A Scandinavian calendar of nisser and magical creatures 🇩🇰🇸🇪
Your nisse stays with you after Christmas. It lives in the attic all year round — and month by month, new creatures and stories move in.
Keep your profile after Christmas, and you'll be there when the new stories arrive.
Part 1 Nisser and house spirits
The nisse lives in the attic and has stories all year round.
DecemberNowThe Christmas nisse
🇩🇰 Julenisse · 🇸🇪 Jultomte
Presents, little surprises and rice porridge with butter.
The great nisse season. The nisse moves in behind the little door, writes a letter every morning and waits for his porridge on Christmas Eve.
JanuaryComing soonThe farm keeper
🇩🇰 Gårdbo · 🇸🇪 Gårdstomte
Looks after the animals and keeps the farm in order.
When Christmas is over, the nisse goes back to his most important job: checking on the animals in the barn, closing the gate and making sure everything is in its place.
FebruaryComing soonThe house nisse
🇩🇰 Husnisse · 🇸🇪 Hustomte
Cosiness, tidying up and caring for the home.
The house nisse lives under the floor or up in the attic. He loves a home where everyone helps to tidy up and people are kind to each other.
MarchComing soonThe nisse on the spring farm
🇩🇰 Forårsnisse · 🇸🇪 Vårtomte
Helps with the cows, the barn and the first spring days.
A theme month, not an old holiday. The calves are born, the barn needs airing, and the nisse keeps an eye on everything.
AprilComing soonThe garden gnome
🇩🇰 Havenisse · 🇸🇪 Trädgårdstomte
Spring, seeds and nature waking up.
The garden gnome with his watering can is a modern image, not the old nisse of folklore — but he is a lovely reason to sow seeds and watch them sprout.
MayComing soonThe barn nisse
🇩🇰 Gårdsnisse · 🇸🇪 Ladugårdstomte
Chicks, calves and hay for the barn.
In May the barn is full of life. The nisse counts the chicks, pats the calves and enjoys the first hay of the year.
JuneComing soonThe nisse in summer
🇩🇰 Sommernisse · 🇸🇪 Sommartomte
Light nights, flowers and Swedish Midsummer.
Midsummer is a big celebration in Sweden. The nisse is not its symbol, but he lives in the summery village and forest and watches with curiosity.
JulyComing soonThe forest nisse
🇩🇰 Skovnisse · 🇸🇪 Skogstomte
Forest walks, animal tracks and quiet paths.
A little forest dweller who knows every track in the moss. Go for a walk and see who has passed by: a fox, a hare — or maybe a nisse?
AugustComing soonThe harvest keeper
🇩🇰 Høstnisse · 🇸🇪 Skördetomte
Apples, grain and thanks for good work.
The grain is brought in and the apple trees are heavy with fruit. The farm nisse helps out and reminds us to say thank you — to the animals, to the earth and to each other.
SeptemberComing soonThe forest nisser
🇩🇰 Skovnisser · 🇸🇪 Skogstomtar
Mushrooms, berries and the autumn forest.
The forest nisser gather mushrooms and berries and get ready for the cold. How many kinds of mushroom can you spot — without picking the ones you don't know?
OctoberComing soonThe nisse comes home
🇩🇰 Loftsnisse · 🇸🇪 Hemmatomte
Old farms, cosy evenings and getting the house ready for winter.
After a summer outdoors, the nisse moves back up to the attic. Tell the old stories about house nisser and make the home snug for winter.
NovemberComing soonThe nisse and the dark season
🇩🇰 Lysnisse · 🇸🇪 Ljustomte
Candles, stories and waiting for Christmas.
The days grow short and the candles are lit. The nisse polishes his little door — soon it will be Christmas again.
Part 2 Other fairy-tale creatures
Trolls, elves, forest and water spirits.
DecemberComing soonLucia and the Christmas creatures
🇩🇰🇸🇪 Lucia
Light in the dark, the straw Yule goat and old legends.
On 13 December Lucia wears candles in her hair. The Julenisse, the Jultomte, the trolls and the straw Julbock all return — and everything begins again.
JanuaryComing soonThe trolls
🇩🇰 Trolde · 🇸🇪 Troll
Big and small, silly and cunning — and shy of the sun.
In the old stories trolls live in hills, mountains, caves and under big stones. Some of them can't stand sunlight at all. This month's theme: mountains, stones and winter tales.
FebruaryComing soonThe vittra
🇩🇰 Vætter · 🇸🇪 Vittra
The secret world under our feet.
In northern Sweden people tell of the vittra, who live underground and under houses. People believed they could be good neighbours — but they did not like to be disturbed.
MarchComing soonThe meadow elves
🇩🇰 Elverfolk · 🇸🇪 Älvor
Dancing in the mist and the first spring flowers.
The elves danced in the mist over the meadows and left fairy rings in the grass. This month's theme: nature wakes up and the first flowers peek out.
AprilComing soonThe hidden folk
🇩🇰 De underjordiske · 🇸🇪 Bergfolk
Secret homes inside hills and mountains.
A hidden folk lived inside the hills, and people left their homes in peace. This month's theme: mysterious hills, stones and caves.
MayComing soonThe forest lady
🇩🇰 Skovfrue · 🇸🇪 Skogsrå
She watches over the forest and its trees.
In Swedish legend the forest lady, Skogsrå, has a back like tree bark, and people believed she watched over the forest animals. She is happy when we walk quietly and take good care of nature.
JuneComing soonThe magic Midsummer night
🇩🇰 Midsommernat · 🇸🇪 Midsommarnatt
Seven flowers under the pillow — and sweet dreams.
In Sweden, Midsummer night is one of the lightest nights of the year. By old custom you pick seven kinds of flowers in silence and put them under your pillow — and then you dream something special.
JulyComing soonThe river fiddler
🇩🇰 Nøkken · 🇸🇪 Näcken
The water spirit who plays the violin by the river.
In the old stories he plays the violin in the rushing stream. We listen from the bank with a grown-up close by — and hum his tune on dry land.
AugustComing soonThe brook horse
🇩🇰 Bækhest · 🇸🇪 Bäckahäst
The white horse by the brook — and the secrets of water.
The beautiful white horse appears by the water. The legend reminds us of something wise: never climb onto strange animals, and always play safely by water — with a grown-up.
SeptemberComing soonThe elf meadow
🇩🇰 Elverdans · 🇸🇪 Älvdans
Mist, mushrooms and quiet autumn meadows.
The elves are back! When mist lies over the meadow on an autumn morning, it looks like a dance. Can you find a ring of mushrooms in the grass? Look, but leave them be.
OctoberComing soonThe huldra
🇩🇰 Ellekone · 🇸🇪 Huldra
The forest woman with a tail — and the riddles of the autumn forest.
The huldra belongs to Norwegian legend and to parts of Sweden. She is a shy herder who sings to her cows, and she carefully tucks her little cow's tail under her skirt. Everyone has something they feel a bit shy about. The autumn forest is full of riddles: who nibbled the pine cone? Why do the leaves turn red?
NovemberComing soonMountain trolls and giants
🇩🇰 Bjergtrolde · 🇸🇪 Bergatroll
Dark evenings and tales of the trolls and giants in the mountains.
In the old legends the mountain trolls and giants had a world of their own deep inside the mountains, with halls full of gold. This month's theme: darkness, mountains and mysterious stories — told by candlelight.
What you do each month
- Meet the creature of the month
- Read a short tale or legend
- Find its picture — or draw it yourselves
- Learn its Danish and Swedish names
- Make a little craft or go for a nature walk
Denmark and Sweden — little differences
- The Danish nisse
Looks after the farm, the house and the animals. Loves porridge with a knob of butter — and can get touchy if he is forgotten.
- The Swedish tomte
Very much like the nisse. But the modern Jultomte also brings the presents himself on Christmas Eve — in Denmark that job belongs to Julemanden, Father Christmas.
- Älvor and elverfolk
Swedish älvor dance in the mist over the meadows at dusk. In Denmark people told of the elverfolk who lived in mounds — as in the 1828 play “Elverhøj” (Elves' Hill).
- Näcken
The water spirit with the violin. In Danish he is called nøkken.
- Trolls
Found in both countries — in mountains, forests and under big stones.
«12 Months of Scandinavian Nisser and Magical Creatures»
Our own illustrated book in Danish, Swedish, English and Russian — with Danish and Swedish names, short tales and beautiful pictures.