2016-12-09 Fri

Christmas stamps from Sweden, Aland feature Elves. As per Scandinavian folklore, barn elves are lonely, naughty sprites which protect the farm and its buildings. Elves named nisser and tomten, only seek respect and trust of the farmer and a bowl of julegrot (Christmas porridge) with butter on Christmas Eve. These spirits will not remain in homes where they don’t find respect. Farms will not thrive in such cases and farmer will have to bear heavy losses.

An elf wearing a red hat holding a large bowl of porridge is depicted on Sweden’s Christmas coil stamp that was released on 10th November. “Julpost” is inscribed on the stamp and pays a special reduced rate of 6 kronor. Five se-tenant stamps in booklets of 10 depict the barn elves with animals: a cat, rabbit, dog, moose, and fox.

Stamps from Aland released in October depict winter scenes under a starry bright sky and elves preparing for Christmas. The non-denominated Julpost stamp features three elves decorating a tree outdoors. The international-rate stamp depicts an elf and a reindeer carrying wrapped presents. A church is shown in the snowy background. Elves pulling a tree on a sledge is shown on the edge between the panes.