Horrifying Holiday Creatures of Iceland – Ogres, Trolls & a Giant Child Eating Yule Cat

Iceland must have the most well behaved children in the world, and all thanks to their disturbingly dark Christmas lore and legends. There’s no visions of sugar plums dancing in these kids heads, instead their dreams are filled with stories of a giant ogresses named Grýla who loves to eats lazy and bad mannered children.
The giant ogress Grýla reportedly has 15 tails with 100 sacks on each tail and 20 children stored in each sack.  Whether Grýla feasts or goes through an awful famine lies strictly with the children of Iceland.

Grýla has 13 sons, all which have their own creep factor.  Her sons are called the Yule Lads, and each Christmas they trek to the foot of Mount Esja into the city.  One Yule Lad arrives every day until Christmas, starting on  December 12th all the way up to December 24th.

First to arrive on December 12th is Stekkjastaur which roughly translates to Sheep Worrier.   Stekkjastaur, has a stiff peg leg and comes to town harassing sheep.  He loves to suckle the milk from the sheep, but due to his bum leg is unable.

Giljagaur (Gully Gawk) arrives on December 13th, he likes to hide in gullies, patiently waiting for an opportunity to sneak into the cowshed and steal milk.

Stúfur (Stubby) is  actually the first to head down Mt. Esja, but due to being so abnormally short, he doesn’t arrive until December 14th.  Stúfur likes to steal dirty pans & chows down on crust left on them.

December 15th is when the spoon licker arrives. Þvörusleikir AKA Spoon-Licker (A Þvörur is a long handled wooden spoon) sneaks into homes snatching up dirty spoons to lick clean.  As you can imagine, Þvörusleikir is malnourished and extremely thin.

December 16th – Pottaskefill aka Pot-Scraper arrives.  This yule lad’s goal is  to steal leftovers from the pots of the townsfolk.

December 17th – Askasleikir aka Bowl-Licker arrives just in time to creep out Icelandic children & adults some more.  Askasleikir hides under beds waiting for someone to put down their askur (a fancily decorated bowl with a clasping lid), which he then steals!

December 18th – Hurðaskellir aka Door-Slammer arrives.  Don’t be fooled into believing that it’s the wind causing doors to slam shut.  If it’s after the 18th of December, it’s probably Hurðaskellir.  A real nuisance to Icelanders, Hurðaskellir gets his kicks by slamming doors, especially during the night.

December 19th – Skyrgámur aka Skyr Glutton loves to chow down on skyr (dairy product very similar to yogurt).  Skyrgámur is known for pigging out on skyr, and will stuff himself until he is bursting.

December 20th – Bjúgnakrækir aka Sausage Stealer hides in the rafters and snatch sausages that were being smoked.

December 21st – Gluggagægir aka Window Peeper.  That’s right Window Peeper!    What says Happy Holidays more a Peeping Tom?  Gluggagægir looks through windows in search of things to steal.

December 22 – Gáttaþefur or Door Sniffer is the 11th brother to come down the mountain.  Gáttaþefur has a ginormous nose and an extremely acute sense of smell which he uses to sniff out freshly baked leaf bread.

December 23rd – Ketkrókur aka Meat Hook shows up on the 23rd of December dressed in his best “I Know What You Did Last Summer” outfit.  Ketkrókur uses his gnarly hook to steal meat from the townspeople’s homes.

December 24th – Kertasníkir translates to Candle Beggar.  Kertasníkir steals the light from children.  He follows children in order to steal their candles which were made of edible animal fat.

December 25th – As if dealing with the wretched Grýla and her 13 sons wasn’t enough for the children of Iceland, there is still 1 more thing to fear at Christmas.

The horrible and gigantic Yule Cat!  This is one nasty overgrown house cat.  The Yule Cat is mean and nasty with  a ravenous appetite.  Not for cat food or mice, but for the tasty young morsels of children.  Not just any child, but only those children who failed to receive new clothing on Christmas day.

In the past getting new clothing would be a seriously big deal.  If you needed clothing you had to make it yourself.  Keeping warm in Iceland is a MUST for everyone and if kids needed new clothes to keep warm, they had to help out.  Sheering sheep, spinning, weaving, knitting & sewing.  The sheep’s wool had to be painstakingly crafted.  We’re not talking a quick trip to Walmart.  You can bet lazy boys and girls did not get new clothes.

In the states children sing happy songs tooting Christmas as  ? “the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” ? , in Iceland you just try to survive it!

Happy Holidays!