Overview

The Gävle Goat is a giant Swedish Yule goat figure made of straw that is erected at Slottstorget in Gävle, Sweden every year on the first day of Advent, which falls around the end of November or in the first few days of December, until after New Year's Day. The Gävle Goat tradition began in 1966. Since December 2022, the Gävle Goat has been destroyed 38 out of the 57 times it's been erected, often by arson but sometimes by other means of destruction. In 1996, webcams were installed to monitor the goat. The Gävle Goat has inspired memes throughout the 2000s, often about its destruction. In 2023, it was reported that birds were eating the Gävle Goat, inspiring memes about the birds being the ones to destroy the goat that year.

History

Origin and History of Destruction

The Gävle Goat represents a traditional Swedish Yule goat, whose origins date back to ancient Pagan festivals, with some theorizing that the symbol of the goat comes from the story of the Norse god Thor, who is said to have ridden a chariot driven by goats.^[1] The first Gävle Goat was erected in 1966 and proposed by Stig Gavlén, an advertising consultant. The fire department, which has a building near the site, built the first goat. The first goat was burned down on December 31st, 1966 by arsonists.

Since 1966, the goat has been destroyed 38 of 57 times, with many of those destructions being due to arson. On December, 2013, Tumblr^[2] user atlasobscura posted a graphic documenting how the goat was destroyed each time between 1966 and 2012, garnering over 2,000 notes in 10 years (shown below).

In 2016, the goat was destroyed when a car deliberately ran into it (shown below, left). In 2021, the goat was burned down (shown below, right).

Measures have been taken to try and prevent this, such as guards, fences, CCTV cameras and in modern times, live webcams. Despite this, between 2000 and 2022, the goat was destroyed 13 times. Memes about the goat became increasingly popular throughout the 2020s. For example, on December 18th, 2022, Tumblr^[3] user rihkamakoru posted an image macro sharing a desire for the goat to burn, garnering over 100,000 notes in a year (shown below). The goat survived 2022.

On December 31st, Redditor u/rowan_damisch made a post to /r/Tumblr^[4] about the goat surviving the year, garnering over 18,000 upvotes in a year.

2023

On December 8th, 2023, the @Gavlebocken X^[5] page, the official page for the Gävle Goat, posted a GIF of the figure being attacked by birds, writing, "Sharing is caring! My bird friends are hungry this year and are finding some treats in my horns," garnering over 2,100 likes in a week (shown below).

On December 13th, 2023, the Gävle Goat LIVE YouTube^[6] channel began streaming a live feed of the goat, the description reading, "The Gävle Goat live stream will be active until New Years' unless, of course, the straw goat does not survive. Will it burn, or will it survive. Enjoy" (shown below). On December 14th, it was reported that the goat would not be taken down prematurely due to the birds.^[7]

Online Presence

2023 Gävle Goat vs. Birds Memes

Following reports that the Gävle Goat was being eaten by birds, Tumblr users began posting memes about the goat being eaten by the birds. On December 14th, Tumblr^[8][9] users ducktapeal and will-ruadh posted a meme about the birds and a screenshot of chatters from the goat's livestream discussing the birds respectively, garnering over 300 notes and 1,300 notes in a day (shown below, left and right).

Search Interest

External References