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12-12-2023
Cambrie Narey
Have you ever been unhappy, when gifted clothes for Christmas? Well if you had lived in Iceland, you would have died without receiving those clothes. The reason for this being the evil Icelandic creature the Yule Cat. The Yule Cat is a mythical black cat that will eat anybody that doesn’t get clothes by Christmas day.
Photo of what day each Yule Lad comes to town and what they do, along with Gryla and Leppaluoi (Zoom in to see)
The Yule Cat lives with Gryla, a troll who eats children, Leppaluoi, her husband, and their thirteen sons, called the Yule Lads which is now known as Iceland’s santa. But that’s not the way that the Yule Lads started, they began as thirteen prankster trolls each having a different way of tormenting the families. According to "Guide to Iceland”, Gryla collects the children, and then cooks them in a pot to turn them into a stew for the winter. Unlike the Yule Cat, Gryla makes exceptions to who she decides to eat. She only eats the kids that have been naughty.
According to “BusTravel”, “It is believed that the Yule Cat‘s legend was used as motivation for farm workers to finish processing the autumn wool before Christmas. When they finished tasks given to them, they would receive new clothes from the farm owners and therefore would be safe from the evil cat.” Even though this is the origin of the Yule Cat, it isn’t the reason that the tradition of it started. The reason why this tradition started is because of the poem, called “Jolakotturinn” translating to “The Yule Cat”, from the book “Jolin Koma” made by Johannes ur Kotlum, translating to “Christmas is Coming”. Some lines from this poem are, “You all know the Yule Cat And that Cat was huge indeed. People didn’t know where he came from or where he went.”
Statue of the Yule Cat located in Reykjavik, Iceland
Back then the families in Iceland would have to worry about thirteen trolls harassing them, a black cat eating them unless they got clothes, and a big troll also eating them if they had misbehaved. But now the stories have been changed, so that the children wouldn't have to fear them. The new and altered version of the story is that the Yule Cat will come and eat all of the food at Christmas time, whenever they don’t get new clothes. Zoey Carter says,” I think that it is evil and is a story that shouldn't be told.” According to “Guide to Iceland”, the Yule Lads will now dress in red and white and will have beards like santa. They also won't pull pranks, but instead will give presents. Each kid will put their best shoe on their windowsill fourteen days before Christmas, then the following days a different Yule Lad will either put a toy or candy, or a potato if the kid has been naughty, stopping whenever it becomes Christmas Eve. (You can see which day each one comes on the past photo) Madie Shaw says, “I think it’s good that they changed the stories, because It could have scared the kids. And for Gryla, her story was banned in Iceland from being told to scare children.
Authors bio
Cambrie Narey is a 6th grader who loves art, animals, and music.
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