A nisse is an older elf who wears ragged clothing and a bright red cap. Nisse lives in the barn or pantry of a home and watches over the household and animals. Legend has it that nisse resides in clean and orderly households. He expects respect from the family and a bowl of julegrøt with butter on Christmas Eve.

 

There are consequences if a family does not leave a bowl of julegrøt for nisse. In the legend When the Nisse Got No Butter on His Christmas Porridge, a little girl played a trick on nisse and placed the butter at the bottom of the bowl rather than on top of the julegrøt. When nisse saw this, he got so angry that he killed the family's best cow and then returned to eat the julegrøt. When nisse discovered the butter at the bottom of the porridge, he felt bad and stole the neighbor's best cow in order to replace the cow he had killed.

 

The nisse will regularly steal from neighbors in order to increase the prosperity of the family he lives with, as detailed in the legendThe Nisse Who Stole Fodder.