Jólakötturinn. Loathsome, mangy, evil-eyed feline, she claws to death and eats anyone who doesn’t have a new outfit for Christmas Eve.
(You knew that, right?)
Hello, and welcome to another edition of My, Christmas Is Very Different In Other Countries.™
Here, instead of the mythos of Santa, we have Grýla the hag, owner of said vicious cat, and mother of thirteen indolent and annoying boys known as the Yule Lads who may or may not put a gift in the shoe you leave on the windowsill. One of them may or may not arrive in your home from the 12th of December, in an amusing addition to the Advent calendar, and leave you something. This probably makes kids around here QUITE giddy by the time Christmas actually arrives.
Because these lads have names like Pot-licker, Bowl-licker and the like, no one normally sees them outside of dark kitchen corners — and of course they’re only there to do mischief anyway. Grýla is there to eat bad children, her cat eats the badly dressed, and the lads pester everyone and leave potatoes in the shoes of bad children (or gifts for the good) every night for twelve nights.
And a nervous Christmas to all.
At least the bad kids still get fed. There’s a lot one can do with a potato.
(Grýla’s husband is unemployed in this scenario, apparently. Maybe he works at Easter.)
We are eating tons of rye bread, and lovely rye crackers for breakfast. Bliss.
…..
We have discovered that all of the hot water here smells faintly of the rotten egg stench of sulfur. Our hair is …charmingly tousled, shall we say, from the minerals in the shower water. Fortunately, the cold water is stream-filtered and quite tasty. And unscented.
…..
We couldn’t quite figure out the beds at first. T. was pretty sure we were meant to sleep in the uniquely folded flat sheet which enclosed the mattress; D. was sure we were not. Each side of the bed has its own narrow stuffed duvet, which means one can burrow or kick it away at will, without inconveniencing anyone else. A marvelous idea.
…..
In this country, Christmas starts promptly at 6:00 P.M. on the evening of the 24th, when all the bells in the whole country start to ring.
We hate to see what they’ll do for the midnight service…
And to all, a good night.
Very interesting I hope you two have a very Merry Christmas.
And does Grýla come with her own carols?