A nisse (Danish: [ˈne̝sə], Norwegian: [ˈnɪ̂s:ə]), tomte (Swedish: [ˈtɔ̂m:tɛ]), tomtenisse, or tonttu (Finnish: [ˈtont:u]) is a household spirit from Nordic folklore which has always been described as a small human-like creature wearing a red cap and gray clothing, doing house and stable chores, and expecting to be rewarded at least once a year around winter solstice (yuletide), with the gift of its favorite food, the porridge.

Although there are several suggested etymologies, nisse may derive from the given name Niels or Nicholas, introduced 15-17th century (or earlier in medieval times according to some), hence nisse is cognate to Saint Nicholas and related to the Saint Nicholas Day gift giver to children. In the 19th century the Scandinavian nisse became increasingly associated with the Christmas season and Christmas gift giving, its pictorial depiction strongly influenced by American Santa Claus in some opinion, evolving into the Julenisse .

The nisse is one of the most familiar creatures of Scandinavian folklore, and he has appeared in many works of Scandinavian literature.

The nisse is frequently introduced to English readership as an "elf" or "gnome"; the Christmas nisse often bears resemblance to the garden gnome.

Nomenclature
See also: Nis Puk
A nisse eating from a bowl of Christmas porridge.
A nisse eating Christmas porridge.
A beer stein beside it.
―Illustration by Vincent Stoltenberg Lerche.[1]
A nisse as stable-boy.
A nisse as stable-boy.
―Illustration by Hans Gude. Asbjørnsen (1896) Norske Folke- og Huldre-Eventyr[2]
The word nisse is a pan-Scandinavian term.[3] Its modern usage in Norway into the 19th century is evidenced in Asbjørnsen's collection.[1][2] The Norwegian tufte is also equated to nisse or tomte.[4][5] In Danish the form husnisse ("house nisse") also occurs.

Other synonyms include the Swedish names tomtenisse and tomtekarl [6] (cf. § Additional synonyms). The names tomtegubbe and tomtebonde ("tomte farmer") have occurred in Sweden and parts of Norway close to Sweden.[7] The Finnish tonttu [fi] is borrowed from Swedish (cf. § Etymology), but the Finnish spirit has gained a distinct identity and is no longer synonymous.[8][9] There is also the tonttu-ukko (lit. "house lot man") but this is a literary Christmas elf.[10]

There are also localized appellations, in and tuftekall in Gudbrandsdalen and Nordland regions of Norway[7] (cf. § Dialects).

Other variants include the Swedish names tomtenisse and tomtekarl; also in Sweden (and Norwegian regions proximate to Sweden) tomtegubbe and tomtebonde ("tomte farmer"),[7] (cf. § Additional synonyms) and § Near synonyms (haugkall. "mound man", etc.).

English translations
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.[11]

Various English language publications also introduce the nisse as an "elf" or "gnome".[13][a]

In the past, H. L. Braekstad [no] (1881) chose to substitute nisse with "brownie".[1][2] Brynildsen [no]'s dictionary (1927) glossed nisse as 'goblin' or 'hobgoblin'.[15]

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".[16]

Dialects
Forms such as tufte have been seen as dialect. Aasen noted the variant form tuftekall to be prevalent in the Nordland and Trondheim areas of Norway,[4] and the tale "Tuftefolket på Sandflesa" published by Asbjørnsen is localized in Træna Municipality in Nordland. Another synonym is tunkall ("yard fellow"[18]) also found in the north and west.[19]

Thus ostensibly tomte prevails in eastern Norway (and adjoining Sweden),[20][7] although there are caveats attached to such over-generalizations by linguist Oddrun Grønvik [no].[22][c] It might also be conceded that tomte is more a Swedish term than Norwegian.[23] In Scania, Halland and Blekinge within Sweden, the tomte or nisse is also known as goanisse (i.e godnisse, goenisse 'good nisse').[24][26]

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,[19] but there is already mention of "Nisse pugen" in a Norwegian legal tract c. 1600 or earlier,[27][d] and Emil Birkeli [no] (1938) believed the introduction to be as early as 13 to 14c.[27] The Norsk Allkunnebok encyclopedia states less precisely that nisse was introduced from Denmark relatively late, whereas native names found in Norway such as tomte, tomtegubbe, tufte, tuftekall, gardvord, etc., date much earlier.[3][29]

Etymology
It has repeatedly been conjectured that nisse might be a variant of "nixie" or nix[30][31][28] but detractors including Jacob Grimm note that a nixie is a water sprite and its proper Dano-Norwegian cognate would be nøkk, not nisse.[32][33]

According to Grimm nisse was a form of Niels (or German: Niklas[e]), like various house sprites[f] that adopted human given names,[32][28][g] and was therefore cognate to St. Nicholas, and related to the Christmas gift-giver.[34][35][28][h] Indeed, the common explanation in Denmark is that nisse is the diminutive form of Niels, as Danes in 19th century used to refer to a nisse as "Lille Niels" or Niels Gårdbo (gårdbo, literally "yard/farmstead dweller" is also name for a sprite).[24][18][3]

An alternate etymology derives nisse from Old Norse niðsi, meaning "dear little relative".[36]

The tomte ("homestead man"), gardvord ("farm guardian"), and tunkall ("yard fellow") bear names that associated them with the farmstead.[18] The Finnish tonttu is also borrowed from Swedish tomte, but "later tradition no longer consider these identical".[8]

Additional synonyms
Faye also gives Dano-Norwegian forms toft-vætte or tomte-vætte.[37] These are echoed by the Swedish vätte, Norwegian Nynorsk vette.

Norwegian gardvord (cf. vörðr) is a synonym for nisse,[28][38] or has become conflated with it.[40] Likewise tunvord, "courtyard/farmstead guardian" is a synonym.[28] Also the gårdbo ("farmyard-dweller"),[35][41][42]

Other synonyms are Norwegian god bonde ("good farmer"),[43] Danish god dreng ("good lad").[43] Also Danish gaardbuk ("farm buck") and husbuk ("housebuck") where buck could mean billygoat or ram.[35][45][46]

Regionally in Uppland Sweden is gårdsrå ("yard-spirit"), which being a rå often takes on a female form, which might relate to Western Norwegian garvor (gardvord).[47]

In the confines of Klepsland in Evje, Setesdal, Norway they spoke of fjøsnisse ("barn gnome").[7]

Near synonyms
See also: § Parallels
Some commentators have equated or closely connected the tomte/nisse to the haugbonde (<Old Norse: haubúi "mound dweller").[50][51] However there is caution expressed by linguist Oddrun Grønvik against completely equating the tomte/nissse with the mound dwellers of lore, called the haugkall or haugebonde (from the Old Norse haugr 'mound'),[52] although the latter has become indistinguishable with tuss, as evident from the form haugtuss.[52][j]

The haugbonde is said to be the ghost of the first inhabitant of the farmstead, he who cleared the tomt (house lot), who subsequently becomes its guardian.[54] This haugbonde has also connected with the Danish/Norwegian tuntræt (modern spelling: tuntre, "farm tree") or in Swedish vårdträd [sv] ("ward tree") cult[49][48][54] (Cf. § Origin theories).

Another near synonym is the drage-dukke, where dukke denotes a "dragger" or "drawer, puller" (of luck or goods delivered to the beneficiary human), which is distinguishable from a nisse since it is considered not to haunt a specific household.[46]

Origin theories
The story of propitiating a household deity for boons in Iceland occurs in the "Story of Þorvaldr Koðránsson t