#the gavle goat

[hasgavlebockenburneddownyet]

Day 9

no, sadly its still standing

[mirainawen]

the jackdaws and the duck:

[sky-blaze]

Goat: I lived, bitch.

[krakenartificer]

and gets to design the defenses for next year

honestly i think they should make burning the goat legal, but still protect it as if it weren’t. make a sport out of it. whoever manages to get past all the cameras and fences gets to be the main character of sweden for a week

[robotslenderman]

BEHOLD, FOR NATURE RECLAIMS THE SACRIFICE THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT REFUSES TO ALLOW US TO MAKE. IF WE CANNOT BURN IN SACRIFICE TO THE GODS, THE GODS WILL TAKE WHAT IS THEIRS BY FORCE

[dissonantharmony]

THE WIKIPEDIA GODS HAVE DECIDED

GÄVLEBOCKEN IS DEAD!! 🦀🦀

[lazyscience]

The goat is the surplus a community's work has made over the year. Is it kept to uphold tradition, is it burned to catalyze change, or does it go back to feed the source?

Look, I know we’re all tickled that the Gävle Goat has been pecked apart by birds, but as far as omens go, it’s a bit like flipping a coin and having it land on the edge

[theblackknightofworcestershire]

nice dichotomy, idiot. what lies outside it????

[tapiocats]

Decay exists as an extant form of life

[astyrra]

i heard the gavlebocken is facing some new opponents this year

[woodelf68]

LONG LIVE GOAT FRIEND!

2023 Gävle Goat!

Well it’s getting to that time of year again, and our watch of the Gävle Goat approaches.

Our thirteen-meter tall straw friend will be inaugurated on December 3rd, and will stand for the holiday season (or until it burns).

There will be a livestream, and once it becomes available I will update and post it here.

Looking forward to another burn watch this year!

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

I cannot put into mortal words how fucking badly I want that swedish goat to burn. We live in a modern surveillance hellscape and not only is big brother watching you but he’s monitoring your purchase habits so he can sell you a smart refrigerator that will spy on you for the cia. the full weight of modern technology can be rallied to protect that straw monument to human hubris and I want us to burn it anyway. I want the might of modern society to crumple in the face of a drunk swede with a zippo lighter. we can do it just take my hand

[shut-up-danny-kun]

Look at this wikipedia article and tell me..

[palabarian]

If not by flame, then by feather

[whopooh]

From the news:

Bundles of straw rain down when the jackdaws feast on the Gävlebocken, which this year has become Christmas food. The thirteen-metre high Christmas goat has long been the victim of accidents. In 57 years, the goat has only survived 19 times. But in the past, the threat has mainly been that someone will burn it down - birds attacking it has not happened before, according to Gävlebocken's spokesperson.

The reason for the birds' interest is that the summer was unusually wet and the harvest was poor, which meant that the grains remained in the straw, according to the goat committee. On Thursday, the committee held a crisis meeting where they decided to let the goat remain for the rest of the season. This means that it will be taken down as planned on January 2.

"It's about Christmas spirit, and that the goat should be allowed to continue spreading Christmas spirit. It also doesn't feel good to start scaring away birds that follow their natural instinct and want food."

Jackdaws are an extra tough opponent for the goat. They are among the smartest corvidae and are used to living in a complicated social environment.

some say the goat will end in fire some say in ice from what I've read on the Wikipedia page of past Goat-destroying efforts, I'm pretty sure none of us were reckoning on absolute swarms of hungry birds but birds are also great and will suffice

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

As to whether the Gavle Goat's consumption should be seen as a good omen or a bad omen, I'd say good. Traditionally the Yule goat is made of straw from the final harvest and as a talisman against hard times, and there are unproven theories that its shape is inspired by Thor's goats, who are constantly killed, eaten, and reborn to provide endless meat for Thor and whatever guests he entertains. Therefore, its use by birds as a food store and safe harbor is an affirmation of its original purpose and truly in the Christmas spirit of generosity in lean times. What's more, the birds eating it seems to be have been the one outcome to unite both goat burners and goat keepers, as they have decided not to scare the birds away from their safe harbor and not to harm the goat, a decision that has been universally lauded.

As omens go, this one's all positive: safety, plenty, and unity between previous ideological opponents through a creative third solution built on shared values (birds being fed and sheltered is a good thing). May more birds find their way to the Gavle Goat next year.