In the heart of Iceland’s wintry embrace, where the auroras dance above, and the snow whispers secrets of old, there lies a tale as chilling as the frostbitten winds. This is not your typical Christmas story of joy and cheer, but rather a dark folklore that weaves through the mountainous landscapes, casting shadows in the corners of children’s imaginations. It speaks of a peculiar family, dwellers of a cave shrouded in mystery, etching their presence into the long, dark nights of Yuletide. Things are about to get strange.
Icelandic Christmas folklore depicts mountain-dwelling monsters and characters who come to town during Christmas. The stories are directed at kids to scare them to be good. The folklore includes both mischievous pranksters who leave gifts during the night and the monsters who eat the bad kids. The characters are depicted as living together as a family in a cave and include:
-Gryla: an ogress with an appetite for the flesh of bad kids. She cooks them in a large pot. Leppaludi is her husband. He is lazy and mostly stays in their cave.
-The Yule Cat is a huge and vicious cat who lurks about the countryside during Christmas time and eats people who haven’t received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.
-The Yule lads are the sons of Gryla and Leppaluoi. They are a group of mischievous pranksters who steal from or harass the population. They all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing. They come to town one by one during the last 13 nights before Yule. They leave small gifts in shoes that kids have been placed on window sills. If the child was disobedient, they will instead leave a rotten tomato in the shoe.
The first mention of the Yule lads can be found in the 17th century Poem of Gryla. Gryla had appeared in older tales as a troll but had not been linked to Christmas before. She is described as being a hideous being who is the mother of the gigantic Yule Lads, a menace to children. Early on, the number and depiction of the Yule Lads varied depending on the location. They were used to frighten kids into good behavior. In the 18th century, a poem mentioned 13 of them. In the 19th century, author Jon Arnason drew inspiration from the Brothers Grimm and began collecting folktales. His 1862 collection is the first mention of the names of the Yule Lads.
Gryla is an ogress. The oldest poems about her describe her as a parasitic beggar, She walks around asking parents to give her their disobedient kids. Her plans can be stopped by giving her food or hashing her away. She lived in a small town originally, but in later poems she was forced out of town and into a cave. Today’s Gryla can detect bad kids year round. She comes from the mountains during Christmas time to search nearby towns for her meal. She leaves her cave, hunts kids, and carries them home in her giant sack. Devouring kids is her favorite snack. Her favorite dish is a stew made out of bad kids, for she has an insatiable appetite. Gryla has been married three times according to legend. Her third husband, Leppaludi, is said to be living with her in their cave in the Dimmuborgir lava fields. They live there with the big Yule Cat and their sons.
The Yule Cat is a huge and vicious cat who is described as lurking about the snowy countryside during Christmas and eating anyone who hasn’t received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve. He is the house pet of Gryla and her sons. Though referred to as an ancient tradition, written accounts of the Yule Cat have only been seen as recently as the 19th Century. The threat of being eaten by the Yule Cat was used by farmers as an incentive for their workers to finish processing the autumn wool before Christmas. The ones who took part in the work would be rewarded with new clothes. Those who didn’t would not get anything, thus get preyed on by the cat. The cat has been described as eating the food of those without new clothes during Christmas feasts. The perception of the Yule-Cat as a man-eating beast was popularized by poems of Johannes ur Kotlum.
As the National Museum of Iceland describes:
Dozens of different names for the Yule Lads appear in different folk tales and stories. A popular poem about the Yule Lads by the late Jóhannes úr Kötlum, which first appeared in the book Jólin koma (Christmas Is Coming) in 1932, served to make their names and number much better known. The names of the 13 Yule Lads that most Icelanders know today are all derived from that poem.
Today, as the museum describes, the Yule lads are:
-Sheep-Cote Clod: He tries to suckle yews in farmer's sheep sheds. Or harass them.
-Gully Gawk: He steals cow milk. Milk was needed to form most sauces meant to be enjoyed during this season.
-Stubby: He's short and steals frying pans for the food left in them. Horrible as for most people who worked as farm hands their pots and pans were their only possessions of value. Iron was an import.
-Spoon Licker: He licks spoons. The lesson for children? Clean your cutlery.
-Pot Scraper, aka Pot Licker: He sought out pots of sauce, chunks of meat or pans with seasonal veggies left out. The troll of leftovers.
-Bowl Licker: He steals bowls of food from under the bed (back in the old days, Icelanders used to sometimes store bowls of food there—convenient for midnight snacking?). He’s the monster under the bed.
-Door Slammer: He stomps around and slams doors, keeping everyone awake.
-Skyr Gobbler: He eats up all the Icelandic yogurt (skyr, is a national delight enjoyed all year round and compliments both the sweet and savory dishes eaten during this season)
-Sausage Swiper: He loves stealing and eating sausages. It’s said he would wait in the rafters until the right moment to swoop down and steal them.
-Window Peeper: He likes to creep outside windows and sometimes steal the stuff he sees inside. His role was to hopefully scare the kids into not going outside in the dark winters.
-Door Sniffer: He has a huge nose and an insatiable appetite for stolen baked goods, his favorite was the traditional Leaf-Bread.
-Meat Hook: He snatches up any meat left out, especially smoked lamb.
-Candle Beggar: He steals candles, which used to be sought-after items in Iceland, as the days are dark about 20 hours a day in the winter time. Without candles, people couldn’t enjoy their pastime of reading.
FUN FACTS
- During the 18th century, The King of Denmark objected to the use of the Yule Lads as a disciplinary tool.
- The mischievousness happens between Dec 11-24th
- Mama troll Gryla is said to have eaten her two prior husbands.
- The troll cave is believed to be in Northern Iceland.
- Even adults, prior to industrialization, largely believed in trolls, so people collectively were really cautious that there may have been truth to the stories.
- Today, the Yule lads are more family friendly and give gifts more than they take.
As Christmas in Iceland comes to an end, the magical traditions of the holiday season stay with us. The Yule Lads, Gryla, and the Yule Cat are not just fun characters from Icelandic folklore; they also remind us of Iceland's rich cultural heritage. This special time of year in Iceland mixes old stories and new celebrations, creating a magical and memorable experience. Even after the holiday lights dim, the spirit of these traditions remains, capturing the unique joy and mystery of an Icelandic Christmas.
- - - - Stay Weird Ya’ll.
