5 days to go...

We're due fly to Reykjavik on the Friday the 10th, which means that we'll be there for the arrival of the first of the Yule lads.

The Yule lads are like an Icelandic version of Santa Claus. Every night, between the 12th-25th December a new Yule lad arrives and stays for a fortnight. Children leave their shoes in the window every night and if they've been good the Yule lad leaves a present. If they've been bad, they get a potato.

In order of their arrival, the Yule lads are:

Stekkjastaur (Sheep-Cote Clod), Giljagaur (Gully Gawk), Stúfur (Stubby), Þvörusleikir (Spoon-Licker), Pottaskefill (Pot-Scraper), Askasleikir (Bowl-Licker), Hurðaskellir (Door-Slammer), Skyrgámur (Skyr-Gobbler), Bjúgnakrækir (Sausage-Swiper), Gluggagægir (Window-Peeper), Gáttaþefur (Door-Sniffer), Ketkrókur (Meat-Hook), Kertasníkir (Candle-Beggar).

Those ð and þ characters in the Icelandic names are eth (Ð, ð) which is pronounced like the voiced th of "them", and thorn (Þ, þ), which is pronounced like the unvoiced th of "thick". Icelandic uses the Latin alphabet and includes characters that have long since been lost to English.

Their names are great - really evocative, with a heavy emphasis on food theft. Even Candle-Beggar is food related - he steals candles off kids to eat (candles used to be made of tallow, which is edible). Says a lot about Iceland I guess. It must have been a hard place to live back in the day.

Stekkjastaur or Sheep-Cote Clod is the 1st of the Yule lads to arrive. Apparently he likes to harass sheep but is impaired by his stiff peg-legs. He arrives on Sunday the 12th. I think we should leave our shoes on the window that night (I might sneak a potato in Nix's for a laugh).

Yeah, that's peg legs. Two of them.

The Yule lads used to be a pretty nasty, mischievous lot: nicking food and playing pranks. These days they're cute,cuddly and commercialised. A lot more scary is the horrifying Yule Cat, Jólakötturinn. A giant cat that eats people who don't have item of new clothing (?). I can't find out much about it... I think anyone who knows anything must have been eaten.