Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Icelandic Folklore

Iceland’s Yule Lads The Christmas Trolls

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but if you didn’t put a shoe in your window last night, you are in for a world of irritation through Christmas. Oh, wait a minute, that’s probably the case anyway.

The Yule Lads are Iceland’s greatest metaphor for holiday annoyance and frustration. In their most anodyne form, the Lads leave gifts for children (in the shoe). But in their purest, most primordial sense, they are major pains in the ass. And their mother will kill you.

Today, the Lads are most frequently portrayed as a bevy of affable Santa Clauses, rewarding the good with welcome gifts and penalizing the naughty with rotten potatoes. But in days of yore, they were amoral pranksters and homicidal trolls who devoured children.

According to Icelandic lore, the Lads are thirteen in number. Mostly they harass and steal from Icelandic farmers. They descend from the mountains, staggering their arrivals and departures, beginning thirteen nights before Christmas. For those who can’t be bothered to do the math, that would be December 12.

Each has his own exasperating speciality, whether it be harassing sheep, stealing milk, eating crust out of pans, licking spoons, stealing leftovers, licking bowls, slamming doors, eating skyr (a kind of Icelandic yogurt), stealing sausages, peeping through windows, sniffing for bread, stealing meat with a hook, or eating candles.

For Tolkien fans, surely the Lads are the basis for the thirteen Dwarves [sic] who visit Bilbo Baggins, eating him out of house and home and imperiling his dishes.

Their mother is the ogress Grýla, who seeks children to boil in her cauldron. If you happen to find yourself in her gnarled claws, remember, she has to release you if you repent!

The Yule Lads are frequently accompanied by Jólakötturinn, the Yule Cat. The cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes before Christmas. This is tied in to the Icelandic work ethic. In the old days, if farm hands processed their autumn wool in a timely fashion, they were rewarded with new garments. If not, they received nothing, thereby leaving them vulnerable to the Yule Cat. Better sheer them sheep!

In 1746, the practice of parents tormenting their children with Christmas monster stories was officially banned.

Get festive in the way only Icelanders can, with these “Icelandic Folk Dances” by Jón Leifs.

Björk sings about the Yule Cat

Only 13 days of folklore and paganism until Christmas!

PHOTO: Jólakötturinn is watching

December 12, 2023
Iceland’s Hilarious & Horrifying Yule Lads

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but if you didn’t put a shoe in your window last night, you are in for a world of irritation through Christmas. Oh, wait a minute, that’s probably the case anyway.

The Yule Lads are Iceland’s greatest metaphor for holiday annoyance and frustration. In their most anodyne form, the Lads leave gifts for children (in the shoe). But in their purest, most primordial sense, they are major pains in the ass. And their mother will kill you.

Today, the Lads are most frequently portrayed as a bevy of affable Santa Clauses, rewarding the good with welcome gifts and penalizing the naughty with rotten potatoes. But in days of yore, they were amoral pranksters and homicidal trolls who devoured children.

According to Icelandic lore, the Lads are thirteen in number. Mostly they harass and steal from Icelandic farmers. They descend from the mountains, staggering their arrivals and departures, beginning thirteen nights before Christmas. For those who can’t be bothered to do the math, that would be December 12.

Each has his own exasperating speciality, whether it be harassing sheep, stealing milk, eating crust out of pans, licking spoons, stealing leftovers, licking bowls, slamming doors, eating skyr (a kind of Icelandic yogurt), stealing sausages, peeping through windows, sniffing for bread, stealing meat with a hook, or eating candles.

For Tolkien fans, surely the Lads are the basis for the thirteen Dwarves [sic] who visit Bilbo Baggins, eating him out of house and home and imperiling his dishes.

Their mother is the ogress Grýla, who seeks children to boil in her cauldron. If you happen to find yourself in her gnarled claws, remember, she has to release you if you repent!

The Yule Lads are frequently accompanied by Jólakötturinn, the Yule Cat. The cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes before Christmas. This is tied in to the Icelandic work ethic. In the old days, if farm hands processed their autumn wool in a timely fashion, they were rewarded with new garments. If not, they received nothing, thereby leaving them vulnerable to the Yule Cat. Better sheer them sheep!

In 1746, the practice of parents tormenting their children with Christmas monster stories was officially banned.

Get festive in the way only Icelanders can, with these “Icelandic Folk Dances” by Jón Leifs.

Björk sings about the Yule Cat

December 12, 2022
Icelandic Yule Lads Folklore

Where does the time go?

Gävle, Sweden, has already constructed its 40-foot Yule Goat. Krampus has hurled all the wicked children into hellfire. Black Peter has stirred the ire of Dutch protesters. The holidays are just flying by.

But, no time to be wistful. It’s December the 12th! Here come the Yule Lads!

Not the modern-day mob of affable, ersatz-Santas, mind you – the ones who reward the good with gifts and penalize the naughty with rotten potatoes – but rather the amoral pranksters and homicidal trolls who devour children.

Mostly the Lads bedevil and steal from Icelandic farmers. They descend from the mountains, staggering their arrivals and departures, beginning thirteen nights before Christmas.

Each has his own exasperating speciality, whether it be harassing sheep, stealing milk, eating crust out of pans, licking spoons, stealing leftovers, licking bowls, slamming doors, eating skyr (a kind of Icelandic yogurt), stealing sausages, peeping through windows, sniffing for bread, stealing meat with a hook, or eating candles.

For Tolkien fans, surely the Lads are the basis for the thirteen Dwarves [sic] who visit Bilbo Baggins, in the process eating him out of house and home and imperiling his dishes.

Their mother is the ogress Grýla, who seeks children to boil in her cauldron. If you happen to find yourself in her gnarled claws, remember, she has to release you if you repent!

The Yule Lads are frequently accompanied by the Yule Cat. The cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes before Christmas. This is tied in to the Icelandic work ethic. In the old days, if farm hands processed their autumn wool in a timely fashion, they were rewarded with new garments. If not, they received nothing, thereby leaving them vulnerable to the Yule Cat. Better sheer them sheep!

In 1746, the practice of parents tormenting their children with Christmas monster stories was officially banned. But it lives on here, with Classic Ross Amico!

To my knowledge, there has been no classical music written about the Yule Lads. As with Krampus, some enterprising composer could make a real killing. All you need is one Christmas hit, and then every year, you can just kick back and collect those sweet holiday royalties.

Here is a selection of Yule Lad songs I found on YouTube. You can see that the bar has been set awfully low. How “My Darling Clementine” got over there is anyone’s guess. Maybe Leif Erikson brought it back with him on his longship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4nSFe32ys

Get festive in the way only Icelanders can, with these “Icelandic Folk Dances” by Jón Leifs:

Björk sings about the Yule Cat (with thanks to a follower of the page who shared this with me a few years ago):

Remember – only 13 days of folklore and paganism until Christmas!

December 12, 2021
Iceland’s Terrifying Yule Lads & Christmas Monsters

Before people started to pretty much anesthetize themselves with electronics, there must have been little else to fill their time, as the days grew shorter, beyond getting all liquored up and terrorizing the kids. How else to explain the Icelandic Yule Lads?

Not the modern-day bevy of affable, ersatz Santas, mind you – the ones who reward the good with welcome gifts and penalize the naughty with rotten potatoes – but rather the amoral pranksters and homicidal trolls who devour children.

According to Icelandic lore, the Lads are thirteen in number. Mostly they harass and steal from Icelandic farmers. They descend from the mountains, staggering their arrivals and departures, beginning thirteen nights before Christmas. For those who can’t be bothered to do the math, that would be December 12.

Each has his own exasperating speciality, whether it be harassing sheep, stealing milk, eating crust out of pans, licking spoons, stealing leftovers, licking bowls, slamming doors, eating skyr (a kind of Icelandic yogurt), stealing sausages, peeping through windows, sniffing for bread, stealing meat with a hook, or eating candles.

For Tolkien fans, surely the Lads are the basis for the thirteen Dwarves [sic] who visit Bilbo Baggins, in the process eating him out of house and home and imperiling his dishes.

Their mother is the ogress Grýla, who seeks children to boil in her cauldron. If you happen to find yourself in her gnarled claws, remember, she has to release you if you repent!

The Yule Lads are frequently accompanied by the Yule Cat. The cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes before Christmas. This is tied in to the Icelandic work ethic. In the old days, if farm hands processed their autumn wool in a timely fashion, they were rewarded with new garments. If not, they received nothing, thereby leaving them vulnerable to the Yule Cat. Better sheer them sheep!

In 1746, the practice of parents tormenting their children with Christmas monster stories was officially banned.

Get festive in the way only Icelanders can, with these “Icelandic Folk Dances” by Jón Leifs.

And remember – only 13 days of folklore and paganism until Christmas!

December 12, 2020
Icelandic Yule Lads Dark Christmas Folklore

Sheesh. Where does the time go? Only 13 days of folklore and paganism until Christmas.

Gävle, Sweden, has already constructed its 40-foot Yule Goat. Krampus has hurled all the wicked children into hellfire. Black Peter has stirred the ire of Dutch protesters.

But, no time to be wistful. It’s December the 12th. Here come the Yule Lads!

These days, the Yule Lads are usually personified as a bevy of affable Santa Clauses. Except, being Icelandic, not only do they leave gifts for the nice; the naughty get rotten potatoes. That’s the sanitized version. You don’t have to dig too deeply to discover their true selves.

The Lads are thirteen in number. In Icelandic lore, they are annoying pranksters at best; at worst, they are homicidal trolls who devour children. Mostly they steal from and harass Icelandic farmers.

The Lads descend from the mountains, staggering their arrivals and departures, beginning thirteen nights before Christmas.

Each has his own exasperating speciality, whether it be harassing sheep, stealing milk, eating crust out of pans, licking spoons, stealing leftovers, licking bowls, slamming doors, eating skyr (a kind of Icelandic yogurt), stealing sausages, peeping through windows, sniffing for bread, stealing meat with a hook, or eating candles.

Their mother is the ogress Grýla, who descends from the mountains in search of children to boil in her cauldron. If you happen to find yourself in her gnarled claws, remember, she has to release you if you repent.

The Yule Lads are frequently accompanied by the Yule Cat. The cat eats children who don’t receive new clothes before Christmas. This is tied in to the Icelandic work ethic. In the old days, if farm hands processed their autumn wool in a timely fashion, they were rewarded with new clothes. If not, they received nothing, leaving them fair game for the Yule Cat. Better sheer them sheep!

In 1746, the practice of parents tormenting their children with Christmas monster stories was officially banned.

To my knowledge, there has been no classical music written about the Yule Lads. As with Krampus, some enterprising composer could make a real killing. All you need is one Christmas hit, and then every year you can kick back and collect those sweet holiday royalties.

Here is a selection of Yule Lad songs I found on YouTube. You can see that the bar has been set awfully low.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4nSFe32ys

How “My Darling Clementine” got over there is anyone’s guess. Maybe Leif Erikson brought it back with him.

December 12, 2019

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