If you have been really, really bad...

For the past eight nights the Yule Lads have been steadily coming to town. Every evening the boys have been putting their shoes on the windowsill in anticipation of a little treat. Today’s Yule Lad, Skyrgámur (Skyr Gobbler) brought pencils to them. If you remember children are supposed to put a shoe on a windowsill and those who have been good through the year, will find a treat there in the morning, but those who have been bad, will find a potato instead.

Anton came up with a modern addition to this custom:
"If you were bad the Yule Lads will bring you a potato, but if you were really, really bad they will bring you toxic toys from China."

We still have some Yule Lads to come…

The First Yule Lad

As I mentioned before, the Yule Lads start their journey to the city on the night of the 12th of December. Stekkjastaur, Stiff Knees, is the first one to come from the mountains. The kids were very excited about it and put up their boots up on the windowsill. In the morning Anton discovered some kind of motorized vehicle in his boot, and Alex – a pencil with a knight in his.
A theory behind the choice of the gifts runs goes like this:

Anton – “I told Mom that I wanted to have a Porsche, when I grow up. She told it to the Yule Lads. They don’t have a Porsche in storage, so they brought me the closest thing.”

Alex – “Mom, remember how you always say that I have to practice my writing. The Yule Lads gave me this pencil with a knight, so I will write more.”

So sweet! (I suspect that Anton is just playing alone. But, he obviously is having fun doing this.

Updates on the Yule Lads

Update on Yule lads, their parents and Christmas cat.

We went to the Christmas bazaar in Hafnarfjörður. Images of Yule lads and other Christmas related crowd were everywhere, so I decided to add some of them here.

Christmas characters on the carton are (from top to bottom):
Askasleikir – Bowl licker, he is the 6th one of the Yule Lads to appear in town on the 17th of December, and he can't resist licking any bowl he can find clean;
Gluggagægir – Window Peeper, the 10th of the group to come down from the mountains. He peeks through the windows and steals things that catch his fancy.
Gryla and Leppalúði – mean, mean parents of Yule lads;
Jólakötturinn – a wicked Christmas cat. Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum wrote a poem about this Yule Cat, which has such words:

His whiskers, sharp as bristles,
His back arched up high.
And the claws of his hairy paws
Were a terrible site.

You can also take a look at slightly different translation of this poem along with Icelandic original.

The Yule Lads

Christmas is coming closer – first decorations appeared on the streets, first Christmas bazaars are opened, sales are here and regular food items appear on the shelves of the stores in a special Christmas attire. My first discovery was new milk cartons decorated with pictures of Yule lads.
Those Yule Lads is an Icelandic answer to Santa Clause, and there are 13 of them. They start coming to town on December, the 12th, arriving one by one, every night until Christmas Eve. Children suppose to put a shoe on a windowsill and those who have been good through the year, will find a treat there in the morning, but those who have been bad, will find potato instead.
They are named according with their appearances or habitual behaviour - there is Stiff Legs and Door Slammer, Sausage Swiper and Window Peeker, Candle Beggar and Spoon Licker, Shorty and Skyr Gobbler, plus a few others that I haven’t learn about yet. Many years ago all of them were wicked and used to steal and harass people. Nowadays they mellowed out and just bring gifts and entertain children. I heard that Lads’ parents, Grỳla and Leppalúði, stay true to their nature and are still on the look out for naughty children; they think that the naughtiest ones will make for great soup stock.
The Yule Lads start going back home after Christmas Day, again one by one, with the last one living on January, the 6th.

Lads on the carton are (from top to bottom):

Þvörusleikir – Spoon Licker, he is the 4th of the Yule Lads to make his journey down from the mountains on the 15th of December. One of the hungry brothers who licks things clean, Þvörusleikir specializes in spoons.

Pottaskefill – Pot Licker, he is the 5th one of the brothers and comes to town on the December 16th You can easily guess what his specialty is.
Hurðaskellir – Door Slammer, he is the 7th of the Yule Lads to come to town on the December 18th. He likes to wreck havoc by slamming doors.