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Thursday, December 08, 2005

Icelanders beware!

Yes, they are getting ready. Grýla and Leppalúði -oh, say it however you want!- feel the Christmas spirits in the air. Their thirteen sons -our Yule lads- are preparing to come from the hills and create a little havoc around us people. The Christmas cat is getting ready to take every child that does not get new clothes during the Christmas time and Grýla and Leppalúði can´t wait to snatch little naughty children away.
Sounds horrible? You are quite right. Christmas here in Iceland is frightening. From the 11th onwards we will have each day until Christmas Eve one of Grýla and Lepplúði´s sons come to us and play pranks.

But over the years the 13 Yule lads have become quite lovely creatures and have adapted their behaviour quite a lot. They are still a little naughty, but each of them fills every child´s Christams shoe. Yes, do your math!
That is right! 13 Yule lads, each day a present ... starting on the 11th! And on Christmas Eve (24th!) Santa also comes and gives us those huge Christmas presents. We know how to combine cultures to get the best out of each ;)

Anyways, on the 11th I will start to introduce to you the thirteen Icelandic Yule lads and explain what they do and tell you which of them left something in my shoe!

picture from jolamjolk.is

Posted by Minka :: 1:53 pm :: 23 Royal Subjects

23 Comments:

At 15:26, Blogger TLP said...

I'm going to learn something here, which is great.

Just don't let Icy near your shoe.

 
At 16:12, Blogger Sar said...

TLP stole my exact comment!!!

TLP: TeLePathy

 
At 16:24, Blogger Doug The Una said...

This is exciting.

 
At 18:33, Blogger Minka said...

TLP, I am trying to keep her away from my fluffy snow-boots, but it is hard.
Sar, I have another one: TLP= Toatally Lovely Person :)
Doug, I can see your tail wagging :)

 
At 19:35, Blogger Miz BoheMia said...

I can't wait! I'm gonna have to save the "lessons" and implement them next year!

 
At 19:50, Blogger Doug The Una said...

That's a great point, Miz Bohemia! I'm leaving tomorrow for Portland for my nephew's first birthday. Three days worth of pranks! Hey, Monika. If I kidnap him, I don't have to keep him right? I feed him to a mountain or something?

 
At 19:57, Blogger Minka said...

miz bohemia, Icelandic traditions around Christmas are fun. Some areally taste bad and some are better ignored altogether :) I´ll write about most of them
Doug, you just put them close to a moutnain or something. The Hidden folks will take care of him!

 
At 00:19, Blogger Lila said...

Sounds more like Halloween than Christmas!

 
At 01:15, Blogger Minka said...

Ap3, I think it was used to scare children into good bahaviour. Like your Santa has this naughty/nice list, the one in Germany hits you with his Christmas tree branch if you were naughty. Scary stuff indeed :)

 
At 02:13, Blogger Fred said...

More world history knowledge. I'm going to be such a better teacher because of all this!

 
At 14:07, Blogger Minka said...

Fred, I am pretty sure you dazzle them already and if not-just tell them the story of Fast Freddy or your various costumes over the years ;)

 
At 14:31, Blogger The Reverent Eater said...

Cool! I can hardly wait for the Yule fun to begin!

 
At 15:07, Blogger Doug The Una said...

Oh, I'm totally bringing a tree branch!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum...whack, whack, whack!

 
At 16:18, Blogger Minka said...

manchego...patience is a virtue :)
Doug, I haven´t told you what he does to nasty dogs!!! You really don´t wanna push it!

 
At 17:54, Blogger Doug The Una said...

Chirp chirp

 
At 20:55, Blogger Tom & Icy said...

OMG! Doug, maybe we had better stay away from Iceland for a while! Woof!

 
At 13:34, Blogger Fred said...

Shhh, Monika, this is the side of me that no student will ever see.

 
At 14:26, Blogger Minka said...

Icy, those eyes of yours would turn any believer of punishment into a candy-giver.
Fred, does that mean I have to write a retraction on the article "The other side of Teacher Fred" that I published and sent to Tempa Bay?

 
At 15:11, Blogger Doug The Una said...

I'm going to spend the next 36 hours with three children under the age of 6. Can you offer a preview? I've exhausted every form of abuse that comes natural.

 
At 15:11, Blogger dddragon said...

I've never heard of this before! Looking forward to hearing more.

And Doug, it's your duty to spoil him so rotten that he's a holy terror to his parents after you leave.

 
At 18:49, Blogger Minka said...

Doug, osunds like my typical weekend once a month. Three guys: age 7, 4 and 2. I see your point and I have on occasion been close
to the fence of demonstarting my strength.
Fourtunately I have am easy time with kids. It is all about respect.
Get down to their eye-level, let them explain-although it sounds stupid- and become their friend more than yet another grown up. If that doesn´t help...just turn your back and ignore them...they will soon delight you with good behaviour. It is all about attention, you should give it in abundance when they are good, to re-inforce it. Ignore them if they are bad. At leats that works for me.
dddragon...how is teh catalogue phoning coming along. Insane yet?
And I really would like some of those pink sleeping bags, size three with golden lettering...if you don´t mind :)

 
At 05:26, Blogger The Brooklyn Blowhard said...

Great stuff! A big Norwegian "God Jul" to you!

 
At 23:41, Blogger Minka said...

A fantastic Icelandic "Gleðileg jól" to you!

 

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