Iceland´s Christmas:The Yule Lads

Gryla

She´s mother to the Yule Lads.

She´s a giant troll, an enormous ogress who eats

naughty, lazy and rude children.

The Yule Lads

They wear shabby farm clothes and beards.

Children leave their shoes on the windows and the Yule Lads leave small

gifts.

The Sheep Worrier

He comes on 12th December.

He steals milk from the fridge and leaves a small toy, piece of fruit, little

sweet on children´s shoes.

Gully Gawk

He comes on 13th December. He walks through the ravines or gullies stealing milk containers

from farmers.

He leaves a small present.

Children who are naughty receive a potatoe.

Stubby

He comes on 14th December.

He´s got short legs and likes hiding. He gives little presents and he hangs around the kitchen scraping what he

can of pans that haven´t been washed.

15th December: Spoon Licker

He hangs around dark kitchens waiting for

spoons to lick, so people don´t wash up their

spoons on 15th December to do him a favour.

16th December: Pot Licker

He waits for Icelanders who don´t do the washing up and licks left overs off the sides and bottoms of

pans.

17th December: Bowl Licker

He likes licking an “askur” or traditional wooden

bowl, he also licks dishes that haven´t been washed

up.

18th December: Door Slammer

He´s very noisy, he likes to creep under cover of

darkness, as quiet as a mouse and then bang a door as loudly as he can

just for fun, specially in the middle of the night.

19th December: Skyr Glutton

Skyr is a dairy product similar to yogurt.

Skyr Glutton will stuff himself with skyr.

20th December: Saussage Stealer

He loves large saussages and hot dogs too.

21st December: Window Peeper

He loiters around windows peeping in when nobody is about.If a child catches him looking in, he pulls funny faces to make

himself look scary.

22nd December: Door Sniffer

He loves smelling “leaf bread “ being cooked

before Christmas.

He steals cakes and biscuits from the kitchen.

23rd December:Meat Hook

He is carnivorous, he likes any sort of meat.

He uses a hook to get smoked leg of lamb through the chimney.

24th December:Candle Beggar

Before the advent of electricity, children used candles to brighten up the darkness in celebration of

Christmas, but Candle Beggar would devoured any he could lay

on his hands.

The Yule Cat

Poor Icelandic children have to bear the Yule Cat as well! On Christmas Eve, it

peers through the window

Instead of hunting mice, it preys upon children, choosing the ones who haven´t recently given something new to wear.

It´s got yellowy-green eyes glowing in the dark, sharp teeth and claws.

Merry Christmas!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Bibliography:

BY BRIAN PILKINGTON

THE YULE LADS, A CELEBRATION OF ICELANDIC FOLKLORE