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Formerly a real boar was sacrificed at Christmas,
and apparently also a man in the character of the Yule Boar. This,
at least, may perhaps be inferred from a Christmas custom still
observed in Sweden. A man is wrapt up in a skin, and carries a wisp
of straw in his mouth, so that the projecting straws look like the
bristles of a boar. A knife is brought, and an old woman, with her
face blackened, pretends to sacrifice him.
On Christmas Eve in some parts of the Esthonian island of Oesel they
bake a long cake with the two ends turned up. It is called the
Christmas Boar, and stands on the table till the morning of New
Year's Day, when it is distributed among the cattle. In other parts
of the island the Christmas Boar is not a cake but a little pig born
in March, which the housewife fattens secretly, often without the
knowledge of the other members of the family. On Christmas Eve the
little pig is secretly killed, then roasted in the oven, and set on
the table standing on all fours, where it remains in this posture
for several days.


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