Only Tomten Is Awake

Way up in the Northernland, during the dark, long winter nights, the reading of Viktor Rydberg’s Tomten has become an annual Scandinavian tradition. It was first published in Ny Illustrerad Tidning in 1881.

Scandinavian children have long heard the tales of Tomten wandering through the farm and into the house—how he comes for his regular visit, looking after the animals and watching over the inhabitants, occasionally stopping to ponder the deeper questions of life.

Every year, children you...