In Sweden, people regarded the Yule goat as an invisible spirit

that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure

that the Yule preparations were done right. During the 19th century

the Yule goat's role all over Scandinavia shifted towards becoming

the Christmas gift-bringer, with one of the men in the family dressing up

as the Yule goat. In this, there might be a relation to Santa Claus and

the Yule goat's origin in the medieval celebrations of Saint Nicholas.