Ah, Christmas. The most jolly time of the year! Who doesn’t love the sound of carols or the smell of gingerbread and peppermint? Well, if you travel to Iceland, you’ll hear of the Yule Lads, the Yule Cat, and the trolls Grýla and Leppalúði. So, who are these characters?
Grýla and Leppalúði are trolls, for starters. Grýla is said to capture naughty children around Yuletide, which is the equivalent of Christmas, and then eat them for dinner. Her third husband (Sorry, nothing about the first two) Leppalúði happily gobbles down the stew as well, but other than that, we have no info on him. The couple was said to have lived in a cottage, before later appearing in Iceland’s famous and very active Dimmuborgir lava fields. The Yule Lads are the children of Grýla and Leppalúði. On the twelve days before Christmas, each of them arrives to do an act of mischief related to their name and leave a present if you’ve been good. If not, you find a rotten potato. There are 13 of them:
Sheepcote Claud: Attempts to harass the sheep of the family, but is always unsuccessful due to his stiff legs.
Gully Gawk: Hides in gullies and ditches before breaking into the cowshed and stealing the milk.
Stubby: Steels the pans used to bake. He is always depicted as abnormally short.
Spoon Licker: Licks all of the spoons in the kitchen. He is extremely thin due to malnutrition.
Pot Scraper: Licks all the leftovers on pots.
Bowl Licker: Hides under the bed before springing out to steal leftovers left out for the family dog(s).
Door Slammer: Slams all the doors at night, waking up the household.
Skyr Gobbler: Loves skyr, an Icelandic form of yogurt.
Sausage Swiper: Hides in the rafters before taking the smoked sausage hanging from the ceiling.
Window Peeper: Looks through windows to find things to steal.
Doorway Sniffer: Uses his large nose to sniff around, looking for Icelandic leaf bread.
Meat Hook: Uses a hook to steal all of the meat.
Candle Beggar: Takes children’s candles, which are made of tallow, which makes them edible.
To finish off the legend, you have the Yule Cat, Grýla’s massive pet cat, who devours people who haven’t gotten new clothes for Christmas. In more modern tellings, the ferocious feline devours the victim’s Christmas dinner, not the victim himself/herself. Despite criticism from parents, children, and even the King of Denmark Christian VI, Iceland still loves its Christmas misfits. So have a Merry Christmas, and remember: Get new clothes and be good!
