Joulupukki (Finnish: [ˈjou̯luˌpukːi]) is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name joulupukki literally means 'Christmas goat' or 'Yule goat' in Finnish; the word pukki comes from the Germanic root bock, a cognate of English "buck", meaning 'billy-goat'. An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.[1]
The Joulupukki was originally a pagan tradition. Today, in some parts of Finland, the folk custom persists of persons performing in goat costume in return for leftover Christmas food. The performer traditionally is an older man, who is called a "nuuttipukki".[2]
He usually wears warm red robes, but with a broad band of blue near the fur, uses a walking stick, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer (which do not fly, unlike Santa Claus' team).[citation needed] In Lapland, he rides in a pulkka, rather than a sleigh. The popular holiday song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", in its Finnish translation, Petteri Punakuono, has led to Rudolph's general acceptance in Finland as Joulupukki's lead reindeer. Joulupukki is often mentioned as having a wife, Joulumuori (lit. 'Old Lady Christmas'), but tradition says little of her.
Pagans used to have festivities to honour the return of the sun and some believe Joulupukki is the earliest form of present-day Santa. The Yule Goat was thought by some to be an ugly creature and frightened children while others believe it was an invisible creature that helped prepare for Yule.[citation needed]
Popular radio programs from the year 1927 onwards probably had great influence in reformatting the concept with the Santa-like costume, reindeer and Korvatunturi as his dwelling place. Because there really are reindeer in Finland, and Finns live up North, the popular American story took root in Finland very quickly.
Finland's Joulupukki receives over 500,000 letters from over 200 countries every year. Most letters come from Poland, Italy, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau .[3]
Joulupukki is a prominent character in Rare Exports, a movie based on the award-winning shorts by Jalmari Helander.
