Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
It is Christmas season and my friends and family are posting pictures of their Christmas trees, Dala horses, and Tomte or, more specifically, the jultomten, the Christmas gnomes. I have no idea whether today’s Swedes and Norwegians are into them, but the children and grandchildren of the immigrants sure are and Christmas is when our Scandi-roots come out in decorating and cooking, though some of us stop short of lutfisk. This made me wonder about the tomte in Second Life. Sure enough there are some splendid examples.
This picture by Sannita Cortes called “Christmas Gnomes” is an excellent example though the tomte I am familiar with are not named for their character traits. I love how the gnomes are so colorful against the snow-covered trees and grass. I am glad they are outdoors where they belong.
For more gnomish pics, click here:
Francesca Pfeffer’s “Till Santa Checks the Naughty List” made me smile because these are the tomte my sister had, long and attenuated tomte with ridiculous hats carved out of wood. They definitely don’t fit on a shelf. Her husband made a tomte for each one of their kids, though he was Norwegian and called them nisse. She seems to have invited the tomte to a feast.
BooBoo Lovenkraft’s “Jack Frost Is that You?” puts the tomte back where they belong, outside and in the forest. Unlike the elf on a shelf, the tomte are not house creatures but live out in the forest. They do keep track of who is naughty or nice and when they deliver their Christmas presents, they ask “Are there any good children here?” We had a Norwegian neighbor who was full of stories about the nisse and now I wish I had written them down because they were generally very funny. The tomte are not just gift-givers, they are mischievous and play tricks on people, too.
There seem to be lots of tomte in Second Life. Many are the jultomte type, but there are also some of the tricksters. So whether you want to decorate in your first or Second Life, there are lots of tomte to choose from.
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