The newspaper swiftly removed the fictional death notice and apologized, but not before a generation of little Haralds and Hildes were left crying in their herring. (Seriously, I kid the Norwegians because I love them.)

The obituary announced that “Dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788” had passed away on December 3 at the ripe old age of 227 in the town of Nordkapp, fittingly located at Norway’s extreme northern point above the Arctic Circle. The notice, which included an image of a cross, added that a funeral and memorial service would be held at the “North Pole Chapel” on December 28.

Aftenposten hurriedly posted an embarrassed retraction and apology: “An error in Aftenposten’s internal procedures led to a fictional obituary of Santa Claus being published in our digital systems. Aftenposten has strict guidelines for both the content and use of symbols in our obituaries. This ad is a violation of these and should never have been published. The ad was removed immediately from the digital obituary pages when we were made aware of the case. We will find out what has happened.”

All of which raises the question -- what did happen?

The safest bet is that someone suffering cabin fever during the six-month-long Norwegian winter, submitted the obituary as a prank and it slipped through the screening process. Alternatively, some newspaper staffer with a cold (not to say frosty) sense of humor is about to lose their job.