Only Tomten Is Awake

Tomtegubbar are little tomte-men of Swedish folklore. Some are good and some are bad. The good ones, like nice little elves, come in the night and clean up your house while you sleep. The bad ones, like naughty little gremlins, wait in the corners to hide things from you just when you need them the most. Tomten means The Tomte, the most supreme tomte-man of them all. Viktor Rydberg made Tomten popular when he published his poem entitled Tomten in the year 1877. Every year during the dark long nights of the Scandinavian winter, the reading of Tomten has become closely associated with Christmas traditions and the Lucia, Queen of Lights celebrations. Tomten is now known as Jultomten, the Christmas Tomten. Every year Jultomten comes to Swedish homes on Christmas Eve bearing gifts for the whole family.Christmastime is a time when children everywhere wait with hope, wonder and anticipation for their version of Jultomten. When "midwinter night is cold and hard" and "stars glimmer and gleam," it's a good time to look forward to spring and to ask ourselves Tomten's undying question: "Where do we come from and where do we go?"