The most common Swedish folk dance is the langdans (long dance) in which participants form a long chain, holding hands. Depending on the circumstance, the chain might turn into a ring, with the dancers circling a maypole or Christmas tree in a ringdans (ring dance).
Domaredansen is a ringdans and a game played by Swedes of all ages at all times of the year, including Yuletide. The precise origin of the tune is not know, but the melody, along with the current text, first appeared in Traditioner af folk-dansar (Afzelius/Ahlstrom, 1814).