Merry Christmas
Here in Iceland people don´t belive in Santa Claus. Instead we belive
in 13 brothers, called the Yulelads (jólasveinar), that live up in the
mountains in a big cave with their parents, Grýla (the mother) and
Leppalúði (the father) and the Yuletide cat.
Don´t get me wrong, we celebrate christmas as a christian holiday.
Ok, back to the Yulelads; Grýla, their mother, is the biggest and
meanest troll in Iceland. She is ancient She has about 80 children
with 3 different husbands. The first husband went missing, the second
one she ate and then she met Leppalúði and had with him the 13
Yulelads. Grýla is definitely the dominant member in the relationship
and generally considered more terrifying while Leppalúði is basically
just stupid and lazy. Grýla wanders down from the mountains in search
of naughty children to put in her sack and takes them back to the cave
where she makes a childrenstew and eats it.
Grýla is extremely ugly but people do not agree on how she looks.( I
think she is beautiful like all woman´s)
The story about the Yulelads goes back to 1700something and back then
they used to play tricks on people. They are 13 different
personalities with 13 different names. For example Doorslammer,
Sausages-stealer, Candlebeggar, Potscraper, Ladlelicker, Meathook and
Bowl-licker.
Nowadays, kids put their shoe in the window and 13 nights before
christmas the first one of the Yulelads arrive and gives them
something sweet or a fruit in their shoe. But if they have been
naughty they get a potato or a fishbone. So all Flickr, dont be
naughty :) Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year. Hug and kisses
......
Comments and faves
PondMonkee [deleted] (42 months ago | reply)
This is marvelous Ice! I love what it says on the photo - so true isn't it? The info about the Yulelads is fabulous. Thank you for sharing a different and surprising perspective on Christmas tradition. I love hearing about other folk's traditions! Now I better go clean the fish bones out of my shoe... ;-}
icerock (42 months ago | reply)
PondMonkee Thanks for looking and kind words, hug .. ice
Captain Catan (42 months ago | reply)
so let's see if I understood the story. So Grýla is the meanest troll in Iceland. And the first husband went "missing". Aha. Interesting ;)
Merry Xmas to you too, my Friend - and a happy new year!
BTW - nice picture, as usual :-)
icerock (42 months ago | reply)
Thanks for looking, Captain when are you coming to iceland again ?
GudnyAr (42 months ago | reply)
Falleg jólakveðja, skemmtileg saga af jólasveinunum okkar og myndin að sjálfsögðu æðisleg .........takk sömuleiðis ;o))
icerock (42 months ago | reply)
Takk fyrir Guðný
Svanný (42 months ago | reply)
Gleðileg jól....skemmtileg saga :)
touching moments (42 months ago | reply)
Merry Christmas to you ice. A beautiful picture. Hugs always, Cile
T Glow and touching moments added this photo to their favorites.
T Glow (42 months ago | reply)
Beautiful Christmas card !!
Merry Christmas my friend !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
icerock (42 months ago | reply)
Svanný, Cile and Glow, hug .. ice
mroggh (42 months ago | reply)
Endilega deildu þessari mynd með okkur á jolin08
-Þar sem jólin eru byrjuð.
Tanj@ (42 months ago | reply)
I knew about the 13 brothers, but I didn't know about the cat - one can always learn something new = ) Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2009!
th.egilson (42 months ago | reply)
Falleg mynd.
Ég óska þér og þínum gleðilegra jóla.
th.egilson added this photo to his favorites. (42 months ago)
snorri.s (42 months ago | reply)
flott mynd og góð saga :o)
Gleðileg Jól
www.lutz-breden.com (42 months ago | reply)
Thx a lot for your interesting informations about Grýla and Yulelads. So cool, how many different sagas and fairytales are existing about Christmas. Santa Claus or "Nikolaus" as we call him in Germany, or "Grandpa Frost" in Russia.
But never mind, which saga we (want to) believe: I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Ice. ;-)
Kiddi Einars (42 months ago | reply)
Frábær mynd og góð saga.
Óska þér og þínum gleðilegra jóla.
ÞÓRUNN ツ added this photo to her favorites. (42 months ago)
ÞÓRUNN ツ (42 months ago | reply)
Alveg æðisleg mynd og texti Steini :-) og gaman að lesa frásögn þín af jólasveinunum okkar... he.he.he.... útlendingarnir hljóta að halda að við séum alveg galin eftir að lesa þessa frásögn.. he.he.he.he...
Gleðileg jól til þín og farsælt komandi ár :)))
no_23 (42 months ago | reply)
Gleðileg Jól og gott og farsælt komandi myndaár.....
Rinaldo_ (42 months ago | reply)
Obrigado!
Igualmente desejo-lhe um
Feliz Natal!
Feliz Ano Novo!
hrannar (42 months ago | reply)
Frábær mynd, frábær saga. Gleðileg jól.
bonniesteinbach [deleted] (42 months ago | reply)
Hehehe, I love your stories, and of course your beautiful pictures.
Hug and kisses back to ya, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
SigHolm (slow commenting until end of MAY) (42 months ago | reply)
Dear Flickr friend. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Greetings Sig Holm.
Vergnaud Nicolas (42 months ago | reply)
Gleðileg jól ice
Joyeux Noel (in french) and a happy news year, best wishes.
Best regards
Nico
Fishit (42 months ago | reply)
Merry Christmas friend, enjoy the time with family and be safe.
KurtFML (42 months ago | reply)
Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, God Jul, Wesołych Świąt, Καλα Χριστουγεννα, Feliz Natal, Fijne Kerst
dombes et ailleurs (42 months ago | reply)
Merry Chrismas !
oeiriks (42 months ago | reply)
Skemmtileg frásögn !
....Gleðileg jol :)
Kristin Sig (42 months ago | reply)
Gleðilega jólahátíð. Fræðandi og skemmtileg frásögn um jólasveinana okkar.
weecheng.com/europe/greenice/iceland/stp-gobl in.jpg
Ásdís B (42 months ago | reply)
Snilldar frásögn ! Gleðileg jól .. :)
Lida Chaulet (42 months ago | reply)
Another beautiful picture...
Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2009!
agustago (42 months ago | reply)
Flott mynd og saga. Gleðileg jól!
JavaJan1 (41 months ago | reply)
I LOVE THIS!! Wow, what a great tradition. I read this together with my 12 year old and we both enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing this wonderful celebration with us, Ice!
JavaJan1 added this photo to her favorites. (41 months ago)
Lynn Roebuck (41 months ago | reply)
Marvelous! I love this story....perhaps because it has a cave in it?
Lynn Roebuck added this photo to her favorites. (41 months ago)
Helgi Halldórsson/Freddi (41 months ago | reply)
Þvílík mynd hjá þér..