the 12 pigs of christmas

One of the best things about spending Christmas in a new country is experiencing the different traditions, foods and symbols. This Christmas in the Faroes, the greatest thing that I have discovered is the Scandinavian Christmas pig. They appear at Christmas time in the form of decorations, cookie cutouts, candle holders, ornaments, stuffed animals and children's stories. The history of the Yule pig varies from an old fable involving gnomes and swine, to the pagan sacrifice of hogs to the god Freyr. But personally, I like to imagine that they replace reindeer up north as the big guy's preferred method of transportation. -b