Are there nice children here? Elves play an important role

  • 29.11.2021

Santa Claus, and especially his many ”helpers”, have made such an indelible impression on many people with their stories and speaking styles that memories last a lifetime. In particular, the famous question that made most children's pants quiver when they heard it. ”Are there any nice children here ? ”. Before Christmas, this kindness is enhanced by Santa's faithful helpers, the elves. They are scattered in corners and yards and behind windows. In a split second, the results of their observations go down in the books of Korvatunturi.

Kindness above all

Santa Claus, or rather elves, were very handy teachers of kindness. No crying allowed, no noise allowed, an elf can come in through the window... I don't remember this song yet, but the idea was there and we acted on it. Early in the autumn, children were reminded that if they were naughty, Santa Claus would not bring presents.

Anneli Mäkelä-Alitalo

Ever since I was a child, I was taught to be kind and Santa Claus will bring you presents. To keep me nice, there are a bunch of Santa Clauses, or elves, who peek around corners and sometimes come out of the woodwork or from behind a tree. I haven't seen any real elves, but gingerbread elves are tasty and paper-cut ones are nice to look at. There are definitely elves, though. I once tried to buy shares in a company called Joulumaa from a bank. They were out of stock. I asked who had bought them and was told it was the elves. This proves that an elf is not a creature of legend.

Risto Nihtilä

Elves report on kindness

During the Christmas season, Santa Claus, but at least as much as elves, was of course also talked about in our family. The role of Santa Claus as a reward for good children or as a punisher for naughty children was not, as I recall, primarily discussed. Instead, adults asked me what I would like for Christmas or what I thought Santa would have in his container for me. Even more talked about the elves who would sneak around to see if there were any good children at home. I can't remember when or on what occasion I first met Santa Claus himself, because in my childhood Santa and his helpers were always so busy that he never had time to come in on Christmas Eve. The most important thing, however, which was of course the Christmas presents, was of course delivered, with the Christmas elves hurriedly and somewhat mysteriously leaving the presents outside the door. I didn't even get to see the elves, but I knew they had come, because when they left the presents behind our door, they always knocked on the door. Then they hurried on their way before you could even see them.

So the Christmas elves were the most important Christmas parties for me because of their gift-giving role. I also thought they were funny and kind creatures, even though I never saw them. (The elves were usually the happy little rascals in Christmas cards and calendars, as well as in children's Christmas programmes - I've had a Christmas calendar since I was a child.) Santa Claus was rarely seen, as I mentioned, in a children's magazine, on Christmas cards and at school or children's parties, even then from a distance. So I have a stereotypical image of him as a white-bearded man, usually with red, white-hair edged clothes. (Elves may have more variation in their appearance, e.g. colour of clothes, jackets, hats, age, beards or no beard, etc.) Santa Claus, on the other hand, has played no part in my Christmas. I generally remember hearing something about Santa Clause mothers probably, if anywhere, from the pages of a magazine called Donald Duck (which was ordered for me).

Helena Lavonen, Mikkeli

Before Christmas, elves were everywhere

The image of the elves was a bit shaky. In the priest's family, we girls (4 of us) had to perform at various Christmas parties in the parish. Then there were the numerous activity groups of dad and the school classes of mum (teacher) who were invited to our home for Christmas parties. In addition to being elves, we were floating snowflakes. Music was an integral part of these role-plays, we sang and danced. As a reward, we received Christmas bags with an apple, a gingerbread and a liquorice stick.

Päivi Huuhtanen-Somero

I don't remember how many elves peeked in the windows when I was under school age, I soon realised that elves were a fairy tale, there were plenty of them in the decorations. My grandmother, my grandfather's mother, once warned me about the sauna gnome. You shouldn't cry or howl in the sauna, the sauna elf gets angry about that. It was serious enough that I remembered to be polite to it in the sauna. Of course, the sauna worm was on call all year round. I remember better how my little brothers and sisters were reminded of the elves peeping out of the window on Christmas Eve. Especially at the dinner table. You had to finish your own plate and not whimper, because the elf could see you. This, of course, worked during the Christmas season. You could help yourself to Christmas presents by being nice, especially in those days.

Hanna Taimio, Hanko/Helsinki

The marbles made Santa Claus chirieet what they wanted. And then they took the presents to the doorstep of our darkroom porch. From there the elf (dad or mum) picked them up. Flikka has later told 2 so that they listened carefully and many times they went to check, because they were scattered. Then the noli suddenly ran away.

Kerttu Karhu, Kauhajoki

Could scaring the elves work ?

Santa and elves used to scare us children in the run-up to Christmas. We had to be nice. When I was 5, I started watching Santa because I suspected that everything about Santa wasn't real. Santa's hands looked the same every Christmas: they were wrinkled like hands after being soaked in water. I started examining my own hands after the sauna. After a long soak, my hands became ”Santa's hands”, but not red. Then one day, when they were bringing lingonberry jam caviar from the barn to melt, it occurred to me to put my hands in the melted lingonberries. And I did: I got Santa's hands. I even invited my little sister to soak her hands so she could have Santa's hands too. And she did. For the adults, this hand-waving in the lingonberry sacks was mischief, and I was even doubly spanked for having tempted the younger one to mischief. My explanations didn't bite. Even that unjustified spanking has been forgotten. My faith in God faded. I tried to get to the bottom of the Santa thing, but no one would answer my questions. One summer, I was 6 years old, when the problem was finally solved for me. I climbed up to the top cupboard in the pantry and rummaged around. There I found Santa's cardboard red-cheeked masks with a white cotton shave. I invited my younger sister to look at the masks, which I put on my face and asked, in my ”Santa voice”, ”Are there any good children here?” Her sister was stiff with surprise, I think she even cried. I put the mask back in the cupboard and reassured her not to tell the adults. The sister couldn't keep the secret behind her tongue, and again the birch lord danced on my buttocks. Decades later, my sister still scolds me for cutting off her faith in Santa Claus far too early.

Tuula Hyyrö

 
The above stories have been obtained from the Finnish Literature Society's archive and the Santa Claus Foundation's joint heritage collection 2020-21.The story collections have been edited by Ollijuhani Auvinen. The Joulupukkisäätiö was established in 2000 and its mission is to promote the Finnish Santa Claus worldwide. The Foundation collects traditional material related to the Finnish Santa Claus. The Finnish tradition of Santa Claus is also inscribed on the National Inventory of Living Heritage under the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Convention.

The borrowing of traditional inscriptions is only allowed with the permission of the Santa Claus Foundation. The email address of the Foundation is [email protected] . You can also send your own Santa memories to the email address to be stored for researchers to use.

SANTA CLAUS LICENSING
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00150 Helsinki, Finland
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by developit // creative
The images and texts are protected by copyright.

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Lapland Troll

The trolls that live in Lapland belong to the Arctic troll family, or polar trolls. You can recognise them by the snow packed in their fur and their fierce growling. They are tough to give snow washes and are therefore feared throughout the Korvatunturi region. However, you can easily placate the Sunbird by giving it a good hug. It will melt the troll's boggart heart and with good luck you'll make a lifelong friend.

Finnish horse

In Finland, we are used to a certain modesty. The Finnish horse, for example, does not boast much about being one of the fastest and most versatile cold-blooded animals in the world. Even though it is. In the Korvatunturi, the abilities of Finnish horses are well known, and they have been considered one of the most reliable working companions for centuries.

One enthusiastic stable elf devoted much of his life to trying to teach a Finnish horse to fly like Santa's reindeer. He was proved to be too heavy for the job - the height record was set by crashing into the chimney of Santa's sauna.

Snowman

The world's tallest snowman was built in the United States. It was over 37 metres high and took over three months to build. 

The world's smallest snowman was built on the Korvatunturi. It was built by Hjalmar Metriparta, head of the Tonttuversta's miniature department, by stacking three snowflakes using specially made tweezers cooled to absolute zero. 

In his excitement, however, he threw the snowman away without a trace before anyone saw it.

Niila the dog

A happy and playful puppy, whose best friend is Palle-poro. Nilla, with her beady eyes, prefers to sleep next to a warm stove. Nilla wears a collar around her neck. Nilla loves snow!

Palle-poro

Teddy is Santa's trusty sidekick. On Christmas Eve, when things get busy, Palle makes it to every corner of the world with Santa Claus. Palle's favourite food is apples. He can draw beautiful patterns on snow with his horns. Palle is also musical and loves to dance to Christmas carols. He wears a big bell around his neck.

The reindeer, by the way, is a semi-wild domestic animal related to the deer that grazes in the fells. You may not have known that all reindeer are naturally able to fly. But neither do the reindeer themselves. So the biggest challenge for the reindeer trainers at Korvatunturi is to get the reindeer to realise their flying skills themselves. Learning to fly is one of the most closely guarded secrets of Korvatunturi. The training technique is passed down by tradition through whispering alone.

Ensio

Ensio an "easy" guy with a heart of gold who doesn't stand up straight but stands up when help is needed. Whether it's an almond stuck in Santa's throat or some other humanitarian crisis, our good guy is eager to be there with a first aid kit on his back, ready to save the day. On rescue missions around the world, he's accompanied by his trusty Alaskan malamute, Nöpö, whose sharp muzzle and snow shovel-sized paws come in handy, especially when searching for lost skiers in the snow.

As a selfless elf, he always wants to put good things into circulation, which is why he has set up the Little Monkey First Aid School, teaching the children of the world the all-important first aid skills of a girl and boy. As well as wound cleaning and plastering, there are courses on everything from doing good to helping your neighbour make snow to making coffee for lonely grandmothers.

Fredrik

The Porvoon riverbank is an ancient settlement area. Several hundred years ago, a merchant ship sailed down the small river with a ship's elf named Fredrik Flodbåt on board. Fredrik is attached to his hometown of Porvoo and its warm, friendly inhabitants, whom he likes to playfully tease every now and then, if not every now and then. His best friend is the cat in the cathedral. From his home in the bell tower, he can see every nook and cranny of the city. The elf's role model is the Runeberg family itself. He thinks it is wonderful that Porvoo has been home to a family whose words and art have remained alive in the hearts of all. True to his role model, he wears glasses on his nose, even if he doesn't need them when he is sharp-sighted.

The elf spends a lot of time in nature and for this former riverside elf, the Pelling Archipelago is the most beautiful place in the world.

Lampertti

Smile every time you step on board, because so does Lampertti the ship's elf! Sailing at sea makes his eyes light up like the anticipation of Christmas Eve, as the merrily crashing waves carry him off on incredible adventures. Lampertti has dipped his miter in the Red Sea, anchored his ship in the fabled port of Atlantis and disappeared a few times with his boat into the Bermuda Triangle.

Lampert's favourite pastime is also pedalling in a Christmas balloon - with a swimming ring, flippers and his best friend Harri Hylke, of course. The open sea, the joyful chatter of the seagulls and the sea wind blowing tiny fireworks into his beard always make Lampert sigh with happiness, because the sea is his home and adventure is his calling.

Morning

The dawn was comforting people and reducing the fear of flying for the first time back in 1909 when those great giants of the sky, airships, made it possible to fly like a bird in the sky. Morning is a philanthropic elf who loves the human bustle of the station and can best be spotted from his favourite spot in the arrival hall, where tears still well up in his eyes every time he witnesses the emotional reunion of grandparents and grandchildren on the eve of Christmas.

The days at the station are busy, with Aamu scurrying around with a walkie-talkie in his pocket attaching loose luggage tags. In the run-up to Christmas, Aamu likes to assist Santa himself in choosing and wrapping last-minute presents. At night, the station is more serene and this is when Mamu patrols the terminals, tucking in sleeping backpackers and waking sleep-deprived passengers for their onward flights.

Veikka

Veikka is an elf that most of us have unknowingly come across somewhere in the world. He's always on the move, but his weathered face is often covered by binoculars, a sun visor, ski goggles or a sleep mask made from a Christmas red blanket. But you can still recognise Veika for his exceptional sense of adventure and his ability to guess all his fellow travellers' favourite holiday destinations - sometimes even correctly!

Veikka has travelled the world a hundred and one times, and has captured a thousand and one sights on his camera memory card, from the Eiffel Tower to the famous limestone mound of Kheops. But his favourite destination is Joulusaari, which broke away from the Korvatunturi when the continental plates moved a long, long time ago. The island still has a small but hardy reindeer population, and special almonds used in Christmas porridge are grown on the slopes of the tropical fells. Veikka always brings them back to Korvatunturi as souvenirs.

Konrad

You may have noticed that many train carriages have small hatches in the wall or ceiling that the average passenger never gets a peek behind. They give access to the secret service routes of the train wagons.

In fact, each train is staffed by three to five real elves. Their responsibilities include checking train schedules using star maps, waking up dozing passengers at the right stop and looking after animal passengers.

Train elves live a nomadic life. The oldest of them all, the legendary Konrad "Konnari", who has travelled every single stretch of Finland's 6,000-kilometre railway network. Konnari's favourite route is Oulu-Rovaniemi, especially in winter frosts and when it's brown. Konrad's favourite motto is "Now things are on track".

Papu

People drink a lot of coffee in Finland. In fact, the most in the world. And a big slice of our country's coffee consumption rests on one, rather small, shoulder. They belong to an elf called Paul the Pot-bellied Gaffebau - more commonly known as Papu. His most famous motto is 'Christmas in white and coffee in black'.

Papu is the official coffee elf of Korvatunturi and a true enthusiast. He has tuned all his elf senses to the development of the perfect Christmas coffee. The right recipe has now been honed for 147 years, and coffee has been drunk in the same amount as one medium-sized forest pond.

The number one customer at Papu Elf is Santa Claus himself, for whom a steaming cuppa is poured every morning straight from Paul's traditional copper pot. Today it was blend number 3008, with a touch of lichen. We don't yet know what they thought of it.

Tuutio

Tuomas Torventöräys, nicknamed Tuutio. Tuutio is 107 years old. His familiar catchphrase is "There are elves of all stripes on the road again". The Korvatunturi is a traditional region where sledges run on the hillside to the glow of the northern lights. Quiet and peaceful. It has always been like this and that's good. But it was Tuutio's love of cars that took him from Korvatunturi to the city. He combined his love of cars with the elves' unerring sense of direction and became a taxi driver. How does he reach the pedals of a car? Tuutio has specially designed stilts decorated with speed stripes, which he received from a grand elf as a Christmas present.

Edison

The Edison elf always carries a computer in his backpack, as he is responsible for the IT affairs of Korvatunturi. Edison's role model is Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux. He is also developing his own computer application called Eartree with milk.

Patrick

Playing number 11, Elf Patrick loves not only hockey but also other winter sports. He loves animals, and is training for a running race to beat his dog in the 100 metres.

Kaamos

A big fan of metal music, Kaamos the elf gets inspiration for his music from Finnish nature and the changing seasons. Kaamos's first hit, Swallow the Norhern Light, topped the Korvatunturi charts for 24 weeks! Kaamos' hobbies also include baking.

Echo

An echo-elf understands animal speech. The animals are the elves' helpers, and Kaiku translates the animals' speech for the other elves. Kaiku can also turn elves into animals, but only one at a time.

Höperö

Höperö is also particularly known for his absent-mindedness. To be on the safe side, the elf celebrates Christmas on the 24th of every month, just to make sure he doesn't forget. He is 350 years old and a scribe by trade. He collects beards in different colours and uses them to keep his beard wavy. He likes to eat Rice Porridge every day to find an almond, because he can't remember ever having found one.

Sparky

At 111 years old, the pink-haired Säihky is a real cheerleader who puts everyone in a good mood. Dancing and singing are among his favourite pastimes. She can play several songs in a skirt while dancing. Säihky likes anything with colours and stripes. They often go hippy-hopping with Palle the reindeer.

Oula

A 193-year-old bearded and snooty elf. Oula is a hard-working elf, but when needed, he can easily be inspired to play and romp around. Oula enjoys sledging, snowmaking and jumping into snow piles. He is learning to play the guitar and loves Joulumuor's black coffee.

Santa Claus's tassels

Santa's slippers are like the embrace of a fireplace - soft and warm. The spruce pattern that decorates them speaks of his love of nature and his connection to the northern landscape.

Santa's boots

Santa Claus' boots have traversed the snowy forests and corners of the world. Their surface carries the memories of thousands of Christmas journeys, and the fir tree pattern speaks of the values that make Christmas magic.

Santa's hat

Santa's cap is deep red and soft as first snow. Its tassel floats like a snowball falling from the clouds, and it carries with it the spirit of Christmas and thousands of stories that whisper softly in the wind to Santa's ears.

Santa's beard

Santa's beard is like a shimmering snowdrift - long, bushy and mysterious like a northern fir forest. Its thousands of curls are like loops woven by the Christmas tree, dancing like snowflakes in the winter weather.

The face of Santa Claus

Santa has a warm smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. Soft furrows and bushy eyebrows tell of centuries of wisdom and stories.

Tuomo

157-year-old beardless elf. Tuomo is very young for an elf, still in his infancy, or rather in his infancy. Tuomo hasn't eaten a tutt for at least a hundred years! He knows how to do a vault when he jumps from the roof to the rivet. Tuomo admires Santa Claus more than anything.