Iceland's 13 Yule Lads: Ep.24 – All Things Iceland Podcast

In the last episode, I went over Iceland’s noteworthy traditions, holidays and celebrations. I recommend checking it out, if you haven’t already. This week, I am expanding on the Christmas holiday celebrations that I spoke about in that episode. While most countries that celebrate Christmas only have one Santa that comes to town, Iceland somehow ended up with 13! During this episode, I will talk about where these 13 Santa Clauses or Yule Lads come from, when they come to town, what they do while in town and include some other interesting characters that show up during Christmas.

Are They Icelandic Yule Lads or Santa Claus?

While Yule lad is the most appropriate term for these 13 mountain dwellers, Santa is a term that has continuously been used throughout the years, so I will use them interchangeably in this episode. In fact, they are called Jólasveinn in Icelandic, which translates to Yule Lad or Santa Claus.

Where do Iceland’s Yule Lads Come From?

When it is not Christmas time, Iceland’s 13 Santas live in a cave in the mountains with their mother Grýla, as well as a gigantic black yule cat and their mother’s 3rd husband, Leppalúði. This might sound cozy but Grýla is a giant troll that has an insatiable appetite for bad children and her husband shares the same pleasure in eating misbehaved kids. Grýla likes to make stew out of the bad children that she collects.

Additionally, their yule cat is a vicious monster that eats people that have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve. I think anyone growing up in a household like that would be kind of strange, and the 13 Yule lads are certainly not an exception. They each have their own personality and a specific mischievous act that they do when visiting houses in Iceland during Christmas. In fact, their names describe the special thing that they do while visiting.

As I mentioned in the episode about Icelandic holidays, traditions and celebrations, the first Yule Lad comes to town on December 12th and the last one arrives on December 24th. Back in the day, they weren’t that nice but as the years have passed, they have become milder in nature and have even started to leave gifts for children.

Mischievous Yule Lads Turn Into Gift Giving Santa Clauses

When it is time for the Santa Clauses to start coming to town, Icelandic children leave one of their shoes in the window before going to sleep on each of the 13 nights. Good children will find a little gift in their shoe when they wake up in the morning. However, misbehaved children will receive a potato, which could be rotten. Below, you can see the spelling of the names of the Yule Lads in Icelandic. I have also included the days that each lad arrives and the day when they leave town.

Ok, now let’s jump into the names of each of the 13 Icelandic Santa

Stekkjarstaur

1.Stekkjarstaur – Sheep Cote-Clod or also known as “stiff legs” – He is said to have such stiff legs that he walks as if they are peg legs. He harasses sheep, and steals milk by suckling the ewes on a farm. (12 December to 25 December)

Giljagaur

2. Giljagaur – Gully Gawk- Hides in gullies, waiting for an opportunity to sneak into the cowshed and steal milk. (13 December to 26 December)

Stúfur

3. Stúfur – Stubby – Abnormally short. Steals pans to eat the crust and leftovers in them. (14 December to 27 December)

Þvörusleikir

4. Þvörusleikir – Spoon-Licker Steals Þvörur (a type of a wooden spoon with a long handle) to lick. Apparently, he Is extremely thin due to malnutrition. (15 December 28 December)

Pottaskefill

5. Pottaskefill – Pot-Scraper – Steals leftovers from pots and licks them clean. (16 December to 29 December)

Askasleikir

6. Askasleikir – Bowl-Licker – Hides under beds waiting for someone to put down their “askur” (a type of bowl with a lid used instead of dishes), which he then steals and licks clean (17 December 30 December)

Hurðaskellir

7. Hurðaskellir – Door-Slammer – Likes to slam doors that are left open, especially during the night. This usually results in waking people up people in the house. (18 December 31 December)

Skyrgámur

8. Skyrgámur – Skyr-Gobbler – He really loves skyr, which is a type of yogurt made in Iceland that is packed with protein. Not surprisingly, he steals skyr whenever he gets a chance. (19 December to 1 January)

Bjúgnakrækir

9. Bjúgnakrækir – Sausage-Swiper – He hides in the rafters and snatches sausages that are being smoked. (20 December 2 January)

Gluggagægir

10. Gluggagægir – Window-Peeper – He looks through windows in search of things to steal. (21 December 3 to January)

Gáttaþefur

11. Gáttaþefur – Doorway-Sniffer – Has an abnormally large nose and an acute sense of smell which he uses to locate laufabrauð, cakes and cookies. As a side note, laufabrauð, translated as leaf bread in Icelandic. It is a traditional thin Icelandic bread eaten at Christmas time. The bread usually has a geometric or leaf life pattern cut into it. It is fried in hot oil or fat. It is delicious and I highly recommend trying some if you are in Iceland during the Christmas season. (22 December to 4 January)

Ketkrókur

12. Ketkrókur – Meat-Hook – Uses a hook to steal meat that is hanging. This meat is called hangikjöt in Icelandic.. (23 December 5 January)

Kertasníkir

13. Kertasníkir – Candle-Stealer – Follows children in order to steal their candles. Many candles in earlier times were made of tallow , which is rendered beef fat, so they were technically edible. (24 December to 6 January)

You might have noticed that many of the mischievous things that the Yules lads do are associated with stealing food. I have a theory that after spending 11 months in the mountains eating their mother’s stew made of bad children and whatever else they could find, they probably just want something delicious to eat. However, that is purely my opinion, so take it with a big grain of salt.

Random Icelandic Fact

Now that you have learned more about Iceland’s 13 Santa Clauses, I am going to move on to the next segment of the show, which is a random fact about Iceland. Kertasníkir or Candle stealer was voted as the most favorite of the Yule Lads in Iceland. It seems that he is the most generous of his brothers. It probably helps that he is the last to arrive and leaves a gift on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Icelandic Phrase of the Episode

Gleðileg jól – Happy Christmas. You can hear how it is pronounced at the end of the podcast episode.

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