packing up Christmas
today, because:
Tjugondag Knut - or 20th Day Knut - is when Christmas is over for Swedes...
"One week after Twelfth Night the Swedish calendar celebrates the name Knut. Prior to a seventeenth century calendar reform Knut was celebrated on Twelfth Night and marked the end of the holiday season. As a result of the reform Knut was moved forward one week, and since Swedes were accustomed to ending their Christmas holidays on Knut's day, they simply continued celebrating an extra week.
This is the day people finally part with their Christmas trees - if they haven't already done so. All the decorations are first removed, and the act is often the occasion for a final party - this one especially for the children. Friends and classmates are invited over to eat cakes and candies, play games and "plunder" the tree. All the small trinkets are carefully removed and stored away, while edible ornaments - ginger biscuits, caramels, and the like - are gobbled up. Finally, the group pick up the tree and literally toss it out of the house or flat, singing a song that, in translation, goes something like this:
Christmas has come to an end,
And the tree must go.
But next year once again
We shall see our dear old friend,
For he has promised us so. "
from:
packing up Christmas
today, because:
Tjugondag Knut - or 20th Day Knut - is when Christmas is over for Swedes...
"One week after Twelfth Night the Swedish calendar celebrates the name Knut. Prior to a seventeenth century calendar reform Knut was celebrated on Twelfth Night and marked the end of the holiday season. As a result of the reform Knut was moved forward one week, and since Swedes were accustomed to ending their Christmas holidays on Knut's day, they simply continued celebrating an extra week.
This is the day people finally part with their Christmas trees - if they haven't already done so. All the decorations are first removed, and the act is often the occasion for a final party - this one especially for the children. Friends and classmates are invited over to eat cakes and candies, play games and "plunder" the tree. All the small trinkets are carefully removed and stored away, while edible ornaments - ginger biscuits, caramels, and the like - are gobbled up. Finally, the group pick up the tree and literally toss it out of the house or flat, singing a song that, in translation, goes something like this:
Christmas has come to an end,
And the tree must go.
But next year once again
We shall see our dear old friend,
For he has promised us so. "
from: