What does Joulupukki represent in the Finnish tradition?

Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. Finland, like most western countries, has embraced Santa wholeheartedly, but long before the charitable St. Nicholas made his way into Finnish households, he was preceded by joulupukki, an evil spirit in the shape of a goat, that demanded gifts and leftover foods on St Knut's Day (January 13) in exchange for crops and fertility.

The Joulupukki was originally a pagan tradition. The Joulupukki may also be a man turned into a goat-man on Christmas Eve. Today, in some parts of Finland, the custom persists of persons performing in goat costume in return for leftover Christmas food.

He usually wears warm red robes, but with a broad band of blue near the fur, uses a walking stick, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer In Lapland, he rides in a Nordic short, low-slung small sled, called pulkka.

Yle radio host Markus Rautio played a part in the Finnish appropriation of an international icon. When he, known to listeners as "Uncle Markus" declared on air in 1927 that Santa's workshop was located in Lapland's Korvatunturi, Finns immediately took to the tale. If you knew anything about topography, it only made sense: There is nothing for reindeer to eat in the North Pole, but in Lapland they roam free. Moving Santa's visiting centre to Rovaniemi, however, was a more financially driven decision—one that annually drives half a million visitors to the Arctic Circle.