The Yule Lads

Lots of rain here and I was woken up by the sound of dripping on the boards in the attic, Fortunately it's only a small leak from the roof and I can catch the water in a washing up bowl. My full home emergency cover was useless. A form of cover under my house insurance was much better. 

On my holidays I do like to bring back a xmas decoration if I can. I have an ornament of one of the Yule Lads from Iceland, but this is my xmas tea towel featuring all of them.

The Yule Lads are merry but mischievous fellows who take turns visiting kids on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas. On each of those nights, children place one of their shoes on the windowsill. For good boys and girls, the Yule Lad will leave candy. If not, the Yule Lads are not subtle in expressing their disapproval: they fill the shoe with rotting potatoes.

Don't think well-behaved Icelandic kids have a sweet deal all around, however. They may enjoy 13 Santa Claus-like visits, but they also have to contend with a creature called Grýla who comes down from the mountains on Christmas and boils naughty children alive, and a giant, blood-thirsty black kitty called the Christmas Cat that prowls around the country on Christmas Eve and eats anyone who's not wearing at least one new piece of clothing.

Apparently, the Yule Lads used to be a lot more creepy then they are today, too, but in 1746 parents were officially banned from tormenting their kids with monster stories about those particular creatures. Today, they're mostly benign--save for the harmless tricks they like to play.

Taken from an article in The Smithsonian