Editing Nisse (folklore) (section)

===Dialects===
Forms such as {{lang|no|tufte}} have been seen as [[dialect]]. [[Ivar Aasen|Aasen]] noted the variant form {{lang|no|'''tuftekall'''}} to be prevalent in the [[Nordland]] and [[Trondheim]] areas of Norway,<ref name=aasen-tufte/> and the tale "Tuftefolket på Sandflesa" published by [[Peter Christen Asbjørnsen|Asbjørnsen]] is localized in [[Træna Municipality]] in Nordland.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The tale "Tuftefolket på Sandflesa" describes its setting as Trena, and Sandflesa is explained as a shifting bank off its shore.<ref name=christiansen&iversen-tuftefolk/>}} Another synonym is '''''tunkall''''' ("yard fellow"{{sfnp|Kvideland|Sehmsdorf|1988|p=238}}) also found in the north and west.{{sfnp|Christiansen|2016|pp=141, lc}} 

Thus ostensibly {{lang|no|tomte}} prevails in eastern Norway (and adjoining Sweden),{{sfnp|Stokker|2000|p=54}}{{sfnp|Olrik|Ellekilde|1926|p=304}}
although there are caveats attached to such over-generalizations by linguist {{illm|Oddrun Grønvik|no}}.{{Refn|{{harvp|Grønvik, Oddrun|1997|p=154}}, summarized in English in Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (1998).<ref name="LLBA"/>}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|She specifically addresses the generalization "tufte (-kall) har utbreeinga si noko nord- og vestafor tomte (-gubbe)," i.e., ''tufte''(-''kall'') being in use to the north and west of regions where ''tomte''(-''gubbe'') is prevalent, and states there is too scanty a material ("lite tilfang") to build on. Her study concludes that in general, current literature "does not give an accurate picture of their distribution [i.e., of the geographical distribution of the usage of varying terms for ''nisse''] in the 19th century".<ref name="LLBA"/>}} It might also be conceded that {{lang|sv|tomte}} is more a Swedish term than Norwegian.<ref>{{harvp|Knutsen|Riisøy|2007|p=48}} and note 28.</ref> In [[Scania]], [[Halland]] and [[Blekinge]] within Sweden, the ''tomte'' or ''nisse'' is also known as '''{{lang|sv|goanisse}}''' (i.e {{lang|sv|godnisse, goenisse}} 'good nisse').{{sfnp|Olrik|Ellekilde|1926|p=294}}{{Refn|The ''tomte'' (''tomtar'') is also called the ''nisse'' (plural: ''nissar'') [in Blekinge].<ref name="afzelius2"/>}}

[[Reidar Thoralf Christiansen]] remarked that the "belief in the {{lang|no|nisse}} is confined to the south and east" of Norway, and theorized the ''nisse'' was introduced to Norway (from [[Denmark]]) in the 17th century,{{sfnp|Christiansen|2016|pp=141, lc}} but there is already mention of "Nisse pugen" in a Norwegian legal tract c. 1600 or earlier,<ref name="knutsen-century"/>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Not inconsistent with Falk and Torp's etymological dictionary dating  the introduction into Scandinavia (from Germany) to have occurred in the post-[[Reformation]] era.<ref name="falk&torp-nisse"/>}} and {{illm|Otto Emil Birkeli|no|lt=Emil Birkeli}} (1938) believed the introduction to be as early as 13 to 14c.<ref name="knutsen-century">{{harvp|Knutsen|Riisøy|2007|p=51}} and note 35.</ref> The ''[[Norsk Allkunnebok]]'' encyclopedia states less precisely that ''nisse'' was introduced from Denmark relatively late, whereas native names found in [[Norway]] such as ''tomte'', {{lang|no|'''tomtegubbe'''}}, ''tufte'', ''tuftekall'', {{lang|no|'''gardvord'''}}, etc., date much earlier.<ref name="norske-allkunnebok"/><ref>Also quoted in {{harvp|Grønvik, Ottar|1997|p=130}}</ref>