The 13 santa's of Iceland

Subject: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From: skarpi Iseland
Date: 28 Dec 98 - 12:01 PM

In Iceland we have 13 santa´s , one for eatch day before Christmas. We have a lyric´s and song about them and stories. If you want to know more about these fun santa´s from Iceland you can go to http/www.natmus.is use the english version and Department and you will find out all you want to know about them. have a good time skarpi Iceland.

Subject: RE: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From: Animaterra
Date: 28 Dec 98 - 04:52 PM

I tried, Skarpi, but "a connection with the server could not be established"- I'll try later, because I'd really like to learn about 13 Santas!

Subject: RE: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 98 - 01:36 PM

the address was missing a : and a /... it should be

http://www.natmus.is

works fine....

Subject: RE: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From: Bill D
Date: 31 Dec 98 - 01:45 PM

it is 'bit' tricky to find the right page...here is a direct link..

http://www.natmus.is/english/departments/yuletide_lads.htm

it is a fascinating story, with pictures and everything! Thanks, skarpi!

Subject: RE: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From:
Date: 31 Dec 98 - 02:18 PM

My goodness, and people get after me because I want to put a Grinch in our local Christmas parade. I'd love to get these guys to march. They seem more like trolls than Santas to me.

Subject: RE: The 13 santa´s of Iceland
From: Animaterra
Date: 31 Dec 98 - 03:39 PM

Fascinating- thanks, Bill, skarpi, and all!

Subject: RE: The 13 santa's of Iceland
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 31 Dec 21 - 10:05 PM

Two programmes on BBC radio.
The first is only available for a limited time.(Jan 2021)

Daljit Nagra introduces
Between the Ears - Yuletide in the Land of Ice and Fire

Acclaimed Icelandic poet and author Gerður Kristný journeys into the curious world of Iceland's Christmas myths.

With not one but thirteen Santa Clauses, troll-like figures who sneak down from the mountains to make mischief at Christmas and a 'Yule Cat' who prowls through the snow looking for lazy people to eat, there are myriad fantastical - and sometimes sinister - festive tales indigenous to Iceland.

Creeping down from the mountains one by one over the thirteen nights before Christmas, Iceland's Jólasveinar, or 'Yule Lads' are eccentric characters out to make mischief. From 'Door Slammer' to 'Spoon Licker', 'Sausage Swiper' to 'Meat Hook', the Yule Lads - part of Icelandic folklore stretching back centuries - can be mischievous and menacing, stealing from pantries, playing pranks and scaring children.

These days they are known to leave gifts in children's shoes (or a potato in the case of the badly-behaved) but their parents - evil ogress Grýla and her lazy husband Leppalúði - are still the subject of frightening tales, known to eat naughty children. Even their pet Yule Cat prowls the country's towns and villages looking for lazy people to eat.

With music, sound, poetry and accounts from Icelanders bringing the tales to life, Gerður Kristný guides an atmospheric exploration of Iceland's festive stories, providing insight into unique Icelandic cultural traditions and revealing larger, universal, questions about folklore and why we tell scary stories.

Award-winning poet and author Gerður Kristný won the 2010 Icelandic Literature Prize for her poetry book Blóðhófnir, which is based on an ancient Nordic myth. She has also written award-winning novels and short stories for both children and adults.

Produced by Lorna Skingley

A Smooth Operations production
first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2015.
only available for a limited time @ Jan 2021
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012ns8
_______________________________________
Iceland's Dark Lullabies
Storyteller Andri Snær Magnason used to be terrified by his grandmother's Christmas tales of Gryla the 900 year old child eating hag and her 13 troll sons - the Yule Lads - who would come down from the mountains looking for naughty children in the warmth of their homes. These dark lullabies partly hark back to a pre-Christian Christmas when people worshipped the Norse gods.

As Iceland opens up to global influences after centuries of isolation Andri travels from farmstead to lava field and reflects on these traditions: whether the elves still crash your house to throw a Christmas party or the cows still talk on New Year's Eve; and what happens when you have to spend Christmas alone, locked inside Ikea?

Featuring the Graduale Nobile Choir conducted by Árni Heiðar Karlsson

Additional sound design by Phil Channell.

Producer: Neil McCarthy

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017
available for over a year
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09jcnpr

Subject: RE: The 13 santa's of Iceland
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 01 Jan 22 - 07:02 PM

In 1932 the poem "Jólasveinarnir" (Yule Lads) was published as a part of the popular poetry book "Jólin Koma" ("Christmas Arrives") by Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum (b.1899 d.1972).
The poem reintroduced Icelandic society to Icelandic Yuletide folklore and established what is now considered the 'official' thirteen Yule Lads, their personalities and connection to other folkloric characters. Nowadays almost every Icelandic parent reads the poem to their children in the advent of Christmas.

Hallberg Hallmundsson translated the poem to English :

"Jólasveinarnir" (Yule Lads)

Let me tell the story
of the lads of few charms,
who once upon a time
used to visit our farms.

They came from the mountains,
as many of you know,
in a long single file
to the farmsteads below.

Grýla was their mother
- she gave them ogre milk -
and the father Leppalúdi;
a loathsome ilk.

They were called the Yuletide lads
- at Yuletide they were due -
and always came one by one,
not ever two by two.

Thirteen altogether,
these gents in their prime
didn´t want to irk people
all at one time.

Creeping up, all stealth,
they unlocked the door.
The kitchen and the pantry
they came looking for.

They hid where they could,
with a cunning look or sneer,
ready with their pranks
when people weren´t near.

And even when they were seen,
they weren´t loath to roam
and play their tricks - disturbing
the peace of the home.

The first of them was Sheep-Cote Clod.
He came stiff as wood,
to pray upon the farmer´s sheep
as far as he could.
He wished to suck the ewes,
but it was no accident
he couldn´t; he had stiff knees
- not to convenient.

The second was Gully Gawk,
gray his head and mien.
He snuck into the cow barn
from his craggy ravine.
Hiding in the stalls,
he would steal the milk, while
the milkmaid gave the cowherd
a meaningful smile.

Stubby was the third called,
a stunted little man,
who watched for every chance
to whisk off a pan.
And scurrying away with it,
he scraped off the bits
that stuck to the bottom
and brims - his favorites.

The fourth was Spoon Licker;
like spindle he was thin.
He felt himself in clover
when the cook wasn´t in.
Then stepping up, he grappled
the stirring spoon with glee,
holding it with both hands
for it was slippery.

Pot Scraper, the fifth one,
was a funny sort of chap.
When kids were given scrapings,
he´d come to the door and tap.
And they would rush to see
if there really was a guest.
Then he hurried to the pot
and had a scrapingfest.

Bowl Licker, the sixth one,
was shockingly ill bred.
From underneath the bedsteads
he stuck his ugly head.
And when the bowls were left
to be licked by dog or cat,
he snatched them for himself
- he was sure good at that!

The seventh was Door Slammer,
a sorry, vulgar chap:
When people in the twilight
would take a little nap,
he was happy as a lark
with the havoc he could wreak,
slamming doors and hearing
the hinges on them sqeak.

Skyr* Gobbler, the eighth,
was an awful stupid bloke.
He lambasted the skyr tub
till the lid on it broke.
Then he stood there gobbling
- his greed was well known -
until, about to burst,
he would bleat, howl and groan.

The ninth was Sausage Swiper,
a shifty pilferer.
He climbed up to the rafters
and raided food from there.
Sitting on a crossbeam
in soot and in smoke,
he fed himself on sausage
fit for gentlefolk.

The tenth was Window Peeper,
a weird little twit,
who stepped up to the window
and stole a peek through it.
And whatever was inside
to which his eye was drawn,
he most likely attempted
to take later on.

Eleventh was Door Sniffer,
a doltish lad and gross.
He never got a cold, yet had
a huge, sensitive nose.
He caught the scent of lace bread
while leagues away still
and ran toward it weightless
as wind over dale and hill.

Meat Hook, the twelfth one,
his talent would display
as soon as he arrived
on Saint Thorlak´s Day.
He snagged himself a morsel
of meet of any sort,
although his hook at times was
a tiny bit short.

The thirteenth was Candle Beggar
- ´twas cold, I believe,
if he was not the last
of the lot on Christmas Eve.
He trailed after the little ones
who, like happy sprites,
ran about the farm with
their fine tallow lights.

On Christmas night itself
- so a wise man writes
- the lads were all restraint
and just stared at the lights.

Then one by one they trotted off
into the frost and snow.
On Twelfth Night the last
of the lads used to go.

Their footprints in the highlands
are effaced now for long,
the memories have all turned
to image and song.

*Skyr is a dairy product, similar to yogurt.

http://web.archive.org/web/20071222113413/http://notendur.centrum.is/sjbokband/joh.html/yulelads00.html