Skip to main content

Christmas Countdown Characters #20

A little Finnish surprise for you today.....
 T is for tonttu 
A tonttu ( or tomte in Swedish)  is a mythological creature from Scandinavian folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. It is generally described as being no taller than three feet, having a long white beard, and wearing a conical or knit cap in red or some other bright colour. They often have an appearance somewhat similar to that of a garden gnome.[1] from Wikipedia. 
In the past, in Finnish households  there were guardian spirits known as elves (tonttu) Each type of building had its own sort of elf.- household elves, sauna elves, stable elves, storehouse elves, barn elves and mill elves. When treated with respect, they brought good fortune, but if they took offence, there was no predicting the consequences. All commonly were active after nightfall,but individual tonttu were often notorious for their eccentricities. from  The Book of Finnish elves (Suomalainen tonttukirja
These days, Tonttu are Santa's little helpers. According to legend, these quick and cute
characters find out which children have been good by listening to conversations and writing down their findings in a huge notebook. When Christmas arrives, Joulupukki (Santa Claus) rewards the good children with gifts.

Tonttujen Jouluyö is a popular children’s song in Finland with a very catchy tune. It was once featured on an episode of Teletubbies. It relates story of the Tonttu, the elves who visit the house on Christmas Eve, dance, sing, and eat some of the goodies they find. The Tip Tap refers to the noise they make. As morning draws near, they scurry back to their homes under the bridge.

Soihdut sammuu, kaikki vaki nukkuu,
vaki nukkuu,
Oiten varjoon talon touhu hukkuu, touhu hukkuu.
Tip-tap, tip-tap, ti-pe ti-pe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap.
Tonttujoukko silloin varpahillaan, varpahillaan,
Varovasti hiipii alta sillan, alta sillan.
Tip-tap, tip-tap, ti-pe ti-pe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap.


“TIP-TAP”
Day is fading, night is slowly creeping, slowly creeping.
Lights go out as people start their sleeping, start their sleeping.
Tip-tap, tip-tap, ti-pe ti-pe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap.
From their caves the elves come softly prancing, softly prancing.
From beneath their bridge on tiptoe dancing, tiptoe dancing.
Tip-tap, tip-tap, ti-pe ti-pe, tip-tap, tip, tip, tap.
Complete lyrics and translation can be found at You and Me Around Europe
Chrsitmas card by Eva Melhuish

 The Tonttu reflects the Finnish Christmas tradition's innermost being: whatever is linked to Christmas, Peace on Earth and Happiness among all People. The Tonttu is an important symbol for the Christmas celebration and its magic winter mood, not only in Finland but all over the world where  Scandanavian  Christmas traditions. are shared.   

Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year) 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Stitched Faces

I   've always enjoyed that imperfect line of  "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching....  I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus.  These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits.  The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by  Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story.  ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...
Post a Comment
Read more

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . ​The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...
Post a Comment
Read more

A spider sandwich for lunch?

Close -up of the base of "witch with sticks' art doll   Did you know that if you were a witch, eating a spider sandwich could give you special powers? Rosemary Ellen Guiley says in her  Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca  that in some traditions of folk magic, a black spider “eaten between two slices of buttered bread” will imbue a witch with great power. If you’re not interested in eating spiders, some traditions say that catching a spider and carrying it in a silk pouch around your neck will help prevent illness... So, while creating my art doll witch, a spider was always there amongst the drawings and plans. rough drawing of an idea for the base of the doll    I rarely take photos during the process of making a doll, only because I get so engaged in the making I forget to take a photo at each step of the way . I am not entirely comfortable creating witches, so I took a few photos of my process....  when I remembered.... sc...
1 comment
Read more