Iceland's 13 Yule Lads
The Legend of the Yule Lads
Oh hello…you scared me, how did you get into my house? That does not matter, pull up a chair, get some eggnog, I was just reading one of my favorite holiday stories. “The Thirteen Yule Lads”… what? You have never heard of the thirteen yule lads? Well, buckle in my friend, you’ll soon learn about them in this story.
These sneaky yule lads are a wild bunch, and that’s putting it lightly. They are sort of like a countdown to Christmas for the people of Iceland. Except being jolly and giving presents, they mostly are a public nuisance to all. Each night, starting on December 13th, a lad arrives in the home and terrorizes the family. Now, without further ado, let’s meet the lads!
On December 13th, the first night, you will be visited by Sheep Cote Clod, who harasses sheep but is physically impaired due to his stiff peg legs. The sheep easily out run him and leave the area, which kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me.
On December 14th, you will be visited by Gully Gawk, and he will hide in gullies where upon night fall he becomes a ninja and steals milk.
On the 15th you will be visited by Stubby, a funny short man who will steal your pans and eat the crust left in them.
Now, buckle up, because they get weirder from here. Next, we have Spoon Licker, who will break into your house and steal your spoons and lick them on December 16th.
Spoon Licker is also thin due to malnutrition.
Next, we have Pot Scraper, who will steal left over food from the pots. On December 18th, we have Bowl Licker, who will arrive at a house and steal a yogurt bowl from under the Icelandic people’s beds. Because that’s where everyone there keeps their yogurt.
On December 19th, Door Slammer, he will go around and slam your doors waking you up in the middle of the night.
On the next night, December 20th, Skyr Gobbler will steal and eat your skyr, which is a type of Icelandic yogurt. The next lad, who will arrive on December 21st, which will annoy you is Sausage Swiper, and you will never guess what he does… he swipes sausages while they are being smoked, so you do not get your Jimmy Deans.
The next lad who will visit is Window Peeper, now, this one is creepy, he peeps through your windows to look for things to steal… these guys are like the seven dwarfs only there are 13, and they absolutely ruin your day.
The next night, on December 23rd, you will be visited by Meat Hook, who is like Sausage Swiper… but a pirate, so he uses his meat hook to steal meat.
Finally, on December 24th, the last lad who will visit the Icelandic homes is Candle Stealer… he will follow children around in order to steal their candles because in Iceland they are made of an edible material.
So… that is that… The thirteen yule lads, what an interesting bunch. They will mostly just harass you every year, so don’t visit Iceland during Christmas, or you just might get a little visit from the lads.
