yule goat 2012: poof

"julbocken" (yule goat), john bauer, 1912 {PD} thanks wikimedia

Rats.  Someone torched the Gavle Goat early this year - sometime in the night of December 12, to be exact.

Each year, the Swedish town of Gavle creates a huge version of the traditional Scandinavian straw Yule goat, and installs it in one of their main town squares, there to delight everyone until the end of the holiday season or someone torches it.  Whichever happens first.  There is a Gavle Goat cam every year, but no point in posting it now.  However, I do want to be sure you see this post at Nordic Thoughts blog full of delightful illustrations of the Yule Goat.  For more on the traditions and mythology behind this most seasonal critter, I'll send you to Wikipedia.