Reykjavik and Christmas

Since we are getting close to Christmas, I will tell you how the Icelanders celebrate the holiday. They don’t have a Santa equivalent. What they have are the Yule Lads. Now there are two versions of the story, one very Disney (mostly) and one very Grimm’s fairy tale. First the Disney version:

For the 13 days before Christmas, the lads visit every home, the children leave their shoes in the window, if they have been nice, they will get a gift, if the children have been bad, the lads leave them a rotten potato. Of course a rotten potato could kill you so be careful…

Now the Grimm’s fairy tale version:

In this version, the Yule lads and their family have a mission that is less than ideal for the modern Christmas spirit. First the Yule lads are the offspring of two trolls, Gryla and Leppaludi. They travel from the mountains on Christmas Eve and visit the towns population. They make loud noises, steal candles and eat all the yogurt, no mention of gifts from this group.

It get’s worse….

The parents are a little more sinister, they eat the naughty children. Worst of all is the family pet (a cat of course, sorry you cat lovers). In this tale, the cat ate the poor (good or bad), the basis for determining “poor” was clothing. If someone did not get new clothes for Christmas, they are fair game and the cat would eat them.

Recommendation here: At least give everyone in your family a new pair of socks….Read more