Yule goat
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<h2>History</h2>
<p>The Yule goat's origins might go as far back as pre-Christian days. A popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is connected to worship of the Norse god <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor" title="Thor">Thor</a>, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanngrisnir_and_Tanngnj%C3%B3str" title="Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr">Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr</a>. The last sheaf of grain bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule celebrations, called among other things Yule goat (<i>Julbocken</i>).<sup id="cite_ref-Schager_2-0" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_Goat#cite_note-Schager-2">[2]</a></sup> A man-sized goat figure is known from 11th-century remembrances of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents" title="Massacre of the Innocents">Childermas</a>, where it was led by a man dressed as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas" title="Saint Nicholas">Saint Nicholas</a>, symbolizing his control over the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil" title="Devil">Devil</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Schager_2-1" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_Goat#cite_note-Schager-2">[2]</a></sup></p>