Danish Christmas traditions

Take a trip with us to wintery Copenhagen! 🌲❄️

Warm drinks, good company, dimmed lights and that homely smell of something freshly baked... we cannot wait for the coziest time of year. Put on your favorite Christmassy beads and let’s join some historical Danish Christmas traditions together.

We begin in Nyhavn, the historic maritime and colourful part of Copenhagen where Trollbeads HQ is located. You spot a small flame in a window. It is a large candle surrounded by evergreen branches and little festive decorations including bows and pinecones. Golden numbers are written vertically down the candle. This is a “kalenderlys”, a calendar candle. Every day, Danes light their candle, counting down to the 24th of December- Christmas Eve. They create elegant decorations with the candle and place it in their homes. Another candle decoration is the “adventskrans”, an advent wreath, with four candles. For four Sundays before Christmas eve, a candle is lit one by one. Many Danes gather with friends and family to create these decorations and drink “gløgg”, a traditional mulled red wine.

Now, Santas reindeers are flying us ahead in time to Christmas Eve. Time travel? Well, Christmas IS a magical time.

You find yourself in the home of a Danish family. In the middle of their living room stand a lovely Christmas tree. The family are gathered around the tree and with a warm smile, they hand you a little book with Danish Christmas carols. A young boy takes your hand and you notice everyone is holding hands. Slowly, the family starts to walk slowly around the tree and sing heartwarming Christmas carols and old hymns. Outside of the window, snow starts to slowly fall, everything is calm and you feel a sense of peace. This is called “dancing around the Christmas tree”, something many Danish families does after dinner on Christmas eve and before opening gifts. It creates a sense of calm, closeness and it is to appreciate the glowing and decorated Christmas tree.

Then you spot a little black box underneath the tree, as it stands out between the bigger and more colourful gifts. It’s for you. 🎁

You open it and inside, you find a little faceted glass bead. It shimmers in the light of the glowing Christmas tree and its colours are lively blues, green and silver with a purple hue. A little note falls out. “For you, who seek wonder even in the dark.” It is the Northern Lights Magic Bead, a Trollbeads fan favorite. You smile and hug the little black box in your warm hands. 

You have a feeling, this is a Christmas you will never forget.
This story is a part of you. It’s you. It’s unique.