The Terrifying Yule Cat and Disruptive Yule Lads
Last week we learned about Gryla, an Icelandic witch who eats troublesome children. This post will cover her associates: the Yule Cat and the Yule Lads.
Yule Cat
Beginning in the autumn, the Yule Cat would spy on those preparing for the winter. Animals needed harvested and their meat smoked and stored. Wool sheared in the spring needed to be spun and woven in to clothes. Any farm hand or maid that didn’t put in their fair share would not receive new clothes for Christmas.
Not receiving new clothes may not sound like a big deal, but that is because you don’t know about the Yule Cat. A monstrously large cat that lives with the trollish witch, Gryla, the Yule Cat eats those who don’t receive new clothes.
In days gone by, people received clothes very rarely. Christmas time was one such occasion. Those children, farm hands and maids that worked diligently were rewarded with new outfits. If they were lazy or disobedient they did not.
The Yule Cat keeps an eye on all the youth from Autumn until Christmas Eve. He is always watching to see who is working and who is being lazy. Then on Christmas Eve he comes from his cave home and eats the lazy and disobedient children that didn’t get new clothes.
There were only two ways to avoid being eaten alive. The first was to work hard and earn your new outfit. The second was purchase clothes for the less fortunate. I hope you have all worked diligently and earned yourselves some new clothes this holiday season.
The Yule Lads
On December 12th the Yule Lads begin their descent from Gryla’s cave. Before 1864 there were as many as twenty and as few as nine. In 1864, folklorist Jon Arnason standardized the number to thirteen.
The Lads are Gryla’s children. No one is sure if they are Leppaludi’s children or not. In the original tales the Lads were ogre like creatures that destroyed homes and ate children. Today they are often dressed like little Santa’s. They give gifts to good children and rotten potatoes to bad children.
Yule Lads: Names and Arrival Dates
The Yule Lads have very specific names and days that they arrive. First to arrive is Sheep-Cote Clod. He likes to harass sheep, but is often impaired by his stiff peg-legs. He shows up on December 12th and leaves December 25th.
The second lad is Gully Gawk. He hides in gullies and waits to sneak in and steal milk. He shows up on December 13th and leaves December 26th.
Third to arrive is Stubby. He is quite short and like to steal pans and eat any left over crusts. He arrives on December 14th and heads home on December 27th.
Next is Spoon-Licker. He will steal and lick wooden spoons. Sadly, he is rather thin and malnourished. He shows up on December 15th and leaves December 28th.
Fifth is Pot-Scraper. Yep, he steals leftovers from pots. He can be found on December 16th and wont go away until December 29th.
The sixth Lad is Bowl-Licker. He creepily hides under beds waiting for someone to put down their bowl and then steals it. He can be found around December 17th and heads home December 30th.
Next to appear is Door-Slammer. This little rascal loves to slam doors. His favorite time to start slamming doors is around night time to wake people up. You will notice his presence on December 18th. He will depart on the 31st of December.
Our eighth Lad is Skyr-Gobbler. Skyr is similar to yogurt and this Lad loves it. You may find it goes missing on December 19th. He wont leave you alone until January 1st.
Sausage-Swiper is a Lad that hides in the rafters of homes and steals sausages that are being eaten. He appears on December 20th and heads out on January 2nd.
Window-Peeper is a creepy Lad. He hides outside homes peeping through windows looking for goodies to steal. You may notice a ogre-ish face in your window around December 21st. He goes home on January 3rd.
The eleventh lad to arrive is Doorway-Sniffer. As his name suggests, he has a large nose. He uses this nose to smell out and locate bread. He begins sniffing around your home on December 22nd and wont leave until January 4th.
The next to last Lad is Meat-Hook. Maybe back in darker days this would be a scary name, but today he uses his hook to steal meat. He shows up on December 23rd and departs on January 5th.
Our last Lad is Candle-Stealer. He follows children to steal their candles. Originally candles were made of tallow and could be eaten. His arrival is on December 24th and his departure date is on January 6th.
Yule Cat and Yule Lads
Hopefully you have all been hard working and purchased new clothes to avoid being eaten by a giant cat. If you find food missing or hear doors banging it is probably just some mischievous Lads having fun.
I wish you all the best during this Holiday Season!
