Nisse's Porridge Bowl
The bowl of Christmas porridge set out on the farm each Christmas Eve to thank the nisse for his care of the household, cattle, and barn. In the best-known story the nisse hides in the rafters while the porridge is eaten, and his anger when he finds the butter scraped from the bottom teaches the lesson of gratitude; the tale of the nisse and the Christmas porridge tells the same custom from the nisse's side. The custom of julegrot is kept across Norway today, now also in city homes, and a bowl is often left on the doorstep or in the barn for the nisse of the house.