The nisse/tomte was often imagined as a small, elderly man (size varies from a few inches to about half the height of an adult man), often with a full beard dressed in the traditional farmer garb, consisting of a pull-over woolen tunic belted at the waist and knee breeches with stockings. Appearance Nisse on Christmas Card (1885) Once insulted, they will usually play tricks, steal items and even maim or kill livestock. However, they are known to be short tempered, especially when offended. If treated well, they protect the family and animals from evil and misfortune, and may also aid the chores and farm work. History and cultural relevance Nisser on a windowsillĪccording to tradition, the nisse lives in the houses and barns of the farmstead, and secretly acts as their guardian. Near synonymsĪccording to Oddrun Grønvik, the nisse has a distinct connotation and is not synonymous with the haugkall or haugebonde (from the Old Norse haugr 'mound'), although the latter has become indistinguishable with tuss, as evident from the form haugtuss. Norwegian gardvord is a synonym for nisse, or has become conflated ("mixed up") with it. The Finnish tonttu is also derived from the term for a place of residence and area of influence: the house lot, tontti (Finnish). The tomte ("homestead man"), gardvord ("farm guardian"), and tunkall ("yard fellow") bear names that associated them with the farmstead. A conjecture has also been advanced that nisse might be related to the " nixie", but this is a water-sprite and the proper cognate is the nøkk, not the nisse. Another explanation is that it is a corruption of Nils, the Scandinavian form of Nicholas. The term nisse may be derived from Old Norse niðsi, meaning "dear little relative".
The Norsk Allkunnebok encyclopedia was of the view that nisse was introduced from Denmark relatively late, and that native names found in Norway such as tomte, tomtegubbe, tufte, tuftekall, gardvord, etc., date much older. 1600 or earlier, and Emil Birkeli (1938) believed the introduction to be as early as 13 to 14c. Reidar Thoralf Christiansen remarked that the "belief in the nisse is confined to the south and east" of Norway, and theorized the nisse was introduced to Norway (from Denmark) in the 17th century, but there is already mention of "Nisse pugen" in a Norwegian legal tract c. In Scania, Halland and Blekinge the Nisse also known as goanisse (Godnisse, Goenisse≈the good Nisse). It might also be conceded that tomte is more a Swedish term than Norwegian. Thus ostensibly tomte prevails in eastern Norway (and adjoining Sweden), although there are caveats attached to such over-generalizations by linguist Oddrun Grønvik. Another synonym is tunkall ("yard fellow" ) also found in the north and west. Aasen noted the variant form tuftekall to be prevalent in the Nordland and Trondheim areas of Norway, and the tale "Tuftefolket på Sandflesa" published by Asbjørnsen is localized in Træna in Nordland. Dialects įorms such as tufte have been seen as dialect. In the English editions of the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales the Danish word nisse has been translated as 'goblin', for example, in the tale " The Goblin at the Grocer's". Brynildsen's dictionary (1927) glossed nisse as ' goblin' or ' hobgoblin'. Braekstad (1881) chose to substitute nisse with " brownie". While the term nisse in the native Norwegian is retained in Pat Shaw Iversen's English translation (1960), appended with the parenthetical remark that it is a household spirit, H. The Norwegian tufte is also equated to nisse or tomte. Its current use in Norway into the 19th century is evidenced in Asbjørnsen's collection. The word nisse is a pan-Scandinavian term. Asbjørnsen (1896) Norske Folke- og Huldre-Eventyr
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