Tomtens

It’s Christmas season and we all know what that means. Tomtens.

That’s right, kids. It’s tomten time. Get your hay and let’s get our holiday on.

For the unininitiated, tomtens take care of farm animals in the cold Swedish winter. They’re sticklers for tradition, OCD types who want things in the barn to be just so and they expect their porridge on Christmas Eve. Not so much to ask for living with livestock.

More info:

The best tomten books, in my opinion, are from Astrid Lindgren, of Pippi Longstocking fame. Check out The Tomten and The Tomten and the Fox.

The best online tomten source is Ingebretsen’s. Snag all sizes of the non-Disney version here.