Sweden’s murder buck represents the true spirit of Christmas
If you have never heard of Gävlebocken before, there are only two important information you need to know.
First: Gävlebocken is a giant straw statue of a goat that is set up every Christmas in Gävle. It is basically a massive Christmas tree, a traditional symbol of the Christmas season in areas of Scandinavia and northern Europe, and was first installed in the city in 1966. The latest incarnation is 42 feet high and weighs 3.6 tons.
Secondly: every year someone tries to set fire to the goat. And most years they succeed – including this.
As the BBC reported this morning: “A giant straw goat that has become an annual highlight in the Swedish city of Gävle has been burned by a murderer. A man in his 40s was arrested after the building was set on fire early on Friday. The goat has been attacked many times before but has survived every feast since 2016 under 24-hour surveillance. ”
I know this sounds boring, but it is also, I think, the Christmas mood. Not the murder fire itself, but what the murder fire represents: the eternal battle between goat breeders and goat burners; between the forces of cozy commercialization, eager to stifle the season in ribbons, presents and twinkling lights, and the contrasting, primordial drive to set fire to something enormous because the sun has disappeared and who knows when it will return.
This timeless struggle between humanity and nature takes place beautifully Wikipedia page for Gävlebocken, which records the fate of the wild animal each year as well as preventive measures taken by the authorities and the manner of its death.
Since 1966, the goat has been “stolen”, “hit by a car” and “kicked to pieces”, but the most popular method of sending is without a doubt arson. Drunk teenagers, Norwegians and even a passing American have all been blamed for attacks over the years, but it’s strange to me how poorly prepared these perpetrators often seem. It is as if they had not actually planned the attacks but were simply forced in the moment by forces beyond their reach.
Think, for example, in 2015, when a 26-year-old was arrested for setting fire to the goat and was fined SEK 100,000 ($ 10,989) in damages. The man was seen fleeing the scene immediately after the statue went up in flames and when he was arrested by a guard he was quickly identified as the culprit because he had “a sting in his face, smelled of gasoline and held a lighter in his hand.” This, I think, sounds less like a hardened criminal and more like a man possessed by the spirit of his pagan ancestors to restart the fires of the world – to bring heat and light back to the universe – one goat at a time.
Okay, so I know it’s not fun to burn a statue at all for the people whose job it is to fund and protect it. As BBC News reportedly, a goatswoman (A goatswoman? A spokesgoat?), a Rebecca Steiner, was devastated by this year’s attack. She told BBC News: “It’s only a week before Christmas, and I can not understand how a person can carry out this type of attack on a Christmas symbol that is known all over the world.”
But come on. At this time, the Gävle buck is better known for having been burnt down than for being left intact. And the authorities are really not afraid of, shall we say, playing with fire. One official Twitter account for the goat has practically encouraged future arsonists, tweeting on Wednesday, “Halfway and this goat is still standing and looking so good!” and then again last night, quotes Chesney Hawkes, “I’m the one and only …” It sounds like a battle word, and I know that if I lived in Gävle, only the topic of conversation at the pub would be “who’s going to get the fucking goat this year.”
Well, this year they got him. The fire worshipers won, and the goat breeders must take comfort in the international publicity they have attracted. But we should not mourn Gävlebocken more than we mourn barren trees and empty fields. Because if winter teaches us something, it is that life is cyclical, that good times follow bad ones and that even if the sun has disappeared and it looks gloomy, if we stay warm and dry, it will get better in time .
Yes, the goat has passed, but it’s only a matter of time before it comes back – and only a matter of time before someone tries to burn it down again.