, we’ll turn the oven over!). In Ostrobothnia, meanwhile, the men’s song could be shortened to the single line, “Staffan var en sjuker man, öl och brännvin behöver han, sade Sankt Staffan” (Stephen was a sick man: beer and wine he needs, said St Stephen). In Häme, a common song stuck to the bare essentials, as the next description illustrates: Aamulla varhain yksi lähti ensin naapuriin, missä lauloi tapaninlaulun: ”Tapani on takusta tehty, sian villoista vidottu,

5 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden and Estonia for similar St Stephen/ Staffan/ Tapani traditions.

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 673

koiran karvoista kudottu. Hei, onkos tapani kotona?” Isäntä otti silloin viinapullon ja antoi laulajalle ryypyn. Samoin annettiin olutryyppy. Voitiin myös tarjota ruokaa. Talosta liittyi mukaan lisää tapaninajajia, jotka jatkoi- vat seuraavaan talon. Näin jatkettiin, kunnes joukossa oli melkein joka talon väkeä (Vehkalahti 1909. SKS). (Early in the morning, one person went first to the neighbours’, where he sang the St Stephen’s Day song: “Stephen is made of tangles, woven of pig’s wool, knitted of dog hair. Hey, is Stephen at home?” At the same time, they were given a swig of beer. Sometimes food was also offered. Other St Stephen’s Day “drivers” from the farm then joined the group as they continued to the next farm. And they went on like that until almost everybody from the farms was among them.) In bilingual western Finland, where the social life of the young was already a very organised form of group behaviour (Sarmela 1969: 154Ð80), boys and young men usually visited farms where they knew young women of the same age could be found. As a sign of favour, boys would receive decorative threads to put through their buttonholes and/ or pipe shafts, and/ or handkerchiefs, cheese, and drinks. When the young men also had their own bottles with them, fights also often followed intoxication. Those going from farm to farm in this case were called tapanipojat (Stephen’s boys), and a similar custom is also known in Estonia (joulupoisid or pühadepoised: KKI).6 Other local variations of ritual visitation and treat collecting also exist in Finland. In Merikarvia, a parish on the west coast, men would collect liquor and carried a chest which contained bells on a string along with them. In another Häme parish, youths went around with large decorated candlesticks, and “monella tapaa ilvehtien” (clowned about in many ways). On St Stephen’s Day morning, the first guest would also be seen as an indication of the flax growth: the more handsome the man, the better it would be.7 The last phase of the traditions is illustrated in the following note: “Tapanit” kokoontuivat jo joulupäivän illalla yhteen paikkaan. Siinä sitten jo mais- teltiin omasta putelista, ja kun kello oli 24, silloin jo sopi lähteä kiertelemään, taval- lisesti jalkaisin tai kelkoilla omissa vaatteissaan. Suoraan sanoen tavallinen juoppo- porukka, esiintyminen sen mukaan. Kai viinaa annettiin sellaisissa paikoissa, missä sitä käytettiin. Meillä keitettiin kahvia, jota käyttivät punssin pohjana oman pullon sisältöön. Kyllä joskus oli selviäkin tapaneita, ne tulivat vasta 6–7 aikaan aamulla. Viimeiset yötapanit olen nähnyt 1950 paikkeilla (Kiikala 1963: SKS). (As early as evening on Christmas Day, the “Stephens” would gather together in one place. There, they tasted a bit from their own bottles, and when midnight came, it

6 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia elsewhere in this volume. 7 See elsewhere in this volume (the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Estonia) with regard to the custom of “First Footing”, which is especially well known in Scotland and northern England.

674 Urpo Vento

was alright to start making the rounds, usually on foot or by sled, and in one’s own clothes. Frankly, they were a regular group of drunks, and they behaved accordingly. Probably, liquor was given in the places where it was consumed. At our house, we made coffee, which was used as the base of a punch, to which they added the contents of their own bottles. There were, of course, some sober Stephens; they only came round at about 6–7 in the morning. I saw the “last night Stephens” in around 1950.) The old statutory “Peace of Christmas” lasted from St Thomas’ Day (Decem- ber 21) until Epiphany (January 6). However, festivities and drinking continued after that as well. The men’s Christmas season culminated on the day after Epiphany known as hiivanuutti (Yeast Knut/ Nuutti), vanha Knuutin päivä (“Old” Knut’s Day/ Nuutti), or, in Swedish, trettondedagen (the Thir- teenth Day of Christmas); and a week later, on Nuutti (St Knut’s Day), which, according to the new calendar (January 13), was known as tjugondedagen (the Twentieth Day of Christmas). Then the farms’ last yeasty beer was gathered and drunk. The custom in question was called joulun-/ nuutinajo (Christmas-/ Knut’s ride), hanojen kolistaminen (the clattering of the forks), or tynnyrin peseminen/ kylvettäminen (barrel washing/ bathing). At this time, young men in western Finland often went from farm to farm with one of their number dressed as a goat and demanded the barrel of beer with its tap unless drink was offered on the farm and it was shown that they had run out of beer. In Häme, Nuutti was also one of the favourite “pole festivals” and sometimes, here too, the pole-pullers emphasised their request for treats by pretending to threaten to break the oven. The nuutinajajat (Knut riders) here were often even armed with brooms to sweep up the Christmas straw or to wash the beer barrel and demand a drink as pay. In Swedish-speaking parishes, a similar custom was att sopa ut julen (to sweep Christmas out). In the coastal parishes of southern Finland, young men went around on St Knut’s Day, supposedly to “voidella” (grease) or “tarkastaa” (check) girls’ spinning wheels which had to be taken out again at the start of the working week (although, of course, they were more interested in the girls than the spinning wheels). It might be noted that on the islands of the Gulf of Finland, men also did the same thing on the days after Candlemas (February 2), and if the offerings did not satisfy them, they took a leg of the spinning wheel with them.8

Folk Amusements of the Past as Targets of Research What makes a village’s male inhabitants go out on Hallowmas, St Stephen’s Day, or St Knut’s Day, and why were the men’s insolence and visits in the small hours of the morning on holidays tolerated in the farms visited? In the natural barter economy, the working relationships of people and neighbourly

8 On these traditions and their parallels elsewhere, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Finland and Karelia elsewhere in this volume.

“Oven Breakers”: Men’s Ritual Visits in Finnish-Karelia 675 help were not based on monetary compensation. Instead, agricultural workers received their salaries in the form of agricultural products, foodstuffs, clothing, firewood, rooms to live in, and so on, while tenant farmers paid the rent on their land through labour. So in connection with the festivities of the turn of the year, the offering and demand of treats commonly formed part of a village community’s internal public relations. Under the guise of a game and embrazened by drink, labourers could act threateningly, settle small scores, and for a moment at least, feel strong in front of their masters and neighbours. Alongside this, civil servants, as well as smiths, shoemakers, tailors, other artisans and those of the service professions all went from farm to farm collecting their salaries and being treated to hospitality. Liquor, beer, and food were supposed to be on hand for everyone, even the masters of the farm and young men of people’s own villages and neighbouring villages. These men had worked in the service of the farm or neighbours, and their services were hoped for in the future as well. The performers of services and those that needed them would thus meet each other on festival days. If the traditions are seen from this viewpoint, the visiting youths might be regarded as taxing the village community by collecting drinks for their own evenings’ entertainment. Might this concept be considered an adequate functional explanation for the traditions I have presented above? Researchers of folk customs have tended to search eagerly for explanations of people’s behaviour and models from a distant past. Games and amusements in themselves are not usually seen by them as primary motivations. Indeed, past generations have rarely been permitted a sense of humour. The extortion of liquor and beer offerings through the threats of breaking the oven, an object indispensable to a household, thus sounds on the surface like outrageous behaviour. However, the issue becomes quite different when we know that the threat was never actually carried out. It was rather a question of a kind of play or game, the lines and plot of which were well known to all the participants. Among others, Ilmar Talve has tracked down the history of the concept of the “pole festivals” in Häme in the light of earlier research and European cultural practices (see Talve 1975). As Talve asserts, the breaking of the oven, as well as threats of carrying this out can be seen in the context of old traditions of justice. Kustaa Vilkuna had earlier attempted to explain the threat of breaking the oven as a reaction to the earlier bad treatment of labourers during the construction of a house, but his explanation lacks documentation (Vilkuna 1963: 141Ð151). The mock disagreements included in the social rite plays, however, do have parallels in other countries. Viktoria Reifler Bricker’s study of the Chiapa Indian annual rites, for example, contains the especially useful concept of “ritual humor”, as well as examples of how those unfamiliar with the community’s communication system often fail to notice the tinges of humour present in ceremonies (see Reifler Bricker 1973).9

9 On the question of ritual humour, see further Christine Eike’s article on this particular subject elsewhere in this volume.

676 Urpo Vento

In his time, Uno Harva connected oven-breaking rites to Olonets Karelian weddings, in which the bride’s parents would visit the bridegroom’s home after the wedding to “pätsiä murentamassa” (crumble the furnace: Holmberg (Harva) 1924: 24). The ethnographers Vilkuna and Talve have responded to this idea by stating that the phrase is just a euphemism for the young bride’s giving birth to a child. Such an expression is also known in German language areas, where it is also used in surprise visits (see, for example, Trübners Deut- sches Wörterbuch 1954: 16). In Russian wedding rites, “baking” and “ovens” are also rich in symbolic sexual meaning (Mahler 1960: 301Ð311). Likewise, in Olonets Karelia, descriptions can be found of how participants in visits after a wedding act and speak in jest before being served in exactly the same way as the “oven breakers” who went about on Hallowmas and St Stephen’s Day (see the reference to pätsinmurentaja, in Karjalan kielen sanakirja [A Dictionary of the Karelian Language] 4, 1993: 591). As has been seen elsewhere in this volume, wedding and annual rites have much in common, something which could partly be explained by the fact that weddings were usually celebrated around the time of other holidays. The threat of oven breaking was specifically an indirect expression, a way of requesting a “treat”, but as a playful rite in connection with weddings, it could have also had other functions.

Is the Tradition Still Alive in a New Form? Although the agrarian culture has died out in Finland, the giving of “treats” to salaried workers and neighbours, and the drinking of alcohol in connection with annual holiday periods have remained. “Treats” are no longer offered or demanded from the village community, but work communities organise pikkujoulu (Little Christmas) parties and laivaseminaarit (ship seminars), in which the celebrations are not much different from the old festive visits. Nowadays Finnish students and school children also gather at celebrations at the end of the school year and even celebrate the weekends with bags full of clinking bottles. Many larger events, sports celebrations, and other festivals have also been added to the annual festival calendar. However, perhaps the greatest change is in the fact that celebration is no longer tied to certain festive days: indeed, commercial party and travel services are now available every day of the year.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, records from the following archives are referred to in this survey: KKI (Keele ja Kirjanduse Instituut, Tartu) SKS (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki)

The Killing of the Christmas Goat 677 The Killing of the Christmas Goat

Reimund Kvideland

In December 1826, assistant pastor J. B. Flottmann from Bergen wrote a letter to his local superior, Bishop Neumann, complaining about the stjernegutter (Star Boys) and the “Julebukkvise” (The Song of the Christmas Goat).1 He had been requested by the bishop to make a report about the “Sviir og ulovlig Lys- tighed” (carousing and illegal gaiety: Nilsen 1948: 76) in his parish. Bishop Neumann Ð together with the government Ð had been engaged in fighting moral decay in the area, including excessive drinking, dancing and feasting on Saturday nights, as well as concubinage (Nilsen 1948: 75Ð83). Indeed, most kinds of entertainment seem to have been offensive to the bishop and the authorities; even riding in sleighs was forbidden. The bishop thus forwarded Flottmann’s letter to the local prefect asking him in the name of religion and good morals to stop “disse Uordener” (these disorders). The prefect then ordered the police to ensure that the stjernespill (Star Plays) that children had had permission to perform should no longer be tolerated if they ran counter to religion and good morals. On January 19, 1827, the bishop then ordered the clergymen in the bishopric to instruct children, parents, and other superiors about these regulations. In their attempt to bring a halt to these activities, the bishop and the prefect could have referred to existing laws, especially to the Norske Lov (Norwegian Law) issued by King Christian V in 1687. Here it is stated that “Al lætfærdig og forargelig Legen om Jul, eller andre Tider, og Fastelavens L¿ben forbydis strengeligen, og bør alvorligen straffes” (All frivolous and contemptible games at Christmas or other times, and the Lenten races, are strictly prohibited, and offenders must be seriously punished: NL 663, lib. 6, cap. 3, art. 11). Similar laws were issued in Denmark in 1687, in Stockholm in 1721, and in several Swedish towns later in the eighteenth century.2 The fact that they had to be re- issued several times suggests that they had little effect. In Bergen, for example, it is clear that both the “Star” and the julebukk (Christmas Goat) traditions carried on after this time for at least half a century. In this article I will discuss text and performance of the “Julebukkvise” which has been given less attention than the stjernegutter.

1 On the figure of the julebukk (Christmas Goat) in Norway, see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume. On the stjernegutter in Norway (and this law), see, in particular, the article by Ane Ohrvik. 2 See Celander 1950: 50Ð51; Schager 1989: 38Ð40; and Gunnell 1995a: 116; and the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this book, especially those dealing with Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

678 Reimund Kvideland

The Distribution of the Song The longest versions of the “Julebukkvise” have been recorded in Bergen, Nor- way, and in Öland and Blekinge, Sweden, thus giving a wide distribution across Scandinavia, running from Bergen in the west to Öland in the east. The Swedish ethnologist, Hilding Celander, registered ten Swedish variants. The first printed version (from Öland) is found in Arwidsson’s Svenska fornsånger from 1842 (III, 525). In addition, there are variants from Blekinge in 1844 (Runa 1844: 119); Gotland (Säve 1879: Lithberg NM 5233); Småland (Vistrand 1911: 221); and Bohuslän (five variants: see Celander 1950: 400Ð 404). The oldest Norwegian variants come from Bergen where two different versions have been recorded in five variants. The play is first mentioned by Sagen and Foss in their Bergens Beskrivelse (Description of Bergen) in 1824 (591Ð 592). Then come the following texts: a. That given by Wallem in his Bergen guide (1863: 99Ð101). b. A version recounted in a letter from 1887 from the bookseller F. Beyer to Troels-Lund, who published it in his Dagligt Liv i Norden (1914Ð15: VII, 69Ð70). c. That given by N. Nicolaysen (1895: 212Ð213). d. That of Adolf Berg (1925: 145). e. Finally, that included in a manuscript on children’s games in Bergen, collected by Nora Kobberstad shortly after 1910 (Ms. Bergen off. bibliotek).

In addition, there are several Norwegian variants some of which consist of no more than a single stanza, and are characterised as children’s rhymes by the collectors: f.Ðg. from Bjerkreim, Rogaland, collected by Velle Espeland in 1971 and 1972. h. from Jæren, Rogland (Sæland 1916: 147–148). i. from Voss, Hordaland (St¿ylen 1899: 60). j. from Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane (St¿ylen 1899: 60). k. from Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane (Stubseid 1980: 36Ð38). l. from Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland (St¿ylen 1899: 60Ð61). m. from Gudbrandsdalen, Oppland (Sandvik 1948: 165). n. from S¿rfonden, Nordland: Elling, NB. Mus. saml MS. o. Unlocated (Sande 1904: 7).

In some cases, a line or two from the “Julebukkvise” can also be found in other songs, as, for example, in variants of the Bukkemann-visa from Beiarn in Nord- land (Vegusdal Eriksen 1953: 30Ð32, and 1979: 46Ð47). All in all, fourteen variants and fragments are known to me so far from Nor- way. I have still not been able to verify a reference stating that the song was

The Killing of the Christmas Goat 679 known on the Faroe Islands (V. K. 1938). As a play, however, the song is only mentioned in Bergen, Öland and Blekinge. All the other variants are more or less fragmentary versions of the song. One is combined with a wedding song, while others are said to be songs for children. It is noteworthy that in his book on children’s songs and games, Støylen included the entries in the chapter of songs, and not in the section dealing with games. Whether these versions were also accompanied by the actions described in the text of the play is impossible to say.

The Content of the Song The following survey of the content of the “Julebukkvise” is based on the variant from Bergen published by Nicolaysen (see variant c. above), with the exception of stanzas 8 and 9 which are taken from A. Berg’s variant: The prologue of the “Julebukkvise” consists of the same welcoming stanzas as those encountered in the stjernespill (Star Play): “Goder aften, goder aften baade kvinder og mænd” (Good evening, good evening, both women and men). The boys would then be asked to perform the play in the living room. The play itself can then be divided into the following five scenes: Scene 1: The father and son are building a boat and it takes them fifteen years to finish it. The father loads the gun, and the son then shoots the goat.3 1. Aa faren aa saanen di bygde en baat Di bygde paa baaten i femten aar, i femten aar. 2. Aa faren han ladde aa saanen han skaut Han skaut saa længe te bokken laag dau, kjillebukken min (A father and son, they built a boat, They built a boat for fifteen years, for fifteen years. And the father he loaded, and the son he shot, He shot so far that the goat lay dead, my young goat.)

Scene 2: In the next scene, a third person, who must be the owner of the goat, comes and discovers the goat in the boat. This is stated explicitly in variants j. and k. from Sunnfjord in the words, “Kvar har du fått den bukkjen du før/ eg trur visst den bukkjen han meg tilhør” (Where did you get that goat you are carrying? I am sure that goat belongs to me). The third person now starts an argument about the prices of the different parts of the goat. In the other variants, it is unclear

3 Variants f.–g. and l.–o. have another opening: “Vesle bukke han leika paa sand” (The [blue] goat is playing on the [white] sand of the beach: var. l).

680 Reimund Kvideland whether it is the men who shot the goat or the owner who stipulates the various prices in the section that follows. Logically, the owner should be the one who is asking for compensation. The text runs as follows: 3. Aa ka ve du gje meg for bokken sit skinn, Aa eg ska gje deg en tynne vinn, en tynne vinn. 4. Aa ka ve du gje meg for bokken sin ull Aa eg ska gje deg en tynne gull, en tynne gull. 5. Aa ka ve du gje meg for bokken sit haann Aa eg ska gje deg ei tynne kaann, ei tynne kaann. 6. Aa ka ve du gje meg for bokken sit skjægg, Aa eg ska gje deg en tynne ægg, en tynne ægg. 7. Aa ka ve du gje meg for bokken sin fot, Aa eg ska gje deg en gullerot, en gullerot. (And what will you pay for the hide? Oh, I will give you a barrel of wine.4 And what will you give me for the wool? Oh, I will give you a bushel of gold. And what will you give me for the horn? Oh, I will give you a bushel of grain. And what will you give me for the beard? Oh, I will give you a bushel of butter. And what will you give me for the foot? Oh, I will give you a carrot.)

Scene 3: Now the scene changes again, as they put a series of cloaks of different colours (which vary in the different versions, but include red, white, and black5) on the dead goat. The text runs as follows: 8. De bredte paa bukken den kappe saa r¿d og det gjorde de for bukken var d¿d 9. De bredte paa bukken den kappe saa hvid og det gjorde de for bukken laa lik (They spread on the goat a cloak so red, They did it because the goat was dead. They spread on the goat a cloak so white They did it because the goat lay dead.)

4 In variant a., flax is mentioned here instead. 5 In the Norwegian variants, the colours are as follows: a. (Bergen): red and black; b. and d. (Bergen): red and white; e. (Bergen): red. In the Swedish variants, we also find blue and yellow (Runa 1844: 120); blue, red and white (Arwidsson 1842: 525); white, red and blue (Celander 1950: 402Ð403, collected by N. Lithberg); and red and black (Lindqvist 1923: 20).

The Killing of the Christmas Goat 681

Scene 4: The dead goat then jumps up and shakes his beard: 10. Op stander den bokken aa rister sit skjæg Han haapte og sprang paa femte vægg. (Up gets the goat and he shakes his beard He leapt and ran along the fifth log, the fifth log.6 (Translation based on that given in Gunnell 1995a: 117Ð118.)

Scene 5: The goat then climbs a mountain, steals a sheep, falls down and kills himself: 11. Aa bokken ha sprang opp paa Elias taapp, Der stal han seg en smalekraapp, en smalekraapp, 12. Aa bokken sprang op paa Elias fjell, Der falt han ner aa slo seg ihel, ihel, ihel (And the goat leapt to the top of Elia mountain where he stole a sheep, And the goat leapt to the top of Elia mountain Where he fell down and killed himself.)

In some variants,7 this final verse is the beginning of the song; in other words, the goat starts on the top of a mountain. He then falls down, kills himself and is covered with three cloaks of different colours,8 and is not shot by anybody. It might be noted that most of the variants have only one to three scenes, which are not always in the same order.

The Performance We do not have any full description of an actual performance of the “Jule- bukkvise”. However, Sagen and Foss characterise it as being more “baroque” than that of the stjernegutter. The variants reported from Bergen which mention the performance (variants a., c. and d.) suggest that only boys are involved, and normally three boys playing respectively the goat, the father and the son. Only the “goat” is masked. It also seems to have been obligatory to ask permission to enter the house to make a performance: “Ska I ha bokken ind?” (Can the goat enter the house?). According to the account by Nicolaysen, normally the performers were accepted into the living room, at which point the young children would hastily withdraw to the darkest corners of the room. The boy

6 The “fifth log” refers to the top of the wall, the fifth and highest log in the log house. 7 Variants b (Bergen) and i (Voss). 8 See note 5 above.

682 Reimund Kvideland acting the part of the goat would usually carry a pole with a goat’s head and horns on the top, the rest of the pole and the boy being covered by a goat skin or some other animal hide.9 When he raised the pole, he would look extremely large and frightening. His actions would then follow those described by the song. For the most part, he would be jumping and bumping the head of the goat against the walls, the roof beams and at the people of the house, and especially threatening the children. When the “goat” finally unmasked himself, the roles of the “goat” and the children suddenly changed. Face to face with the public, the goat boy became shy and quiet, while the children of the house demonstrated their courage. All three boys would begin the actual “play” by greeting the members of the house, singing the prologue in a solemn tempo. The boys acting the father and son would then continue singing the song as an antiphony, while the “goat” just bleated like a goat. In Bergen, the goat was always masked, while in other Norwegian places, it is unclear whether he is masked or not. In Bergen, Wal- lem says, they would continue by singing another version of the song if the audience was friendly (Wallem 1963: 101). The first version Wallem notes contains one stanza about the shooting of the goat, and then the negotiation about the price of the different parts of the goat. The slightly different second version, however, begins with the construction of the boat. This indicates that there were actually two different songs or two different versions of the same song known at the same time in Bergen in the middle of the nineteenth century. In contrast to the stjernegutter, it is unclear whether the boys singing the “Bukkevise” collected money or not; no begging song is reported.

Interpretation and References Several Nordic scholars have been interested in the “Julebukkvise”. It is enough to mention just a few names and works here. H. F. Feilberg had no Dan- ish material, so he was forced to rely on Norwegian and Swedish examples for his book on Christmas (Jul, 1904). In his opinion, Christmas was orginally a festival of Death, but he interpreted the goat in masquerade as originally being the Devil. Lindquist (1923), Lid (1928a), and Celander (1950),10 when they took up the subject, were all strongly influenced by Wilhelm Mannhardt and thus immediately interpreted both the play and the song as a fertility rite. Nor- lind, however, in his study from 1911, refused to see any mythological motifs in the song itself. A later, more balanced treatment is found in Terry Gunnell’s inspiring thesis on The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (1995a: 117Ð22).

9 In other words, a typical Christmas Goat guise: see further the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this book, and especially that dealing with Norway. 10 On these scholars, see further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden, Den- mark and Norway elsewhere in this volume.

The Killing of the Christmas Goat 683

To my mind, the song seems to tell two different stories: On the one hand, it tells about a goat that is killed and whose dead body is covered by a series of sheets. The owner then discovers the thieves and asks them for payment for the goat. On the other hand, the song tells about a goat that fell down from a mountain and killed itself. Gunnell argues that the series of cloaks placed on the goat “must, at one stage, have all had some symbolic meaning” (Gunnell 1995a: 118, footnote 115). I agree that this motif as well as other motifs in this song may well have had some symbolic meaning, but if they did, it is unfortunately no longer possible to read it. The series of cloaks can be simply explained as reflecting a common feature in the ballads and folktales whereby an important motif is repeated three times in a slightly varying fashion (Olrik 1908: 81Ð83). In other words, it is a stylistic rather than a symbolic or mythological element. The resurrection of the goat is certainly a motif that might perhaps be interpreted as supernor- mal. However, I am more inclined to see it as a practical end of a dramatic performance, as Norlind (1911a: 332) suggests. We must remember that the game takes place in a living room. While the actors might be able to drag the “dead goat” out of the room, it could also be argued that this might frighten some of the children watching the game too much. As noted above, a close reading of the variants has led me to ask the basic question of whether the variants represent one or two different songs, one that deals with a father and son who shoot a goat, and are discovered by the owner of the goat who demands payment for his lost possession, and another dealing with a goat on top of a mountain which falls down and kills itself and is covered by three cloaks in different colours. A combination of two different songs certainly might help to explain the rather confusing content and action of the extant variants. The first song thus tells essentially about the stealing of a goat. In this context, it is worth remembering that the stealing of domestic animals was regarded as a serious crime in Norway. In the Middle Ages, the thief would be sentenced to death (Frostatingslova, introduction, 9, XIV, 12, referred to in Langseth 1975, col. 174). Nonetheless, the stealing of domestic animals was a popular motif in many folklore genres. Indeed, there is another Norwegian song which tells about a couple who steal and kill a goat, throw the liver to the birds, wash the bowels, hang the hide behind a door, and finally throw the horns down the hill (Berge 1904: 58). This song was recorded several times in eastern and western Norway and looks like a song involving mockery. This as- sumption is strengthened by the fact that the leading figures in the song have specific names, and that there are other local mockery songs about the stealing and eating of a goat (see Gjærder 1908: 19–20, dealing with material from Nordm¿re). It is thus tempting to ask whether the song about the killing the Christmas Goat might not originally have also been a jocular ballad of this kind. Certainly, the song has a jocular touch. This tendency is strengthened if we

684 Reimund Kvideland also compare the song with other Norwegian slaughtering plays or games that took place both at Christmas and at weddings. One such game is known from Velfjord in Nordland, Norway. Here the participants referred in jest to a barrel of liquor as “julebukken”. They dressed it up and “stabbed” it (inserted a tap), and then let it “bleed” itself empty. Another such game is Slakte julegrisen (Kill the Christmas Pig). Spongers and other people who either paid or did some farm work in order to stay with a family for Christmas were called “jule- griser” (Christmas Pigs) in Telemark, Norway, and in Dalarna, Sweden (Ross 1895: 374), and like all Christmas pigs, they too were “slaughtered”, but only when Christmas was over. In the game in question, the “julegris” was put on a bench, and both an axe and knife were used in a threatening, but jocular way. A cup was then brought to gather the imagined blood. It was not until this ceremony was over that the so-called “julegris” could leave the farm again or start working (Holme 1911: 43Ð44; and Lid 1928a: 49). In nineteenth-century Bergen, adults looked upon the play of the killing of the Christmas Goat as a welcome entertainment. The children, meanwhile, were amused and frightened at the same time. Such reactions are documented up until the middle of the nineteenth century, for instance in the memoirs of the Professor of Art History, Lorenz Dietrichson (1896: 85). Certainly, those fragments and lines used commonly in other songs and the single stanzas used as lullabies suggest that the “Julebukkvise” must be old. However, this does not necessarily indicate that the play was generally known and performed all over Scandinavia, but rather that it was known in a limited area, or just in a few places. My conclusion, therefore, is that the “Julebukkvise” telling of the killing of the Christmas Goat is old, but that we should be highly wary of trying to date it back to pre-Christian times, in spite of some motifs that might have a mythological background. The incoherent content of the song can be explained by the suggestion that it consists of two different songs that in some way were connected with popular songs about stealing and killing goats. The game itself would appear to be one of several games about slaughtering animals that were played especially at Christmas, which, as noted elsewhere in this book, was a time of games and play. In the process of tradition, a dialogue between these songs and traditions and other similar elements of folklore has come to shape the extant versions of “Julebukkvise”. None of the variants, however, has any reference to ordinary Christmas mumming involving groups of masked julebukker like those described in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway elsewhere in this volume (outside the description of the boy acting the “goat” in Nicolaysen’s description given above). In my opinion, this also points rather towards an origin in entertainment rather than any connection to fertility rites.

Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 685 Mumming in Efﬁgy around St Knut’s Day in Southern Sweden An Example of the Popular Exercise of Justice1 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

Carsten Bregenhøj’s MA thesis from 1974, Helligtrekongersløb på Agersø, a study of mumming on a Danish island around Epiphany, was a watershed in the ethno-folkloristic study of popular customs.2 Now, almost thirty years later, the thesis might be regarded as a typical example of the structuralistic research that made its entry into the field with Edmund R. Leach’s Rethinking Anthro- pology (1961). Bregenhøj’s aim was to rethink folklore and ethnology. The Nordic symposium on Masks and Mumming in Turku in August 2002 inspired me to return to the research that I was pursuing at the same time as Bregenh¿j was involved in his work, material which was later published in my study of annual festivals in Skåne, Skånska årsfester (1973). Mumming usually refers to living persons wearing masks. However, the concept can and should be extended to include mumming in effigy. Here I shall consider a form of mumming in effigy in southern Sweden, namely, the custom of going around at the end of the Christmas season with stuffed straw dummies (see fig. 20.1).3 Straw was an ideal, easily available material for making these human-sized effigies. With a few old garments (a coat, trousers, and a hat or headscarf), it was no problem to make a dummy known as a Knutsgubbe (Knut man) or Knutskäring (Knut woman) because St Knut’s Day marks the end of Christmas in many of the Nordic countries.4 Svenska Akademiens ordbok, the dictionary of Swedish published by the Swedish Academy (1937: 14Ð16) has the following matter-of-fact definition of Knutsgubbe (and the dialectal form Knutagubbe): I vissa trakter, särsk. Hall. o. Skåne – på förfärdigad, i gamla paltor klädd, anskräm- lig, mänsklig figur (vanl. en stor halmdocka) som man (under natten till) tjugondag Knut (på sina håll under natten till 7 jan.) i förolämpande l. skämtsamt uppsåt förde till (sökte smussla in i) ngns hem (o. som därefter under längre l. kortare tid fördes från gård till gård).

1 For a Swedish version of this article, see Bringéus 2002. 2 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 3 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden and the article by Christine Eike on ritualised humour in mumming traditions elsewhere in this volume. 4 See further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions for further details about these traditions in other countries.

686 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

Fig. 20.1: A Knutsgubbe dummy depicted in the Christmas 1910 issue of Falkenbergs- Posten.

The caption (in translation) states that the dummy was “well stuffed with shavings and hay. It is also possible that some old roof thatch is sticking out around the an- kles. No face? Yes, there was! In the days when our painters could paint lovely roses and tulips on the lids of the chests, they could make faces on a Knut too: even the face of someone in the local community. It was as ugly as sin.”

(In certain districts, especially in Halland and Skåne, a hideous human-like figure [usually a large straw dummy] made in various ways, dressed in old rags, which was brought to [or sneaked into) someone’s home on [the night before] January 13 [in places on the night before January 7] with an insulting or joking intent [and which was then taken from farm to farm over a period of varying length].) The camera has since documented numerous Knut dummies, male and female, and examples can be found in Nordiska museet (the Nordic Museum), at Kulturen in Lund, the regional museum in Kristianstad, and the homestead museum in Degeberga (Bringéus 1973). It might be noted that when overalls appeared on the scene, they made it even easier for people to rig up a dummy. The very latest records even mention the use of tights.

Distribution A request for information in Hallandsposten in 1967 showed that the custom of mumming with Knutsgubbar (pl.) no longer occurred in Halland, except sporadically as a childish prank (Hedin 1972: 86). The same response was received to a questionnaire about Christmas pranks that I issued through Folk- livsarkivet (the Folk Life Archives) in Lund in 1973. It was therefore impossible to use participant observation as a working method, as Carsten Bregenh¿j did on Agers¿. Only the very oldest people have any recollection of the custom (Swenson 1995: 317Ð331). All we can do is use the existing records in the folklife archives and the entries in dialect dictionaries, even though, for the most part, they lack information on the context. A request on the radio programme Folkminnen (Folklore) which Bengt af Klintberg and Christina Mattsson broadcast on my behalf in the spring of 2002 gave only three responses, all from eastern Skåne. Map 20.1 illustrates for the first time the earlier distribution of the custom of carrying straw men around, on the basis of the folklife archives in central and southern Sweden. Parishes where the custom is known are marked with a dot,

Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 687

Map 20.1: Distribution of the Knutsgubbar (Knut men) (dot) and Felixgubbar (Felix men) (triangle) in Sweden in the twentieth century. Based on records in Folklivsarkivet, Lund. (Map: Nils-Arvid Bringéus.) regardless of how many recorded instances there are in each parish. The distribution is confined to Skåne, Halland, and part of Västergötland, mainly the Kind judicial district (härad). Within this continuous area, however, there were certain regional variations. In south-east Skåne, the straw men were associated with St Felix’s Day (January 14) so they were called Felixgubbar,5 but that is the only detail that distinguishes them from the Knutsgubbar (Bringéus 1973: 159). The name Knutsgubbe is confined to north-west Skåne, but it continues over the border into Halland, a boundary which has nonetheless never represented a cultural border. There are records from virtually all the parishes in Halland except in the Fjäre district in the far north, where instead there was a custom of quite openly going around with a straw man to beg for aquavit. The border with the province of Västergötland was likewise not a cultural divide. It might also

5 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this volume.

688 Nils-Arvid Bringéus be noted that trading connections from the Kind district were directed down towards Halland. From an ecological point of view, the distribution area is more forest than arable plain. There is thus a natural explanation for the distribution, since the effigies were normally placed in stealth, under cover of darkness, in front of a farmhouse door. In the densely built villages of south-west Skåne it would not have been so easy or so meaningful. In such places, there were obvious later functional equivalents, such as the indoor pranks of releasing a live bird in a house or placing a boiled pig’s trotter on the table (Bringéus 1973: 141–143). Even without any knowledge of the distribution noted above, Carsten Bregenh¿j claimed that the Swedish custom is an equivalent to the St Knut’s Day traditions in the east of the island of M¿n in Denmark. One instance is also recorded from eastern Sjælland.6 I¿rn Pi¿ (1990: 85) meanwhile also cites records from Fyn. Knut’s Day mumming would thus appear to form part of a complex of eastern Danish traditions which must go back to before 1658, when Skåne and Halland became Swedish. In Denmark, however, the tradition did not involve straw effigies but living Knutsgubbar wearing masks.7 Hypothetically, it seems natural to link the distribution of the Knutsgubbar to the Danish cult of St Knut (Knud),8 which has left its traces in church liturgy (Gad 1963) and in the Knut guilds. These merchants’ guilds were first founded in twelfth-century Denmark, where they were named after St Knut Lavard, although from about 1300, King Knut IV, known as Knut the Holy, was usually seen as the the patron saint of the guilds. From the mid-thirteenth century, Skanör was the main centre for the general meetings of these guilds. The Knut guilds were banned in the sixteenth century, but they survived in Lund, Malmö, Ystad, Tallinn, and Flensburg (Wallin 1984: 4). Although the guilds were located in the towns, it is obvious that they spread the knowledge of Knut into the countryside as well.

The Time Christmas was a time of peace when people visited each other and held Christ- mas feasts. Young people acquired provisions for their feasts by calling on farms, singing and playing music. The aim of such processions, whether going around at Christmas carrying a star9 or processing at the start of May, was to obtain food and drink. Around Christmas time, this was facilitated by the prevailing rule that visitors were not allowed to leave a home without being given

6 See Bregenh¿j 1974: 83, 89, 157Ð158, and 160. 7 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume, with regard to Twelfth Night mumming. 8 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 9 On this tradition, see further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, as well as the article by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume.

Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 689 something, otherwise it was said that they might “bära ut julen” (carry Christ- mas out) with them. On the days of St Knut and St Felix, when Christmas was over, this rule no longer applied. The Knutsgubbe came deliberately to carry Christmas out.10 While it is true that in some places, the visitor might have an empty aquavit bottle in his pocket, this rather confirmed the old rule that on St Knut’s Day, it was not only Christmas that was finished, but also the aquavit. The Knut- and Felixgubbar were thus not seen as Christmas beggars. Itinerants, however, were punished with a sound beating if they were caught, or their faces could be tarred (Svensson 1923: 106). In the calendar, the names Knut and Felix are attached to January 13 and 14 respectively. This explains why the straw men were given their names, and why they sometimes presented themselves as Knut or Felix. Likewise, when a julaknuta, usually a log, was thrown into a house, it often bore a rhyme beginning with the words: “Här kommer Knut som kör julen ut” (Here comes Knut who drives Christmas out). This is an old folk rhyme first attested in Sweden in 1672, but also known from Denmark.11 Knut as a calendar name for January 13 was introduced on a regular basis in the 1680s and 1690s (Svenska Akade- miens ordbok 14: 1683Ð1684). Knut Lavard, however, was murdered on Janu- ary 7, and this is when Knut’s Day is still celebrated in Denmark. Although Knut’s Day was postponed until January 13 in the Swedish calendar, the tradition of Knutsgubbar was able to survive on the original Knut’s Day. In the periodical Halland, 10, in 1885, we read: Knutsgubben börjar sin vandring redan dagen efter Trettondedagen, eller s.k. Bond- knut, då menige man på halländsk landsbygd anser julen över. För stadsborna gäller det gamla, att först ”Tjugondag Knut kör julen ut” (Celander 1928: 339). (The Knutsgubbe starts his wandering on the very first day after Epiphany, which is known as “Peasant Knut”, when the common people in rural Halland consider that Christmas is over. Townspeople still follow the old rule, “On the Twentieth Day, Knut drives Christmas out”.) This date for carrying the Knutsgubbar around shows a further affinity to the Danish custom. The Danish and Norwegian calendars do not use the name Felix for January 14, and no traditions associated with this name are known in Denmark (Gun- narsen 1998). That is why this day, named after the third-century St Felix of Nola, has no traditions of straw men (or the name Felix) associated with it in Skåne before the province became Swedish. In Sweden, Felix has retained his place in the calendar on January 14; since 1993, in the name of equality, he has shared the day jointly with Felicia (af Klintberg 2001: 39Ð40).12

10 On this tradition, see further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, as well as the articles by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j, Mari Kulmanen, Urpo Vento, and Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch elsewhere in this volume. 11 The Danish farmers’ almanac of 1662 contains the rhyme: “Knut/ Badh them heilpa sigh, at drifwa Jwlen ut” (Knut asked them to help him to drive Christmas out). 12 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden.

690 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

The evening before Knut’s Day or Knut’s Day itself (the eve of St Felix) was merely the starting point for the custom of running around with Knut and Felix men. According to the records, this prank might be carried on for several weeks. At this time of year, the workload was not as great as it was when the days were longer. The darkness also made it easier to carry straw figures around in stealth. Yet Knut’s Day itself was not a real feast day. From western Skåne, Eva Wigström only says that this day “utmärkes gärna med någon extra förplägning” (tends to be distinguished by some extra food: Wigström 1949: 27). The reason why Knut’s Day became of greater importance than most other saints’ days in Denmark, even after the Reformation, was that, as has been noted above, it also marked the end of Christmas. The first and the last days of Christmas were important for social pedagogy. A special day like Knut’s Day gave a guideline for the management of the household, serving as a dividing line between a festive period and a working period. A day like this triggered various activities every time it came around. These activities involved certain elements which are recognisable from other similar occasions during the year in the form of props, secrecy, and the custom of wandering around the district.

The Course of Events The custom of mumming with Knutsgubbar is not mentioned in early accounts of Swedish folklife. The Swedish Academy dictionary, however, has an instance from the periodical Halland, from 1885:

”Knutagubben” En genuint halländsk julsedvänja, hvilken dock fordom förekom äfven i Skåne, är den med ”Knutagubbe”. När julen är forbi, eger detta bruk rum och betsår deri, att någon eller några i aldra största hemlighet hopsätta en trasgubbe, närmast lik en fo- gelskrämma, men mera fyllig. Stommen utgöres af i kors spikade träslåar; ofvanpå dessa viras halm o.d; utanpå drages sist en aflagd kostym, ju anskrämligare desto bättre, till dömes någon gammal koryktares aflagda klädespersedlar; hatt och fota- plagg af samma beskaffenhet fullända den åtrådda likheten med en urmensklig varelse. Har man nu någon ovän, man vill åt, så heter det att i aldra största hemlighet ställa den sålunda tillklutade Knutagubben utanför dennes förstudörr.

(“The Knut man” A genuine Halland Christmas custom, which once also occurred in Skåne, is that of the Knut man. When Christmas is over, this custom takes place when some person or persons secretly put together a rag man, more like a scarecrow than anything else, but fuller. The frame consists of wooden slats nailed together; straw and the like is then wound around this; finally a discarded suit is pulled on, the more hideous the better; for example, some old cowman’s cast-off garments. A hat and footwear of the same kind complete the desired similarity to a primitive human being. If one has an enemy whom one wants to attack, then the idea is to place the thus attired Knut man outside his front door with the greatest possible stealth.)

Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 691

In a detailed record from my home parish of Örkelljunga, in north-west Skåne, an informant born in 1873 tells of the journeys of the Knutsgubbe from farm to farm at the end of the nineteenth century. In order for the perpetrators themselves to see how the Knutsgubbe was received, they would let off a julasmäll (Christmas shot) from a pistol, which brought the people out of the house and led to the discovery of the straw man. In one place, the young people took charge of the effigy, tidied it up and furnished it with a penis. An elderly recipient hired a couple of boys to pass this figure to a woman whose husband was in America. She, in turn, sent the straw man to another woman whose husband was away on military service. The end of the dummy’s travels came when a woman was so frightened by it that she had a miscarriage. Only then was the straw man drowned. In this case, the Knutsloppet (Knut run) extended to four different villages over a period of three weeks. Everyone, old and young, male and female alike, knew of the tradition (Bringéus 1973). In the above case, the intention was humorous. The sexually well-equipped Knutsgubbe was evidently intended as a replacement for the absent husbands of the two women, whereas for a man, a julakäring (Christmas woman) might serve as an equivalent to the inflatable doll of our times. From Mårdaklev in Västergötland, we learn that a Knutsgubbe was “utrustad med könsdelar av enorma dimensioner” (equipped with sexual organs of enormous proportions: IFGH 3082; Hedin 1972: 82). One Knutskäring (Knut woman), which is now in the homestead museum in Degeberga, is completely naked, furnished with breasts and nipples and pubic hair of black wool.13 The Knutsgubbar could cause a lot of vexation. There are reports not only of pregnant women having miscarriages, but also of people being scared out of their wits by dummies which appeared to have hanged themselves from a tree or drowned themselves in a stream. Knutsgubbar could also be thrown into the house in the same way as the julaknuta (Christmas log: see Bringéus 1973: 171Ð172). There are also records from various places of the Knutsgubbe being secretly placed on the roof beside the chimney, to the amusement of passers-by (Hedin 1972: 881Ð882; and Swenson 1995: 323Ð323). When the prank was played by young people, they wanted to see the effect for themselves. They might therefore tie a long rope around the straw man and then knock on the door. When someone opened the door, the youths would then quickly pull the dummy back so that they could reuse him somewhere else. In 1973, I documented this custom along with a couple of students in the Kivik district.

13 See further the article by Anniki-Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on eroticism in mumming traditions elsewhere in this volume. 692 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

The Knut Passport The Knutsgubbe was usually given a “knutspass”, a letter written in a disguised hand. It was called a pass (passport) because it dated from a time when it was necessary to carry a passport even for travels within Sweden, an obligation that was not abolished until 1860. On the other hand, literacy was not general until the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1842. Perhaps the newly acquired skill stimulated the custom of giving the Knutsgubbar letters, which might take the form of a letter of proposal, more or less veiled (Bringéus 1973: 161). A record from Örkelljunga states: Somliga vandrade ut och skulle försöka att finna sin ömt älskade smällivägg. Med ett friarbrev så lydande: ’Ack Eva, min Eva vill du gifta dej med mej, så köper ja en spegesill o rompan ger ja dej’ (LUF 4029). (Some went out and tried to find their dearly beloved bang against the wall. With a letter of proposal reading: “O Eva, my Eva, will you marry me? I’ll buy you a salt herring and the tail I’ll give to thee.”) It also happened that the Christmas logs were given letters, often in rhyme, which often urged the recipient to send the straw man farther (Bringéus 1973). Anyone who kept the man could be given a straw woman the next evening, the idea being that she was supposedly out searching for her husband, or vice versa. Sometimes even small Knutabarn (Knut children) might arrive with letters asking the whereabouts of their father or mother. Through the Knutsgubbar and their letters, people were given an outlet for their need to joke and for their desire for revenge. As one informant from Svensköp in Skåne says (cf. Swenson 1995: 324–325): “Ibland satte de en så- dan gubbe på ‘dass’, det har jag själv sett mer än en gång. Va de då ’väretrånga’ så fick de allt vänta” (Sometimes they would put a man like that in the privy; I’ve seen it myself more than once. If you needed to pee you just had to wait). In the same parish, a straw man was set up beside a stretch of road that the farmer himself had failed to maintain. The recipient often kept the letter and then gave the Knutsgubbe a new one. Yet there are also records stating that one letter after another was sometimes added, so that the straw man might eventually have his pockets full. Delivering a Knutsgubbe was not always just a joke, however. In the Christ- mas issue of Hallands-Posten for 1910 we read: På nyåret brukar det nu för tiden stå så andäktigt i tidningarna om ’återblick på det förgångna året’ och sådant. Se, det behövdes rakt inte på den tiden Knut gick. Det ombesörjde Knut… Han har straffat girigbukar, lättingar, veklingar, skrymtare, snattare, högfärdiga bänglar av båda könen, skvallerbyttor, avundsjuka stackare m.fl. m.fl. (At New Year nowadays, the newspapers are usually full of solemn “reviews of the past year” and the like. This was not at all necessary in the days when Knut was on the move. Knut took care of that. He punished misers, idlers, weaklings, hypocrites, thieves, arrogant rascals of both sexes, gossips, envious wretches and so on and so forth.) Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 693

A record from Höja, in north-west Skåne, cites a Knut letter in which the recipient was disparaged as a “bagasare” and an “ättemiddagskarl”, both meaning that he was a lazy dawdler, and he was accused of disturbing the peace, slandering people, and seducing girls (Swahn 1993: 305, based on LUF 4129). From Fagered in Halland, the schoolteacher Johan Kalén made the following report in 1927: I en av rockens fickor eller på bröstet förvarade han ’passet’. Det var en vanligtvis ganska lång och vidlyftig skrift.Den var avfattad i de mest oförskämt råa och på samma gång mest försmädande och sårande ordalag, som en hatfylld bondhjärna kunde uttänka – och det vill inte säga lite. Allt vad dåligt och mindre hedrande man visste eller trodde om den person, det för tillfället gällde, allt vad skvaller och förtal pådiktat honom, alla hans ungdomssynder, alla kroppsliga och själsliga lyten och skavanker hos honom och hans anhöriga allt skevt och snedvridet i hans familjeliv, allt drogs fram med illslug och djävulsk lust att göra ont (Kalén 1927: 228). (In a coat pocket or on his chest he bore the “passport”. It was usually a rather long and verbose missive. It was composed in the most crudely insolent and simultaneously in- sidiously scoffing and hurtful vein that a spiteful peasant mind could devise Ð and that is saying a great deal. Whatever bad or dishonourable things were known or believed about the person in question, all the gossip and slander made up about him, all the sins of his youth, all his physical and spiritual defects and those of his relatives, everything in his family life that could be warped and distorted, it was all brought out with the cun- ning and diabolical desire to cause hurt.) From Grimeton in Halland, the following passport is cited: “Här har du en hora, den kan du göra med som du vill, när du inte har N. N.” (Here’s a whore for you to do what you like with, when you haven’t got N. N. [the recipient’s girlfriend]: Hedin 1972: 72).

A Knut Court If it was possible to point out a culprit, the Knut mumming could end up in court. The Christmas 1910 issue of Falkenbergs-Posten tells us: “då var förstås tingssalen full med åhörare och nämndemansrummen med, men det blev ju aldrig annat än grin av ett sådant mål” (then the courtroom would, of course, be full of people, and the jurors’ room too, but a case like that never led to anything but laughter). Several records testify to “Knut courts” like this. I have been able to trace one of them in the court records from Himle in Varberg, where a district police superintendent summoned four youths for having placed a Knutsgubbe “med en iögonfallande påskrift av synnerligen sedlighetssårande art” (with a conspicuous inscription of a particularly obscene kind). When questioned by the police, a maid on a farm in Spannarp said that she had found a Knutsgubbe on January 14 on the public road between Himle dairy and the railway goods shed. The dummy bore a letter with the following text: 694 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

När X kom till Y och kuk hon ville ha, men Y:s var för liten, så de gick inte bra. jag tror de nog ska bränna ve. Men uti fettan va de ven och pep. men X sparkade och sket. Dunderhyttan den 13/1 1934 Bevittnas Kuksberg Fettlund Pettkvist Lössfot Koddholm Fettlab. (When X came to Y, she wanted some cock, but Y’s was too small so it didn’t work. I think they burnt and got stuck. But in the cunt, there was whizzing and whistling, but X kicked and shat. Dunderhyttan, 13/1 1934. Witnessed by Kuksberg Fettlund Pettkvist Lössfot Koddholm Fettlabb [the fictitious names consist of coarse words for male and female genitalia]). The accused, who were local youths from Spannarp aged between 16 and 21, had got together to make the straw man and put him in place on the evening of January 13. They stated their motive as being a grudge against the woman X. Their legal representative in court declared: Det vore i orten brukligt – dock mera förr än nu – att unga män för att skämta eller driva gäck med någon viss eller några vissa personer vid tiden för tjugondedag Knut placerade en av gamla kläder och halm förfärdigad figur, s.k. Knutsgubbe, å någon synlig plats. Å figuren fästes ett plakat, kallat ”pass”, med inskription riktad mot den eller de personer man ville ”komma åt”. Inskriptionens innehåll vore ofta tvetydigt. (It is customary in this locality, although more so in the past than the present, for young men to joke with or make fun of a person or persons around the time of Knut’s Day by placing a figure made of old clothes and straw, known as a Knutsgubbe, in some conspicuous place. A placard was attached to the figure, known as a “passport”, with the inscription aimed at the person or persons one wanted to “get at”. The content of the inscription was often risqué.) These details were then confirmed by the prosecutor. In its judgement, the court found the accused “gjort sig skyldiga till tukt och sedlighet sårande handling, varav kommit allmän förargelse” (guilty of actions offensive to order and morality, giving general offence). The prosecutor stated that the plaintiff had declared that she did not wish to press charges for defamation; she merely wished to be left in peace. The defence counsel urged the court to take into account the youthful age of the accused and pleaded “att de förletts av omförmälda, för visso olämpliga plägsed inom orten” (that they had been led astray by the aforementioned and decidedly unsuitable customs in the locality). They were sentenced, in accordance with chapter 18, section 13, and chapter 7, section 4 of the Penal Code, to pay a fine of 15 kronor each. This lenient sentence was evidently due to the cited circumstances. The reason for the boys’ grudge against the woman is nonetheless not stated in the court records. The motive was often rejected love, but that was scarcely likely in this case, when four boys made common cause and the woman was 30 years old and married. Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 695

Formal and Functional Equivalents Wilhelm Mannhardt’s comparative studies of Christmas and harvest customs14 also extended to the Nordic countries, and the Swedish questionnaire distributed in 1867 asked about the harvest custom of making: en docka, som har mennisskoskepnad, förställande antingen en man eller en qvinna, än utstyrd med kläder eller också endast med blommor och band, än utan prydnader med endast antydning af hufvud, armar och genitalier (Celander 1931: 8). (a dummy in human form, representing either a man or a woman, sometimes fitted with clothes or only with flowers and ribbons, sometimes without any adornment and only hints of a head, arms, and genitalia.) It was not until 1931, however, that the custom was charted in Skåne (Svensson 1931: 124Ð125). Later, it was charted again with richer material by Albert Es- keröd (1947). In Skåne, the last sheaf at the end of the harvest was called stådare (beggar) or käring (old woman), typically disparaging anthropomor- phic names. The last load was called the so (sow), and in Österlen also the käring (Eskeröd 1947: 217–235). In south-west Skåne, where Knutsgubbar were called båbbar (a variant of gubbar, or “old men”), the sheaves were given disparaging names such as bagasare and ättemidagskarl meaning “lazybones” or “dawdler” (Eskeröd 1947: 220Ð221). The delight in erotic jokes among the harvesters was clearly similar to that which occurred in connection with the Knutsgubbar. For example, they might tie stones into the sheaf to make it bulge like a man and thereby arouse sexual connotations. Similar customs are known in Denmark (Eskeröd 1947: 226, 246 and 263). As a means of making fun of the person who finished the harvesting last, people in Skåne could also place a straw man outside his home (Eskeröd 1947: 265). Interestingly enough, the custom of placing a hånedukke (mocking dummy) of straw outside the door of the last man to be finished with the harvest also occurred in Jylland (Bregenh¿j 1974: 122Ð123). The intention was the same, namely social control and the desire for fun. That these are two sides of the same coin is evident from the judgement from Himle court quoted above. Punishment was meted out for offensive behaviour, but the court sympathised with the joke since it was an age-old local custom. Gunnel Hedberg cites a parallel case from northern Skåne in 1962, where two builders had hung up a straw effigy as a protest against a man who had not treated them to a “topping-out” party when they had finished the roof truss of a new building. The court acquitted the two men because they were following a generally known and accepted custom which could not cause any offence to the general public (Hedberg 1998: 24). The German ethnologist Karl Sigismund Kramer has held up order and re- buke (Ordnung und Rüge) as two fundamental principles in such popular

14 See further the introduction to this volume. 696 Nils-Arvid Bringéus exercises of justice, and Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (1985: 185Ð187) takes the same view. Before literacy became widespread, the Knutsgubbar were nonetheless dumb. Social criticism was formulated not in words but in actions. This way of communicating is part of an ancient tradition. An early parallel is the custom of raising a so-called ní∂stöng (scorn-pole) as a scurrilous means of mocking certain people, such as sexual deviants (Almqvist 1965Ð1974). The idea that the punishment should somehow reflect the crime was also expressed in the judicial practice of former days (Bringéus 1990: 134). It was thus a custom among the common people to make fun of objectionable individuals by means of effigies. Hanging up a straw man from the roof truss when the builders were not treated to topping-up beer (see above) was known to occur in both Sweden and Denmark (Berg 1933; Rehnberg 1950; and Michelsen 1983). Burning a human effigy (called a Böög) on a Lenten bonfire was a widespread custom in Switzerland.15 The custom also has counterparts in Austria (Wolfram 1980: 53Ð54), while people in the Alpine region spoke of die Sennenpuppe (Isler 1971). Punishing a person in effigy actually has very old roots in the public administration of justice. The German ethnologist Wolfgang Brückner (1966) has studied execution in effigy on the basis of early continental sources, and Gunnel Hedberg (1998) has examples of Danish judicial practice from Skåne.16

Interpretation The first scholarly presentation of the Knutsgubbar was made by Hilding Ce- lander (1923), based on the records of the well-known Halland folklore collector Johan Kalén. Two years later, Celander published a special study entitled “Den halländska Knutsgubben och hans släktingar i nordisk folksed” (The Knutsgubbe of Halland and his relatives in Nordic folk custom: 1925). Celan- der writes: Och sammanhanget eller rättare identiteten mellan julupptågens halmklädda männi- sko- och djurskepnader och motsvarande figurer vid skördefesterna, liksom bådas yttersta härstamning från åkerfältets vegetationsmakt i deras växlande gestalter, har för länge sedan på fullt bindande sätt påvisats av Mannhardt (Celander 1925: 138). (And the link, or more correctly the identity, between the straw-clad human and animal figures of the Christmas pranks and corresponding figures at harvest festivities,

15 See Weiss 1947: fig. 123; ASV II, commentary on maps 186Ð191; and Zender 1980: 81Ð82. 16 See also Simpson and Roud 2000: 301, on the question of so-called “rough music” in English customs, a form of social justice by means of ridicule. One of the most famous English “rough music” tactics of the past, known as “Skimmtington Riding”, the “Skimmity Ride”, or “Riding the Stang” also involved the use of effigies being taken in procession through a town. This is effectively described in a scene in Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, written in 1886 (Hardy 1974: 282Ð283 and 300Ð301). Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 697

and their ultimate origin in the vegetational powers of the cornfield in their various guises, was long ago demonstrated conclusively by Mannhardt.) Carrying Knutsgubbar around was thus supposed to be a relic of an ancient fertility cult. This interpretation was virtually a rule of thumb in the study of customs at that time (Bringéus 1991). In a review of the study that same year, Åke Campbell sums up Celander’s interpretation as follows: sedernas karaktär av skymfsed, hånande gäckeri eller lek alltså är något sekundärt, som tillkommit, sedan det högtidliga allvaret över riten förbleknat och lämnat plats för det burleska skämtet. (the insulting, mocking, and playful character of the customs is thus a secondary feature, acquired after the solemn seriousness of the rite had faded and given way to the burlesque joking.) Campbell is surprised, however, that “karaktären av lek, skämt, hån tillkommit blott som degenerationssymptom” (the character of play, joking, mockery arose merely as a symptom of degeneration). He thinks that a reverse interpretation, in other words, that this was the original function, also requires investigation (Campbell 1925: 42). In his polemic against the “Mannhardt school” in his inaugural lecture in 1941, C. W. von Sydow declared that: Alla sexualfärgade skällsord och öknamn – och de är mycket talrika och begagnas i det mesta skilda sammanhang – är skamnamn utan tanke på någon fertilitet (Bringéus 1991: 17). (All the sexually coloured insults and nicknames Ð and they are very numerous and used in a wide variety of contexts Ð are shaming names with no connotations of fertility.) Albert Eskeröd says directly that there is no reason to do as the previous generation of scholars had done and search for traces of a fertility cult in the similarity between harvest customs and the Knutsgubbar (Eskeröd 1947: 266). Carsten Bregenh¿j does not go into earlier interpretations in any depth. In- stead, he says, without citing any evidence, that the custom of Knutsgubbar is very old. Most important is his conclusion that the Epiphany mumming “ikke bara er en ‘skik’, det er en social institution” (is not just a “custom”, it is a social institution: Bregenh¿j 1973: 130). In the following pages, I will present my own interpretation, which does not follow Leach’s schema but is based on a number of binary oppositions with both positive and negative connotations:

Sacred Ð Profane St Knut’s Day has its background in the Roman Catholic calendar and the cult of the saints. This rules out any interpretation of the Knutsgubbar as relics of a pre-Christian fertility cult. Although January 7 was celebrated in homage to the saintly Nordic king, the day had acquired a mainly social function as early as in the Middle Ages as a result of the Knut guilds in the towns of Denmark. 698 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

Social Contact Ð Exclusion The custom of delivering Knutsgubbar was based on social contact between people in the locality. This meant that you knew who lived in the neighbourhood and what kind of people they were. Contacts became more intensive both when there was hard work to be done (as at harvest time) and when there was more spare time (as at Christmas). A positive consequence of knowing each other was that people paid attention to each other, doing favours and obtaining favours in return. They invited each other to Christmas feasts or coffee parties, and they brought food and drink along to help those who were slaughtering or baking. Yet there were also people who were excluded from the feasting community. From Brunnby in north-west Skåne, for example, there is a record of a Knutsgubbe being sent by a neighbour who had not been invited to the Christmas feast. The negative side of social contact was that the individual could be exposed to the gossip and slander, envy and grudges of the neighbours. The people who were particularly vulnerable around Knut’s Day were those who did not follow the prevailing norms, living alone as old bachelors or spinsters. As one spokesman writes, “Seden att gå med Knut var egentligen en osed” (The habit of carrying Knut around was really a bad habit: EU 17309: 17). The condemnation of the custom is harshest from outsiders. Johan Kalén (1927: 228), for example, speaks of “om ytterlig simpelhet vittnande seden” (this custom which testifies to extreme vulgarity). In his role as a disseminator of popular enlightenment, he may also have directly helped to put an end to it. The article on Knut in the Christmas 1910 issue of Hallands-Posten also makes the paper’s stance clear: “Vi vill inte ha honom igen. Han tilhör en gången tid. Folkuppfostrans vägar och medel äro helt andra nu” (We do not want him back. He belongs to a bygone time. The ways and means to public education are quite different now).

Honour Ð Shame Carsten Bregenh¿j has shown that it was considered an honour to be visited by the mummers at Epiphany on Agers¿.17 There are records from Skåne to show that people appreciated receiving a large number of julaknutor (Christmas logs: Bringéus 1973: 155Ð156). Receiving a Knutsgubbe, however, was not an honour; it was a great shame. This was due to the shabby appearance of the dummy, the conspicuousness of his sexual potency, and above all the letter. It was therefore important to get rid of the Knutsgubbe as quickly as possible by sending him on to someone else with a new message. Preferably, the straw man was to be sent back to the supposed sender, who would thereby be exposed.

17 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark, and the article by Hanne Pico Larsen elsewhere in this volume. Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 699

Joking Ð Serious Rigging out the Knutsgubbe and writing the text of his passport was also a merry interruption in the drabness of everyday life. It is worth bearing in mind that the letters that accompanied the bird that was thrown into houses in south-west Skåne were good-natured. The bird brought a greeting, a request to borrow the house, to be given food and drink and protection against the cat. Here, however, it was the rule that the person who had let the bird in was identified and then entertained (Bringéus 1973: 145–146). Those who set up Knutsgubbar, on the other hand, were seeking fun at someone else’s expense. What was a joke for the sender was deadly serious for the recipient. The joke became a piece of slander or an indecent action. As noted above, an encounter with the Knutsgubbe could also lead to such serious fear that it might cause a pregnant woman to have a miscarriage.

Silent Messages and Eloquent Ones The message of the dumb effigies nonetheless had to be interpreted, and the interpretation required one to know the code. The Knutsgubbe might be set up in a place where it caught the attention of people in the surroundings, even though it was aimed at one individual. The straw men in the cornfield were dumb, but everyone knew that they were there to mock the dawdler. When equipped with letters, the Knutsgubbar became postmen. Their letters could take the form of anonymous letters of proposal, like the mocking letters in bourgeois Danish circles (Brandt 1969, and 1973). The joke could then be reinforced through amusing turns of phrase in the passports, but above all, the letters gave people a chance to get their own back for injustices they had suffered. They could also indulge in outright defamation. At the same time, the sender ran a greater risk of being exposed by the passport if the handwriting was identified. As has been demonstrated above, the passport could be used as evidence to convict the sender if his true identity could be revealed.

Concealed and Revealed Identity The Knut mumming took place under cover of darkness. Those who delivered the straw man or woman were anxious not to be caught. They also disguised their handwriting when writing the passport. If they signed it, they used a fictitious name. As has been shown above, the passport exhibited in the Himle court was “bevittnat” (witnessed) by six persons with invented names based on words for the male and female genitalia. The onomatopoeic words also reinforced the allusions to sexual intercourse (cf. Lövkrona 1991: 278). At the court, the three boys who were summoned tried to conceal their responsibility, denying “all vetskap om vem eller vilka personer some gjort sig skyldiga” (all knowledge of the person or persons who were guilty of the offence). Since they seem to have been questioned together, they displayed mutual solidarity, perhaps thinking that they would thus avoid discovery. 700 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

In a small community, it was nonetheless difficult to remain anonymous. It is not likely that the prosecutor would come to the court without having an idea as to whom the perpetrators were. It was only “sedermera” (after some time) that the boys gave in and confessed. The passport was probably a contributory factor in this development. Through it, they revealed their identity and could be convicted.

Village Justice Ð Public Trial Most controversies between neighbours were settled by giving and taking with the same warm hand; in other words, people sent the Knutsgubbe back to the sender or passed it on to someone else. The custom was standardised by repetition. On the other hand, a competitive spirit made people try to outdo each other and stretch the limits to such an extent that they could cause outright harm (such as terror, or a miscarriage). The Knut passport could also lead to the intervention of “lappatravare” (pen-pushers) and “pappersdragare” (paper-stackers), as the local constables and lay assessors were called. It was at this stage that the Knut customs could have legal consequences at the “Knutatingen” (Knut court). Village justice was then replaced by the public judicial system. Even though there was scope for humour even at the district courts (cf. Andersson and Modéer 2002), the accused rarely saw the funny side. The honour of causing a sensation without being discovered gave way to humiliation Ð and fines. I thus regard this mumming in effigy as being not just a social institution but also a form of popular justice. The Knutsgubbar might even be regarded as Rechtsalterthümer. It was only when the popular exercise of justice no longer functioned that people turned to the state judicial authorities. By then, however, symbolic punishment was out of the question. Setting up Knutsgubbar was equated with other offences, and fines were imposed after a court hearing. Since the mummers could be prosecuted, the action could be regarded as criminal, although it was a minor offence. This must have made people less willing to continue the custom in later times.

Old Pattern Ð New Forms The end of the Knut customs was nonetheless mainly due to weakened social networks. At the same time, we might perhaps dare to speak of an increase in civilisation. Anonymous letters, whether spread by Knutsgubbar or by the post office, were not likely to improve the social climate. With the end of the custom, however, people also lost an opportunity for fun that broke up the monot- ony of country life. Whereas many customs of peasant society have been revitalised in our times, the practice of mumming with Knutsgubbar has not been revived. The Mumming in Effigy around St Knut’s Day 701 reason for this should not be sought in the custom itself, but in the change in social context. There is a time for everything, including a custom such as that of delivering straw men around St Knut’s Day. However, new times bring new customs. As I write this (on April 27, 2002), I see in front of me the headline: “Med kamouflageuniform, naken eller som transvestit, Usama bin Laden i plast säljer som smör” (In camouflage uniform, naked, or as a transvestite, plastic figures of Osama bin Laden are selling like hot cakes). Those who do not want to buy Osama bin Laden in this form can also call him up virtually on their computers. The American company announces that three new figures will be added to the range each month. It might thus be said that the theme of the 2002 Masks and Mumming symposium in Turku still has relevance in the present day.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources is referred to in this survey: DAG (Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet, Göteborg): Records: DAGF and IFGH LUF (Folklivsarkivet, Lund): Records: LUF Nm (Nordiska museet): Records: EU Varberg District Court: Court records 702 Nils-Arvid Bringéus

Carnival in the Classroom 703

New Traditions in Masks and Mumming

704 Terry Gunnell

Carnival in the Classroom 705 Carnival in the Classroom Icelandic Pre-Graduation Mumming Traditions at Upper- Secondary Level Terry Gunnell

As has been noted in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic, there is evidence that some form of mumming must have existed in Iceland as far back as the early Middle Ages, especially in connection with the figure of the ogress Gr¥la. However, while Gr¥la seems to have gone on to live a healthy existence in the house-visiting customs of the Faroes and Shetland, she seems to have died out as a figure of disguise in Iceland (Gunnell 2001a).1 It may well be that one or two remnants of these old Icelandic traditions can still be observed in the descriptions of the vikivaki dance games of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and certain eighteenth-century traditions that seem to have taken place in the old Latin School in Reykjavík (later Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík), such as the so-called Skraparotspredikun (Skra- parot’s Sermon) and Herranótt (The Night of the Masters).2 There is also a faint possibility that other memories might perhaps be found in those later Ice- landic traditions that bear closer similarity to mainland Scandinavian mumming customs, such as the Icelandic Ash Wednesday (Öskudagur) traditions outlined by Kristín Einarsdóttir elsewhere in this book, and also those much rarer Icelandic traditions from the western fjords associated with Christmas and New Year, where people used to fara me∂ grímu (lit. go with a mask).3 Up until very recently, however, no concentrated research has been carried out into any of these traditions by ethnologists in Iceland, and the same applies to the much more recent upper-secondary school tradition of dimission which, in spite of its short but healthy life, bears a number of striking similarities to the older forms of mumming, and will be the subject of this present article. In general, one can say that school traditions as a whole seem to have been largely ignored by ethnologists in Iceland in spite of the fact that over the last thirty years an ever-growing number of graduation photographs have started appearing on the shelves and walls of Icelandic homes alongside pictures of weddings and christenings. As more and more young people have started continuing their education into upper-secondary school in Iceland (going either to

1 See also the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 2 See further Gunnell 1995a: 142Ð160; 2003; and Sveinn Einarsson 1991: 163Ð175. 3 See further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic, and especially the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir elsewhere in this volume.

706 Terry Gunnell menntaskóli [a form of grammar school offering an academic education] or to fjölbrautaskóli, which is more practically orientated), central school rites of passage like busadagur4 (lit. Busar Day [see below]); those pre-graduation festivities known as dimission; and then graduation itself have become increasingly important in the lives of Icelanders. They have become memorable key transition points in many people’s lives, times of liminality when people behaved differently from the way in which they would normally do from day to day. Occasional reference is made to these festivals in school histories,5 but on the whole, neither the school authorities nor the students’ societies have seen much reason to preserve information about these traditions as they have developed over the years. Indeed, some school traditions like busadagur are essentially viewed by the school authorities first and foremost as annual occurrences that have to be put up with but would be best avoided; traditions that most head teachers hope their schools will survive each year without ending up on the pages of a sensation-hungry tabloid press. Each of the main three school traditions mentioned above involves a strong element of costume. On busadagur, the new students are often dressed up in particular costumes (such as large nappies) and face paint as a means of marking them off from the rest of the school, while those bu∂lar (executioners) who initiate them are commonly wholly disguised.6 For the graduation ceremony, students dress themselves in suits and evening dresses, underlining their adulthood. Dimission, however, is especially interesting in the context of mumming traditions, because it not only involves people using disguise and a variety of imaginative costumes, but also a number of other elements that offer clear parallels to mumming as it used to function many years back. The mere fact that it is carried out by people in their late teens (the generation that used to form the backbone of the earlier mumming traditions in the past) makes it even more worthy of attention. It was for this reason that part of the Masks and Mumming project in Iceland involved the first detailed collection of upper-secondary school traditions from all over the country. The work began in the academic year 2001Ð2002, and in addition to myself involved two of my students in Folkloristics, ∏órdís Edda Gu∂jónsdóttir and Helga Einarsdóttir. Questionnaires regarding school traditions were sent out to all upper-secondary schools in Iceland (see Gunnell

4 This name, which is, to the best of my knowledge, unique in the Nordic countries, has an origin in the old Latin school in Skálholt, and comes from the word Latin novibus. It refers supposedly to the troubles the new students had with their Latin declensions. See Gu∂laugur R. Gu∂mundsson 2000, 103. 5 See, for example, the pictures and information given in Birgir Ármannson and others 2001; Gísli Jónsson 1981; Gu∂rún P. Helgadóttir and others 1974; Heimir Pálsson 1997; Heimir ∏orleifsson 1984; Margrét Gu∂mundsdóttir and ∏orleifur Óskarsson 2001; and most recently L¥∂ur Björnsson and Sigrún Sigur∂ardóttir 2005. 6 On busadagur traditions in Iceland, see further Gunnell 2006 and 2007b (forthcoming) for a more detailed review.

Carnival in the Classroom 707

2001b), along with video tapes on which to record school traditions as they took place over the school year. A decision was also taken to interview not only head teachers and students past and present, but also those teachers that had been involved in student activities. All of the above were asked about the history of the traditions in their schools and their personal experiences, as well as their general opinions about the function of the traditions in question. This present article is largely based on the findings of this project, in addition to my own experiences over the course of nearly twenty years as a teacher at Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ (MH: Hamrahlí∂ College) in Reykjavík, where I also served as a student liason representative for five years.7 As noted above, the intention of this present article is to concentrate on one particular school festival which has special relevance for the subject of the modern development of costumed traditions, namely dimission. Along with outlining its development, some examination will be made of its changing form and role over the last forty-five years in Iceland. The custom will be examined partly as a modern rite de passage (van Gennep 1960: 11). However, I also mean to compare the form and nature of these traditions with the form, experience and function of those other earlier mumming traditions practised in the Nordic countries. First of all, it is necessary to explain briefly the context of the tradition in the Icelandic school system. In Iceland, compulsory schooling ends at 16. However, those who wish to continue (and gain higher practical qualifications or access to university education) can go on to either a menntaskóli or a fjölbrautaskóli between the ages of sixteen and twenty.8 In earlier centuries, Iceland only had two grammar schools, which were set alongside the two cathedrals at Skálholt in southern Iceland, and Hólar in the north. The former eventually moved to Reykjavík in the eighteenth century where it eventually became the so-called Latínuskóli (Latin School), nowadays known as Mennta- skólinn í Reykjavík (MR: Reykjavík Grammar School). The latter (after a period in which there was no northern school) was eventually replaced by the old grammar school in Akureyri. In the late sixties, however, it became apparent that these schools (and one or two other schools outside the capital) could no longer cope with the increasing demands for a more extensive provision of upper-secondary education, especially in Reykjavík, and this led to what might effectively be termed an explosion in the building of new schools. This, in turn,

7 I would like to express my gratitude to all of our informants for their help with this project: Gu∂laug Hermansdóttir, Jón Hannesson, Sigur∂ur Ragnarsson, Halldór Páll Halldórsson, Jón Rey- nir Sigurvinsson, Sölvi Sveinsson, Gu∂mundur Birkir ∏orkelsson, Kristján Bersi Ólafsson, Ólafur Sigurjónsson, Tryggvi Gíslason, Örlygur Gu∂mundsson, ∏orvald Sigur∂sson, Neil MacMahan, Eyjólf Gu∂mundsson, and Gísli Kristjánsson: interviews taken between October 2001 and May 2002. 8 The length of study can vary depending on the type of school. Those students who go to a school with a traditional “class system” will graduate after four years. Those who go to a school with a “modular system” and have the possibility of taking intensive speed courses can graduate sooner, in three or three and a half years.

708 Terry Gunnell meant that an ever larger proportion of people aged between sixteen and twenty were spending an ever larger part of their daily lives within these institutions rather than out in the fields, in the work place or with their families. If we take a careful look at Icelandic school society (especially that of these upper-secondary schools) and the Icelandic school year as a whole, it becomes apparent that the Icelandic upper-secondary school (like similar schools in other countries) is a kind of microcosmos. It contains a relatively insular society that is largely marked off from the society that exists outside; a society with its own system of authority; its own class system;9 its own rules; its own “nations”, minorities and boundary lines (marking off areas where different groups of friends, different societies or different permanent classes Ð just like that of the teachers – may “hang out” with their own seats, tables and pictures); and also its own “seasonal festivals”.10 Indeed, to some degree, it might be argued that the school system of seasonal festivals is a mirror image of the rural system, except to the degree that the school year in Iceland (like that in many other countries) was originally designed to fit in with the agricultural year in order to allow students to go home to help with the harvest and annual sheep round-up at the end of the summer (see further Gunnell 2007b forthcoming). Thus, the school “New Year” takes place in September while those celebrations connected with the “end of the year” (dimission and graduation) most commonly take place in May or June.11 The summer holiday has thus become the equivalent of the liminal Christmas period in the rural society, a time of “play” and “different” behaviour. Busadagur, dimission and graduation are, however, just three of the main “festivals” that take place during the typical Icelandic upper-secondary school year. They are commonly accompanied in the spring by the so-called árshátí∂ (or “Year Festival” when a formal meal and ball usually take place);12 and then a period such as lagningardagar13 (lit. Make-up Days) when normal teaching is replaced by various other courses and visiting lectures. These are the formal festivals. In addition to them, however, there are also a number of other “seasonal” gatherings at which the school community comes together as a whole, such as song contests, debates and quiz competitions between schools; the annual performance of the school play; school dances; and other local traditions such as the so-called Peysufatadagar (National Costume Day) which takes place in Kvennaskóli (The Girls’ School)14 and Verzlunarmannaskóli (the

9 Interestingly enough, those graduating are sometimes referred to as the útskriftara∂all (lit. graduating aristocracy). 10 I use the word “festival” here deliberately. As will be indicated below, school traditions, like other festivals, mark the passage of time, and at the same time bring about alterations in the environment and the behaviour of those within it. They also involve a strong element of liminality. 11 In those schools with a modular system, graduation can also take place at Christmas. 12 Most work places in Iceland also have their own árshátí∂ir (pl.). 13 This is the name used in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ where I taught. Other schools have different names for the same phenomenon. 14 This school, which maintains its former name, now takes in students of both sexes.

Carnival in the Classroom 709

Commercial School) in Reykjavík, and the rather odd custom of naflasko∂un (“navel examinations”) which annually takes place in the old boarding school of Laugarvatn in the south of Iceland. As any outside observer will note, during the course of many of these “festivals”, the school temporarily becomes a “playing area” in the widest Huiz- ingean sense of the term (see Huizinga 1955), in that it will often be specially decorated for the occasion by the students who may themselves dress up in special clothes (either costumes, school t-shirts, or their best evening wear) for the duration of the activity. If the festival takes place during the day, teaching will be dropped, and plays, scenes and other performances may be put on in the school assembly hall, a place which is often referred to as the hátí∂asalur (lit. the festival hall). Indeed, there can be little question that all of these “play” periods should be regarded as festivals (in Icelandic, hátí∂ir, literally meaning “high-times”) in the school calendar, and simultaneously what van Gennep (1960: 11, 18, 21 and 178Ð184) and Turner (1982: 20Ð60) refer to as liminal or liminoid occasions. Others, like Eliade (1958: 388Ð408 and 1964: 18Ð19), might prefer to talk of these recurring festive occasions as being a form of “sacred time”. Dimission and graduation are no exceptions to the rule in this context. Both may be regarded as “seasonal festivals” for other students in the school, and at the same time also initiation rites for those who are graduating. Indeed, if these two festivals are compared with van Gennep’s system of rites de passage (1960: 10Ð11), it might be argued that dimission must first and foremost be a rite of separation, while the more formal graduation would logically be a rite of integration. The exams (which have the role of an initiatory test or ordeal) would then be in essence a liminal rite of transition. At the same time, however, it is evident that very few graduating students feel themselves to have been integrated into anything at the time when they commence their summer holidays.15 That point is not reached until they actually start a new job or enter university, thereby actually becoming part of a new community and gaining a new identity. Bearing that in mind, both dimission and the formal graduation would seem to be essentially rites of separation, even though they are obviously very different in tone. So what exactly is the difference in the nature and function of the two, and why is it that so many of our informants saw dimission as being the most important, the most memorable and/ or the most enjoyable of the two traditions? To a large extent, it is a result of the modern Icelandic tradition of dressing up in costumes for dimission, thereby giving young people a chance to take on a new character for the main part of the day. But what might drive nineteen- and

15 In a sense, graduation today is a little like being given a medal for bravery rather than an introduction into a new society. After going through it, the new “students” all disperse in a variety of directions rather than forming a group. Graduation is thus very different from celebrating a twentieth birthday or a getting a driving licence. It does not allow you to do anything new like drink or drive, even though its long term value is that it offers an entrance to university. 710 Terry Gunnell twenty-year-olds to wish to disguise themselves as M and M chocolates, tampons or Braveheart lookalikes and wander around both their school and the centre of town for a day? The word dimission was well known throughout Scandinavia, and arises from the Latin word dimittera, meaning “to send away”, “dissolve” or “dis- miss” (Oxford Latin Dictionary 1982: 545). References to the word being used in a school sense in Swedish go back to the seventeenth century (Ordbok öfver svenska språket 1925: 1398Ð1401). Related words were used in the Danish school system in the eighteenth century (Dahlerup 1918Ð1956: III, 744Ð745), and it was from here that the Icelanders adopted the words dimission, dimittend (for the person being sent away), and then the verb dimittera. Interestingly enough, few students in Iceland today have any idea about the actual meaning of the word or even how to spell it: it has essentially moved into the oral tradition. Dimission, however, is the Icelandic equivalent of the Norwegian russ ceremonies (see Hjemdahl 1999, and Eike 2001),16 and especially those Penkis, abben and karokan traditions known in the Åland Islands and in Medelland and Åboland in Swedish-speaking Finland which Carola Ekrem has effectively researched and analysed (see figs 1.12, 5.14, 6.15 and 9.8Ð9.9).17 All of these traditions have a background in the customs which took place in the old Latin schools of Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway when those students who intended to take their university entrance examinations said farewell to their teachers on the last day of teaching. After that they would depart for the university city in which the exams were to be held (see, for example, Celander 1948). Remnants of this old tradition can still be seen in the noisy, symbolic journeys taken around towns in coaches, lorries and cars by today’s russ groups in Norway, and many other students in the other Nordic countries (see Hjemdahl 1999; Ekrem 1992; and table 21.1 on Icelandic traditions below). Without doubt, many of the teachers of Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík would have encountered such traditions when they were studying in K¿benhavn, and probably brought them home with them. Much, however, has changed over time both in Iceland and in its neighbouring countries. Among other things, students no longer have to travel any distance to sit their university entrance exams. Nonetheless, the modern tradition of dimission in Iceland seems to have developed essentially out of other simple farewell parties which used to take place in Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík before the final exams took place, times when formal speeches would be held by both students and teachers, and the prospective graduates and teachers would drink coffee together. As table 21.1 showing modern dimission traditions indicates, a shared meal or drink (in the form of breakfast, coffee, a lunchtime pizza, and/ or a simple shared evening in a pub) still forms the nucleus of the day in

16 On these traditions and those known in most of the other countries in the Nordic area, see further the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, and Christine Eike’s article on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. See also Saarikoski 1994. 17 See Ekrem 1989 and 1992; and Daun 1981. Carnival in the Classroom 711 most Icelandic upper-secondary schools, something which underlines the fact that dimission does not just involve a rite of separation but also a form of “incorporation” into the society of “elders” which the teachers belong to. Con- sidering the fact that the students today are often in costume when this shared meal takes place, there is some reason to compare the activity with the sharing of food or drink which also occurs as part of house-visiting mumming traditions. These too begin with the threatening arrival of the disguised visitors (another certain element of dimission), and often end with the visitors removing their masks and sharing food or alcohol with their hosts (see Bregenh¿j 1974: 102Ð103; 109; and 180). Both traditions offer obvious parallels to Victor Turner’s “Social Drama” which starts with a Breach, or Threat, and is followed by the resulting dangerous Crisis which arises as a result of having masked people on your premises; a Redressive Action which is used to passify these invaders; and a final Reintegration as the masked visitors prove to be human by accepting food or drink (Turner 1982: 61Ð88). As time went on in Iceland, dimission developed. In 1958, the prospective graduates of Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, which was still the only grammar school in the capital and thereby also the trail-blazer for any new school traditions in the country,18 took up the earlier-noted mainland Scandinavian tradition of prospective students travelling around the town in wagons drawn by tractors, visiting their teachers at about 6 or 7 in the morning, and waking them up by singing songs and offering them gifts with a humorous message. As table 21.1 indicates, this tradition still lives on in many of the country schools (those marked with stars before their names in the table), probably largely under the influence of the grammar schools in Laugarvatn (ML) and Akureyri (MA) which provided a number of the earlier teachers in the country and tended to follow the example of Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in most things educational. As Kristín Einarsdóttir’s article elsewhere in this volume shows, Akureyri as a town was particularly strongly influenced by Scandinavian tradition, and interestingly enough, it is there that we also find the elements of trucks being individually decorated by groups in a very similar fashion to that regularly encountered today in both Norway (the personalised russ buses)19 and western Finland, for example.20 In the above traditions, we can already see the appearance of common mumming elements such as the noisy disruption, the lighthearted satire or ridicule, and house visiting. The next steps, however, seem to have taken place quite independently of Scandinavian tradition (even though there are obvious

18 The other two grammar schools existing at the time, Menntaskólinn á Akureyri (MA) and the boarding school Menntaskólinn a∂ Laugarvatni (ML), both tended to follow the model set by Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík. 19 See further Christine Eike’s article on ritualised humour elsewhere in this volume. 20 Other obvious Scandinavian influences can be seen in the form of the choice of graduation songs, like Gaudeamus igitur, and the adoption of the tradition of graduation books which still exists in all schools today (see, for example, Gísli Jónsson 1981). 712 Terry Gunnell parallels). They seem to be more the result of changes in the social and environmental conditions of Reykjavík and global political movements than due to any direct borrowing from other countries. First of all, the rapid growth of Reykjavík in the 1960s and the increase in the number of people living in blocks was making it ever more difficult to wake some teachers up without disturbing all the other inhabitants of the block they lived in. Furthermore, with houses and flats now being spread over a number of districts in the city, it was getting difficult to visit all the teachers before school started. A number of new schools, starting with Menntaskólinn í Hamrahlí∂ (MH) therefore took the decision to hold the main dimission festivities and ceremonies within the confines of the school community itself rather than out in the town (interview with Jón Hannesson 2002). Clearly in around 1970, certain radical graduating students in schools like Verzlunarmannaskólinn (the Commercial College) started distinguish themselves from the other students by dressing up in festive gear for dimission, arriving at school in strange hats and other unregulated costumes (those of clowns and cowboys, for example: see L¥∂ur Björnsson and Sigrún Sigur∂ar- dóttir 2005: 165). The tradition appears to have taken the final step into its present shape when, in 1972, Class 6B in Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík suddenly attracted national attention by adopting a group theme, choosing to wear convict uniforms for their dimission celebrations (see fig. 21.1).21 In part, this choice of costume was meant to be a light-hearted protest against the system, thereby reflecting the general mood of the times.22 One of the students, Stefán Franklin recounts the story as follows: Mig minnir a∂ hugmynd af fangabúningunum hafi ég fengi∂ og varpa∂ henni fram til nokkurrra bekkjarfélaga. Ástæ∂an var sú a∂ ári∂ á∂ur höf∂u einhverjir bekkir skreytt sig húfum af ¥msu tagi og kom πví upp sú hugmynd a∂ vi∂ sem gu∂sútvaldir, gengjum alla lei∂ og ger∂um okkar eigin búninga. Fanga hugmyndin kom strax upp πar sem vi∂ vildum setja Gu∂na rektor í hlutverk fangavar∂arins og fangarnir væru nú loks a∂ fá frelsi eftir fjögurra ára fangavist. Vi∂ ætlu∂um fyrst a∂ fá búninga leig∂a, en πegar πa∂ gekk ekki og vi∂ vorum búnir a∂ fá uppl¥singar um πá miklu vinnu og kostna∂ sem fælist í a∂ sauma slíkar flíkur, fengum vi∂ πá snilldarhugmynd a∂ fara í Hagkaup í Lækjargötu og leita a∂ ód¥rustu náttfötum sem πeir höf∂u á bo∂stólum. Keyptum vi∂ allar birg∂ir πeirra af náttfötum og fengum reyndar ekki nóg af πeim í fyrstu en πeir pöntu∂u frekari birg∂ir fyrir okkur. Vi∂ útvegu∂um sí∂an marga lítra af fatalit og hófum a∂ mála rendur á náttfötin. Fengum vi∂ afnot af S stofunni á 3 hæ∂ í gamla húsinu. Spur∂ist πa∂ fljótt út a∂ B bekkurinn væri eitthva∂ a∂ bralla og reyndu a∂rir bekkir ítreka∂ a∂ komast inn í stofuna m.a. me∂ πví a∂ klífa

21 As Stefan Franklin notes (see below), it appears that the strange headwear and decoration had sometimes been worn before in MR, but all the members of Class B that I have spoken to are convinced that they were the first to dress up in full thematic costumes, and this would appear to be supported by the media interest that this group attracted. There is, nonetheless, some dispute about who it was exactly who first had the idea. At least six of my informants claim the honour. 22 See Magnús Karel Hannesson in Birgir Ármannsson 2001, and the pictures in Heimir ∏orleifsson 1984. Also based on a group interview taken with Gunnlaugur Andrés Jónsson, Eggert Ólafs- son, Gunnar Gu∂mundsson and Jón Skaptason, April 16, 2004; and e-mails set to Jón Skaptason by Gísli Helgason, Ingvi ∏ór Kormáksson and Stefán Franklín on the same date. Carnival in the Classroom 713

Fig. 21.1: Class 6B, Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, in convict costumes for their dimission: May, 1972. (Photograph courtesy of Gunnlaugur Jónsson.)

upp brunaka∂al sem lá upp á 3 hæ∂. En πa∂ tókst a∂ var∂veita leyndarmáli∂, and the rest is history. P.s. Ekki tókst a∂ kaupa nátthúfur í stíl og ur∂u bekkjarfélagar hver og einn a∂ útve- ga sér fangahúfu (e-mail from Stefán Franklín to Jón Skaptason, April 16, 2004). (I remember the convict uniforms being my idea,23 which I then suggested to several other classmates. The reason was that the previous year, other classes had done themselves up with hats of various kinds, and the idea came up that we, as God’s Chosen Ones, should go all the way and make our own costumes. The convict idea came up straight away, because we wanted to put Gu∂ni the headmaster in the role of the prison governor, the convicts now being released after serving a four-year sentence.24 At first we planned to rent the costumes, but when that didn’t work out and we had heard how much work and money would be involved in having such costumes sewn, we got the brilliant idea of going to Hagkaup [a clothes shop] on Lækjargata to look for the cheapest pyjamas that they had available. We bought up all their stock, and in fact they didn’t have enough of them at first, so they ordered some more stock for us. Then we got hold of several litres of dye and started painting stripes on all the pyjamas. We were allowed to use Room S on the third floor of the old [school] house. Word got out that Class B were up to something and the other classes made repeated attempts to break into the classroom, among other things by climbing up the fire escape cable which went down from the third floor. However, the secret was preserved, “and the rest is history”.

23 See previous note. 24 As Ingvi ∏ór Kormáksson wrote to Jón Skaptason, on April 16, 2004, the idea was also connected to the motto “Quid custodet custodes?” (Who will watch over the custodians?). 714 Terry Gunnell

P.S. We couldn’t buy night caps in the same style, so each class member had to get hold of his own prisoner’s cap.) The following year, the custom of using complete costumes with a group theme seems to have been taken up by other students in the school. It soon spread to other schools such as Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, and within ten years had become the main feature of dimission customs in upper-secondary schools all round the country. The present-day forms of dimission in Icelandic schools are outlined in the table 21.1 (based on information from the 2001Ð2002 survey). As the table illustrates, most of these dimission traditions contain the following features, many of which are once again reminiscent of the older mumming customs known elsewhere in the Nordic area:25 1. Preparation for dimission might begin at the start of the final term. In most schools, only one group of students will graduate each year (or term). In others, however, the students tend to group themselves by class, their line of study or groups of friends. Costumes are then decided, and either sewn or booked, and scenes, acts, songs and dances prepared (usually during the last few days).26 2. In some schools like Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, the school entrance and the assembly hall are decorated on the day before dimission following the dress rehearsal of the dimission performance. This change in the appearance of the surroundings as the school itself takes on a kind of mask then greets the other students and teachers as they arrive the next day. It immediately marks both the environment and the day as being “different”, and simultaneously creates an atmosphere of excitement among the other students. At the same time, it will lead to some degree of tension among the staff, not least because of fears about how much alcohol is going to be consumed by the prospective graduates,27 and some trepidation about the nature of the jokes that might be made about individual teachers. It is noteworthy that now the teachers are the ones who feel most vulnerable, along with the school’s reputation. 3. Very early on the dimission morning, often the last day of school before the exams, the graduating students meet for breakfast.28 There they dress them-

25 The following outline is based largely on my personal experiences of the dimission tradition as I knew it in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ (1980Ð1998), although, as noted above and in table 21.1, our interviews underline that the key features are the same in most schools. 26 In recent years, an increasing number of students have been renting costumes or having them sewn, something that reflects both the modern speed of life in Iceland, and the economic strength of the country. 27 Alcohol has been a constant feature of dimission at least since the sixties, and problems caused by it have gone in waves. Naturally it adds yet another element of liminality to the proceedings, and has a role to play in explaining why many students in the past have a somewhat fragmentary memory of the day. Furthermore, since alcohol consumption is banned on the school premises, it offers a deliberate challenge to the powers that be. Nonetheless, in recent years, many schools in Iceland have being trying to combat this problem, working with the students towards the creation of a more controlled, yet flexible arrangement for the day. 28 As table 21.1 shows, this will sometimes take the form of a communal breakfast with the teachers, after which the students will go home and put on their costumes. Carnival in the Classroom 715

Fig. 21.2: Dimission vampires in Mennta- Fig. 21.3: Dimission vikings in Menntaskólinn skólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) selves up in their costumes, carry out final preparations for their performance, and open the first bottles (see note 27). 4. At around 10 or 11 o’clock, the dimittendi (pl.) start arriving at the school in their costumes. Much like traditional mummers, they announce their arrival with noise, often in the form of loud rock music, screams and yells, and many of them start dancing on tables in the student area. The noise naturally causes immediate disruption in those classes in which teaching is still going on, as the other students start peering through windows to see what is happening, what the costumes are like, and whether they recognise any of the new arrivals. The use of costumes simultaneously underlines the institution of a carnival atmosphere in the school, an atmosphere that the staff are going to have difficulty controlling, especially in those larger schools where there might be as many as one hundred and fifty graduating students, dressed in costumes ranging from those of nuns, monks, and M and M chocolates, to sexy nurses, mad brain surgeons, vampires, Elvis Presley clones, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Vikings, cowboys, tampons, belly dancers, biker girls, and the Pirates of the Caribbean (see figs 21.2Ð21.5).29 As many teachers note, often the simple use of a wig and

29 As might be expected with a generation so deeply under the influence of the media, the cinema and television often play a large role in the choice of theme for costumes. On one dimission day in late April 2004, the centre town was filled not only with various Pirates of the Caribbean, but also a large collection of Braveheart warriors (the modern equivalent of the original convicts), and a number of samurai-sword wielding Kill-Bill heroines. Teletubbies, Darth Vaders, and teams of ER surgeons are also popular. 716 Terry Gunnell

Fig. 21.4: Dimission tampons in Menntaskólinn Fig. 21.5: A new wig is often as effective as a vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. mask as a means of disguising female identity. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) Dimission “biker girls” in Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂, Reykjavík: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) some make up is quite enough to disguise identity, something that renders it often near impossible for teachers and other students to recognise who the students are (see fig. 21.5). This, of course, gives the students an even greater feeling of freedom. 5. The grand “Arrival of the Clowns” is sometimes followed by a deliberate form of “house visiting”, in the shape of visits made by the prospective graduates to those classrooms where some attempt is still being made to teach. Groups burst in through the door (just like mummers), and then proceed to make fun of both the teachers and the other students, sometimes performing a short skit or a song which may be deliberately directed at the teacher. Of course, their arrival brings with it a total change in atmosphere in the classroom, something which makes it near impossible for the other students to continue studying. During the same period, groups of costumed students often enter the staff room, a place which is normally off bounds to them. Here the students visit the teachers, partly in order to find out whether they are recognisable or not, something that, of course, offers a parallel to the guessing games of the traditional mumming traditions. The students, however, also want to know whether the teachers approve of their costumes. It might be stressed that during this period, the students are most definitely acting the roles they are playing in some way of another. Even though it is somewhat difficult to “act” an M and M chocolate, one thing that is certain is that an M and M chococate does not act in a normal human fashion. If a teacher attempts to talk with the costumed students as their day-to-day personalities, they will often be ignored. 6. The next step is the dimission performance itself, announced by a bell Carnival in the Classroom 717

Fig. 21.6: Dimission participants from Menntaskólinn vi∂ Hamrahlí∂ processing in the city: Reykjavík, Iceland: May, 2000. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) calling everyone to the assembly hall. The shows range from simple speeches made to teachers to (more often) developed satirical scenes making fun of the school, school life and the staff, and dances connected to the themes of the costumes. Sometimes all the scenes performed may even be linked to a popular theme like that of Grease or recent Hollywood hits like Moulin Rouge. During the course of the proceedings, teachers are commonly requested to get up on stage and receive gifts or actually take a central role in scenes or competitions (which might even go as far as being as a limited “Full Monty” or having to dance in drag). 7. The show might be followed, if not accompanied, by a shared meal with the staff, if that has not already taken place or is not planned for the evening. After this, with a little official encouragement, the prospective graduates leave the school, and travel into the centre of town, often in open-topped lorries or coaches. Here they spend several hours meeting each other, and wandering in and out of shops and restaurants (see fig. 21.6) in a parallel fashion to the children in the Ash Wednesday traditions described elsewhere in this book by Kristín Einarsdóttir.30 In other words, the town, like the school, is also transformed for the day by the dimittendi. After this, the students go home and have a sleep (many having not slept the previous night because of the preparation). Then, in the evening, if they are feeling up to it, they may once again head into town for a meal and the dance which, as noted above, may also be attended by the teachers. As has been underlined throughout this article, there is little question that

30 Interestingly enough, they will often take the same route that they took on Ash Wednesday as children, walking down the main shopping street of Laugarvegur into the centre of town. 718 Terry Gunnell the Icelandic dimission activities (and their equivalents in other countries) offer numerous parallels to the the old anarchic mumming traditions of the Nordic area like those of the julebukk (Christmas Goat) and the stjärngossar (Star Boys)31 which city authorities in the Nordic countries so often tried to ban in vain. The dimittendi are, of course, exactly the same age group as that which posed such a threat in earlier centuries, and it might be borne in mind that they still pose a threat to the authorities today, not least because they are adults rather than small children, and, because they are both adults and in disguise, they are the ones who are very much the dominant figures in the proceedings. Of course, it is exactly the same age group which, in the Nordic area, has recently adopted foreign Halloween traditions for their masked Halloween balls,32 and (a little later in life) is starting to dress up for hen parties in Iceland, Shetland and elsewhere.33 However, as I have asked earlier, what is it that encourages this generation to wish to make use of costumes (not least in Iceland, where people are deeply wary about making a fool of themselves or losing the respect of others)? Fur- thermore, what is the relationship between dimission and the parallel separation rite of graduation which happens three or four weeks later, after the exams have finished? When asked whether the costumes could be dropped from dimission, all of our informants denied this strongly. As they argued, the costumes not only mark them out as being different from others, they also mark them out as being a linked group with a shared identity of “otherness”. It was also pointed out that the day of dimission often forged and underlined friend- ships that have remained since. There was thus a very strong feeling of what Turner called communitas (Turner 1982: 47Ð51), something that was to some degree extended to the teachers during the time of the shared meal or the visit to the pub later in the day when the costumes had been abandoned. Further- more, the students felt that they would not have been able to act as they had done without the help of a costume or mask. The costumes gave them the courage to do things they would not have dared to do otherwise, such as act the fool in front of their school friends, make fun of a teacher, or come to school a little intoxicated during school hours. In other words, the costume created a sense of liminality, both inside and out, for both the subject and the observers. In short, it brought carnival to the classroom. As for the difference between dimission and graduation, both teachers and students alike emphasise the fact that graduation is a day when the school opens its doors to the society outside. Families and photographers enter the building, formal clothes are worn, choirs sing and formal speeches are made.

31 See further the Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Norway, Sweden and Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 32 See Lilja 1998; Ohrvik 2001; and the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Tradi- tions. 33 See further the articles by Eva Knuts and Christine Eike elsewhere in this book which deal with this subject in more detail. Carnival in the Classroom 719

Graduation is a day that underlines the authority of the school (as a representative of the Ministry of Education), and the authority of the parents (the students thereby having to temporarily accept their role as “children” rather than independent individuals in their own right while their parents are on site). Dimission, on the other hand, is the students’ day, an “insiders’” day which takes place essentially within the bounds of the school microcosmos. As with old traditions like that of the Saturnalia, the Boy Bishop or the Danish Julebisp (the Christmas Bishop who conducted mock marriages34), dimission also represents a time when the world is turned upside down and the lower orders take control. As with many of the other traditional guising traditions from the rest of the Nordic area, it is a time when the “wild and wonderful” come in from the outside, temporarily threatening the status quo (see also Saarikoski 1994 on comparable traditions in Finland). This threat is then incorporated, and sent away. Furthermore, it might be noted that just like traditional mumming, dimission is a shared game, the rules of which are well understood by both staff and students, if not the outside world. It is an “in-house game”, played by insiders. Graduation, on the other hand, is an “out-house” day when external rules, regulations and formalities are followed for the benefit of the outside world.35 On the whole, the deep-rooted nature of the dimission traditions in Iceland underline the fact that we should not bemoan the fact that the old mumming traditions are fading or being relegated to the very young during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It is clear that the urge to go mumming is still very much alive among the generation that originally used to participate in mumming traditions. The same urge to challenge authority in jest is still there. However, society throughout the Nordic area has changed radically over the last fifty years. New patterns of life and new types of festival are replacing the old seasonal calendar. Quite naturally, the mumming activities carried out by young people are also taking new forms in line with the changing society that the participants inhabit. These new traditions are of equal interest for research in the future, not only as rites of passage and new seasonal festivals, but also as modern forms of dramatic expression. They represent one modern equivalent of what Peter Brook might call “rough theatre” (Brook 1973: 72–109).

34 See the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Denmark elsewhere in this volume. 35 Interestingly enough, in some schools both the dimission show and the later graduation take place on the same stage, something that underlines their difference particularly sharply. It might also be considered that in dimission, the students give the teachers “awards”, while the opposite takes place on the same stage at graduation. 720 Terry Gunnell

Table 21.1:

DIMISSION TRADITIONS IN ICELANDIC UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS 2001Ð2002 Explanations and Abbreviations: (All school names have been abbreviated, but M. refers to a Menntaskóli [Grammar School], F. to a Fjölbrautaskóli which offers a wider range of education including practical subjects.) Schools are listed in order of the dates of their establishment.

*: Schools in the country are marked by a * before their name (e.g. *MEgl) X: Yes. (X): In some form; sometimes. (pst): In the past. Costumes: Are costumes used? (XX: Many different costumed groups, based on lines of study, classes, or groups of friends). Wagon/ bus: Do the groups go around the town in wagons or a bus? Visit: Do the groups visit the teachers? Meal: Do the teachers and prospective graduates eat together? Cfe: Coffee; L.: Lunch; D.: Dinner Breakfast home: Do the students eat breakfast at home together? Breakfast in school: Do the students eat breakfast at school with the teachers? Into school: Do the students go into school in their costumes? Into classes: Do the students visit classes in their costumes? Show: Is there a special dimission show/ performance? Gifts: Are the teachers given gifts? Scenes: Are special scenes composed for the show? Into town: Do the prospective graduates go into town in costume? Dance: Is there a dance held in the evening?

School Cost- Wagon/ Visit Meal Break- Break- Into Into Show Gifts Scenes Into Dance umes bus fast fast in school classes town home school MR XX X D. X X (X) X X X MA X X XX X X *ML X (X) X X X X (X) X X Verzl. (pst) D X X MH XX (pst) (pst) X X (X) X (X) X X X MSund XX D (pst) X X X X MIsafj X X X D X (X) X FFlens X (pst) L X X X X (X) X X X FÁrm. X L/D X X X X X X X MKóp (XX) (pst) (pst) (pst) (pst) (pst) X X FBrei∂ XX D X X X XXXXX *FSu∂nX DX X XXX X *FVest XX D X (pst) X X X X Kvenn. XX D X (X) X X X X *MEgl X X L/D (pst) (pst) (X) X (X) X *FSu∂lX(X) (X) L (X) X X X X X F.Gar∂ XLXXXXXX VMA XX X X L X (X) (X) (X) (X) *FHús X (X) X X X *FASkf (pst) X X *FVstmt X X X Cfe X X X X X X FBorgar. X (pst) X X X X X X *Flaug *FSau∂ Carnival in the Classroom 721

Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods 723 Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods Examples of Non-Traditional Masks in Live Role-Playing Games Bodil Nildin-Wall

The main question to be considered in this article is whether it is really relevant to present a paper concerning a late-twentieth-century custom in a book that is mainly meant to deal with traditional masks and mumming? Firstly, however, we need to consider the background. For more than fifteen years, I have been studying live role-playing games in Sweden, how they are constructed and how they have developed, and especially such games as those that take place in a medieval Märchen- or “fantasy-” setting. I define this as a fantasy world in which there are supernatural beings, magic and mages all surrounded by medieval properties. The actual imagined time might be the Middle Ages, but the play might just as well be set in the future after some sort of catastrophe, or in a very advanced science-fiction society in which there are groups of humans or other species living in medieval surroundings as occurs, for example, in some episodes of Star Trek and Star Wars. During the last two decades, we have seen an escalating interest in medieval history and different sorts of medieval plays in Scandinavia and other parts of the world. This is reflected in several international phenomena which are closely related to each other while having certain significant differences. First of all, there are local chronicle plays, often set up by amateur groups which are trying to recreate local history. These works sometimes deal only with the foundation of a village or town and its early history, often during the Middle Ages, but they might also try to give a survey of development up until the present day. Chronicle plays of this kind are often a mixture of traditional history, legends and folklore. For the most part, they are performed in exactly the same way as plays that are put on in traditional theatres, although some groups try deliberately to interact with their audiences. Secondly, there are those chronicle plays which are blended with other happenings as occurs during Medeltidsveckan (the Medieval Week) in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, where some parts of the audience participate in a carnival-like performance, while others just have the role of spectators (see, for example, Jons- son 2002; and Gustafsson 2002). Finally, there are those live role-playing games in which everyone takes on a character and becomes part of the play. These can be described as a sort of instant performance without spectators. Role-playing games are best known in their table form, of which Dungeons and Dragons is probably still the most widely spread and played version in the

724 Bodil Nildin-Wall

Nordic area.1 What, then, is a live role-playing game? In “live-play”, there is an outer reality that is just as important as the inner reality where one can only rely on one’s imagination: towns and villages are constructed, weapons and ar- mour are forged, clothes sewn, shoes made and special food prepared. It is sometimes difficult to see the difference between what in modern Swedish is just called “lajv” (spelt in this way, and meaning “live”) – a term I am going to employ from now on in this article Ð and other kinds of groups that also dress up and take on new imagined characters or aliases. Those groups most similar to the lajvs that I am interested in are The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and various different Tolkien societies. In the SCA, the members more often than not construct fictional characters or aliases with roots in the Middle Ages, a period which, in the Swedish branch of the society, might mean roughly AD 600Ð1525. Each character is given a name, a personal background and certain characteristics. The same aliases can then be used for years. The Tolkien societies, on the other hand, take their inspiration from Tolkien’s fictional world and the supernatural beings and groups of people from the different cultures that can be found there. The characters represented here may actually exist in Tolkien’s works, but they may also be characters that could have existed there, had Tolkien thought of them. The members here again tend to keep the same characters for as long as they stay in the society. In these societies, events of different kinds can occur: for example, celebrations of Tolkien’s birthday might take place in which participants might gather for a huge feast, acting their characters in their costumes. However, on such occasions, there is no performance; and no “play”. There can be no doubt that the lajvs owe their existence first of all to The Lord of the Rings, and secondly to the table role-playing games. Furthermore, the worlds and concepts current in the lajvs that I will be discussing here also mirror the development of popular fantasy fiction, films and television series over the last decades. A lajv is normally created by a group of players who construct and write down an initial situation, describing the villages, countries, people, supernatural beings, mages and so on that exist in the middle of a conflict: in order to create an exciting game, there naturally has to be some sort of a conflict. Even though the conflict does not necessarily have to be resolved by a war or by fighting, that is traditionally what tends to happen. The leading group then sends out invitations to likely participants. These may belong to a particular society, but the lajv might also be open to all lavj-players. Those who wish to participate then submit suggestions for the character or a group of characters they want to create. The play-leaders then proceed to accept, or maybe amend the characters in some way. After this, they give each individual player his or her role in the initial situation, and also a quest of some kind that he or she is supposed to accomplish. Everyone then works together in smaller groups or individually on their own characters, clothes and equipment. These prepara-

1 See, for example, Espeland 1992 and 1994; Fyhr 2003; and Scott S¿rensen 1999.

Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods 725 tions normally take several months. Then, somewhere in the woods of Sweden, some basic settings are constructed. For example, there usually has to be some sort of inn: a lajv may take place over the course of an afternoon, but will normally continue for two or three days, perhaps even a whole week, and the participants, of course, have to eat. Everything is now ready, and the lajv can start. From this point onwards, anything might happen and as actions tend to take place over a vast, or least a very large area, no two persons will ever experience the same lajv. As in fantasy tradition, the main theme will normally be the age-old struggle between good and evil. In The Lord of the Rings and in almost all popular fantasy culture since the time of Tolkien, good almost always prevails. In the very least, it will win a minor victory. In a lajv, or indeed any other role-playing game, however, such an ending will never be certain. Evil may well triumph. As a parallel to this, I would like to point to several different forms of speculative “alternative history”, something that has existed in popular culture for many years, but which is nowadays also used as an aspect of serious academic historical research. One other type of live role-playing game consists of historical re-enactments that have open endings. These might be seen as something that is in opposition to those historical re-enactments which are supposed to copy exactly what really happened in the past, as occurs, for example, in the chronicle plays mentioned above. One interesting aspect of the lavjs and lajv-players in this context is the range of opinions I have often heard vented by outsiders on this subject. Chron- icle plays are regarded as culture; lajvs, on the other hand, are trash. You might also hear rhetorical questions like “How can a Star Wars movie ever change anybody’s life?” For me, the answer to such a question may be a little trite, but nonetheless extremely self-evident. Fantasy fiction and films give us the re- assuring answer that good will prevail over evil and, even if you have fallen into the snares and temptations of evil, redemption is always possible. The same chances seldom exist in real life and real history. Admittedly, the characters in lajvs are often set and rather stereotypical. One Swedish handbook on role-playing, for example, provides a list of different types of characters and groups of people coupled with suggestions of how to build up a character belonging to a specific set of people (Käll 1998: 40–44). The author’s groups of fantasy-characters include merchants, soldiers/ guards/ mercenaries, priests/ monks, thieves/ robbers, adventurers, svartfolk (“black characters”) and lords/ ladies. It is interesting to note that while the lord is accompanied by his female equivalent, a priestess/ nun is not mentioned. Other groups fairly common in fantasy lajvs, but not mentioned here, are, for example, dwarves, elves, wood-elves, bards and chroniclers. The “black characters” mentioned above are among the most popular amongst players. They are mostly totally evil and nowadays consist of a whole range of different groups, all of which differ in appearance and character. Twenty years ago, such characters were almost always called orcs as occurs in

726 Bodil Nildin-Wall

The Lord of the Rings. The new beings of this kind are called, among other things, vättar (spirits), illvättar (evil spirits), svartalver (dark elves) and ogres. I have been given two different explanations of the fact that orcs are no longer the primary evil group. The first one is that orcs tended to be played by the younger participants (16Ð18 years), and they often went too far, sometimes breaking the rules, for example, stealing food from other people or departing from the script in other ways that spoiled the game for others. The second one was that lajv players in the Nordic countries wanted to adapt the supernatural beings to resemble those known in their own folk traditions. Both of these answers seem to me very plausible explanations and I have previously referred to them both in print (see Nildin-Wall 1995). Further studies of games like Warlord and other fantasy literature have nonetheless made it quite clear to me that although there might still be a certain amount of truth in both explanations, the main reason for the introduction of these beings into the lajv world certainly depends also on their prior existence in other forms of popular culture. The popularity of the “black characters” probably lies in the fascination for participants of being able to behave in a way that is not normally allowed in the everyday world outside the game. These characters offer the player an opportunity to release a lot of aggression. Within the lajv, for example, it is possible to express truthful negative feelings towards somebody that normal rules of behaviour would not normally allow. A further indication of the way in which fantasy literature and traditional role-playing games influence lajvs can be seen in the appearance of new sets of good supernatural characters. Whereas previously only “elves”, or possibly sometimes “high elves” and “wood-elves” used to exist, one can sometimes today also encounter groups that are called ljosalvar (or ljósálfar), drawn from Icelandic tradition. Drawn from the Celtic tradition are concepts such as seilige2, made up of the good elves, and unseilige courts, consisting of “evil” or “black elves”, all of which can occur in lajvs. Nonetheless, supernatural beings of this kind have tended to become ever rarer, even in fantasy lajvs. The reasons for this are often practical: writing of magic is one thing, and imagining it in a table game is also quite possible. Performance of it, on the other hand, is impossible. There is therefore a growing tendency in such games to tell others of the encounters that have taken place with wood-spirits or dragons, for example, rather than enacting these encounters. There is also the question of being together with other players in villages or inns, as opposed to spending a lot of time relatively alone in the forest, without taking part in the main action or even observing very much of it. As noted above, characters and groups of people or supernatural beings are often stereotyped in lajvs. It is also often necessary that dresses and masks dis-

2 The spelling of seilige and unseilige differs with each author. I have used the form that seems slightly more common than any other.

Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods 727

Fig. 22.1: Live role-playing games in Sweden: Fig. 22.2: Live role-playing games in Sweden: Wood elves. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) (Courtesy of A black elf. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) (Courtesy of Kalle Ring.) Kalle Ring.)

Fig. 22.3: Live role-playing games in Sweden: Fig. 22.4: Live role-playing games in Sweden: An orc wizard. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) (Courtesy An orc. (Photo: Kalle Ring.) (Courtesy of Kalle of Kalle Ring.) Ring.)

728 Bodil Nildin-Wall play distinctive traits in order to enable other players to identify easily certain types during the game. Although these characteristics often differ widely between groups and/ or societies, some traits are fairly common. Many of these traits may be observed in the Lord of the Rings movies, but they existed long before the movies were made, as figs 22.1 and 22.2 demonstrate. Elves, for example, have pointed ears, and if they are “wood-elves” (fig. 22.1), they are dressed in the style of the elf, Legolas, as seen in the film. “Dark elves” have the same pointed ears, but they are dressed totally in black and often have their faces painted black as well (fig. 22.2). Orcs, on the other hand, can be imagined in many different ways, but pictures of lajv role players taken years before The Fellowship of the Ring was first released often show an astonishing likeness to orcs as they are masked in the film (figs 22.3 and 22.4). Wizards may or may not wear pointed hats, but their magic abilities must always be shown in some way, in order for the other participants to know who and what they may be en- countering (fig. 22.3). Interestingly enough, the stereotypical characters and masks used in lajvs are strongly reminiscent of medieval commedia dell’arte and mystery plays. The popularity of the orcs or other “black characters”, for example, can be compared to the popularity of the Devil in the mystery plays. However, it is also possible to see certain similarities to the stereotypes of particular characters that appear in traditional mumming both in the Nordic countries and elsewhere. “Evil” characters were of course, very popular among the mummers and their audiences too.3 There are, however, further elements that are reminiscent of traditional mummers. As in traditional mumming in earlier times, the participants in the lajv games are mainly between the ages of 16 and 25. Younger adolescents are often not encouraged as the games can be rather rough, and the older players do not want to have to look after the younger participants. Nonetheless, some lajvs are specially organised for younger players, and one also finds many players who go on playing far past the age of 25. Furthermore, most lajv-players tend to be male just like many traditional mummers used to be. However, it should be noted that many lajv groups are very gender-conscious and actively work to enable female players to take on all sorts of characters, especially authoritative ones. This ought to enable girls to take on male characters, a possibility that has not been accorded them either in theatre traditions in earlier times (as, for example, in Shakespeare’s theatre or the Nordic students’ farces), or in traditional mumming where the actors were usually men. In the material I have collected, however, many girls say that they do not feel comfortable in these characters. They prefer more traditional roles. A common complaint is that younger male players do not give them the support and respect they need to enable them to succeed in taking on

3 See, for example, the references to the various “monster” figures, and the figures of Herod and the black king in the Star Plays in the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume.

Black Elves and Orcs in Swedish Woods 729 certain characters such as army commanders.4 The sentiments involved here might, of course, also be rephrased in the following way: adolescent male players are so insecure in their own gender expectations that they would rather risk spoiling months of preparations by themselves or others than risk the in- lajv appearance of being dominated by females. A decade and a half ago, when I started studying lajv cultures, they were definitely forms of subculture. Nowadays, they have become rather fashion- able. One example of this can be seen in Historiska museet (the Historical Museum) in Stockholm, which, between May 8 and August 29, 2004, had an exhibition entitled Medeltid Ð Dead or lajv (Middle Ages Ð Dead or Live). Part of the exhibition involved lajv performances. Even today, however, some moral panic is taking place. In reports from the USA that appear on a relatively regular basis, players have commonly been accused of being “Satanists” who are unable to differentiate between play and reality. In Norway, a man calling himself “Count Grishnak” was then sent to prison for arson and murder in the 1990s (Nildin-Wall 1995). In Sweden, meanwhile, a drama teacher wrote a book called De övergivnas armé (The Army of Deserted Children: Örnstedt and Sjöstedt 1996) in which she maintains that role-players and lajv-players are children whose parents do not care about them. She adds that the games are exceedingly dangerous. Slightly malicious tongues among lajv-players state, though, that: “Hon måste naturligtvis vara emot dom, för lajvspelarna visar ju att tonåringar klarar sej utmärkt utan dramalärare” (Of course she has to be be against it, because the teenagers and young adults in these games are showing that they can manage quite well without drama teachers). Mumming traditions in Sweden today have become somewhat institutionalised.5 Even in the nursery schools, teachers are organising the children as they take part in the traditional customs. As noted above, the lajv-players belong to roughly the same age group as that which the earlier traditional mummers used to belong to, and they are creating something without any external help. Indeed, unlike the case in many traditional mumming customs, the participants in lajv are getting older. There are, however, some disturbing signs. The trendier and more accepted the lajvs become, the more prone adults seem to be to try to take them over, organising them officially rather than leaving the young players alone. For example, there have been some reports pointing out how some handicraft teachers have suggested that pupils should create their costumes in class. If adults persist in acting in this way, the lajvs will probably deteriorate in the same way as traditional mumming: adolescents and young adults will simply move on to a new form of expression. In my opinion, lajvs have an important function for today’s youth since they enable the young to test their own characters and their own limits. In a state of

4 The manuscripts of these interviews are contained in Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folk- minnesavdelningen (earlier Institutet för språk och folkminnen: SOFI) in Uppsala. 5 See further the survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in Sweden elsewhere in this book, and also the articles by Fredrik Skott and Eva Knuts.

730 Bodil Nildin-Wall post-modern cultural decomposition, chronicle plays give the illusion of a possibility to rewrite, recreate and relive our history. I would argue that lajvs and, also in part, carnival performances like Medeltidsveckan (The Medieval Week) in Visby give us all the possibility of rewriting, recreating and reliving a kind of mythology and also a new folklore.

Unpublished Manuscripts and Local Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following source is referred to in this survey: SOFI, FA (Institutet för språk och folkminnen: Folkminnesavdelningen, Uppsala): Records: SOFI

Galoshins 731

Comparable Traditions in Neighbouring Countries

732 Emily Lyle

Galoshins 733 Galoshins The Scottish Death-and-Revival Play Performed by Boys at Yule or Hallowe’en Emily Lyle

The Scottish seasonal play which was normally performed in people’s homes at Yule or Hallowe’en is a short one, sometimes very short, consisting only of the thirty or so lines of text felt to be necessary to carry the action. The title that is sometimes used for it, Galoshins, comes from the name of one of the characters which occurs almost exclusively in Scotland. All the texts of this play have the same general outline but they vary considerably in detail. The first textual records date from the nineteenth century but there are references to performances in the eighteenth century (Hayward 1992: 3Ð8). Before that, there are mentions of “guising” customs in which men went about in disguise at certain seasons, but details are lacking.1 This study presents twentieth-century material drawing on reminiscences of performers and witnesses who were involved with the play up to the time when it ceased to be performed traditionally.2 By contrast with some other similar customs, there are no animals in this play: there is no horse or dragon to make an elaborate costume for, or to draw special attention during the performance. The essential characters are two combatants and a doctor. There is generally also a character who requests and receives gifts from the members of the household and there is sometimes a presenter. There may also be additional combatants involved in the core action and additional characters in the introduction and close that frame the action, but five characters are sufficient to carry the main components of the performance. There is first of all a prologue. Then one champion challenges another and the two fight until one is killed. The doctor cures the dead man and the cure is followed by rejoicing and reconciliation and good wishes. Gifts are requested and received. The performance is partly directed internally towards the characters involved and partly directed externally towards the members of the audience, who can be addressed by the performers. There is a double perspective here which I thought was caught rather well in the course of a description of the play

1 For some examples and context, see chapter 4, “Profane Pastimes”, in Todd 2002: 183–226. Ear- ly Scottish guising references will be included in the volumes of the Records of Early Drama: Scot- land series (under the auspices of REED at the University of Toronto), of which the South-East Scotland volume is currently being edited by John J. McGavin and Eila Williamson. 2 I am preparing a book drawing on this material called A Penny Was a Lot in These Days: “Galoshins” Remembered.

734 Emily Lyle by Elizabeth Trotter, from Whitsome, Berwickshire. The two champions, Golashins [sic] and an unnamed opponent, have fought and Miss Trotter goes on to say: “When [Golashins] was slain and laid out on the rug …”. Her use of the archaic word “slain” for “killed” is appropriate to the world inhabited by the mighty champions of the internal action, while “laid out on the rug” brings us back abruptly to the homely context where the boy performer is envisaged in front of the household fire. When there is a presenter who speaks the prologue, he sometimes takes his name from his opening words and this completely fuses him with his role of opener of the performance time. In one case, he is even given a different name in the words he speaks but this has been overridden by his identification with the opening. Andrew Rennie, from Kippen, Stirlingshire, vividly remembered the play in which he took the part of presenter. He said, “I was ‘Keep Silence’.” His opening words were: “Keep silence, merry gentlemen, unto your courts comes I,/ My name’s Bold Alexander, and treacherous am I,”3 but he had no sense of himself as having taken the role of a character called Bold Alexander. Similarly, the character whose opening words were “Stir up yer fire and give us light” was called “Stir Up”. The boy who played the role of presenter had an important action to perform even before he began the words of the play. It was he who entered the house first. This entry was made in different ways. James Wands from Dennyloan- head, Stirlingshire, said: “We jist walked in to the house ye know, no chapping, knocking at the door in these days. Opened the door and ‘Stir up yer fire!’, ye see?” (SA1982.110). Peter Thomson of Biggar, Lanarkshire, commented: “Doors weren’t locked in these days, or maybe a back door or that, but front doors were very very rarely locked” (SA1982.125). More often, though, the boy would not just go in without invitation and start his speech, but would knock at the door first and request entry. The norm was for the guisers to be welcomed in, but they would sometimes be turned away. This might be because the household had already had a set of guisers performing that evening Ð for sometimes more than one troupe was playing in a specific area and some households would welcome them all while others might feel that one was enough Ð or it might be a more strongly negative response.4 These negative responses were often vividly remembered, as in this conversation I had with Harry Fox in Morebattle, Roxburghshire: EL: Did any special one of you knock at the door? HF: Well I think usually the number one, Little I, did the knocking. We jist sortae went to the door in proper rotation. Little I knocked at the door and whoever

3 Andrew Rennie’s version appears in Bruford and Lyle 1981–1982: 380–383. 4 Cf. Gunnell 2007a (forthcoming); Glassie 1975: 48 and 126–128; and the article by Séamas Ó Catháin elsewhere in this book for evidence with regard to mummers feeling the necessity of visiting the entire community in Shetland, Scotland, and in Ireland. As the other Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this book show, this idea was also common in a number of other places.

Galoshins 735

answered the door, you see, “Will you let the guisers act?” That was what he said. … That was the request made and they would either say “yes” or “no”, which was “yes” in I would say ninety-five percent of cases. […] [But] I mind [remember] one night jist at this first hoosie Ð the auld [old] Foxes lived in it, they were relations of mine in a far off way Ð and the old man called Bob Fox was a bit of a grumble [complaining person] really; he hadnae much time for fun like that, and, eh, we rung the bell and we got nae answer. We tried it again and got nae answer. And Jimmy of course went forrit [forward] and he just stood wi the hand on the bell and let it ring and ring and ring. And of course the old man dived oot the door and he’d a book. His glasses were away up here, and he’d a great, huge, egg-shaped, bald heid, and with the glasses sittin’ in the middle he wis like a monster. And he had a book open. And he played [struck] two or three lashes [blows] at Jimmy Nairn before he got oot the road [out of the way] (SA1984.30). There does not seem to have been any immediate retaliation by the Galoshins boys for a refusal, but I was told in the town of Biggar that anyone refusing could expect a “rough time” from the boys throughout the year (SA1982.126: Peter Thomson, Biggar). Often the boys simply did not approach the houses where they knew beforehand that they were unlikely to be welcome. If the boy who made the request to act was known to the household, it made it more likely that they would be accepted, and I heard of one case where the boys would change roles in the course of the evening so that a boy who was known to the household would be the one taking the part of Stir Up when they went to that door (SA1982.110: James Wands, Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire). When invited in, the boys of the company could be in one of two areas: “on stage”, so to speak, or waiting “in the wings” for a later entry. These theatre expressions are, of course, not directly appropriate. There was no stage as such. The performance was in a room where the members of the family had been sitting round the fire. The chairs would be pushed back towards the walls and an acting area would thereby be created in front of the fire. The actors would wait in the hall Ð the lobby Ð until their cue to enter, which was often an unmistak- able direct summons.5 Harry Fox recalls what it was like to wait like this in the specific context of the war years of the early 1940s. In this case, even the first character waited in the hall before making an entry: You had to stand in the lobbies then, and actually there was at least two year during the wartime and, you know, everything had to be very dark Ð no light showing or nothing. So we’re standing there in quite black lobbies, very often, and just a chink o a paraffin lamp showing through the door because there was very little electricity then either, you see. And number one, who was Little I, went in through the door first and shut it behind him and he said, “Here comes in Little I …” (SA1984.30). In a quite common short form of the play, the first speeches of the presenter and the two champions go something like this:

5 With regard to the acting space in Mummers’ plays in crofts in Ireland, see particularly Glassie 1975.

736 Emily Lyle

“Stir up yer fire and give us light, For in this house there’ll be a fight.” “Here comes in Galashan, Galashan is my name; A sword and pistol by my side, I hope to win the game.” “The game sir, the game sir, it’s not within your power; I’ll cut you down in inches in less than half an hour.” “You sir?” “I sir.” “Take yir sword and try sir.”6 They then have a furious fight with their toy swords in the enclosed space of the room until eventually one falls. A performer explained to me that care was taken to fall flat on the back as this made the springing up that takes place later more effective (SA1984.30: Harry Fox). This position also gives more scope for the doctor’s actions. As soon as one of the champions has killed his opponent, he is overcome with remorse. He seeks to find a cure for the man he has just killed and calls for a doctor, who promptly enters (see fig. 23.1). In the Scottish form of the play, he is generally called Dr Brown, and this very common and mundane name contrasts rather oddly with his spectacular skills as a healer, which are clearly magical since they include the required power to raise the dead. Peter Millington has recently concluded that the best way to refer to the group of British plays that include the Scottish form I am discussing is the “Quack Doc- tor” plays (see Millington 2002), and I agree with him that the doctor is the key figure and that his action is the core of the play, but, at the same time, I am un- easy about using the term “quack doctor” which really comes from contexts outside this play where the point is that the doctor’s vast claims are invalid and that he cannot bring about the cures that he claims he can. Like it or not, we are presented in this play with a real revival after death, which does not make sense unless the doctor truly has supernatural powers. Nevertheless, the doctor is a comic figure and the diseases and the cures he mentions generally have nonsensical names. His part is sometimes in prose and this allows a certain scope for improvisation; however, it quite often consists of very brief verse couplets and any comic development would have had to be through silent actions, such as getting a tiny little bottle out of a full-size doctor’s bag. One performer commented: “You used to rummel [rummage] about the bag for long enough to get the bottle out” (SA1982.126: Alec Robertson, Biggar, Lanarkshire). A brief form of the doctor’s lines is: Here comes in old Doctor Brown The best old doctor in the town.

6 Lyle 1988: 21, from William Brown, Melrose, Roxburghshire. Introduction from James Wands, Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire: SA1982.110.

Galoshins 737

Fig. 23.1: Galoshins in Scotland: The doctor cures the slain champion while his opponent looks on in an outdoor performance at Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland, April 24, 1982. (Photo: Emily Lyle.) (Courtesy of the School of Scottish Studies Photographic Archive in the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.)

Put a little to his nose, and a little to his toes. Rise up Jack and sing a song. (Lyle 1988: 21, and 23, from Elizabeth Trotter, Whitsome, Berwickshire, completed from William Brown, Melrose, Roxburghshire.) The cure was effected with liquid from a bottle applied to the body or given as a drink. The play in the hands of schoolboys performing in family homes seems to have been quite decorous without the development of the potential for sexual innuendo that may be found in the doctor’s part in adult performances, but a mildly scatological alternative line – “Put a little to his thumb, put a little to his bum” – was known, and was presumably used in appropriate company (SA1991.100: Ian Hunter, Edinburgh, Midlothian). The actor playing the part of the man who has risen from the dead then sings with joy and thankfulness for his resurrection, and often leads the group in a sung blessing on the members of the household or good wishes directed towards them: Once I was dead, but now I’m alive; Oh blessèd be the doctor that made me to revive. That made me to revive with some whisky and some beer, And we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy, happy new year. (Lyle 1988: 23Ð24, from William Brown, Melrose, Roxburghshire.)

738 Emily Lyle

Then the collector enters with his request. This character is often referred to as “wee”, meaning “little”, and his role was often played by a boy who was younger than the others and who was serving his apprenticeship, expecting to have one of the main roles in a subsequent year: Here comes in wee Mickey Funny The best wee man to gaither the money. Great lang pooches doon to his knees He’ll tak’ penny or twopence or three bawbees [halfpennies]. (Lyle 1988: 20, from Mrs Helen Bickerton, née Chambers, Broxburn, West Lothian.) The boys were given pennies and often things to eat as well, and they divided everything equally among them at the end of the evening. Remembering the custom, men who performed in it as boys say that they did it “for the money” but admit that they did it also “for the fun of the thing”,7 and their reminiscences reflect their pleasure in it. People also generally enjoyed the visits of the guisers. The boys, in the main, seem to have learned the play from performances by the boys a little senior to them, though it must always have been possible for adults to give them the words, if they needed them, as happened when the custom was beginning to die out.8 Two cases in which I was told of specific re- hearsals were when there was some adult involvement. Jim MacQueen of Gar- gunnock, Stirlingshire, told me the words were written out for him by a William Simpson, who was like an uncle to him, and that he and the other boys then rehearsed together in a shed. He particularly recalled arguments about who was to take which part (SA1980.101). Harry Fox and his friends were rehearsed by his father, Tom Fox, who had done the play in his own boyhood without any adult intervention. Harry remembered: Usually we were in ma father’s hoose maybe three or four nights, and we would try it oot twice at least four nights before we were turn’t ontae the streets. Ye see it wasnae a case of jist gettin thegither and goin away and doin this thing, oh no. He had to have us in the hoose and, “We’ll do this again,” and he’d put us back out and, “Come in again and let’s see you do it better this time.” And he wouldnae let you away until ye had it off perfect. He believed in having it right (SA1984.30). The boys often had adult help in getting their costumes together. They were mainly dressed in character with special attention paid to the doctor’s smart outfit with a black coat and a top hat or a bowler. However, anything that made them look a bit different from the ordinary was acceptable and, when the boys did not have anything else, they simply turned their jackets inside out to show the striped linings. Faces were usually altered, either by the addition of masks, which were called “false faces”, or, more commonly, by the application of soot

7 Andrew Rennie, Kippen, Stirlingshire: VA 1981 Kippen: Galoshins, a video produced by Emily Lyle, called “Keep Silence and Company: The Kippen Galoshins.” 8 This development is worth comparing to that of the stjernegutter (Star Boys) tradition of Grim- stad, Norway, as described by Ane Ohrvik elsewhere in this volume.

Galoshins 739 or burnt cork. Young children were liable to be frightened by the boys’ appearance, and one gang I heard of specifically avoided blackening their faces and confined their facial disguise to beards and moustaches because, as I had it explained to me, “If you blackened your face you’d maybe no [not] get in some o the houses where there were kids, you see” (SA1982.110: James Wands). The visits took place at the two year beginnings that are known in Scotland. One is the official New Year of the Western calendar on January 1 with its eve celebrated on Hogmanay, December 31, and a run-up period from Christmas, a midwinter time that I have referred to as “Yule”. The other is Hallowe’en, or Samhain to give the festival its name in Gaelic, which is the Celtic language found in Scotland. This is at the start of the dark, winter half of the Celtic year and probably marks the start of the Celtic year as a whole. The key dates dividing the Celtic year into winter and summer halves are from darkness on Octo- ber 31 (Hallowe’en) to November 1, and from darkness on April 30 to May 1 (see Rees and Rees 1961: 83Ð94). Normally the guisers did not go out until after dark, and this is still the case with Hallowe’en guising today. It is of interest that Hallowe’en guising by children has continued in Scot- land without interruption up to the present. What has happened is that it is no longer linked to Galoshins which has not been performed as a traditional house-visiting custom since the 1940s, so far as I have been able to discover. However, a link with the Galoshins tradition can easily be suggested. The play was not generally presented in isolation but was followed by a song or songs, and perhaps also by recitations and dances. The songs were not linked to the play or the season; two mentioned by name as favourites were the love songs “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” and “Ho Ro My Nut-Brown Maiden” (An- drew Rennie [see note 3 above]; and SA1982.110: James Wands). It seems likely that when the play ceased to be performed, the freely chosen elements of entertainment continued to flourish. Guisers in Scotland today are expected to perform in some way, by singing or reciting or even simply by asking riddles, and, if they are not prepared to do this, it is often taken as a sign of American influence from Trick-or-Treating at Hallowe’en.9 The American custom took its rise in the Old World, was modified in the New World, and has recently come back to the Old World to exert its influence, but, as this is still at the same time of year in Scotland as it always was, there is not as strong a sense of an alien importation as there might have been.10 There is, however, a certain clash, and one interesting illustration of this is the current “turnip versus pumpkin” controversy. In Scottish tradition, lanterns were made for use by Hallowe’en guisers by hollowing out turnips. Strong traditionalists in Scotland still keep to

9 On the American tradition, see Santino 1994. See further the information about Orkney and Shet- land “guising” in the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume. 10 See Romanosky 1997. See further the discussion of the development of “Halloween” traditions in the Nordic area in the relevant Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions elsewhere in this volume.

740 Emily Lyle turnips, but many other Scots have moved over to using the larger and much more easily worked pumpkins familiar to American children. Scottish shops today stock both turnips and pumpkins conspicuously at the Hallowe’en season. With regard to the seasonal date of the performance of Galoshins, the main link is to a New Year’s Eve, whether this is October 31 or December 31, although traces can be found of performances at other times in the winter season between November and February (Hayward 1992: 7Ð8). Brian Hayward has mapped the occurrences at the two year-beginning times, and has demonstrated a predominance of Hallowe’en in the west of Scotland and a predominance of New Year in the east (Hayward 1992: 13). The season, though, was subject to change. It has been possible to find a few indications of a movement of the play from New Year to Hallowe’en while there are no indications of transfer in the opposite direction. A particularly clear case of the shift of the play from De- cember to October is found in Morebattle in south-east Scotland, where the play was performed by Tom Fox up to 1914 between Christmas and Hog- manay.11 In the 1920s, the play died out in the village and, when it was started up again by Tom Fox’s son, Harry, and his friends in the late 1930s, the time they chose to go out was Hallowe’en, linking themselves to the custom of guising (without the play) which had been introduced at that season. The emphasis on Hallowe’en was new in this locality and came from the western part of the country. One woman even said explicitly, “It was Mrs Scott from the west that brought Hallowe’en to Morebattle. […] We didn’t have Hallowe’en at More- battle until Mrs Dodie Scott came” (SA1984.31: Mrs Lees, Cranshaws, Ber- wickshire). The energetic and influential Mrs Scott from the Glasgow area, who was a tailor’s wife and a Sunday School teacher, introduced the idea of having Hallowe’en parties in Morebattle, and seems to have initiated the Hal- lowe’en guising custom too; I was told that no one went round at Hallowe’en before her time. Until the mass media took over their current communication role, dissemination of items of folk custom was dependent to a considerable extent on movements of individuals like this one.12 We are sometimes more aware of the dramatic instances of transmission by emigration to new countries or across language barriers, but quiet changes of this kind must have been going on frequently at the village level without much attention being paid to them. The Galoshins play flourished for well over a century in southern Scotland in small communities (which could be villages or groups of farms or sets of streets in towns) that were largely self-contained, but were not, of course, totally isolated. The wide range of small differences among the individual play versions, and the rich social context in which they were performed, make them

11 Tom Fox’s version appears in Bruford and Lyle 1979–80: 107–112. 12 For an interesting parallel in Iceland, see further the article by Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir elsewhere in this book, with regard to the movement of the Icelandic Twelfth Night custom from ∏ingeyri to Ólafsvík.

Galoshins 741 a fascinating field of study. The plays brought imaginative delight and a sense of adventure, as well as much-appreciated hard cash, to the boys who performed in them, and the boys’ visits helped to bond the community and bring about the effects of the good wishes that they sometimes offered to their audience at the end of their performance.

Unpublished Archive Sources In addition to the works contained in the General Bibliography, material from the following sources is referred to in this survey: SA and VA (School of Scottish Studies Sound and Video Archive in the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh) Sound references: SA1980.101: Jim MacQueen, Gargunnock, Stirlingshire. SA1982.110: James Wands, Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire. SA1982.126: Alec Robertson, Biggar, Lanarkshire. SA1982.125Ð126: Peter Thomson, Biggar, Lanarkshire. SA1984.30: Harry Fox, Morebattle, Roxburghshire. SA1984.31: Mrs Lees, Cranshaws, Berwickshire. SA1991.100: Ian Hunter, Edinburgh, Midlothian. Film reference: VA 1981 Kippen: Galoshins: Emily Lyle (producer) 1981: “Keep Silence and Com- pany: The Kippen Galoshins.”

742 Emily Lyle

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 743 Roots and Ramiﬁcations of “A Remarkable Fusion” Aspects of the Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play Séamas Ó Catháin

The document, Descriptio itineris Capitanei Iosae Bodley in Lecaliam, contains an interesting account of a journey made in north-eastern Ireland almost four hundred years ago. Its author, Captain Josias Bodley (c. 1550Ð1618), was an English officer of the Elizabethan army who spent several years in Ireland around the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at a time when Eng- lish power there was at a relatively low ebb.1 Christmas tide 1602 found Bod- ley travelling with some companions through various parts of counties Armagh and Down on his way to join in celebrating the festive season with an acquaintance who probably lived at Downpatrick in the Barony of Lecale. Ireland had been racked with conflict as the English sought to subdue the natives who, just a few short years before (in 1598), had succeeded in routing Queen Elizabeth’s forces at Blackwatertown, near Armagh, with the slaughter of above two thousand men. Josias Bodley was a leading figure in the campaign to regain control that followed this set-back, an interlude that culminated in the disastrous defeat of the Irish at the Battle of Kinsale in 1603, the “Flight of the Earls” and the collapse of the old Gaelic order, and, commencing in 1608, the Plantation of Ulster. Bodley’s account provides, as one commentator puts it: … a curious peep at the barrack or mess-room life, the sayings and doings off parade and out of view of the eyes of history, of six officers of high rank and fame in Eliza- beth’s veteran army… but it further possesses an interest in the locality just mentioned, from the allusions to the wild and uncultivated state in which it then was, and the difficulties encountered in traversing it; as well as from the circumstances that, just at this time, the power of the Irish Clanship was about to cease; by the submis- sion of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, the last of the great O’Neills; and that, in the forfeiture of his estates, as well as those of the O’Donnell, O’Doherty, O’Cahan, and some other less important chieftains, originated the settlement and ‘plantation’ of Ulster, with the establishment of which Bodley was… officially connected (Anon 1854: 95).

1 Bodley’s elder brother, Sir Thomas Bodley, will be ever memorable as the founder of the magnificent library at Oxford named from him Ð the Bodleian Ð where the manuscript containing this account (MS Tanner 444, fol. 4v) is held: Fletcher (2000: 56 and 350, note 248) and Fletcher (2001: 565).

744 Séamas Ó Catháin

More importantly from our perspective, Josias Bodley furnishes an outsider’s view of mumming in that part of Ireland in the period immediately prior to the Plantation of Ulster, an event that resonates in the annals of Irish mumming to the present day in the context of the development of the Irish Christmas Mum- mers’ play. Gailey (1966: 154) characterised the synergies involved in this process in the following terms: The folk play in Ireland represents an alien element received into a changing cultural pattern. Records of its appearance in the country almost all come from areas where English influence was strong in the seventeenth-century Plantations, but we would require to know more about the detailed relationships between incoming and already existing populations in these areas before being able to claim that the folk-play either replaced or merged with some other custom. The forces that sustained the emergence of this particular cultural product were similarly summed up by Green (1971: 113) in his review of Gailey (1969): The outline remains the same: a text of presumably recent date imposed on a shadowy life-cycle drama of international provenance and vast antiquity. Questions remain to be answered, especially as to how and when the existing English texts and characters were imported and imposed on the earlier folk dramas. At whatever time and for whatever reason, there does seem to have been a remarkable fusion of Eng- lish and Irish elements. Over the years, the Irish Christmas Mummers’ play has engaged the attention of a small number of scholars, among them the aforementioned Rodney Green (1946 and 1971); his fellow Ulsterman, Alan Gailey (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974 and 1978); and Henry Glassie (1975) and, latterly, Ray Cashman (2000a and 2000b) of the USA. Among the questions raised in that context are the following: how to quantify the influence on Irish mumming of the incoming Eng- lish planters and, correspondingly, how to explain the apparent lack of influence of planters and other newcomers of Scottish origin (predominantly Prot- estant in both cases); what was the role of British oral tradition and likewise eighteenth- and nineteenth-century chapbooks in shaping and consolidating the “Englishness” of mumming rhymes in general; what is the distribution of the mumming tradition as between different regions in the northern half of Ire- land and, in particular, as between members of the Protestant and Catholic communities in that area; what was the nature of the “original Irish ludus”, posited by Green, and how exactly did that ludus meld with “texts and characters… imported and imposed” (Green 1971: 113) 2 upon it; and, not least, what was the role of the Irish language in that process? The description provided by Bodley of the Irish mummers he met with at

2 “While there is not enough evidence to make a definite statement, I am strongly of the opinion that there was an original Irish ludus, preserved in Ulster and parts of Leinster, by fitting on to it an imported English text. Elsewhere it has degenerated into the simple Wrenboy processions of Saint Stephen’s Day”: Green 1946: 12. Gailey (1966: 153) is less sanguine, however, maintaining the view that the “question of borrowing from an older Irish ludus must be more problematical than Green imagined”.

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 745 the turn of the year 1602 predates the onset of the kind of “fusion” referred to by Green and, therefore, does not concern itself with these issues. Bodley’s contribution to expanding our knowledge of the nature of what may have been an example of an original Irish ludus is largely limited to areas such as com- portment, musical accompaniment, equipment and costume, and disguise; his description of what he saw and heard implies the occurrence of verbal exchanges and, perhaps, even the delivery of vaunts of one kind or another, but, unfortunately, no hint of whose these or what their narrative content may have been is offered. Nevertheless, Bodley’s account highlights interesting aspects of Irish mumming including some that continue to feature in contemporary Irish mumming. It goes as follows: Et jam iterum ad Lecalium nostrum, ubi ibter alia, quæ ad hillaritatem conferebant, venerunt vna nocte post Cænam maschari quidam ex Nobilibus Hibernicis, numero quatuor (si recte memini) Illi primum miserunt ad Nos literas Fustianas secundum antiquam phrasim, post nostras cordiales commendationes &cetera dicentes, se fuisse certos Aduienas nuper arriuatos in illis partibus, & valde cupidos preterire vnam, vel alterm horam Nobiscum, & post concessam veniam isto ordine ingrediun- tur. Primo puer cum tæda accensa, tunc duo pulsantes tympana, tunc ipsi Maschari duo, & duo, tunc altera tæda. Vnus ex Mascaris portabat sordidum emunctorium cum decem Libris intus, non ex Bullione, sed ex noua pecunia nuper impressa, quæ habet Lyram an vno latere, & Insignia Regalia ab altero. Iduebantur Canisijs {read Camisijs} cum multis folijs Hæderæ hic, & illic sparsim consutis, & super Facies suas habebant maschas ex pelle Cuniculi cum foraminibus ad videndum extra, & nasi erant facti ex papyro, Galeri vero alti, et pyramidales (more persico) etiam ex papyro ornati cum dictis Folijs. Dicam breui, ludimus Tesseris; nunc Tympana ex illorum partibus, nunc Tuba ex nostris sonabat (Fletcher 2000: 56). (And now back to Lecale, where, amongst the various things which roused our mirth, there came one night after dinner certain maskers, Irish noblemen, four in number, if I remember rightly. First they sent us preposterous letters [according to the old expression] which, after cordially greeting us, announced that they were certain forreigners [sic], recently arrived in those parts, and that they were keen on spending an hour or two with us. And after getting permission, they enter in this order. First, a boy with a lighted torch, then two [men] beating drums, then the maskers themselves, two by two, then another torch. One of the maskers carried a dirty handkerchief with ten pounds in it, not in bullion, but in the new currency recently minted, which has harp on one side and the royal arms on the other. They were dressed in shirts with ivy leaves sowed [sic] on, thickly in some places, and thinly in others, and over their faces they had masks made out of rabbit skin, with holes to see out of, and their noses were made of paper, with high, conical helmets and peaked [in the Persian manner], also made from paper and decorated with the same leaves. Let me be brief: we play at dice, now with drum rolls from their side, now with trum- pet flourishes from ours.) Fletcher (2000 and 2001), whose labours have recently resulted in the most comprehensive survey of the documentary sources for Irish drama from earliest times until the mid-seventeenth century, and whose translation of Bodley’s Latin text this is, comments that the exotic visitors in question ob-

746 Séamas Ó Catháin

Fig. 24.1: The Ederney Mummers, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1982. (Photo: Séamas Ó Catháin.) (Courtesy of the National Folklore Collection, University College, Dublin.) viously operated as a group, that they had assumed a fictitious identity, announced in advance, and that when the maskers made their entry, they did so in pairs “dramatically preceeded by a boy with a blazing torch and… two drummers”, with another torchbearer bringing up the rear. Their appearance, as Fletcher says, “seems especially to have struck Bodley, for he recorded it carefully: shirts with ivy leaves sown [sic] on, rabbit-skin masks with paper noses, and headdresses which were conical paper affairs similarly covered with ivy leaves” (Fletcher 2000: 57). Fletcher continues: It may be suspected that the evening’s entertainment was a hybrid of English and Irish forms. Elements of the upper-class English pastime of masking are clearly apparent in it, especially in the way in which it was stage-managed. Irish input into the Lecale performance might be suspected in the way in which the maskers dressed: their conical headdresses seem to foreshadow those still worn by the Ulster strawboys for mummings (Fletcher 2000: 57). In most cases, the identity of members of today’s mumming groups is concealed by facial disguise or masks of various materials, nowadays often false faces of latex but, formerly, home-made disguises fashioned from humbler materials including, in earlier centuries, animal skins as Bodley’s account confirms. Most striking of all, perhaps, is the deployment of straw as a material for masking and the manufacture of body costume. Masks in the shape of conically shaped headgear are woven in a ribbed style with a broad base wide enough to allow them to be drawn over the head and cover the face. The ribs can be adjusted by pulling them closer together in order to hide the wearer’s features completely from view, or by easing them apart in order to give enhanced vision. Straw hats often feature a fancy four-cornered crest or top-

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 747

Figs 24.2aÐb: Straw hats as used by mummers in Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. Models commis- sioned by Aughakillymaude Community Mummers, displayed in County Hall, Enniskil- len, Co. Fermanagh, in June 2003. (Photo: Molly Carter.) (Courtesy of Molly Carter.) knot, also of straw, from which a long tassel might trail (see figs 24.1, 24.2 aÐ b and 24.3). Straw body costume can range from a rudimentary sheaf of straw bound around the waist with a súgán (straw) rope to elaborate panelled tunics designed to cover the upper and lower body. These were fastened across the middle with loops of straw and also trailed fancy woven straw tassels (see fig. 24.3).3 Other than trumpeting and drumming a musical accompaniment to a game of dice in which the Englishmen stripped the “Irish noblemen” of their money and sent them packing, no reference is made by Bodley to whatever kind of presentation may have preceded the activities of the gamblers on this occasion. As Fletcher says, the exotic appearance of the visitors (whose description by Bodley as “Irish noblemen”, to judge by the general tone of his piece, is likely to have been sarcastic), was what mainly impressed this English observer whose seeming disinterest in recording whatever narrative content may have attached to an otherwise closely observed event, might have stemmed from

3 For a full description of the use of straw in making these costumes, see Gailey 1968. There are intriguing parallels between the form of these costumes and those found in Shetland: see further the Survey of Masks and Mumming Traditions in the North Atlantic elsewhere in this volume, and figs 4.3Ð4.5, 4.7Ð4.8 and 4.10Ð4.11.

748 Séamas Ó Catháin

Fig. 24.3: A Mummers play as performed by the Aughakillymaude Community Mummers at County Hall, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, in June 2003. (Photo: Terry Gunnell.) lack of familiarity with the Irish language, which we may presume to have featured as part of the visiting Yuletide mumming party’s presentation. If, as Fletcher suggests, “the evening’s entertainment was a hybrid of Eng- lish and Irish forms” in terms of performance and presentation, we may equally well suppose that communication between the parties may have been just as variable. We may also speculate that the kind of narrative content that ultimately fueled and sustained the operation of Green’s process of “fusion” featured among the maskers’ utterances on this occasion and that this together with kindred contemporary materials duly came to be reflected in the forms we recognise today as enduring elements of the Irish Christmas mummers’ play. It seems reasonable to suppose that, despite the dearth of Christmas mummers’ rhymes in the Irish language (a situation adverted to by various commentators [Green 1946: 12; and Gailey 1978: 61]), certain elements of the play as we know it today may have had Irish-language counterparts or models at an earlier stage. For example, some of the elements of the doctor’s rhyme, in which this character responds to a call for him to list the ingredients of the cure he has to offer, are paralleled directly in the Irish-language, albeit in sources not obviously connected with mumming. A detailed analysis of all available rhymes attributed to the doctor, the stuff of which formulae is impossibility symbols, may well expand the range of potential matches in this context.4 Elements of

4 Gailey (1974: 11–12) offers an analysis of elements of the doctor’s rhyme, including reference to relevant English and Scottish sources, and indicates (1974: 9) that all three elements of the epi- sode involving the doctor (statements of his abilities and of the ingredients in his medicine, and a guarantee of his qualification by a recitation of his travels) are well known in British mumming.

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 749 the doctor’s rhyme from Christmas Mummers’ plays are attested not only in more or less contemporary Irish-language sources, but similar formulations also crop up in an Irish literary source of an earlier period where they are characterised as “greas do mianaibh ingantacha nach urusa d’fhagail” (a bunch of remarkable wishes not easily fulfilled). The relevant passage occurs in the late Middle Irish text, Tromdámh Guaire (Joynt 1941: 10Ð11), in which an incident that is said to have occurred on a not insignificant date, namely “idir dha Nodlaig” (lit. between the two Christmases) – during the twelve days of Christ- mas – is described. There, Muirenn, wife of Dallán, articulates a troublesome wish (“mian cesamail”). Failure to fulfil it, she maintains, will be the death of her (“ní baam beo”). Senchán asks what she wishes to have and Muirenn replies: “Sgala do linn leamhnachta le smir mughdhorn mhuc n-allaid; peta cuach do beth ar crand eiginn am fhiadhnuisi” – idir dha Nodlaig in tan sin – “ a tenn-[eiri for a mhuin 7] crislach ’na timcheall do ruadhan [bloingi toirc] gleghil, 7 ech mongach riabhach do beth [fúithi 7 m]ong corcra fuirre 7 bert do lín in damhain alla uimpi 7 si ac cronan roimpi co Durlas.”5 “Is decair in mian sin d’fhagail,” ar Senchán. “Ní haein-mhian sin acht greas do mianaib ingantacha nach urusa d’fhaghail.” (“A bowl of new milk with the ankle-bone marrow of a wild pig; a pet cuckoo on a churn dash to be my witness Ð between the two Christmases Ð a pressing [burden on its back and] a girding of pure white boar lard round her, and a hairy bay horse with a purple mane under her and a spider’s web about her as she drones all the way to Thurles.” Senchán replies: “That is a hard wish to satisfy… That is not a single wish but a bunch of remarkable wishes not easily fulfilled.”) This and a number of other circumstances point to the possibility of Irish-language narrative content having formed part of the interface between the Eng- lish and Irish mumming traditions at an earlier stage. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that, with the rare exception of specially translated versions of the play for, at the very least, the past century or so, the Christmas Mummers’ play appears invariably to have been performed in English, even by and for people whose knowledge of that language would have been rudimentary in many cases. It would be extremely interesting to speculate as to what the meaning of this intriguing dynamic might be, especially in the context of possible similar occurrences elsewhere. Previous commentators whose knowledge of the Irish-language sources may have been slight have tended to see the preponder- ately monolingual English-language play in Ireland as evidence of the overwhelming nature of the influence of the alien product and the correspondingly insignificant input of the native tradition to the process. I hope to show elsewhere that there may be more to this than meets the eye and that greater possibilities to illuminate the fascinating chemistry of interchange and adaption exist than might have been hitherto imagined (see Ó Catháin 2007 forthcoming).

5 Joynt 1941: 10Ð11. The translation from the Irish is mine.

750 Séamas Ó Catháin

The Irish Christmas Mummers’ play is of the Hero Combat variety, a structure in which two of the characters engage in sword-play (see Helm 1980: 27Ð 33; and Cass and Roud 2002: 29Ð30); one of these is mortally wounded only to be miraculously revived by a doctor who is called upon to minister to the stricken combatant (fig. 24.3; cf. fig. 23.1). These four characters dominate the essential core of the play: the swordsmen, the doctor and the caller, and they are also familiar, to a greater or lesser degree, from the mumming tradition of various parts of our neighbouring island.6 A singular quality of the Irish play is the string of so-called “independent” characters that top and tail it, so to speak, surrounding the dramatic core of the play with a series of entrances and exits, actions and rhymes that often do not have an obvious bearing on its central theme. Both spheres Ð the central dramatic core and the ground occupied by the “independent” characters – offer opportunities for us to identify elements of Irish influence on the play as we know it in Ireland today and we shall now take a brief look at a few of these. Jack Straw, who is possibly the most interesting of the many “independent” characters in the Irish play, is epitomised by Gailey as “a significantly ‘Irish’ folk drama character” (Gailey 1974: 16) who, within Ireland is known only in Ulster, who “appears in only one version outside Ireland, in Ayrshire (Scot- land), but in circumstances clearly suggestive of direct influence from Ireland” (Gailey 1967: 25), and whose “absence from the chapbook text is noteworthy” (Gailey 1974: 16). This exotic figure has achieved something akin to iconic status in that in many of the mumming groups in which he appears he is the only character to be dressed in straw (see figs 24.1 and 24.4). As is borne out by the descriptions of him contained in versions of his rhyme, Jack Straw is nothing less than the personification of straw: You often heard of Jack Straw, But never saw him on this floor before. My father was straw, my mother was straw, And I was reared in a barn of straw (Gailey 1968: 83). This was also noted as: My father was straw, My mother was straw, and why shouldn’t I be straw? (Gailey 1966: 145). Other versions proclaim Jack Straw’s prodigious virility: Here comes I Jack Straw, With my stick in my hand ready to draw. I had fourteen childer born in the one night, And not two in the one townland (Glassie 1975: 82). In addition, Jack Straw’s rhyme has occasionally been understood as a riddle, the answer to which is variously given as “A butterfly”, “A maggot” and

6 See further the article by Emily Lyle elsewhere in this volume.

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 751

Fig. 24.4: Jack Straw, with the Dooish Mummers, Co. Tyrone, Ireland in 1976. (Photo: Caoimhín Ó Danachair.) (Courtesy of the National Folklore Collection, University College, Dublin.)

“Lightning”. The following is a typical version of this enigmatic formulation: Here comes I, Jack Straw, Such a man you never saw. I kissed the devil Through a rock, Through a reel, Through an old spinning wheel, Through a bag of pepper, Through a miller’s hopper, Through a sheep’s shank bone (Ó Catháin 1998: 182).7 Jack Straw and another of the “independent” characters, Green Knight (whose pugnacious entrance and demeanour quickly peters out in limp withdrawal from the scene), represent a pairing that may have constituted a double combat element that once featured as part of the Irish play.8 Green Knight is seen in

7 For a discussion of this rhyming riddle, see Ó Catháin 1998. 8 For a treatment of what he calls “Secondary Verbal Combat”, see Gailey 1974: 7Ð8 and 16Ð17.

752 Séamas Ó Catháin modern versions of the play as representing the Irish, as opposed to the English interest, a role usually discharged by Prince or Saint Patrick (facing Prince or Saint George) in the dramatic core of the play. Appropriately enough, Green Knight is clad from head to toe in the Irish colours and carries a green shield and green sword Ð in latter years, a green (wooden) machine gun. He generally follows Jack Straw into the arena as part of the Presentation, immediately prior to the Combat, and delivers a rhyme such as the following: Here comes I, Green Knight, With my machine gun here to fight. My head is made of iron and my body’s made of steel My britches are made of hardware And any time there’s a battle on I’m ready for the field If you don’t believe the words I say, Enter in Prince George and he’ll clear the way.9 It came as somewhat of a shock recently to find the person playing this character decked out in army fatigues, sporting an imitation (wooden) machine gun and wearing a balaclava in a version of the play performed within a few miles of the present border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a district subject to intensive military and police patrols and frequent road blocks. The young man in question seemed utterly unconcerned about the risk of being arrested as a suspected member of a paramilitary organisation. This is the background against which we find mumming used as a vehicle for the expression of multi-layered religious and political loyalties in At the Black Pig’s Dyke, a recent play by Vincent Woods. A subtler, more accommodating representation of the Irish interest, so to say, is also discernible in the role of Prince or Saint Patrick. Not unsurprisingly, perhaps, in the majority of the Irish plays surveyed by Alan Gailey, George falls victim to Patrick, the Turkey Champion or another character (Gailey 1966: 133Ð135). In a society where political loyalties, British or Irish, broadly divide along sectarian lines Ð Protestant/ Catholic Ð the facility to inflict figura- tive defeat on the political opposition must have accorded a modicum of satisfaction to some, while what injured feelings there may have been on the opposite side would be instantly assuaged by the miraculous revival and swift res- toration to health of the losing party.10 Such factors may have been among the reasons the Christmas Mummers’ play found and continues to find such ready acceptance in communities otherwise notoriously wary of one another in matters cultural. Nor did these events take place in a vacuum insulated from the daily concerns of opposing factions,

9 Collected by the author on numerous occasions in various parts of counties Fermanagh and Tyrone. A single version of this rhyme is noted by Gailey (1966: 147) from Garrison, county Fermanagh. 10 Glassie’s chapter in All Silver and No Brass (1975) entitled “Function: To Bring Unity Amongst them” (122–142) treats of these issues, and those mentioned in the following paragraph.

The Development of the Irish Christmas Mummers’ Play 753 but performances typically took place subject to the scrutiny of all, as it was the custom to visit every house in the community, whether Protestant or Catholic. Whereas the participants in predominantly Protestant or Catholic areas tended to be exclusively Protestant or Catholic, in many areas of mixed population, the players, accompanying musicians, singers, dancers and costume makers were frequently drawn from both sides of the community. These and many other issues have been the subject of investigation by the “Room to Rhyme” Project which over a period of three years (2000Ð2003) actively documented the mumming tradition over much of the northern part of Ireland from archive and field sources. A portion of this work has concentrated on representing the findings by means of GIS mapping, a process that promises to facilitate the achievement of new levels of understanding with regard to the distribution of the various manifestations of mumming within the region, the location of various mumming groups, their stamping grounds and itineraries, questions of membership with regard to social class and religious affiliation, names of characters and their rhymes, costume and accoutrements, music, song and choreography, and a host of other interesting features. This work is based at University College Dublin, but I am delighted to say that it represents a co-operative venture between my own university and two institutions in Northern Ireland (the Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages in Derry and the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, just outside Belfast), and, equally so, that the various funding authorities have seen it as a worthy vehicle for promoting peace and reconciliation between the opposing sides in Northern Ireland and advancing cross-border co-operation on the island of Ireland. Arising from the remarkable fusion of cultural and national interests that is the Irish Christmas Mummers’ play, we may look forward, perhaps, to seeing mumming exercise a continuing role as a model of cultural accommodation in a society that, unfortunately, appears almost as divided nowadays as it was during Ireland’s Elizabethan wars.

754 Séamas Ó Catháin

The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 755 Remembering the Past The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland Paul Smith

The goal of this essay is to explore some of the ways in which “Remembering the Past” has in recent years become the focus of certain sectors of the market economy in Newfoundland, Canada.1 It is not the intention, therefore, to take an advocational stance and say “this is how to market tradition”. Instead, what is offered is an insight into some of the circumstances which appear to have brought about the marketing of traditions in the province, especially Christmas mumming Ð a multifaceted seasonal tradition with a documented history covering at least two hundred years (Anspach 1819: 477; and Halpert and Story 1969).2 In today’s “sophisticated” society, we have little option but to accept that traditions are not simply the prerogative of “the folk” or that they are solely communicated by word of mouth, or that there exists a single “natural context” for their practice and/ or communication. Instead, everyone, regardless of age, gender, class or race, consciously and/ or unconsciously, practises and/ or com- municates a variety of cultural traditions using the most relevant and accessible means, and in whatever contexts they deem to be appropriate. Similarly, if aliens visiting our world Ð as we are told they do on a regular basis Ð were to survey the traditional cultural landscape Ð which is supposed to be based on continuity and consistency, and to the maintenance of symmetry and pattern Ð they would find many inconsistencies in that landscape. For example, the migration of traditions via communications technology, such as the telephone, the FAX machine and the internet, has meant that the earlier patterns of diffused transmission have become distorted. Similarly, the revival of traditions, and the heightened awareness as to the value of traditions has

1 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following individuals who have contributed to this article in various ways. These include: Jeanette Brown, Eddie Cass, Jeff Green of the Down- homer, Martha Griffiths, Anna Guigné, Paul Gruchy, the late Herbert Halpert, Thomas Hutchings, Hanne Pico Larsen, Jodi McDavid, Lara Maynard, Peter Millington, O’Brien’s Music Store, Julie Parsons, Gerald Pocius, Michael J. Preston and Gerald Thomas. Last, but not least, a big thanks goes to the members of staff of the Department of Folklore at Memorial University. These include the secretaries, Sharon Cochrane and Cindy Turpin, publications assistant, Eileen Collins, and Patricia Fulton and Pauline Cox of the Memorial University Folklore and Language Archive. 2 It is worth comparing the material and arguments given in this article with that provided in the various Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, and especially in the articles by Ane Ohrvik and Siv Ekström and Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch elsewhere in this volume, concerning “entrepreneurship” and mumming traditions in the modern world.

756 Paul Smith meant that many traditions have survived little changed long after they have become redundant. It is feasible, therefore, to consider that the marketing of traditions, however undertaken, should join the list of processes which are seen to modify the pattern of the traditional cultural landscape (Peterson 1982: 145Ð146). Having said that, we also need to recognise that folklorists have both positive and negative views as to the appropriateness of the marketing of tradition. On the one hand, there are those who subscribe to the Organic Growth Model, where marketing is seen to be a naturally occurring process. On the other hand, there are those who subscribe to the Rape and Pillage Model, where marketing is seen to use and abuse tradition. It is the first of these approaches Ð the Or- ganic Growth Model Ð to which I subscribe, primarily because I consider that, as a professional folklorist, it is not my job to pass judgement as to the value, merit or appropriateness of a tradition or a related process. Instead, I see my task as being to document and attempt to analyse and interpret what is happening to our traditional culture today. The marketing of traditions is not new, and a number of them, customs being a good example (Widdowson 1993), incorporate aspects of self-promotion and marketing by the performers/ participants. For instance, the concluding lines of many Mummers’ plays in Britain ask for remuneration, as in the following example from Sedgefield, County Durham: Here comes Johnny Funny That comes in to gather the money Holes in me pockets, holes in me cap But we have an old tin can To carry the cash (Cass and Roud 2002: 97). At the same time, in addition to the self-promotion and marketing by the performers/ participants, we have also seen the involvement of individuals having specialist external roles, such as mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. For instance, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, numerous printers developed considerable businesses based on producing broadsides with texts drawn from oral tradition, including folk plays.3 In the twenty-first century, we see artists, writers and media personnel, producers of items of popular culture and events organisers working in a similar way Ð taking examples of traditions and producing their versions of them for the market- place. While some mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs work with their own indigenous traditions, others are presenting and promoting traditions with which they perhaps have had little prior experience (see, for example, Proulx 1993: 281; and Pierson 1995). More to the point, the goals of those involved in these later-evolving specialist roles are possibly not shared by the performers/ participants in the traditions. While the two groups may, for ex-

3 See Boyes, Preston, and Smith 1999; Cass, Preston, and Smith 2003: Preston, Smith, and Smith 1976; and Preston, Smith, and Smith 1977.

The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 757 ample, share a common goal of obtaining a reward for services rendered, aspects of the social basis of tradition (Boyes 1982) are possibly stronger among indigenous performers/ participants than among mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. Furthermore, issues of time and space may separate the two groups. While the performers/ participants, at least in theory, tend to up- hold the traditional times and places to perform, when we turn to mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs, especially when they are marketing artifacts as opposed to performances per se, we find that they do not appear to be bound by such concerns. Having said that, we need to acknowledge that it is over-simplistic to consider performers/ participants and mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs as being two distinct groups. Instead, in numerous instances we see the activities of the two groups overlapping, sometimes a decision being driven by the performers/ participants and at other times by the mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. The common thread underlying the marketing of tradition is a three-step circular decision-making process which embraces: Ð The acquisition of traditions by prospective mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. Here the role-relationship of the individual to a tradition is determined by decisions made by him/ her. However, the quality/ quantity of detail available to them about the tradition is decided by their degree of access to the tradition and/ or information about it, and is determined by the distance (be it social, physical and/ or conceptual) between them and that which they wish to market. Ð The sculpting of traditions at the hands of prospective mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. In contrast to the performers/ participants of a tradition, who in general appear to replicate the texts/ performance and so on from one year to the next with only minor changes occurring, with the mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs, we find the more frequent conscious use of transformation (the process of modifying an existing tradition) and simulation (the process of creating new texts/ performances and so on, which appear to be like existing ones). These are not, however, three individual processes, but instead form a continuum of processes which may be applied simultaneously to different aspects of a tradition. Ð The marketing of traditions by prospective mediators and so on, which coincidentally can provide the basis for the acquisition of traditions by others. The manner in which individual traditions are marketed is determined by the perception the prospective mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs have of the market/ audience for their product, their personal goals, and the way in which the function(s) of those goals are to be fulfilled. The range of possible functions is in this instance wide and, as we shall see, in conjunction with making money for the mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs, can range from heightening awareness about political issues, to the provision of entertainment and education, and to remembering the past.

758 Paul Smith

Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland Christmas mumming in Newfoundland comprises three distinct but related traditions: Ð An informal house visit: a tradition which still exists. Ð An informal house visit with the formal performance of a play: a tradition which has essentially died out, although attempts have been made to revive it. Ð A formal outdoor procession: a tradition which has died out (Anon 1887: 4).4

Irrespective of which of the three traditions we are considering, certain common elements appear to be present. First, the participants are an informal group of varying composition. Second, the participants attempt a complete disguise of the face and body, including the use of gender and occupational reversals, gestures and movements, and also the voice, including the use of ingressive speech.5 Third, the behaviour of the disguised participants tends to be uninhibited.6 Fourth, the tradition is taken by the participants to the audience. Fifth, in the case of the two house-visit traditions, as an issue of reciprocity, the participants have an expectation that they will be rewarded for their activities in some way, the more usual rewards being drink and food (Halpert 1969: 36Ð 38). Of the three traditions, it appears to be the “informal house visit” which has become the primary focus of the current commodification efforts by mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. Having said that, attention has certainly also been given to the other forms.

The Marketing of Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland When surveying the range of marketed materials relating to the tradition of Christmas mumming in Newfoundland, a surprising number of items has been identified which could variously be categorised as belonging to either popular or elite culture, or falling somewhere between the two.7 Excluding academic discussions and writings, these include among others:

4 Regarding the classification of types of mumming traditions (by Halpert, Pettitt, Bregenh¿j and others), see further the introduction to this volume. 5 With regard to the use of ingressive speech elsewhere (in Shetland, for example), see further the various national Surveys of Masks and Mumming Traditions, and the entries under “voices” in the Index. 6 See further the article by Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j on eroticism in mumming elsewhere in this volume. 7 Regrettably, in the context of this article, it has not been possible to present illustrations of all the material documented. Wherever possible, however, references have been given to published works

The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 759

Ð Paintings and Illustrations. These range from etchings and prints by David Blackwood (Blackwood 2003;8 Gough 1988 and 2001; and Rose 1990); oil paintings by Jean Mitchell Cross; watercolors by John William Hayward (Anon 2000; O’Dea 1983: inside back cover; and O’Neill 1976: 655); pastels, watercolors, oil paintings and mono-prints by Brenda McClellan (1991 [see fig. 25.1]; Patey 1991; and Wade 1991); and watercolors by Mary Pratt (Guy and Pratt 1993); to the images by such “folk artists” as Anne Griffiths of Pla- centia; photographs by Shirley Gallagher; and the pewter work of Raymond Cox (Hickey 2002: 12Ð13, and 22). Ð Commercial Prints. Many examples have been produced by artists including Louise Colbourne Andrews (2002), Sylvia Ficken, Rod Hand, Danielle Loranger (1997), Richard Steele,9 Joan Blackmore Thistle,10 Vaughan-Jackson (1996), and Ellen Jean Wareham (1998). Ð Ceramic Relief Plaques. So far only one example has been seen: a white on black relief plaque by Terry White of Corner Brook. Ð Sculptures and Figures. These range from the papier mâché work of Janet Peter;11 carved wooden figures by Kevin Coates;12 ceramic tableaux by Joan Parsons Woods (Dempsey, O’Neill and Warbanski 1997: 14); various ceramic items, including brooches, ornaments, mugs and even biscuit-barrels from Thomas Hutchings (e-mail communication); ceramic figures from Barb Roberts; cast metal figures from the Heritage Works on Bell Island; wooden figures and tableaux by the self-described “folk artist” Harry Sullivan of Torbay (see fig. 25.2); to the detailed bronze figures of Joan Blackmore Thistle (see fig. 25.3;13 and Vaughan-Jackson 1996). Ð Dressed Dolls. These include those dressed by Bette Seward and clothes-peg dolls by Enid Stevenson. Ð Commercial Recordings. A number of recitations, songs and instrumental pieces related to mumming have been recorded, including, among others, Dave Pike and Tim Brown’s “Till the Mummers Song is Sung” (1996); Chuck Simms’s “Let the Mummers In” (c. 1989); A. Frank Willis’s “Mummers Night in Oshawa” (Willis 199914); and Reg Watkins’s “Mummers Party Jig” (Watkins 1999). about these items and the artists and others who created them. Details about some of the artists, and examples of their work, are also available through personal web sites as indicated, or the web sites of the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador (http://www.craftcouncil.nf.ca/gallery/ artist_list.asp); the Downhomer Shop and Gallery (http://www.shopdownhome.com); and Greet- ings From Newfoundland Ltd (http://www.newfoundlandartonline.com/) (last visited March 1, 2007). In some instances, however, there is no accessible material about the artists and, in a number of instances, they are no longer traceable. 8 See also http://david-blackwood.abbozzogallery.com (last visited March 1, 2007). 9 See further http://www.artaffection.com/steele.html (last visited March 1, 2007). 10 See further http://www.spurrellgallery.com/artists_art_work (last visited March 1, 2007). 11 See further http://www.craftcouncil.nf.ca/gallery/artist_list.asp (last visited March 1, 2007). 12 See further http://www.fromtheheartfolkart.com/artists/coates/ (last visited March 1, 2007). 13 See further http://www.craftcouncil.nf.ca/gallery/artist_list.asp (last visited March 1, 2007). 14 See further http://www.afrankwillis.com (last visited March 1, 2007).

760 Paul Smith

Fig. 25.1: A poster for Brenda McClellan’s exhibition Any Mummers In The Night?: Newfound- land, 1991 (Wade 1991). (Courtesy of Brenda McClennan.)

The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 761

Fig. 25.2: A wooden tableau of mummers by Harry Sullivan of Torbay, Newfoundland. (Photo: Anna Guigné.) (Courtesy of Harry Sullivan.)

Fig. 25.3: “Mummer with Fiddle”: A bronze by Joan Blackmore Thistle. (Photo: Paul Smith.) (Courtesy of Joan Blackmore Thistle.)

Ð Feature Films. Traditional materials are frequently incorporated into feature films (see Koven 2003; and Smith 1999), as in the case of Misery Harbour (1999) which was set in Newfoundland (see Havaardsholm 1999), and is based on a book by the Danish-born Norwegian novelist Aksel Sandemose, En sj¿- mann går i land (A Sailor Goes Ashore: 1931). In this film, Christmas mumming is integral to one violent climactic scene. Ð Documentaries. One such recent production was Mummers & Masks: Sex & Death & Pagan Magic (2002), produced by Peter Blow and Chris Brookes, which includes a segment on Christmas mumming in Newfoundland (Cham-

762 Paul Smith bers 2002). The antics of mummers have also been incorporated into documentaries focusing on the work of individual artists such as David Blackwood (Blackwood 1976), and even re-presented to a wider audience as part of The JVC/ Smithsonian Folkways Video Anthology of Music and Dance of the Americas (Mummers’ House Visit… 1995). In both instances, the material used was taken from the National Film Board of Canada’s earlier documentary film, Musicanada (Daly 1975). Ð Television News Reports. In January 1988, Radio Canada Nouvelles De L’Atlantique broadcast a short item on the mummers in Red Brook (Radio Canada…. January 6, 1988). Ð Television Light Entertainment. For example, CBC Television produced the Christmas special, A Fortune Bay Christmas (CBC 1986), which featured the group Simani (Anon 1994b; and Pocius 1988: 74Ð75). Ð Television Advertising. Purity Factories Ltd., a local food manufacturing company, has run commercials with images of mummers to support sales of their “Purity Syrup”, a non-alcoholic cordial which is often offered to visitors at Christmas time (“Purity Syrup” 1990a). Ð Books and Book Illustrations. These range from the inclusion of images in photographic portfolios (Momatiuk and Eastcott 1988: 97 and 137) to works directed at children, like the recent book by the Toronto children’s mystery writer, Lucy M. Falcone, The Mysterious Mummer (2003). Likewise, Dawn Baker included a picture of mummers to illustrate the letter “M” in A New- foundland Alphabet (1998). Ð Short Stories. These include, among others, “The Mysterious Mummer” by the Newfoundland writer Bert Batstone (1984), and “Will Ye Let the Mum- mers In?” by the Nova Scotia born writer, the late Alden Nowlan (1984). Ð Poetry. Numerous pieces on the topic of mumming have appeared over the years, including Rose Sullivan’s “Mummering at Christmas” (1948) and Eleanor Conway’s “Mummering” (2001). Ð Newspaper and Magazine Articles. Perhaps not surprisingly, countless articles have appeared over the years.15 Ð Newspaper and Magazine Illustrations. As early as 1887, the Christmas Number of the local Evening Telegram reproduced a picture of “Water Street, St. John’s, N. F. Thirty Years Ago. Mumming Scene and ‘Haul of Wood’” (Anon 1887a and 1887b), an illustration possibly based on one of John William Hayward’s pictures (Harrington 1994). More recently, a detailed set of photographs of mummers accompanied an article by Farley Mowat (1966).

15 See, for example, Andrews 2002; Guy and Pratt 1993; Harrington 1994; Mowatt 1966; and Rose 1990.

The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 763

Ð Magazine Puzzles. Mel D’Souza (1991), as part of his series of “Spot the Dif- ference” puzzles for the Downhomer magazine, produced “Mummering with Ern and Coal Bin” (see fig. 25.4). For the same publication, Ron Young (1998 and 2003) created “The Newfoundland Logic Problems….” Ð Newspaper and Magazine Advertising. In its Christmas advertising for “Purity Syrup”, the makers have used illustrations of mummers with the caption, “Stock Up Now. You Never Know Who’s Going to Drop By” (see fig. 25.5: “Purity Syrup” 1990b). The Downhomer magazine has similarly used images of mummers as part of its advertising layouts to attract subscriptions (Anon 1994a). Conversely, the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation’s magazine, Enjoy, which is available free at all liquor stores in the province, gave the following mixer recipe for “Mummers Morning” to promote its products: 1 oz. white rum, vodka or gin, Pink Grapefruit juice, Rim glass with sugar (New- foundland Liquor Corporation 2003). Ð Product advertising. This is not an altogether new phenomenon in the case of Christmas mumming (Mercer and Swackhammer 1978), and is best exemplified by the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company which each Christmas produces a beer called “Mummers Brew”, the bottle labels having a picture of mummers.16 Ð Events. These take various forms, but are usually organised by particular institutions. For example, in 1979 the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre hosted the Humber-Bay of Islands Museum Society’s Christmas mummering exhibit (Anon 1979). Likewise, “Christmas at the Museum” was staged by the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador and included a “… Lecture on the mummer tradition by Dr. Martin Lovelace of MUN Folklore Department…”; the “… performance of the Mummers Play featuring the Jackie Lantern Players…”; a workshop on how to make a Hobby Horse; and an exhibit called “Mummers at Our Door” (Christmas at the Museum… 2001). In the same year, St. John’s Folk Arts Council presented a workshop on “The Mummers Play” as part of a series of similar events on Newfoundland Tradi- tions (St. John’s Folk Arts Council: e-mail dated November 5, 2001). – “Mummers For Hire.” A number of local performers of one sort and another offer their services as mummers through the local newspapers. Kelly Russell advertised his services as a “Fiddler for Hire. Christmas Parties Ð Also Mum- mers Play. Fiddle Lessons….” (Russell 1997), while Jim Payne offered “Mum- mers. For your home Christmas party including mummers play, carols and music…. Reasonable rates….” (Payne 1991). Ð Clothing. One company has produced a shirt with the definition “mummer /«mmər/n visitor in disguise at Christmas time” across the chest,17 and the Downhomer has produced one with a coloured embroidered picture of three

16 See further http://www.icebergbeer.com/ (last visited March 1, 2007). 17 See further http://www.twackwear.com (last visited March 1, 2007). 764 Paul Smith

Fig. 25.4: Cartoon puzzles of mummers by Mel D’Souza (1991). (Courtesy of Mel D’Souza.) The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 765

Fig. 25.5: A newspaper advertisement for “Purity Syrup” (1990b). (Courtesy of Purity Factories.) characters in disguise above the logo “Newfoundland Mummers” for sale through their magazine and shop.18 The Downhomer has also marketed “New- foundland Mummers Fleece Pullovers” (Anon 1999). Ð Tote Bags and “Wine Bags”. These have been produced for the Downhomer and have coloured embroidered pictures of three characters wearing typical mumming disguises, and a logo proclaiming “Mummering Newfoundland”.19 Ð Greeting Cards, Postcards and Note Cards. Some of these items employ specially designed illustrations, such as Linda Coles’s “Christmas Mummers”; Patrick Mackey’s “Mummers Down the Lane”; and the untitled cards illustrated by Jim Oldford for Old Harry Rock Creations, and “H” for Outport Designs in Carbonear. The latter, while presenting a contemporary image of Christmas mummers, incorporates lines from P. J. Dyer’s nostalgic poem “Terra Novean Exile’s Song” (1902). Original photographs are also used in some (see, for instance, Rhonda Hayward’s “Mummering in Newfoundland”), while others are based on existing original paintings among other things. For example, the series of cards by Brenda McClellan used some of her pictures of mummers, as did Danielle Loranger’s “Expected Visitors” and “Secret Dance”, Ellen Jean Wareham’s “Mummers in Rose Blanche” and “The Mummers” being a photograph of the ceramic tableaux by Joan Parsons Woods. Ð Christmas Tree Ornaments. Here we have the stenciled glass balls by Alder- brook Industries Ltd., Pickering, Ontario, Canada (c. 2000) and the papier mâché ornaments of Janet Peter. Ð Gift Wrapping Paper. For the past few years GKE Futures has produced Christmas paper with illustrations of mummers.

18 See further http://www.shopdownhome.com (last visited March 1, 2007). 19 See further http://www.shopdownhome.com (last visited March 1, 2007). 766 Paul Smith

This list of marketed items relating to Christmas mumming in Newfoundland is lengthy. While it demonstrates the volume and variety of the items on offer, it also shows that the majority of the representations (be they pictures, stories, songs or anything else) depict costumed and disguised mummers in the setting of the informal house visit. At the same time, the list also demonstrates the range of qualities and prices that are available: from items in newspapers and $3 greeting cards, to the prints of David Blackwood (c. $2,000 upwards) and the bronze sculptures of Joan Blackmore Thistle (c. $6,500). As we shall see, it is also significant that the majority of these items have been produced in the last ten to fifteen years.

Interpreting the Marketing of Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland Given this perhaps surprising range of items, we need to consider just what brought about this exceptional focus on one particular seasonal tradition. Gerald Pocius, in his essay “The Mummers Song in Newfoundland: Intellec- tuals, Revivalists and Cultural Nativism” (1988), argued that the revitalisation among the general population of Newfoundland of the Christmas mumming tradition was the result of a range of cultural activities in the province. This present article argues that the current increase in the marketing of representations of Christmas mumming in Newfoundland has occurred as a result of the same range of cultural activities, along with a worsening economic climate. First, the rise of the nativism movement in the province has meant that certain sectors of the population have become interested in reviving or perpetuat- ing aspects of the local culture, which they perceived as being distinct (Pocius 1988: 58Ð59). This is perhaps not surprising in a place with a high percentage of artists and performers, where we find many local singers performing within the context of the home and local bars; where there are venues to learn traditional local dances; where local companies offer “Legend Tours” by coach; and where participating in traditional/ “folk” activities or studying folklore at university is not viewed as weird but is seen as part and parcel of everyday life. As a consequence, for those insiders and outsiders with a heightened awareness of the value of traditional culture in Newfoundland, they must think that they have found paradise. Second, the notion of Christmas mumming being perceived as a distinct feature of the local culture stems in part from research undertaken in the 1960s by both the Institute of Social and Economic Research and the Department of Folklore at Memorial University, Newfoundland (Pocius 1988: 59Ð61). This research culminated with the publication in 1969 of Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland: Essays in Anthropology, Folklore, and History, edited by Her- bert Halpert and George Story. While the book made no claim for the unique- The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 767 ness of the tradition, it did highlight it, and so awakened the interest of a new generation in the topic. Third, the revival in the province in the early 1970s of the mummers’ play tradition by the highly visible and politically vocal Mummers Troupe (Brookes 1988) again awakened interest in Christmas mumming traditions, even if real- istically the play tradition was already dead (Pocius 1988: 61Ð64). Fourth, high levels of unemployment, as much as 80% in some outports, have fostered over the past decades a strong entrepreneurial spirit among the population. This has tended to come to the fore in times of economic down- turns, and often the basis for a small new business was a perception that there was a potential market for certain items of traditional culture which reflected distinctiveness. Consequently, many local products ranging from traditional knitwear to food items have been the focus of new business ventures. In that respect, the marketing of Christmas mumming is no different and, as a consequence, many of the items and events being marketed have been produced by local individuals, some being performers/ participants in the tradition as well as mediators, interpreters, brokers and entrepreneurs. Fifth, given that background, it is perhaps not coincidental that over the past decade numerous “craft shops” have opened across the island and there has been a marked increase in the number of “craft fairs” being promoted. Further- more, the city of St. John’s appears to have almost as many art galleries as bars, all in their own way providing venues for the potential marketing of traditions. Sixth, the high level of unemployment over the years has also meant that, since the 1950s, the province has been experiencing an out-migration of its population. The outcome of this has been that as much as 50% of the population born within Newfoundland is, at any one time, absent from the province, often without choice, and desperately wishing to return home (Overton 1996: 125). Such “yearnings” fuel nostalgia, not only for the “place” but also for the “period” when they left the island. This results in the opportunity to market products to satisfy that nostalgia. Having said that, the potential market for such heritage items is complex and includes: Ð Indigenous Newfoundlanders Ð Visiting expatriate Newfoundlanders Ð Expatriate Newfoundlanders purchasing by mail-order Ð External visitors.

As James Overton has observed: The sellers of various products have sought to identify their commodities with Newfoundland. For Newfoundlanders the product which effectively identifies with Newfoundland encourages the consumer to (re)signify membership of the imagined community by the act of consuming. The symbolic value of the commodity is that it stands as a national-cultural marker. For the non-Newfoundlander consumption of the commodity represents a kind of symbolic visit to the exclusive territory of Newfoundland as a distinctive cultural species (Overton 1996: 151). 768 Paul Smith

Seventh, another major contributory factor, itself being an example of the marketing of Christmas mumming, occurred in late November 1983 when the local group Simani, comprising Bud Davidge and Sim Savory from Fortune Bay on the south coast, released a 45 rpm record of the song “Any Mummers Allowed in?” (Davidge 1997: 24–27; and Simani 198320). Now known locally as “The Mummer’s Song”, it describes Christmas mumming in a typical Newfound- land outport home. While this has not been the only song to portray the activities of mummers,21 it has certainly proved to be the most popular (in the first month after its release, it sold 5,500 copies), far surpassing the group’s expectations (Pocius 1988: 64Ð74). As a spin off, Bud Davidge of Simani, with Ian Wallace as illustrator, produced The Mummer’s Song (1993), a children’s book based on the song, which could also be bought packaged with an accompanying cassette tape. The continuing popularity of the song is possibly reflected not only by the fact that it appears in published song collections (West 2002: 26Ð27), but also that parodies have appeared (see Dwyer 1991: 79Ð80). As late as 1997, handwritten copies of the verses were being faxed around the province.22 Even today, copies proliferate on the web, often under the title of “The Mummer’s Song”, instead of its original title. At a different level, cover versions have been performed by a number of performers, including what is probably at this time the most popular local group, Great Big Sea.23 Overall, and most importantly, Simani’s “Any Mummers Allowed in?” has had a direct impact on people’s perceptions of mumming and, without intend- ing to, promoted a revival of the tradition. Perhaps surprisingly, the song has also become a rallying anthem in the province, a symbol of cultural identity, and perhaps unity (Pocius 1988: 64Ð74). Eighth, CBC Television subsequently produced a Christmas special, A Fortune Bay Christmas (CBC 1986), which was based around the songs of Simani, and which included a dramatised version of “Any Mummers Al- lowed in?”. Referred to locally as “The Mummers Show”, the program, with its strong visual images, became extremely popular. It was re-shown every Christmas for a number of years, and is still periodically broadcast Ð so offering a continuing visual reinforcement as to what the Christmas mumming tradition supposedly entails (“The Mummers Show….” 1994; and Pocius 1988: 74Ð75). It is probably indicative of the popularity of both the song and the television program that Purity Factories Ltd. ran the television commercial for its “Purity Syrup” (1990a) which was based on the dramati-

20 See further http://www.k12.nf.ca/fitzgerald/Commun/music/Simani.html (last visited March 1, 2007). 21 See Pike and Brown 1996; Simms c. 1989; and Willis 1999. 22 Simani (Bud Davidge and Sim Savory), “The Mummer’s Song” (AKA “Any Mummers Al- lowed In?”): Handwritten fax dated December 18, 1997, found in a second-hand copy of Herbert Halpert and G. M. Story, eds., Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland…. (1969) purchased by the author in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, 2003. 23 See further http://www.greatbigsea.com/ (last visited March 1, 2007). The Marketing of Tradition in Newfoundland 769 sation of “Any Mummers Allowed in?” as it appeared in CBC Television’s A Fortune Bay Christmas. So what for the future? A Christmas mumming theme park? Perhaps not. But why restrict Christmas mumming to Christmas? It is becoming increasingly popular in the province for mummers to appear as part of family summer festivities for visiting expatriates (Watkins 2003). Such celebrations are also sometimes organised within the community. As Mel D’Souza writes: Our Christmases in Canada have followed the traditional North American pattern until 1999, when I had my first experience of “Christmas in July” in Ramea, Newfoundland. The community had a Santa Claus, mummers, a turkey dinner and all the trimmings that go with Christmas. This was not only an enjoyable event for me, but it gave people returning to Ramea for a summer holiday the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with family Ð a get-together that would otherwise not be possible on Christmas Day (D’Souza 2003). A graduate student travelling on the ferry from Newfoundland to mainland Canada in July 2001 reported the following incident: I was witness to a somewhat bizarre, unseasonal mumming scene this past July aboard the Argentia [Newfoundland] Ð North Sydney [Nova Scotia] ferry during “house” band Nord Easter’s performance. About halfway across the Gulf the duo paused from their regular assortment of drum machine-enhanced covers, and broke into a clamorous rendition of “The Mummers Song”. Enthusiastic Marine Atlantic staff poured into the air-conditioned lounge from all entrances, dressed in mummers garb and started dancing, singing, etc. with eager tourists. Immediately following the song all the staff promptly exited, people returned to their seats, and the Nord Easter resumed to the standard covers. Ahh, the strange sights and sounds of summer…. (e-mail communication from Paul Gruchy, October 3, 2001). Apparently, this is not an isolated incident. The Salmonier Country Manor, an inn situated in Mount Carmel, St. Mary’s Bay, about an hour’s drive out of St. John’s, offers a variety of facilities and activities including: “Christmas and the Mummers” – an old-fashioned Christmas Dinner and a “Time”. Just a wonderful evening of food, music, song, dance, laughter, and of course, a visit from those mysterious “Mummers!” Come Share our Culture! Performances held Wednesday evenings throughout June, July, and August (reservations required) [my italics].24 These performances of “Summer mummering” at the Salmonier Country Manor have also featured on CBC Television’s “Here & Now” programme (CBC Television…. July 9, 1999). Surveys of the students at Memorial University in Newfoundland indicate a current decline of participation in Christmas mumming house visits. Having said that, the overall interest in the phenomenon of Christmas mumming in Newfoundland is exemplified by the numerous web sites presently devoted to the topic (see, for example, the links listed through the English Folk Play Re-

24 See further http://manor.infotechcanada.com/activities.html (last visited March 1, 2007). 770 Paul Smith search Home Page.25 Furthermore, there is no doubt as to the popularity of the numerous representations of mummers being sold each year, especially, though by no means exclusively, at Christmas time. Taken together, this indicates that perhaps what is actually being marketed, probably more so for the indigenous and expatriate Newfoundlanders than for visitors, has less to do with the tradition of Christmas mumming than it has with remembering the past: nostalgia for a time now gone.

25 See further http://www.folkplay.info (last visited March 1, 2007).

Bibliography 771 Bibliography

Note: The following bibliography contains information about all the works referred to in this book, in addition to a number of other published and unpublished works considered to be relevant to the subject of masking and mumming in the Nordic countries. When two different editions of books have been referred to by different authors, both are mentioned here. Here the form of the individual references follows those forms used in the relevant texts. Note that in terms of alphabetisation, local rules are followed here except in the cases of å, ä and ü. Thus, words beginning with the Icelandic letters á, é, ∂, í, ó, ú and ¥ follow a, e, d, i, o, u and y. Words beginning with å, ä and ü follow á and u in accordance with international tradition, and those beginning with π, æ, ¿ and ö come at the end of the bibliography, in the given order. Note too that the use of capitals with terms for festivals and disguised beings varies by language and sometimes author. In accordance with Icelandic practice, Icelanders are referred to by their Christian names.

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Index 813 Index

Note that in terms of alphabetisation in the following index, local rules are followed except in the cases of å, ä and ü. Thus, words beginning with the Icelandic letters á, é, ∂, í, ó, ú and ¥ follow a, e, d, i, o, u and y. Words beginning with å, ä and ü follow á and u in accordance with international tradition, and those beginning with π, æ, ¿ and ö come at the end of the index, in the given order. Note too that the use of capitals with terms for festivals and disguised beings varies by language and sometimes author. Here the form of the individual references follows those forms used in the relevant texts. In accordance with Icelandic practice, the names of Icelanders are ordered by their Chris- tian names. Map references are given in italics, and references to illustrations in block lettering.

Aaroni: 346 380; map: 117; 116 (see also: andru- Aarsrud, Christian: 577 sed) abben: 710 Andersen, Hans Christian: 207, 218 Abis: 363 (see also: school traditions) Anderson, Tom: 297 Academy for Irish Cultural Heritages, Andresmesse: 64 the: 753 Andruspäev: 373 Adam of Bremen: 110 andresed: 373Ð375; map: 374 Adriansen, Inge: 240 andrused: 373Ð375; map: 374 Agers¿, Denmark: 41, 207, 213, 230, andresandid: 373Ð375; map: 374 239Ð240, 248, 252, 254Ð255, 262, andrisandid: 373Ð375; map: 374 485Ð486, 539, 541, 685Ð686, 698; angakkok: 454Ð456, 464Ð468, 473 209, 218, 249Ð250, 252Ð253 Anna: 115Ð120, 132, 149, 174, 176Ð177; Agers¿s museum: 252 map: 117 Agricola, Mikael: 331 Annan päivä: 344 Akadeemiline Emakeele Selts: 370 Annandag jul: 132 Akershus, Norway: 72, 512 annepäev: 403 Akureyri, Iceland: 633Ð636, 638, 641, Annunciation: 86, 152, 153, 156 707, 711 Ansingen: 587 Alfred the Great: 191 Arill, David: 114, 141, 147, 171 All Hallows’ Day: 173, 338, 339, 340, Arnaldus Jolahest: 50, 227, 289 341, 348, 365, 667 ash bags: 632Ð634; 632 All Souls’ Day: 341 Ash hags: 157 Allhelgonahelgen: 173 (see also: All Hal- Ash Wednesday: 295, 306, 318Ð319, lows’ Day) 323, 631Ð642, 653, 705, 717; 632, Als, Denmark: 191Ð192, 199, 201, 207, 636, 639Ð640 238Ð241, 243, 245Ð246, 248, 255Ð askkällingar: 157, 15 256, 265, 269, 486; 215Ð216, 246Ð At the Black Pig’s Dyke: 752 247 Auguster: 214 Amager, Denmark: 194, 208, 258 Aust-Agder, Norway: 73Ð74, 79Ð80, 84, America, the United States of: 50, 78, 583, 590, 592 96Ð97, 99, 105, 128, 174, 186, 220, Austria: 103, 220, 396, 552, 696 227, 270, 278, 341, 445, 456, 506, Avanersuaq, Greenland: 449 629, 691, 701, 729, 739Ð740, 769 Ammassalik, Greenland: 449, 453Ð456, álfadans: 662 464, 466Ð467, 471, 473 álfar: 320, 322, 646Ð650, 652, 656, 661Ð Amundsen, Arne Bugge: 601 662 Anders: 71, 115Ð120, 132, 149, 174Ð177, Árni Björnsson: 295, 296, 319, 322

814 Index

Åboland, Finland: 710 Bergson, Henri: 527 Åbo/ Turku, Finland: 41, 603 Berlin, Germany: 124, 128, 238, 456 att åka för stora rovor och långt lin: 152 Berlingske Tidende: 204 Åland: 41, 208, 312, 343, 558, 621–622, berserkir: 414 624, 627Ð630, 710 Beuchat, Henri: 478 Ålesund, Norway: 84, 86, 96, 104, 590 Bible, the: 218 Åmål, Sweden: 577, 580, 581 Biltzing’s Bureau: 220 Bin Laden, Osama: 319, 614, 701 Äetsä, Finland: 531, 539, 603–620 birch bark costumes: 282, 606, 609, 612, äijät: 345, 347 615, 619 ämmät: 347 Bircherod, Jens: 222 bird traditions: 72Ð73, 76, 103, 109, 112, Bakhtin, Mikhail: 30, 527 122, 153Ð156, 187, 203, 230Ð231, Bakkus på tønden: 206, 208, 214 282, 283, 302, 331, 341, 345, 349, att banka ut julen: 144 357, 359, 362, 369, 388, 401, 403, bans on masking: 51, 192, 196, 198Ð200, 409, 410Ð413, 416, 417Ð420, 422Ð 424, 435, 442, 448 206, 227, 231, 239, 244, 272, 332, birthday mumming: 177 554, 586Ð588, 591, 598, 677 Bismarck: 244 Barberen: 214, 248 bj¿lleleik: 79 Bar∂aströnd, Iceland: 320–321, 643– björndansen: 361 644, 657, 659Ð660, 663 Bj¿rnson, Bj¿rnstjerne: 91 barfotaspringning: 156 Black Death, the: 286 Baron, the: 43, 347, 351, 542Ð543 (see Black Gr¿liks: 312, 315 also: Nuuttiparooni; and paronit) blackened faces: 73, 361, 381 (see also: barrels, the use of: 151Ð152, 206, 210, soot; and cork) 215, 257, 265, 318, 323, 350Ð351, Blackwood, David: 759, 762, 766 356, 429, 609, 635, 680, 684 Blåkulla, Sweden: 161–162, 570–572, Basque traditions: 301 575Ð580 Batman: 647 Blekinge, Sweden: 143Ð144, 157, 165, Battle between Summer and Winter, the: 168Ð170, 191, 552, 557, 678Ð679 87, 110, 164, 214 blombrud: 360 bänkskuddarfest: 363 (see also: school blomsterbrud: 110 traditions) Boas, Franz: 453 att bära ut julen: 689 Bodley, Josias: 743Ð747 beans as ritual food: 400, 406, 419 (see Bohuslän, Sweden: 49, 109–110, 131, also: peas as ritual food) 133, 141Ð143, 147, 156, 163, 171, bear traditions: 55, 71, 73, 149, 203, 214, 185, 187, 554Ð556, 580Ð581, 678 223, 281Ð282, 330Ð331, 349, 357, bonfires: 93, 96, 165Ð166, 173, 205, 361Ð362, 401, 403, 410, 413Ð416, 307Ð308, 322, 645, 655, 662, 696 418, 422Ð423, 435, 448, 501, 521, Boxing Day: see December 26 (Boxing 671 Day) Beck, Vilhelm: 260 Bornholm, Denmark: 211, 212, 262, 266 beggar, the figure of the: 214 Bourne, Henry: 31 begging: 146Ð147, 151, 156, 165, 168, Bregenh¿j, Carsten: 30, 33, 38Ð40, 206Ð 239, 260, 267, 308, 323, 339, 344, 207, 240, 262, 268, 297, 476, 486, 350, 358, 360, 412, 434, 437, 440, 529, 538Ð539, 541, 604, 631, 688, 444, 447, 473, 474, 553, 564, 579, 697Ð 698 587Ð588, 616, 627, 635, 647Ð648, Bressay, Shetland: 311, 315 682 Briggs, Jean: 481 Bergen, Norway: 47, 49Ð52, 79, 81, 84, Bringéus, Nils-Arvid: 39, 91, 110, 114, 87Ð89, 92, 104, 193, 280, 500, 586Ð 140, 152, 165, 424, 499, 550, 697Ð 587, 589Ð590, 677Ð682, 684 698

Index 815

“Bringing in” of May, the: 191 Catholicism: 66, 104, 115, 122, 137, 175, British Isles, the: 193, 210, 258, 281, 191, 220Ð221, 239, 242, 256Ð257, 289, 304, 307, 365, 417, 504, 583, 307, 340, 358, 424, 585, 593, 596, 585Ð586, 710, 736, 743Ð744, 746Ð 601, 697, 744, 752Ð753 749, 752, 769 (see also: Ireland, Scot- CBC Television: 762, 768Ð769 land, United Kingdom) Celander, Hilding: 37Ð38, 84, 110, 114, broadsheets: 347 124, 132, 134, 137Ð138, 140, 173, Bronze Age, the: 29, 50, 109, 329 678, 682, 689, 695Ð697 Brook, Peter: 34, 719 charivari: 79 brooms, the use of: 144, 158, 159, 161Ð Chaplin, Charlie: 186 162, 344, 374, 377, 470, 513, 571Ð Christensen, Nikolaj: 224 572, 574, 576Ð577, 579Ð580, 622Ð Christensen, Peder (Fugl): 230, 233 624, 674 Christian II of Denmark: 194 Brorson, Hans Adolf: 260 Christian V of Denmark: 222, 677 Brown, Callum: 297, 317 Christkindchen: 242 Bruford, Alan: 297 Christkindlein: 124, 241 Bruheim, Magnhild: 77 Christmas Goat, the: 36, 51, 54, 56Ð57, Brückner, Wolfgang: 696 71Ð72, 110, 129, 132, 185Ð186, 189, bryllupsbukker: 501 196, 199, 203, 205, 222, 227, 235, bu∂lar: 325, 706 237, 287, 369, 397Ð398, 401Ð403, Bugge, Sophus: 53, 86 409Ð410, 412, 499, 510, 659, 661Ð Bukkemann-visa: 678 662, 677, 682Ð684, 718; maps: (Nor- att bulta ut julen: 622 way) 58Ð61, (Sweden) 131, (Estonia) bultarna: 623Ð624 398; 62Ð63, 128, 130, 236, 346, 352, bundlers: 439 400 (see also: goat traditions, jole- Burke, Peter: 583 bukk, jolebukkar, jolegeiti, joulupou- Burray, Orkney: 309 ki, jõulupukk, jõulusokk, julbock, Ju- bus eller godis: 174 lebuk, julebukk, julegeit) busadagur: 43, 706 Christmas Goat play, the: 81 (see also: Bush, George: 319 “Julebukkvise”) Buskerud, Norway: 512, 590 Christmas Horse, the: 50, 226, 289, 301, Böög: 696 318, 421 Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland: Cailleach: 298 30, 38, 40 Cailleach an Dùdain: 298 Christmas traditions: 27, 50Ð51, 53Ð54, Cambridge School of Anthropology, the: 56Ð57, 64Ð66, 68Ð74, 76Ð81, 86Ð91, 37 103, 105, 110, 112, 115Ð116, 120Ð Campbell, Åke: 697 122, 124, 126Ð129, 131Ð133, 135, Candlemas: 221, 350, 373, 381, 420, 674 137Ð138, 140, 142Ð146, 152, 174, candles, the use of: 196, 232, 300, 423Ð 177, 182, 184Ð189, 195Ð196, 198Ð 424, 427, 485, 593, 599 200, 202Ð205, 207, 219Ð242, 244Ð Candlin, C. N.: 487 245, 263, 268, 270, 272, 284, 286Ð Carnival: 30, 88, 92, 104, 106, 146Ð147, 287, 289, 292, 295, 301Ð302, 307, 193, 199, 207, 217, 257, 269Ð270, 311, 316Ð322, 331Ð333, 338Ð341, 343, 360, 369, 504, 521Ð523, 525Ð 343Ð345, 348Ð351, 355Ð359, 361Ð 527, 634, 705, 715, 718, 723, 730; 362, 365, 369, 372Ð373, 375, 377Ð 505 387, 396Ð398, 401Ð403, 406, 409, Cashman, Ray: 744 410Ð413, 415, 417, 419Ð426, 428Ð Cass, Eddie: 41 431, 434, 438, 442, 447Ð448, 454, Cat King, the: 258, 323, 634Ð635 (see al- 458, 468Ð470, 474Ð475, 497, 499Ð so: Kattarkóngur, Kattekonge, Katt- 500, 504, 510Ð514, 517Ð519, 523Ð kungen) 526, 543, 581, 583Ð588, 591Ð592, 816 Index

596, 598, 607Ð609, 611, 613Ð614, 291, 295, 298, 301Ð302, 304Ð305, 616, 619, 621Ð624, 631, 643, 646Ð 310, 315Ð316, 318, 322, 324Ð325, 647, 649Ð650, 657, 659, 661Ð662, 331, 337, 339, 351, 361Ð364, 373Ð 667Ð668, 671Ð674, 676Ð677, 682Ð 374, 377, 381, 387, 399, 414Ð416, 686, 688Ð693, 695Ð696, 698, 705, 423, 425, 430, 438Ð439, 444Ð445, 708, 718Ð719, 737, 739Ð740, 743Ð 453Ð455, 459, 468Ð469, 471, 478Ð 744, 748, 749Ð750, 752Ð753, 755, 479, 481, 497, 500, 517, 520, 521Ð 758, 761Ð763, 765Ð770 522, 526, 534Ð535, 550, 552, 558, chronicle plays: 723, 725, 730 608, 611, 613, 619, 624, 627, 629, clacking jaws, the use of: 72Ð73, 287, 638, 646, 657, 659, 660Ð662, 677, 301, 417, 420 705, 708, 714Ð715, 717, 720, 739, Class 6B in Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík: 766, 769 712 Dancing Gr¿liks: 312, 314; 313 Clinton, Bill: 648 Danish Trading Monopolies: 281 coffee pots, the use of: 575, 579Ð580 Dansk Folkemindesamling: 200, 203, commedia dell’arte: 27, 500, 728 202Ð205, 241, 262, 268 communitas, the concept of: 34, 286, Danske Lov: 222, 257 326, 526, 529, 607, 616, 718 Danske Skueplads, Den: 196 Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey: 110, Danver, Karin: 114Ð115, 147, 177 608 Danzig: 280 Continuation War, the: 330 Davidsen, Jens Eli Nathan: 470 Cooke, Peter: 297 Death, the figure of: 424 cork, the use of: 210 December 26 (Boxing Day): 121, 132Ð Cossacks: 345, 357 133, 186, 221, 223, 332, 338, 345, County Armagh, Northern Ireland: 743 384, 398, 426, 499, 512, 662, 668 County Down, Northern Ireland: 743 Denmark: 47, 49Ð50, 53, 76, 84, 88, 91, cow skin, the use of: 303 103Ð104, 109Ð110, 120, 135, 147, cow traditions: 359 149, 151, 164, 165, 169, 171, 189Ð cross-dress, the use of: 56, 68, 71Ð72, 74, 273, 280Ð281, 289, 295, 318, 323Ð 118Ð119, 161, 182, 187, 215, 217Ð 324, 367, 449, 452, 454Ð456, 468Ð 219, 252, 254Ð255, 267, 282, 289, 469, 473Ð476, 485Ð495, 521, 539, 298Ð299, 321, 345, 436, 441, 459, 552, 584, 603, 631Ð636, 638, 645, 463, 468, 470, 475, 517, 519, 521Ð 648, 660Ð661, 677, 682, 685, 688Ð 522, 534Ð535, 538, 560Ð561, 574, 690, 695Ð696, 697Ð699, 710, 719, 577Ð578, 585, 607, 613, 617, 655Ð map 190 656, 728 761; : crossing the Equator: 271 Devil, the: 57, 87, 123, 127, 228, 224, crowns, the use of: 77, 95, 110, 122, 124Ð 229, 235Ð237, 260, 569Ð572, 575, 126, 151Ð152, 164, 169Ð170, 180, 579, 682, 728 344, 391, 550, 555Ð558, 560, 563 Dietrichson, Lorenz: 684 dimission: 43, 324, 705Ð720; 713, 715Ð DAG: 111, 113Ð114, 141, 145, 186, 188, 717 (see also: school traditions) 560Ð562, 565, 582, 701 DNA research in Iceland: 281 Dalarna, Sweden: 107, 113, 116, 118Ð dodekahemeron: 357 120, 138, 144, 147, 149, 152, 165Ð Dorset culture: 451 167, 171Ð172, 174Ð175, 177Ð178, Dorset people: 451 187, 557Ð558, 564, 571, 684 drama, the nature of: 28 Dalsland, Sweden: 122, 139Ð140, 155, D’Souza, Mel: 763, 769 156, 180, 571, 577, 580, 581 dubbelgubbar: 135 dance: 199, 206, 221Ð222, 224Ð226, Dummepetere: 214 228Ð231, 233, 235, 237, 240, 243, Dungeons and Dragons: 723 259Ð261, 265, 270, 285Ð287, 289, Dystl¿b: 206, 261 Index 817

East Greenland: 449, 453, 458Ð459, 463, eroticism in mumming: 77, 116, 132, 468, 471, 476, 478 188, 219, 231, 299, 351, 404Ð405, Easter: 89Ð91, 129, 149, 154Ð155, 157Ð 415, 419, 468, 475Ð478, 490, 506, 159, 161Ð164, 174, 195, 257, 263, 514, 519, 531Ð546, 553, 564, 579, 310Ð311, 340, 358, 365, 410, 434, 604, 610, 612Ð613, 618, 691, 694Ð 499, 513, 518, 543, 551, 554Ð555, 695, 699, 758 556, 558, 569Ð573, 575, 577Ð581, Eskeröd, Albert: 38, 110, 114, 141, 570, 585, 596, 614, 619, 646, 667, 769 695, 697 Easter Brides: 157 (see also: påskbrud, Estonia: 64, 186, 193, 195, 329, 340, påskebryllup) 343Ð345, 349Ð350, 362, 367Ð448, Easter parades: 163 673; map: 338 Eddic poems: 282Ð283, 570 Ethnologisches Museum: 456 Edmondston, Arthur: 291 ettegangar: 525 Edmondston, Thomas: 291, 303 etterbrur: 501, 521 Edvardsen, Erik Henning: 590 ettergangar: 501, 522, 525 Eesti Kirjameeste Selts: 370 Eystrabyggd, Greenland: 451 Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum: 370 Eestimaa Kirjandusühing: 370 Fair Isle, Shetland: 311, 315, 486 Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv: 370 “false faces”: 738 Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts: 370 a∂ fara me∂ grímu: 705; 650Ð651, 653, 658 effigies, the use of: 91, 93, 135, 156, 179, a∂ fara a∂ sníkja: 654 224, 309, 499, 512, 518, 544, 572, a∂ fara út a∂ sníkja: 647 685Ð701; map: (Sweden) 687 Faroe Islands, the: 49, 51, 56, 193Ð195, Egede, Hans: 452, 462, 463, 477 227, 231, 244, 257, 265, 275, 277Ð Egede, Poul: 452 281, 285Ð286, 289, 291Ð292, 294, Ehn, Wolter: 146 296Ð299, 301Ð302, 304, 306Ð307, Eike, Christine: 41, 582 318Ð321, 323Ð325, 437, 543, 579, Eisen, Matthias J.: 369, 370 582, 647, 650, 660Ð661, 705; map: Ejdestam, Julius: 577 278 Ekman, Anne-Kristin: 148 Fasching: 88 Ekman, Britt-Marie: 116, 119 Fastelabend: 256 Ekrem, Carola: 341, 343, 710 Fastelaven: 87 (see also: Shrovetide) elephant traditions: 357, 423 Fastlauen 256 (see also: Shrovetide) Elgström, Ossian: 453 Fastnacht: 88, 256 eliteruss: 91, 506 (see also: russ, and Father Kadri: 441, 445 school traditions) Father Mart: 435, 438Ð439 Ellekilde, Hans: 204, 207 Fedtmule: 648 elves: 643, 646Ð648, 656Ð657, 662, 725Ð Feilberg, H. F.: 37, 200Ð204, 223, 241, 726 262, 682 entrepreneurship: 191, 193, 220, 256, Felix: 121, 140, 142, 147, 687, 689, 690 265, 271, 273, 317, 341, 365, 383, Felixgubbar: 687, 689 454, 583Ð584, 595, 597, 599Ð600, Fergusson, R. Menzies: 304, 305 602, 625, 629, 641, 755Ð758, 766Ð Festival of the Horse, the: 310 768 Fetlar, Shetland: 280, 292, 297, 304, Epiphany: 339, 345, 349Ð350, 356Ð358, 311Ð312 373, 376, 381, 384, 401, 403, 409, fettisdag: 149 412Ð413, 415, 417, 420, 422, 424Ð fettisdagsbrud: 558 425, 428, 447, 539, 585, 592, 603, fettisdagslappar: 150 605, 667, 674, 685, 689, 697Ð698 filegubbelutta: 175 Eriksen, Anne: 598 fingálf: 287 Erlandsson, Helga: 135 fingálpn: 287Ð289 818 Index

Finland: 47, 50, 56, 76, 122, 132, 135, å gå med stjerna: 587, 596Ð598 149, 152, 158, 163, 189, 193, 245, Gårdboen: 222 327Ð367, 375, 378, 380, 394, 397, gåserenden: 258 434, 440, 531Ð545, 558, 603Ð621, Gästrikland, Sweden: 138 667Ð676, 710Ð711, 719; map: 328 Gear, Sheila: 311 finngálkn: 287 Geertsen, Ib: 459 Finnmark, Norway: 47, 54, 591 van Gennep, Arnold: 526, 529, 564, 604, fire, the use of: 69, 76, 80, 92, 213, 308, 607Ð608, 617Ð618, 642, 707, 709 454, 466, 671, 713, 734, 736 (see al- Germany: 49Ð50, 53, 78, 88, 92, 103Ð so: bonfires, and fireworks) 105, 109, 124, 132, 134, 164, 171, firegubbelutta: 175 192, 193, 207, 217, 220, 241Ð242, fireworks: 165Ð166 244, 256, 268, 295, 329, 339, 357, firgubbar: 118Ð120, 175 362, 367, 369, 375, 397, 435, 444Ð First Footing: 348, 388, 673 445, 452, 528, 552, 571, 586Ð587, First World War, the: 307, 309, 329, 367, 667, 676, 695Ð696 387, 408, 426, 433, 436, 440Ð441, Gessain, Robert: 454, 455, 457, 462 560 Gj¿vik, Norway: 516 Fischer-M¿ller, Knut: 207 Gjögur, Iceland: 320, 643, 656, 659–661, Flensburg: 688 663 Fletcher, Alan J.: 743, 745Ð748 Glahn, H. C.: 477 Fl¿ro, Norway: 80, 89 glankara: 501 Flottmann, J. B.: 677 glankarer: 57 Folketoget: 92 Glasgow, Scotland: 740 Folkloristisk brevlåda: 686 Glasisvellir: 90 Folkminnen: 113 Glassie, Henry: 32, 39, 304, 538, 734Ð football: 92, 178 744, 750 Foreningen Danmarks Folkeminder: goat traditions: 51, 54, 56Ð57, 66, 68Ð69, 201, 206 71Ð72, 74, 76Ð77, 81, 129, 131Ð132, Foula, Shetland: 309, 311 136, 139, 151, 155, 162, 185Ð187, France: 585Ð586 199, 203, 223, 235, 272, 282Ð284, Frazer, James George: 37 289, 300Ð301, 340Ð341, 345Ð346, Fredrik IV of Denmark: 197, 452 349, 351, 355, 357Ð358, 369, 387Ð Fredriksson, Catharina: 157 388, 390, 394, 397Ð411, 413Ð414, Fredrikstad, Norway: 590 417Ð419, 422Ð423, 425, 435, 442, Frostatingslova: 683 448, 497, 501, 509, 511Ð513, 517, Fruntimmersveckan: 175; map: 176 519, 521, 531, 545, 592, 609, 612, Frykman, Jonas: 112 615, 619, 662, 674, 679Ð684; ; 62Ð63, fur coats, the use of: 120, 146, 187, 344, 128, 130, 236, 342, 346, 352, 400 423, 609, 619, 624 Goldschmidt, Meïr Aaron: 212–213 fydlebasser: 73 Good Friday: 86Ð87, 89Ð90, 157, 438, Fyn, Denmark: 191, 201, 242, 263, 267, 513, 519 273, 688 good-luck visits: 192, 208, 211Ð213, 262, F¿rland, Gunhild: 103 265, 348, 377, 381, 387Ð388, 390Ð Föglö, Åland: 628 395, 404Ð405, 407. 410Ð411, 438, 440, 447 Gadebasse: 205, 221, 224 gorån: 134 Gadelam: 205Ð206, 221 Gorbachov, Mikhail: 648 Gailey, Alan: 744, 748, 750Ð752 Gormur gamli (the Old): 192 Galoshins: 304, 309, 593, 733, 735, 738Ð Gothikon: 110 740; 737 Goths: 110 games, the concept of: 27 Gotland, Sweden: 110, 157Ð158, 171, Gállá: 80 193, 317, 678, 723 at gå langs: 240 Granlund, John: 38, 171, 551Ð552, 558 Index 819

Graves, Karoline: 224Ð226, 266 Gunnell, Terry: 28, 40, 93, 296Ð297, Gravlund, Thorkild: 201, 241 311, 320, 582, 643, 682Ð683, 706 Great Northern War, the: 367 Gustav Vasa: 151 Green George: 171 Guy Fawkes’ Night: 307 Green Knight, the: 751Ð752 gypsies: 358, 627 Green, Rodney: 744, 748 Gy(re) Carlin: 298 Greenland: 193, 195, 220, 278, 449Ð481, gyros: 286, 292, 298, 309 579, 661; map: 450 Göseken, Heinrich: 369 Gregorian calendar, the: 122, 140, 311, Göteborg, Sweden: 111–114, 137, 183, 647 559 Gregorius: 84, 86, 104, 156 Gregoriusbrud: 84, 86, 93 Hafnarfjör∂ur, Iceland: 317 Gregoriusdagen: 156 Hagberg, Louise: 149 Gregorsmesse: 84 Halland, Sweden: 141, 143Ð144, 165, Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm: 35, 52, 294 168, 184, 191, 552, 581, 686Ð690, Grimstad, Norway: 583Ð584, 590Ð600, 693, 696 738 Halliste: 401, 431 Grindavík, Iceland: 320–322, 643, 655, Hallowe’en (older festival): 96, 173, 304, 659Ð660, 663 307, 311Ð312, 315, 317Ð318, 338, Grímnismál: 283 582, 622, 733, 739Ð740 Grímur: 283 Halloween (modern festival): 27, 55, 96Ð grujla: 291 99, 105, 112, 172Ð174, 266, 271, 292, Grulack: 291 295, 305, 341, 365, 445, 506, 528, Grundtvig, Frederik Lange: 201, 227 564, 607, 614, 619, 629, 641, 655, Grundtvig, Svend: 201Ð202, 224, 231, 718, 739; 98 234Ð235, 272 Halm-Staffan: 304 grûiliur: 291 Halmmænd: 214 Grüner-Nielsen, Hakon: 203–205, 221, Halpert, Herbert: 30Ð33, 38, 40, 208, 227, 230 211, 339, 485, 631, 766, 768 Gr¥la: 285Ð286, 289, 291Ð292, 298Ð Hamburg, Germany: 49, 280 300, 318Ð320, 434, 649Ð650, 655, Hammershaimb, V. U.: 294Ð296 705 Hanila, Estonia: 376, 413 Gr¥lukvöld: 292, 318Ð319 hanojen kolistaminen: 350, 674 gr¥lur: 43, 286, 292, 296, 298, 303, 582, Hanseatic merchants: 49Ð50, 193, 280Ð 647, 661; 303 281, 369 gr¿liks: 43, 187, 286, 291Ð292, 298, 303, Hansêrak: 471 312, 318, 582, 646; map: 294; 313 Harald blátönn (Bluetooth): 192 gröngubbar: 172 Hard Rock Café, the: 174 gubbajulen: 671 Hardanger, Norway: 51, 73, 93Ð94, 96, gubbarnas helg: 671 103, 514, 520, 522, 527 Gudbrandsdalen, Norway: 77, 86Ð87, Hardy, Thomas: 696 518, 678 Harju-Risti, Estonia: 426 Guddursbassen: 73 Harry Potter: 266, 629, 639, 641, 650 Gu∂mundur á Glasisvöllum: 90 Harva, Uno: 676 Gu∂mundur Arason: 90 harvest traditions: 112, 152, 172Ð173, Gu∂mundur Erlendsson: 300 205, 221, 261, 263, 331, 338, 341, guising: 30, 291, 306, 311Ð312, 316, 391Ð392, 394, 399, 405, 422, 607, 325, 631, 719, 733Ð735, 738Ð739, 610, 695Ð698, 708 740; map: (Shetland) 294; 312, 314 Hauganes, Iceland: 320, 322, 643, 655, Guizer Jarl: 317 659Ð661, 663 Gullmund: 89Ð90, 499, 518 Hauge, Hans Nielsen: 49 820 Index

Haustlöng: 282 Hogmanay: 309, 739Ð740 Havfruen: 225Ð226, 235Ð236 Holberg, Ludvig: 196, 199, 204, 226, Hayward, Brian: 740 257, 271 hazing: 325 Holland: 49, 193Ð194, 220, 257Ð258, Háa-∏óra: 287, 298Ð299; 288 280Ð281, 457, 459, 552 Hávamál: 570 Hollywood: 220, 641, 717 Hånedukke: 695 Holm, Gustav: 454, 464, 466, 471 Hälsingland, Sweden: 147–148, 150, 166 Holy Innocents’ Day: 138, 671 Häme, Finland: 327, 346, 349–351, 356, Honko, Lauri: 331 671Ð675 Hooden Horse, the: 301 Härjedalen, Sweden: 49 Hordaland, Norway: 53, 73, 79, 91, 103, Hedberg, Gunnel: 696 504, 514, 521, 524Ð525, 590, 678 Hedeby, early masks from: 29 Hornborgasjön, Sweden: 157 Hedeviger: 265 horse traditions: 73, 133, 181, 193, 197, Hedmark, Norway: 47, 50, 517, 524 203, 225Ð230, 287, 289, 301Ð302, Hei∂reks saga: 90 309Ð310, 345Ð346, 348, 351, 357, Heiligekrist: 242 399, 403, 406, 411, 417Ð418, 422Ð Heinesen, William: 299Ð300 423, 426, 435, 442, 733, 749, 763, Hellekrister: 242 Hougen, Knut Eilif: 52, 80Ð81, 84, 86 Helligdagsforordningen: 198 Hovamoset: 173 Helligkrister: 241 Hrólfs saga kraka: 282 Helligtrekonger: 43, 207, 240Ð241, 244, Hrómundar saga Gripssonar: 282 269, 469, 470, 473, 539, 587 (see al- huhl’akat: 358 so: Star Boys) Huizinga, Johan: 27 Helligtrekongersl¿b: 660Ð661; 209, hunkerinajajia: 349 215Ð216, 218, 249Ð250, 252Ð253, Hupel, August Wilhelm: 369, 397 246Ð247 (see also: Star Boys) Hurt, Jakob: 369, 370 Hellspong, Mats: 107, 179 huuhelníkat Helme, Estonia: 423, 431 : 358 Helsing¿r (Elsinore), Denmark: 273 huægehors (Qvaeghors/ Hvegehors/ hen parties: 55, 103, 105, 179Ð180, 183, Kvæghors): 51, 203, 228 271, 298, 306, 318, 324, 362Ð363, hvide Hest, den: 225Ð226, 228 446, 487, 506, 514Ð 515, 522, 528Ð Hymes, Dell: 489 529, 549, 559Ð560, 562Ð564, 718; Höfler, Otto: 35 315, 561Ð562 Henningsen, Henning: 206 Iceland: 29, 49, 56, 68Ð69, 71, 90Ð91, Henrik, Per: 232 105, 149, 151, 174, 183, 193, 195, heritage: 339, 351, 365, 546, 584, 596Ð 205, 208, 227, 231Ð232, 257, 264Ð 597, 599, 615, 630, 766Ð767 265, 271, 275, 278Ð289, 291Ð292, heritage costuming: 317 294Ð296, 298, 300Ð301, 304, 306Ð Herod, the figure of: 81, 121, 136, 585, 307, 317Ð320, 322Ð326, 353, 363, 591, 728 451, 485, 522, 570, 579, 631Ð663, Herranótt: 705 705Ð720, 726; map: 279 hestleikur: 193, 301 Igri££at: 358 hestur: 287, 289 Igri££ä: 358 Hetweger: 265 Igru£kat: 358 Hiivanuutti: 350, 674 Iisaku, Estonia: 408 hiivanuuttina: 355 Ímap Ukûa: 476, 478 hingede aeg: 340, 431 Imiek: 473 hingesandid: 431Ð433, 445 Indri∂i Einarsson: 322 Historiska museet: 729 Ingria: 329Ð330, 333, 343, 345, 350, hjörtur: 287 357Ð359, 361 Index 821 initiation: 296, 298, 306, 324, 440, 467, joulupäivä: 345 608, 617, 631, 709 joulupoisid: 673 Innocents’ Day: 348, 428 joulupouki: 43, 56 (see also: Christmas inua in masks: 463Ð464 Goat) Inughuit people, the: 449 joulutoomad: 344 Inuit, the: 449Ð481 jousting traditions: 152, 206, 208, 257, Ireland: 39, 49Ð50, 103, 180, 182, 281, 261Ð262 301, 304, 318, 324, 503, 538, 582, jólahøna: 302 632, 734, 743Ð753 jólasveinar: 69, 320Ð321, 643, 647, 655, Islay, Scotland: 298 661Ð662 Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland: 449 jólhestur: 43, 51, 56, 289, 301Ð302, 304, Iulbaken: 397 318 Ísafjör∂ur, Iceland: 292, 322Ð323, 633, Jón Árnason: 286, 294–295, 646 635, 651, 662 Jón Grímsson: 322 Jón Samsónarson: 295 Jack Straw: 750Ð752 Jónas Jónasson frá Hrafnagili: 295 Jack-in-the-Green: 171 jõulud: 372 jakoaika: 340 jõuluelevant: 423 Jakobsen, Jakob: 292, 296 jõuluhanesid: 401 Jamieson, Hugh: 297 jõuluhani: 409Ð412 Jämaja, Estonia: 373, 376, 379, 408 jõuluhobune: 421 Jämtland, Sweden: 49, 150 jõulujõmm: 424 Jellinge, Denmark: 192 jõulukaru: 413, 415 Jensen, Mads: 235 jõulukukk: 422 jester, the figure of the: 206, 210, 214Ð jõululuts: 423 215, 258Ð259, 263, 265, 310 jõululutsid: 423 Jesus: 133, 137, 242, 406, 593 jõulumardid: 422 Jippo-dagen: 184 jõuluorikas: 424 Joensen, Jóan Pauli: 296 jõulupoisid: 43, 385, 386, 387, 397; map: Johan Petersen (Ujuaat): 454, 463 385 Johanneksen päivä: 348 jõulupoisikesed: 385 Johannes Döparens födelsedag: 169 jõulupukk: 397 (see also: Christmas Jolahest, Arnaldus: 50, 227 289 Goat) jolaskatten: 71 jõulusiitsi: 423 jolebassan: 71 jõulusokk: 397, 402, 409; map: 398 (see jolebukk: 72Ð73 (see also: Christmas also: Christmas Goat) Goat) jõulutönk: 420 jolegeiti: 69 (see also: Christmas Goat) Jõulu-Toomas: 396 jolegutar: 57, 71 Judas, the figure of: 81, 121, 136, 138, jolesveinar: 53; 67 (see also: julesveinar) 210Ð211, 214, 585, 593 Jonsok: 51, 93, 95Ð96, 527 (see also: Ju- Juhannus: 360 (see also: Jonsok, Sankt- hannus, Sankthans/ Sankt Hans, St hans/ Sankt Hans, St Hans, St John’s Hans, St John’s Day) Day) Jonsokbrur: 93; 94 Jul i Blåfjellet: 78 Jonsokbryllup: 86, 93, 527, 558; map: julakäring: 691 85; 94 julaknuta: 689, 691 Joseph, the figure of: 81, 121, 136, 210, Jul-Anders: 57, 64, 65, 71 500, 585, 591 julasmäll: 691 Jouluaatto: 345 julastratt: 91 jouluäijät: 348 julbock (SWE): 43, 56, 129, 131Ð133, jouluämmät: 348 136, 184, 185Ð186; map: 131; 130, joulumuorit: 355 134 (see also: Christmas Goat) 822 Index

Julebisp: 199, 43, 203, 205, 221, 230Ð Kaalund, Bodil: 454, 459Ð460, 463 234, 521, 719 Kaarma, Estonia: 376, 379, 390 Julebuk (DK): 43, 56, 189, 196, 198Ð kadri: 43, 440Ð442, 444, 447 (see also: 199, 203, 205, 222Ð224, 227, 229Ð Katri) 230, 235Ð237, 239, 272; 236 (see al- kadrid: 369, 377, 433Ð434, 437, 440Ð so: Christmas Goat) 442, 444Ð445; 436, 441Ð443 julebukk (NOR): 43, 51, 54Ð57, 64, 66, kadriks käima: 440 69, 71, 73Ð74, 76Ð77, 79Ð81, 91, 103, kadrilapsed: 441 105, 437, 499, 504, 509, 511, 513, Kadripäev: 369 517, 519, 522Ð525, 582, 592, 662, kadrisandid: 343, 376Ð378, 440, 445 677, 684, 718; maps: 58Ð59; 62Ð63, kadrit jooksma: 440 75 (see also: Christmas Goat) Kainuu, Finland: 327, 668 “Julebukkvise”: 34, 677–684 (see also: Kaivola-Bregenh¿j, Annikki: 39, 41 Christmas Goat) Kajagmat, Kornelia: 460 julegate: 70, 78 Kalkar, Otto: 205 julegeit: 43, 54, 56Ð57, 69, 71, 140, 499, Kallas, Oskar: 370 510Ð511, 513, 519, 661Ð662; maps: Kalmar, Sweden: 107, 193, 195, 280Ð 60Ð61; 62Ð63, 130 (see also: Christ- 281 mas Goat) kamíngaortitsinek: 477 julegoppa: 122, 302 Kannisto, Artturi: 331 julegoppan: 185 Karelia: 76, 122, 135, 193, 327, 329Ð Julekalenderen: 78 333, 337, 339Ð341, 345, 348Ð349, Julemanden: 219Ð220, 242 350, 356Ð359, 361Ð362, 375, 380, Julenissen: 219Ð220, 222 (see also: nis- 531, 604, 667Ð668, 671Ð672, 676 se) karhu: 349 juleskåk: 71, 514 Karja, Estonia: 373, 376, 379, 386, 392, juleskåka: 71 408, 429 julespöken: 143 Karjalainen, K. F.: 331 Julestuen (the play by Holberg): 196 Karksi, Estonia: 431 Julestuer: 120, 198, 204Ð205, 221Ð226, Karldagen: 176 230Ð232, 235Ð236, 289 (see also: lek- karokan: 710 stue, lekstugor) karu: 413, 414, 415, 416 julesveinar 57, 71 (see also: jolesveinar) Karuse, Estonia: 406, 412Ð413, 423 juletrefester: 78 kasakat: 345 Jule-Vætte: 223 Katri: 340 (see also: kadri) julgans: 369, 409 Katrin päivä: 343 julgås: 409 Kattarkóngur: 323, 634Ð635 julgransplundring: 140 Kattekonge: 258, 634 julgubbar: 129, 184 kattemusikk: 79 Julian calendar, the: 122, 311 Kattkungen: 152, 634 julko: 187 Kaurankantaja: 353 julskåka: 499, 513, 518 kåjta Oullbou: 167 julspöken: 116, 129, 135, 177, 184 käringjul: 671 Julsveinan: 518 Keikyä, Finland: 531, 542, 545–546 julsvenn: 91 kekri: 43, 331, 338, 341, 343, 348, 607, julutsopning: 622 667 Jumihäät: 440 kekrikummitus: 341 Jürgensen, Konradine 240 kekrikurki: 341 Jylland, Denmark: 189Ð190, 192, 195, kekrimörkö: 341 199, 202, 204, 223Ð224, 240Ð242, kekripukki: 341 262, 265, 273, 495, 695 kekritär: 341 Jyrin päivä: 359 Kella-Ritsu, Estonia: 432 Index 823 kerling: 287, 289, 298 181Ð182, 185Ð186, 188, 324, 503, keskispyhä: 671 578; 141 Khanty, the: 331, 362, 434 Knutgubbe: 122, 143, 145, 181Ð182, 185 Kihelkonna, Estonia: 370, 373, 376, (see also Knutsgubbe) 378Ð379, 401 Knutmasso: 146 Kihnu, Estonia: 420, 423 Knuts, Eva: 41 Kiikka, Finland: 531, 542, 545Ð546 Knutsgubbe: 685Ð700; map: 687; 686 kikkarar: 501 (see also Knutgubbe) kiletoi: 343, 361 Knutskäring: 685, 691 kindergartens: 70, 78, 88, 96, 104Ð105, Knutsloppet: 691 265, 446, 504, 627, 628 knutspass: 692 kingsepa mäng: 405 knuutipukit: 355, 531 Kiev frescoes: 29 Kohl, Helmuth: 268 Kintyre, Scotland: 298 koljada: 343 Kippatoget: 79 kolm tarka: 424 Kippen: 79 kolmas joulupäivä: 348 Kippermusikken 79, 105 kolmekuningakaru: 415 Kirjuri: 353 kolmekuningapäev: 350 Kitaamiut people, the: 449 kolmekuningapäevakaru: 413 kits: 397, 401, 403, 413 kolmekuningapäevakurg: 417 Kjellström, Rolf: 112 kolmekuningapäeva sokk: 409 Kleivan, Inge: 459, 468, 470, 473, 475Ð Kongepingasit: 468, 473Ð475 477, 481 att köra ut julen: 356 Klingberg, Göte: 113, 126, 129, 138, Kormáks saga: 282 144, 166, 175Ð176, 632 kotimees: 419 af Klintberg, Bengt: 113, 156, 165, 179, Kramer, Karl Sigismund: 695 181, 686 krestoslaavitajad: 426 Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel: 257, Kristensen, Evald Tang: 201, 262 259, 265, 318, 323, 632, 634Ð635, Kristensen, Marius: 201 637, 639; 258 (see also: att slå katten Kristiania, Norway: 52, 53, 84, 86, 88, ur tunnan, a∂ slá köttinn úr tunnunni) 587 (see also: Oslo) Knudsen, Frederik: 201, 272 Kristianstad, Sweden: 686 Knut: 43, 52, 71, 76, 91, 107, 112, 114, Kristín Einarsdóttir: 296, 323 119, 120Ð121, 135, 137, 140Ð147, Kristkind: 242 151, 167, 177, 182, 185Ð186, 188, kristoslaavitajad: 426Ð428, 447Ð448 318, 333, 346, 349Ð351, 355, 357, kristoslavitaja: 426 362, 372Ð373, 379Ð380, 384, 387, kristoslavtajad: 426 391, 428Ð430, 469Ð470, 518, 544Ð kristotaja: 426 545, 574, 603, 621Ð625, 627Ð630, krõstoslaavitajad: 426 674, 685Ð701; map: 143 (see also: krõstoslavtajad: 426 Knut, Nuutti, nuudid, Tjugondag Kruuse, Christian: 456 Knut) kryckegänge: 181 Knut guilds: 688, 697 kryckeståt: 180Ð181 Knut IV of Denmark: 688 kuhl’akot: 358 Knut Lavard: 76, 688, 689 kukl’akat: 358 Knut letters: 692Ð693, 698Ð700 kukl’äköt: 358 Knutabarn: 692 kuksakat: 358 Knutagubbe: 685, 690 kul’ikat: 358 Knutatingen: 700 kul’ikod: 358 Knutdagen: 114 kuningas: 346 Knutgång: 141 Kunstnerkarneval: 88 Knutgubbar: 43, 103, 107, 139, 140, 146, Kupe: 346 824 Index

Kuppari: 353 Lerwick, Shetland: 277, 280, 291, 296, Kuressaare, Estonia: 379, 411 315Ð318 kurg: 417 Lewinsky, Monica: 648 kurjet: 345 Lid, Nils: 37, 51, 53Ð54, 71Ð73, 77, 80, Kurnuutti: 350 89Ð91, 497, 499, 512, 682, 684 Kuul: 424 Lilja, Agneta: 112, 174 Kuusalu, Estonia: 408, 425Ð426, 448 Lilla Knut: 121 kveldskj¿gla: 43, 71 Limes Norrlandicus: 107 Kyerin Horse, the: 309 Limfjorden, Denmark: 191, 223 kylvettäminen: 674 liminality, the concept of: 30, 526, 529, kyösit: 361 603Ð604, 607Ð608, 616Ð618, 620, K¿benhavn, Denmark: 189, 194, 196, 642, 706, 708Ð709, 714, 718 199Ð200, 212, 220, 222, 224, 261, Lindhagen, Arvid: 140 270, 272Ð273, 281, 452, 454Ð456, Lions Club, the: 145 485 Lithuania: 329, 367 Kökar, Åland: 622, 624 liturgical drama: 586, 596 köyri: 338 Livonia: 195, 329, 367, 394, 445 köyriätär: 341; 342 Lofthus, Norway: 41 köyrpukki: 341; 342 Loftur Pálsson: 285 van Lohuizen, Henk: 457 Labansen, Mette: 473, 478 Lokasenna: 282Ð283, 285, 304 Ladies’ Week: 175 Loki: 282Ð283, 285, 304 Ladoga Karelia: 329, 340, 345, 348, 358, Lolland, Denmark: 230 671 Loorits, Oskar: 370, 433Ð434, 445 Lady Day: 112, 152, 155 Loppiainen: 349 laivaseminaarit: 676 Loppiaisaatto: 349 lajvs: 723Ð730; 727 Lord of the Rings, The: 266, 724Ð726, Laki eruptions, the: 286 728 Landestaat: 367 Lorenz, Konrad: 516 Lostage: 357 Lang, Hans Ostenfeld: 200 Lucia: 43, 55, 64, 69Ð71, 105Ð106, 109, langaf¿sta: 291 112, 114, 116, 120Ð122, 124Ð128, Langefaste: 291 135Ð138, 185, 242, 270, 344, 375, Langefasten : 303 377Ð378, 391, 423, 429, 528, 551, Lapland: 327 558, 574, 582; 123, 125, 559 (see al- lappbrud: 351, 558 so: Lucian päivä, Lusse, Lussi lutsi, lapulised: 41, 439 lutsid) Larsen, Hanne Pico: 207, 240, 268 Luciadagen: 109 laskiaisporsas: 358 Lucian päivä; 344 lastenhäät: 360 Luciatåget: 121 lastetönk: 421 LUF: 111Ð112, 129, 135, 169, 188, 553, Latin schools: 51, 64, 81, 587, 710 564Ð565, 582, 701, 797 Latvia: 329, 367, 419, 424 Lund, Sweden: 111Ð113, 192, 210, 241, Laubman: 171 256Ð257, 686, 688 Laugarvatn, Iceland: 709, 711 Lusse: 43, 112, 123, 125, 177, 289 långlinsåkning: 152 lussebiten: 125 Leach, Edmund R.: 685, 697 lussebrur: 125 Leden, Christian: 456 lussegubbe: 116, 123, 125Ð127, 177, Legestue: 120, 224, 225 187, 578; map: 127; 128 lekstugor: 120, 225 lussekatter: 70, 127 Lengef¿sta: 291 Lussenatt: 112 Leponiemi, Maris: 41, 604 Lussi: 64, 66Ð67, 71, 289, 298, 300; 67 Index 825

Lussiferdi: 66 marti jooksmine: 434 Lutheranism: 49, 122, 194, 360, 449, Martin päivä: 343 452 Martinmas: 172, 292, 311, 430, 434, 437, Lutro, Anne: 96 440, 444 (see also: mardi, Martin lutsi: 43, 375Ð378, 423 päivä) lutsid: 375Ð378, 429, 448; map: 376 Marwick, Ernest: 297, 307, 309Ð310 lutsu: 344 Marwick, Hugh: 297 Luutsinapäev: 375 masked balls: 88, 104, 166, 174, 256, luutsit: 344 322, 635, 660 Lübeck, Germany: 193, 280 masking, the concept of: 27Ð28 Lyle, Emily: 41, 357, 738 masks, the early use of: 50 Læsø, Denmark: 223, 237, 244 “mask-talk”: 485–496 Læstadius, Lars Levi: 49 masquerades: 88, 145, 196, 269, 270, at l¿be fastelavn: 491 341, 504, 522Ð524 Lödöse, Sweden: 124 Mathiassen, Therkel: 456 Löfgren, Orvar: 107 Matsmässbjörn: 149 lövgubbar: 171, 172 Matsmässkvällen: 187 Matsmässodag: 187 MacGhee, Paul E.: 512 Matter, Fredy: 457 Madsen, Jens: 201 Mattesgubbar: 43, 147; 148 Magnus, Olaus: see Olaus Magnus Matthew’s Name Day: 147 Magnusson, Karl: 162 Mattias: 147, 149, 177 Mainland, Shetland: 276, 280, 291, 304, Mattson, Matts: 622 308, 311, 315 Mattsson, Christina: 686 majgreve: 169 Maundy Thursday: 569 majsjungning: 165 Mauss, Marcel: 478 majstång: 169, 550 May Count tradition: 369 makausrahojen kokoaja: 362 May Day: 262 Malmö, Sweden: 110, 688 å måke Stefan: 499Ð500 Malmstedt, Göran: 115 Mårten Gås:172 Mandal, Norway: 52, 81, 91, 590 Märjamaa, Estonia: 408 Mannhardt, Wilhelm: 35Ð37, 53, 72, märt: 422, 434 294, 682, 695Ð697 McClellan, Brenda: 759 Mansi, the: 331, 434 McGhee, Paul E.: 508 mardi: 43, 427, 434Ð435, 437, 439, 444Ð Medelpad, Sweden: 143, 150Ð151, 181 445, 447 Medeltidsveckan: 723, 730 Mardi lapsed: 435 media, the role of the: 126, 173Ð174, mardid: 344, 369, 377, 397, 433Ð434, 216, 313, 323, 341, 365, 446, 467, 436Ð441, 444Ð445; 435Ð436 596, 712, 715, 740, 756 Mardi-ema: 435 Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík: 705, 707, Mardi-isa: 435 710Ð712 mardiks: 434 Menntaskólinn vid Hamrahlí∂: 707Ð708, mardiks käimine: 434 714 mardisandid: 343, 380, 401, 433Ð434 Meri, Lennart: 331 mardisant: 434 Mermaid, the: 225, 232, 235Ð236 Marie Bebådelsedag: 152 Michaelmas: 172Ð173, 339Ð340 Mariehamn, Åland: 41, 627, 629 Middle Ages, the: 49, 52, 66, 80Ð81, 93, Marimesse: 86 104, 121Ð122, 124, 137, 164, 192Ð markkinapukit: 358 193, 206Ð207, 227, 239, 256, 261, marraskuu: 434 271, 275, 281Ð283, 317, 320Ð321, Mart: 374, 380, 388, 422, 430, 434Ð440, 325, 339, 347, 369, 414, 500, 527Ð 444 528, 551, 585Ð587, 597, 603, 621, 826 Index

644, 672, 683, 697, 705, 723, 728Ð Mustjala, Estonia: 376, 379, 388, 392, 729 406, 408, 411, 429Ð430 midsommar: 169, 171, 181 mute mummers: 228, 254, 485 midsommarbrud: 168Ð170, 360, 557 muutit: 358 midsommargubbar: 171 M¿ller, J. S.: 207 midsommartös: 171 M¿re og Romsdal, Norway: 51, 73, 79, Midsommernarren: 214 84, 89, 96, 500, 512, 525, 591, 592 midsummer: 64, 89, 93, 168Ð169, 171Ð möhippor: 43, 179Ð180 172, 214, 262, 360, 527Ð528, 550Ð mökvällar: 179, 560 551, 557Ð558, 564, 667 Mihkli sandid: 340 naflasko∂un: 709 Miikkulan päivä: 343 Nalíkáteeq: 479, 481 mikkeli: 667 naljamardi: 434 Mikko: 340 Namdalen, Norway: 51 Misery Harbour: 761 Nanortalik, Greenland: 449, 451 Mitaartut (festival): 459, 468, 470Ð471, Napasoq, Greenland: 453 473, 476, 478, 481 Narren: 210, 214 mitaartut (mummers): 43, 468Ð471, Naverson, Ron: 28, 34 474Ð476, 481; 461, 472 National Day traditions in Norway: 91Ð mock trials: 353 92, 506, 516 mock wedding traditions: 51, 64, 84, 86Ð Nationalmuseet: 454Ð456 87, 89, 93Ð96, 104, 110, 112, 126, nattfrieri: 558 132, 149, 152, 163Ð164, 167Ð171, nattfriing: 439 182Ð183, 205Ð206, 221, 232Ð235, Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum: 459 270Ð271, 324, 330, 351, 353, 357, näärihani: 410, 412 360, 362, 381, 440, 445, 500Ð501, Nääri–Jaak: 388 514, 521, 527Ð528, 542, 549Ð564, näärikaru: 413, 415, 423 671, 675, 719; map (Norway): 85 näärikurg: 417 Moesgård Museum: 456 näärimees: 388 å moke Staffan: 499Ð500 näärioinas: 423 Moria, the King of: 136, 239, 346, 500 nääripoisid: 43, 385, 387Ð391, 394Ð397, 404Ð406, 413; map: 389; 396 Moth, Mathias: 231, 232, 234, 272, 552 nääripoiss: 388, 393, 395, 404 Mother Kadri: 441, 444 näärisandid: 388 Mother Mart: 435, 438, 440 näärisikk: 401 Mother Teresa: 593 näärisokk: 369, 390, 397, 401, 405, 409; Muensterberger, Werner: 28 map: 402; 399Ð400 Muhu, Estonia: 390, 421 näärivana: 383, 388, 448; 383 Muir, Edward: 585 Närke, Sweden: 124, 157, 168, 172, 552 Mummers’ plays: 34, 756; 737, 746, 748, Neilson, Elizabeth and Katherine: 297 751 neljäs joulupäivä: 348 Mummer’s Song, The: 768 Nellemann, George: 456, 459 mumming, the concept of: 30Ð34 Neu-Hernnhut missionaries: 452, 475 Munthe, Gerhard: 88 Neumann, Bishop 677 Munthe, Ludvig: 87 New’er Song, The: 307 muorit: 345, 347 New Year: 27, 71, 74, 79Ð80, 89, 105, murjaani: 346 121, 135, 186Ð187, 207, 223, 234, Musée de l’Homme: 457, 462 237Ð238, 240, 243, 245, 298, 307, Museon: 457, 460 309, 311, 316Ð317, 319Ð320, 322, Museum für Völkerkunde: 458 331, 339, 349, 357, 369, 380Ð381, music and mumming: 95Ð96, 230, 260, 383Ð385, 387Ð395, 397Ð398, 401Ð 297, 312, 316, 353, 362, 519Ð521, 405, 408Ð410, 412Ð413, 415Ð417, Index 827

420Ð423, 425Ð426, 428, 448, 470, nuudipoisid: 428 471, 473Ð474, 510, 583Ð584, 586Ð Nuuk, Greenland: 451, 453 587, 591, 631, 645, 646Ð647, 655Ð Nuutiherra: 351, 542 657, 662, 692, 705, 708, 739Ð740 Nuutin morsian: 351 New’er Song, the: 307, 309 nuutinajo: 351, 356, 674; 354 Newfoundland: 39, 339, 648, 658, 755Ð nuutinlaulajat: 356 770; 760, 761, 764Ð765 Nuuti: 350 (see also: Nuutti) Nicholson, James: 297 nuutipukit: 355, 531; 346, 352Ð353, 355Ð Ni∂urra∂an: 287, 298Ð301 356 (see also: nuuttipukit, and nuutti- Nieder-Österreich, Austria: 396 pukki) Nielsen, Arna Margrethe: 252 nuutit: 355 Nielsen, Lars Peter Karl: 252 Nuutti: 333, 349Ð356, 531, 542, 603Ð Nilsson, Katarina: 161, 577 620, 674; 532Ð533, 536Ð537, 605Ð Nilsson, Martin P:n: 37 606 nisse: 71, 74, 78, 80, 105, 222, 504, 510, Nuuttiparooni: 43, 351, 542, 609 (see al- 528 (see also: Julenissen) so: paronit) Nissene på låven: 78 nuuttipukit: 355, 532Ð534; 346, 352Ð ní∂stöng: 696 353, 355Ð356 (see also: nuutipukit noa’ider: see Shamanism and nuuttipukki) noitaämmä: 43, 358 nuuttipukki: 609; 346, 352Ð353, 355Ð356 nollningen: 183 (see also: nuutipukit and nuuttipukit) Nooter, Gert: 457, 460, 462, 473Ð476 nyårsget: 187 (see also: nyttårgeita, and Nordiska museet: 111, 686 nyttårsbukk) Nordland, Norway: 47, 50, 64, 68, 73, Nyb¿, Olaug: 79 76, 501, 512Ð513, 518, 678, 684 Nyerup, Rasmus: 201 Normandy, France: 195 nyttårgeita: 79 (see also: nyårsget, and Norn: 292, 296 nyttårsbukk) Norrland, Sweden: 143, 172 nyttårsbukk: 71, 74, 79 (see also: nyårs- Norse settlement in Greenland, the: 451 get, and nyttårgeita) Norsk Etnologisk Gransking: 54Ð55, 70Ð N¥ársnótt: 662 72, 77, 88, 90, 96, 99, 103, 106, 504, 509Ð510, 514Ð515, 522, 530, 584, Ó Catháin, Séamas: 41 602 October Revolution, the: 437, 441 Norsk Folkekalender: 84 Oddabeiagállá: 80 Norsk Folkeminnesamling: 53, 499 Oddur Einarsson: 287 Norske Lov: 677 Ohlsson, Sture: 151 Norway: 29, 41, 47Ð106, 110, 122Ð123, Ohrvik, Ane: 41, 51, 55, 78, 80Ð81, 97, 132, 135, 138, 140, 147, 149, 169Ð 99, 522 171, 173, 182Ð183, 189, 192Ð193, oinas: 402, 423 195, 222, 227, 242, 245, 270, 276, Olaus Magnus: 35, 110, 151, 164, 256 279Ð281, 284, 289, 298, 300, 302, Old Ball, the: 301 304, 317, 322Ð324, 327, 363, 414, Old Tup, the: 301 437, 439, 451Ð452, 497Ð530, 582Ð Olofsdotter, Anna; 569 602, 644, 660, 661Ð662, 672, 677Ð Olonets: 345, 350, 358, 676 684, 689, 710Ð711, 729, 761; map: 48 Olrik, Axel: 200Ð203 nostalgia: 767, 770 Olsen, Anders: 227 notbröllop: 362 Olsson, Kristina: 576 Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqar- Om¿, Denmark: 207, 239Ð240, 253Ð255, fialu: 456 485Ð486 Nuttall, Mark: 459, 470 Oppland, Norway: 47, 57, 72Ð73, 77, 86, nuudid: 391, 428Ð429, 430 93, 99, 501, 512, 514, 517Ð518, 522, nuudipäev: 379, 428 678 828 Index

Or∂asavn Fró∂skaparseturs F¿roya: påskkäringar: 43, 157Ð158, 161Ð162, 296 554, 569Ð583; maps: 159, 573; 160, Ord og Sed: 53Ð54, 106, 530 359, 574Ð575 (see also: påskhäxor, Ordéus, Valdis: 141 pääsiäisnoidat, and witches) Organic Growth Model, the: 756 påsktroll: 162, 358, 573, 575 Orikas: 424 pääsiäisnoidat: 359; 359 (see also: påsk- Orkney: 49, 227, 275Ð276, 278Ð281, häxor, påskkäringar, and witches) 285Ð286, 291Ð292, 296Ð298, 304, Pähkinäsaari, the Treaty of: 329 307Ð310, 312, 324Ð325, 739; map: Pärnu-Jaagupi, Estonia: 405 276 pätsinmurentaja: 676 Orthodoxy: 428 peas as ritual food: 375, 380, 406, 419, Oseberg ship burial, the: 29, 50, 110 438, 444Ð445 (see also: beans as rit- Oskoreia: 222 (see also: Wild Hunt, Wild ual food) Ride) Pedersen, Christiern: 221 Oslo (earlier: Kristiania): 47, 52Ð54, 84, penkinpainajaiset: 363; 364 (see also: 86, 88, 91, 103, 106, 504, 525, 587, school traditions) 589Ð590 (see also: Kristiania) Penkis: 710 (see also: school traditions) Ostrobothnia (Österbotten), Finland: penkkarit: 363 (see also: school tradi- 344Ð345, 348, 351, 358Ð361 tions) Out Skerries, Shetland: 318, 324 Penny Gr¿liks: 312 “oven-breaking” traditions: 341, 348– Perchentage: 357 349, 356, 667Ð668, 670, 676; 669 Petersen, Robert Storm: 251 Pettitt, Thomas: 31, 208, 289, 301, 306, Ólafsvík, Iceland: 643, 654–655, 659, 339 663, 740 Peysufatadagar: 708 Ólafur Daví∂sson: 286, 294Ð295 Pfister, Manfred: 29 Philippovich, Eugen: 459 Paavalin päivä: 358 Picts, the: 279 pagan ritual: 50, 52Ð53, 55, 94, 110, 132, Pierrot: 261 282, 341, 497, 557, 684, 697 Pietarin päivä: 361 paha nuut: 428 Pietism: 197Ð198, 222, 229, 237, 260, Paistu, Estonia: 431Ð432 497 Paldiski, Estonia: 422 pig traditions: 71, 73, 87, 358, 392, 424, Palladius, Peter: 51, 196, 199, 204, 221, 684, 749 228, 270, 272Ð273 piiskangubbe: 344 Palla-Jaakko: 344 piiskanpaavo: 344 Palm Sunday: 359, 438 pikkuhäät: 360 Paluumuuttaja: 605 pikkujoulu: 365, 676 Papa Stour, Shetland: 304, 309, 311 Pilgaard, Anton Valdemar: 204 Papa Westray, Orkney: 292, 306, 307 pingestbrud: 168 pappi: 353 Pingst: 167 (see also Whitsun) paronit: 347, 542 (see also: Nuuttiparoo- pingstbrud: 110, 168Ð169 ni) pingstvall: 552 påskbrev: 154Ð155, 158, 162, 543, 575Ð Pippi Långstrump: 606, 639, 650 578 Pi¿, I¿rn: 204, 688 påskbrud: 89, 157, 163, 556; 164, 555 play, concepts of: 27 (see also: påskebryllup) Plough Monday: 350 påskebryllup: 93 (see also: påskbrud) Pokemon: 186, 629 påskgubbar: 161Ð162, 573, 580; map: Poland: 193, 367 159 pole feast: 349Ð350 påskhäxor: 358 (see also: påskkäringar, Polterabend: 362 (see also: hen parties) pääsiäisnoidat, and witches) Polttarit: 362 (see also: hen parties) Index 829

Pontoppidan, Bishop Erik: 194, 198Ð Reformation, the: 104, 115, 149, 194, 199, 217Ð218, 257, 262 222, 241, 256Ð257, 485, 585, 690 Pop Night: 297, 307, 309; 308 Regino of Prüm, Abbot: 191 pop songs in mumming: 637, 641 Reifler Bricker, Viktoria: 675 Pope Gregory the Great: 84 Reimer, Christine: 201, 263Ð264, 267 Porsild, Morten: 453 Rennie, Andrew: 734 primstaven: 66 Resare, Ann: 167, 170, 550 Prose Edda, the: 282 Reykjavík, Iceland: 633–635, 638, 640, Protestantism: 49, 66, 194, 198, 239, 642, 653, 663, 705, 707, 709Ð712, 256, 744, 752Ð753 721 pukit: 345, 347 (see also: goat traditions) ribbons, the use of: 304Ð305, 310, 441, pukk: 397, 401, 411, 413, 418, 423, 448 550, 556Ð558, 695 (see also: goat traditions) riddles: 544 pukki: 346, 351, 358, 423, 545, 609, 615 “Riding the Stang”: 696 (see also: goat traditions) rige Hr. Randsbjerg, Den: 234Ð236 pulmapoisid: 439 Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde: 457, pumpkins, the use of: 341, 739 460 Purity Syrup: 762, 763, 768 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 88 putleskatt: 71 Risu-Tuomas: 344 Püha, Estonia: 388, 390, 406 ritualised humour: 497Ð530, 612, 622, pühadepoisid: 385, 673 685, 710Ð711 pühapoisid: 385 riu’unvetäjät: 350, 356 Pöide, Estonia: 376, 386, 388, 395, 411 riukujuhla: 349Ð350, 356, 671 pöök: 423 Rogaland, Norway: 67, 73, 590, 678 role-playing games: 27, 723Ð730; 727 Rome, Italy: 50, 88 Qaqortoq, Greenland: 451 romjulen: 74 Qeqertarsuatsiaat (Fiskenæsset), Green- rommelpott: 221, 237, 245, 272; 238 land: 468, 470, 474 Ronaldsay, Orkney: 309Ð310 qinusaqattaaufik: 474 “Room to Rhyme” Project, the: 753 “Quack Doctor”, the: 736 ropakot: 358 Qualiscunque Descriptio Islandiae: 286 Rosing, Jens: 462Ð464 Qvaeghors: 228Ð229 (see also: huæge- rough music: 696, 698 hors) rumlepotte: 221Ð222 Qvigstad, Just: 77, 80 Rumpali: 353 runo songs: 394, 421, 432, 437 raageit: 51 (see also: rågeit) russ: 79, 91Ð92, 504, 506, 515Ð516, 710Ð Rahkalakki: 350 711; 97, 507(see also: school tradi- raiskolliset: 340 tions) ram traditions: 397, 423 russeskikker 91, 105, 504, 506, 529 (see Randers, Denmark: 265 also: school traditions) Rape and Pillage Model, the: 756 russetog: 506 (see also: school traditions) at rasle Fastlavn: 208 Russia: 47, 49, 327, 329Ð330, 333, 340, Rasmussen, Christian Heilskov: 207 345, 350Ð351, 357Ð359, 367, 370Ð Rasmussen, Knud: 456 371, 380, 383Ð384, 394, 401, 425Ð Rasmussen, Lars: 227Ð229 428, 437, 441, 448, 531, 604, 621, Rauchnächte: 357 672, 676 rågeit: 51, 71Ð72, 509 (see also: raageit) Rüttel, Frederik Carl Peter: 454–455 rädeskall: 118 röpäköt: 358 rädikall: 118, 119 Rechtsalterthümer: 700 Saaby, Hans Egede: 452 Red Cross, the: 138 Saarde, Estonia: 431 830 Index

Saaremaa, Estonia: 370, 373Ð379, 382, Scream: 266, 639, 641 388, 391, 394, 401Ð402, 404, 407Ð seaweed, the use of: 302 408, 410Ð411, 413, 421, 424, 428 Second World War, the: 50, 52, 54, 72, Saarikoski, Helena: 363 326, 375, 408, 434, 441, 598, 604 Saint Mary’s men: 309–310 seernapojat: 43, 345 (see also: Star Salmenius, Christian: 330 Boys) Saltholm, Denmark: 194 at sejle med sluppen: 261 Samhain: 307, 582, 739 seilige: 726 Sami people, the: 47, 49, 77, 80, 150Ð semlor: 149 151, 299, 329 Sennenpuppe: 696 Sandefjord, Norway: 52, 590 Setesdal, Norway: 73, 79 sandimardi: 434 Setumaa, Estonia: 428, 448 sandimart: 434 shamanism: 49, 109, 454Ð455, 460, 464, Sandoy, the Faroe Islands: 303Ð304, 319 466Ð467 Sankthans/ Sankt Hans: 64, 84, 93 (see sheep traditions: 65, 72, 276, 373, 681, also: Jonsok) 708, 751 Santa Claus: 54, 70, 74, 78, 105, 129, Shetland: 49, 81, 103, 122, 173, 182, 220, 242, 378, 380, 382Ð384, 401, 187, 208, 210, 217, 227Ð228, 255, 405, 448, 504, 510, 528, 650, 769 268, 270, 275Ð276, 278Ð 281, 285Ð Santino, Jack: 41 286, 291Ð292, 294, 296Ð298, 303Ð santmardid: 373, 440 304, 306Ð307, 309Ð312, 314Ð315, Sarmela, Matti: 339 317Ð321, 324Ð325, 408, 420, 434, Sassuma Arnaa: 476 437, 470, 486, 503, 522, 558, 579, Satakunta, Finland: 327, 538 582, 593, 622, 646Ð648, 650, 660Ð satire: 268, 489, 492, 500, 613 661, 705, 718, 734, 739, 747; map: sauna traditions: 401, 409Ð411, 419Ð420, 277 543, 618 Shetland Archive, the: 296 Savo, Finland: 667Ð668, 671Ð672 Shetland Museum, the: 297 Saxo Grammaticus: 110, 196, 221 Shetland Reel, the: 314 sångängel: 124, 136 Shrove Tuesday: 148Ð149, 150Ð152, Schechner, Richard: 34 574, 632 Schleswig-Holstein: 192, 194, 242, 257; Shrovetide: 87Ð89, 92, 104, 109Ð110, 238, 243 129, 132, 149, 151Ð152, 191, 193Ð Schmidt, August F.: 205Ð206 194, 198Ð200, 203Ð204, 206Ð208, Schnabel, Marcus: 51 211Ð212, 214, 217, 219, 224, 240, School of Scottish Studies, the, Universi- 256Ð270, 272Ð274, 291Ð292, 311, ty of Edinburgh: 297 318Ð319, 321Ð323, 340, 358, 369, school traditions: 27, 88, 91Ð92, 105, 430, 485Ð486, 488, 491, 585, 631Ð 111Ð112, 124, 126, 138, 141, 174, 635, 651, 677; map: (Sweden) 150; 183Ð184, 218, 271, 296, 306, 319Ð 487, 493 320, 322, 324, 345, 360, 363, 446, siernapojat: 345 (see also: Star Boys) 506, 514Ð515, 518, 528Ð529, 628, Simani: 762, 768 631, 638Ð639, 644, 676, 705Ð720, simmans: 292 728, 769; 364; 447; 713, 715Ð717 Sisimiut, Greenland: 453, 470, 476 (see also: Abis, dimission, bänkskud- Sjælland, Denmark: 189, 191, 201, 203, darfest, penkinpainajaiset, Penkis, 210, 214, 224Ð225, 227Ð229, 232, penkkarit, russ, russeskikker, russe- 234Ð237, 239Ð242, 244, 259Ð260, tog, tutipäev) 262, 266, 273, 688 Scotland: 39, 49, 275Ð276, 278Ð280, Skanör, Sweden: 688 281, 291Ð292, 297Ð298, 304, 307, Skåne, Sweden: 110, 124, 129, 135, 143, 308, 318, 324, 388, 593, 673, 733Ð 151, 157, 165, 168, 184, 191, 552Ð 741, 744, 748, 750 553, 685Ð693, 695Ð696, 698Ð699 Index 831

Skara, Sweden: 109, 124 Sorterup, J¿rgen J¿rgensen: 196, 204, skåpukansikte: 574 228Ð229 skeklers: 43, 286, 291Ð292, 298, 303, sotilaat: 346 312, 582; map: 294; 293, 303 soul mummers: 430Ð431, 440, 445 Skimmity Ride, a: 696 South Greenland: 471 Skimmtington Riding: 696 Southern, Richard: 27, 199 skinn-Gr¥la: 285, 299 Speckled Stallion, the: 301 skjaldmeyjar: 287, 301 spikk: 500 skotrarar: 96, 99, 504, 525; 102 spirits associated with mumming figures: skotring: 103, 324, 501, 521Ð523; map: 53Ð54, 56, 69, 71, 74, 76, 78Ð80, 93, 100; 102, 501Ð503 126, 222, 267, 289, 304Ð305, 316, Skott, Fredrik: 41, 112Ð113, 161, 163 330, 340, 357, 411, 416, 420, 431Ð Skraparotspredikun: 705 432, 434, 445, 454, 460, 463Ð467, skråbockar: 361 473, 476, 504, 509, 519Ð520, 543, skråbuk: 139 546, 582, 599, 609, 647, 726 skråpukansikte: 161 St Andrew’s Day: 64–65, 373–375, 378 skråpukar: 120, 150, 157 (see also Anders, andrused) skröpgubbar: 119 St Anna’s Day: 344 (see also: Anna) Skudler: 291 St Anne’s Day: 403 slakta bocken: 132 St Catherine’s Day: 340, 343, 369, 375, Slakte julegrisen: 684 431, 433, 440, 442 slaughtering games: 684 St Catherine’s Eve: 369, 377–378, 381– a∂ slá köttinn úr tunnunni: 632 (see also 382, 405, 412, 420, 432Ð434, 438, Knocking the Cat Out of the Barrel) 440, 448 (see also: kadri/ Katri) att slå katten ur tunnan 151; 258 (see St George: 752 also: Knocking the Cat Out of the St George’s Day: 359 Barrel) St Gertrud: 90 Småland, Sweden: 107, 144, 153, 155– St Gregory’s Day: 84, 156 156, 552, 557Ð558, 678 St Gudmund: 73, 90 Smith, Brian: 297 St Hans: 171 (see also: Jonsok, Juhannes, Smith, Paul: 41 Sankthans/ Sankt Hans, St John’s £muutat: 358 Day, St John’s Eve) £muutot: 358 St John’s Day: 169, 348, 360, 438 (see smörjehorn: 161, 162, 576 also: Jonsok, Juhannes, Sankthans/ Snorri Sturluson: 282 Sankt Hans, St Hans, St John’s Eve) Social Drama, the concept of: 33 St John’s Eve: 51, 64, 84, 93, 527 (see Society for Creative Anachronism, The: also: Jonsok, Juhannes, Sankthans/ 724 Sankt Hans, St Hans, St John’s Day) SOFI: 111, 188, 565, 582, 729 St. John’s, Newfoundland: 762–763, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway: 69, 79, 93, 767, 769 500, 521, 678 St Knud: 193 (see also: St Knut’s Day) sokk: 388, 390, 397Ð398, 401, 405Ð406, St Knut’s Day: 112, 428, 674, 689–690 409, 413, 418, 448 (see also: goat tra- (see also: Knut, Nuutti, nuudid) ditions) St Martin’s Day: 343 Solheim, Svale: 51, 53, 54 St Martin’s Eve: 369, 373–374, 377, Sommer og Vinter: 214 380Ð382, 387Ð388, 391, 393Ð395, soot, the use of: 119, 132, 138, 146, 161, 397, 401, 405, 413, 420, 422, 425, 163, 166, 248, 380, 405, 434, 453Ð 427, 430Ð434, 440Ð442, 444, 448 454, 462, 468Ð469, 473Ð475, 478, (see also: mardi) 480, 563, 574, 578, 593, 599, 738 (see St Mary’s Men: 309 also: blackened faces, and cork) St Matthew’s Day: 147, 149, 177, 558 att sopa ut julen: 356, 622, 674 (see also: Mattias) 832 Index

St Michael’s Day: 430, 431 ere, stjernespill, Sternsingen, Three St Nicholas’ Day: 220, 241–242, 343, Kings, tiernapojat) 528 Star Play, the: 34, 36, 52, 64, 81, 88, 136Ð St Olav/ Ólafur: 192 137, 338, 345, 500, 587, 679, 728 (see St Patrick: 752 also: stjärnespelet, stjernespill) St Paul’s Day: 358 Star Singers, the: 206, 272 (see also: Star St Peter’s Day: 361 Boys) St Petersburg, Russia: 370 Star Song, the: 241 (see also: Star Play) St Stephen’s Day: 132, 221, 223, 237, Star Trek: 723 332, 338, 345, 346Ð348, 357, 361Ð Star Wars: 266, 639, 641, 723, 725 362, 425, 499, 668, 671Ð674, 676 (see Stavanger, Norway: 47, 87, 92, 587 also: Staffan, staffanriddar, staffan- Stefán Ólafsson: 300 ryttar, staffansridar, staffansriddar, Stehvaanus: 347 staffansryttar, tabaniajajad, tabani- Steingrímur Skinngr¥luson: 285 sandid, Tapani, Tapanin päivä, tapa- Sternsingen: 587 ninajo, tapaninlankaa, tapanipojat, att sticka preussaren: 152 tapanipukit, tapanit) at stikke til jomfruen: 210 St Sylvester’s Day: 349 at stikke til Quintan: 210 St Thomas’ Day: 140, 344, 372, 374, at stikke til Roland: 210 378, 380Ð381, 674 (see also: Tomas, at stikke til saraceneren, tyrken, moria- Toomas) nen: 210 St ∏orlákur: 68 at stikke til stråmanden: 210, 261 St Walpurgis: 164 stjärnespelet: 136 (see also: Star Boys) Staffan: 81, 112, 121, 133Ð134, 136, 138, stjärngossar: 43, 110, 114, 121Ð122, 147, 223, 304, 347, 426, 499Ð500, 135Ð139, 185, 344Ð346, 350, 357, 672; 134 (see also: St Stephen’s Day, 581, 584, 718; 137 (see also: Star Tapani) Boys) staffanriddar: 121, 133 (see also: St Ste- stjärngossetåg: 124 (see also: Star Boys) phen’s Day) stjernedrenge: 202, 206, 239, 241, 584 staffanryttar: 133, 134 (see also: St Ste- (see also: Star Boys) phen’s Day) stjernegutter: 43, 51Ð52, 64, 70Ð71, 80, staffansridar: 133 (see also: St Stephen’s 84, 104, 242, 500, 583Ð602, 677, Day) 681Ð682, 738; maps: 82Ð83; 589Ð staffansriddar: 121 (see also: St Ste- 590, 593Ð594 (see also: Star Boys) phen’s Day) stjernesangere: 206, 272 (see also: Star staffansryttar 43, 133, 134 (see also: St Boys) Stephen’s Day) stjernespill: 52, 64, 81, 88, 500, 587Ð stag parties: 55, 103, 105, 179, 271, 298, 589, 591Ð592, 596Ð598, 677, 679 324, 363, 506, 514Ð515, 522, 528Ð (see also: Star Boys) 529, 560, 563Ð564; 508 Stockholm, Sweden: 111Ð112, 138, 151, Stallo: 77, 80, 299, 543 158Ð159, 161, 174, 193, 570, 677, Star Boys, the: 34, 36, 51Ð52, 64, 80Ð81, 729 110, 112, 114, 121, 124, 133Ð138, Stone Age, the: 27, 29, 109, 189, 327 185, 202, 206, 210, 239, 304, 338, Storaker, Johan Theodor: 52Ð53, 81, 91 344Ð346, 349Ð350, 357, 427, 500, Stork: 203, 230Ð233, 401, 417; 418 581, 583Ð602, 677, 688, 718, 738; Storm, Birgitte: 207 map: (Norway) 82Ð83; 137, 589Ð590, Story, G. M.: 30, 38, 40 593Ð594, 427 (see also: Helligtre- Stóra-Borg mask, the: 287; 288 konger, Helligtrekongersl¿b, seerna- straw figures: 112, 206, 210, 350, 424, pojat, siernapojat, stjärnespelet, 685, 747, 750, 751, 752 stjärngossar, stjärngossetåg, stjer- straw, the use of: 56, 91, 122, 140Ð141, nedrenge, stjernegutter, stjernesang- 143, 151, 185, 187, 203, 214, 223Ð Index 833

224, 234, 237, 261, 270, 282, 291Ð Sylvestwerin päivä 349 292, 297Ð298, 303Ð305, 310, 312Ð S¿nderborg, Denmark: 240Ð241, 244Ð 313, 324, 337, 344, 346, 350, 351, 246 354, 361, 373, 380, 386Ð387, 391, S¿nderjylland, Denmark: 192 394, 399, 405, 415, 417, 419, 421Ð Södermanland, Sweden: 152, 157, 168, 422, 423Ð425, 429Ð430, 434, 439, 552 441Ð442, 444, 485, 503, 512, 518, 543, 576, 609Ð610, 619, 685Ð692, tabaniajajad: 425 (see also: St Stephen’s 694Ð696, 698Ð699, 701, 746Ð747, Day, Tapani) 750 tabanisandid: 425Ð426, 447Ð448 (see al- Strawboys, the: 103, 304, 324, 538, 746 so: St Stephen’s Day, Tapani) Stråmand traditions: 206 Tallinn, Estonia: 193, 369Ð371, 688 Stromness, Norway: 307, 308 Talve, Ilmar: 675 Stumpfl, Robert: 35 talsipühad: 372 Sturlunga saga: 285 Tampere, Herbert: 433 Stykkishólmur, Iceland: 635 Tapani: 332, 338, 345Ð346, 347, 425, St¿ylen, Bernt: 679 671–673 (see also: St Stephen’s Day) Sullivan, Harry: 759 Tapanin päivä: 332, 338, 345 (see also: summer solstice, the: 93, 104, 169, 360 St Stephen’s Day) (see also: midsummer) tapaninajo: 43, 346 (see also: St Ste- Sunnanväder, Peder: 151 phen’s Day) Sunnfjord, Norway: 51, 678, 679 tapaninlankaa: 348 (see also: St Ste- Sunnm¿re, Norway: 51, 84 phen’s Day) Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: 333, tapanipojat: 346, 673 (see also: St Ste- 531, 667 phen’s Day) Superman: 647Ð648 tapanipukit: 43, 346; 346 (see also: St surströmming: 172 Stephen’s Day) Sutherland, May: 315 tapanit: 346–347 (see also: St Stephen’s Sutton Hoo helmet plates: 29 Day) Svabo, J. C.: 291 Tartu, Estonia: 193, 369Ð370, 378, 676 Svalbard: 47 Tarvastu, Estonia: 431 Sveinn Einarsson: 295 tattoos, the use of: 462 Svendsen, Johan: 88 tähtipojat: 338 Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland: Tedre, Ülo: 41 622 Telemark, Norway: 74, 86, 89Ð90, 499, Svinoy, the Faroe Islands: 299 503, 512, 517, 684 Swahn, Jan-Öjvind: 141 Temperance Movement, the: 109 Swang, Anne: 70 Teutonic Order, the: 367 Sweden: 47, 49, 56, 64, 66, 69, 71, 76, Thalbitzer, Ellen Locher: 455 80, 84, 86Ð87, 93Ð94, 103Ð105, 107Ð Thalbitzer, William: 453, 455Ð456, 459, 189, 191Ð193, 195, 210, 214, 223, 463, 467, 473Ð474 242, 245, 256, 270, 281, 289, 296, Thiele, Just Mathias 201 302, 304, 327, 329, 340Ð341, 343Ð Thistle, Joan Blackmore: 759, 766 345, 347Ð348, 351, 356Ð361, 367, thongs, the use of in Greenlandic mum- 375, 378, 380, 409, 437, 439, 446, ming: 453, 462, 466, 473, 480 448, 506, 518, 531, 543Ð544, 549Ð Three Kings, the: 81, 121, 133, 136, 138, 564, 569Ð582, 584, 606, 621, 632, 207, 239Ð240, 346, 349Ð350, 369, 639, 671Ð672, 674, 677Ð678, 682, 396, 424, 473, 476, 585, 591Ð593, 684Ð690, 692, 695Ð696, 710, 723Ð 596 (see also: Star Boys) 725, 729; map: 108 Throwing at Cocks: 258 von Sydow, Carl Wilhelm: 38Ð39, 153, Thule culture, the: 451 697 Thule people, the: 451 834 Index

Thyregod, Christen Andersen: 201 Tr¿ndelag, Norway: 47, 51, 73Ð74, 79, tiernapojat: 338, 345, 346, 350 (see also: 89, 91, 513Ð514, 520Ð522, 591 Star Boys) Trondheim, Norway: 47, 51, 587, 591 Tilting at the Ring: 210, 262 Trono: 86, 518Ð519 Tinbergen, Niko: 457, 460 Trono-kvell: 86 Tiniteqilaaq, Greenland: 458, 473, 474, Trono-leiken: 86 475 at trække hovedet af gåsen: 258 tittere: 501 at trække hovedet af hanen: 258 Tjugondag Knut: 621Ð630; 625Ð626, t£uuda: 358 629 (see also: Knut) t£uudot: 358 tjugondagsbrud: 558 Tulloch, Helga: 297, 307 Tokowsky, Peter: 41 Tunnukóngur: 634 Tolkien, J. R. R.: 724, 725 Tunumiut people, the: 449 Tollesmesse: 64, 68 Tuomaan päivä: 344 Tomas: 64, 68, 140 Tuomas: 350 tont: 401, 422 tupilait: 476 toomad: 344, 378, 382 Turkey Champion, the: 752 Toomas: 373Ð374, 378Ð382, 407 Turku/ Åbo, Finland: 41, 603 Toomapäev: 378Ð382 Turner, Victor: 33Ð34, 286, 467, 526, toomased: 43, 378Ð381, 397, 448; map: 604, 607, 616Ð617, 642, 709, 711, 379 718 Tori, Estonia: 376, 401, 422 turnips, the use of: 152, 174, 307Ð308, Torre: 147 446, 739Ð740 tutipäev: 446; 447 (see also: school tradi- Torslunda helmet, the: 29, 110 tions) Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands: 278, 296 Tver Karelia: 358 tõekadri: 444 Twelfth Night: 71, 112, 121, 133, 135, tranbrev: 154Ð155 137Ð139, 167, 202, 206Ð207, 212, traner: 86, 518 237, 239, 241, 244Ð246, 248, 251Ð trangubbe: 155 254, 272, 317, 320Ð322, 339, 349, tranor: 86, 112, 153Ð157, 302, 518; map: 469, 471, 474Ð486, 558, 587, 592, 154 643, 645Ð648, 653, 654, 656, 658, Trebitsch, Rudolf: 459 660Ð663, 688, 740 trettengalten: 71 twigs, the use of: 373Ð374, 383, 394, Tretten-Kari: 71 409Ð412, 431, 435, 438, 444 Trettnegetter: 139; map: 139 Tyhjätappi: 350 trettondagsbrud: 558 tynnyrin peseminen: 674 trettondedag: 349 tynnyrinkylvettäjät: 356 trettondedagsafton: 349 tynnyrinpesiäiset: 350 trick or treat: 99, 174, 739 (see also: Hal- tynnyrinpesijä: 609 loween) tynnyrinpesijät: 356 Troels-Lund, Troels Frederik: 201 tönk: 401, 418, 420Ð423 trollpacka: 569 trollpackor: 162 Uaajarneq: 468, 473 trolls: 65, 73Ð74, 86Ð87, 155, 162, 285, Uajartek: 454 292, 298, 304, 319, 520, 573, 575, Uajeertoq: 454 577, 580, 625, 641, 643, 647, 649, Uddevalla, Sweden: 107, 171 657 Udklædter: 240 trollsmör: 569 Ujuaat (Johan Petersen): 454 Tromdámh Guaire: 749 Ukko: 331 Troms, Norway: 54, 72, 79Ð80, 501, 514, Ullensvang, Norway: 51, 93, 96, 103, 521, 591 504 Index 835

ULMA: 112, 129, 146, 171, 557 Vändra, Estonia: 408, 420, 430 Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, the: Värmland, Sweden: 107, 113, 124, 126, 753 132, 141, 143, 154Ð156, 161Ð162, ungdomslaget: 224 177, 188, 543, 571, 576Ð581 ungdomslauget: 224 Västgötalagen: 570 United Kingdom, the: 128, 301, 307 (see Västergötland, Sweden: 110, 127, 134, also Scotland, and British Isles) 136, 145, 157, 168, 170, 183, 551Ð University College Dublin: 753 552, 558, 561, 580, 687, 691 University of Oslo, the: 54 Vento, Urpo: 41, 333, 337Ð339, 604 unseilige: 726 Veps: 329, 358 Unst, Shetland: 280, 292, 297, 311Ð312, Vepsia: 367, 394 314Ð317, 324 Verzlunarmannaskóli: 708, 712 Unternächte: 357 Vest-Agder, Norway: 52, 56, 73Ð74, 81, Upernavik, Greenland: 449, 451, 462, 91, 511Ð512, 590 470 Vestfold, Norway: 52, 84, 86, 89Ð91, Up-Helly-Aa: 297, 311, 315, 317; 313 499, 518, 590 Uppland, Sweden: 110, 146, 159, 176, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland: 320Ð321, 325, 186, 560, 569 633, 642Ð643, 657, 659Ð660 Uppsala, Sweden: 110Ð113, 129, 560, Vestrabyggd, Greenland: 451 582, 729, 730 Vestring, S. H.: 397 Ussing, Henrik: 201, 242, 244 veturnætur: 173 utkledninger: 501 viattomien lasten päivä: 348 uudenvuodenpäivä: 349 Victor, Paul-Emile: 457 uue aasta poised: 385, 394 Viemær: 228 uue aasta sokk: 388 Viking Age, the: 109, 191 uueaastapoisid: 388 vikivaki: 286Ð287, 289, 292, 294, 298, 300Ð301, 306, 318, 325, 660, 705; Uvaajartut: 473, 478 map: 290 úlfhe∂nir: 414 Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir: 296, 320–321 útskriftara∂all: 708 Vildmanden: 214 vilde Jagt, Den: 222 vaarit : 347 Viljandi, Estonia: 431 Vaasa, Finland: 351, 358 Vilkuna, Kustaa: 675 vafferget: 155 Virumaa, Estonia: 397 Vafferkvällen: 155 Visby, Sweden: 317, 723, 730 vaffertranor: 156 Viuluniekka: 353 vaffertroll: 155 voices, alteration of in mumming tradi- Valborg: 164Ð167, 172, 359 tions: 76, 120, 142, 162, 166, 268, Valborrar: 165Ð167; map: 165; 164 304Ð305, 314, 316, 400, 403Ð404, Valdres, Norway: 56Ð57, 72, 77, 93, 514, 410Ð411, 419, 432, 465Ð467, 480, 517 486, 488Ð489, 492, 495, 503, 517, Valga, Estonia: 422 523, 539, 577Ð578, 612, 619, 637, valkyrjur: 287 648, 653, 657, 758 Vallesmanni: 353 Vyborg, Russia (earlier in Finland): 351, Vana Mart: 435 358 vandrende j¿de, den: 214 Völsunga saga: 282 Vappu: 359Ð360 Völundarkvi∂a: 282 Vapun aatto: 360 Varsinais-Suomi: 327 Walpurgis Night: 164 (see also: Valborg) Vårdö, Åland: 628 Warlord: 726 Vårfrudagen, 112, 155 Warner, Marina: 512 Väike-Maarja, Estonia: 422 water-sprinkling traditions: 400, 404Ð Välskäri: 353 405, 422Ð423, 446 836 Index

Weber-Kellermann, Ingeborg: 696 wolf traditions: 282, 357, 413Ð414 wedding mumming traditions: 56Ð57, Wolfram, Richard: 35 64, 73, 84, 86, 89, 93, 96, 99, 103Ð Woods, Vincent: 752 104, 110, 126, 132, 149, 157, 163, Wyller, Torill: 93, 96 167Ð171, 177, 181Ð182, 187, 205Ð 206, 232, 234, 271, 291, 298, 306, Yell, Shetland: 280, 292, 297, 311Ð312, 324, 331, 351, 358, 360Ð362, 394, 314 404, 420, 439Ð440, 445, 499Ð501, ynglingalag: 121, 133 503Ð504, 506, 514Ð515, 518Ð519, Yrjön: 359 521Ð523, 525Ð527, 549Ð564, 676, Ystad, Sweden: 688 684; maps: (Norway) 100Ð101, (Swe- den) 182; 102, 501Ð503 Zorro: 145Ð146 Weihnachtsmann: 105 Zwissennächte: 357 Weiser-Aall, Lily: 54, 67Ð69, 72Ð73, 77Ð Zwölftentage: 357 78, 213, 582 Wergeland, Henrik: 91 ∏i∂riks saga af Bern: 414 West Greenland: 449, 453, 459, 463, πingálp: 43, 56, 287 468, 471 πingálpn: 287, 289, 300, 301, 304 Westerlund, Alfred: 622 ∏ingeyri, Iceland: 643Ð663; 650Ð651, Wetter, Herbert: 339 653, 658 Whalsay, Shetland: 311Ð312 ∏jó∂háttadeild ∏jó∂minjasafnsins: 295 whipping traditions: 87, 89, 499, 513Ð ∏jó∂minjasafni∂: 632 514, 518, 610 ∏orleifs πáttur jarlskálds: 282, 284Ð285, White Mare, the 301 522 Whitsun: 110, 167Ð171, 195, 210, 262, ∏orri: 147 270, 551Ð554, 556Ð557 (see also: ∏ór/ Thor: 282 Pingst) ∏rymskvi∂a: 282 Whitsun Queens: 552 Wiedemann, F. J.: 369 ®r¿, Denmark: 192, 204, 207, 213, 217, Wiers-Jenssen, Hans: 586 239Ð240, 244, 246, 248, 255, 268Ð Wigström, Eva: 553, 690 269, 485Ð496; 487, 493 Wild Horse, the: 301 Wild Hunt, the: 222 ¯stfold, Norway: 50, 70, 84, 590 Wild Ride, the: 66 Wilhelm, Kaiser: 244 Ödman, Nils-Petrus: 581 Williamson, Laurence: 297 Öland, Sweden: 29, 110, 129, 144, 157, winter solstice, the: 66, 68, 122, 372, 478 678, 679 Winter Sunday: 311 Österbotten: see Ostrobothnia Winter War, the: 330 Östergötland, Sweden: 110, 145, 168, witches: 157Ð159, 161Ð163, 165, 341, 173 434, 481, 554, 569, 570, 571Ð575, Östling, Per-Anders: 571–572 577Ð578, 579Ð582, 606, 614, 625, öök: 423 629 (see also: påskhäxor, påskkäring- ar, and pääsiäisnoidat) Ípetatud Eesti Selts: 370

Contributors 837 Contributors

(In accordance with Icelandic practice, Icelanders are ordered here by their Christian names.)

Carsten Bregenh¿j received a Mag.art. in Folklore from K¿benhavns Universitet, Denmark, in 1972. He then worked as an archivist, first in Dansk Folkemindesamling, and later in the Österbottens Traditionsarkiv in Vasa, Finland 1972Ð2006, with leaves of absence in 1973Ð1975 to carry out research into Nordic masking traditions for K¿benhavns Universitet; in 1984Ð1988, when he worked as research assistant at NIF (the Nordic Institute of Folklore); in 1988Ð1989, when he carried out research (into Purim traditions among other things) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; and in the winter term of 2005 when he served as guest teacher at Lakehead University, in Thunder Bay, Canada. He has carried out field work into mumming in Denmark, Finland, Åland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Germany and Israel. He has also published two books on mumming traditions (in 1974, and 1975 [with Urpo Vento]) and a number of articles and video documentaries.

Prof. Nils-Arvid Bringéus, PhD, teol. kand. and Honorary Doctor of Theology, served as Professor in Ethnology at Lunds universitet, Sweden, between 1967 and 1991, specialising in European ethnology. His wide-ranging production of academic work covers numerous topics, ranging from customs and tradition to iconography, culinary culture, theology and the history of the ethnological discipline. His key works include the following: Årets festseder (1976), Människan som kulturvarelse (1990), Årets festdagar (1999), Julstugor och sommarlag (2005), and Carl Wilhelm von Sydow som folklorist (2006).

Dr Christine Eike has an academic background in Universität Wien in Austria, and came to Norway in 1964 to collect material for her thesis on Norwegian masking traditions and legends concerning the Christmas period. During her first years in Norway, she was supervised in this work by Lily Weiser-Aall. The thesis was presented in 1967 under the title of Norwegisches Burschenbrauchtum: Kult und Sage, and was printed in 1978 with the title Sozialformen der männlichen Jugende Altnorwegens. Besides that, she has written a range of articles on Norwegian local history, childhood history, and folk customs and legends. She worked as a school teacher for many years, and then as a curator at a local museum until she retired. In more recent years, she has been working with “oral history”, involving memories of childhood drawn from three generations.

Siv Ekström is a teacher and folk musician who has studied folkloristics (including mumming) and musical science on her home island and at Åbo Akademi (Åbo Akademi University) in Finland. She lives in the Åland Islands where she works as a teacher in adult education (dealing especially with I.T. and folk music).

Dr Terry Gunnell has a background in drama and theatre arts, and Icelandic studies. He has worked as a lecturer in Folkloristics at Háskóli Íslands (the University of Ice- land) since 1998. In addition to the book, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (1995), based on his PhD thesis at the University of Leeds, he has written a range of articles on folk drama, folk legends, folk festivals, performance, and Old Norse Religion.

838 Contributors

Dr Adriënne Heijnen completed her PhD thesis in anthropology and ethnology (dealing with the narration and interpretation of dreams among Icelanders) at Aarhus Universitet, in Denmark, in 2005. For many years, she has been conducting ethnographic research in the North Atlantic area (Greenland, Iceland and The Faroe Islands), and has published articles on a wide range of topics, ranging from mask and mumming traditions in Greenland to the social impact of the current investments of Icelandic businessmen in the global market. She is currently employed as Coordinator at the Danish Research School of Anthropology and Ethnography, and Research Assistant at the Stefansson Arctic Institute in Akureyri, Iceland. Alongside this, she is working on the publication of her PhD thesis.

Prof. Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j received her Fil.maist. (1969), Fil.lis. (1971), and Fil.Tri (1978) from Helsingin yliopisto (the University of Helsinki) in Finland. She worked as an archive assistant in 1964Ð1975; an assistant researcher at the University of Helsinki (Institute of Folklore) in 1970Ð1975; a lecturer of Finnish at K¿benhavns Universitet in Denmark in 1975Ð1981; and a researcher at Suomalainen tiedeakatemia (the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters) in 1981Ð1994, including one academic year as an international research project member at the Hebrew University of Jerusa- lem, Israel, in 1988Ð1989. Following this, she went on to serve as Professor of Folk- lore at Turun yliopisto (the University of Turku) between 1993 and 2004. She then held the chair in Finnish at Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada, for the winter term of 2005. Annikki Kaivola-Bregenh¿j has carried out fieldwork on mumming in Finland, Åland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark and Norway. Her main research subjects are riddles, narratives and narrating, popular dream interpretations, and wedding customs. Among other work, she is the author of Riddles: Per- spectives on the Use, Function and Change in a Folklore Genre (2001).

Prof. Bengt af Klintberg is an artist, poet, radio broadcaster, and folklorist who is internationally known for his wide-ranging research in the field of folklore. In Sweden, his radio programme, Folkminnen, was broadcast regularly for fifteen years, making him a household name and a central authority on Swedish folklore. Among numerous other works, he has published Svenska folksägner (1972) and three volumes of contemporary legends, Råttan i pizzan (1986), Den stulna njuren (1996) and Glitterspray & 99 andra klintbergare (2005) which, as the last title shows, have resulted in the word “klintbergare” being used in modern Swedish to mean an “urban legend”.

Dr Eva Knuts successfully defended her PhD thesis, Något gammalt, något nytt – skapandet av bröllopsföreställningar, dealing with the creation of wedding performances, at the Department of Ethnology at Göteborgs universitet, Sweden, in 2006. Her interests centre on questions of materiality, consumption and rituals.

Kristín Einarsdóttir has been a primary school teacher in Iceland for 15 years, and finished her MA degree in Folkloristics at Háskóli Íslands (the University of Iceland) in 2004. She has worked as a part-time lecturer in the University of Iceland since 2001, and also presented regular radio programmes dealing with folklore on the Icelandic State Radio (RÚV). Among other subjects, Kristín has carried out research into Ash Wednesday traditions in Iceland (the subject of her MA dissertation), poems about the ogress Gryla, humour in Iceland, and children’s folklore.

Mari Kulmanen received her MA in Folklore at Turun yliopisto (the University of Turku) in 2004. Her research has focussed essentially on seasonal festivals, her final dissertation dealing with the celebration of Halloween in Finland. She is currently occupied with postgraduate research.

† Prof. Reimund Kvideland began his career in 1966 when he became a lecturer in Folklore at Universitetet i Bergen. Throughout his life, he contributed to the establishment of a discipline with focus on contemporary processes and traditions, serving from 1991 to 1997 as director of the Nordic Institute of Folklore (NIF) in Turku, Finland;

Contributors 839

President of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR: 1989-95), and President of The International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF: 1987-1990). Internationally respected, his scholarly publications cover a range of subjects, from folk narrative and singing traditions to fairy tales, legends and songs; children’s lore; and religious memorates. Among the works he edited are the following: Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend (1988, with Henning K. Sehmsdorf); Nordic Folklore (1989, with Henning K. Sehmsdorf); and All the World’s Reward (1999, with Henning K. Sehmsdorf). At the time of his untimely death in 2006, he had already completed his contribution to this volume.

Dr Hanne Pico Larsen has a BA degree from K¿benhavns Universitet (1999) and a background in Folklore and Scandinavian Studies. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006, with a PhD thesis which focussed on Danish-Ameri- cans and tourism in a Southern Californian town founded by Danish immigrants. In addition to this, she has carried out research into mask and mumming traditions in Denmark and Newfoundland, and other fieldwork relating to identity negotiation and immigrant narratives in Finland, Spain, Peru, and Argentina.

Maris Leponiemi, the Estonian coordinator for this book, received her BA from Tartu Ülikool (the University of Tartu), in Estonia, and her MA from Jyväskylän yliopisto (The University of Jyväskylä), Finland. She had a central role in the original Masks and Mumming project both as a research member and as an interpreter (EstonianÐEng- lish–Estonian). Without her hard work translating the contribution by Ülo Tedre, it is questionable whether this book would have its present form.

Dr Emily Lyle is an Honorary Fellow in Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and has had a research connection with that department since 1970. She has lectured and published widely in the areas of Scottish ballads and songs, and traditional cosmology. Her interest in Scottish folk drama relates to her work on calendar customs in a cosmological framework, and she is President of the SIEF (The Interna- tional Society for Ethnology and Folklore) Working Group on the Ritual Year. Her books include Archaic Cosmos: Polarity, Space and Time (1990), and Fairies and Folk: Approaches to the Scottish Ballad Tradition (forthcoming). She also edits the journal Cosmos.

Bodil Nildin-Wall received her fil.mag. in Literature and Folklore from Uppsala universitet, Sweden in 1971, and her gymnasielärarexamen (Certificate of Upper-Second- ary School Education) in Uppsala in 1972. Between 1977 and 2002, she worked as an archivist, research archivist and senior research archivist at Institutet för språk och folkminnen (SOFI: the Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore) and its predecessors in Uppsala and Göteborg. Since 2003, she has served as Head of the Folklore De- partment in SOFI in Uppsala. She is currently engaged in research into live role-playing games and the present-day use of folktales in literature, comic strips, advertisements and so on. Together with Jan Wall, she has published a number of books and articles on, among other topics, the significance of folk beliefs and folklore in the seventeenth-century witch-trials.

Prof. Séamas Ó Catháin has written a range of books and articles on aspects of folk narrative and folk custom and belief (including mumming). He recently stepped down as Professor of Irish Folklore and Head of the School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore and Linguistics at University College Dublin. He is Director of the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.

Ane Ohrvik received her Cand. philol. in Folklore from Universitetet i Oslo in 2000, writing a thesis on the Norwegian Star Boy tradition (“Må stjerna komme inn?”: En studie av tradisjonsoverf¿ring i Grimstad). She has worked as a part-time lecturer in Cultural History at the University of Oslo since 2001. In addition to co-editing Sagn- omsust: Fortelling og virkelighet (2002), and Ritualer: Kulturhistoriske studier (2006), she has also published a history of the Norwegian nisse (Santa Claus figure), entitled

840 Contributors

Nisser: Fra helgen til sinnatagg (2004). She has also published several articles dealing with rituals and entrepreneurship. Fredrik Skott, fil.mag, is a research archivist at Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet (The Institute of Dialect, Place names and Folklore Research) in Göteborg, and at present completing his doctoral thesis in the Department of History at Göteborgs universitet. Besides the book Asatro i tiden (2000) on the neo-pagan religion in Sweden, he has published a range of articles dealing first and foremost with masking traditions, the witchcraft trials, and the history of the Swedish archives. Dr Paul Smith is involved in research into contemporary legend, traditional drama, folklore and popular literature (including broadsides, chapbooks and photocopy-lore), folklore and technology, computer application in folklore research, non-verbal traditions, custom, foodways, graffiti and humour. He has published numerous books, including two popular collections of contemporary legends and two on photocopy joke sheets. In collaboration with Dr Gillian Bennett, he edited the five-volume Perspec- tives on Contemporary Legend essay series (1984Ð1990); wrote Contemporary Leg- end: The First Five Years (1990); compiled Contemporary Legend: An Annotated Bib- liography (1993); and published Contemporary Legend: A Reader (1996). In addition to this, Dr Smith has written over 90 articles and chapters for a variety of journals and books, and is editor of Contemporary Legend, and co-editor of Traditional Drama Studies, New Books in Folklore and Current Contents in Folklore. He is Co-Director of the Institute for Folklore Studies in Britain and Canada, and Vice-President of the In- ternational Society for Contemporary Legend Research. Dr Ülo Tedre worked for five decades at the Institute of Language and Literature (Eesti Keele ja Kirjanduse Instituut: KKI) in Tallinn, collecting, publishing and carrying out other folklore research. Between 1962 and 1991, he served as director of the Department of Folklore in the Institute, and after that time continued working at Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum (the Estonian Literature Society, of which the Institute of Lan- guage and Literature forms a part), publishing different source material concerning Estonian ballads (1958Ð1980), and Estonian customs and traditions (1995), as well as numerous other subjects concerning the history of Estonian traditions, his special fields being the so-called runo-songs, the history of folklore, and wedding and calendar customs. Among his key works is his scholarly anthology, Eesti Rahvalaulud (Estonian Folk Songs: 1969Ð1974). His bibliography (1951Ð2002) can be found in his dissertation, Eesti mees ja tema sugu… (2003). Urpo Vento, MA, had a long career working in the service of Suomalaisen Kirjalli- suuden Seura (The Finnish Literature Society) between 1962 and 2000, serving as archivist and director at the Folklore Archive of the Society, and later as Director of Pub- lishing and Secretary-General. He worked as an assistant for the Finnish folk-culture atlas project (see Vento 2000), and has done wide-ranging folkloristic fieldwork on calendar and narrative traditions in Finland. His publications include a number of articles and anthologies of folk narratives. Vilborg Daví∂sdóttir has a BA degree in Folkloristics and English from Háskóli êslands (the University of Iceland), and a diploma in Journalism. She worked as a journalist and a reporter for many years, and, since 1993, has written a number of prize-winning historical novels set in medieval Iceland, Scandinavia, Scotland and Greenland, among them being Vid Urdarbrunn (1993), Nornadómur (1994), and most recently Hrafninn (2005). She is currently completing an MA degree in Folkloristics at the University of Iceland. Dr Susanne Österlund-Pötzsch is a post-doc researcher and folklorist at Åbo Akademi (Åbo Academi University) in Finland. Her doctoral dissertation, American Plus: Etnisk identitet hos finlandssvenska ättlingar i Nordamerika (2003) dealt with ethnic identity among immigrant descendants in North America. Her research interests include folk drama (the theme of her MA thesis), ritual, ethnic identity, migration, urban culture and walking practices.