by Caleb, age 10 from Cheyenne, asks the Jolasveinar about Iceland’s thirteen Yule Lads and their mother Gryla.
A Letter to the Jolasveinar from Caleb in Cheyenne, Wyoming
Dear Jolasveinar, my name is Caleb and I am ten years old. I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and I read that there are thirteen of you, which sounds amazing, so here are my questions:
- Are some of you naughty and play tricks, while others are nice?
- Do all 13 of you come on separate nights before Christmas?
- Do any of you look like the American Santa Claus?
- Do you come from the Dimmuborgir lava fields, not the North Pole?
- Do you come on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas?
- Do you leave small gifts in children’s shoes that are placed on windowsills?
- Do you wear traditional Icelandic wool clothes instead of a red suit?
- Does each one of you have a different name, like Spoon Licker or Door Slammer?
- Is it true you have a giant cat that eats children who don’t get new clothes?
- Wait, you are 13 different Santas? That’s a lot!
- Geography: Iceland sits on the boundary of which two of Earth’s tectonic plates, which is also why it has so many volcanoes?
- Social Studies: Who is Gryla, the mother of the Yule Lads, in Icelandic folklore, and why do parents tell stories about her?
Thanks, Caleb
The Jolasveinar Write Back
Are some of you naughty and play tricks, while others are nice?
Yes, quite honestly. A few of us love harmless mischief, like stealing sausages or slamming doors, while others are simply curious and playful. None of us are truly cruel, just endlessly nosy.
Do all 13 of you come on separate nights before Christmas?
That’s right, Caleb. We arrive one by one on the thirteen nights before Christmas, and then leave one by one for the thirteen nights after, so the fun stretches out for almost a month.
Do any of you look like the American Santa Claus?
A few of the newer illustrations give us a red suit here and there, but traditionally we look more like scruffy mountain trolls in old patched clothing than a polished department store Santa.
Do you come from the Dimmuborgir lava fields, not the North Pole?
Traditionally, yes, our family is said to live in the rugged lava fields and caves near Dimmuborgir and Myvatn in northern Iceland, far from anything resembling the North Pole.
Do you come on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas?
Exactly, one of us arrives each night for the thirteen nights leading up to Christmas Eve, so children get thirteen small visits instead of just one big one.
Do you leave small gifts in children’s shoes that are placed on windowsills?
Yes, children place a shoe on their windowsill each night, and depending on how they have behaved, they find either a small treat or a rotting potato waiting the next morning.
Do you wear traditional Icelandic wool clothes instead of a red suit?
Mostly traditional wool and patched work clothes, very practical for Iceland’s harsh weather, rather than a fancy red suit.
Does each one of you have a different name, like Spoon Licker or Door Slammer?
Yes, each of us has our own name and our own specialty, based on old mischief, names like Spoon Licker, Door Slammer, Sausage Swiper, and Window Peeper among others.
Is it true you have a giant cat that eats children who don’t get new clothes?
That old story is about our family’s enormous cat, the Yule Cat, said to prowl the countryside and go hungry for children who did not receive any new clothes before Christmas. These days it is told more as a playful warning to finish your knitting projects than a real threat.
Wait, you are 13 different Santas? That’s a lot!
We know, it does seem like a lot. Thirteen brothers keeps things lively, and honestly, sharing the workload makes December considerably less exhausting.
Geography: Iceland sits on the boundary of which two of Earth’s tectonic plates, which is also why it has so many volcanoes?
Iceland sits right on the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are slowly pulling apart. That is exactly why our homeland has so many volcanoes, hot springs, and dramatic lava fields like Dimmuborgir.
Social Studies: Who is Gryla, the mother of the Yule Lads, in Icelandic folklore, and why do parents tell stories about her?
Gryla is our mother in Icelandic folklore, a giant said to hunt down misbehaving children throughout the year. Parents have told stories about her for centuries as a colorful way to encourage good behavior, though these days she is treated more as a spooky legend than a real warning, much like other folk tales meant to entertain as much as teach.
