Icelandic Christmas folklore

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. Gryla is described as a hideous being who is the mother of the gigantic Yule Lads who are a menace to children.

Early on the number and depiction of Yule Lads varied greatly depending on location, with each individual Lad ranging from a mere prankster[3] to a homicidal monster who eats children.[4] They were used to frighten children into good behaviour, similar to the bogeyman. The King of Denmark objected to their use as a disciplinary tool.[5]

In the late 18th century a poem mentions there being 13 of them. In the mid-19th century, author Jón Árnason drew inspiration from the brothers Grimm and began collecting folktales. His 1862 collection is the first mention of the names of the Yule Lads.[5]

In 1932, the poem Yule Lads was published as a part of the popular poetry book Christmas is Coming (Jólin koma) by Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum. The poem was popular and so established what is now considered the canonical 13 Yule Lads, their names, and their personalities.[6]

Figures of Gryla and her husband Leppaludi on the main street of Akureyri, Iceland

Gryla[lower-alpha 1] is originally mentioned as being a giantess in the 13th century compilation of Norse mythology, Prose Edda, but no specific connection to Christmas is mentioned until the 17th century. She is enormous and her appearance is repulsive.

The oldest poems about Gryla describe her as a parasitic beggar who walks around asking parents to give her their disobedient children. Her plans can be thwarted by giving her food or by chasing her away. Originally, she lives in a small cottage, but in later poems she appears to have been forced out of town and into a faraway cave.

Current-day Gryla has the ability to detect children who are misbehaving year-round. During Christmas time, she comes from the mountains to search nearby towns for her meal.[7] She leaves her cave, hunts children, and carries them home in her giant sack. She devours children as her favorite snack. Her favorite dish is a stew of naughty kids for which she has an insatiable appetite. According to legend, there is never a shortage of food for Gryla.[8]

According to folklore, Gryla has been married three times. Her third husband Leppaludi[lower-alpha 2] is said to be living with her in their cave in the Dimmuborgir lava fields, with the big black Yule Cat and their sons. Leppaludi is lazy and mostly stays at home in their cave. Gryla supposedly has dozens of children with her previous husbands, but they are rarely mentioned nowadays.

The Yule Cat[lower-alpha 3] a huge and vicious cat who is described as lurking about the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eating people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.[9] He is the house pet of Gryla and her sons.[10]

Though referred to as an ancient tradition, written accounts of the Yule Cat have only been located as recently as the 19th century.[11] 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, but those who did not would get nothing and thus would be preyed upon by the monstrous cat. The cat has alternatively been described as merely eating away the food of ones without new clothes during Christmas feasts.[9] The perception of the Yule Cat as a man-eating beast was partly popularized by poems of Jóhannes úr Kötlum as with the rest of the folklore.[12]

The yule-themed milk carton from MS, portraying Sheep-Cote Clod, Gully Gawk, Meat-Hook, and Skyr-Gobbler.

A wooden food bowl, the type Bowl-licker steals.

The Yule Lads[lower-alpha 4] (sometimes named Yuletide-lads or Yulemen) are the sons of Gryla and Leppaludi. They are a group of 13 mischievous pranksters who steal from or otherwise harass the population and all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing.[1] They come to town one by one during the last 13 nights before Christmas (Yule). They leave small gifts in shoes that children have placed on window sills, but if the child has been disobedient they instead leave a potato in the shoe.[2]

In modern times the Yule Lads have been depicted as also taking on a more benevolent role[13] comparable to Santa Claus and other related figures. They are generally depicted as wearing late medieval style Icelandic clothing,[14] but are sometimes shown wearing the costume traditionally worn by Santa Claus, especially at children's events.

• "Christmas in Iceland". Embassy of Iceland, Washington DC. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013.
• "Grýla og jólasveinar". jol.ismennt.is. Archived from the original on 18 November 2005. Pictures by Halldor Petursson ca. 1950.
• "The Yule Lads". Jo's Icelandic Recipes. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
• "Jólasveinarnir (Yuletide Lads)". Yule in Iceland. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
• Petursson, Olafur. "The Yuletide Lads". Bokband.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. A translation of the poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.
• "Christmas in Iceland". jol.ismennt.is. Archived from the original on 11 November 2006. A comprehensive site on Christmas in Iceland with much information about Yule Lads and Grýla.
• Gunnell, Terry. "Grýla, Grýlur, Grøleks and Skeklers: Folk Drama in the North Atlantic in the Early Middle Ages?". jol.ismennt.is. Archived from the original on 13 October 2006.